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Author Topic: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye  (Read 17960 times)

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mr.Curmudgeon

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2007, 11:46:19 am »
Why do people think that the adult film industry is going to decide the format war?  Things have changed since the days of VHS/Beta.  Didn't you hear that there's porn on the internet?

Ed_McCarron

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2007, 12:46:06 pm »
MrC has heard that theres porn on the internets, but he's too busy finding disgusting pics to look at.

Who has time for porn when theres so many disgusting things out there?
But wasn't it fun to think you won the lottery, just for a second there???

crashwg

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2007, 12:46:36 pm »
Didn't you hear that there's porn on the internet?

We're not talking about porn here...  We're talking about HI-DEF PORN!  8)
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2007, 01:09:19 pm »
Right!  See ass-pimples as you've never seen them before!

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2007, 02:54:15 pm »
Right!  See ass-pimples as you've never seen them before!

mmmmmmm...ass pimples.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2007, 11:38:28 pm »
The reason people think porn will make the format wars win is cause in the VHS vs Betamax porn was only available in cinemas and the average joe who wouldnt mind seeing porn but didn't wanna be in a dirty cinema had the chance to buy it and watch in the privacy of his own home.

Altho its not known for sure if porn was the main cause for VHS to win it was a deciding factor but nowadays u can get it free on the net so it wont have as much impact as it did back then

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2007, 02:44:15 am »
The reason people think porn will make the format wars win is cause in the VHS vs Betamax porn was only available in cinemas and the average joe who wouldnt mind seeing porn but didn't wanna be in a dirty cinema had the chance to buy it and watch in the privacy of his own home.

Then why did they make those porno boxes so big? Anyone remember those things? They were like 18"X12"x8".


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2007, 02:47:11 am »
Also -

I'm not ready for HD in any format. I'm fine with DVD's. I'm ready for one of the formats to go away and all future titles to be released on a disc that contains both HD and SD. I think thats the only way for one of these formats to gain hold. I might be in the minority here - but I don't see a real upgrade from SD to HD.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2007, 05:21:35 am »
Then why did they make those porno boxes so big? Anyone remember those things? They were like 18"X12"x8".
You forgot to add the obligatory "or so I've been told".  ;)
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2007, 08:07:09 am »
hd dvd is going to win, for the following reasons....

1.  The porn thing.  Even though it doesn't seem logical to most, consumers want porn on every single item they have.  If there was a microwave that played porno's it'd be the highest selling microwave in the history of microwaves.  If the consumer is given two similar choices, one that can play pron and one that can't, they'll take the porn everytime.  It doesn't even mean they'll watch porn on it, it's one of those "just in case" deals.  And while I don't think blue-ray is gonna be porn free, the trend in the adult industry seems to be to support hd dvd. 

2.  Backwards compatability.  It is my understanding that hd dvd players will be able to play standard dvds as well.  People are more than willing to re-buy Lord of the Rings in hi-def, but not so much Stuck on You.  The ability to have one box that'll play both is a huge deal.  If it weren't then I wouldn't be able to walk into any store and STILL buy a vhs/dvd combo unit. 

3.  Buy Now, Enjoy Later.  Right now you can buy what they are calling "combo discs" that contain a film in both dvd and hd dvd on teh same disc, for the same price.  People that lack the hd tv and/or hd player are going to be able to buy these now and when they upgrade they won't have to re-buy the films.  Afaik blueray does not offer these combo discs.

4.  Cost vs Specs benefit.  Blue Ray and hd dvd are virtually the same, same resolution, same feature set, ect.  Blue ray can hold 60 gigs of data, while the hddvd can only hold 50.  That really isn't a big deal when you consider that Serenity, the first hddvd film to be ripped is only 20 gigs.  That includes extras, outtakes, langauge tracks, ect.  It'll be a hell of a long time before we fill up a whole disc from a normal feature.  Now keeping all of this in mind, blue lasers (used for blue ray) are infinately more difficult  to build (and thus are more expensive) compared to hd dvd's red laser, which is merely an improvment upon the already established dvd laser.  On average the blue ray player or a blue ray burner will cost twice as much as an hd dvd one.  This isn't expected to change for a while either.

5.  The Sony Factor.  Did you know that Sony has introduced over a dozen media formats?  Did you know that out of those twelve only one wasn't a complete embarrassment sales wise?  Out of all their attempts the only format that sort of caught on was the mini disc, and then only in japan.  Sony is cursed to fail at any format they introduce.  They hoped to fix this inrecent years by cramming formats down our throats via their consoles (umd and blue ray respectively) but it didn't work on the psp and by all accounts it isn't working on the ps3, because, well, nobody is buying the thing.

