Hey everyone,

I just read an interesting article regarding the initial testing of the new High Definition DVD format called Blu-ray and I found it very interesting. I don't know how many of you are following the format war of HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray discs but it will impact us, the consumers, and so I think people should know the facts. I wasn't alive during the VHS vs. Betamax war but this seems like another one of those - where the consumers can eventually lose in the long run. If you are not informed of either format I would suggest Googling "HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray" and staying informed about these new formats and HD video - as this year is the major start of the HD revolution as new players have come out that can play these new formats.

The article is here --> http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm
and is a very interesting read as Blu-ray definitely does not live up to the hype and HD-DVD may eventually win the format war. I am really hoping that it does as it will simplify the High Definition DVD market greatly.

From our vantage point, it appears that HD-DVD has already won. It only remains for the various battlefield moves to be played out before it becomes obvious. The real question now is not whether Blu-ray will win, but whether it can survive to capture a reasonable share of the home theater market.

Also in the article it states that Disney has backed Blu-ray, but is looking at HD-DVD, and so hopefully (if Blu-ray eventually does not improve) it will move to HD-DVD.

I'm not saying that Blu-ray will not get its kinks worked out either, and maybe the quality will improve. But as of now HD-DVD is looking better. I'm thinking I might go down to my local Best Buy and have a look for myself.

Even though both formats are early in their stages of development a consumer still should be informed and knowledgeable as to not lose out in the long run by investing in a technology or format that fades away or is replaced by something greater.

-Dillon

There is a huge gaping flaw in that review, and that is the assumption that HD-DVD has better image quality than Blu-Ray. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are just storage mediums. They both use the same video/audio compression schemes. The difference in quality is most likely due to either the difference in players (they weren't even the same brand) or the difference in the encoding studios. Blu-Ray has a higher capacity than HD-DVD, but the image quality should not be affected by the storage standard.

added: They do address the encoding standards later in the article, which is the reason for the difference. The disc formats have nothing to do with this difference. There is no reason why they cannot use MPEG-4 or MPEG-2 VC-1. It just boils down to a bad implementation on one of the first discs.

Yes, that is true and I was thinking the same thing when I read the article. However, it doesn't look too good for a company to be encoding the video in the early stages in a way that doesn't match the competitor's. Also, price wise HD-DVD wins over Blu-Ray as well. $1000 for the Blu-ray or $500 for the HD-DVD. Sony is also having problems creating the dual-layer Blu-ray discs that they were promoting and as of now HD-DVD has more storage capacity. HD-DVD = 30 gb. Blu-ray = 25 gb (single-layer). They were promoting that they would have a larger capacity than HD-DVD but as of now they are losing in that area.

Well, they are comparing one machine vs. one other machine. I can go find a traditional dvd player for $100 bucks and compare that to a $500 VCR. As more and more players enter the market space, the price difference will be negligible.

As for the capacity, both formats have prototype triple-layer dual-sided discs. It is only a matter of time before they get the blu-ray production problems solved. When they do, you are talking about a capacity of 90GB for the HD-DVD discs, and 200GB for the Blu-Ray discs. That is a huge difference. If you think in the grand scheme beyond just movies and into computers, Blu-Ray is much better as it can offer more than double the capacity.

Here's another thread on MiceChat that deals with some of the issues that have been stated in this thread.

http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29557

This reminds me of the more recent SACD vs DVD-A issue. That went nowhere fast. I have a very nice SACD player and about 12 discs. I'm not holding my breath for any more new releases. I think it will be a while before anything really changes with DVDs, people have already been dealing with the DVD movie release, followed by the special edition, followed by the director's cut, ect. How many times can you buy 'GoodFellas"? Would you spend $30 for the BluRay Basic Instinct 2? This is one battle I am finally going to sit out.

As a large screen HD TV user, I just have to say...once you've experienced HD television and film like that, it very hard to go back to standard!

And while I'm licking my chops to start to purchase HD DVDs in some format or another...I too am going to "sit-it-out" until it's obvious which way this whole thing is going to go.

I real feel that this war will ultimately get hashed out in the PC and Gaming-console venues. IF it was purely for movies, I think HD DVD holds the current advantage. However, the capacities that Blu-Ray can deliver, and the fact that it will be in the Playstation III, will tip the scales IMHO. That being said, I am in no hurry to rush out and make a purchase.