HD-DVD Doooomed! Doooomed I say

[schild]

Blu-Ray has america and asia in the same region.

Which means I will never complain about region coding.

Also, the next PS3 firmware update will let you put a blu-ray disc in, it will convert it to h.264, and you load it onto your memory stick for the PSP. It encodes at 480x272. Perfect awesome.

[naum]

Blu-Ray has america and asia in the same region.

Which means I will never complain about region coding.

Also, the next PS3 firmware update will let you put a blu-ray disc in, it will convert it to h.264, and you load it onto your memory stick for the PSP. It encodes at 480x272. Perfect awesome.

That is cool (the region coding).

But I can convert to that H.264 resolution (for iPhone, 480x320) right now from standard DVD disc and HandBrake.

[Trippy]

Blu-Ray has america and asia in the same region.

Which means I will never complain about region coding.

Also, the next PS3 firmware update will let you put a blu-ray disc in, it will convert it to h.264, and you load it onto your memory stick for the PSP. It encodes at 480x272. Perfect awesome.

Apparently Sony's media arm forgot to tell the PS division that that's illegal (according to them). Better take advantage of that feature while it's still available.

[Polysorbate80]

Overly pricey shit that is only marginally better than what I already have.

My first DVD player was around $450, and the discs were still $25-30 or so at the time.  DVDs were a small portion of the video store.  And it was still worth it.

I hear people complain that the picture quality of HD isn't enough better than DVD to be worth it.  I declare that to be bullshit.

I *do* think that a significant portion of the population is ignorant or stupid enough to think that as long as the image fills up their widescreen, then it must be HD.  (Not saying this is you or anything.)

[Prospero]

I hear people complain that the picture quality of HD isn't enough better than DVD to be worth it.  I declare that to be bullshit.

Screenies comparing BR LotR to DVD LotR: http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

There certainly is a difference, but not one I'm willing to pay any sort of premium for. Between the picture moving and my ass being on the couch, I can't imagine a slightly improved picture is going to improve my enjoyment of a move.

[Jain Zar]

While there is a difference to be sure, is that counting what an upscaled player can do or just standard display?

Even if it is, its not worth another 400 bucks to get.  Honestly looking at the difference its not even something I would do for 200.  Probably 100 tops, or as mentioned, when they stop making regular DVDs.
(Which given their popularity, install base, and sheer importance to the studios, is probably a few years out even with the recent slowdown of DVD sales.  Though I expect Sony to be the first to start phasing out regular DVDs in some fashion within 12 months.)

[bhodi]

I'll start paying attention when the prices aren't so freaking ridiculous. I can get a dvd for $10-$15, and yet they want $25-35 for a blu-ray? Try bringing that price down from "retarded nutsoland" and into more reasonable figures and I'll think about switching my collection and buying the exact same movie a second time.

[Fabricated]

I'll start paying attention when the prices aren't so freaking ridiculous. I can get a dvd for $10-$15, and yet they want $25-35 for a blu-ray? Try bringing that price down from "retarded nutsoland" and into more reasonable figures and I'll think about switching my collection and buying the exact same movie a second time.

To be honest that's about what DVDs were like when they first came out. When I got my first piece of shit RCA DVD player, I picked up Ghostbusters and it was something like $20-25 if I recall.

I got Live Free or Die Hard in Blu-Ray and it's pretty fucking nice. The upscaling the PS3 does on regular DVDs however is slick too and looks barely a couple notches worse.

[Polysorbate80]

While there is a difference to be sure, is that counting what an upscaled player can do or just standard display?

I'm not sure what you're asking; if your player doesn't upscale it, your TV will.  It's more a question of how *good* your scaler is.

Good scaling still =/= HD quality; it just makes standard definition not suck on a high-def display.

[Azazel]

Interesting, many figured Blu-Ray would lose once they gave the "no-porn" directive.  Hell, it killed Betamax.

Though from what I have heard hi-def porn is more disturbing than enjoyable..

