BLU RAY OR HD DVD?? (1 Viewer)

[shingdaz]

I decided to hold out of the format war...and I chose LG's Super-Multi Player.

In relation to other players...most of what this player offers comes down to personal prefrence. If you like HD special features etc, then you could have problems with this unit. Otherwise..the image quality is well defined...it has a built in 24fps converter...this creates a wonderfull Cinema viewing experience...the images look natural and movies unfold with sharp realism... mimicking the effects of a true reel-to reel film.

There is definatly one feature this unit has and does good at and that is upconversion...I threw in a standard DVD with a movie that was done back in the 80's re-done onto DVD...the upconversion was [email protected] also did not have the black bars on the top and bottom when I stretched the image...the movie looked like I was watching the directors cut through every scene...this was impossible to acheive upconverted on my TOSHIBA-HDD1 I owned but sold for this remarkale unit...the Toshiba unit added black bars on the sides when upconverted...sort of disapointing. Superman 2 The Directors Cut in HD looked completely amazing...filmed 20 years ago and remastered for HD...image quality was close to what the director was watching while filming the movie...very impressive. It's simple and easy to use bottons on the top of the unit allow you to just plop a movie in...press play and away you go...easy to see in the dark also.

 

[John-Miles]

For myself i held off on buying either format, then i bought a PS3 (yeah i got it for the games that arent out yet) so now that i have a PS3 im on the blu ray side i guess.

But in all honesty there are two reasons i think BD is the way to go, one is exclusive studio support, it comes down to universal vs sony, disney, lionsgate, and fox.

Second reason is, and yes i came to this conclusion after getting ym PS3, the step up from DVD - either HD format does not seem to be that mind blowing to me, particularly when i watch an older movie in HD, such as goodfellas, or the fifth element, they both looked great, but i wasent as blown away by the detail as i was on newer releases. maybe it was a mastering issue, or just when the movies were filmed. but i do know that for now i wont be replacing very many movies with the HD counterpart.

What this essentially means is that BD will get my business for new releases, while i will happily buy the cheaper dvd counterpart to all the back catalog universal titles that i want.

 

[bigluigi]

Why not BOTH! I just bought a Toshiba HD-DVD player for a little over $200. Now I know that a Blue-Ray player would set me back at least $500. So when Wal-mart starts selling those imported Chinese HD-DVD players for $100later this year, it's very probible that Blue-ray players will be priced in the $200-$250 range around Christmas and that's when I'll make my move to purchase the Blue-ray player. I own about 700 standard DVD title so I'm not in a big rush to replace my current DVD library. Boy, I do LOVE this format war! Without it, I doubt we would see such a dramatic price reduction in such a short time on these HD players. I see both formats hanging around for a long time and I just wish they will soon get in a SOFTWARE war. Only when software titles get in the $10 range will I start thinking seriously about replacing my current standard DVD library. Until than, I'll just make due with NetFlix rentals and the superior upconversion capabilities of the HD-A2 and HD movies on DISH.

 

[DAN NEIR]

I didn't see the point to both. Other than exclusive Universal HD movies I don't really see the point to getting hd-dvd. The cheaper players aren't the deciding factor for me, the studio support was. And I know that hd dvd also has some other features(like the pip on the upcoming 300) but that just isn't enough for me to want to get into that format too.

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

I love it when an already-debunked rumour is reported as fact.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I don't think we know what Wal-Mart is going to do. All I have seen is Wal-Mart has indicated there are currently no plans to sell the Chinese made HD DVD players and I have seen nothing indicating Wal-Mart will sell the upcoming Funai manufactured Blu-ray players. If was going to guess, I would guess at a minimum Wal-Mart will sell the Funai players based on recent years Funai relationships with Wal-Mart.

Chris

 

[micah323]

I went with Blu Ray and my player should be here at the end of the week. There were a few main reasons I chose BD (Samsung 1200).

1) I wanted great sd dvd upconversion. The 1200 was about $60 cheaper than the xa2. Also, my tv and my reciever do not have hdmi. From what I have heard with all the toshiba hd players is that if you use the hdmi->dvi to get the upconverting, they have some problems with settings and pq.

2) I looked at all of the titles on both and decided that Blu Ray has more that I am interested in, or they are dual format. The two tempting titles for hd-dvd were Batman Begins and Matrix...both will be available on Blu Ray. Universal isnt that tempting to me. I would rather have Crank, Apacalypto, and Casino Royale than Hot Fuzz.

3) I have a xbox 360 and if I feel like I need hd-dvd, the prices will only go down on the add on.

3)

 

[DAN NEIR]

I chose the Samsung 1200 also and your number 2 reason is exactly why. The 2 titles you mentioned are the only reason I considered hd dvd but as you said I saw that someday they will be available on blu ray.

