Although it’s quite possible the decision by Warner Brothers Entertainment to abandon HD DVD will wind up being one of the final shots in the high-definition disc war, there remain some very sound reasons to ally with the HD DVD camp.
Granted, when Warner in June joins forces with Sony, Disney, and Fox as exclusive Blu-ray Disc distributors, the BD arsenal will be pretty impressive. But HD DVD still has a couple of powerful weapons in Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks, and both companies recently restated their support of the format. That means anyone planning to add the high-def version of “American Gangster” to their home video library better not be too quick to give up on HD DVD.
According to a poll of some 1300 Electronichouse.com readers, (see the following articles: Top 10 Reasons to Buy HD DVD, Top 10 Reasons to Buy Blu-ray), 41-percent currently own or plan to buy an HD DVD player, compared to 36-percent who own or plan to buy a Blu-ray player. Twelve percent said they were waiting for the dust to settle before making a decision, and 11-percent own or plan to buy both formats.
This is (albeit unscientific) proof there are some HD DVD supporters out there. Here are three compelling arguments to join their side.
Hardware Bargains
If it’s true that money talks, HDTV owners wanting to join the high-def disc world should walk into the HD DVD camp. HD DVD players have had a price edge – sometimes significant – over BD players from Day 1, and Toshiba’s recent price cuts suggest that isn’t about to change any time soon. List prices for Toshiba’s players are now $149.99 for the 1080i HD-A3, $199.99 for the HD-A30 with 1080p output, and $299.99 for its top-of-the-line HD-A35. Amazon is offering the HD-A3 for $129, which is less than the collective regular cost of the seven free titles that are part of the deal. And the format’s mandatory specifications ensure that all HD DVD players support the latest Dolby audio codecs and full internet-based interactivity. Not bad for less than half the price of the least expensive BD player.
I own both formats, three Toshiba Hddvd players and one Ps3. I have got about the same amount of money in both format players. The Hddvd players look better on 1080i than the Ps3. The Toshiba HD A35 and PS3 look about the same on 1080P. The HD A35 passes thru Dolby True HD and Master DTS lossless audio. The PS3 does not. It only gives multichannel PCM at 48kHZ while all Toshiba players do multichannel PCM at 96kHZ. My old HD D1 has analog multichannel out to mate with old receivers that do not have HDMI input. PS3 requires HDMI input on a receiver to get anything other than plain old Dolby digital or DTS. The Spiderman bluray trilogy I got for Christmas all have Dolby True HD but my PS3 can’t pass it thru. I guess I will have to assume that it could do it if there was an affordable bluray player that could pass it thru. The Bourne Ultimatum has Dolby True HD and my Onkyo just verified it thru an HDDVD player that was roughly one third the cost of my PS3 which will never be able to pass thru high definition lossless audio. My point of this comment is that most bluray supporters have not even heard high definition audio to go with their blu-ray discs, while HDdvd supporters can pass thru the ultimate in high definition audio with a player that is just over 200 bucks. Is there an affordable Blu-ray player out there that can pass Dolby True HD or DTS Master? The picture is just half the equation. High def sound completes the immersion. With the Toshiba HD A35, you can use analog multi channel out to old receivers to get at least Dolby Digital Plus. PS3 owners have to have a newer receiver with HDMI input to get higher def audio. In summary, for just over 2oo bucks you can get an HDDVD A35 and get 1080P and at least higher definition audio with most old receivers (with 5.1 analog multi-channel in)
and 7 free hddvds. To be able to accomplish the same thing for Ps3 owners it would cost over 800 bucks (assuming you could find a player for 399 and a reciver for 400 that uses the hdmi input for audio and not just video pass thru.
Well I guess I could always use my PS3 for playing games at 60 bucks a pop. Oh, I forgot, when I play video games I do it on my Wii which is much more fun. Well at least I can take my Blu-ray Pirates of the Carribbean At World’s End and watch it on my portable dvd player on the way to Disney World. Oh, no I can’t. Make that take my HDDVD Bourne Ultimatum copy and flip it over to dvd and take it with me on the way to Universal Studios.
Tell the three reasons above that is!
Someone needs to tell these companies who dropped HD-DVD this last month to go with Blu-ray only:
- FS Films goes Blu-ray exclusive
- Kaleidescape goes Blu-ray exclusive
- Saturn (Largest German electronics retailer) goes Blu-ray exclusive
02-07-08 SF Films (Sweden) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02-07-08 Scanbox (Sweden) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02-07-08 Filmax Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02-04-08 BAC Films (France) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02-04-08 Manga Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02-01-08 ADV Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
01-31-08 Highlight Video (Germany) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
01-30-08 National Geographic Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
01-30-08 EMI (Japan) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
01-30-08 Sonic Solutions Scenarist Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
01-28-08 Woolworths Retail Outlet (UK) goes Blu-ray exclusive in store.
01-22-08 Grant’s Appliances to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
01-16-08 Senator Entertainment to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
01-16-08 Digital Playground to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
01-11-08 Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive.
01-10-08 HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive.
01-05-08 New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive.
01-04-08 Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive.
Blu-ray can do dual sided with greater capacity than HD-DVD due to the shorter data depth.
A dual sided disk with both formats would require both licencing fees still.
There is interesting info from netflix that DVDs only last about 12 rentals before the scratch damage kills them. With testing of TDK’s anti-scratch coating by CNET news showing that it will even resist a screwdriver, Blu-ray has an advantage. This advantage would be odd in a rental where the HD-DVD side goes bad after 12 rentals while the Blu-ray side keeps working.
Amazon is slashing 37 percent off the cost of Onkyo’s 3D-enabled AVR.
homeowners use the half wall in their great room as a room divider and as a place for video displays
Sayonara, set-top box? Or will it just take an energy-saving nap?
It’s hard to imagine life without remote controls, but it’s been a long, strange path to the modern incarnation we know and love today.
....and someone needs to tell all those blu rays that, wish and hope as they may, still early to start popping champagne corks just yet
** Blu-ray future limited for some **
Blu-ray owners may be frozen out of developments because their machines are not upgradeable.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7187179.stm >
“But Mr Upham said the format had a lot of work yet to do to reassure consumers they are safe to upgrade from DVD.
He added: “If Blu-ray wants to reach a wider audience, it needs to have more clarity.”
some good relevent points raised here as well
http://www.digital-digest.com/blog/DVDGuy/2007/09/29/blu-ray-buyer-beware/