View Full Version : Blu-Ray or HD-DVD???????????
Ok, so my situation is this. Im on the verge of buying the HD-DVD add on for xbox 360, but 360 does not have HDMI so I can only receive 1080i instead of 1080p. Bums me out, but ohwell I guess. Now, I cant decide if I should just go ahead and get the HD-DVD add on, or try and wait it out and see who "wins" or "gains ground" in the competion, even though that could take a long time.
With the HD-DVD add on, Id only be paying like $230 with shipping, plus Id get an xbox 360 media unversial remote and a copy of King Kong. Thats better than paying $600 for PS3 and having Blu-Ray, but PS3 does have HDMI......:mad: :devil:
I suppose the obivious choice is go with the HD-DVD because it's cheaper but Im hesitant for some stupid reason.
What should I do? Thoughts?
macuser256
2006-11-28, 13:27
I don't know. I would be very hesitant about either format at the moment because I know if one succeeds and the other fails a lot of people who spent money on the losing format are going to be very annoyed.
pkatzman
2006-11-28, 14:42
Nope, you're wrong. With the update that came out a month or so ago the 360 can output 1080p, though only over VGA or component. I can post a link later if you want, but I'm pretty certain.
Component maybe, but VGA won't do 1080.
bassplayinMacFiend
2006-11-28, 14:50
The Fall Dashboard update did turn on 1080p functionality. Supposedly a HDMI output cable is also in the works, but this is speculative at the moment.
Yeah, some of the tv can do component and vga at 1080p but my new Sony tv only does HDMI 1080p and the rest are 1080i
wecallitfall
2006-11-28, 15:01
i would be patient my friend, one would be a fool to make the wrong choice here for the sake of a matter of months
thegelding
2006-11-28, 15:21
maybe...but, unlike vhs vs beta, i actually see both formats making it to the future...
1) the xbox is going HD and the playstation is going Blu...both consoles will be around for many years to come
2) many movies are coming out in both formats, not just blu or HD
3) unlike when vhs and beta first started, people are use to buying or renting movies now...it use to be rare to buy or even rent a movie, slowly over time people changed that...now every house has a dvd player and some people buy movies, some people rent...but almost all do one or the other...Both formats will make money and so they will keep making them till we get our holodecks
g
Another vote to wait. In my eyes, both formats lost so hold off until one of these polished turds shines more.
:)
IIRC, with HD-DVD right now, the disc contains 1080p, but the player can't simply output that, it has to output 1080i, or, alternatively, deinterlaced 1080p, thus losing quality from interlacing and then deinterlacing. I don't remember if the Xbox 360 changed that, but since only the new XA2 from Toshiba, which won't be out until Jan/Feb, is able to output native 1080p off the disc, I really doubt it. So, personally, I wouldn't worry much about not having 1080p output as long as you can get 1080i. The deinterlacer in your TV is probably just as good as the one in the Xbox.
But I'd still wait, like others have said.
pkatzman
2006-11-28, 22:38
Another vote to wait. In my eyes, both formats lost so hold off until one of these polished turds shines more.
:)
Good way to put it, haha.
But honestly, it'll be a long while before either format is adopted on a mainstream level. As far as I can tell, most people didn't really own DVD players until about 2 or 3 years ago, and are pretty unlikely to replace them soon. Let alone with players over $500, not including the possible added cost of and HDTV set.
torifile
2006-11-28, 22:46
Of course, if you buy the HD-DVD and it loses, you're only out $200. If Blu-Ray loses, you're out $600. But not really because you've got a PS3 to play with. Call it even. But, in the end, it's only a couple hundred $$. Just don't start buying tons of movies just yet. That'd be the killer.
Neither, it's not a big enough jump from 480p in DVD to commit...unlike VHS->DVD where we eliminated quality loss over time, rewind, etc.
dmegatool
2006-11-29, 08:02
2) many movies are coming out in both formats, not just blu or HD
Probably cause there is no "winnner" format yet. I don't see them products their movie in 2 format forever as it cost more to product. Cost more to product = less $$$ for them. I don't know...
I would not even consider buying until the format 'war' is over.
