Blu-ray vs. hd-dvd????

Question

Which format do u guys prefer, blu-ray or hd-dvd, and why? Blu-ray is more advanced but hd-dvd is backwards compatible and is made by the same people who developed dvd......so which one.....blu-ray...or hd-dvd?

Answer 1

Hi pokemaniac128,

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 2

While I have both formats, blu-ray has clearly won this war.  The only thing that HD-DVD was initially able to do that blu-ray wasn't was some of the interactive features.  Blu-Ray now has the same capability, and each blu-ray disc has greater storage capacity than any HD-DVD (50 gig per blu-ray, 35 gig per hd-dvd.)  HD-DVD's frequently have to limit their extras (or only have their extra features in standard video instead of HD) because they run out of space.  

With all but two studios supporting Blu-Ray, and rumors abounding that Paramount may excercise their escape clause from HD-DVD exclusivity (because Warner Bros. jumped to Blu), it really is just a matter of time.  Many of the larger retailers are selling HD-DVD players at clearance prices because they don't want to get stuck with the hardware.

Both players do a great job of playing (and up-converting) my old dvds, and both do a great job of showing off my 115" HDTV front projector.  It's just that next year at this time, Blu-ray will be around, and HD-DVD won't.

Answer 3

The jury is still out on this.  We may have better info in a year or so; I'm sitting on the fence.

Answer 4

The format war was over on January 4, 2008.  Blu-ray won.  Warner Bros. Studios ended it and had this to say as the reason:

“A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry.”

Warner Bros. went on to say:

“Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience."

Since the war ended Blu-ray Disc software has been selling 4 to 1 over HD-DVD titles.  And even with HD-DVD players costing a HALF as much as Blu-ray Disc players, the Blu-ray hardware has been selling 2 to 1 over HD-DVD players since Thanksgiving.  (those figures do NOT include PS3 or XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on sales)

While these formats were relatively the same, here's an  interesting bit of news about the only movie studio having difficulty with the transition from HD-DVD to Blu-ray. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, the ONLY studio which EXCLUSIVELY supported HD-DVD, is finding that the HD-DVD transfers of their movies aren't "good enough" for Blu-ray release.  It's said they'll have to COMPLETLY remaster their catalog of HD films if they want to bring them to Blu-ray Disc.

Answer 5

How is HD-DVD backwards compatible????  Do you mean HD-DVD players are backward compatible with standard dvds?  Blu-ray DVD players are also backwards compatible.  I think HD-DVD is almost a failure due to the fact that only two out of the six major studios support it.  SO 4 major movie studios are now releasing movies only on Bluray.  Also, HD-DVDs sales of p[layers and movies aer not as good as blu-ray.  Don't forget there are 8 million ps3s out there with blu-ray.

Answer 6

I prefer HD DVD....Blu-Ray more advanced? I don't think so. They still don't have the picture-in-picture feature, web enabled content and interactive features which were available with HD DVD from day one. Sony will release new Blu-Ray players with profile 1.1 and anyone who has a PS3 will have to update and those with other players are going to be sh*t out of luck and will have to buy the new players. And when they first came out HD DVD had better picture quality. Blu-Ray at first used the old MPEG-2 encoding for video and one movie in particular "The Fifth Element" got such negative feedback for bad picture quality that Sony released a remastered version using the MPEG-4 encoding.

The only thing that makes Blu-Ray better is that they have the money to throw around at all the studios. I wish they would have agreed on one format in the beginning and avoided this stupid format war.

Answer 7

Bluray is actually technically less advanced and is still playing catch up to HD DVD.  This is a simple fact proven by bluray profiles.  If you own ANY bluray player, you will never be able to access the online features (unless you own a PS3, which is actually a game system).  Bluray is also quite a bit more expensive, 2-3x the cost of an HD DVD player for a less capable machine (profile 1.0).  HD DVD has been standardized from day one with much better features, and is visually and audioly identical to bluray.  This whole thing is a no brainer to me... you get much more for your money with HD DVD.

And once you look at the PR tactics and business ethics violations of the BDA (sony run conglomerate) you start to get an icky taste in your mouth made all the more bitter by the fact that sony started the studio exclusivity.  Its simple really, bluray is winning, not due to quality, but rather due to funding.  If you buy off the suppliers of your opponents materials (IE:  movie studios) it makes it awful difficult for them to distribute a superior product.