I need help, blu ray or HD DVD?

Question

Ok so my dad wants to buy HD DVD but I told him that i heard that HD DVD was fail, but he says he doesnt wanna spend much on blu ray, so basically my question is:

Can a Blu ray system play normal movies (not blu ray movies) and still look better than normal DVDs?

Answer 1

i don't know about blu ray playing regular dvd's, but i believe it would be a wiser investment since i heard all movies are going to be shifting to that format (blu ray)

Answer 2

Blu Ray Has Already Won The War, Some Blu Ray Players Will Play Dvd With 1080i up conversion, but not all, your best bet it getting a playstation3 since its the cheapest blu ray player out there that will also play DVD with upconvertion.

Answer 3

Blu-Ray players do put regular dvds into better quality. I also heard that toshiba are planing to stop producing HD DVDs so i would get a Blu-Ray player.

Answer 4

Okay... You seem to already know what's up with HD-DVD, but your dad needs convincing.  To answer your main question... generally the answer is yes.... a Blu-Ray player will "upscale" normal DVDs and show them over HDMI, so they may often look a bit better then on a normal/older DVD player hooked up to an HDTV with poorer connectors. However, in certain cases the difference may be minimal if at all, depending on the equiptment, a good HDTV will already upscale regular footage decently. Obviously it won't magically make the DVD into High Definition or anything, but it might help slightly.Also, inform your dad that having "DVD" does mean HD-DVD is anymore compatible with regular DVDs then Blu-Ray . "HD-DVD" and "Blu-Ray" just brand names for different formats and are essentially very similar, just completely incompatible with one another.  They're both HD.. despite the fact that Blu-ray doesn't have "HD" in its name and HD-DVD uses "blue rays" despite that fact they don't use the word "blue" in the name.

Now, here's the bigger issue. Your very right about trying to convince your dad to get Blu-Ray.  Tell your dad the following and feel free to quote me. To begin with, even when it was more recently still in the running, fewer studios supported HD-DVD so fewer movies came out on it. Now, NO major studios will be releasing HD-DVD movies after this year. Several major retail stores have already announced they will stop stocking HD-DVD movies soon.  Blockbuster ONLY rents/sells Blu-Ray movies. Basically after this year is through, if you only own a HD-DVD player, you won't be able to see any new releases in HD without a Blu-Ray player. Having said that, the reason prices seem particularly low on some HD-DVD players might be obvious... they're trying to get rid of them ;)

Blu-Ray was a slightly better format to begin with anyway. Tell your dad he's essentially making a horrible investment for the future... tell him getting HD-DVD will be like owning a BetaMax player, if he remembers those.  If anything, tell your dad to look into a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo player (one that plays both) if he insists on getting HD-DVD for some reason. If not, it would make more sense to wait and not get anything at all untill Blu-Ray goes low enough in price for him.

As a side note, the PS3 is a very good Blu-Ray player.. even better the many/most other standalones and you get more bang for your buck. The cheapest PS3 is $400, about the same as cheaper standalone Blu-Ray players... so perhaps getting a system that can let your browse the internet on your TV, view computer media on your TV (like pictures off a digital cameras memory card, and play video games... on top of being a Blu-Ray player... may be a more justified spending of money for your dad. Just a thought ;)

Answer 5

Blu Ray. Toshiba who is responsible for HD-DVD already threw in the towel.

Answer 6

Blu-ray won the war. HD DVD is dead. That said, Blu-ray is, and will likely remain, a high priced alternative to DVD ... not a replacement for it ... supported by those who can benefit and are prempared to pay the premium price.

Blu-ray and HD DVD can play and upconvert DVDs to pseudo-HD resolution (and remove some video artifacts at the same time)

But unless there is an intention to buy or rent Blu-ray movies why spend $300+ for a Blu-ray player when an upconverting DVD player that does the same thing can be purchsed for much less?

To get any benefit from Blu-ray you have to watch on an HDTV ... preferably 1080p. If you have, or will soon have an HDTV consider Blu-ray, but otherwise stick with an upconverting player. Note that depending on the HDTV and where it is watched from (distance) there can be little or no benefit to "wow" difference from DVD.

That said, one of the best deals on an upconverting player is an HD DVD player ... which can be picked up for under $100 (e.g. amazon, Wal-mart). And as a bonus it can play HD DVDs should you find any at bargain prices.

As to whether an upconverting player provides any benefits ... yes they do (See link). While the image can't ever equal Blu-ray or HD DVD quality, the video processor in a reasonable quality upconverting player will do a better job than most HDTV video processors ... and not only upconverts the resolution, but cleans up some of the DVD artifacts as well. It's not a big effect, but there is no reason not to buy an upconverting player  ... just not a model selling for less than about $60 (they don't use very good video processors at that price point).

Answer 7

Blu-Ray. HDDVD has *officially* ended, and the movies are stopping soon.

Get a PS3. Upconverts DVDs, and plays Blu-Ray.

Answer 8

The short answer is, no.

Two points:

1.  Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players play "normal" DVDs, but no better than normal.  Even though they have up-converting built in, so does any HDTV (and if you aren't hooking them to an HDTV, it will be no better than "normal" even when playing an HD movie).

2.  Blu-Ray HAS won the format war.

So, I wouldn't buy an HD-DVD player, unless it was going for a price comparable to a standard DVD player, because no more HD-DVD discs are being sold.

Also, I wouldn't buy an up-converting standard DVD player unless that didn't cost any more (again, because my HDTV already does the up-conversion).