HD-DVD or Blu-ray? Which player to buy and why?

Question

This holiday season I was so set on buying a HD format player so I can watch movies on the full 1080P resolution of my TVs. Well I did my research... and the results are pretty inconclusive. I found a lot of information on that here, http://www.publicdecision.com/issue/HDDVD_vs_BluRay_which_format_is_going_to_win_and_why . Please let me know your opinions and if you have a minute vote on the issue at the link above.

Answer 1

Skip the format war and head directly to digital download.  If that's not an option the PS3's blu-ray is the best bet.

Answer 2

At the moment, it's a personal choice as you can only buy certain films on either one.  However in 2009, all the companies currently signed exclusively to HD-DVD will be able to distibute as both BluRay and HD-DVD, so that will really be the decided time period.

I would put my money on BluRay for one simple reason: PS3.  Most people do not have the money to buy a bluray or HD-DVD player on it's own, but with millions of PS3s being purchased, BluRay format has created a much larger market base than HD-DVD has.  Even when the technology becomes cheaper like a DVD player is now, the people that have owned PS3s will have invested in BluRay discs already and will be unlikely to want to change formats.

Answer 3

In my opinion, this is actually a fairly easy question to answer.  Go HD-DVD.

There are a multitude of reasons not to go bluray, first and foremost, they are an unfinished product.  The specs on HD-DVD have been finalized since day one, bluray on the other hand has just gone profile 1.1 (making most special features on new discs unplayable on any non 1.1 player, which is more than 90% of those on the shelf).  They are also planning on going to version 2.0 sometime in the near future, making all of these new 1.1 machines obsolete.  This is a disaster if you watch any special features at all (which are very amazing and interactive on HD-DVD).  There are framerate bugs and many other problems with bluray, but for the profile issue alone I would not go bluray.

My other problem, as I have come to recently learn, is sony itself.  Sony output bluray with such haste to cause a market competition (thus the unfinished specs for these 1,200 dollar units at debut).  They then proceeded to actively lie and smear HD to get a foothold in the market.  Through the use of misinformation and underhanded tactics, they have managed to promote all sorts of untrue information, some of which is contained in the answers above me.  They have made comments such as paramount studios is a bluray exclusive, and when confronted with the fact of their dishonesty, they claim "well, they will have no choice but to come back to bluray because our tech is better" which it is infact obviously worse.  The studios are split at a rough 45-55 in blus favor, but this doesn't take into account that warner, a neutral studio, is producing HD-DVD exclusives due to the difficulties of sony's goofed up Java programming.  Bluray costs more to produce, takes more resources, is selling at a loss and is lieing to the general public en mass.  This is all simple fact.  Both HD and blu look identical (and are often coded from the same stream), but HD has vastly superior additional features, and the one advantage that blu has (storage space) is nullified unless you consistantly purchase new units to keep up with the requirements of their special features (all the while playing catchup with the features HD started with).  Not to mention the fact the blu costs substantially more.

Answer 4

IMO. Both of them are just too new. They are also not being put out there as replacements for DVD. You can't give people too many options, especially too many options without the complete truth. For me the technology is still too new. It is just like buying a brand new model automobile.

There remains software and hardware conflicts. Mostly due to the HDMI interface. Some TVs won't play with some players and some movies don't play well on some players. The last thing I want is to be waiting anxiously to get home to watch my movie and have it not play.

How many connections now have gone through in the last 5 years?DVI, HDMI 1, 1.2, and 1.3 ? Pretty soon it will be 1.4 (Then they will come out with an SHDMI Super HDMI. You'll be able to link up to your vibrating bed and your bed will then hook up to your 100.2 surround sound system. The .2 being the vibrating bed output. Come on get over yourselves.

And what really ticks me off is, I already have an expensive HDTV, it was built before the HDMI connections were even available. Still HDTV with 1080i but it is already obsolete. It was obsolete before it was even built.

Because of the studios' fear of video theft through illegal copying prictices by the unscrupulous, I can not watch upconverted or native 1080i on this TV from an HDDVD or Blue Ray player. I would have to downconvert the movies to 480p to watch them on my TV. Whats the point??? I already watch 480p on my standard DVD player.

I am not going to go out and buy another HDTV and HDDVD or Blue Ray player. I'll upgrade when I have to. I can live with 480p from regular DVD on an HDTV for now.

As far as who is better. They both offer (by todays standards) cutting edge image and sound quality when they work right. I challenge anyone to prove to me which one has the better picture and sound quality that is not determined by the quality of the source or the hardware/equipment playing it.

They offer the same thing.

Of course one is technologically better, maybe...

I'll jump on the wagon when the war is over. I can think of better things to spend my money on right now.

I always remind people of the whole BETA fiasco of the 80s. and the Sony MD of the 90s. BETA offered better picture and sound but people wanted recording time. Once recording becomes mainstreem on either one. Yee with the most recording time will be the victor. Untill then, it is really all moot.

Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion someone will have something different and better before this war is even over. The technology is out there it is only a matter of time. In fact I think I'll wait till movies are released on quartz. Then I'll invite superman over to watch movies.

These companies don't know the meaning of the phrase. "Can't you just leave well enough alone" atleast for  a little while?