# HDDVD or Blueray...or DVD



## lance.f (Oct 18, 2007)

personally i like cassette tapes for watching movies..yeah im freaky. As far as HD or BR i have absolutely no idea, tho blueray has better quality..


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## Grimfang (Oct 18, 2007)

I'm not necessarily in favor of BR or HD. I think the whole format war thing is a shitty game monster corporations play that cost confused consumers tons of money.

I'm sticking with DVDs til everything goes totally digital or streaming, cus it's definitely bound to happen sooner or later.


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## Eevee (Oct 18, 2007)

DVD

If I had to choose, I would rather the eventual winner be HD-DVD for various reasons (read: Sony is run by assholes and I don't trust them to not be assholes if they control the format behind all retail video), but for now I am staying away from this expensive jerkfest over a format we don't really need.


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## furryskibum (Oct 18, 2007)

Neither.  While HD is a neat gimmick for the entertainment industry, it's really pretty pointless unless you plan on doubling or tripling your cost of watching TV (rough guesstimate).  HD is not the standard for television broadcasts yet.  And even if you can receive HD signals, most people are not set up to display it properly.

For me, the argument is null anyway.  I've never bought a TV and I haven't had the one given to me plugged in for over a year now.


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## net-cat (Oct 18, 2007)

I'm all for the transition to digital over analog. It frees up a large portion of the radio spectrum in use by analog stations. Yay ATSC! Boo NTSC/PAL! 

As for whether or not we should be sending HD or SD signals over that, I don't really care.

Crap in HD is just that: crap.

As for the DVD/HDDVD/Bluray debate, I hope HDDVD wins. I don't really care about HDTV, but in terms of data storage, HDDVD is likely going to be cheaper and backwards compatible with DVD.

(Unless I'm mistaken, HDDVD discs can be manufactured using mostly the same equipment as DVD discs.)


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## Necron_immortal (Oct 18, 2007)

DVD until Blu-Ray wins. More capacity, and an overall superior format.


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## Grimfang (Oct 18, 2007)

The only thing that really leans me here is that Sony sucks ass. Sony has been making itself out to be more of shameless corporation than walmart or microsoft. Sony has just hit #1 in the past couple years.

HD-DVD does have a lesser capacity, but it is less expensive. And by the time the NEXT format war is due, we'll all be watching TVs on the internets.

Internet killed the video star.


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## Necron_immortal (Oct 18, 2007)

Sony sucks?

It costs alot of money to make BD-DVD lenses, and the PS3 is high quality. Sony generally gives good customer service.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 is the most malfunctional piece of **** in the whole gaming industry, scratching discs and then breaking down forever. Compare that to Sony products, and there's a big difference.

Microsoft ranks below EA and many major supermarket corporations, though.

Admittedly, this will probably be the last physical format war.


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## Grimfang (Oct 18, 2007)

Keep in mind that the PS3 is so young compared to the 360. Give the PS3 time, and it may develop hardware issues as well.

Given the fact that Microsoft is replacing any defective 360 issues related to this, regardless of how long ago the warranty expired, I'd say Microsoft is providing pretty good customer service.

Sony overshot itself. I was a PS2 kid, last gen. However, there was no way in hell I was going to pay $600+ just for a system. Yes, yes, I know it's a game console, BR player, and a toaster oven all-in-one... But I want a game console. Not an everything included home theater system (speakers sold separately).

The 360 has the optional add-on for HD player. Purely optional. It's more flexible. Microsoft isn't stapling its customers to its format like Sony is.

So, given the release date prices, I set my sites on the 360.


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## Necron_immortal (Oct 18, 2007)

With an all-in-one system, you save space and get more bang for your buck. I consider it a game system most importantly. Blu-ray can store much more than the old DVD formats, and thus you get much higher, true next generation quality gameplay. Sony is selling it at a loss as well. I don't see what all the fuss is about. People are only complaining about Blu-Ray because of the price. Save up for a month or so, the PS3 isn't that expensive for a games console. You get much more value for money.

The PS3 has been out for almost a year now, and there have been very few hardware issues. 

If Microsoft had tested its product for durability and quality properly, and taken its time developing the product thoughtfully, then the relability issues would be much fewer.

PS2 and PC last gen, PS3 and old PC games this gen.


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## TheGru (Oct 18, 2007)

A couple things all these company freaks want to blind the consumers from:
1. HD isn't all that much of an improvement, maybe a little, but not enough to be worth it.
2. Blu-Ray is *no different* from DVD. It's on a disk, and it had the same video quality as DVD. The only difference is it's harder to burn pirated copies (yep, that's the reason why they're promoting it.)

