Blu-ray wins the day

The forum for general posting. Come join the madness. :)
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
earendel
Posts: 13869
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:25 am
Location: mired in the bureaucracy

Blu-ray wins the day

#1 Post by earendel » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:30 am

The two competing and mutually-incompatible high definition DVD formats have fought it out and Blu-ray is the winner. Toshiba Corporation, which manufactured the competing HD DVD format, announced that it will no longer produce DVD players using this format, meaning that Sony's Blu-ray has triumphed. Similar to the Beta vs. VHS format in the 80s, the struggle between the two DVD formats was intense, but as more and more studios announced their backing for the Blu-ray format, the handwriting was on the wall. This weekend Best Buy announced that its sales personnel would recommend only the Blu-ray format, and Wal-Mart announced that it would no longer sell anything but Blu-ray players. Netflix also announced that it would not carry movies in the HD DVD format. As a result, only Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks are still signed to produce HD DVD movies; this may change in the near future, however. Sony's victory was undoubtedly aided by the fact that its popular PS3 game system is built around a Blu-ray DVD player (the game box can play movies also); Microsoft's XBox can play the HD DVD format, but the player had to be purchased separately.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."

User avatar
peacock2121
Posts: 18451
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:58 am

#2 Post by peacock2121 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:07 am

I will not pretend to understand this. I will say that I am glad I have not bought a DVD recorder or player yet.

User avatar
PlacentiaSoccerMom
Posts: 8134
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:47 am
Location: Placentia, CA
Contact:

#3 Post by PlacentiaSoccerMom » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:09 am

I was waiting for the Blu-Ray, HD DVD cage match to be decided before I upgraded our DVD player.

I feel bad for the people who made the HD investment.

User avatar
peacock2121
Posts: 18451
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:58 am

#4 Post by peacock2121 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:17 am

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I was waiting for the Blu-Ray, HD DVD cage match to be decided before I upgraded our DVD player.

I feel bad for the people who made the HD investment.
I wonder if they are the BetaPeople.

User avatar
PlacentiaSoccerMom
Posts: 8134
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:47 am
Location: Placentia, CA
Contact:

#5 Post by PlacentiaSoccerMom » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:20 am

peacock2121 wrote:
PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I was waiting for the Blu-Ray, HD DVD cage match to be decided before I upgraded our DVD player.

I feel bad for the people who made the HD investment.
I wonder if they are the BetaPeople.
I know somebody who still uses her BetaMax to tape soaps, because the quality is better.

User avatar
peacock2121
Posts: 18451
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:58 am

#6 Post by peacock2121 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:30 am

I didn't even know you could still get tapes for it.

User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 27060
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

#7 Post by Bob Juch » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:53 am

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I was waiting for the Blu-Ray, HD DVD cage match to be decided before I upgraded our DVD player.

I feel bad for the people who made the HD investment.
I have both and prefer the HD software over Sony's, but I understand the Blu-Ray DVDs are designed to have a much longer lifespan.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

User avatar
gsabc
Posts: 6492
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:03 am
Location: Federal Bureaucracy City
Contact:

#8 Post by gsabc » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:36 am

Bob Juch wrote:I have both and prefer the HD software over Sony's, but I understand the Blu-Ray DVDs are designed to have a much longer lifespan.
What's the diff when there will be some better technology within ten years that will supercede both?

Kay: This is gonna replace CD's soon; guess I'll have to buy the White Album again..
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.

User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 27060
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

#9 Post by Bob Juch » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:53 am

gsabc wrote:
Bob Juch wrote:I have both and prefer the HD software over Sony's, but I understand the Blu-Ray DVDs are designed to have a much longer lifespan.
What's the diff when there will be some better technology within ten years that will supercede both?

Kay: This is gonna replace CD's soon; guess I'll have to buy the White Album again..
Yeah, but some say regular DVDs won't last that long.

Why would anyone want to use a high-density DVD for music?

Downloads are replacing media anyway.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

User avatar
earendel
Posts: 13869
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:25 am
Location: mired in the bureaucracy

#10 Post by earendel » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:59 am

Bob Juch wrote:
PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I was waiting for the Blu-Ray, HD DVD cage match to be decided before I upgraded our DVD player.

I feel bad for the people who made the HD investment.
I have both and prefer the HD software over Sony's, but I understand the Blu-Ray DVDs are designed to have a much longer lifespan.
Supposedly the Blu-ray format allows for a larger recording capacity also.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."

User avatar
Bixby17
Posts: 519
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:10 pm

#11 Post by Bixby17 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:34 pm

hooray.

We got the blu-ray so we guessed right.

User avatar
starfish1113
Posts: 1156
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:50 am
Location: Mount Airy, MD
Contact:

#12 Post by starfish1113 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:41 pm

gsabc wrote: I'll have to buy the White Album again..
Weird coincidence. I'm listening to the White Album right now. Blackbird, fly....

User avatar
starfish1113
Posts: 1156
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:50 am
Location: Mount Airy, MD
Contact:

#13 Post by starfish1113 » Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:43 pm

peacock2121 wrote: I wonder if they are the BetaPeople.
We were a BetaFamily. My father was convinced that it was so much better quality that it would eventually prevail. I can still remember going to the local Erol's and browsing the four sections of Beta movies, then the three sections, then the five shelves, etc.

