Originally posted by Wolfie
When television converts entirely to HD technology, people with satellite won't have to worry about upgrading their TVs. And if I remember correctly, there will be converters for those without satellite.
What do you mean video commentary?
Analog broadcasting will be done away with in 2009. That means, anyone with NTSC televisions, regardless of the signal you receive, are SOL. HD over satellite will still be inferior to digital cable, namely because of the broadcast medium, and the selection. As of right now, via DirecTV, there are 4 HD channels. I'm sure it will improve, but digital is always going to win out.
The running video commentary called "IME", short for "In Movie Experience", is a PIP window exclusive to HD-DVD that features a running video commentary. Scene specific, and blow by blow, as if they filmed the director/actor as they made the commentary, and it runs will the movie is playing.
Originally posted by BackFire
Really, I think you're both right. ED is right in that HD technology won't surpass standard DVD anytime in the forseeable future, and that right now it is such a small niche who have or care about them, that if comparing the formats to DVD, they are and probably will be a failure.However, when looking at the big picture, and taking into consideration that HDTV's are becomming more and more affordable and necessary, eventually HDDVD's will become the norm.
But, both Bluray and HD-DVD have an inherent disadvantage of having a direct competition with eachother. The fact that there are two formats severely hurts the HD entertainment industry, seeing as movies are being split among the formats. Plus, it looks as both will be around for a while, at least as long as PS3 and 360 are the main home video consoles.
One thing is for sure, it will be an interesting battle, it's just many people, myself include are worried that they'd pick the losing format, and as a result, simply aren't buying either, and have no plan on buying either as long as there are two options. As Steven Colbert said on his show "You know which format will lose the war? Whichever one you buy".
HD-DVD has already bowled over standard DVD tenfold, again, not that you can compare them in terms of marketability, because as you guys say, they're for people who "care", whereas I say they're geared towards certain people to begin with. Mercedes Benz doesn't churn out cars for everyone, and not everyone buys them. That doesn't make them a failure compared to other cars. It's a perk for people who can afford and appreciate what it has to offer. It's not a failure, the numbers already speak for themselves.
The format war is on paper, anyway, and HT enthusiasts know it to be true. Sony's dropped the ball countless times, where Toshiba's been pummelign the competition. This so called "studio support" that Sony has seems to be dwindling after Disney cancelled two MAJOR releases in "Cars" and "POTC" on BR, more than likely suggesting they'll either go with HD-DVD or both, just at a later time.
Personally, like I said, I've got nothing to lose. Neither does anyone else that invests $500 measely bucks into a DVD player. You get the best possible versions of your favorite movies, and the only player on the market capable of full picture resolution. If that format died today, I don't think any of hte early adopters would shed a tear.
Originally posted by Evil Dead
Yes, HD-DVD has a huge technical advantage over DVD as it offers much better quality. The public still does not care. We don't need HD......there isn't a demand for it. It is a tech junkie niche, just as laser disc was. Other than quality, to 90% of the country, it's just a dvd with better quality that we don't care about......we're fine with our regular dvds. The picture is good....it's what we're accustomed to......and there's still plenty of room for bonus features.you know your HD-DVD......HD-TV.....Surround sound set-up you've got in your living room? You are in the VAST minority. Most of us don't care. We sit on our couch and put a movie in and watch it. That simple. You don't seem to realize this.
Yes, we will upgrade......not because we have this great desire, because we'll have to. A person is hard pressed to walk into Best Buy and find a tv that isn't HD or HD compatible. We have no choice, we buy a new tv and it just so happens it's HD.......even though we just want to buy a tv. HD doesn't figure into the equation. Televison will be broadcast in HD......again, there isn't a huge calling for it.......it's just something they're doing to appeal to everybody, giving the tech junkies what they want and the other 90% HD even if they don't want it......it's not like we're going to complain about the better quality.
This in no way affects what format somebody chooses to buy. We don't choose HD-TVs.....the manufacturers do. We don't choose HD programming.......the networks/cable companies do. We do actually have a choice when it comes to which disc we throw in our shopping cart......and to most of us, one is just as good as the other because we don't care about the better quality........just as those millions buying VHS didn't care about laser-discs far superior quality. The only way HD-DVD will ever trump dvd is if regular dvd stops being produced.......which I don't believe will ever happen as I don't believe HD-DVDs market share will ever even come close to 50% so no studio is going to stop producing films on the dvd format, losing all those sales for any given title. As stated earlier, HD-DVD will have it's techie niche until a new format comes along and erases both HD-DVD and DVD at the same time as it will have the same quality as HD-DVD (for the techies) aswell as practical upgrades for the common man, like being smaller and more durable.
As for Blue-Ray......it is the way for the future of gaming. The PS4 will have them standard in all models.......the PS3 will have an add-on for the lower end PS3 models that come factory direct without them. The sole reason is their storage capacity. It's the same reason DVDs were used for PS2 and Xbox as opposed to CDs. You can fit more data on the disc. Saying Blue Ray won't be used for gaming is akin to saying, "sony will never use DVDs in the PS2.....they'll stick with cds". It's the exact same reason they changed formats before. More starage capacity = more data per disc. More data per disc = larger games and/or better graphics.
It will however go nowhere with the film industry as it's a moot format with dvd and hd-dvd already out there. It offers no advantage over either.......actually less over hd-dvd.
I can say this until I am blue in the face. HD is NOT for the public. Technology isn't developed ONLY when there's a demand for it! If that were the case, we'd still all be peddling bicycles because it gets you from Point A to Point B, and that's all that matters. All the "we we we" talk, you're speaking for the general public for whom this medium isn't even intended. I know I'm in the minority, never claimed otherwise, but if the "minority" didn't fuel the market, then there would never be advancements, nor the need for them. So, when other people eventually latch on, they've got early adopters to thank. That's why so many technological advancements get cheaper spin-offs, i.e. DVD in general. Like iLo brand DVD players for $25, Westinghouse LCD HDTV's for $700. I never..ever..said that standard DVD's were going to be extinct. They're inferior, yeah, but that market will never go away.
Blu-ray will only be included in the $600 PS3's, IIRC. They're producing an HDD (hard drive) for the lower end models, like the premium 360. 360 will have an HD-DVD add on, making it about $50 less than the premium PS3 when it's all said and done. The PS4 won't even have a disc drive, so I've read, so the BR processor will be self-contained, which means that it's going to be all digital distribution, suggesting the end of the physical drive format and discs as we know it in both gaming and multi-media. However, that's atleast another decade away.
Blu-ray discs hold 25 gigs right now, and even at that compression rate, their movies offer no extras and horrible picture quality. How's that for a promising future in gaming, much less entertainment period? They've tested 50 gig discs, and have yet to produce positive results. Sony has a shitload of work to do, because right now, after having to cancel 1/4th of the slated PS3 games, the cell issues, the blue diode shortages, the premature BD launch, the horrible launch titles, the cancellation of both BD movies, PS3 games, the exploding laptop batteries....nobodies going to want to spend $1,000/$600 on their product.