And the winner is...Blu-Ray

[Magpie Maniac]

The HD war is over. Sony wins.

TOKYO (AP) — Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video.

[JohnR]

Is Blu-Ray technology really better? If so, how does this affect me the consumer?

Because all I know right now is, Blu-Ray costs more.

[Foosinho]

********. My HD-DVD drive for my Xbox360 is now an obsolete piece of junk that I have to keep around to play the whopping nine movies I have in that format.

I gambled on the wrong horse.

[GringoTex]

********. My HD-DVD drive for my Xbox360 is now an obsolete piece of junk that I have to keep around to play the whopping nine movies I have in that format.

I gambled on the wrong horse.

I've got the Toshiba Ad3 and 10 DVDs.

[nsa]

BBC coverage of the battle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7252718.stm)

It doesn't sound like there is a big difference between the two and costs should come down as all manufacturers enter the Blu-Ray arena.


Of course, a year from now I'll be one of those folks wondering why my TV is just showing white noise. :)

[Motterman]

I've got the Toshiba Ad3 and 10 DVDs.

I've got the basically the same thing... but it does do a great job of upconverting my regular DVD collection. I can afford to wait until the Blu-Ray prices come down before switching to that, and then I can move the HD-DVD player to one of the other rooms in the house....

Hopefully in the short term prices for HD-DVD movies get slashed significantly...

[Magpie Maniac]

********. My HD-DVD drive for my Xbox360 is now an obsolete piece of junk that I have to keep around to play the whopping nine movies I have in that format.

I gambled on the wrong horse.

Enjoy those nine movies. ;)

My PS3 just appreciated.

[Foosinho]

Hopefully in the short term prices for HD-DVD movies get slashed significantly...
I expect we'll see that, but I'm reluctant to spend any significant amount of money for media in a dead format; if my player dies, my media collection is junk. $5 bargain bin deals, I can see, but I'm not about to drop $55 on Planet Earth.

So now I'm pretty much going to have to get a Blu-Ray player at some point. Problem is, right now they're all so expensive I might as well get a PS3, as it's only marginally more expensive but with tremendous additional capability.

I'm not a happy camper. I really thought HD-DVD was going to win, mostly because of the brilliant name. It's idiot-proof marketing. 'Blu-Ray' is about the most idiotic name I can think of for a DVD format that supports high definition.

[Magpie Maniac]

I'm not a happy camper. I really thought HD-DVD was going to win, mostly because of the brilliant name. It's idiot-proof marketing. 'Blu-Ray' is about the most idiotic name I can think of for a DVD format that supports high definition.

I'm sorry about your trouble. Seriously. :) I was hoping that Sony would win this fight simply because I've been a longtime fan of the Playstation platform. Blu-Ray's name comes from the blue-violet laser used to read and write to the disk, but you obviously knew that.

More media attention:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7252506.stm

So as Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 consoles since it was launched in late 2006, that is 10.5 million Blu-ray machines already in homes around the world, before you add sales of stand-alone Blu-ray players.

By contrast, Toshiba has sold only one million HD DVD machines.

Toshiba does have a tie-up with Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console, but Xbox users are required to buy an external HD DVD drive.

And as Toshiba's one million sales figure for HD DVD machines also includes shipments of these drives, it appears that not many Xbox owners have been bothered to go to the additional expense.

Sony's gamble paid off and Microsoft really wasn't much of a team player with Toshiba.

[Dante]

I'm covered since I'm dual format, but am anxiously awaiting the slashed prices for HD DVD movies. Many dual release movies have better features on the HD DVD version so I have no qualms buying discs for HD DVD. Considering that I paid $99 for my HD DVD add on a year ago and all the BOGO deals I got I don't regret paying what I've paid for my HD DVD collection, which is at 30+ movies. Then again, it's also a risk when becoming an early adopter.

As for the PS3, yeah it's one of the better blu-ray players out there right now but keep in mind that it CAN'T process DTS HD or DTS HDMA audio, which if you're an audioholic is a huge let down.