6.  The Microsoft Factor.  No I'm not talking about the 360, that isn't going to determine anything... I'm talking about Vista.  Vista and Xp already support hd dvd drives fully, not so much with the blue ray.  So when Vista is released and the consumers start the next big computer buying spree to have the first model line "officially vista compatable" they are more likely to have a hddvd built in than a blueray drive.  This is more influential than you might think as pc games are commonly stored on the same disc format as movie players. M$ is hddvd all the way, meaning pc games are gonna start being released on hddvd, meaning if you want to play em, you need a hddvd drive. 



So IF one of these two formats will be adopted, and IF something else isn't added to their specs/support to change the balance of power, you can put your money on hd dvd. 

With that being said, I ain't buying nuttin till players get down to a reasonable price and we are sure all of our stuff isn't just going to be downloaded directly to the tv. 

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2007, 10:28:42 am »
so WTH did Debbie do in Dallas  :dizzy:
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2007, 11:27:57 am »
Everybody.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2007, 12:39:49 pm »
I know quality doesn't have much to do with it as the vhs/beta war showed, but a friend of mine has a stand alone hd-dvd player and a ps3 and the blue-ray movies look a fair amount better then the hd-dvd. 

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #15 on: January 21, 2007, 01:48:29 pm »
Lots of wrong info...

Sorry Howard, but you really need to stop talking as if you KNOW how this will end when you don't even know what you are talking about.

- It has already been announced that porn will be on BluRay,  I don't even agree with your (hopefully partially sarcastic) opinion, but there will be porn on BluRay.  So all you guys hoping for super hi def ass pimples can rejoice.  I mean... its porn.. its going to be everywhere.  Let's face it.

- BluRay players are backwards compatible with standard DVDs and are usually upconverting DVD players.  Just go to BestBuy.com or similar and you would have seen that.

- Sony formats - hahaha. wow, dude.  I know you love MS and you seem to hate Sony... but are you serious?!?  At the risk of sounding like a Sony fanboy for a moment... you do realize that for every UMD and BetaMax, there was a CD and 3.5" floppy right?  Sony helped create both of those..Did the COMPACT DISC fail?  They also created Video8 which was a pretty popular format.  And oh yeah, they had a hand in the initial DVD consortium as well.  I guess DVD was a failure too?  Yes they've had quite a few failures (yikes.. UMD) but you clearly don't know what you are talking about here.  It's fun to bash Sony cuz it loves proprietary stuff, but your "info" is so wrong its frightening.

- HD-DVDs are 15gig single layer and 30gig dual layer.  BluRay are 25gig single/50gig dual.  While I agree that you don't really need that much space yet, you're way off on your numbers.  And it has a very real chance of making a difference.  Your Serenity rip already won't fit on a single layer HD-DVD


I agree with your cost analysis, but only for now.  There are players in the works that will play both HD-DVD and BluRay in the same box, and given 12-18months, the cost differences will be minimal.  While BluRay is more expensive now, there has already been a lot of price movement on both sides.  You can get an HD-DVD player for $500 and a BluRay player for $800 already.  Still a major difference, but the gap is shrinking VERY fast.

Those combo discs are a good idea though, and I think its a good move.  I also think that HD-DVD has a leg up in name alone as HD-DVD portrays a much friendlier consumer image when compared to "BluRay"  I frankly don't care what format wins as I won't be purchasing either for years, just like you, until I see a clearer picture of the environment.  Maybe you should lay off how "sure" you are of what's going to happen though... or at least read a bit.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2007, 02:10:30 pm by pointdablame »
first off your and idiot

Man I love the internet, haha.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2007, 01:59:58 pm »
Also -

I'm not ready for HD in any format. I'm fine with DVD's. I'm ready for one of the formats to go away and all future titles to be released on a disc that contains both HD and SD. I think thats the only way for one of these formats to gain hold. I might be in the minority here - but I don't see a real upgrade from SD to HD.

You should get your eyes checked then.  The difference is there, and it's very noticable.  make sure you watch HD content on an HD set though, not on that 25" CRT....

 :dunno

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2007, 02:19:08 pm »
Yeah, I'm in the same boat as many of you. I'm in a wait-and-see on the format war.  I love HD when done right. Viewing a strong-signal OTA at 720p on a nice large screen properly calibrated is breathtaking  :notworthy:. After everything is sorted and things are all 1080p, this will be great.

