AndrewWilliams Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 OK, I'm a fence sitter with regards to BR & HDDVD. The trouble is, there's movies that are exclusive to both of the respective formats that I really would like to buy. I've decided that my only option is to wait for an affordable dual-format player. Have many companies annouced DF players? I couldn't find much info on the web other than an obscure Samsung announcement and a press release from NEC claiming to be making chips that support both formats. I really like the look of HD-DVD but the lack of advertising and retail presence seems like a recipe for failure IMO. On the other hand, the region coding of Blu-ray makes it rather unattractive to an early adopter.
50mxe20 Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 As silly as it sounds, maybe it's better to buy both anyway. I've not had good success with hybrid systems. If you have a problem with one format, the whole machine has to go away for repair. What the heck, it's only money!
Nevyn72 Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Sony PS3 -> Blu Ray + Gaming and streaming content from your PC Toshiba E1 -> HD DVD + upscaling SD DVD (over HDMI) (you could substiute the Xbox360 elite + HD add-on for the Toshi to increase gaming options) Total cost is around $2K or about the same as the first generation SD DVD players.......
CoNFooZeD Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 As silly as it sounds, maybe it's better to buy both anyway.I've not had good success with hybrid systems. If you have a problem with one format, the whole machine has to go away for repair. What the heck, it's only money! Unfortuantely for some of us money is not the only factor. Lack of cabinet space and free HDMI ports come into consideration in my case. If/when Denon, Pioneer or Marantz ect bring out a mid-range dual format player then I am on board.
betty boop Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 well we know theres that lg in the states that plays blu-ray and hd-dvd* well not quite the full exprience of hd-dvd butt well it does play it. somehow think your probably better off buying two dedicated players than one of those LGs !
50mxe20 Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Unfortuantely for some of us money is not the only factor. Lack of cabinet space and free HDMI ports come into consideration in my case. If/when Denon, Pioneer or Marantz ect bring out a mid-range dual format player then I am on board.To say nothing of WAF! Which is my problem (with everything to do with HT).
CoNFooZeD Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 To say nothing of WAF! Which is my problem (with everything to do with HT). Yep, it's easer to hide the cost of one purchase than two
AndrewWilliams Posted April 10, 2007 Author Posted April 10, 2007 Yes, if I buy a PS3 & an E1, that's a hell of a lot of money just to spin some discs. I think my best option at this point in time might be to just add an Xbox 360 HD-DVDROM to my HTPC and if HD-DVD fails I haven't lost much. The other option is to wait for a regular PC drive - surely they can't be too far away now.
betty boop Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 To say nothing of WAF! Which is my problem (with everything to do with HT). it can be a bugger. I can jsut imagine with 3 disc players for ht. let alone already having 3 disc player for the audio side !
Tweet Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Well, I am buying a HD XE1 because I have no doubt that HD DVD will win this stupid war. Sony needs BR disc sales to continue to support the PS3 manufacturing costs because sales of anything else in their Blu-ray range is negligible. If BR disc sales stall then so shall the PS3 marketing campaign . Not the case with HD DVD, Toshiba's manufacturing costs are entirely supported by HD player sales, so sales drive player development and manufacturing. HD DVD disc sales are largely independent of HD DVD player manufacturing and so Toshiba have to produce quality products and relatively cheaply. Though this is a slower process in gaining market share it is a much more secure means of doing it. It's the rabbit and tortoise scenario. C.M
fat Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Well, I am buying a HD XE1 because I have no doubt that HD DVD will win this stupid war.Sony needs BR disc sales to continue to support the PS3 manufacturing costs because sales of anything else in their Blu-ray range is negligible. If BR disc sales stall then so shall the PS3 marketing campaign . Not the case with HD DVD, Toshiba's manufacturing costs are entirely supported by HD player sales, so sales drive player development and manufacturing. HD DVD disc sales are largely independent of HD DVD player manufacturing and so Toshiba have to produce quality products and relatively cheaply. Though this is a slower process in gaining market share it is a much more secure means of doing it. It's the rabbit and tortoise scenario. C.M Also Venturer are going to make a cheap HD DVD player, so if other cheap chinese manufacturers jump on board then this could help HD DVD win this stupid war http://technabob.com/blog/2007/03/25/ventu...d-on-the-cheap/
