HD DVD vs. Blu-ray: Battle of The Next Generation Storage Devices

Frankly, I'm for HD-DVD... mainly because I've got a 360. I liked the fact I could upgrade to play HD-DVD and not be required. I could also hook it up to my PC and get HD-DVD capability cheaply enough that it warranted the dual-functionality of the drive. There was no affordable alternatives to getting "HD" video short of buying a PS3 or an expensive player, so the affordably of the Xbox drive made the difference for me.

I've since bought an x205 with a built-in HD-DVD drive in the laptop for HD on the go.

Given all that, I'm not against Blu-Ray. HD-DVD was the cheaper choice, and it had quite a lot of quality titles I was interested in. But so does Blu-Ray. If Blu-Ray wins, I'll ultimately buy a combo player down the line and call it that.

I'm not really interested in "taking sides" because I just want good content. Quality is nice, but to be honest, I've had just as much fun watching the low quality DIVX rips of my media on my laptop as I've had plugging in the HD-DVD of Hot Fuzz into my 24" system HD system with full surround.

It's the content I care for. And where the content goes... I'll go. For now, though, I chose HD-DVD for price. It's somewhat affordable to get into. Blu-Ray just had too much of an intial investment.

 

In terms of movies, they'll give the same exact performance, right? If that's the case, then the HD DVD players that are hundreds of dollars cheaper will make the decision for me.

 

its the exact same thing....they perform easily on par with each other, but why pay more for the same thing i just dont get it

 

Conceptually I like Blu-Ray, however, I'm not a fan of Sony. I wouldn't be surprised if they come out on top of this format war.

And yes, if I read the article correctly, they'll give the same movie performance. However, Blu-Ray discs are currently higher capacity which would enable them to hold more HD content per disc, reducing the need for 2 discs per movie. It'd have to be a relatively long movie anyways for that to happen with HD-DVD, especially with the dual layer discs.

I just read this information from wikipedia about Blu-Ray anti-scratch coat:

So maybe the durability of Blu-Ray isn't as much of a concern anymore?

 

The fact that they need an extra layer of protection as quoted "It is not clear, however, whether discs will use the Durabis coating as a standard or only in premium discs" really makes me wonder about how durable the standard Blu-ray discs really are.

I for one have a hard enough problem, on occasion, with regular scratches on standard DVD's with the result being jumpy playback and choppy sound. I can only imagine what this will be like with Blu-ray discs.

Also, if this coating is available for Blu-ray, imagine how durable HD-DVD discs will then be on top of their standard protection?

 

Walked by a Blockbuster yesterday and on the window right next to the entrance is a big poster "Blu-ray. the future of High Defination". Well said.

 

LOL so what? i could put "Crap-DVD, the future for fools who buy into this HD garbage" and it'll be well said PLUS ppl will want to buy the new format By the time this gets sorted we will have new players and all you ppl who bought them will have to throw your players/discs away just like you did with your VHS, VCD, DVD collections

 

Update: HD-DVD pulls even with Blu-ray

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070903/tc_nm/highdefinition_war_dc

 

Have you ever used HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? They look even better then regular DVDs, especially if you have Full 1080P LCD HD TVs...

 

yes I have, but that doesnt mean it is necessary nor does it mean we should now throw away our other formats for these new ones when it is inevitable newer formats will come out and we will have to do this again.

I guess i just dont see the point as much as others do

 

So you are saying that... You're waiting for which format to win, and then you're buying?

 

in a way. im waiting to make sure that if/when i do buy something, it wont be obsolete after accumulating a large collection of discs. they'll just be near coasters then but also im still using DVDs and im fine with their quality

 

I think the part about manufacturers being able to transition to HDDVD easily will be a big factor. Especially at this time when momentum is important, why not just pump out HDDVD players without risking much. For movies, it doesn't seem like BD has any advantage. Dual and triple layer HD disks will be able to handle long movies on 1 disk.
I am sold on HD-DVD. Thanks for playing, Sony.

 

I'll wait for one format to win, and then some before buying in. I got a DVD playing appliance in 2000, but this is just too early to buy into this generation of discs.

 

As long as 1 format wins before the need for more than 1 dvd per game arises then ill be happy. I hated that 4+ cd garbage i got with doom 3 and the sims 2.