For me the 'free' Blu-Ray in my PS3 is a preview for me, nothing more.
Well, against advice, I went ahead and bought the HD-DVD player. The picture quality is stunning and g made a good point. I think both formats will be around for a lil while at least because both are backed by large companies. It prolly wont come in the mail til next week, monday or so, but I get King Kong with it and a universal remote.
JonnyCoats
2006-11-30, 14:05
By the time this all gets sorted out, we'll all be downloading DRM-free movies via an iTunes Store or some other service.
dmegatool
2006-11-30, 16:26
By the time this all gets sorted out, we'll all be downloading DRM-free movies via an iTunes Store or some other service.
Yeah I see myself downloading a complete season of whatever show in HD.
Downloading.... 1% completed .... timeleft 2000h. Great !
**The time left is a approximation, no caculs were made :p
It doesn't matter what you buy now because next christmas something like 50%+ of players play both formats...
I picked up Jarhead, Four Brothers, and V for Vendetta for it too. Ive never seen V for Vendetta but I hear good things about it.
Also, just got the VGA cables so I can watch in 1080p
World Leader Pretend
2006-12-01, 19:24
You do realize that the difference between 1080p and 720p is almost a placebo effect? Unless you have a front projector or TV that is over 60" you won't see a significant-if any-real increase in quality. Again though, it isn't all about what you see. Save up and get a nice sound-system to go with it. :p
NosferaDrew
2006-12-01, 21:03
It doesn't matter what you buy now because next christmas something like 50%+ of players play both formats...
That can't happen until the Blu-ray Disk Association allows companies to license it - and that is very unlikely to happen anytime soon.
I think that will happen anyways. There are already players that can do this, and if they have enough demand, some sort of lawsuit may come about. I'm really hoping it does. Nonetheless, it is in the best interest of drive builders to make a single drive that can handle both formats and limit functionality for one format or another via firmware. I'm hoping there are some genius firmware hackers on the scene with consumer interests at heart.
NosferaDrew
2006-12-01, 22:55
I think that will happen anyways. There are already players that can do this....
Say what? Where are these players, pray tell?
Ebby, I love your posts, but you have no clue what you are talking about in this situation.
First, It is not in the consumer electronics companies aligned with the BDA (of which there are over 150 (http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html)) to make a single drive for both formats - not until it's apparent that there will be no clear winner.
Anyone releasing a drive that plays Blu-ray discs (and HD-DVD for that matter) without paying for the license will get sued into oblivion.
I know blueray prohibits dual platform drives by license. I hate it and it sucks. However a cost saving technique often used in designing DVD drives is to build a single physical drive but disable various functions in the firmware and sell them as different models in order to save money in R&D. The technology used in HD-DVD and Blueray are very similar and it is logical to build a dual format capable drive but with either the Blueray or HD DVD firmware installed. If this sort of solution is illegal and is confined to the dark allies of the internet, so be it. It will only strengthen the digital black market, appealing yet again to consumer demand.
Oh, a little linkage:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/pioneer-planning-hd-dvd-blu-ray-combo-drive-the-bdr-103/
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=16562
Yea, it is riding a slippery slope. But I hope, for consumers sake, that someone slips up or defends the little people.
As for dual format players, they are available for purchase today. They use two drives, but you can play both HD-DVD and Blueray disks with a single device.
NosferaDrew
2006-12-02, 03:15
I know blueray prohibits dual platform drives by license. I hate it and it sucks. However ...blah,blah,blah,blah....
Ebby, my friend. Are You In Touch With Reality?
In a perfect world, all formats would be one. There is a huge battle going on right now for billions of dollars and mutual compatibility does not fit into this equation at this time.
Oh, a little linkage:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/pioneer-planning-hd-dvd-blu-ray-combo-drive-the-bdr-103/
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=16562
Your links are useless. There might come a time, in the future, where dual players exist, but they are simply possibilities right now.
Can't you comprehend that these dual drives, while great for the consumer, are not available for purchase, they do not exist (outside the lab) and are very unlikely to be released within the next few years?
Yea, it is riding a slippery slope. But I hope, for consumers sake, that someone slips up or defends the little people.
You do not get it.
