HD DVD Format

[AMuse]

Hi, thinking about diving into the HD DVD format and with the Bluray vs. HD DVD format selection was curious if anyone has an opinion on which way to go.

[duhb]

bluray baby
this topic such a hot debate at like avsforums and other a/v discussion groups so not sure who is gonna win this one

[ProAudioX]

Actually, you may not need to choose. Several manufacturers have released dual format players so you can play either one. Check it out. Just google dual format bluray hd dvd players or something like that.

[CaseInPoint]

I have the bluray and love it. Sometimes it seems that the movie selection may be better from the HD DVD side but that is probably just in my case. I just always seem to see the titles that I want on the other team lol.

[Dusty Chalk]

Hi, thinking about diving into the HD DVD format and with the Bluray vs. HD DVD format selection was curious if anyone has an opinion on which way to go.Just get a universal player such as the LG and don't worry about it.

[AMuse]

The dual format concepts sounds good but do you actually own one of these and have had good experice with it? It sort of reminds me of the combo players like VHS/BETA and DVD/VCR that I used to own and they always failed too soon. Its like they tried to be 2 things in one :).

This is proabably different though so I will go and google this and check the LG site.

Thanks.

[Dusty Chalk]

No, I don't personally have any experience with it, as I'm spoiled (I'll explain that later).

But I still think this is different, as the dual-videotape format players were different from the dual-hi-def-disk players, as in the former case, they were physically different. The difference between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is purely software/drivers/EPROM/whatever. They actually use the same physical thing to spin the disk, and the same physical laser to read the data off the disk.

The only reason it's a format war is because "they" say it is -- if you buy a dual format player, you can pick up whichever format each studio decides to put the movie out in without even thinking about it.

Oh, and Re: spoiled -- I go over to a friend's house every weekend to watch movies. He has some sort of pro-grade upscaler that looks absolutely fantastic. He's shown me some hi-def channels, and unless it's Leno or the Sports Desk on ESPN (I.E. recorded directly to hi-def), I can't tell the difference. Shows like CSI or whatever, because they film on film first, lose what little difference there is between actual hi-def and well-upscaled regular-def.

[AMuse]

Thanks Dusty, here is one that I looked at in Circuit City, a Samsung BD-UP5000
Its not an LG but it does the same thing from what they told me. So with this I would not need to pick either one and can just choose the movies that I want to buy.

[Dusty Chalk]

That looks like a nice player, but did you actually see one? Because this article (http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2007/11/30/no-samsung-bd-up5000-under-your-xmas-tree/) says they're not going to be available until a month from now. Can I ask how much they were charging? US$799 seems to be the price to beat (although I found at least one place that said it was US$719 [hint: froogle]).

[AMuse]

I saw it online http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=191906 and went to a store and talked to the sales guy who said they were coming. There was a samsung unit there that we looked at and he said it would be basically like that except that it would play both formats. One of the main things for me was this upscaling thing he described as something that would make my regular dvd's look much better in this player.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I read that in the CNN review -- I would definitely pick the Samsung over the LG based just on that.

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, the war I refused to acknowledge as a war is pretty much over:

Warner goes exclusively Blu-Ray (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/04/warner-goes-blu-ray-exclusive/)
Paramount follows (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/paramount-following-warner-out-the-hd-dvd-door/)

[AMuse]

Wild, Paramount pulls out of the HD-DVD camp...
Maybe Sony will finally win one after the Beta war loss

[ProAudioX]

I am suprised, and the format freaks over at AVSForums must be going hog with this one.

[Trentreant]

Good. I am sick and tired of looking at the "red" packages in the hi-def alley with that other release list.

One format to lead them all!

[NoirTech]

Even though I was in the HD-DVD side of the "stupid war", I'm really glad it's coming to an end. I had only bought a handful of HD-DVDs, and the rest I was just renting from Netflix. I had totally stopped buying DVDs all together as well. I hope Toshiba just gives up already and lets one format be the winner. It's been an interesting few weeks before and after CES.

[AMuse]

This is so reminiscent of the beta vhs thing from the 80's. The whole idea of presenting two formats to the public is disgusting.

[NoirTech]

This is so reminiscent of the beta vhs thing from the 80's. The whole idea of presenting two formats to the public is disgusting.

Yes. Very much so. This time though, Sony doesn't plan to loose like they did with BETA.

[CaseInPoint]

LOL.

Maybe they were hoping to sell more titles this way or something. It's like, here is a hamburger on a blue plate but if you want that other kind you will need to buy the red plate first. Or something like that.

[NoirTech]

If it had been the same company/studios doing this, maybe. :)