 

[bigluigi]

The point in getting both formats is getting both formats without hurting the pocketbook too much. Universal has some great titles coming out soon: Streets of Fire, Notting Hill, Meet the Fockers, For the Love of the Game, and The Last Starfighter to name just some of them. If I just had Blue-Ray, I'd be tearing my hair out. Anyway, I still think that come Christmas time Blue-Ray players will be priced in the $200 to $300 range and this is perfect for me because, at the present time, no Blue-ray exclusive title appeals to me.

 

[Jason Roer]

For me it's also about studio support and title selection, but in my case, HD-DVD won out. I already have 4 Universal titles including Children of Men (my favorite film from last year). 3 more films from Universal (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Knocked Up) of absolute must haves for me as these 3 titles are 3 of my favorite films of the past few years and so far, Knocked Up is my favorite this year. And The Last Starfighter - yep that's gotta be in my collection too! One of the forgotten gems from the 80's.

As far as other titles, well I consider Batman Begins, Matrix, Adventures of Robin Hood and many others to be HD-DVD exclusives. Warners says they're going to be released on Bluray, but there hasn't been a date set and I simply don't believe announcements. Too many times have we been burned on announcements.

Also - the start up price for HD-DVD is so much cheaper right now and as others have stated, most likely Bluray will sink down to that magic $300 number by this holiday season. So getting HD-DVD first made more sense to me.

Right now only 1 title on BD has me salivating - Casino Royale. Other then Batman Begins, CR is my favorite popcorn flick in years.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Chris Quinn]

HD-DVD

Price. My Oppo died last week and the HD-A2 off Amazon is less than $20 more the an Oppo 981 and comes with 5 movies. At that price I could care less if HD-DVD ends up losing the format war. If Blu-ray wins out, the HD-A2 will carry me just fine until Blu-rays are under $150 and at that point I'll be capable for either.

Buying a stand alone for each format is now cheaper than buying a combo player. How are they going to sell any more combo players?

 

[MattGuyOR]

HD DVD. Much better price, and unlike Bluray, it was a FULLY finished product. I love all the br guys talking up their already obsolete players. Makes me giggle.

 

[LarryH]

Depends on which kind of grief you are willing to endure. I have both: I have not yet had an HD-DVD play through without a freeze-up or a skip; some BR's also play with a jerky motion and my Apocalypto didn't play at all.

I think we are still in the early-adopter phase for both formats. Although my A1 still skips and freezes, my 1000 clearly lacks many capabilities not yet defined when it was bought - some of which may still not be available.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I checked for pros and cons of both formats for months before deciding to buy a b-r player. The decision was based on titles and players, but mostly titles. I have kids so Disney was a must.

 

[Averry]

HD-DVD


I've had an Xbox 360 for 2 years, so $180 to get one was a no brainer. Especially because I just bought an 23 samsung LCD for my room.


I'm only 19, but I enjoy some finer qualities. I adopt before I can convince my parents to. It's been that way for years.

 

[Thomas Ehlers]

Hi Dan--

I only just recently started looking at hi-def DVD and have been fence sitting admittedly. I agree with you that studio support is a significant factor in determine which format to choose. I'm curious if there are indicators that both formats could establish themselves in the marketplace. If that is the case I'd be content to invest in a combo player. Do you or anyone else know if other mfr's. besides LG have announced plans to offer this player type?

-Tom

 

[DAN NEIR]

I heard Samsung was suppose to be doing a combo player, hopefully it will support all features as I've heard the LG combo doesn't support all hd-dvd features. Also hopefully for those interested it won't be $1000 either.

 

[Averry]

If you think about it, Netflix was stealing business so BlockBuster gave in.


They have a mail in deal. So......

Basically Blockbuster has expensive locations that cost them lots of dollars, just so people can exchange movies that they got in the mail.

It's not gonna end up good for them. Maybe it was a short term move to steal business back from Netflix, but at the same time they are admitting defeat of their own existance.

 

[Thomas Ehlers]

I hope so, too. I used to be an early adopter of home theater gear when DVD was introduced back in the late nineties, but I can't justify the high premium on first generation hardware that is inevitably going to get better in terms of features, performance, and build quality and be cheaper in the near future.

I understand the Toshiba A2 is a significant improvement over the A1 and is less expensive, so I think it pays to wait a bit. My hope is that we will have at least a few combo players from which to choose.

-Tom

 

[bigluigi]

My sentiments exactly. At the current low price of the Toshiba HD-A2 the "risk" of buying into one of the 2 formats becomes rather moot. The A-2 itself is an outstanding upconverting DVD player that also happens to be HD-DVD compatable! Like you I will wait until BD players are priced reasonably before I buy. It's going to be an intresting X-mas.