Blu-Ray review

[klwillis45]

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6542126.html?tag=cnetfd.sd

[gparris]

That's the link I was trying to find on the Blu-ray report. :D

I think the high def DVD title and display will have lot to do with how these new type DVDs show for the consumer.

Hopefully, the big box stores will set these up properly so these don't look the same (or worse) than standard DVDs (and upconverts) on display.
:rolleyes:

[Absopo]

Circuit City is actually not supporting the HD-DVD standard in any way. They will not be displaying the units or even selling them in store. They are pretending that Blu Ray is the only High Def option for DVDs, this is not good for their shoppers because i have heard nothing but bad reviews of the new Samsung Blu ray player.

[gparris]

After seeing the Samsung Blu-ray player playing "House of Flying Daggers" hooked up with HDMI to a Samsung 1080p 50" DLP set in one of those home theater setups in front of the Circuit City store, Samsung can keep their Blu-ray...just awful considering all the hype. :(
(NOTE: It wasn't the setup, it was the BD disc and player.)

The HD DVD of "Serenity" using the Toshiba HD DVD player gets my vote from Best Buy, even on a 42" Pioneer plasma at 3 feet away.
While the setup at the particular Best Buy store wasn't the best - on an endcap, but at least it was there with the assortment of HD DVDs and also more HD DVDs for sale on another endcap, too, farther away - included with the standard racks of DVDs so customers could see them. :D

[Joseph S]

I'm supporting Bluray primarily because of the tech with increased capacity and will be incorporating it in my own work flow for archive/storage. I expect the quality to improve as we go for both, but Bluray should have fewer limits now and fewer in the future. Sony may screw up, but the rest of us can help fill the gaps. :D

I wish Circuit City was supporting HD-DVD to kill it off quick. ;)

[gparris]

I'm supporting Bluray primarily because of the tech with increased capacity and will be incorporating it in my own work flow for archive/storage. I expect the quality to improve as we go for both, but Bluray should have fewer limits now and fewer in the future. Sony may screw up, but the rest of us can help fill the gaps. :D

I wish Circuit City was supporting HD-DVD to kill it off quick. ;)

Circuit City DOES have it for ordering on their site:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=149876

Circuit City has a good display and setup at the store I was at (Racine), complete with Samsung BD player, BD disc cover display, Samsung 50" 1080p HDTV set and HDMI cabling, seating area and so on, so don't bash EVERY Circuit City store, okay? :o

[Absopo]

Circuit City DOES have it for ordering on their site:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=149876

Circuit City has a good display and setup at the store I was at (Racine), complete with Samsung BD player, BD disc cover display, Samsung 50" 1080p HDTV set and HDMI cabling, seating area and so on, so don't bash EVERY Circuit City store, okay? :o

The Circuit City service guy i spoke to said they had no HD-DVD players in the store.
He said they would only be selling them online. He then proceeded to tell me that blu-ray will win in the end because no one is supporting HD-DVD. The whole experience just seemed a little shady to me, i mean why not put both units side by side and let consumers decide which they want to go with.

[picopir8]

There is no need to put them side by side. Neither one will look better than the other. Its like saying DVD+R sounds better than DVD-R. Sure some players will looks/sound better than others but that has to due with the hardware/software used by the manufacturer. Which standard they use will make no difference.

However, Blueray has the support of most hollywood studios, has larger capacity, and can hold a SD version of the movie versions on the disk as well (put the blueray disk in a DVD play and its backward compatable). Given these fact most people are expecting blueray to win.

[TPK]

However, Blueray has the support of most hollywood studios, has larger capacity, and can hold a SD version of the movie versions on the disk as well (put the blueray disk in a DVD play and its backward compatable). Given these fact most people are expecting blueray to win.

Are movie studios really going to release 2 versions (HD and SD) of the same movie on the same disc, when they could just as easily sell the HD and SD versions seperately, forcing most people to re-buy the software when they want HD, and sell one movie at twice the price?

[kevbeck122]

What's the point of having HD and SD on the same disc when the players can just downconvert to 480i?

[Bebop]

There is no need to put them side by side. Neither one will look better than the other. Its like saying DVD+R sounds better than DVD-R. Sure some players will looks/sound better than others but that has to due with the hardware/software used by the manufacturer. Which standard they use will make no difference.

However, Blueray has the support of most hollywood studios, has larger capacity, and can hold a SD version of the movie versions on the disk as well (put the blueray disk in a DVD play and its backward compatable). Given these fact most people are expecting blueray to win.

Right now HD DVD has a an edge over BR in PQ. Stubborn Sony is still using the old Mpeg-2 and the 50 Gig dual layer disk is still unavailable. So, at the moment is 25Gig with old encoding Vs. 30Gig HD DVD with VC1 encoding.

At first I though BR would win too with all the studios supporting them. But right now Sony manages keep repeatingly shooting themselves in the foot. It's giving HD DVD a lead they might never catch up to.

[Bebop]

Are movie studios really going to release 2 versions (HD and SD) of the same movie on the same disc, when they could just as easily sell the HD and SD versions seperately, forcing most people to re-buy the software when they want HD, and sell one movie at twice the price?

Yes, some studios are doing such with HD DVD, but the disk cost more. The SD on one side and HD DVD version on the other.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FUTQNC/qid=1151383274/sr=8-4/ref=pd_bbs_4/102-6349990-5609761?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

[kevbeck122]

Ok.. I wasn't thinking.. SD works in a normal DVD player then?

[sp44again]

Ok.. I wasn't thinking.. SD works in a normal DVD player then?

Yes, they want you to be able to use it in other DVD players in the house.

[picopir8]

Personally, I am holding out for a dual format player but I suspect those are a ways off yet.

[TPK]

Personally, I am holding out for a dual format player but I suspect those are a ways off yet.

Perhaps not as far off as you think:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,126193,00.asp

... I can also see prices for the HD-DVD players falling already...

My price point would be a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray dual format player around the $300 mark (ideally the player would be hackable so I could stop the down-rezzing, but that would be just gravy)... That is when I will pull the trigger ..

I will go out on a limb and make a prediction that it will be available by this time next year ...

... Lets see if I am right, Gee I hope so ;)

[Absopo]

ive seen hd-dvd and blu-ray side by side three times and all three times the blu-ray looked aweful next to the hd-dvd, i would NOT recommend this player, you are not getting the best picture for the money at this time with blu-ray.