How good blue-ray/HD DVD have to be ?

[SingSing]

With all the rage about the format war(again) on blue ray vs HD DVD, the question is "what is in there for the consumers" ?

Technologcial next steps like these next gen DVD not always yield enough benifits for consumer to break out their wallet ( the ultimate goal ).

Examples : EL-cassette, high speed casette, Laser Video disc, SVCD, Atrai Juguar, high-bit DVD.

There are some of these make it thru as an inter-gap product like : VCD, Mavica, VHS-C and Digital-8.

Some products is just much more convinent : like casette and CD vs Open reel tape and record.

So we should like our eyes and ears be the judge, that either of blue-ray or HD DVD make sense. Will either of them stunt us like when you saw the first DVD with its clarity ?

The same rational applied to the current soup of TVs, DLP, LCD, EDTV, Plasma TV, Back Projection, Front Porjection...

Be strong with the force, and let your eyes and ears be the judge and the gate keeper of your wallet.

[bendixG15]

Thanks, I'll sleep much better tonight...

[Bob W]

I don't care how good it is because no way am I going to let big brother control how I watch a movie I paid for. When and if they remove the required net connections and HDCP then I may have an interest.

[yoda313]

high-bit DVD

I believe you mean SUPERBIT DVD. Actually I could see some value in it with a DTS soundtrack that some movies don't put on a dvd for one reason or another.

if they remove the required net connections

So thats real? They HAVE to be connected to the internet to play? That's INSANE!! I don't want to have to hook up a movie player of anytype to the internet. I just want to have to worry about it connecting to the tv, not the internet.

[Skith]

I don't really care about the comercially produced (pressed) media, I only want the recordable media for my own use, both data and video storage. As far as HD format is concerned, I couldn't care less as there is no way I (or anyone I know) could afford a decent HDTV setup.

The DRM mess (AACS) makes the new HD formats even less appealing. I (like many other people) watch very little TV, so unless HDTVs come down under $300 (the price of a normal TV) I will just tune out.

[waheed]

With Blu Ray/HD DVD requiring:

1. A HDTV Television which has HDMI (or DVI that supports HDCP).

2. Your player hooked up to a telephone line for every time you watch a movie (online authentication)

3. Region coding

4. AACS, DRM, HDCP and other useless copy protections

I think i'll pass. Its more than just getting inside your wallet. Its breaking into your bank account.

[SingSing]

With Blu Ray/HD DVD requiring:2. Your player hooked up to a telephone line for every time you watch a movie (online authentication)

This is kind of unreal, there are people want to watch DVDs in their car/van.

[yoda313]

With Blu Ray/HD DVD requiring:2. Your player hooked up to a telephone line for every time you watch a movie (online authentication)

This is kind of unreal, there are people want to watch DVDs in their car/van.

Well they'll just make you sign up through a service like ONSTAR to authenticate the hd/bluray discs while your on the road

[ebenton]

I don't think HDTV will be too expensive for most people for too long.

I bought a 42" Sony LCD-projection HDTV back in December 2004. Much better picture than my 1992 RCA 32" CRT TV. Even on SD and analog signals.

My local cable offers HD service for $8.00 a month more than regular analog cable. HD and regular digital cable are the same price. In addition, for another $6.00 you get some more HD channels: (ESPN HD; Universal HD, HD Net; HD Net Movies; INHD and INHD2). If you subscribe to HBO and Showtime, you get their HD for free. If you subscribe to both HBO and Showtime, you get about 18 HD channels. This includes prime-time network TV, which is all HD. Weekday daytime is not.

For another $6.00 a month, you can get an HD DVR. (DirectTV wants $600 for their HD DVR. After I have my cable HD DVR for 100 months, I will start to feel that maybe I should have bought one (not). It has an HDMI output, but also puts out everything through analog component video jacks.

