Comments on: HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:30:35 +0000

I don't really care much about the disc formats, either. I'm hoping that a whole other means of distribution becomes the norm before too long. All of my discs just get ripped to H.264 and then shelved, anyway. Sure HD is nice but not having to deal with any discs makes compression worth it to me. No one else is ever able to tell, anyway.
I've got a Drobo to hold my massive collection, and a few AppleTVs for easy access. There's not a single DVD player in my apartment, except for the Macs.

By: sjk

sjk — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:47:26 +0000

Count my "who cares?" vote, too.

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:42:49 +0000

I'm with Robin. I was looking for the "who cares" option.

By: Tim Buchheim

Tim Buchheim — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:06:56 +0000

Jim: I have a Series 3 Tivo, and it's great. I've heard about some problems with Tivo HD, but the recent software updates have apparently made it nearly the same as the Series 3. (But it still has a few problems, such as slower network transfer rates.) SDV is a problem now with some cable providers.. but the cable industry is apparently developing an external box (which would connect to your cable and to the Tivo's USB port) to deal with it.

Back to the topic of this post:

I own a PS3, so naturally I'm leaning towards Blu-Ray, simply because I don't want to have to buy a separate HD-DVD player. But I don't plan to buy any Blu-ray discs anytime soon.. I think it will be a long time (2-3 years) before we know who will win. I don't know whether either will ever actually win.. I imagine we'll see hybrid players in a few years. (Current license agreements may prohibit it, but they'll be desperate for sales in a few years, and probably eventually allow it.)

I barely buy any DVDs anyway (I only have around three movies, and just 3 TV shows: Dead Like Me, Twin Peaks, and Doctor Who) so I don't see any need to buy any HD discs yet.

By: Robin

Robin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:15:19 +0000

How about a "don't really care -- just sitting back and watching the outcome" option?

By: Erik J. Barzeski

Erik J. Barzeski — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:03:57 +0000

Jim said on November 9, 2007:

I went over Friday morning, but they were already sold out.

I'm fortunate to live in Erie, PA… Fortunate in the sense that sometimes people aren't too keen on technology and I probably would have had a better chance of walking out with one even at noon or in the early afternoon.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:57:06 +0000

I went over Friday morning, but they were already sold out. I don't currently have an upconverting player so I would have bought one for that, as well as the occasional HD-DVD from Netflix.

At full price, I may wait it out a little longer. I want to upgrade to TiVo HD, but the whole SDV nonsense makes me wonder whether that is a wise purchase right now. Not being able to pause live HD shows is terrible though…

By: Erik J. Barzeski

Erik J. Barzeski — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:27:05 +0000

Chas said on November 9, 2007:

HD DVD had discs from 3 major studios - Universal, Paramount and Warner. Blu-Ray had discs from Sony, Fox, Disney and Warner.

Yes, that may be true. I had recalled this:

Erik J. Barzeski said on November 9, 2007:

Four major studios now back Blu-ray exclusively while two support HD DVD alone.

You have Warner in both.

By: Chas

Chas — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:19:33 +0000

HD DVD had discs from 3 major studios - Universal, Paramount and Warner.

Blu-Ray had discs from Sony, Fox, Disney and Warner.

Paramount used to produce discs on both formats, but switched to HD DVD exclusive this fall.