Blu-Ray being superior my eye! I've seen it, and I'm not impressed.


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## Comrade Newski (Oct 18, 2007)

Okay, Blue Ray and HD do very little to things that are not filmed for its specifications. Who would waste money on a Blue Ray Copy of Gone with the Wind when the quality will be equal to a DVD? 

It's a waste of money. They haven't been filming for these things for very long. HD is great for TV. But other then a box set of Scrubs, what the hell good is this for? The ten hollywood blockbusters a year that are made for it? Most of which suck ass, anyway? I mean, I see a movie each week. And have seen only two movies that are good enough to buy, and they weren't made for that format (Hot Fuzz and The Host. Well, I'm not sure about Hot Fuzz).

Neither HD nor Blue Ray can improve the Quality for something that was shot on film for film projection. So, there's really no point to it, is there?

Wait about three years. Then start the format wars.


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## Roshin (Oct 18, 2007)

lance.f said:
			
		

> personally i like cassette tapes for watching movies..yeah im freaky. As far as HD or BR i have absolutely no idea, tho blueray has better quality..



Blu-Ray does not have better quality.

Both formats are capable of storing a 1080p video signal that's 3 hours long, plus some bonus material.

Personally, I'm in the HD-DVD camp.  It's starting to turn the tables on Blu-Ray's previous lead with exclusive movie studios, it has had far fewer technical problems, and it's all-around less expensive.


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## Vore Writer (Oct 18, 2007)

I think I'll stick to DVD. The picture looks fine too me.


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## RadeHawkeye (Oct 19, 2007)

I've heard that both blockbuster and best buy have moved exclusively to blu-ray, and neither will carry HD-DVD anymore, so to me it looks like Blu-Ray has won. which I'm all for since I have a PS3


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## Eevee (Oct 19, 2007)

RadeHawkeye said:
			
		

> so to me it looks like Blu-Ray has won. which I'm all for since I have a PS3


Sucks for everyone who doesn't want a $600 DVD player?

Who goes to Blockbuster any more?


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## yak (Oct 19, 2007)

I can't stand anything non-HD after watching and getting addicted to HD stuff.


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## CyberFoxx (Oct 19, 2007)

RadeHawkeye said:
			
		

> I've heard that both blockbuster and best buy have moved exclusively to blu-ray, and neither will carry HD-DVD anymore, so to me it looks like Blu-Ray has won. which I'm all for since I have a PS3



Blockbuster switching to Blu-Ray is a non-issue, mostly because Blockbuster isn't doing as well as they used to. I'm not sure about anywhere else, but Blockbuster is closing stores left, right and center all across Canada. The only real rental stores that matter these days are the "Mom-and-Pop" stores, and they seem to be backing HD-DVD more than Blu-Ray.

Personally, I'm still happy with standard DVD. Xine/MPlayer with nVidia XVMC, and a couple of other filters, and the quality is good enough for me.


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## lance.f (Oct 19, 2007)

Okay it seems this debate is hots X3 DVD seems the most in favor, X3 why no cassete tapes Ovo there umm..........powerful X3


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## Rostam The Grey (Oct 19, 2007)

DVD. Blu-Ray is a better format. But no one will invest a lot in one or the other until one wins. And as long as no one is investing a lot, neither will win. Unless they make the combo player they are talking about that will play both formats.


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## ADF (Oct 19, 2007)

*sigh* Do people actually have a valid reason to be against Blue-ray other than the brand name attached to it? I mean christ sake, pick a valid complaint like the price tag attached, not some BS Sony hate bandwagon because of how they chose to handle the PS3.

To piss some of you off I'll say I'm rooting for Blue-ray, why? Because there is more to disks than just movies. BR automatically wins for me simply because it has the larger capacity; greater capacity makes a better storage medium, it is annoying this war is being decided on selling movies when disks are used for so much more. I'm not looking forward to multiple DVD games like with CD-ROMs; storage space is only going to become a increasing problem as games get better, especially with the mega textures being made in the Tech 5 engine.

I'm not worried about the price because it will inevitably go down over the years, like with DVDs by then we will be more concerned with getting the most out of the technology than the retail price. Blue-ray will probably have a longer market life span than HD-DVD because the capacity won't become insufficient as quickly.

Maybe I'll actually be able to back up my HDD data which hasn't been burned since it exceeded the capacity of 4 DVDs (70gb now), maybe if I am really lucky all that data gathered over the years won't go corrupt before this annoying format war is over.


