whats it going to be?..and why.
It’s going to be confusing for the consumer till it all settles out.
It looks like Blu-Ray may be better as a data disk format for storing computer files on a disk. But that doesn’t mean that Blu-Ray will win out on the TV for high definition movies.
I’ve been following the debate, and analysts seem to have their money on HD-DVD
The biggest bet is not which technology is the best, but which technology consumers are going to buy the most of.
After the initial videophiles go in and get what they deem to be the best, the ‘normal’ consumers will be picking them up when the prices come down. Your average future consumer has not been following the debate, and when faced with the option of buying, one is called Blu-Ray, and one is called HD-DVD. They know what DVD’s are and will most likely get that.
Put Microsoft behind HD-DVD and you have an even bigger market. (the we hate products if they are made by Microsoft people are the loudest, but they are certainly the minority)
My money is on HD-DVD, but as a freelance videographer, I’m sure I will be ‘forced’ to get both, just like I was ‘forced’ into more than one unicycle
I’d say HD-DVD, except that Sony will use blu-ray in the PS3, which is a pretty big market. The main benefit for HD-DVD is that it’ll arrive first, with both players and media available.
Blu-ray is technically better, regardless of whether it’s for data or HDTV - it’s all the same thing. But if it’s too late, that won’t help. Wasn’t betamax technically better than VHS? I could be wrong, being an un-educated youth.
This is another example of an industry that needs a sound banging of heads together. Too many vested interests in standards succeeding. Either way lots of people are going to end up buying players for a technology that will die out, or everything will be more expensive because manufacturers and media producers have to make two versions of everything, so have lower produciton volumes.
Here is a good read
I’ll trust you that it’s good but it’s a bit too long for me at the moment.
If I were to bet (though I don’t) then I’d go for HD-DVD. Sony doesn’t have the best track record for their propriety formats and I think Blu-Ray is going to be too expensive for the normal consumer. In fact the only Sony format (if you can call it that) that I can think of that has done well is the Playstation and although the PS3 will use the Blu-Ray discs that won’t drive the industry. Just look at the UMD that the PSP uses, the movie industry are pulling away from that.
I may be showing my age but I remember the Betamax/VHS/Video 2000 format war and it was the cheapest and least technologically advanced that won. When it comes to HD-TV (which is probably going to be the driving force behind the next-gen discs) the consumers won’t care what disc it’s on as long as it looks good and as they’ll both be using the VC-1 codec they’ll look the same but HD-DVD will be cheaper.
Being that I don’t even have an HD-compatible television, this is a non-issue for me. DVDs are plentiful and cheap. I don’t see a need to upgrade my setup anytime soon… unless the powers that be are dropping the DVD format. Is that the case?
I’m going to take my lesson from the LaserDisc / VHS / BetaMax fiasco and ride this puppy out for a few years before making any investments… that way the price of the readers will have dropped a factor of 2 or 3 as well…
Edit: For those who have HD, what are your using? LCD? Projection? Plasma? Other? Most of my HD-enabled friends use LCD projectors and those things are SNAZZY! I think it might be the most bang for the buck as far as dollars per diagonal inch of viewing area; although it isn’t the brightest picture ever, BIGGER is BETTER!
Until I have an HD-TV (and broadcasts are in 1080p, 'cause interlacing is evil) I’m sticking with vanilla DVD. Unless my gf allows me to set up a media box with a massive computer monitor as a TV, meaning she buys a massive monitor to use 
I’m holding out on an HDTV as long as possible… When they start broadcasting stuff that is worthy of watching, I’ll buy one, maybe. Ok, if Simpsons goes HD…
I have to agree, price is going to set what will win. Even though blu-ray has more capacity, hd-dvd will be cheaper to roll into existing dvd and cd players as it uses red lasers instead of blue. As long as the capacity of hd-dvd is good enough to hold everything that most movie producers want to release, then they will use the cheaper medium as they can profit more when it sells for the same price. Unfortunately, for the consumer, we will most likely end up buying hardware that can support both formats and this means a small amount of our purcahse price going to each owner of these formats. I bet Sony knows this, so they continue with their blu-ray battle, in which they will get a few pennies for each blu-ray compatible device sold.
