HD-DVD or Blu-Ray

[techfreak]

Which do you think will win and why?

[jtfields]

I'm hoping fairly quickly there'll be dual players like there were with DVD+R and DVD-R and it'll make it a moot point. I bought a DVD-Audio and SACD combo player for the same reason a couple of years back.

[jomama206]

There was one announce already. I dont remember who is making it, but it will read both formats. Not sure about writing though.

One thing that will matter is price of movies and players and quantity and selection of movies.

Who ever has the larger library and the cheaper prices will win.

I think it's anyone's game at the moment, although with the PS3 coming with Bluray, numbers wise it will be huge.

I heard microsoft will release a hd player for the xbox for $200, that is a great price for a player as well.

[Ioman]

At CEDIA we were told from Denon and Yamaha among others that they will either wait to see who wins or develop dual format players, so you already have your answer JT.

My answer is that Blu-Ray will win. There are simply too many manufacturers supporting it. Sony, Philips, BenQ, Samsung, Pioneer - those are huge names!

At CEDIA I watched some HD-DVD movies and I was impressed, but the funny thing is that all of those same movies are available for Blu-Ray. The simple truth is that the Movie studios will probably support both formats in the long run.

[jtfields]

The simple truth is that the Movie studios will probably support both formats in the long run.

I don't remember which ones, but I believe two studios have announced that they will support both formats. The rest seem to have taken one side or the other.

Sony never seems to win format wars but this time they may have the upper hand since they own Sony Pictures with its rather large library of movies. Of course Sony Music didn't seem to help SACD or Minidisc so who knows.

[Ioman]

The only one I can think of that doesn't support Blu-Ray is Universal, but I suspect that may change too.

[jomama206]

Minidisc was huge outside the US btw.

[Ioman]

Minidisc was huge outside the US btw.

To an extent. It was never huge here in the U.S. which was a big blow to Sony.

[neuroking]

The universal player was going to be by LG, and it was scrapped. Since then samsung has said they would do one, and renigged, too. Strangely, Toshiba (creator of HD-DVD) said they may offer one. Then there is a system that was announced by a company I can't remember off th etop of my head (but a big company), that devised a way to play both with the same laser. And finally this last week there was some talk of a hybrid disc that will have layer for DVD, BD, and HDDVD on a single disc.

Everyone knows how this will play out. Very rich people that don't mind dropping $1k on something they know will be obsolete in a year will pick up the first players, and the real money will go to whoever captures the mass market with universal players.


What makes this more interesting is that it will be driven, in part, by video game systems, AND the content providers have a role now. For betamax/vhs, DVD+/-R, CD/MD there were different recorders and media. Would you care if you bought a Blu-Ray or HDDVD drive if every disc out there supported all flavors of players?

[jomama206]

If every disc supported both bluray, hd dvd and dvd then I would care, but the reason I dont think that will happen is because of the expense of pressing those. The consumer will end up eating the cost with a disc that supports all 3 when most consumers need only 1 format.

I still think bluray has an edge over hd just because of the PS3. BUT if hd dvd players and media are cheaper, then most consumers will buy that.

Think of it in terms of cars... sure lots of people would love to have a BMW M3, but a 330 costs a lot less, almost looks the same, and is cheaper..so guess which one has sold more?

[jtfields]

To an extent. It was never huge here in the U.S. which was a big blow to Sony.

:( I loved Minidisc. Sony did blow it. I still have my a component Sony Minidisc player. I don't use it much anymore though now that I don't have satellite TV. By then I pretty much was only using it to record live concerts off of DirecTV.

[techfreak]

Looks like Rob Enderle thinks HD DVD will win: http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback158.html

Tons of posts on that column, I think people are definately split. So with the PS3 launch failing miserably, do you guys still think Blu-Ray has a chance?

[dang]

I do. The PS3 launch may have failed, but I think that is mainly due to production issues. If/when Sony gets those productions issues sorted and more PS3s into the hands of consumers, people will start snapping up Blue-ray movies as well. At least, thats what I would hope.

[ECA]

BR has a chance...
With the PS3 out there, they need to start Bombing, with all the movies they can produce.
HDDVd has the same problem, its just to expencive as a single unit. When the prices start dropping, it MAY become useful.

1 of these format needs to become FREE, OPEN SOURCE, This is the same fight that VHS and BETA max had...and sony LOST.

[scottys94]

I would prefer Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.

[ECA]

Scott,

You really need to look at the DATE these were posted..