OT: Blu-Ray or HD-DVD? or just get Ps3?

[mikedege]

Originally posted by CW from the OC
HD DVD is my choice, and I actually think it will win the format war, if one format actually wins it. It is also cheaper, with stand alone players as low as $150 presently, with 5-10 free HD movies thrown in. Compare that to whatever a PS3 costs, and approximately $400 for a Blue Ray stand alone player.....

Go to this link. It is the biggest A/V discussion board on the internet, the ReefCentral of A/V sites. After the page loads, scroll down the the "Blu-ray & HD DVD Areas". Note how many people are viewing the BlueRay versus the HD DVD forums. You will notice that there are usually a lot more people in the HD DVD Area. A good acid test of where things stand now:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php

Format wars are won by whoever can get the price down the fastest. Right now, that is HD DVD by a WIDE margin. The only thing keeping blue ray in the game is that it is Sony's format (and they throw their $$ into supporting it), and they put it in the PS3.

So if you want HiDef, just get a HD DVD player. If you are a gamer, go ahead and get a PS3 and consider the blue ray a free bonus.

I have HD DVD now, and if Sony ever makes enough good games for the PS3, I'll buy one of those too for gaming, and I'll have blue ray as a "freebie"

Great post.
BTW, BR and HDDVD are exactly the same. Both output 1080p. And both look terrific. As far as who will win, I have to say HD-DVD.... its cheaper, especially the cost of making the Laser, AND more people are actually adopting it. Can anybody here say "Sony memory stick"? repeat after me, "Sony memory stick"... in other words, Sonys trying to brute force the market, and it has shown in the past this doesnt work well. Another example is Apple, they may have better computers in many ways, but they are not the dominant player, cuz they try to hoard all the profits for themselves... this has proven not to work. does it really matter with the "dual format players" coming out, not sure. but I think the cost will win it for HD-DVD.

imo, Mike

[reef_doug]

There was a thread in June about this on the RC Lounge:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...light=blue+ray

Also back in June, Blockbuster did a press release that in their high def rentals, BR is getting 70% vs. HD, presumably to customers who already own PS. (I don't know what their ratio is today).
http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=72145

All in all, Sony PS is going to make BR stay. Sony may have lost the BetaMax vs. VHS war, but they may win or at least survive with BR.The question is will HD-DVD go or continue.

[jeffreylam1132]

Originally posted by BurntOutReefer
ok.Thanks all...looks like PS3 wins then.....
Now....new TV for XMas.......LCD, Plasma, rear DLP or front Ronco?

Good choice, PS3 is a good buy. Now, for TV (big headache) most importantly depending on your budget. Whatever you do, just make sure to get a 1080p TV, so you can maximize your resolution. Are you planning to used this as mainly for gaming or watch movie? If gaming, I'll go with an LCD (perferrably Sony) and for movies, I'll go with a Plasma (perferrably Panasonic). If you need me to explain more in details, I would be gladly to.

[NVTE]

good topic. I will go with Blue Ray. PS3 come handy with free BR. 2 in 1 is good for me.
LCD I go with Samsung.

[savethereef]

Go with the PS3 HD DVD is loosing the war Actually you can rent Blue Ray@ block buster thats where i get mine here at my BB they have about 60 Bllue Ray movies and its getting bigger

[lowbudget]

i have both. i prefer the ps3

[Bebo77]

Originally posted by reef_doug
cheap Vizio Plasma for me.

How do you like it? i was thinking of getting one...

[cmc5dc]

PS3 here, you can even use it as a media center and wirelessly view pics, music from your PC to your ps3, internet connection and upscaling reg. DVD's.

[reef_doug]

Originally posted by Bebo77
How do you like it? i was thinking of getting one...

It's an older 42" plasma 720p. I love it for the price. Definitely the best in the price category. Better then Maxtent. Costco is definitely a good place for prices.

[rockindacheeks]

Originally posted by Bebo77
naaa it only took me 3 weeks to get my 360 back...

You got yours back in 3 weeks? Thats good news. I sent mine in today to get repaired.

I cant live without Halo3.

[Bui]

Both format is a gamble to buy now. The player cost isn't what I worried about, it is my investment in the media. ( Beta vs VHS).

Even if you buy the PS3 and somehow HD won, that will force sony to offered HD external player and a new release version of their game system. That mean more money.

If history dictate the future, then HD would win. Look back in the Beta vs VHS day..Beta was the obvious better format but due to cost and lack of harcware the VHS won. Another deciding factor why I think HD would won at the end is that it was the porn industry that help VHS win and now the few major porn industry like hustler are going with HD for the low cost of production.

[bad santa]

gotto to love porn to be the leading pioneers....

[sps_addict]

my vote is for the ps3.

i doubt one format will win over the other. it'll be more like you will always have 2 options. both have their pro's and con's. some movie studio's are supporting both formats and releasing movies on dvd, hd dvd, and blu-ray. hopefully soon other studio's will catch on. both formats will be here to stay imo...until a new format comes out at least.