So, someone (the Government?) is going to step up and force Sony and the BDA to allow a dual player? WTF are you smoking?
As for dual format players, they are available for purchase today. They use two drives, but you can play both HD-DVD and Blueray disks with a single device.
Links?
If someone is packaging a Blu-ray and a HD-DVD player together for less than it costs to buy each individually I'd love to see it.
Instead of all the studios all being on the same page, they're quickly bleeding support away either medium. I really wanted to support Blu-ray on a technological basis, but now I'm just not interested. The format war is just accelerating the adoption of online content delivery, and that's fine with me.
What Eugene said. Someone in another thread mentioned wanting to get rid of CDs and DVDs and I couldn't agree more.
On the combo player issue, I wasn't aware that Samsung et al. had reneged on their statements about producing combo players. On the "no combo drive" clause in the blu-ray license, I didn't know that, but it's just another one of Sonys innumerable missteps. I used to root for Blu-Ray, partly because it had the highest capacity, but I'm starting to turn...
NosferaDrew
2006-12-02, 15:20
On the combo player issue, I wasn't aware that Samsung et al. had reneged on their statements about producing combo players. On the "no combo drive" clause in the blu-ray license, I didn't know that, but it's just another one of Sonys innumerable missteps. I used to root for Blu-Ray, partly because it had the highest capacity, but I'm starting to turn...
Samsung is not making a universal player:
Samsung Cancels Blu-Ray/HD DVD Hybrid Players.
Samsung Bets Everything on Blu-Ray (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20061113091329.html)
Samsung is not making a universal player:
Samsung Cancels Blu-Ray/HD DVD Hybrid Players.
Samsung Bets Everything on Blu-Ray (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20061113091329.html) Which is what I said I didn't know:
I wasn't aware that Samsung et al. had reneged on their statements about producing combo players. Obviously, I do now :cancer:
I guess the above could be understood as if I was unaware of it, but it is meant as past tense.
Easy my friend. Almost sounds like you are getting too worked up over this. :)
This is still the beginning of the HD-DVD/Blueray war and products are still coming out. One of the players I was talking about is this: http://www.vidabox.com/ Yea, it is darn expensive because it is basically a high end computer. But people want them. However, purchasing a dual format drive... I never said you could buy them or that they exist outside a lab.
Take for example the DVD-R Drives that shipped with early G5s. Many of these drives were identical to faster, more expensive drives for PC. They were intentionally limited through firmware to match the specs of Apple's existing technology. Through a firmware update, you could unlock faster write times and, in a personal PC I built, dual layer support. Yea, I bought a dual layer capable drive with that feature disabled for a fraction of the cost, but the internal mechanics are identical in order to save money. Through a firmware update, I turned a #30 drive into a $80 drive. (Prices estimated. ;) )
I am hoping there is enough demand that #1) a DVD drive company steps up and challenges this contract or #2) these products are hacked to support both formats if this limit is implemented through firmware alone.
Wait.
Who needs either right now? Nobody, thats who. The picture quality isn't a big enough of a jump past DVD, especially if your DVD player upsamples the picture, for anyone to be spending this kind of money on these things right now.
I personally think that HD-DVD will win. The odd's are stacked too highly against Blu-ray and the PS3 will not be the hit everyone thinks it'll be, and Sony is counting on PS3 sales to proliferate Blu-ray.
So the correct answer is: a good DVD player. Much bigger library, picture quality almost as good, and you won't be tossing it in 3 or 4 years due to a format war.
dmegatool
2006-12-12, 16:05
Dell will intruce a blu-ray laptop
[...]Blu-ray optical drive technology has gained broad industry support and we believe it will become the optical drive standard of the future
Lol they seems so sure. I'm almost praying for hd-dvd to win :).
Here's the article : http://www.gameshout.com/news/dell_announces_first_blu_ray_laptop/article8744.htm
Dell will intruce a blu-ray laptopThey already have. There's a Blu-Ray option on the XPS M1710 (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1710?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs).
(I can't believe I traversed Dell.com and lived to tell about it)
They already have. There's a Blu-Ray option on the XPS M1710 (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1710?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs).