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## lance.f (Oct 19, 2007)

ADF said:
			
		

> *sigh* Do people actually have a valid reason to be against Blue-ray other than the brand name attached to it? I mean christ sake, pick a valid complaint like the price tag attached, not some BS Sony hate bandwagon because of how they chose to handle the PS3.
> 
> To piss some of you off I'll say I'm rooting for Blue-ray, why? Because there is more to disks than just movies. BR automatically wins for me simply because it has the larger capacity; greater capacity makes a better storage medium, it is annoying this war is being decided on selling movies when disks are used for so much more. I'm not looking forward to multiple DVD games like with CD-ROMs; storage space is only going to become a increasing problem as games get better, especially with the mega textures being made in the Tech 5 engine.
> 
> ...




nothing automatically wins hon ^v^ remember Betamax n lazer disks, they fought hard but unless your psycic we dont reely know ^v^


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## Eevee (Oct 19, 2007)

Remember laserdiscs?  Those held so much more data.  Almost DVD-quality.

Yeah, me neither.


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## lance.f (Oct 19, 2007)

Eevee said:
			
		

> Remember laserdiscs?  Those held so much more data.  Almost DVD-quality.
> 
> Yeah, me neither.



lets just debate n wait :^v^


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## ADF (Oct 19, 2007)

lance.f said:
			
		

> nothing automatically wins hon ^v^ remember Betamax n lazer disks, they fought hard but unless your psycic we dont reely know ^v^


I never said I think Blue-ray will automatically win, only that it is my preference that it did.

When it actually comes down to it, this format war being over is more desirable than any particular format winning. People say competition is good, which is true, but when it is competition between formats it is hardly to the advantage of a consumer. Competition between a couple of different brands is good for the consumer, but when it is a format war you are scared to buy anything in case it ends up the losing format.

What is the benefit of lower prices and better features if actually buying one is gambling whether your investment will still be usable in a year or so? It is annoying as hell, you cannot choose one side without losing access to films you like on the other. I just wish they would pick a damn format and stick with it, if it ends up Blue-ray then all the better.


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## lance.f (Oct 19, 2007)

Well Br does seem like a good investment..in 5 years or so


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## Digitalpotato (Oct 19, 2007)

I prefer DVD.

The only thing Blu-Ray or HD really does is make it so that you can really REALLY see the best picture, and add more storage space for crap 90% of the buyers don't care about. (That's what I thought about DVDs at first...eventually they'll run out of space for the movie with all the junk and Easter Eggs they have to put in by law)


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## lance.f (Oct 19, 2007)

hmm wat to do with that much memory


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## silvertwilight (Oct 19, 2007)

I think Hd-DVD may win just because non-tech savvy people know the term DVD
Long scary words like blueray confuse them


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## Digitalpotato (Oct 19, 2007)

lance.f said:
			
		

> hmm wat to do with that much memory



We can put a storyboard from a deleted scene.

IN FULL-SCREEN HIGH-DEFINITION! 

You'd even be able to see where something was erased that you couldn't see when it was placed on the Special-edition-DVD version six months ago!


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## Grimfang (Oct 20, 2007)

The only real difference is capacity. Quality -- no difference.

One's cheaper.

So, with Blu-ray, you can get more hours of extra content that you'll never watch.

Why pay more?

Yup.

But, again, I'm not focusing attention on buying an HD setup. I'm more focused on spending money on rent and surviving college.

Plus, if Blurays win, then there will be the uber-expensive future of BR-drives... ya, wait several years and they'll be cheaper in computers. But then they'll also be outdated for the next format war, assuming formats don't just abandon the war and go strictly online.


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## Lonely (Oct 20, 2007)

Well, I'm still thinking that for movies neither Blueray nor HD-DVD are going to win.  I work at Blockbuster, I still get at LEAST one person a week that's pissed off that we don't carry VHS.  Then they're <b><i>shocked</i></b> when you tell them we haven't carried them since late '05.  That and your average movie consumer upgrades only when things break, not every 5 or so years minimum like a mildly tech savy person.  People will also be pissed when you tell them they have to buy a new player again.

This goes along the same lines of Super CDs and Audio DVDs.  Know of these?  They're audio disc formats that play in 5.1 surround.  I heard about these on National Public Radio about a year and a half ago and never heard of them since.

This format is going to be decided by PC games and other PC whatnots, but may never the less be killed by unwilling movie watchers.


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## Grimfang (Oct 20, 2007)

> I've heard that both blockbuster and best buy have moved exclusively to blu-ray, and neither will carry HD-DVD anymore, so to me it looks like Blu-Ray has won. which I'm all for since I have a PS3



When did this happen?

