The Digital Bits - "Officially Blu-ray" Soapbox - Page 11

DaViD Boulet · 06-05-2007, 12:37 PM

Quote:

This is really silly.
J6P or no, DVD becoming a standard was a GOOD thing for your movie collection. Sure, the occasional (extremely rare) title might have been P&S only, but how many other gorgeous anamorphic widescreen titles that are personal favorites came out on DVD that would never come out on a niche format because the demand just isn't high enough?

John is right.

I don't understand this rosey-glasses memory of laserdisc to try to drum up optimism for a "niche" product.

Laserdisc, at the time, competed with P/S VHS and was only bothered with by cine-philes who wanted OAR. So laserdisc became the way to get films in their original aspect ratio, and with bonus features like commentary etc. since its primary target was movie "collectors".

At the time, this dual-market was based on two very different groups.

However, DVD has actually *changed* the way the average consumer watches and collects movies. I know many, many people who never bought VHS, but who now have sizeable DVD collections... my father is one of them. DVD also introduced the public to the concept of OAR which is now much more widely tolerated, and in some cases, preferred, than in the days of VHS.

Even having gone "main stream", DVD boasts a wider support of OAR and bonus materials, and of course *titles*, than laserdisc ever could have hoped for even had DVD not come onto the scene to replace it. I think of many titles that never even emerged in OAR on laserdisc that finally came to DVD in glorious 16x9 WS.

HD media would receive no special treatment as a result of being "niche": we're already getting 1080p OAR and (often) lossless audio with bonus content... and that's going to continue. All that relegating HD media to a "niche" status would produce would be fewer titles that cost more money. That serves NO ONE.

Vader · 06-05-2007, 12:55 PM

Quote:

For those of you who would be happy with HD optical media becoming a Laserdisc-like, niche market, do you think this has any chance of occurring with two competing formats?

Paul,

Would I be happy if this were to happen? Yes. Do I think realistically it could under the circumstances? Probably not, for all the reasons you cited.

FrancisP · 06-05-2007, 01:12 PM

I personally don't have a horse in this race.Here are a few of my observations as a spectator.

Bill Hunt has been pro blu-ray from the beginning. He has told us a number of times how blu-ray is better than hd-dvd. He is pushing his preference and it has nothing to do with saving hi-def.

Assuming his 67%-33% is true, 67% of nothing is nothing. POTC only sold 44,000 copies? That sounds pretty weak to me. There is no software title out there that guarantees victory for either format.

PS3 gave blu-ray an advantage but it was far from the knock-out blow they were hoping for. Now the race is on to see how many stand-alone players, the manufacturers can put into people's homes. If hd-dvd player sales aere picking upb then that is not good for blu-ray.

There is one argument in his column that I strongly disagree with. The idea that we should kiss the studios' ring so they will allow us to own hd. If the studios don't want to provide hd on my terms then I can spend my money somewhere else. I will not allow the studios to have the ability to turn a hd player into an expensive paperweight. If that is the price then I will stick with standard dvd.

Paul Hillenbrand · 06-05-2007, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

I'm sorry, that is utterly ridiculous!

Why must sides be taken NOW? What cold, hard facts are out
there that say one format is better than the other?

None!

And that is the problem!

Everyone KNOWS that HD DVD has better working technology.

Everyone KNOWS that HD DVD is cheaper.

Everyone KNOWS that Blu-ray & HD DVD have equal picture quality!

Everyone KNOWS that Blu-ray has greater (currently) disc capacity.

And when you weigh them, one is not better than the other!

The problem is, they're both THE BEST.

The problem is, that most of us invested in HD DVD and if it looses, our investments dramatically depreciates!

The Problem IS,

there won't be a HD format we can hold and call our own!

IMHO:

IF HD DVD WINS??????

Microsoft (big business

) won't let it win!

What might be their plan?

Having a trump card of Universal by the BALLS and making a consumer SACD / DVD Audio scenario: Divide the consumer and Conquer - (Weak consumer business structure = No profit.)

How well did Pirates and Matrix do?

Win Win for Microsoft. Well worth their investment.

On, to their "other" intended ventures!

Don't even have go there about Blu-ray. A lot of big businesses warring against a monopoly. Do you think blu-ray will have a chance without total support from us?

Paul

Robert Crawford · 06-05-2007, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Hillenbrand

None!

And that is the problem!

Everyone KNOWS that HD DVD has better working technology.

Everyone KNOWS that HD DVD is cheaper.

Everyone KNOWS that Blu-ray & HD DVD have equal picture quality!

