- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,549
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
It feels kind of strange to be posting in the Blu-Ray forum area.
For the record, though I have been an HD-DVD owner exclusively
for the past year, I was very careful about coming out against
Blu-Ray.
As with the official stand Home Theater Forum is taking in this
format war, my bias towards either format is neutral. To date,
I still see no clear winner and my comments in this post should
not be misinterpreted as being biased in any way.
Honestly, a year after both HD formats have launched, I had no
intention of getting into Blu-Ray, though a certain movie
just announced exclusively to that format would have forced me
to buy in the next few months. More on that in a moment.
For me, this format war came down to price. I jumped into
HD-DVD because of the cost. I could not justify spending twice
the amount for a Blu-Ray player compared to HD-DVD. It was
my intention to eventually buy into BR, but I was not going to do
so until hardware prices came down to the $300 level and/or there
was a "killer app" software title released that I needed to own
exclusive to the BR studios.
This brings me to my decision to swallow the BLUE pill....
The folks from Panasonic and the Blu-Ray studios (Sony, Fox,
Lions Gate and Disney) were extremely gracious to all the
HTF/BITS/TVSHOWSONDVD attendees at EMA this year. Each
of us have been promised a complimentary Panasonic BR player.
Obviously, the studios and manufacturers hoped that members
who did not already own BR players would come on the forum
and start talking about their newly acquired format. Count me in
as one of them who will be doing just that.
Don't think, however, that any of us have been bought with this
gift. In my case, this is just another HD player that gives me
additional title purchasing options. I fully expect the picture
quality to be just as good as HD-DVD and over the course of time
I will be able to determine on my own if one format is better than
the other.
I should mention that all of the formentioned attendees also
received free HD-DVD players from Toshiba, Universal and the
HD-DVD group. I don't expect there to be any bias shown based
on whom gave us what. Though we are grateful to both camps
for the generosity they have shown, this format war isn't about
which studio is looking to give away the most product.
Getting back to the subject at hand...
So, as I stated, it's rather strange that in 4-6 weeks I am going
to own my first Blu-Ray player and will be able to join all of you
in discussing my experiences. I feel as if for the longest time I
have had to ignore the Blu-Ray member conversations merely for
the fact I didn't own a player.
The studios gave all of us some great titles (9 in all) including
The Fifth Element (Remastered), Crank, Pirates of the Caribbean DMC,
Alien vs. Predator, Ice Age II and others that I can't think of
off the top of my head.
I just went online and ordered The Patriot and Casino Royale,
so you know I am serious about buying more titles. I'll also admit
that at the same time I purchased 300 and Twilight Zone:
The Movie on HD-DVD because I want to keep things equal.
But here's the real SELL of the format for me that I was teasing
you about a few paragraphs above...
If I wasn't part of the group receiving complimentary players, it
was the announcement of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
exclusively to Blu-Ray that would have pushed me into buying the
format within the next few months.
You see, I have always said this from day one of the format war....
You want to win this format war? You need to win it with software.
Outside of a few new releases, I was never impressed with the
Blu-Ray titles being released. It was as if the studios were playing
it way too safe. If Blu-Ray keeps releasing films like CE3K
or Universal releases Jurassic Park or Back To The Future,
you will probably see the scales tip more in favor of one format
from film enthusiasts. The average consumer, however, is walking
around on their own "wavelength" so you never know how they will
decide.
Do you realize how many Blu-Ray players would be sold tomorrow
if Lucas decided to release Star Wars to that format?
I look forward to becoming an owner of Blu-Ray and joining all
of you in future conversation. Just don't expect me to immediately
declare a preference in this war because there are so many good and
(fewer) bad points about each format that makes me realize that I
am just going to concentrate on enjoying films on both players.
For the record, though I have been an HD-DVD owner exclusively
for the past year, I was very careful about coming out against
Blu-Ray.
As with the official stand Home Theater Forum is taking in this
format war, my bias towards either format is neutral. To date,
I still see no clear winner and my comments in this post should
not be misinterpreted as being biased in any way.
Honestly, a year after both HD formats have launched, I had no
intention of getting into Blu-Ray, though a certain movie
just announced exclusively to that format would have forced me
to buy in the next few months. More on that in a moment.
For me, this format war came down to price. I jumped into
HD-DVD because of the cost. I could not justify spending twice
the amount for a Blu-Ray player compared to HD-DVD. It was
my intention to eventually buy into BR, but I was not going to do
so until hardware prices came down to the $300 level and/or there
was a "killer app" software title released that I needed to own
exclusive to the BR studios.
This brings me to my decision to swallow the BLUE pill....
The folks from Panasonic and the Blu-Ray studios (Sony, Fox,
Lions Gate and Disney) were extremely gracious to all the
HTF/BITS/TVSHOWSONDVD attendees at EMA this year. Each
of us have been promised a complimentary Panasonic BR player.
Obviously, the studios and manufacturers hoped that members
who did not already own BR players would come on the forum
and start talking about their newly acquired format. Count me in
as one of them who will be doing just that.
Don't think, however, that any of us have been bought with this
gift. In my case, this is just another HD player that gives me
additional title purchasing options. I fully expect the picture
quality to be just as good as HD-DVD and over the course of time
I will be able to determine on my own if one format is better than
the other.
I should mention that all of the formentioned attendees also
received free HD-DVD players from Toshiba, Universal and the
HD-DVD group. I don't expect there to be any bias shown based
on whom gave us what. Though we are grateful to both camps
for the generosity they have shown, this format war isn't about
which studio is looking to give away the most product.
Getting back to the subject at hand...
So, as I stated, it's rather strange that in 4-6 weeks I am going
to own my first Blu-Ray player and will be able to join all of you
in discussing my experiences. I feel as if for the longest time I
have had to ignore the Blu-Ray member conversations merely for
the fact I didn't own a player.
The studios gave all of us some great titles (9 in all) including
The Fifth Element (Remastered), Crank, Pirates of the Caribbean DMC,
Alien vs. Predator, Ice Age II and others that I can't think of
off the top of my head.
I just went online and ordered The Patriot and Casino Royale,
so you know I am serious about buying more titles. I'll also admit
that at the same time I purchased 300 and Twilight Zone:
The Movie on HD-DVD because I want to keep things equal.
But here's the real SELL of the format for me that I was teasing
you about a few paragraphs above...
If I wasn't part of the group receiving complimentary players, it
was the announcement of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
exclusively to Blu-Ray that would have pushed me into buying the
format within the next few months.
You see, I have always said this from day one of the format war....
You want to win this format war? You need to win it with software.
Outside of a few new releases, I was never impressed with the
Blu-Ray titles being released. It was as if the studios were playing
it way too safe. If Blu-Ray keeps releasing films like CE3K
or Universal releases Jurassic Park or Back To The Future,
you will probably see the scales tip more in favor of one format
from film enthusiasts. The average consumer, however, is walking
around on their own "wavelength" so you never know how they will
decide.
Do you realize how many Blu-Ray players would be sold tomorrow
if Lucas decided to release Star Wars to that format?
I look forward to becoming an owner of Blu-Ray and joining all
of you in future conversation. Just don't expect me to immediately
declare a preference in this war because there are so many good and
(fewer) bad points about each format that makes me realize that I
am just going to concentrate on enjoying films on both players.