[Fmellish]

HD-DVD is an inferior technology, that's why it is cheaper.

Do not be afraid of progress.
Do not be afraid to pay for quality.

Bluray all the way.

And if for some reason you decide to go HD-DVD, do not go the XBOX + HD drive route. Get a dedicated player that won't break down on you.

[abendx]

There is a clear cut winner.

You guys don't know which one?

Ask yourself a question.

Why did the VHS format win over the Betamax format?

Answer that question and apply the same logic and you will have ability to predict the future of high definition, disk based video.

All other formulas will fail to answer this question. Quality means nothing in this battle. Price means nothing in this battle. Consumer marketing nor convenience means nothing in this battle.

[sandman450f]

Here is the best post c&p from AVS I've ran across that sums up my thoughts, and I am one of those anxiously awaiting the release of the BD UP5000

When comparing a standard DVD to a Super bit DVD like Fifth Element I can see less digital artifacts and a better quality transfer with the Super bit release. When comparing a Warner HD-DVD to a BLU-RAY disc the quality is exactly the same but that does not mean both formats are equal in quality, just Warner has decided to use the exact same bit rate and codec’s for both formats since they are a neutral studio and it cost less to make one master.
The HD-DVD format has a good picture quality but the BLU-RAY format has a better picture quality when MPEG-4/AVC or VC-1 is used at higher bit rates then what the HD-DVD format can support. Maximum combined video and audio bit rate for BLU-RAY is 48Mbit/s compared to the maximum bit rate of 36.55 Mbit/s per second for HD-DVD. I have seen some good quality HD-DVD disks but the quality of Super bit BLU-RAY discs from Disney, Sony, and 20th Century Fox is amazing. The Pirates movies and the Day After tomorrow are the best quality transfers I seen so far. The 50GB 1080I MPEG-2 Day After tomorrow looked great on D-VHS but when compared to the high bit rate MPEG4/AVC 50GB 1080P BLU-RAY version that quality is much better.
Bit rate makes a difference. Just as one can see the difference between standard DVD’s and Super bit DVD’s one can also see the difference between HD-DVD and Super bit BLU-RAY when VC-1 or MPEG-4/AVC is used at high bit rates. If one owns both a HD-DVD recorder and a BLU-RAY recorder and a high end 1080P/24 professional camera one can record demo material at the maximum bit rates for each format to see which format is better. Perhaps one day hopefully some company will make a demo comparison disc between the two formats. The average consumer can not compare the quality difference right now between formats since Warner who is the only neutral studio is releasing titles at the same bit rate for both formats. Now if Disney, Sony, or 20th Century Fox were to release movies on HD-DVD one day they would need to create a new master and lower the bit rate a little on many movies in order to make it compatible with the HD-DVD format.
Before there was BLU-RAY and HD-DVD there was the JVC D-VHS format that had around 100 prerecorded 1080I movies with 1.54Mbit DTS stored on tapes as large as 50GB. I am very happy that the BLU-RAY format currently has 50GB movies available now. The only reason I plan on updating all of my DVD players with combo players instead of BLU-RAY players is because Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures exclusively release 1080P movies in the HD-DVD format only. I am a movie collector and what every high quality format the studios decide to release on I will most likely follow.

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Last edited by HDTV1080P24 : Today at 02:38 PM.

[BurntOutReefer]

Just saw Pirates #2 on Blu-Ray on a 1080p Plasma.....brillant!
I wonder if anyone will re-release older titles on this format...i.e. Bram Stoker's Dracula.......

[PasadenaReefer]

Yea that would be interesting if they did, but wouldnt they have to re do alot of stuff digitally like theyre doing on the disney movies re making them with new colors etc... might be too much money. I would just enjoy it for the newer more improved movies.

[bad santa]

Originally posted by Bui
Both format is a gamble to buy now. The player cost isn't what I worried about, it is my investment in the media. ( Beta vs VHS).

Even if you buy the PS3 and somehow HD won, that will force sony to offered HD external player and a new release version of their game system. That mean more money.

If history dictate the future, then HD would win. Look back in the Beta vs VHS day..Beta was the obvious better format but due to cost and lack of harcware the VHS won. Another deciding factor why I think HD would won at the end is that it was the porn industry that help VHS win and now the few major porn industry like hustler are going with HD for the low cost of production.

this is from Wikipedia

The VHS format's defeat of the Betamax format became a classic marketing case study. Sony's attempt to dictate an industry standard backfired when JVC, and parent Matsu****a, made the tactical decision to forgo Sony's offer of Betamax in favor of JVC's VHS technology. They felt that it would end up like the U-Matic deal, with Sony dominating.

