does anyone know which format seems to be wining? Paramount pictures just dropped blu-ray, i thought blu-ray was gonna win in the end but could i be wrong now with such a big company like paramount droping blu-ray, is it leaning towards hd-dvd being victorious?

 

At this point, it's too early to tell. Paramount's decision to go to HD DVD prevented Blu-ray from winning, but it doesn't mean HD DVD will win.

Blu-ray exclusive studios are Sony, Disney, Fox, MGM and Lionsgate.
HD DVD exclusives are Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks.
Warner Bros. is the lone major studio to support both formats.

I think this holiday season will be crucial. Right now, the Blu-ray side has decided to focus on the retail side of the war -- paying Target for a better presence on shelves, striking a deal with Blockbuster for Blu-ray rentals and Disney's mall tour showing off Blu-ray technology with Disney movies.

 

New Line is dual format as well.

 

I said "major" studio.

But to this point, New Line hasn't released anything on either format. Its first release, Hairspray, will be day and date on DVD and Blu-ray in November, but in early 2008 on HD DVD because of region coding issues.

 

blu-rays reaction to the paramount issue

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-976...ml?tag=nl.e497

 

Yeah, the BD response to Paramount/DreamWorks switching was ramping up releases, except Fox was a history of delaying releases, sometimes just days before the release date, and also charges the most among all studios, regardless of format. Fox seems to be a big proponent of BD+ (copy protection) while Disney likes the region coding (HD DVD has no region coding).

 

there's so much propoganda spin out there that i'll be impossible to tell till after christmas.

I like HD-DVD, but I think blu-ray will win (eventually).
Neither one is going anywhere for a while, that's for sure.

 

So many conspiracy theories and false information out there regarding both formats. If Paramount/DreamWorks had made the announcement just one month earlier, I would've held off buying my PS3. Luckily, HD DVD is the cheaper format to invest in, so if it happens to pull ahead, it won't hurt too much.

 

Personally, I'd buy the "better" product. And IMO...Blu-Ray looks better even though it is backed up by the suckiest of the sucky suck companies in Sony.




My snark aside about that, I like Blu-Ray and what I've seen. But, honestly...unless you're a super snob, HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray is a hard pick in quality differences. I'm just anal and always want to have the best available.

And honestly, if the movie you want on the other platform is not available, get it on DVD...I'm a bit annoyed at the Paramount-HD-DVD thing, but meh. It's not like I can't buy Transformers when it comes out still. I'll just have to watch it on DVD and at the end of the day, is it that terrible without 1080i or 1080p...? I'll live.

 

Digital distribution FTW!

 

One of the conspiracy theories is that Microsoft is keeping HD DVD afloat financially in an effort to kill both formats, thereby advancing the concept of digital distribution.

 

I remember reading an article that Sony prevented the porn industry from going BluRay. I wonder if this is gonna come back and bite them in the ass..

 

^ So...Microsoft will allow the pr0n industry to go into HD-DVD in a desperate attempt to change the momentum of the battle...?



Hmmm...bewbs on 1080p.

 

That's not quite true. Their stance on porn is somewhat sketchy. Japanese porn makers are almost exclusively Blu-ray. And Sony did say they would not allow their replication plant to produce adult titles, but that doesn't stop adult filmmakers from using other replication lines. But Sony has backed off that stance lately.

Personally, the adult movie industry will NOT decide this format war like it did in the VHS vs. Beta battle. The distribution of porn is a lot different now than it was then.

 

I'm going to go with NetEditor on this one, he seems 1 step ahead of me on all these answers.

Aslo, has anyone else read what the nerds on AVSforum have to say about the war? I'm not really up on every last issue (or most of them) but it seems HD DVD is a clear 'technical' winner in terms of picture quality and delivery. NetEditor, comments here?


My personal opinion: the real winner is going to be who can delivery quality standalone players to US consumers for under the magic number: $200. HD DVD is knocking on that door right now, and with the Chinese manufacturers now churning out blue lasers for CH-DVD, which can also be used for HD-DVD, I'm going to guess HD DVD wins on price pretty soon.

Hell, Costco has the A2 player for $250 right now online, and you get a rebate for 5 free HD DVDs via mail when you buy it. I don't see any Blu Ray products competing on that price stage.

 

IMO, any difference in quality between the two formats is negligible. I don't have HD DVD, so I can only rely upon online reviews of the same movies released in both formats. For the most part, the audio and video quality is more or less the same.

Theoretically, Blu-ray should have an advantage since it has a higher capacity (50Gb vs. 30) and a higher bit rate (54mbps vs. ~36). But a lot has to do with the codec used (MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or VC1).

HD DVD does have the advantage of interactive features such as PiP; BD Profile 1.1 has yet to be released. And the price advantage is definitely in HD DVD's favor. The wild card Sony is betting on is the PS3.

The BD side seems to have a slight advantage this holiday seasons with the releases, although that's strictly a matter of opinion.

 

i hear for the porn industry they're reluctant to switch to high def because they're afraid that with the amount of detail you'll get with 1080p, i might just be TOO much detail..

and there are some bluray titles out in porn, although i think its only 2, and the transfers aren't that great.

lastly you're right about the porn industry likely not having much influence in this format war. cause if i remember correctly there wasnt any way to view porn in private before VHS, had to goto a dirty ass theater to watch it. once the porn industry used VHS, it made porn much more private. nowadays people can easily just download stuff from the internet and not have to deal with inconspicuous packages arriving in the mail.

 

Betamax
Minidisc
UMD


Do we see a trend? LOL

 

get a bluray and hd dvd player...problem solved, one isn't goin to win over the other anytime soon

 

The big difference here is content. Sony, Fox and Disney (and smaller studios like Lionsgate) represent a lot of movies that will be released on BD only.

And Blu-ray does not equal Sony. There are a lot of companies with a stake in this format war. For instance, Microsoft (HDi Interactive Format) and Sun Microsystems (Blu-ray Disc Java) hold a lot of patents on the interactive features on HD DVD and BD discs, respectively.