Granted, HDTVs are still expensive, but they are coming down. My TV's price at Circuit City was about $2500 back in 12/2004. Today, the equivalent Sony model is about $1900. Some other brands of the same size and/or other technology are less. Plasmas are still more.

I can set up my exisitng DVD player to output 16:9 progressive and the 480P output from it looks pretty good, even compared to 1080i and 720P from cable. My HDTV only has 768 max resolution, so 1080i doesn't look much different than 720P. Makes me wonder if HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will be worth it. In any case, I don't think I will be buying a player for either of those disks for a while, if ever. Especially with the MPAA still pushing their DRM crap for the new players.

[jntaylor63]

Bob and Waheed,

You WILL NOT need a phone / internet connection to play these disk.

The powers that-be are trying like hell to put in an unbreakable lock (AACS, DRM, HDCP) so consumers will not need this type of connection to play back the disk. Even they don't want another DIVX snafu. Which is pointless because it will be broken. Maybe not as fast and easy as DVD, but it will happen. The reason, you have to have a door to get to the movie and that door can be opened.

I'll stay on the side lines for now. DVDs look damn near as good as the HD movies I've seen on Cable and Sat. (Granted the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will look better than the p.o.s. HD I get from SAT.)

But with DVD:
1.) I can take the disk and play on my Home, Car and PC.
2.) I can rip it to my HTPC and have my own on demand system.
3.) I can make a back-up for .25 cents and save the life of a 20$ purchase.

[waheed]

Bob and Waheed,

You WILL NOT need a phone / internet connection to play these disk.

I wish I could agree with you but:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12349

[painkiller]

I just hope the manufacturers enjoy spending all that money developing all that stuff (that none of us will buy).

[SingSing]

Well they'll just make you sign up through a service like ONSTAR to authenticate the hd/bluray discs while your on the road

Isn't this same as that "rental without return" DVD scheme that circuit city put out, it suffer a quick death. Wow, talking about learning disability !

[dipstick]

Anybody have any stock in Sony and Toshiba, might want to consider unloading while the hipe is still up. I have a feeling there's going to be significant losses ahead for these companies. I'll be checking the stock holdings of my Mutual funds. Any that have significant holdings in either these companies will be unloaded.

[gll99]

There are other factors to consider also.

I'll bet that most people who own a DVD player have not maxed the capabilities of the current technology.

For example how many own a progressive scan dvd player. If you do, how many own a tv that accepts a progressive scan signal?

How many own an hdmi dvd player which can upsample the sd signal to a hdtv?

I'm not saying that there won't be any advantage to moving to a HD format but for playing purposes, many gains can still be made with readily available cheaper options until things settle down with the competing formats.

[RottenFoxBreath]

itll be over soon ,what with the advent of holographic discs(HVD),and the X holographic discs(XHVD).
still im hoping that solid state takes over,or at the least some kind of streaming system,far more capable than the shit we have to look forward to,now.

[EAO]

I just hope the manufacturers enjoy spending all that money developing all that stuff (that none of us will buy).

Don't agree. In general... people are sheep. Life is too complicated -kids, work, bills - for them to consider the facts presented here.

I would say that optimistically.... 25% will balk at it. 75% will dive right in. If the CC or BB salesman tells them it's better and it's future proof... well then by G-d they'll have to get it.

The only sticking points I can see are:

1. Hassle of set up
2. Price (But it will come down.)

The phone line will not be an issue for the majority of sheep that have no problem letting TIVO track their viewing habits. Someone mentioned On Star as a solution to mobile verification. Maybe so. Seems realistic. Perhaps some hybird of wireless and the new slingbox tech. But it's doable and the masses won't care.

[ROF]

My requirements for next gen dvd are quite limited:

1) Better quality viewing experience.

2) Stronger copyright protections.

3) Full support for HDTV w/HDCP.

If it meets those requirements I'm buying. It looks like I only have to wait until it's available since it appears in all articles that my requirements are met.