Dual Blu-Ray and HD-DVD player?

[Grimey]

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

Samsung Electronics will consider later this year if it will launch a high-definition movie player compatible with both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, it says.

It would definitely make everything a whole lot easier for the average consumer. For now at least.

But is this a good thing? or do we need a clear winner with one dominant format and all titles being relased on that format like with dvd's now?

[CrayonEater]

I haven't been following the HD/BD thing for reasons a lot of folks here know, and I could be wrong about this, but didn't all the manufacturers claim before they started selling these units that they WOULD support both formats? Wasn't that the plan all along?

[FulciLives]

I found some reviews on Blu-Ray discs on this one website that has also done some HD DVD reviews and their general opinion was that the HD DVD releases looked much better than the Blu-Ray discs.

Granted when I read this they had already revied many HD DVD discs but only 3 Blu-Ray discs. They were xXx, The Fifth Element and another movie that I can't remember now.

I do remember them saying that perhaps Blu-Ray didn't look as good because all three Blu-Ray titles were done in MPEG-2 whereas the HD DVD titles (all ... most ... I don't know!) were using the newer VC1 compression.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[terjeber]

I do remember them saying that perhaps Blu-Ray didn't look as good because all three Blu-Ray titles were done in MPEG-2 whereas the HD DVD titles (all ... most ... I don't know!) were using the newer VC1 compression.

This is correct, and hopefully Sony won't continue shooting them selves in the foot like this. I am not sure though, shooting them selves in the foot seems to be Sony's MO these days.

It should be perfectly possible to encode in MPEG-2 with the same quality that you see on the VC1 encoded HDDVD disks. MPEG-2 is something the studios know, and a compression technology they have become really good at mastering. With the higher bitrate and storage capacity of Blue Ray, HD in MPEG-2 should work. Obviously Sony is having problems with it.

Using H.264, Sony should be able to get even better quality, but H.264 is a new compression technology, and it will take a while before the studios get used to it and therefore proficient in using it.

Do remember that, unlike us mere mortals, the studios don't digitize a film and run it through a standard encoder. They can go as far as using different encoding schemes on two different parts of the same scene, manually chosing which to use where.

[SingSing]

But is this a good thing? or do we need a clear winner with one dominant format and all titles being relased on that format like with dvd's now?

The clear winner is necessary for them. Without that, HD and Bluray will both become specialty formats like EL-Cassette.

[ROF]

Without a doubt we will eventually see combined players, recorders, and burners. Someone, somewhere must remember a time when DVD+R and DVD-R were completely incompatible and that neither worked in the others device.

[dvdguy4]

They have to make them compatible. It may just help bring the price down and help bring out more movie titles. It makes sense and actually Id buy one if they combine them. No sense in losing millions just like the whole Beta vs. Vhs mess.

[ViRaL1]

If they can do SACD and DVD-Audio in one player, I don't see any reason why they can't do HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in one machine. Granted, licensing issues would make the cost prohibitive at present.

[Dv8ted2]

But is this a good thing?

Yes

or do we need a clear winner with one dominant format and all titles being relased on that format like with dvd's now?

Look at the way that the +R/-R camps coexist. If they do they same thing, everyone wins.

[SingSing]

If they can do SACD and DVD-Audio in one player, I don't see any reason why they can't do HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in one machine.

Able to do multiple formats does not means success. After many players can do both SACD and Audio-DVD, either of these two format took off.

[ntscuser]

They have to make them compatible. It may just help bring the price down and help bring out more movie titles.

But that would defeat the whole purpose of bringing out a new format - which is to restore prices and margins to the levels they were when DVD first came out.

[Dv8ted2]

But that would defeat the whole purpose of bringing out a new format - which is to restore prices and margins to the levels they were when DVD first came out.

Then the venture is doomed, because mainstream support is needed.

[FulciLives]

I would prefer there be only one format instead of two formats even if one or more companies make hardware that can play both ... you still have two different software formats.

Personally I'd like to hear more about the difference between VC1 and MPEG-2 and try to get to the bottom of why the Sony Blu-Ray MPEG-2 discs don't appear to look as good as the HD DVD VC1 discs.

I thought MPEG-2 was very "scalable" and should be fine at higher resolutions and bitrates. Maybe his is not so true?

I don't even know what the heck VC1 is come to think of it!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cornucopia]

VC-1 = WMVHD (tweaked slightly, w/diff. GUID)

MPEG2 is quite scalable. The only reason it should look bad on the BluRay titles is--
1. Bad Film-to-DigVid transfer (not likely)
2. Bad Encoding job (possible)
3. Decoding hardware not yet up to snuff (very possible)

Scott

[FulciLives]

Oh ... so VC-1 is WMV HD meaning it is Microsoft huh?

Damn I didn't know that LOL

Now I guess I understand why Microsoft is backing HD DVD so sly devils 8)

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[yoda313]

Well I'd love one combo player. When I make the jump to hdtv that would be the best option. Having to choose is just so tough. But I wouldn't mind if I could have 1 player and have to buy the movie in one format or another. That is irrelevant once you have a working hardware solution. You just want the movie to look good.

[gotnotime]

Dual players are inevetable even as the two formats continue to battle, we can not forget that the movie industry is the winner with either of these formats as they will have for the first time in many years a copy protection system that has yet to be broken.

The ultimate winning system may actually come down to which copy protection system is cracked by the DVD Decrypters types of the world. The movie industry will jump onboard with the remaining format, while the other goes the way of betamax.

Either way, we lose!