The driving factor for me is not the off-line media, but that broadcast HD hasn't picked up enough for me to justify all the added expense. Most cable/sat providers barely offer more than 10 HD channels (not counting locals). Once E*, D*, and cable providers have more variety and dump HD-lite, that will  be my green light. 2007 should be an interesting year in the delivery, but it's all speculation at this point. We also have the whole HDCP thing going on, which makes interoperability questionable at best until they all sort it out. I think the inference that porn will decide the format is not exactly applicable anymore. As more and more people get high-speed Internet, porn will go more that delivery mechanism methinks.

For now, a 36" CRT will do fine. Watching SD, even when tweaked is just irritating on a HDTV.  :hissy:

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #18 on: January 21, 2007, 05:49:14 pm »
A 720p broadcast on a 720p native tv is awesome. I don't see how a 1080p can improve much on that, and if it does it cannot be that noticeable.

Saying that, I believe it is cbs that broadcasts in 1080i. This on a 720 native tv downconverted does not look as good.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #19 on: January 21, 2007, 06:25:14 pm »
The fact is almost every single format sony made themselfs (not took part in) failed in the mainsteam (altho beta was and is used still sometimes at tv stations)

Mini Disc UMB beta memory stick etc

Sure they help create some nice products but when they do it themselfs they don't have some level headed person saying that its a bad idea

i think thats what Howard was getting at their own formats almost always = dud to start off with.

Also there is already a porn title for blueray and alot of manufactures are looking into hybrid disk like when dvds first came out the doubble sided disks this time its blueray on one side hd dvd the other.

Also I think hd dvd will win caus eits easier for dumber people to notice they think hey its dvd but for my hd tv cool

The amount of times i got questions asked about what umd was when they saw the movies is a good indication on how most consumers who will buy this who aren't a big tech head will go with something they know and the hd dvd name is something they will know and get

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #20 on: January 21, 2007, 08:30:29 pm »
No argument about sony exclusive formats... they're mostly duds, at the start and in the long run.  You can't completely discount their efforts in consortiums though.  BluRay itself is not backed SOLELY by Sony, so its a moot point in this argument.  Just because Sony didn't create CD or DVD by themselves doesn't mean they didn't have an impact on the introduction of a dominant media format... that's pretty short sighted. 

UMD for instance is a Sony brainchild and a total dud.  BluRay is not, at least not yet.  You have a strong split in the industry between HDDVD and BluRay, so it's not a Sony vs. everyone situations like in other format wars.

I'm sure Howard did mean any Sony only formats in his post, but the fact is BluRay won't fail just because Sony is behind it... contrary to what he wants people to think.  There are other companies in the BluRay camp as well.
first off your and idiot

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #21 on: January 21, 2007, 08:39:15 pm »
Oh im not saying its gonna die just cause its sony who made it i think the fact that HD dvd's aren't really needed yet everyone is happy with dvds sure there are afew people but not many

and the fact is the name i believe this is one of the important aspects of it thats why i think hd dvd will win cause of the hardware/manufactering costs and the name all bundled into one.

Lets face it alot of geeks are sick of sony and its gonna hurt them look at the rootkits and the ps3 and they marketing god i feel sorry for the PR people at sony who have to fix the stupid comments coming out of some of the sony execs mouthes

But you are right its to early to tell

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #22 on: January 21, 2007, 08:48:34 pm »
After the PS3 was released, Blu-Ray movie sales surpassed HD-DVD movie sales by a larger margin.  5 out of 6 movie studios that release movies for home release are supporting Blu-Ray - more than on HD-DVD. 

As PDB said, Blu-Ray players also play normal DVDs.  I have a PS3 and I can say from first-hand experience that Blu-Ray movies on an HD monitor are awesome.

HD-DVD copyright security has already been cracked in at least one instance.  This may cause movie studios to more highly support Blu-Ray.

2 months ago, my gut feeling was that HD-DVD would win the format wars, but retail sales numbers don't support that.  I believe that if Sony would promote the ability of Blu-Ray discs as a back-up medium for computer data it would help.  A 4-layer Blu-Ray disc that contains 200 gigs of data has already been invented.  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to backup 200 gigs of data?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #23 on: January 21, 2007, 09:22:00 pm »
HD-DVD copyright security has already been cracked in at least one instance.  This may cause movie studios to more highly support Blu-Ray.