I would rather HD-DVD won as i dont like the direction sony are taking games in, i dont like sony. My beef with gaming is primarily EA's fault but sony hasent helped any.

 

Well, as for as PC goes, the battle is pretty much over with Dell, HP/Compaq, Apple and Acer/Gateway all going Blu-ray.

On game consoles. PS3 have sold over 4 million units while HD-DVD for the Xbox 360 is under 1 mil not to mention that they don't even have one single HD-DVD game titles.

 

Lol, that's very true!

 

True yes, but what we're talking about is figures that mean very little at this point. As most news articles have mentioned, in comparison to DVD sales, this HD war that is occurring matters very little until we start getting into bigger numbers. Albeit 4 million consoles sold sounds like a lot when compared to the HD-DVD Add-on, but when you compare this to Nintendo and Microsoft’s 11 million game consoles sold it matters very little. All the people who are interested in HD-DVD can buy the HD-DVD add-on for their X-Box 360. As Microsoft have almost three times the installed user base then clearly, if we're going with figures and potential sales, they could win this section of the format war on that fact alone.

In addition, marketing will no doubt play a vital role in the adoption of this new media by the general public. As most know, the money does not come form the niche market but from the mass market. For either side to win they need to convince the average consumer that their format is the best and how they will do that is marketing.

 

Ha, I loved this one commercial.

"Hi, i'm [alright director]. Last week, I bought Toshiba's HD-DVD player. It looks great! Details and color just pops on my HDTV. Plus, if you get one right now, they throw in free movies. Get one today."

Not that many people have a HDTV or computer monitor capable of 720p. Even then, what'll happen when they start selling discs with the HDCP/ICT stuff to boxes that don't support it?

 

I thought most computer monitors were 720p capable. From the all-knowing wikipedia:

Regardless, I think that for the general public, HD will take a little while longer to catch on mainly for the price issues. Even if computer monitors are HD capable, the computer most likely doesn't have an HD / Blu-Ray drive, and that's added cost that a lot of consumers won't want to pay.

 

The Xbox 360's HD-DVD add on will never catch up. That was MS's critical mistake. By making the HD-DVD an add-on and not a standard on the 360. It will be a long wait for games to take advantage of it. It's just a matter of the chicken and the egg, Developer won't develope HD-DVD games (although they might release titles that offer extras in a HD-DVD version) without a large installed base and gamers won't buy the add-on until there are a good number of exclusive HD-DVD titles.

Yea, all the numbers means very little now when measured up against regular DVD. I don't see mass market going high-def till X'mas when 42" HDTV drops to around $700-800. Unfortunately, this is also going to be HD-DVD downfall. Up until now, every time you hear from the HD-DVD camp. they always claim that their player price advantage is what is going to carry them to victory. This may sound logical when blu-ray players are going for $800-$1000 vs HD-DVD at $500. But by the time that the mass market start adopting either format. You'll looking at a much smaller margin ($300 vs $200). Is that really going to be enough to save the day when your average comsumer walks into any reatiler and see more major brands with Blu-ray player while HD-DVD will only have Toshiba and some no-name Chinese low cost unit.

 

A lot of people have 1024x768 monitors along with a Pentium 4, less than 1GB of RAM, and integrated graphics. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD aren't going to catch on until the drives and smooth playback are in $700 computers.

Wiz33: The point of the HD-DVD add-on was not for game content, but for movies. They made the HD-DVD player an add-on because not everyone wants such a drive. I'm sure newer Playstation games will have hours of 1080p video, but the console is $500(!)

 

Are you kidding, Widescreen monitor are selling like hotcakes. even 1440x900 19" will be able to handle 720p with no problem. HDTV price are dropping like a rock. Expect 42" set to drop to $700 around X'mas or right after. Pentium 4 should be plenty for HDTV playback (I was using a P4 2.8G with a HDTV tuner card and 1 GB of RAM last year). Blu-ray rom should drop below $200 after X'mas. Still a bit expensive but not much worst than the early days of CD/DVD-ROM.

The 360 sucks as a HD-DVD player as it does not have HDMI output so you're stuck using analog component output. You'll need a new Premium or elite to get HDMI output.

