Blu Ray or HD DVD - which should I buy?

Question

I'm looking at getting the HD DVD but am unsure because maybe Blu Ray will win out in the end. Any opinions on this?

Answer 1

I'm going with Blu-Ray because it was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan 7, 2008 that Warner Brothers Studios has dropped HD-DVD and will now only put out Blu-Ray HD along with regular DVD. 7 of the 9 major studios have dropped HD-DVD and are 100% Blu-Ray. Hopefully that will help your decision. HAVE A GOOD ONE...

Answer 2

just buy both, then you'll be good. Some movies are only supported in blu-ray, other movies will only come out in hd dvd. they are both pretty affordable now.

Answer 3

Bottom Line: HD disks (HDM) -- Blu-ray or HD DVD -- are great for those who can fully benefit (and are willing to pay premium prices) but the majority of consumers are better to wait and simply stick with DVD played on an upconverting player (at least for now).

For those who can benefit from HDM, Blu-ray is the logical format choice, but I still suggest waiting for hardware to mature, prices to decrease and movie choice to improve.

Fact: Video and audio quality from Blue-ray and HD DVD is essentially identical. Despite theoretical and technical differences there is no practical difference in results.

Fact: To fully benefit from HDM you need a ~40" or larger 1080p HDTV (or projector) and HDMI connectivity. To hear benefits from advanced audio on HDM also requires a good surround sound audio system

Fact: HDM is NOT night and day superior to upconverted DVD. Yes, it's noticeably better, but it's not like comparing DVD vs VHS, or even HDTV vs SDTV. And HD disks don't provide compelling convenience advantages over DVD (unlike smaller size, greater stability, no rewinding of DVD vs VHS), in fact because they can't be played in existing DVD players they decrease convenience.

Anyone considering purchase should first see what they would be getting and assess whether the costs (both financial and convenience) are worthwhile.

In my view this is best done by viewing both a  DVD and HD Disk version of the same movie on a display as similar as possible (resolution, size, type) to the one they will use at home, and viewed from a distance similar to what they will use at home. Only then can s/he judge the difference and decide whether they are willing to pay the costs (initial and ongoing) to upgrade.

Fact: There is more Blu-ray support than HD DVD, BUT HD DVD is not dead yet (That said, anyone who can't accept that HD DVD could die sometime soon should choose Blu-ray).

The only reason, in my view, for someone to buy an HD DVD player today is if s/he wants a good upconverting DVD player (prices are similar to better DVD-only upconverters, but has the benefit of being able to play HD DVD disks too).

Fact: There are over 80,000 DVD titles and less than 1000 HDM. We will all be watching DVDs -- at least part of the time -- for a long, long time to come.

Fact: Blu-ray and HD DVD are niche formats.

Opinion: For a large number of reasons it is HIGHLY unlikely that HDM will ever replace DVD; some form of video on demand / download services at sub-1080p resolution is a more likely successor. Consequently Blu-ray will probably never offer the full range of movies available on DVD.

Fact: Blu-ray players are still in a state of flux (Profile 1.1 the second stage of the three part BD specification was implemented in Oct 2007). Few existing players support (although some may be upgradeable) advanced features, and the BD spec still does not require a LAN port (a Profile 2.0 requirement) ... therefore there is no assurance that most existing players (other than the PS3) will support Internet connectivity. This, BTW, is not the case with HD DVD players which universally support all advanced features.

Comment: To date the Blu-ray Disk Association (BDA) has ignored or downplayed lack of extra feature support, but with availability of Profile 1.1 players and Blu-ray disks supporting advanced features the BDA has begun to tout the advantages.

Additional considerations:

- HD DVD/DVD combo disks -- not available on Blu-ray -- provide an option for people with both portable and secondary DVD players to purchase HD disks usable in all locations. Blu-ray disks require a separate purchase of a movie on HD and SD disks (or a choice between formats).

- Blu-ray is encumbered with Digital Rights Management (DRM) in the form of BD+. While backup of DVDs and HD DVDs (fair use) is an option it is currently not possible with Blu-ray (Although AnyDVD claims to be close it isn't certain this is widely applicable).

Answer 4

Hi Mia,

HD DVD (Toshiba) vs Blu Ray (Sony).

The battle rages and it looks like consumers will have to face a dual format much like the dash R and plus R DVDs.

Samsung & LG already offer dual format machines and others will follow. This probably means both formats will survive.

Both use interactive menus but differences are – Blu-Ray capacity is 50Gb and HD-DVD is 30Gb. HD-DVD is region free while Blu-Ray is divided into three regions. (Figures Sony will try to stick it to the consumer) A disadvantage to HD-DVD is they are not all hard coated as are the Blu-Ray. HD-DVDs scratch as easily as regular DVDs while the Blu-Ray are more scratch resistant.

Norm

Answer 5

Go for HD DVD if u have e player

or go for Blu Ray if u have PS3

n ther is another thing about burning it too

if ure PC is not equipped with burning those discs

than its a waste if ure burning somthing..

Answer 6

blu ray.  HD DVD is about to die considering only 1 studio is backing it now.

Answer 7

On Friday Warner announced for Blu-Ray and as of about 5 hours ago there are NO HD DVD exclusive studios anymore. The last holdouts were Universal and Paramount and the NY Times published this article

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/10...

They did this because BD movies have outsold HD DVD 2-1 in the States, 3-1 in Europe and 10-1 in Japan.

Technically Universal and Paramount have commitments to continue making HD DVDs for awhile but they are going forward with Blu-Ray so HD DVD is dead since everybody is going to be making Blu-Ray movies.

If you want an inexpensive player Philips just announced a model at $350 and Funai at $299. Both are the recommended 1.1 compliant (meaning they can do the cool Picture in Picture thing) but not 2.0 compliant (If you care about playing Blu-Ray movie extra feature games online against friends who have the same movie and a 2.0 compliant player)

Answer 8

I've been studying informed Blogs, results of the CES, and calling retailers as I'm ready to purchase too.

Short Answer: Go with Blu-Ray despite what any HD-DVD fanboy has to say. The War is Over !!

Answer 9

If you definitely must buy now get a dual format player, currently LG has one and Samsung is releasing one in the near future.

HD DVD may be dying soon, but there are still some movies that are only available on HD DVD and not Blu-Ray which is why I got a dual format player.

Answer 10

blu ray has the advantage and has had it from the start, '08 you will see hd dvd be discontinued. if you do your research on both you will see why.

edit: the formats will not co-exist. BD has 7 of the 9 major studios behind it, the other two have the option to follow suit, with all the studios behind one format there is not product for HD DVD to sell, hence, discontinuation.

Answer 11

Do NOT BUY AN HD DVD PLAYER. It appears as if blu ray will win this format war. The prices of players have dropped and are continuing to do so. There are still offcialy two studios behind hd dvd as they have not announced the swich to blu ray yet but could do so any day. IF you chose to buy a player right now I would go blu ray. Personaly i would reccomend waiting a couple weeks to see what will happen with universal and paramount. It will probably only take a month or so till this thing wraps it self up.