(I can't believe I traversed Dell.com and lived to tell about it)
You may have lived, but you should probably check your wallet. Thieving bastards. :D
dmegatool
2006-12-12, 16:33
Didn't know that. Maybe I got confused by the title "Dell Announces First Blu-ray Laptop".
It's so expensive. Anyway who needs a blu-ray in a laptop right now ? The few people who need it are probably not using laptop... no ?!?
1) How did Sony swing that? Given that Microsoft is in the HD-DVD camp...
2) I wouldn't put it past Dell to offer HD-DVD drives in the not-to-far future as well.
NosferaDrew
2006-12-12, 19:57
1) First of all, it's the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) (http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html) calling the shots and not simply Sony running things.
2) Dell, like Sony, it on the BDA's Board of Directors.
1) First of all, it's the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) (http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html) calling the shots and not simply Sony running things.
2) Dell, like Sony, it on the BDA's Board of Directors.
That's my point. Why is Dell in the Blu-Ray camp? Blu-Ray's biggest backer (in terms of how much influence on the market they have, not how much they back it) is Sony, Dell's competitor. HD-DVD's biggest backer is Microsoft, Dell's strategic partner.
Furthermore, Dell almost always goes the cheap route. Blu-Ray is more expensive, both in terms of manufacturing the discs and the players.
My point is that it is a strange way for Dell to go, given their place in the market.
Unless they understand how much better Blu-Ray is than HD-DVD and have chosen to back it for that reason. Good grief.. A manufacturer choosing quality over profit.. Never!
Neither, it's not a big enough jump from 480p in DVD to commit...unlike VHS->DVD where we eliminated quality loss over time, rewind, etc.
:lol: You're kidding, right? You are kidding. I mean, you must be. Because nobody who's ever seen an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc playing side by side next to the DVD version would EVER say something like that and be serious.
ESPECIALLY newer DVD's. Certain companies actually make their DVD's lesser quality to fit more special features on the disc because they know that serious HD people will buy their HD versions of the movie anyway. You'd be surprised at how many newer DVD's I've seen on my HDTV that look like crap.
Disney seems to care though. Pixar and Disney movies look great. Even an older DVD of a movie like Bill and Ted looks great. But that new Jurassic Park Trilogy set with the opening door front looks like a badly compressed animated GIF. I was shocked. Another shocker, King Kong. A huge HUGE blockbuster movie (Even if it isn't all that teriffic.) on DVD looks like a brown muddy mess on an HDTV. The HD-DVD of it looks amazing. You can count the hairs on Kong's body if you felt the need. We have to face it now. Newer DVD's are no longer made to serve everyone. Most are just made to serve the SD crowd. I'd say the reason Disney DVD's look great so far is that Disney still hasn't gotten to deciding who to fully support. (Hence the missing Pirates on HDD/BD. Damn I wish they'd put it out. But at least the DVD of Pirates 2 looks fine.)
Either way, having actually SEEN an HD video in action (On a 720p TV no less. Not a 1080i/p..) I say either splurge now and get both or don't get either and wait a year. Don't choose one or the other. It's either both or neither. That is my opinion.
Who needs either right now? Nobody, thats who. The picture quality isn't a big enough of a jump past DVD, especially if your DVD player upsamples the picture, for anyone to be spending this kind of money on these things right now.
Sorry, wrong again. I actually tried an HDMI upconverting DVD player and it actually looked worse in 720p than my regular DVD player outputting a 480p signal (To the TV which then upscaled it to the screen.) But I blame that on my TV's awesome scaler.
"Not a big enough jump." Pffft. Don't make me laugh.
Bottom line, if you have an HDTV, HD-DVD's or Blu-Rays will DEFINITELY make a difference. TRUST ME. I can't believe anyone would even say that a 480p movie would look as good as a 720p/1080ip picture. I've actually been recording movies on the HD versions of Max, Starz, HBO and Showtime that I already own on DVD to do comparisons.
Sorry, I just had to chime in here. I've made the jump fully to HD early (An early adopter, sure it's expensive, but it was worth it.) with my recent purchases of a 32" HDTV ($900), Xbox 360 ($400), HD-DVD player for Xbox 360 ($200) and TiVo Series 3 ($800!). All this since the end of Summer.
