Should I get a Blu-ray or HD DVD player?

Question

I heard they are no longer making HD DVDs, is that true?

Answer 1

HD DVD is dead.  Blue-ray is the winner in this format war.

Answer 2

The above posters are right: blu-ray practically is the only format among the currently available ones that has a future.

However there is one reason why buying a HD DVD player may not be completely insane: There are a lot of films available on HD DVD ... and quite a few good ones. These discs as well as the players are much, much ... well ... astronomically cheaper than Blu-Ray. On long term you'll need a blu-ray player to watch new HD discs, but if there are a great many films you want to get already released on HD DVD it may be cheaper getting a HD DVD player and old HD DVDs and then buy a blu-ray player in addition to that.

Okay, this is a very special scenario, but at least here in europe you can get a HD DVD player for about 100 EUR and a HD DVD for about 8 EUR per film (even recent blockbusters) whereas a blu-ray player still costs about 300 EUR and a film on blu-ray discs between 25 and 40 EUR. So with only ten films you really want to get and that are available on HD DVD you could essentially buy the HD DVD player from the price difference of the discs im comparison to their blu-ray counterparts. ;)

Answer 3

Agree with everyone above me.  Bluray is the way to go with new movies coming out, but don't discount HD-DVD either.  You can easily buy a new(er) HD-DVD player for 50.00 and with movies going for 6.99-9.99 at Fry's electronics, you could easily save money in the long run by going this route.  Take the new "Mummy" movies just released on Bluray.  They cost 20 bucks each on Bluray yet you can buy them for 6.99 at Fry's and they are still in HD.

As mentioned there are a ton of HD-DVD movies out there and they are encoded the same way as Bluray with the same picture quality and lossless audio, so in the long run you may save more money buying a HD-DVD player and movies now and then later buy a Bluray player when prices drop even more and you can buy the new movies being released today.

Answer 4

HD-DVD is now officially discontinued. However,both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players are currently available, with units adding recording capability also available in some PCs and Laptops, to be followed, possibly, by Blu-ray recorders available possibly sometime in the future in the U.S. Market. However, as of February 19, 2008, HD-DVD has been discontinued. As a result new players, or the possibility of recorders, in that format, will no longer be available going forward. Blu-ray and HD-DVD both employ Blue Laser technology (which has a much shorter wavelength than the red laser technology used in current DVD). Blu-ray and HD-DVD enables a disc the size of a current DVD disc (but, which much greater storage capacity than a standard DVD) to hold an entire film at HDTV resolution or allow the consumer to record two hours of high definition video content.

Although both Blu-ray and HD-DVD support both recording and playback of high definition material with the same expected result, there are technical differences between the two formats.

Blu-ray - General Specifications:

Storage Capacity - Pre-recorded Playback Material (BD-ROM): Single-layer (25GB) - Dual-layer (50GB)

Storage Capacity: Home Recording (BD-R/BD-RE): Single-layer (25GB) - Dual-layer (50GB)

Data Transfer Rate: 36 to 48 MBPS (Megabits per Second) average - capable of up to 54 MPS - This exceeds the 19.3 Mbps transfer rate approved for HDTV broadcasts.

Disc Properties: New format requiring retooling and/or construction of new disc manufacturing and replication plants.

Video Specifications: Compatible with full MPEG2 Encoding, as well as MPEG4 and VC1.

Audio Specifications: Only Dolby Digital, DTS, and Uncompressed PCM are required on all players. However, the following formats are optional - Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD.

Network Capability: Although the Blu-ray format supports networking and internet capabilities, built-in networking and ethernet ports on individual Blu-ray Disc Players is optional.



HD-DVD - General Specifications

Storage Capacity - Pre-recorded playback material (HD-DVD-ROM): Single-layer (15GB) - Dual-layer (30GB) - Triple Layer (51GB - developed, but never brought to market).

Storage Capacity - Home Recording (HD-DVD-R/HD-DVD-Rewritable): Single-layer (20GB) - Dual-Sided Disc (40GB) - Dual Layer (35GB - proposed).

Data Transfer Rate: 36 MBPS (Megabits per Second) - This exceeds the 19.3 Mbps transfer rate approved for HDTV broadcasts.

Disc Properties: Format similar to existing DVD disc structure, requiring minimal upgrading and retooling of existing DVD disc manufacturing and replication plants.

Video Specifications: Compatible with MPEG2, MPEG4, and VC1 Encoding.

Audio Specifications: All HD-DVD players are required to incorporate the following - Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, and Uncompressed PCM, as well as standard Dolby Digital and DTS.

Network Capability: All HD-DVD players are required to be network enabled and be equipped with a built-in Ethernet port for downloading firmware updates and other interactive features.

DVD is very successful, and will definitely be around for some time. However as it is implemented, DVD is not a high-definition format. DVD players typically output video in either standard NTSC 480i (720x480 pixels in an interlaced scan format), with progressive scan DVD players capable of outputting DVD video in 480p (720x480 pixels displayed in a progressively scanned format). Although DVD has superior resolution and image quality, when compared to VHS and standard cable television, it is still only half the resolution of HDTV.

There’s also the slight problem with Blu-Ray in that the feature set has not been finalized yet and different revisions keep coming out with Sony having to add an update to its PS3 firmware in order to keep up with it.  HD-DVD is finalized, HD-DVDs made today will be compatible with your current player and a player made five years from now.

There is still no clear winner though personally I’m hoping that HD-DVD comes out the champion.

Answer 5

The Blu-Ray player won out after Sony's PS3 (Video games are going to change the world) came with it. The real clincher, I think, was when Sony paid a lot of money to Target to stop carrying the HDDVD player and only sell a Blu-Ray player.

Sony denied this initially but then Target came out and openly said it was true.

You cannot buy many HDDVDs now, so all those people who bought the HDDVD player lost out on that investment. It's now safe to buy the Blu-Ray because it's here to stay. If your TV isn't very big though, I'd suggest waiting for the price to drop.

Also, just buy a PS3. You can find them now and it's about the same price, plus it plays games!

Answer 6

Yes. The Blu-ray Disc player is fine.

Answer 7

Either, my friend. And yes, that's true.

Answer 8

The HD DVD format is dead. Toshiba(the developer of HD DVD) announced that they would cease production and research of HD DVD back in January. Blu ray is the way to go. But don't get a blu ray player if you don't have an HDTV because you will not notice a difference between blu ray and regular dvd on a standard tv. I recommend getting a PS3. It's the best and one of the cheapest blu ray players on the market. You can pick up a 40GB PS3 for $399.