Blue Ray vs HD-DVD

Greg Nichols · 02-07-08, 01:23

I've been waiting for a year to jump into this market. Yet I am old enough to remember the VHS and BETA wars. VHS won out, but the BETA had a WAY better image quality. While I don't think BR/HDDVD has a better image than the other. My worry is that one will be come the rental standard and the other won't.

Cheers,
GREG

TigerMike · 02-07-08, 01:48

According to what I've read, BR has nearly already won, particularly with major studios now abandoning HDDVD. Here are some good articles... Hd Dvd - Gizmodo Toshiba is on its knees, and I think the format will be all but gone a year from now...

For the record, I have $0 invested in either format currently.

cajunfirehawk · 02-07-08, 02:45

Ble-Ray will win this war in the end, it may take some time but were moving forward, PS3 alone was a BIG factor...get one. I have a pana br palyer I bought used and about 20 br discs since thanksgiving, I own about 150 dvds in regular format. FWIW

BTW-Nice avatar, but it would be a lil better if it were LSU Tigers ...

johnand · 02-07-08, 03:17

The format war for all intensive purposes is over, and Blu-ray has won. They have the most studio support now, which is key.

I have owned both. I bought a Toshiba HD-XA1 player the day HD-DVD players were released. The picture and sound quality was amazing, and the player did a fantastic job of upconverting SD DVD's. My biggest gripe was the agonizingly long load times and the flakeyness of the player. I had nothing but problems, with skips and lockups when viewing HD DVD's from Netflix that were lightly to moderately scratched. I even had skipping problems (though, to a much lower extent) with brand new out of the package HD-DVD's. But, I kept on, and was a firm supporter of HD-DVD, until Warner made the switch to Blu-Ray. I knew, that was the nail in the coffin for HD-DVD.

So, I bought a PS3 and could NOT be any happier. Blu-rays start playing in about 10-15 seconds, (compared to the 2+ minutes my HD-DVD player) which is wonderful. But, the real kicker for me was I have had absolutely NO skips, locks, etc whatsoever on the PS3. It plays all discs flawlessly. The coating on Blu-ray discs is extremely scratch resistant, so Netflix movies come to me in great condition, other than fingerprints which easily clean off.

Blu-ray seems much more consistent in picture quality to me over HD-DVD. Though, I would give my HD-DVD player a slight edge over the PS3 as far as upconverting SD DVD's.

The PS3 for a Blu-ray player is fantastic and has so much more capabilities then just a Blu-ray player and game console.

I started watching Lost: Season 3 on Blu-ray this weekend, and the picture is absolutely amazing. It is by far the BEST picture quality I have ever seen on my TV. I truly does look like you are looking out a window, not a TV.

SpoiledMan · 02-07-08, 03:40

I second getting the PS3 for all reasons mentioned in the previous posts. Awesome BD player that does a very good job of upconverting DVD's as well as a AV media hub. Plays great games as well.

detaildoc · 02-09-08, 10:57

BR all the way! More studios support it, and IMO, better quality. A dedicated BR player is the way to go (better picture quality than using the PS3 for that purpose).

SpoiledMan · 02-09-08, 03:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by detaildoc

BR all the way! More studios support it, and IMO, better quality. A dedicated BR player is the way to go (better picture quality than using the PS3 for that purpose).

PS3 is the *only* 2.0 spec machine out there. Saying that a dedicated player would be better is splitting hairs.

detaildoc · 02-09-08, 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

PS3 is the *only* 2.0 spec machine out there. Saying that a dedicated player would be better is splitting hairs.

On the newer HD Tv's you can see some difference, but you're right, probably not that much. Two other reasons though to have a dedicated BR player is that it will allow you to enjoy more of the interactive functions (whenever they start making those) and more of the high HD surround sound (you would also need a HD sound capable receiver).

1jzgte · 02-10-08, 10:16

blu-ray is a rip off
i'll stick with HD DVD.. i'm confident they'll eventually claim victorious over this war

SpoiledMan · 02-10-08, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1jzgte

blu-ray is a rip off
i'll stick with HD DVD.. i'm confident they'll eventually claim victorious over this war

And you come to this conclusion how/why?

It's a safe bet that HD-DVD is DONE! They can dump all the units they want at whatever price they want. The studio's have spoken.

cajunfirehawk · 02-10-08, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1jzgte

blu-ray is a rip off
i'll stick with HD DVD.. i'm confident they'll eventually claim victorious over this war

Believe what you like, but the "war" is already over, check this thread in December and see who was correct. BTW-BR won.

And fwiw, good blu ray prices can be found here DeepDiscount.com - Blu-ray Discs

SpoiledMan · 02-10-08, 10:26

Pretty good prices on Amazon as well.