:lol: You're kidding, right? You are kidding. I mean, you must be. Because nobody who's ever seen an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc playing side by side next to the DVD version would EVER say something like that and be serious.
I've been tuning into HD with a Channel Master 4228 for more than 5 years, so I consider myself pretty well attuned to the HDTV market. Blu-ray/HD-DVD will never achieve the type of market saturation DVD has. The format war is one part of it, but also look at the success of the download market (including p2p). The price of HDD storage is plummeting. You can get a Seagate 500 GB SATA-II HDD with 16 MB cache and 5-year warranty for $140. I subscribe to digital cable and I can watch Starz, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime
in HD...in addition to a movies OnDemand. Additionally my cable internet tops out at 30 Mbps downstream right now, with non-HD torrents of every movie I could ever think of wanting to watch just a tracker away. There's even some very high quality HD rips going up.
How the hell can a restricted physical format compete with that kind of choice? What happens when Apple finally starts offering HD downloads like the XBox Live Video Marketplace?
ESPECIALLY newer DVD's. Certain companies actually make their DVD's lesser quality to fit more special features on the disc because they know that serious HD people will buy their HD versions of the movie anyway. You'd be surprised at how many newer DVD's I've seen on my HDTV that look like crap.
They typically add a disc rather than raise the compression. It's just as cheap to do that. The physical media costs nothing.
Either way, having actually SEEN an HD video in action (On a 720p TV no less. Not a 1080i/p..) I say either splurge now and get both or don't get either and wait a year. Don't choose one or the other. It's either both or neither. That is my opinion.
Fancy that, I've seen HD too! Nobody is saying the jump in resolution isn't significant. It IS. What I am saying is that the delivery format is obsolete already. I have not bought the HD-DVD add-on for my XBox 360, nor have I really considered a Playstation 3 or Blu-ray Disc player. I have far too many other methods of getting the HD content I want to care about buying expensive hardware that nobody is going to care about in a couple of years.
"Not a big enough jump." Pffft. Don't make me laugh.
I'm laughing at you.
Bottom line, if you have an HDTV, HD-DVD's or Blu-Rays will DEFINITELY make a difference. TRUST ME. I can't believe anyone would even say that a 480p movie would look as good as a 720p/1080ip picture. I've actually been recording movies on the HD versions of Max, Starz, HBO and Showtime that I already own on DVD to do comparisons.
The bottom line is you don't need either format to get HD content. Do you understand???
Sorry, I just had to chime in here. I've made the jump fully to HD early (An early adopter, sure it's expensive, but it was worth it.) with my recent purchases of a 32" HDTV ($900), Xbox 360 ($400), HD-DVD player for Xbox 360 ($200) and TiVo Series 3 ($800!). All this since the end of Summer.
So the end of summer 2006 is early?
And I'm sorry, the TiVo S3 is for morons. $800 + $5/mo for two CableCards + $300 for 3 years? You just spent $1100 on hardware that will be obsolete well before that. On the other hand, I pay $15 a month for the Motorola DCT3416, which I can trade-in for the latest model at no cost. I've already done this twice in fact. DCT6412 Phase I -> DCT6412 Phase III -> DCT3416. Furthermore, sometime early this year, I can elect to use the TiVo guide software on those very boxes.
Brave Ulysses
2006-12-26, 09:43
:lol: You're kidding, right? You are kidding. I mean, you must be. Because nobody who's ever seen an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc playing side by side next to the DVD version would EVER say something like that and be serious.
ESPECIALLY newer DVD's. Certain companies actually make their DVD's lesser quality to fit more special features on the disc because they know that serious HD people will buy their HD versions of the movie anyway. You'd be surprised at how many newer DVD's I've seen on my HDTV that look like crap.
