What should i get a blu-ray dvd player or a hd dvd player?

Question

What should i get a blu-ray dvd player or a hd dvd player?

Answer 1

I am assuming you have an HDTV so Blu-Ray is really the only choice to make. At this moment there is not even 1 Studio who is HD DVD exclusive anymore. Paramount and Universal have commitment to keep supporting HD DVD in previously planned HD DVD promotions so they aren't abandoning it yet but as of yesterday Variety reported that both are no longer exclusively HD DVD. Meanwhile Blu-Ray enjoys exclusive support from Sony, Disney, Fox, Lionsgate and Warner sister companies New Line and HBO are also shifting allegiance to Blu-ray.

The war is only over when Toshiba says so but retailers may force the their hand. They're unlikely to keep devoting premium shelf space to a dying format, and at this point, the odds are not in HD DVD's favor.

Answer 2

I personally am waiting it out cause I don't want to buy the wrong one. There are however alternatives to my method, get a dual format player, or get a PS3 and get a free Blu-Ray.

Answer 3

Most respondents are going to say "Buy Blu-ray ... it's wonderful". I'm going to take a little different approach.

IF you are certain you want to get into HD disks (and see below for why this may not be as obvious as it might appear), Blu-ray is the likely survivor of the HD Disk format war, so is the logical choice.

That said, there are reasons to consider whether HD disks are right for you, particulalry at this time.

First, unless you have an HDTV (preferably 1080p and larger than 40", with HDMI connectivity) or HD projector, AND you watch from close to optimum distance, you may not benefit that much from HD disks' increased resolution (relative to DVD on a good upconverting player). You will probably benefit from the broader colour space. You may or may not benefit from the advanced audio formats, depending on your sound system.

Second, Blu-ray (and HD DVD) disks are significantly more expensive (typically $5-$8 for new releases and as much as $20 for the older films so far available on HD disk) than DVD. And much more if compared to previously viewed DVDs ... which are not (yet) an option for Blu-ray disks.

Third, not all Blu-ray (or HD DVD) disks have as high quality picture and/or audio as the few demo quality disks. Call them 2-3 stars / 5 ... and in these (all too common cases) the benefit over DVD is less assured.

Fourth, Blu-ray players -- unlike HD DVD -- are still evolving in terms of capability. Many, such as the Sony BDPS300 don't (and are not upgradeable to) support features like picture in picture, secondary audio and onboard storage. And no Blu-ray player is yet required to (although some do) have internet connectivity. Note that none of these features are required to play the movie, but many disks do have these features and many consumers do value extras. To me I would want the ability to play them even if I chose not to (But maybe that's just me!)

So -- even assuming you can benefit from HD disks (and I strongly advise you to research this and see for yourself by playing a Blu-ray and normal DVD of the same movie on an HDTV as close as possible to yours) -- unless there is some compelling reason to buy now I suggest waiting for hardware to mature, prices to come down and other hardware choices to become available (Lower priced Chinese players, instead of high priced Japanese and Korean players, are about to enter the market.

So ... there's my advice. I hope it's useful to you.

Answer 4

Things do not look good for HD-DVD since Warner announced exclusive release on Blu-Ray.  Presently, only 25% of the studios release on HD-DVD and that number may drop with Paramount possibly going exclusively Blu-Ray.

Dual formats are available but expensive.  Personally, I think a low-end Playstation 3 is the best deal going as it will play Blu-Ray disks as well as games and can function as a Linux computer with web browsing over wireless or ethernet connection.  You'll have to buy a separate remote control or use the game controllers to control the playback.

Answer 5

To be honest, I would not get either system right now.  I would wait until there is a uniform system, which will probably be by the end of this year at the latest.  Since as of right now different movies studios are supporting different formats, why would I want to buy a movie player that does not play all movies?  

Blu-Ray does have more support right now, and it looks like Universal and Paramount are on their way to make Blu-Ray movies, but they are not yet.  So I would wait until they do.  Again, why even worry about it when in about 6 months to a year, there is probably going to be one uniform system AND prices will be lower.  

I say wait.

Answer 6

To find out what's going on in this "resolved" format war.  Check out this continually updated link: http://www.avtruths.com/blurayvshddvd.ht...

Answer 7

It's VHS vs Beta Part III  (part II being DVD+R vs DVD-R) -- really the best thing to do is wait 'till a consensus is made. If you don't, you'll wind up with a crappy Betamax and nothing to buy for it. The recommendation to buy a PS3 is probably the best one I've heard to date -- they'll keep making PS3 games, even if HD-DVD becomes the standard for movies.

Answer 8

I would get Blu-ray, it looks like it's going to beat HD DVD

Answer 9

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.