Yep my cheap A-2 will now explode and totally stop playing the hd dvd's I bought on 2 fer sales so I guess I'm screwed, likewise my laser disk players exploded when dvd came along and I couldn't watch those disks I had on hand either....
Well I bought a Panasonic dmp-BD10a BD player so that when all the smoke clears I'll be able to still play new hd movies, paid 169 as a demo.

In what way? The hardware is more expensive, it has region coding, uses the Java based interactive software which is more difficult to work with (hence the reason why there is the whole V1.0, V1.1, V2.0 spec deals), requires separate production lines from the existing DVD lines. As for better quality that is truly questionable at best. As a whole the entry model A3 faired just as well if not better than the Entry model Blu-Ray players and the flagship A35 still cannot be matched for specs/features BY ANY BLU-RAY PLAYER CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET!!!!!!!! Yet, even prior to the Warner announcement it ran between $400-$500, which is the price of an average Blu-Ray player. Yes, there is the argument of disc capacity but that was set to be solved with the release of the triple layer HD-DVD at which point space would've been a moot point. So once again I fail to see how Blu-Ray is the better technology for the consumer speaking strictly as a format.

It has more storage space.... thats the only reason its better.

Movie companies took the cheap option for the start and used MPEG2 for early transcodes. This reduced quality and is cheaper for them but costs us the same. They also used cheap audio codecs as they were not limited for space. Due to the lack of huge space on HD-DVD most encodes are in VC-1 and H264 format usually giving better quality video (but thats down to the encoding done).

Region coded - No buying the discs from where they are cheaper or released earlier, in no-way does this enhance the user experience and is just used as a way for the movie industry to squeeze extra money out of us end users. Best example is 2001-ASO, not out in the UK until next month but released ages ago in the US.

Different final versions that mean early adopters cannot access all features on the disc even though the players they have cost thousands. Nothing like spending a fortune on a player to only find out you cannot view all the discs content without buying a new one again (usually 2 days after the one you purchased). Currently we have v1.0 (most set-top players) v1.1 (adds interaction and PiP) and the new v2.0 (adds network ability), all were present on HD-DVD from launch.

There are also so many different encoding formats that have just been tagged onto the end of the disc format structure as the developers decided they would like them. Mostly audio formats but I forsee a change in video codecs when a more advanced and more encryptable encoder can be used.


The only true players that have so far proved they are backwardly compatable are PC's and this is because the software can be changed when needed. Next comes the PS3 but that will only last as long as Sony wants to keep them upto date. Lastly come the set-top players that are stuck at whatever level they are made with (usually 1.0 or a few 1.1's).

HD-DVD had a standard set out from the start and had not changed it so any player could access all features and content throughout its life (in theory). Blue Ray standards keep changing forcing the end user to spend more and more money on upgrades....


So, personally Blue Ray is not the best HD format, not by along shot. Its going to be expensive and limit the way the end user can get access to it. I do forsee in the very near future you will find BD discs that have printed on the back "Contains BD+v2 encrypted content, you must use a player capable of playing BDv2.0 Discs to be able to access the contents of this disc" and who does this help appart from mr fat cat movie studio boss... Not me or you as it will mean yet another set-top player needed.

I wont' buy into Blue Ray. I will wait till the next millenium for the ultimate vision dvd.

Welcome to 6 months ago...

Nothing happen 6 month ago.

Jan 4th, when warner went blu, that's when hd dvd died. It's about marketing, distribution and content, and when the biggest studio say goodbye, that day is over.

I am glad I just upconvert my dvd's to 720p rather than picking a HD format! The cost to me is not worth it anyways when the picture quality is excellent at the 720p. I will keep my money in my pocket until you can show me a big difference!

A dvd movie in a 8.5 gb disc with an average 5mbps bitrate and 5.1 dolby digital or dts looks and sound good in your system? yes true and congratulations. They look excellent compared to ~20mbps bitrate hi def video with lossless master audio in 30gb hd dvd disc or 50gb bd disc? No way. The bitrates and storages capacity says all.

Easy, wait for the true fire-sale prices on HD-DVD players in the next few weeks and then pick one up and you will have an even better up-conversion DVD player for standard DVD and a handful of titles that are truly worth owning in true HD.

I would not advice anyone who wants to go hidef buying hd dvd. No sense investing your money on a dead format especially in the long run. There are no new movies anymore that worth keeping. True the upcoming sales will be attractive but in the long term you will loose your investment. That is why I gave away my toshiba a30 to my bro so I don't waste anymore money. Blu-ray players are a bit more expensive, some may say a lot more expensive but by how much? 200 bucks? In long term is not that much. If you can't afford it now, wait. Competition will drive the price down. The studios, consumer electronics industries -blu-ray player manufacturers and retailers will compete between themselves and price will go down. Just wait until you can afford or when you are absolutely ready to go hidef. Burners, blanks and movie price will also go down in the same market competition since now everyone is trying to sell their product.

There is one GREAT reason to get a cheap HD DVD player. I've said this before in other threads but it's very easy to cap HD TV content then burn it to regular DVD's with full quality and audio for up to about 45 minutes on a single regular dvd. I'm capping my favorite stuff with my Fusion hdtv 3 gold card, running it through video redo, then burning it to regular dvd with movie factory 6plus or Nero. For 720p stuff theres a few more steps but it works as well. You can do it with BD but it's way more complicated with a bunch more steps.
When I found out you really could make it work that alone was worth the 130 I spent on my A2 player.

This makes sense but time will tell.

I've stated before that blu-ray prices have been cheaper since their first inception. Anybody still remember blu-ray burner $1.000, standalone player $1.000+?

Current blu-ray player is about $399. I think if they go down to $299, more people will jump in to the format. The cheaper the better but hopefully cheap doesn't mean slashing the features (ie from 1080p to 1080i, or reduce the HD audio decoders).