Disney seems to care though. Pixar and Disney movies look great. Even an older DVD of a movie like Bill and Ted looks great. But that new Jurassic Park Trilogy set with the opening door front looks like a badly compressed animated GIF. I was shocked. Another shocker, King Kong. A huge HUGE blockbuster movie (Even if it isn't all that teriffic.) on DVD looks like a brown muddy mess on an HDTV. The HD-DVD of it looks amazing. You can count the hairs on Kong's body if you felt the need. We have to face it now. Newer DVD's are no longer made to serve everyone. Most are just made to serve the SD crowd. I'd say the reason Disney DVD's look great so far is that Disney still hasn't gotten to deciding who to fully support. (Hence the missing Pirates on HDD/BD. Damn I wish they'd put it out. But at least the DVD of Pirates 2 looks fine.)
Either way, having actually SEEN an HD video in action (On a 720p TV no less. Not a 1080i/p..) I say either splurge now and get both or don't get either and wait a year. Don't choose one or the other. It's either both or neither. That is my opinion.
Sorry, wrong again. I actually tried an HDMI upconverting DVD player and it actually looked worse in 720p than my regular DVD player outputting a 480p signal (To the TV which then upscaled it to the screen.) But I blame that on my TV's awesome scaler.
"Not a big enough jump." Pffft. Don't make me laugh.
Bottom line, if you have an HDTV, HD-DVD's or Blu-Rays will DEFINITELY make a difference. TRUST ME. I can't believe anyone would even say that a 480p movie would look as good as a 720p/1080ip picture. I've actually been recording movies on the HD versions of Max, Starz, HBO and Showtime that I already own on DVD to do comparisons.
Sorry, I just had to chime in here. I've made the jump fully to HD early (An early adopter, sure it's expensive, but it was worth it.) with my recent purchases of a 32" HDTV ($900), Xbox 360 ($400), HD-DVD player for Xbox 360 ($200) and TiVo Series 3 ($800!). All this since the end of Summer.
Wow. Are you trying to embarrass yourself?
Yes, the jump from DVD to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray is no where near as big as VHS to DVD was for the overwhelming majority of the market.
Saying otherwise simply means you have a very poor grasp of the consumer market.
:err: @ Jasco
DVD plus a good deinterlacer and scaler will get you pretty damn close to HD. Not perfect, but for me, it's nowhere near enough of a difference to justify the cost of either format. Obviously, there are some discs that look pretty terrible, but in my experience those are mostly niche items (say, MST3K) and you accept the loss in quality.
I personally think it's more likely that I'll end up buying an iTV after Apple starts doing HD movie downloads.
I'm talking about quality here. Quality of video. NOT as you seem to think, market saturation. I could care less how many people buy HD players, as long as I have the choice to buy the movie in HD rather than SD DVD's I will buy the HD. That's all I'm saying. Why would any of you think otherwise? Seriously. You guys thought I was saying HD video discs would overtake DVD's? I was talking about video quality. VIDEO QUALITY. Not MARKETSHARE. Got that settled? Good.
The question was simple, should the person get BD or HDD as their HD disc format. I answered. That simple. I didn't want to get into the other methods like downloading video files from iTunes and LIVE, I don't like that route. I'd rather buy a physical disc and have a nice box on my shelf than just a file. Music is a different story, but with video, I buy the discs. I don't pay for video files.
@ Ryan, it really depends on the movie. Some movies are meant to be HD. I already listed King Kong. That looks horrible on a standard DVD. The colors literally don't even match when you compare the two. I agree 100% that a lot of discs look great. I agree. It's newer movies that were meant for HD that arte meant to be viewed in HD.
I also will get an iTV and take it from there, but for now I am happy with my HD-DVD player. It was totally worth it. Even if some people would rather watch their upscaled DVD's. (I own a lot of DVD's and since I got the TV have done a lot of comparing. A lot. I have put half of my DVD library through my HDTV and DVD player and have noticed a lot of really weird old choices look great. But a few newer titles don't. There's really no pattern to it, it just seems to be whoever makes the disc and how they decide to do it.)
And I'm sorry, the TiVo S3 is for morons. $800 + $5/mo for two CableCards + $300 for 3 years? You just spent $1100 on hardware that will be obsolete well before that. On the other hand, I pay $15 a month for the Motorola DCT3416, which I can trade-in for the latest model at no cost. I've already done this twice in fact. DCT6412 Phase I -> DCT6412 Phase III -> DCT3416. Furthermore, sometime early this year, I can elect to use the TiVo guide software on those very boxes.