The thing with porn is that it's irrelevent in the hi-def stakes.

They made a difference in VHS/Betamax because it was the first time people could watch that stuff in the privacy of their own homes instead of a disgusting wanksalot theatre. These days, the difference isn't downloads as many keep saying, it's because everyone has DVD players anyway, don't we?

So unless people think that cinephile porn viewers who must absolutely have their jacking in the best picture quality were going to drive the market in the same way that joe sixpack who just wanted to watch Debbie Does Dallas at home...

[Margalis]

I've never understood the fascination with upscaling. Upscaling doesn't automatically add missing bits back to the picture, the best it can do is use some goofy algorithm to make a best guess.

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are not very different tech wise, and they both use the same encodings/codecs, which is the most important part anyway.

As far as Blue-Ray/HD-DVD vs DVD, the value to upgrade is not there because:

1. People have already bought the same movie on DVD twice.
2. VHS to DVD was a huge step up in picture quality, analog to digital, that would also not wear over time.
3. DVD introduced features like menus, frame advance, decent FF/RR, subtitles, etc that VHS could not support.
4. DVDs are smaller and easier to store than VHS tapes.

The only thing HD-DVD/Blu-Ray adds to the equation is better picture quality, whereas better picture quality was only one part of what made DVD attractive. DVD was a fundamentally different technology. HD-DVD/Blu-Ray is not.

[stray]

That's the truth, though I guess one other minor addition is better interactivity features. I believe HD-DVD offers advanced scripting capabilities for dvd authoring, while Blu-Ray offers, what amounts to, full on Java apps (BD-J). There could be some added value because of all of that in the future.

[Abagadro]

HD formats also have better sound if you have the equipment to decode it.

[Velorath]

My first DVD player was around $450, and the discs were still $25-30 or so at the time.  DVDs were a small portion of the video store.  And it

Making the switch to DVD from VHS was more than just about the picture quality though.  What really got me into DVD were all the deleted scenes and alternate endings and shit.  It was like finding hidden treasure or something to see parts of movies that I loved that I had never seen before.  The switch to blu-ray just isn't as exciting in that respect.  Of course it doesn't help that DVD's have been milking the deleted scene thing in recent years either, especially with the whole "20 mintues of deleted and extended scenes" (where each extended scene is a five minute section of dialogue extended to five and half minutes with a couple of pointless lines reinserted).

Nowadays I just don't give a damn anymore.  Just give me a movie with watchable picture quality, and fuck the extras.

[Polysorbate80]

1. People have already bought the same movie on DVD twice.

Players aren't that expensive, and it's not like they don't work with your existing collection.  You don't *have* to replace all your current DVDs with hi-def versions. If you want to upgrade some of your discs, that's great, but nothing forces you to.  I certainly won't replace everything; especially the older stuff that wasn't high-quality film to begin with.

In my own case, I prefer DVDs on my Panasonic DVR at 480p via the TV's component input, with the TV doing the scaling.  Looks comparable to my old Sony CRT quality-wise.

[Polysorbate80]

Making the switch to DVD from VHS was more than just about the picture quality though.

For me, it was ALWAYS about the picture quality (well, that, and not rewinding...)  I watch the deleted scenes or outtakes once if they're there, then forget about them.  Everything else I ignore; I've got a lot of "extras" discs that have never even been inserted into the player.

After a couple days of owning that old player, I couldn't stand to watch fuzzy old VHS anymore.  I'm almost in the same boat with HD vs. SD, except that Time Warner's shitty shitty shit HD lineup forces me to watch some channels in standard.  I catch myself watching shows I'd never bother to watch except that I just enjoy the sharpness of the picture.

Regular DVD is still good, but it does feel "soft" to me now.

[Kitsune]

Screenies comparing BR LotR to DVD LotR: http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

There certainly is a difference, but not one I'm willing to pay any sort of premium for. Between the picture moving and my ass being on the couch, I can't imagine a slightly improved picture is going to improve my enjoyment of a move.