User avatar
gsabc
Posts: 6492
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:03 am
Location: Federal Bureaucracy City
Contact:

#14 Post by gsabc » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:14 pm

starfish1113 wrote:My father was convinced that it was so much better quality that it would eventually prevail.
Quality isn't what wins technology battles. Marketing wins it. Anyone who uses a Microsoft product will agree.
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.

User avatar
ne1410s
Posts: 2961
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:26 pm
Location: The Friendly Confines

#15 Post by ne1410s » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:37 pm

Won't the price for Blu-Ray machines go up in price now that there is no competition. (Toshiba says "Uncle!".)
"When you argue with a fool, there are two fools in the argument."

User avatar
Betamax
Merry Man
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:00 pm

#16 Post by Betamax » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:04 pm

Finally I have my revenge, now I can die in peace.
"Now your kids don't have to miss Monday Night Football
because they're studying for a Tuesday morning exam."

User avatar
silverscreenselect
Posts: 24300
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:21 pm
Contact:

#17 Post by silverscreenselect » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:37 pm

ne1410s wrote:Won't the price for Blu-Ray machines go up in price now that there is no competition. (Toshiba says "Uncle!".)
There will still be some downward pressure on the price but not nearly as much as there was before. What you won't be seeing as much of are specials on Blu-ray discs (there were a lot of buy one, get one free deals out there).

Warner has announced, and I expect the other studios to follow, that every time in the future that they reissue a catalogue title, they will be same day releasing it in Blu Ray as well as standard DVD. There are still a lot of catalogue titles that won't be released in a high def format.

Plus, people who have DVD recorders or who have low end home theater systems with a built in receiver in the DVD player unit or who don't want to spend more that $50 on a DVD player won't be buying Blu Ray any time in the forseeable future.

User avatar
earendel
Posts: 13869
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:25 am
Location: mired in the bureaucracy

#18 Post by earendel » Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:26 am

silverscreenselect wrote:Plus, people who have DVD recorders or who have low end home theater systems with a built in receiver in the DVD player unit or who don't want to spend more that $50 on a DVD player won't be buying Blu Ray any time in the forseeable future.
You can count me in that number - I'm not so much of a TV-phile that I have to have high-def DVDs to watch.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."

User avatar
gsabc
Posts: 6492
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:03 am
Location: Federal Bureaucracy City
Contact:

#19 Post by gsabc » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:03 am

silverscreenselect wrote:Plus, people who have DVD recorders or who have low end home theater systems with a built in receiver in the DVD player unit or who don't want to spend more that $50 on a DVD player won't be buying Blu Ray any time in the forseeable future.
I'm in this group, too, along with restricting our discretionary purchases due to other budgetary concerns.

Naive question: do the Blu-Ray players also play the regular-definition DVD's?
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.

User avatar
Bob Juch
Posts: 27060
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Oro Valley, Arizona
Contact:

#20 Post by Bob Juch » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:26 am

gsabc wrote:
silverscreenselect wrote:Plus, people who have DVD recorders or who have low end home theater systems with a built in receiver in the DVD player unit or who don't want to spend more that $50 on a DVD player won't be buying Blu Ray any time in the forseeable future.
I'm in this group, too, along with restricting our discretionary purchases due to other budgetary concerns.

Naive question: do the Blu-Ray players also play the regular-definition DVD's?
Yes, and upscale them too.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.

User avatar
ne1410s
Posts: 2961
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:26 pm
Location: The Friendly Confines

#21 Post by ne1410s » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:34 pm

Naiver question:

Will Blu-Ray dvds play on my dvd player--just not in hi def??
Same for my laptop??

Thanks.
"When you argue with a fool, there are two fools in the argument."

User avatar
KillerTomato
Posts: 2067
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:41 pm

#22 Post by KillerTomato » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:47 pm

ne1410s wrote:Naiver question:

Will Blu-Ray dvds play on my dvd player--just not in hi def??
Same for my laptop??

Thanks.

No, stuff like this is rarely backwards-compatible. To read a Blu-Ray disc, you need a Blu-Ray player.

Think of it like DVD vs. CD. You may be able to read a CD in a DVD player, but you can't read a DVD in a CD player.


FWIW, I think it's kind of amusing that what most "experts" believe is the inferior technology won both the VHS/Beta and Blu-Ray/HD DVD battles. Nearly every tech columnist I've read has said that HD DVD is loads better than Blu-Ray...

But at least now I know what I'm getting once my home theater dies (as it will in the next 6 months, since the warranty ran out. It's also a very very very cheap system (I paid a whole $79 for it 2 years ago). Now that I can afford it, I'm probably gonna go the component route, with a good tuner/amp, Blu-Ray and kick-ass speakers.
There is something wrong in a government where they who do the most have the least. There is something wrong when honesty wears a rag, and rascality a robe; when the loving, the tender, eat a crust while the infamous sit at banquets.
-- Robert G. Ingersoll

User avatar
ne1410s
Posts: 2961
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:26 pm
Location: The Friendly Confines

#23 Post by ne1410s » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:14 am

Thanks, KT. I appreciate it.
"When you argue with a fool, there are two fools in the argument."

User avatar
gsabc
Posts: 6492
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:03 am
Location: Federal Bureaucracy City
Contact:

#24 Post by gsabc » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:21 am

KillerTomato wrote:FWIW, I think it's kind of amusing that what most "experts" believe is the inferior technology won both the VHS/Beta and Blu-Ray/HD DVD battles.
And the computer operating system wars ...
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.

Post Reply