 

720p is only 1280x720 with 60Hz of progressive scanning, assuming I've interpreted what I've read correctly. Many monitors are fully capable of doing that. The only real limitation for most people will be the lack of an HD or Blu-Ray drive, processor and RAM shouldn't be too much of a concern. It will be for grandma and grandpa smith who've had the same computer for 6 years, but they're not going to be buying HD materials anyway, for the most part.

 

In regards to monitor capability. Yes 1280x720 60Hz is 720p and yes, most monitors can display this resolution but I think a few of you are forgetting that in order to play a HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc you will also need, in addition to the HD drive of course, a HDCP compatible graphics card and a HDCP capable connection on your monitor, be it HDMI or DVI with HDCP.

Now all this will not be, for the foreseeable future, at a price point for mass adoption so when we're discussing HD-DVD or Blu-ray on the average consumer PC, we are talking a while yet for the average consumer to pick up a PC that has it all at a reasonable price.

In addition, the HD-DVD add-on for the X-Box 360 is, in my opinion, a good idea for those who would like to have the opportunity to go HD, if they so wish, and not have it rammed down their throats e.g. the PS3. Yes, the point of HDMI output only on certain versions of the 360 is valid but does anybody actually think that the majority of PS3 users are hooking up their console to a HDTV over HDMI? I for one would like to see how well the PS3 does during and after the Christmas period in comparison to the new versions of 360’s.

 

Oh yes... I forgot about that nasty little agreement that Microsoft has regarding the HDCP compatible components. I'm sure that won't take terribly long to circumvent, but it is quite unfortunate that it's not currently legal for Apple or Linux users to view HD optical media. If I remember correctly, that agreement was pushed more by Hollywood than it was by Microsoft, is that right? Not that it makes any practical difference.

 

Actually, none of the stuff you mention is require. HDMI/HDCP will only be needed if and when ICT goes into effect (which won't happen before 2010 soonest). All you need to watch HD-DVD or Blu-ray on a PC now is a compatible player and PowerDVD Ultra.

Also, the HDMI/HDCP argument can also applies to the Xbox 360 since it does not offer HDMI/HDCP until recently. In fact the only way you can watch HD content on a non premium/eltie 360 is by using the analog component output which is generally inferior to digital.

What will happen this X'mas with 42" HDTV price expected to drop to $700 is that a lot of PS3 owner who is currently using their PS3 on a SDTV will be switching to HDTV and taking advantage of Blu-ray movies while most 360 owner are still stuck with an analog methods t owatch HD contents.

 

I have a Xbox 360 a HDMI-out port and a 720p/1080i television, but i'm not planning to get a HD-DVD drive anytime soon. They're expensive, I don't know how the DRM will work, and my "HD"TV has a native resolution of 1024x768. How is that HD?

 

its not...not wide enough

 

What about those 1366x768 resolution TVs? I've never heard of a TV with a native resolution of 1920x1080.

 

1920x1080 is a 1080p tv.

Generally 1366x768 is considered true 720p. Not sure the reason why...

But I'm gunning for HD-DVD. Primary reason is, they're hybrid discs. Many can be played in both HD and normal dvd players. So any DVD I want to buy now, I can pay a bit extra and sort of future proof myself.

I doubt we'll see an end to this battle anytime soon though. But it looks like Sony will put up a better fight this round than it did with Beta.

 

There are quite a few 1080p TV's, and they are getting both cheaper and more plentiful. One of my friends, who's a student, just got one with money earned during the summer.

1024x768 is also 720p. As long as it has 720 vertical lines and is progressive scan, it's 720p. 1366x768 fits widescreen 720p (1280x720).

 

Have you tried playing a HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc on a PC without having all of the required HDCP compatible hardware? PowerDVD checks this regardless of whether or not the ICT flag is present or not. It is required to prevent digital copies of the media itself from being made. With everything in place the data sent over the connection from HD-DVD/ Blu-ray drive => graphics card => monitor via either DVI-HDCP or HDMI is a protected digital connection, which will not allow any piece of software to intercept the data stream. It is not just relevant but also compulsory to have all aspects covered in order to watch a HD-DVD or Blu-ray movie successfully. Why do you think consumers are in a furore over this? The only way to watch a HD-DVD or Blu-ray movie on a PC without all the protection is if you had the files from the disc playing back on a hard drive, which I of course am not condoning or encouraging and only mention for information purposes.