(G Rated version) Please, don't. I don't stand for that ignorant crap. If you don't actually have an HD TiVo then you can't talk. So zip your lip. I HAD the Motorola piece of crap and it was just that. A slow buggy constantly freezing piece of crap. The TiVo Series 3 is literally a breath of fresh air. I haven't felt this relieved since I switched from Windows to the Mac. It's that good.
See, this is where the misunderstanding comes in. Why did you think I was saying HD-DVD's and BD's are the only choices? What the hell really? I was comparing the two to each other. Not to other choices. I still can't understand how you guys didn't get that.
No, you went on a tirade about the disc formats being better than DVD without thinking about alternative sources of HD content. Given the multitude of delivery options, I see no reason to buy shitty movies like King Kong on HD-DVD only to be forced into keeping an HD-DVD player on my shelf for the next half decade.
@ Ryan, it really depends on the movie. Some movies are meant to be HD. I already listed King Kong. That looks horrible on a standard DVD.
King Kong is horrible on any format. Crap in HD is still crap.
I also will get an iTV and take it from there, but for now I am happy with my HD-DVD player. It was totally worth it. Even if some people would rather watch their upscaled DVD's. (I own a lot of DVD's and since I got the TV have done a lot of comparing. A lot. I have put half of my DVD library through my HDTV and DVD player and have noticed a lot of really weird old choices look great. But a few newer titles don't. There's really no pattern to it, it just seems to be whoever makes the disc and how they decide to do it.)
Tell me, is your S3 TiVo worth it? $800 bucks + at least $8.33/mo in fees with the 3-year plan + $5/mo for two CableCards, and you can't even access VOD.
God yes. It is worth it. I don't give a flying crap about VOD. I never used it. I don't care about it. The Series 3 to ME is like the Mac. When I was stuck with that Comcast DVR for a few months I felt LITERALLY like I was going back to Windows. It's clunky and slot, froze and crashed all the time. Every day I'd find it frozen in time at 4:20 every morning. Rather than put up with the service people having to replace it with another unintuitive DVR I made the switch back to TiVo. The $800 was totally worth it. NOTHING is a TiVo. NOTHING. Not Comcast, not MythTV, not eyeTV's full-screen menus. NOTHING. A TiVo is in a category by itself. I am speaking from experience. If you don't want touse it, fine. Use your Comcast box. But I am perfectly happy using something that works how it should when it should.
I could rant for hours about everything wrong with the UI of the Comcast box, but I won't. This isn't the thread for that and I just got home from work and I don't care anymore. I'm going to go turn on another HD movie I recorded this weekend.
Tirade? There was NOTHING NEGATIVE about what I said. I was PRAISING HD. Sure I ranted on about HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray, but that's because I don't care about the other sources. And I do care about my picture and happen to like HD video discs. Some people want to buy video files, fine, go ahead, I wasn't talking about those. This thread, the title above, see the one at the top of the window? It says "Blu-Ray or HD-DVD??" Not "Blu-Ray or HD-DVD or iTunes or Xbox LIVE or BitTorrent." If it had said THAT I would have gladly thrown in my two cents. But it doesn't. So why are you all getting so pissed off? Seriously. I just wanted to speak my happy opinion about how happy and pleased I am with HD videos on HD-DVD and I get yelled at like I came in and said my name was Hitler. :(
Also, yeah, King Kong may be crap, but it's still meant for HD. It's the picture. I could have said Superman Returns or Serenity or a GOOD movie. I just picked King Kong because it happens to be the movie I got with the player and I already owned it on DVD. So I compared them. Is that so wrong?
Anyway it's over. You guys misinterpreted my nice little conversation and stretched it into an argument. I hate when people do that. And from now on this conversation is closed. Go about whatever HD means you want. I will USE what I want. And I will enjoy it if it suits me. And it does. I love my TiVo. I hate that Comcast box. I love my HD-DVD player. I will watch my movies and TV how I want to. Okay? Thanks. Have a nice day.
