Bluray Vs HDDVD - were you right?

[C']

I was never that bothered about it really (to this day I only own 3 Blu-Ray movies, one of which I got for free, the other came with a “free” trial of Final Fantasy 13) but as I already owned a PS3 whilst the “war” was going on I guess if I wanted any to win out it would have been Blu-Ray purely as it meant I could have one less box under my TV.

[Daragon]

I'm almost certain it would have been decided from the outset anyway, not only because of all PS3s being used as a blu-ray player as standard, but also because more studios were exclusive to the format (HD only had Paramount and Universal as exclusives as far as I'm aware, nothing special compared with who Blu-ray had).

[QualityChimp]

Ooh, nice thread, Charles.

I thought HD-DVD would win because I read that the adult entertainment industry were favouring the format over BluRay. That might sound flippant, but most technology is driven by a bit 'o' blue:
Guardian article

If you don't listen to what the major studios are wanting then they're not going to play.

I know that people have moaned about the blu-ray name several times but I felt using the name HD-DVD was extremely retrogressive again.

I understand it describes exactly what you're buying but non descriptive names like iPod or Wii which were perhaps a little uncomfortable for people at first they're distinct and have ended up being fairly catchy names.

I agree with everything you put in your post, John, and if I were sat next to you, I'd have high-fived you for the bit above.

People love a bit of The Emperor's New Clothes and the name BluRay was the kind of word people liked to use to make it sound like they were riding the technological zeitgest.

"So I was watching a Blue Ray CD on my pPod whilst listening to pm3s on my 9tendough wee."

I'm rubbish at keeping up though. Despite owning a PS3, I don't own a single BluRay disc because I'm tied to the telly. There's several places I can watch a DVD.

Is there reeeally that much of a difference between standard DVD and BluRay?

[Daragon]

Ooh, nice thread, Charles.

I thought HD-DVD would win because I read that the adult entertainment industry were favouring the format over BluRay. That might sound flippant, but most technology is driven by a bit 'o' blue:
Guardian article



I agree with everything you put in your post, John, and if I were sat next to you, I'd have high-fived you for the bit above.

People love a bit of The Emperor's New Clothes and the name BluRay was the kind of word people liked to use to make it sound like they were riding the technological zeitgest.

"So I was watching a Blue Ray CD on my pPod whilst listening to pm3s on my 9tendough wee."

I'm rubbish at keeping up though. Despite owning a PS3, I don't own a single BluRay disc because I'm tied to the telly. There's several places I can watch a DVD.

Is there reeeally that much of a difference between standard DVD and BluRay?

To my eyes yes, at least with animation and older films. In both cases, the material has been significantly cleaned up, looks sharper and clearer and alot more pronounced.

With more recent films however, you might need a trained eye to pick up on the enhancements - I can't discern a substantial improvement to the pirates of the caribbean films on BR over standard for example.

[QualityChimp]

Thanks, Daragon.

I thought this was the case for animation and older films.

I don't think I've ever watched a DVD of a modern film and thought "Pffft... this film looks so ropey, I wish there was some way of improving the red 650 nm laser with a shorter wavelength and storing substantially more data..."

I don't think most companies fill a standard DVD and a lot of "Super special double-disc" editions could have put most the features on one disc, but it sounds like you're getting more value for money and also put out a single-disc version.

Sheesh, what a cynic!

[buster_broon]

for me it was HD-DVD and again like others it was only because it has the DVD in its name

i dont have a 1080P TV anyway so i wasnt going to get the true resolution anyway

i've bought most of my movies when it bit the bullet anyway, only a few of them cost me a decent amount of money like Band of Brothers, but that price wouldnt have changed if it was still going strong to be honest

[wakka]

I was indifferent as to who won, but more interested in who lost...when Toshiba packed in HD-DVD I went to Gamestation and traded in a couple of old games and got a 360 HD-DVD drive, Enter The Dragon and Blade Runner: Final Cut, all brand new sealed for £3. Since then I've managed to get a bunch more movies, plus Planet Earth, Heroes and Star Trek TOS all at an extremely good price (only the last one cost me more than £12, courtesy of Mr Buster Broon! ^^^).

Failed formats are awesome.

[buster_broon]

Star Trek TOS all at an extremely good price (only the last one cost me more than ?12, courtesy of Mr Buster Broon! ^^^).

Failed formats are awesome.

AWESOME!!!!!

Shame my cheapie R1 Star Trek was hit by customs

[Kubrick]

I preferred HD-DVD in the beginning because most films available on Blu-ray at the time were absolute wank, mostly Sony's own flops.

Now, I don't buy either. Blade Runner was the last new release I bought. They're just far too expensive and most of the films I'd be interested in, I already have on DVD - which, upscaled, still looks perfectly fine to me.

I'll just wait until they're all a fiver or something before buying the ones I want.

[Tig]

Genius or a huge gamble. I've been a fan of Sony products over the years but would have liked to see what would have happened if Blu-ray failed.

wouldn't Sony have been conclusively f***ed if Blu-ray had failed? I can't imagine what would be happening to the PS3 now.

[buster_broon]

wouldn't Sony have been conclusively f***ed if Blu-ray had failed? I can't imagine what would be happening to the PS3 now.

it would have just been as popular as it is, the blu ray is a bonus

just the same way the PSP still sells even though UMD was a complete failure

another reason i chose HD-dvd was because it was region free

[Escape-To-88]

I'm HD-DVD all the way mainly becuase of the price drops and I've picked up an entire hall full of stuff, including most of the 'rare' titles, for around a fiver.
I think the BR stuff is far too pricey, but with prices dropping I'm coming round to BR.
However, the region-locked status of some titles regularly makes me rethink certain purchases, again, not an issue with the other format. BR feels a little like two steps forward one back. Although I wouldn't own a PS3 unless it was a BR player, so I guess Sony have me over a barrel.
Like earlier posts I thought HD would triumph becuase of the old smut and when I worked at Blocky B's before HD's death there was talk of renting HD and getting rid of Blu-Ray.

But, as I've already said and as Jason points out above me (I also see our HD-DVD collections are similar in size ) , the region-free status of all HD discs is/was a great bonus - best idea since Sega offering a 60hz option on PAL DC units

[JP]

I thought HD-DVD would win because I read that the adult entertainment industry were favouring the format over BluRay. That might sound flippant, but most technology is driven by a bit 'o' blue:
Guardian article

I always thought that people really over estimated how much say the porn industry would have in this generation. They were always a driving force in the past but surely now porn has lost that any power they had due to just how many people have internet access.

[QualityChimp]

Yes, but the technology that's driving websites was, a lot of the time, pioneered by adult sites.

The crazily fast development of mobile phones with their 'always on' internet access means that it's another revenue stream, if the technology can keep up.

[sj33]

I always thought that people really over estimated how much say the porn industry would have in this generation. They were always a driving force in the past but surely now porn has lost that any power they had due to just how many people have internet access.

Yeah I always felt people were ignoring context when people kept bringing up the porn issue as a plus for HD-DVD. With VHS, it was the first time people had access to (video) porn at home, in their own privacy. This wasn't the case with HD-DVD.