That link is NOT showing 1080p next-gen DVD, that was a 720p HD transfer of the movie done on HBO a year or so back.  The actual BR LotR can be expected to be much clearer than the HD pictures on that guy's webpage.

[Lt.Dan]

HD formats also have better sound if you have the equipment to decode it.

And even that's up for debate.

[Phildo]

HD formats also have better sound if you have the equipment to decode it.

And even that's up for debate.

Filed away for response after class.

[sidereal]

So unless people think that cinephile porn viewers who must absolutely have their jacking in the best picture quality were going to drive the market in the same way that joe sixpack who just wanted to watch Debbie Does Dallas at home...

My understanding (and this is all secondhand of course) is that HD actually degrades the porn experience.  As in "I didn't need to see that scar".  It may actually be a bell curveish distribution of ideal viewing over fidelity and DVD might be the peak.

[Polysorbate80]

  As in "I didn't need to see that scar".

Or the butt pimples 

[HaemishM]

So unless people think that cinephile porn viewers who must absolutely have their jacking in the best picture quality were going to drive the market in the same way that joe sixpack who just wanted to watch Debbie Does Dallas at home...

My understanding (and this is all secondhand of course) is that HD actually degrades the porn experience.  As in "I didn't need to see that scar".  It may actually be a bell curveish distribution of ideal viewing over fidelity and DVD might be the peak.

QFT. There are many pr0n actresses (and all pr0n actors) that really really really do NOT need hi-def glory.

[Signe]

Sooo... because I was seeking knowledge and feeling retarded at the same time, I read all about blu-ray v hd-dvd and have concluded that blu-ray is winning the race to...  nothing.

[Miasma]

Firesale now on!!! All betamax HD-DVD players now half off!!!  Hurry, supplies are limited!

[Velorath]

This got a chuckle out of me.

[schild]

Oh damn, the digital bits part was brilliant.

Also, the CES bit. Hitler canceling the conference made it so... poignant.

[Phildo]

Photo courtesy of Gizmodo

[Roac]

Photo courtesy of Gizmodo

Er, what?  No doubt Blu-Ray is going to jump up in market share now, but how in the hell could Blu-Ray increase it's unit base by over 10x in a week?  Not that most charts here are, but that one cannot be real.

Edit:  Nevermind, found the original article.  It's not LTD share, that's why.

[schild]

Actually. It's real.

Stores started hiding and dropping the price on HDDVD and most targets stopped carrying HDDVD the first week of the year.

[Azazel]

So unless people think that cinephile porn viewers who must absolutely have their jacking in the best picture quality were going to drive the market in the same way that joe sixpack who just wanted to watch Debbie Does Dallas at home...

My understanding (and this is all secondhand of course) is that HD actually degrades the porn experience.  As in "I didn't need to see that scar".  It may actually be a bell curveish distribution of ideal viewing over fidelity and DVD might be the peak.

I've certainly read interviews on the formats where porn performers have said that kind of thing. The girls appreciate the "vaseline lens" of VHS and even low-fi DVD more than the HD formats we're entering into.

mmmm.... boobjob scars....

[Rasix]

Razor burn. 

[Sky]

Porn was turned into a scary frankenstein experience. I can't even watch it any more. Damn you, porn. And damn the retards who think some muscly gay guy abusing some frankenwench is somehow erotic. HD only exacerbates the disgustingness of it all. Even without scars, the odd shape of implants is a turnoff.

And when did pubic hair go away? Maintenance guy has a playboy calendar and almost every chick in it is shaved bare, except for one with a 2mm wide strip. Love your lady garden, ladies.

[Zetleft]

"I've heard of trimming the hedges, but you done scorched the earth"

[croaker69]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/11/netflix-picks-blu-ray-good-luck-renting-an-hd-dvd-soon/

Just tapping in the final nails at this point of course.

[Signe]

I am lucky that the war between these formats and which ever wins is completely irrelevant to my life.