Tweet Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Also Venturer are going to make a cheap HD DVD player, so if other cheap chinese manufacturers jump on board then this could help HD DVD win this stupid warhttp://technabob.com/blog/2007/03/25/ventu...d-on-the-cheap/ Yes, that link has appeared before. It certainly looks attractive especially if around the $400 AUD mark. The thing is, the HD DVD specification is so high that even a cheap build machine is going to look and sound impressive. The cheaper HD players would crack the whole HD market wide open. C.M
momaw Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 Yes, that link has appeared before. It certainly looks attractive especially if around the $400 AUD mark.The thing is, the HD DVD specification is so high that even a cheap build machine is going to look and sound impressive. The cheaper HD players would crack the whole HD market wide open. C.M but the link suggests $800-$1000 US, not $400 AUD
Tweet Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 but the link suggests $800-$1000 US, not $400 AUD To quote......... "Now, a company from Canada, Venturer, is working on an Chinese-manufactured HD DVD player which could reach the market for under $200. The bargain basement Venturer SHD7000 certainly won’t have the build quality of $500+ players, but the price could be enough to convince the masses that it’s time to upgrade from plain old DVD." You possibly didn't read the fine print MO'. C.M
momaw Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 To quote........."Now, a company from Canada, Venturer, is working on an Chinese-manufactured HD DVD player which could reach the market for under $200. The bargain basement Venturer SHD7000 certainly won’t have the build quality of $500+ players, but the price could be enough to convince the masses that it’s time to upgrade from plain old DVD." You possibly didn't the fine print MO'. C.M sorry sorry sorry CM, I thought you were replying to Yorac and his link. My bad
alanh Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 All, An integrated circuit manufacturer has made a single chip which is able to decode both systems. So the battle is half over. AlanH
cwt Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 All,An integrated circuit manufacturer has made a single chip which is able to decode both systems. So the battle is half over. AlanH Yes Alan ; most have heard of the nec chip .The other half of the battle is probably licensing fees and intellectual property rights
murrayt Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 An XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive does provide a cheap start up option for HD-DVD discs. Works a treat with PowerDVD Ultra
elisiX Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 So if HD DVD was to win.. that doesnt mean Sony will just stop providing movies on BD surely?.
momaw Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 So if HD DVD was to win.. that doesnt mean Sony will just stop providing movies on BD surely?. Of course not, they would continue to support just like they have the UMD format..........
elisiX Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 Even though ive bought a PS3 im not biased either way. I'd just as quickly buy into HD DVD if it were to win. Without hijaking this thread and starting a war, why would so many studio's sign up to Sony if HD DVD is such better quality/has a brighter future?
50mxe20 Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 Why did VHS win when Beta was better. Money talks.
Skid_MacMarx Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 Why did VHS win when Beta was better.Money talks. Sony eventually released VHS recorders/players so if the Duo players become "mainstream" I wouldn't be surprised if Sony released dual format machines. And, who's to say that Sony will offer the best dual player player/recorder.. Somehow I feel BD movies will become more popular than UMD movies,,,, I always thought UMD movies would be a "flash in the pan" like minidiscs but if PSPs become much more popular who knows? As for "making money" http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...acturing+HD-DVD
50mxe20 Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 As for "making money"http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...acturing+HD-DVD I didn't necessarily mean "making money", I meant "money talks" or "money has clout" or "big companies have clout".
migrane Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 Why did VHS win when Beta was better.Money talks. As an early adopter of Beta, I've always felt that Beta lost because it had too few companies manufacturing it. When someone went into a store, there were lots more VHS machines than Beta, and people chose the more numerous. And there always was a smaller number of software titles in Beta than VHS. The one plus that having two competing formats then was that there were great leaps forward in picture and audio quality - for example, as Beta introduced stereo then HiFi so did VHS. (BTW, such enhancements meant that earlier players could not play the newer stereo tracks, but there was always backwards compatibility.) Since the demise of Beta, however, further enhancements didn't have quite the same impact - SuperVHS for instance.
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