Hi-Def DVD = the next laserdisc

Blu-Ray = The next betamax?

The players are currently priced at double the price of an HD-DVD player. Who knows what the discs will be priced at, if/when they are released. And Blu-Ray is the most significant factor driving up the price of the PS3. My current prediction is that Blu-Ray will be Sony's biggest financial disaster yet, but that prediction could change in the common months, obviously....

I'm really hoping it works out for Blu-Ray. I can't afford shit right now as a college student, but I'm hoping I'll be able to start building my dream entertainment sets in the next 5 to 10 years. And Blu-Ray sounds so phenomenal all the way around. The thing that's drawing me the most are the scratch proof discs. The thing I missed about VHS tapes is how durable they were, and this polymer on the underside of BD-ROMs sounds fantastic - apparently it'll hold up to sandpaper. Plus they hold more storage and everything.

But these are good points. It could suck for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. I'm hoping Blu-Ray becomes the new standard, though. Prices will go down. They always do.

I too support Sony/Blue Ray. The PS2 has never let me down (aside from not having Knights of the Old Republic) and Sony is big enough that a little failure won't hurt too bad. I think Blue Ray, being inside the PS3, is going to be a dominating force once things get up and running. HD-DVD will never pick up the steam Blue Ray will. Just my prediction

I couldn't care less who wins. My concern OTOH is the plans of the studios to indtroduce extremely limiting copy protection schemes such as the ability to remote detonate a high def player, if it's playing an unauthorized disc, via an internet connection. The problem is that the average joe has not heard of any such plans and may very well gobble the technology up. Having sampled HD-DVD, I have to say that regular DVD played on an upconverting aliasing DVD player is just fine for me. Only the most anally scrutinizing player would need anymore. I doubt I'll adopt any new technology until streaming video becomes fully viable.

Self destructing from a remote location? Do you suggest that studios will hire "spys" to keep track if you are playing a movie they don't want you seeing and blow up your player? You don't happen to have the link to where you read that non sense, do you? I would be curious to avoid being the average joe you refer to but it seems highly unlikely that any thing like this would be slipped past the majority of the population

Let's not forget that DVD took a few years to really take off. On that schedule, the mainstream won't be picking up Blu-Ray players until 2008 or 2009. By then, HD televisions will have a significant foothold in the market. And once you see a movie on HDNet or HBO-HD and then watch something on DVD, you'll be clamoring for a high-definition video format.

I don't understand all the resentment that people are showing for high definition DVDs. It's simply another option for you. This isn't replacing DVDs (at least not for quite a while). You don't have to throw away your DVD collections. Just adopt the technology if you want. Don't get upset and hope that it will be doomed just because it's expensive.

If the PS3 weren't 500 or 600 doll-hairs you would be correct...if it were say 300-400 then yes you would have people who would say, "soytainly I will buy a new-fangled game player that will show these kewl blu-way movies."

As it stands now though the pricepoint will prohibit that. You will have the gamers and early adopters...these were people who were most likely already on-board anyways.

Because you know, I'm constantly taking sandpaper to my DVDs and I can't believe they can't stand up to a little abrasion.

I've never had durability issues with DVDs, but then again, I take a little care when I'm handling them.

I think Americans will soon be changing the collective attitude, but aren't we right now at a NEGATIVE national savings average? The lowest since the DEPRESSION?

A quick google search resulted in THIS.

This is my guess too. Streaming media technologies seem to be advancing at ridiculous rates. I wonder what Warner's adoption of Bittorrent spells for this in the future across the industry?

I addressed the issue of streaming HD in a different thread, but my opinion is that it will be quite a while before streaming or downloaded HD content becomes a practical reality. Aside from the huge storage requirements (10 to 20Gb minimum for one feature-length HD movie), there's the issue of download bandwidth. Technologically, there's really nothing stopping us from streaming HD video now. The problem is doing it over our current infrastructure. I have a pretty fast cable modem connection at home, but there's no way that it can support the sustained 20Mbps that would be required to allow streaming at the 1080 resolution that I can already get from HD-DVD or Blu-ray. How long will it be before adequate broadband connections are in enough homes to make this option economically viable? Once you get it into your home on a server however, there are already options for streaming HD video via regular CAT-5 cable. Colt45 comment on possible server crashes IS frightening though. It's not like you can easily back up a couple of terabytes worth of HD movies.