They both use blue (the big reason behind the extra capacity)
The winner is going to be decided for us by the porn industry:
Porn industry may be decider in Blu-ray, HD-DVD battle
Blu-Ray seems to be better for computer use (for data backup, etc.) due to its larger capacity per disc. For that reason I’d like to see Blu-Ray win. HD-DVD gets 15 GB per layer on the disc so a dual layer disc will fit 30 GB. Blu-Ray gets 25 GB per layer on the disc so a dual layer disc will fit 50 GB. More capacity is more better as long as the burned discs have a good lifetime for data storage.
I did enjoy the quotes and comments in that article.
“We’re banking on the consumer being too stupid to notice that Blue-Ray is better” - Some HD-DVD supporting bloke (paraphrased).
The content may look the same, but since you’ve got 40% more capacity on a BR disc, thats 40% more stuff you can jam on. This content will cost little to add to the package, so, hypothetically, for a small increase in price you can have the LOTR trilogy, extended, with extras, on a single disc. Or split it in 2 and pay twice with HD-DVD.
MS is banking on people adding to the Xbox 360 with an external HD-DVD drive, but I don’t expect that to be cheap, and its a purely optional extra, with no games planned to be released in the format as of yet.
Sony has the PS3 coming out, BR as standard, so just buy your films on top of the system and it’ll do the work already, no added extras, no redundant hardware. Everyone said MS had beaten Sony with its early-to-market 360, but I’ve never even seen one, and I know nobody who owns one. Everybody I talk to is waiting for the PS3, as am I, as I prefer the games that will be released for PS3 only to the Xbox 360 titles. This may be the driving factor in takeup. VHS/Betamax had the Porn Industry to drive the change and choose a side. BR/HD-DVD will be decided by a much younger, gaming generation.
I side with Sony. Capacity wins over early-adoption any day.
Loose.
My son has an Xbox 360 (as do his mates) and it’s linked to his HD-TV with the picture from the games looking awesome. Also DVD’s are progressive and look really good. In fact the other day we had to switch on his old Xbox so he could get his Xbox live details to use on his 360 and we didn’t half laugh at how the graphics looked, so old. I’m tempted to get his PS1 out just to have a laugh at the graphics from that, and to think they looked good once.
The Xbox 360 is a very good machine (if a little noisy) and no doubt the PS3 will be good too but with it you will have to pay for the Blu-Ray drive whether you want it or not (and you may pay through the games not only the console). Of course both drives aint cheap to make and if M$ release a HD-DVD drive, and they say they will, then if you want one you can get one but from what I’ve read the consoles don’t need the capacity for games so it’ll be for video content only.
BTW I dislike M$ and Sony just as much as each other so I have no allegiances. I also don’t think the consoles are going to affect the outcome of this war too much.
It’ll be interesting to come back to this thread in a few years time 
Talking of consoles does anybody want a Wii - bring on the toilet gags…
Kewl, something else I’ve known nothing about till I found this thread.
It’s a fascinating discussion, John’s link to the article about the porn industry’s support for Blu-Ray seems to be the clincher for me at the momene.
That and one other aspect nobody’s mentioned here yet.
“BLU-RAY” sounds wa-aa-ay kewler than HD-DVD.
Doesn’t the second one just sound like a condition while the first one sounds like a gadget? Something some futuristic sci-fi hero would have, strapped to his waist and ready to save the world?
We know that technical spec means next to nothing in these wars. as long as it (kinda [MAC vs. PC refers]) works and people want it, the competition will die.
And I want a Blu-Ray.
All the way.
Wow, all this great discussion prompted by a mere seven words.