And to answer the original question, Yontse. I will say HD-DVD. Go with HD-DVD. Either way, later down the road both will be so cheap anyway. It is hte nature of technology. Buy early and you pay a lot. Wait and you can get it cheaper. It's up to you whether you want to be an early adopter or not. Whether it's worth it to spend more to get better stuff earlier. For me the answer was yes. TOTALLY WORTH IT IN EVERY WAY EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD "WORTH".
God yes. It is worth it. I don't give a flying crap about VOD. I never used it. I don't care about it. The Series 3 to ME is like the Mac. When I was stuck with that Comcast DVR for a few months I felt LITERALLY like I was going back to Windows. It's clunky and slot, froze and crashed all the time. Every day I'd find it frozen in time at 4:20 every morning. Rather than put up with the service people having to replace it with another unintuitive DVR I made the switch back to TiVo. The $800 was totally worth it. NOTHING is a TiVo. NOTHING. Not Comcast, not MythTV, not eyeTV's full-screen menus. NOTHING. A TiVo is in a category by itself. I am speaking from experience. If you don't want touse it, fine. Use your Comcast box. But I am perfectly happy using something that works how it should when it should.
And when my Comcast box gets the TiVo guide? That's sort of the whole point, isn't it? The Phase I Comcast boxes were crap. The phase III 6412 was a good improvement. The 3416 improves on that by shrinking the box and mandating ADS.
I guess you don't care about VOD because you plan on getting all your movies via HD-DVD? :lol:
The only way I would touch a TiVo S3 is if they gave me the box for free with the length 3-year contract.
*Bumpity Bump*
HD-DVD/Blueray combo player prototype set for early 2007. (http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/dreams-do-come-true-lgs-makes-worlds-first-blurayhd-dvd-dualformat-player-225924.php) :D
irnchriz
2007-01-07, 10:04
HD is all relative to your display.
HD is really only worth it if you have a HUGE display. If you have a 32" LCD capable of 720p running 720p native footage or upscaled 480 footage and viewing at a distance of 6+ feet you would be hard pushed to notice any difference (trust me I have done it)
The quality of upscaling depends on your hardware, most scalers in displays of under 37" are not that great as you cant really see artefacts all that clearly on a smaller screen so they dont invest in expensive scaler technology for those displays.
DVD players which support upscaling and especially upscaling via full HDMI tend to have superior scalers (depends on how much you pay). These will produce a good picture on larger displays.
If you own a 60" 1080p native screen then sure, go get an HD player (so far HD DVD produces the best picture and the discs have more features etc)
The xbox 360 HD DVD is a decent cheap solution if you already have a 360 and your display* supports 1080p via VGA if your happy with only Dolby Digital 5.1
looks like there may be a new hdmi ready xbox 360 coming soon anyway which will no doubt support truehd surround output - probably to be released 3rd qtr 2007 alongside the inclusion of the new 65nm CPU
link: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=577032
Also, LG have announced a dual format HD DVD and Blu Ray drive
link: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/lg-brings-hd-dvdbluray-combo-drive-to-your-pc-226330.php
*the new sony bravia sets dont support 1080p via vga but then again the PS3 doesnt support any form of upscaling or VGA so why would they make a set that does??
I got to watch a Blu-Ray disc yesterday for the first time, and it blew me away. I didn't really get the point of replacing the DVD so soon, but my god, this looked amazing.
That said, for those of you looking for a Blu-Ray player, it looks like the Playstation 3 is actually staying in stores right now. I was at Target yesterday, and they had two of the top-of-the-line model on the shelf, and nobody was even asking about them.
irnchriz is right...
From what I have read people are saying the HD-DVD output from a 360 HD-DVD player is giving more detail to the picture overall then is apparent with the same movie on a PS3... Of course that could be down to encoding on the disc, or the player.. Who knows.. But as it stands the whole thing is pretty underwhelming when you go and look at all the in depth image comparisions.. It's a bit like trying to figure out if Madden on the 360 or on the PS3 looks any better...
In any case we recently chose against a 32" HD display and went with a slightly higher than normal res (but not HD) 40" Plasma. In the shop we could not tell the difference, and at home with our viewing distance the picture is awesome.. It's a Samsung so it has all the bells and whistles, and so many inputs we actually need more toys to satisfy it!!
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