HD Optical Media War - Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD

[shadowmaster]

Another format emerged today too. It's bitrate (quality) sits in the middle of the other big two formats yet it costs much less to manufacture....apparently.

Say hello to another lovely shiny new format: HD VDMP .

Oh good, now we have three HD formats to pick from......

[greenalien]

I don't think either format will 'win' - both will continue to be produced, and we'll soon have low-cost players that will play both formats. Blu-ray PC drives are already available at around £100 and with the increasing user base of PS3 owners the Blu-ray format is not going to go away. Both formats are still being actively developed and nobody is about to throw away the massive investments already committed. For myself, I have no desire to 'invest in' (i.e. waste money on) any HD technology - I'm happy with my 28" CRT widescreen TV, DVD recorder and PVR. Occasionally, if I really want to watch a 'big screen' movie, I'll fire up my DLP projector - (and if I want a 'higher definition' picture, I clean my spectacles and sit nearer to the screen!!!) - but as I already waste too much of my life watching the box I don't need yet another reason, so HD stays firmly in the 'not interested' category!

[neonplanet40]

I have both formats and have to say that thus far i prefer blu-ray. The playstation 3 is a an excellent player and definetly one of my best buys this year.

Neither format is "dead" and neither format will be for a long time to come.

Neon

[Agent]

Oh God. I'm not making this up.

China will be backing a HD-DVD-like format which will allow cheap HD-DVD players to be made.

So China is now HD-DVD. Barrichello has told us this is of major importance, so I guess he's backing HD-DVD now.

Not only that, but the 51GB triple-layer HD-DVD has been approved, meaning that HD-DVDs are now larger than BD-50 discs - and current HD-DVD players can play them. No BD 1.1 screw-ups here. Also:


OK. I've changed my mind. No Blu-Ray for me! Or HD-DVD either, for that matter, until we start seeing some of these price drops on our shelves... maybe in 12 months

Why the Hell is HD-DVD suddenly kicking ass?! I know the analysts said that the PS3 would only bring a brief surge to Blu-Ray, but... well... I didn't actually believe them.

Thanks for the links
I've been saying this since the start of the 'war'. China is the key.
When players are coming out for 50 quid, its the format that people will go to first. People on here will look into the formats before buying, you're average home user wont, they will go for the cheaper one.

Remember that these players can play normal DVD's too, so if a HD-DVD player is only a few quid more, its an easy choice.

[TheAnimus]

so this HD-VMD has a red laser eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versatile_Multilayer_Disc

that makes it quite a bit cheaper, as the voilet diodes have been used as a reason for the high price of bluray/hd-dvd

[greenalien]

Got the latest Novatech catalogue this morning, see they are listing Pioneer BDR-202 Blu-Ray recorder for PC at £235.96 plus VAT; Pioneer Blu-ray player for PC at £121.99 plus VAT; Two different brands of Blu-ray blank discs are from £7.24 each plus VAT.

Significantly, there is no mention of HD-DVD...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?PIO-BDR2BK
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...html?PIO-202BK
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?IMA-26162+
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?TDK-BDR25G

Doesn't look like a dead format to me!

[TooNice]

I wonder - which side would be better off if HD-DVD become the adopted medium to sell movies, BD the preferred medium used for optical storage (i.e. for future software inc. games).

The second thing I'd like to know is who makes BD/HD-DVD discs used by movie studios? What I do not understand is why I keep hearing about the horrendous yields of BD discs, the high cost of BD discs.. and yet everywhere I look, the BD discs work out cheaper than the HD-DVD counterpart per GB even for the same brand (granted, Verbatim is the only brand I've seen doing both BD and HD-DVD so far - but I've not looked that hard).

[Funkstar]

Recordable is a whole other argument to the read only disks.

I can quite easily see HD-DVD becoming the HD format of choice for movies, and BD being successful in the data storage market, especially when you have TDK prototyping 10 layer disks.

HD-DVD hasn't really kicked off in the recordable market at the moment. Not sure why.

[PenguinJim]

Got the latest Novatech catalogue this morning, see they are listing Pioneer BDR-202 Blu-Ray recorder for PC at £235.96 plus VAT; Pioneer Blu-ray player for PC at £121.99 plus VAT; Two different brands of Blu-ray blank discs are from £7.24 each plus VAT.

Significantly, there is no mention of HD-DVD...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?PIO-BDR2BK
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...html?PIO-202BK
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?IMA-26162+
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?TDK-BDR25G

Doesn't look like a dead format to me!

Heh, Blu-Ray could be a great back-up format for enthusiasts in future.

But as long as the Blu-Rot rumours persist, I don't think any enthusiasts will be buying it.

Rumours are here, here, here, here, here, and all the other hundreds of places with the Blu-Rot stories. Guess you missed that story from earlier, eh.

I don't consider HD-DVD safe, mind, even though at least it doesn't rot. Heck, I'm not quite convinced by DVD. Warm backup all the way for me!

[Stringent]

In Japan they already favour Blu-Ray. Sony are also incorporating BR drives into their laptops.

[MadduckUK]

Sony are also incorporating BR drives into their laptops.

and Toshiba are incorporating HD DVD into theirs.

[Funkstar]

Never mind about them, they are small players globaly. What are HP and Dell supporting?

Well by the looks of it, HP are an HD-DVD backer. http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...eme+multimedia

And Dell? no idea. had a quck look and haven't seen an option on their laptops. Although they might be leaving that to Alienware.

[Stringent]

Dell are backing Blu-Ray

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...=us&l=en&s=gen

[greenalien]

And while the squabbling over Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD goes on, a new technology emerges that makes them both obsolete...

Holographic optical storage - with 300GB devices expected next year and 800GB and 1.6TB devices to follow soon...all-plastic discs, no metal to oxidise...50 years archival capacity...

http://www.inphase-technologies.com/

[Funkstar]

And if you thought HD disks and players were expensive, wait until you see that stuff

[usxhe190]

both sides are crap for consumers....I have a feeling they are restricting companies from making combo HDDVD/BlueRay drives...