By 1980, VHS controlled 70% of the North American market. The large economy of scale allowed VHS units to be introduced to the European market at a far lower cost than the more-rare Betamax units. By 1984, forty companies utilized the VHS format in comparison with Beta's twelve. Sony finally conceded defeat in 1988 when it too began producing VHS recorders.

For more information on why Betamax lost to VHS, see The Videotape Format War.

[jeffreylam1132]

I don't understand why some of you keep comparing/referring to the battle between VHS and Beta and therefore conclude that HD-DVD will eventually put Blu-Ray out of business. That was then, this is now. I don't think it's fair to make that assumption, because as long as the PS3 is still out there, I don't think Blu-Ray will go anywhere. If you haven't notice, look up the sales for PS3 this year and you will understand my friend.

[PasadenaReefer]

I am in the process of buying a plasma within the next couple month and im just doing my research so i do everything right when i get it. Im going for a 1080p 42' most likely, one of the higher brands for quality. Iam also going to buy a home theatre system witch i know nothing really about both of these 2, thats why iam doing my research. I found a fairly nice Sony 5.1 channel system that i could hook my PS3 up to and then to the t.v i believe But is it really that easy? Also someone talked about using the Right cables so u get the better quality. You need certain cables for using a plasma with the ps3 ?

[jeffreylam1132]

Yes, to get the full 1080p resolution you will need a HDMI connection. AV or component connections won't give you the 1080p resolution.

Here are a few options of set ups you can do:

1) The 'best' set up is to send sound and video to your receiver and then send video from your receiver to your tv (while the sound is sent to the speakers). This can be done by sending hdmi from the ps3 to the receiver input and hdmi from the receiver output to the tv input. If your receiver does not have hdmi and you want to get the most out of your tv you cannot do this option. Advantage of this option is that your receiver can output menus to your tv and you can use the receiver to switch between signals (say tv and ps3).

2) This is the next best option but it is only available if your tv has a digital audio output. Hook your ps3 up to your tv using the hdmi cable. Next, send the audio signal from your tv's digital audio out to your receiver's digital audio in. Turn the sound all the way down on your tv. Now you can use your tv controller to switch between incoming signals. Your receiver controller will only be used for volume control. If your receiver is also a dvd player then you will need to run a lot of wires back and forth between the two to get it working properly with this set up.

3) This is a 'last resort option' as it will leave you needing to use a lot of remote controllers. Hook your ps3 to your tv using the hdmi cable. Let the ps3 know you are using hdmi to output video. Hook your ps3 to your receiver using an optical digital cable. Set the ps3 to output audio over the optical line. In order to use the ps3 you will need to set your tv input to the hdmi in that the ps3 is connected to using the tv remote. You will also need to switch the receiver input to the audio in that the ps3 is connected to.

If you have any questions regarding connections, what kind of sound systems and Plasma, I would gladly help.

[jeffreylam1132]

Here's a quote I've read about the number of PS3 sales in the month of November. After reading this, I don't think Blu-Ray is losing the war.

Sales of the PlayStation 3 in North America were given a shot in the arm last week by the price cut, and more than tripled during the Thanksgiving holiday week. Sony has informed GameSpot that its newly discounted console saw a 245 percent increase in units sold in the week of November 18-24 compared to the previous week.


Sony asserts that the surge in sales is largely due to the price cut, which was introduced in the US on October 18 for the 60GB model, and the new 40GB model, which was released on November 2. The new prices put the console more in line with the Wii and Xbox 360. The 80GB PS3 costs $499 and the 40GB PS3 $399, compared to $249 for a Wii, and $279 for the Xbox 360 Arcade.


[UPDATE] From the introduction of the 40GB model on November 2nd to November 24, Sony says PS3 hardware sales have increased by a massive 298 percent. Though Sony did not provide is actual sales figures, one can extrapolate an estimate from the three-week period from the October NPD reports, which said 143,000 PS3s were sold in the US (121,000) and Canada (22,000) during the month. That means roughly 107,250 were sold in North America in three weeks last month.


According to Sony, that rate of sale has roughly tripled, so it's likely around 321,750 PS3s were sold in November through Black Friday in North America. If those sales stay constant through the end of the month, then roughly 429,000 PS3s were sold in the US and Canada during the month. That's a marked improvement for the console, which has not sold more than 200,000 units in a single month this year.

[xxvietxjustinxx]

In actuality, 1080p is supported by both DVI and RGB computer input. Yes, DVI uses the same type of digital connection as HDMI but it isn't exactly HDMI as most have said.

My advice would be for you to save your money and wait until the war is over unless you feel the need to buy a HD-Disc player. If anything, buy your 1080p TV before you buy your player.

I agree that Costco is one's best friend.

HTH

Justin

[jeffreylam1132]

IMO, I don't even think there is a war. As of now, I truely think it depends on the person and what they like. If you're waiting for the war to be over to make your purchase, good luck!