DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and You

DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and You

bangbang023 on 23 April 2006 - 16:36 · 112 comments & 44536 views

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Confused? You should be. While many dedicated Neowin members may already be caught up on the facts regarding next generation high definition home movie disc formats, there are still many people on the outside looking in. Just this week, HD-DVD hit store shelves and sales are even better than expected. However, should you rush in now or should you wait for Sony's Blu-ray format to hit the market? Better yet, what's the real difference and why should you choose either? There are countless questions for each individual consumer to ask themselves, so CNET has stepped in an attempt to lay out all the facts.

From hardware and disc specifications to industry supporters, CNET breaks it all down as simply as possible. Check out the article for full details and make sure you are as informed as the rest of the Neowin community.

View: CNET: HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray

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(1 reply) #1 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#1.1 bangbang023 on 23 Apr 2006 - 19:14

To quote the article (since I am Christopher Vendemio):
initial HD-DVD players not capable of 1080p output

So reading that you can infer that future drives will support it.

(1 reply) #2 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#2.1 bangbang023 on 23 Apr 2006 - 19:17

I believe Samsung backed off the promise earlier this year. LG is the only company that is said to be coming out with a dual format player now.

#3 SMeK on 23 Apr 2006 - 20:27

I'll just wait till things get cheaper then look at whats available on each one

(8 replies) #4 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#4.1 bangbang023 on 23 Apr 2006 - 22:40

The "pretty picture" is a lot more important and a lot better looking than you think.

#4.2 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 00:39

Yes, we're all sheep for wanting better picture and audio quality

It's obvious you're just not a guy who cares about high quality presentation and/or high quality home theater products.

#4.3 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 00:51

"much better ways to spend hard earned money" is a very relative term, no? To some people, their home theater is much more worthy of the money than, say, their car or house.

#4.4 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 01:28

Way to miss my point. When you have extra cash you can do a lot with it......from vacations, to extra stuff for the house, to a new computer, to work on your car, to investing in stocks, and all the way to home theater equipment. For some people, they'd much rather put it into home theater instead of "wasting" it on something else. After all, there are "much better ways to spend hard earned cash" than buying a chair.

#4.5 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 01:33

You run from every discussion in which you can't make a point? I'm a home theater buff. I work with the stuff and I enjoy reading about it and experiencing it outside of work, too. If I had the money, I would be be all over the latest greatest gadgets. What you fail to understand is that just because something is "good enough" for you doesn't make it acceptable to everyone else. I, unlike you, have a higher standard of quality to meet when it comes to the home theater experience.

#4.6 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 01:58

Not much better than DVD? Both formats completely blow DVD, which you're watching at 480i, out of the water. How can you judge the formats until you sit down and watch their quality on an HD set? You simply can't. I don't understand how people can feel confident saying it's not much better than VHS or DVD. If you have two eyes and the opporunity to look at the stuff in action, it's easy to tell it's better, way better.

#4.7 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 02:07

You watched movies on it? He has an HD-DVD player and you watched it? If you saw it, how can you not tell the difference? It's as plain as day to see.

#4.8 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 02:32

Ok, see, that's the key phrasing for that makes sense, "It's not for me". My entire point in this long debate is that people shouldn't knock it simply because they don't feel like they should spend the money on it. The quality is obviously there.

The jump from dvd 480i/p (you're watching it in interlaced) is definitely a bigger jump than most people are giving credit for. When HDMI 1.3 hits the market, the two HD disc formats are going to really be the only 1080p sources and that's where everyone, enthusiast or not, will really be able to sit there and see the difference.

#5 Joel on 23 Apr 2006 - 23:18

Remember, the good DVD players were also more than $20 when they came out. I paid $800 for my Proscan form the first-gen releases, and the only other player better was a Sony reference player. I think $500 for the new players is a steal in that light.

(1 reply) #6 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#6.1 Joel on 23 Apr 2006 - 23:19

Quote - multimediatechy said @ #25

i think its just getting rediculous that they are always bringing out new formats for this that and the next thing...where does it stop! dvds didn't last that long then

Almost 10 years. Not bad.

(1 reply) #7 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#7.1 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 00:40

You make it sound like movies will use up either of those limits. I prefer HD-DVD because it's less expensive to the consumer (which I am).

Last edited by bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 02:11

(5 replies) #8 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#8.1 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 02:01

You're right, they won't and most people are better off with them. However, the people with HD sets, specifically, a good HD set, should be very eager to move on up. It's unfortunate these first players don't support 1080p, but that's really a limitation of the HDMI hardware and not the player itself.

#8.2 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 03:41

While the HDMI spec has always supported 1080p, the hardware in sets hasn't (while trying to remain affordable). HDMI 1.3 will correct that come summer time as it will be more cost effective and thus allow manufacturers to sell the sets at affordable prices.

#8.3 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 03:50

A spec can support a lot of theoretical, nonactive numbers. However, the hardware to do so has not been affordable and has thus been placed on the side except for a few rare cases. To make the A1 affordable, they had to skimp on things.

Did you know Blu-ray supports 200gb discs? I can't wait to see them in May....oh wait.

Toshiba chose to go with a 1080i player because of price and the market. Their next players and other players from other companies will support 1080p fine.

I never said the HDMI spec didn't support the damn resolution. I said it's a limitation of the hardware. My exact words. I was wrong to exclude the player fro mthe problem, though.

Last edited by bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 04:01

#8.4 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 04:20

And if they put out a 1080p player what's going to happen? No one could use the 1080p resolution since NONE of the hardware on the general consumer market accepts it. To keep the player low cost, they had to do what most every other company on the market has done and stuck with a 1080i max chipset.

I was wrong in saying it's not a limitation of the player since I've known from the beginning it was (as I said in an earlier post somewhere up top), but that still doesn't exclude the fact that the rest of the hardware on the market doesn't support it either and most TV sets won't support it until the 1.3 standard is complete and put into production.

#8.5 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 15:50

Deadmonkey, you're right on all counts except the expectation of 1080p broadcast content. Bandwidth limits leave that pretty much dead in the water.

(1 reply) #9 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#9.1 bangbang023 on 24 Apr 2006 - 04:42

Nope, the current SXRD set does not accept incoming 1080p over HDMI, only the firewire. And a majority of sets are still not going to be 1080p. With broadcast not anywhere near 1080p, most sets will remain at the 720p mark in all likelihood.

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