[Magpie Maniac]

As for the PS3, yeah it's one of the better blu-ray players out there right now but keep in mind that it CAN'T process DTS HD or DTS HDMA audio, which if you're an audioholic is a huge let down.

From what I've read, that's to be covered in a firmware upgrade.

[GringoTex]

I've got the basically the same thing... but it does do a great job of upconverting my regular DVD collection.


Yes, but a good deal of my collection is Region 2. I'm trying to figure out a way to Region hack it right now.

[Foosinho]

As for the PS3, yeah it's one of the better blu-ray players out there right now but keep in mind that it CAN'T process DTS HD or DTS HDMA audio, which if you're an audioholic is a huge let down.

Good to know. I guess I'll be waiting for more players and cheaper prices before I migrate to Blu-Ray. I don't really want a PS3 anyway.

[spejic]

Is Blu-Ray technology really better?Yes. It stores way more on a disk, and was originally designed to provide reliable read/write media for computers.
If so, how does this affect me the consumer?Not a lot if you are buying movies. They look pretty much the same on both.
Because all I know right now is, Blu-Ray costs more.And it will probably stay that way. They have to look "premium" compared to regular DVDs, and for each Blu-Ray disk and player there is a license fee going to Sony, unlike regular DVDs which have no corporate licensing ownership.

[Dante]

From what I've read, that's to be covered in a firmware upgrade.

Firmware upgrade won't do a thing since the PS3 can't bitstream DTS-HD MA or TrueHD. It can only decode TrueHD and hopefully will someday decode HDMA.

[Magpie Maniac]

Firmware upgrade won't do a thing since the PS3 can't bitstream DTS-HD MA or TrueHD. It can only decode TrueHD and hopefully will someday decode HDMA.

Somehow I knew you'd say that. :) Just telling you what I had read somewhere. Can't believe everything you read.

On a side note, it's going to be interesting to see how this affects console sales. The PS3 is drilling the 360 in Japan and European countries like Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. It's three to one in sales in PAL areas and the PAL PS3 install base will be larger than the 360's by this summer. In January, the PS3 outsold the 360 in the US. And all of this was happening before HD DVD kicked the bucket.

[patrickdavila]

Yes. It stores way more on a disk, and was originally designed to provide reliable read/write media for computers.
Not a lot if you are buying movies. They look pretty much the same on both.
And it will probably stay that way. They have to look "premium" compared to regular DVDs, and for each Blu-Ray disk and player there is a license fee going to Sony, unlike regular DVDs which have no corporate licensing ownership.

Yes Blu-Ray stores more data. The video and audio quality was a wash. A negative (for consumers) is that Blu-Ray still uses regions. HD-DVD does not implement regions. You buy a disc from Japan and play it anywhere else. Great for imports. Oh well, life goes on.

I've started a petition to get Toshiba to release the specs on the entire HD-DVD line. Maybe the Open Source community can come up with something to use those 1.3 million players out there:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/HD-DVDSpecRelease/

and please digg it here:
http://www.digg.com/gadgets/Petition_Toshiba_to_release_specs_for_their_HD_DVD_players

Thanks

[Foosinho]

I've started a petition to get Toshiba to release the specs on the entire HD-DVD line. Maybe the Open Source community can come up with something to use those 1.3 million players out there:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/HD-DVDSpecRelease/
Great idea. I was talking about this with a coworker yesterday. Signed and dugg. And I'll pass it along on the tidbits mailing list here at the supercomputer center I work at.

[Dante]

LG says they have no plans to abandon HD DVD and will continue to make players as long as there are consumers. At least I'll have a back up.

[Motterman]

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Convert_Your_HD_DVDs_to_Blu-Ray


What You'll Need


A Windows machine with a fast processor
An HD-DVD drive
A Blu-Ray burner
30GB of free disk space, at least, though 40GB or more is recommended
An internet connection to download all the software you need