Best Buy still sells HD-DVD players and the discs. Are you suggesting the Best Buy isn't selling Transformers? Forums and blogs claim Best Buy is pushing one format over another, but actual articles state that Best Buy isn't necessarily for one over the other. Check out the ads they push. They have HD and BR.

Only thing I'm afraid of is that neither format will totally die. They could keep going like this for a while... they each have good backers. Where you say BR is higher quality, you can say HD is more affordable, making it more likely to be pushed into other areas of the market, like computers.

Take DVD+-R... although not quite as brutal of a war, you still see both formats.


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## Leasara (Oct 20, 2007)

I haven't looked at the Blueray/HDDVD issue at all since both would be too expensive for me and I would have nothing to hook the players up to.  However, I would expect Sony to lose out just like they did in the VHS/Betamax war unless they learned that they can't be the popular brand _and_ keep absolute control over their product.

Personally, I've disliked Sony for quite a while now.  Their coporate philosophy seems to be something like: "We're fricken' *HUGE*!  How could we be *THIS BIG* and make a mistake?  Obviously whatever complaint you think you have is in error."  Of course, that's just based on my personal expieriances with the company, and it could be that I've just been unfortunate in every dealing I've had with one of their subsidaries.


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## silvertwilight (Oct 20, 2007)

Grimfang said:
			
		

> > I've heard that both blockbuster and best buy have moved exclusively to blu-ray, and neither will carry HD-DVD anymore, so to me it looks like Blu-Ray has won. which I'm all for since I have a PS3
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That would stink, both of the competitors have advantages so there's no   reason to say they might both survive for years on end. Which would be bad, very very bad >:O

I mean how would you know what movies to buy for people and you could end up renting a blueray rather than HD-DVD and not being able to play it. I really hope one of them win


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## ADF (Oct 20, 2007)

Something that REALLY annoys me.

Sunshine and V for Vendetta; two different movies I like, two different formats.

Whichever format wins, I hope they re-release the failed formats movies in the standardised one.


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## Grimfang (Oct 20, 2007)

Ya dude!

Transformers is on DVD and HD-DVD.

Spiderman 3 will be on DVD and BR.

But, hahaha... read this.
http://www.dealerscope.com/story/story.bsp?sid=80623&var=story&publication=Dealerscope&publicationDate=10/19/07&slug=DSEnews4_101907_formatwar&category=None&section=Unknown
Or don't, but here's what it says basically:
Some movies that are "Blu-ray exclusive" are on HD-DVD in Europe because of differing distribution deals.

While Blu-Ray, for some unknown reason, is holding on to region codes, HD-DVD doesn't have different region codes.

So, you can buy certain 'BR exclusives' online from European stores on HD-DVD. One more reason to go with HD-DVD.


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## ADF (Oct 20, 2007)

Grimfang said:
			
		

> [snip]


That is a benefit to consumers, but companies prefer region locks because it allows greater control over how movies are distributed, region sale rights can be sold to different companies if they have difficulty distributing in that location. This is why some companies hate importing, if you buy from a foreign company the one with local distribution rights loses money.

The question is what is stronger? The HD-DVD consumer adoption incentive that it is not region locked, or the Blue-ray appeal to businesses for having control over region sales rights?


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## lance.f (Oct 20, 2007)

BRDs are more durable tho. take steelwoll to it it might still work


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## Rhainor (Oct 20, 2007)

lance.f said:
			
		

> BRDs are more durable tho.



Um, no.  As I understand it, the Blu-Ray discs have the data layer much closer to the surface of the disc, which would make it *more* susceptible to scratches.


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## net-cat (Oct 20, 2007)

ADF said:
			
		

> The question is what is stronger? The HD-DVD consumer adoption incentive that it is not region locked, or the Blue-ray appeal to businesses for having control over region sales rights?


Neither, I'm betting.

Since, to the average consumer, there is no appreciable difference between the two formats, I'd be willing to bet the cheaper one wins.


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## lance.f (Oct 21, 2007)

maybe a 3rd persons will add another kind of disk...cheaper and holds..a tiny bit more memory?


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## Hyenaworks (Oct 23, 2007)

DVD.  lol I have an old Sanyo.  HD and BluRay is wasted quality on my old tube.

Not to mention I have thousands worth of DVDs already and I don't feel compelled to replace them.


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## lance.f (Oct 23, 2007)

Go DVDS! well ill stick being weird with my old technolagy


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