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Will there be any HDDVD players on demo that day? are there any that are worth it right now? if so which ones?
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HD-DVD players/recorders won’t be available until 2005.
Blu-Ray players/recorders are currently available. Panny just released the DMR-E700BD ($3,000) which can record over four hours of HD from satellite/cable and six hours for OTA HD with a DL 50G disc ($70).
There is very little in the way of pre-recorded software on Blu-Ray discs.
The biggest problem with Blu-Ray is that so far they show little to no interest in supporting WM9 (likely due to the animosity between Sony and Microsoft). WM9 is a far superior codec than MPEG2 and would also allow for a significantly greater storage capability.
Reps for Blu-Ray love to point out that their format offers nearly twice the amount of data capacity than HD-DVD. Single-Layer HD-DVDs are 15G VS Blu-Ray Single-Layer discs which are 29G. The problem with this statement is that 29G can only store 132 minutes worth of HD in MPEG2, while 15G is enough to store 180 minutes of HD in WM9.
Thus the irony is that Blu-Ray with nearly twice the storage capacity of HD-DVD actually ends up storing less data due to MPEG2.
This is also the reason why Blu-Ray has so far said they will not be offering any lossless audio tracks where as HD-DVD is supporting lossless audio.
The success of any playback Hi-Def DVD format will likely fall into the hands of the studios, and so far the majority have hinted that HD-DVD is at this point their preferred choice. This probably has more to due with economics, as HD-DVD manufacturing is so similar to the current DVD format that the cost difference would be extremely negligible.
I don't feel strongly enough about lossless audio for that to be a deciding factor, but I certainly wont support any HD format that only uses MPEG2. If Blu-Ray group decides to include WM9 then I suspect they'll win my vote for best of the two formats.
Interestingly, even fellow Blu-Ray group members can't agree on the format as Sony's Blu-Ray recorder, BDZ-S77, uses a 23G disc encased in a cartridge, while Pannys' new recorder uses both 25G and 50G discs both of which use an open cartridge that is very different than Sony's and have caused some compatibility issues between the two Blu-Ray recorders.
Obviously there are a lot of issues with both formats that need to be resolved, and don’t expect studios to be rushing in and releasing their valuable assets in HD without serious consideration over better copy protection standards.
Even then, I’d expect any Hi-Def DVD format to be a niche market for quite a long time as the majority of DVD buyers do not even own a HD resolution display, and those that do, very few will notice that much of a difference, certainly not enough to justify the cost. After all, the difference between standard DVD and Hi-Def DVD will be far less than what the average consumer saw when they went from VHS to DVD or from watching NTSC to HDTV. Don’t get me wrong, I personally am looking forward to Hi-Def DVD, but the majority of the market will be more than happy to stick with standard DVD.
Standard DVD had many immediate advantages over VHS; better video, better audio, more durable, convenience (no rewinding or fast forwarding needed), added value from special features, and eventually the cost was even lower. Hi-Def DVD will only really offer one advantage, better video, with HD-DVD you can possibly add better audio. This is hardly going to be enough to entice the majority of the DVD buying public to embrace this new technology.