You'll notice that I didn't even try to get into the issue of copy protection and DRM. That subject alone is enough to make heads explode in frustration and dread.

Here's an interesting article that's somewhat related to my previous post.

High-Def Could Choke Internet, ISPs Fear

Not true. I suspect you don't watch hi-def television regularly. You don't need a big screen at all. You notice a huge difference when changing video resolutions even on your tiny computer screen.

Damn, it's good to see that some people can intelligently discuss this topic without getting all bent out of shape about it.
I created a thread in an attempt to initiate discussion about this topic over at another site's boards & got nothing in return for my effort, but a lot of misinformed, downright hostile rubbish in response to it. They didnt want to hear about either format & DEFINITELY wanted to "kill the messanger" for bringing it up!
Most of those who replied with such venom were of the notion that the electronics industry in collusion with the studios were attempting to kill the "regular" DVD format & "force" everyone to invest in the new formats & re-purchase their entire film libraries again.
When I tried to convince these folks that the new players would be backwards compatiple & would play "regular" DVDs, most of them just wouldn't listen...

As for me, I LOVE my HDTV & I love watching my HBO HD, Showtime HD, HDNet & all the rest. But, as "spoiled" as I am by it, it's going to be at least two years before I spring for an HD DVD player of any sort.
First of all, I want to wait to see which format survives.
Personally, I think it'll be HD DVD. It's a self explainatory product name. The general public is becoming more & more aware of High Definition products & broadcasts. And, they already own DVDs & DVD players, so if & when they do decide that they want to upgrade, I believe they'll go with what's familiar to them. Which, IMO isn't Blu-Ray. I think it just sounds like something TOTALLY different.
I could be wrong, but I have a pretty good track record in that I went with VHS over Betamax ( WOW, am I aging myself or what! ) & DVD over Divix.
Anyhow, the other biggest reason It'll be a couple of years before I take the HD DVD plunge is price. As with all brand new electronics technology, this first generation of players are VERY expensive & WAY beyond my financial means right now. I figure within about two years though, they should be down to a more realistic price range for me.
Plus, I want to get a new, larger screen television beforehand.
My current TV, which I just bought two years ago, has a lovely widescreen HD display, but is only 27". I'd like to "retire" it to my bedroom in the next year or so & get a nice LCD or Plasma display somewhere in the 40 - 48" range for my primary viewing.

This is a great feature for kid's movies and rentals though, many of which look like someone has taken sandpaper to them.
Not to mention all the people who, unlike us(and I'm sure the majority of people on these boards), leave their DVDs/CDs/games laying around as if they were coasters. Of my entire over 700 disc collection(DVDs/CDs/games), I maybe have 5 scratched discs, and they all play. But at the same time I've borrowed movies from friends that looked like they sank with the Titanic.


*edited to add- I've got to agree with joekurtz, I have a strong feeling HD DVD will "win" this format war simply due to the DVD name recognition.

^^ Pretty much my response. None of my movies have been scratched by me - I take care of them. I don't mind lending movies out to friends, though. And I did get my Pulp Fiction returned to me scratched to the point of not playing. I don't doubt the guys 10-14 year-old kids did it, and I didn't mention it because he's a good, good friend. I also buy a lot of my movies from second-hand places or trade-in shops, and I've gotten shit discs before that I had to return. It's a step that would be nice to skip.

Could I stop lending movies to people? Could I quit buying second-hand? Yeah. Would it be cool if scratch-proof DVD's made the issues nonexistant? Yeah.

I thought of this, too, the other day. I brought it up with my dad (who's not techno-savvy by any means), saying "There's another format war coming, so don't snatch up a new player immediately. Wait it out to see if HD-DVD or Blu-Ray wins." He responded with, "Well, HD-DVD will win, I imagine, if it's just DVD's but in HD." He assumed this Blu-Ray thing was neither disc nor HD.

I just wish we didn't have 2 new standards for vieweing movies. I mean as far as my understanding goes, some studios like columbia will be for sony only while others like warner bros goes to hd dvd, so basically i have to buy both to view movies from all the studios. that sucks. I wish the industry could just decide on one standard and move everything hd to it....Of course that could be the case, both toshiba and sony what their format for hd dvd's but i think the market can only support one format...

Hmm I am hoping for blu -ray to become the standard. It holds the most data.

I am waiting for the day when movies are HD lossless and have a DTS soundtrack. 99% of DVDs are dolby because of space issues. Dolby sounds like crap to me next to DTS.