 

Not unless you're using a notebook with a hdcp graphics card right?
since youre not using dvi or hdmi, theres really nothing to check right, so it should work?

Ive also read that to pass HDCP requirements so you can watch HD movies on your PC, you should get AnyDVD software but it is only good for 30 days. after that you would have to buy it.

 

If you're using a notebook you will only need two parts to the connection string, the HDCP compatible graphics card and HD-DVD or Blu-ray drive.

Also, you are not breaking or passing any HDCP requirements with the AnyDVD software. This only breaks the AACS encryption on the disc itself thus allowing the copying of the content, which is obviously illegal.

 

Oh ok, thanks for clarifying that out Rsaeire. Good then, so i think im gonna get the xbox 360 HD Player and hook that up to my notebook since i will have the latest HDCP compliant graphics card once my new notebook arrives.

 

Yea, play many a HD-DVD and Blu-ray from Acer's 8210 with blu-ray and with a DVI to DVI cable to s Dell 2405 (non HDCP). and did the same with a Aspire 9800 with HD-DVD. It's been a while with the Aspire but you can dig up some of my old post on that matter. I did this a while back. Same thing can be done with A Xbox 360 w/HD-DVD since the early Xbox is not HDMI/HDCP.

Edit: Ok I did some more digging around and it seems that the Standalone version of PowerDVD Ultra does require HDCP handshaking. I don't remember the bundled player (by PowerDVD) on the Aspire 9800 or the Travelmate 8210 doing a HDCP check and both played fine on the 2405. I guess you'll need AnyDVD to get past that if you have a LCD that is not HDCP.

 

It looks like Warner was offered a princely sum in order to change their allegiance. I wonder whether they'll change their mind soon or stay neutral?

 

just reinforced my view that blu-ray would win out, faster rates of moving data and backed by more and bigger companies. And even if 3 layer HD-DVD's are soon to come its a safe bet 3 layer Blue-Ray disks will shortly follow

 

I find it hard to believe people are defending the hd-dvd. why? i hate sony but blue-ray is a higher quality product, I figure by rallying with the clear quality choice(blue ray) we might be able to get rid of the 2 different formats, instead of bickering because one person bought hddvd and another bought sony.

i bought both. my point is that id rather just buy one.

 

If they don't lower the prices on the units themselves and the DVD's, I doubt either is going to be a big winner. Just my opinion.

 

Blu-Ray players can be had for 399 and HD for 299 and they were even throwing in 5 free movies with them.

I would still go with Blu-Ray. Just say no to VHS....all those old enough; you know what I mean.

 

I fall into the HDDVD arena at the moment.
1. HDDVD is marketing disks with the standard DVD on the other side, which is a big plus. Allows use of the same disk in other players. Prevents loss of investment if the format dies.
2. Stand alone player cost
3. Internet connectivity built into stand alone players.
4. Disk mastering is easier on the HDDVD format.
5. Blu-Ray disk manufacturing has a high failure rate, at the moment.

The blu-ray camp claims a higher bit rate. HD, with an mp4 codec is highly watchable at 12Mbps, which both formats exceed easily. So quality differences aren't an issue.

I do not own either format. I'm going to wait a while longer. These are just my educated opinions. For the consumer (home viewer) market I think HDDVD will come out on top. Now, video games and other storage intensive tasks may migrate to blu-ray as a format.

 

Hey guys, here's an update on the situation. Looks like Blu-Ray is starting the prep step to its victory dance.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080217/japan_toshiba.html

 

Here is another one:
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/12783/13807/netflix-movie-rentals-go-blu-ray.phtml

 

HD DVD is coming to an end... Toshiba will not be making them for much longer... Guess blu-ray won
I don't even know how I know this... just heard it on Robin & Company... I personally don't ever buy blu-ray/HD stuff...

 

There is thread that says that Toshiba has already given the white flag

 

That is not confirmed yet, but it does seem the writing is on the wall.

 

Was at BESTBUY today and alot of the HD-DVD's were on sale, $14.99.

 

Here's an article by Cnet that sort of proves it.

The result isn't that surprising, after all Toshiba is fighting a war that is pretty much one vs three other companies.