Everyone KNOWS that Blu-ray has greater (currently) disc capacity.

And when you weigh them, one is not better than the other!

The problem is, they're both THE BEST.

The problem is, that most of us invested in HD DVD and if it looses, our investments dramatically depreciates!

The Problem IS,

there won't be a HD format we can hold and call our own!

IMHO:

IF HD DVD WINS??????

Microsoft (big business

) won't let it win!

What might be their plan?

Having a trump card of Universal by the BALLS and making a consumer SACD / DVD Audio scenario: Divide the consumer and Conquer - (Weak consumer business structure = No profit.)

How well did Pirates and Matrix do?

Win Win for Microsoft. Well worth their investment.

On, to their "other" intended ventures!

Don't even have go there about Blu-ray. A lot of big businesses warring against a monopoly. Do you think blu-ray will have a chance without total support from us?

Paul

How do you know that most of us invested in HD DVD? Furthermore, who says we can't hold and call either format our own?

Jason Roer · 06-05-2007, 01:39 PM

Paul,

I still don't have a solid answer from anyone about this issue - but why does a Blueray victory cause such a problem HD-DVD owners? You said yourself each format has equal picture quality. So if Blueray wins, just purchase a Blueray player and hook it up next to your HD-DVD player. You don't have to repurchase all your HD-DVD software, that would be ridiculous. So where is the problem? Each of us here would most likely get a new player in a few years anyway.

That is the reason I went ahead and bought an HD-DVD player. I really don't care who wins the war. Like I said, if Blueray wins, I'll just get a Blueray player when they drop to sub $300. In the meantime, I have a fantastic way to watch all my SD movies and I get to watch HD movies as well. Win-win for me.

Cheers,

Jason

Paul Hillenbrand · 06-05-2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford

How do you know that most of us invested in HD DVD?

Because we love HD media entertainment reproduction with a passion. HD DVD was out first and is cheaper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford

who says we can't hold and call either format our own?

There has to be a format out there to call your own.

DaViD Boulet · 06-05-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Because we love HD media entertainment reproduction with a passion. HD DVD was out first and is cheaper.

Right, and because we love HD media, some of us chose to wait for BD for other reasons (let's avoid having a rehash on those reasons in this thread). For comparison, DVHS was "out first" but we all didn't buy that either. And many folks who love HD are also waiting on *either* format in hopes of a single choice. Still others have purchased both formats and don't consider an alegience to either flavor.

Quote:

There has to be a format out there to call your own.

And for many members that can be Blu-ray. And for many it can be HD DVD. And for many it's *BOTH*.

Since this whole thread has made it clear that HTF is a discussion form and so is not "taking side" in the format battle, let's not start to suggest that the forum membership by defacto supports one format over the other.

Paul Hillenbrand · 06-05-2007, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

Right, and because we love HD media, some of us chose to wait for BD for other reasons (let's avoid having a rehash on those reasons in this thread). For comparison, DVHS was "out first" but we all didn't buy that either. And many folks who love HD are also waiting on *either* format in hopes of a single choice. Still others have purchased both formats and don't consider an alegience to either flavor.

And for many members that can be Blu-ray. And for many it can be HD DVD. And for many it's *BOTH*.

Since this whole thread has made it clear that HTF is a discussion form and so is not "taking side" in the format battle, let's not start to suggest that the forum membership by defacto supports one format over the other.

Correct.

Todd H · 06-05-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Roer

Paul,

I still don't have a solid answer from anyone about this issue - but why does a Blueray victory cause such a problem HD-DVD owners? You said yourself each format has equal picture quality. So if Blueray wins, just purchase a Blueray player and hook it up next to your HD-DVD player. You don't have to repurchase all your HD-DVD software, that would be ridiculous. So where is the problem? Each of us here would most likely get a new player in a few years anyway.

That is the reason I went ahead and bought an HD-DVD player. I really don't care who wins the war. Like I said, if Blueray wins, I'll just get a Blueray player when they drop to sub $300. In the meantime, I have a fantastic way to watch all my SD movies and I get to watch HD movies as well. Win-win for me.

Cheers,

Jason

Ding, ding. We have a winner. I agree 100% with Jason.

Back in February, my wife bought me a PS3 for Valentine's Day. It was totally unexpected since I never even mentioned one to her at any time. I figured since I had one I'd check out some Blu-ray discs. So far I've bought about 7 discs and have been pretty happy with the quality.

Does that mean I'd never support HD-DVD? Nope. If HD-DVD won I'd just buy an HD-DVD player. I'm not emotionally attached to either format. They're just shiny, silver discs.