AACS is the copy protection used on both formats.  Break one, break them both... 
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #24 on: January 21, 2007, 09:28:57 pm »
How does the durability of the discs compare when it comes to hd-dvd/blu ray media. Does the blue laser technology have a +/- effect on disc durability? Just curious if anyone knows in here.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #25 on: January 21, 2007, 11:09:37 pm »
HD-DVD copyright security has already been cracked in at least one instance.  This may cause movie studios to more highly support Blu-Ray.

AACS is the copy protection used on both formats.  Break one, break them both... 

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/20/blu-ray-cracked-too
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #26 on: January 21, 2007, 11:31:53 pm »
Little OT  :soapbox:

Funny thing about the DRM applied by AACS is how the key revocation works. As soon as I read the paper on the encryption scheme, I knew this would be blown away in a few ways:
  • There are software players out there. The keys have to be somewhere unencrypted for the software player to get the data in and out. Find that location, find the title key.
  • Politically, if they start revoking title or player keys, they're going to end up with a lot of unhappy customers. Imagine one day that someone brings over a disc to a friends house, and it won't play because the title was revoked and it's a new player. Or you bought that nice new $600 player only to find after a few months none of the newer releases play in it because the player key was revoked. Class action written all over that.
  • The BD+ scheme won't even be put on discs for years... if at all. Sony: "We found AACS to be easily breakable, so we're going to use this one now..." Another scandal.

Good grief. DRM will eventually die on the vine. I'll be tap dancing when that day comes.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #27 on: January 22, 2007, 05:51:12 am »

Good grief. DRM will eventually die on the vine. I'll be tap dancing when that day comes.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #28 on: January 22, 2007, 11:23:27 am »
I'm in the middle on how I feel about the performance difference between DVD and Hi-def discs.  While there is a difference, and it is noticeable, it is important to remember that we're comparing DVD and hi-def content, not SD television broadcasts vs. hi-def content.  DVDs display a much higher resolution picture, with great color and little/no compression artifacting compared to TV broadcasts or VHS tapes.

While there is a jump in quality from DVD to HD-DVD or BluRay, it is nothing like the jump in quality we saw from VHS to DVD.  First, the difference in picture quality isn't as dramatic, but also, and perhaps more importantly, is that the DVD introduced other convenience-based improvements over its predacessors.  For the first time we had menus on our movies.  Rewinding and fast-forwarding was a thing of the past.  Slow motion and pause suddenly worked exactly as they should.  We had chapter selection screens and bonus content that didn't require watching the entire movie or fast-forwarding to the end to access.  The picture/sound quality did not age, degrading with use/time.  The media was MUCH smaller and less cumbersome.  Surround sound. 

The jump from DVD to HD-media offers only comparatively minor upgrades in video and sound quality.  We get a bump in resolution, but unlike VHS, DVD already looks quite great on a hi-def set.  And we get a bump in sound, maybe more (but certainly nothing like all) HD-DVD and BluRay discs will support 7.1 audio, but 7 channel doesn't sound THAT much better than 5.1, nothing like the difference between VHS's stereo and 5.1.

So, while I acknowledge a difference in quality between DVD and hi-def that is detectable to the non-videophile's naked eye, I still don't think any of the HD formats have a very strong sales-pitch.  They will supplant DVD eventually, but it will be extremely slow -- nothing like what DVD did.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #29 on: January 22, 2007, 11:58:40 am »

Personally, I don't care.  I'll buy upgraded equipment when my current equipment dies and the upgraded equipment is reasonably priced.  I won't upgrade anything intentionally before then.  I just got my first HDTV a couple of months ago and that was only because it was a 32" LCD for $540.  I am in no hurry to spend a grand to replace the SD Tivos and swap out my satellite dish, nor to replace my DVD players or televisions.  I suspect there are quite a few people in my place for each person that would run out and spend tons on new formats and equipment just because it's out there.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #30 on: January 22, 2007, 12:28:26 pm »
Frankly, I think that Chad's attitude basically mirrors that of about 95% of the population -- a general feeling of utter indifference regarding the successor to DVD.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #31 on: January 22, 2007, 12:30:50 pm »

There is a little bit of "here we go again - I'm not falling for that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- again" when it comes to possibly having to upgrade/repurchase things I already have now in different formats.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #32 on: January 22, 2007, 03:51:49 pm »
Responding to responses. 

#1.  Yes the blueray players can be combo drives, that is a given, but hddvd players don't need two lasers to play dvds as it is an expasion of the format.  In other words, when you buy a blueray combo drive, you pay not only for the expensive blue laser, but the traditional red one as well.  On top of that combo drives are expensive to begin with.  So I'll repeat what I said in more clearer terms.... stand alone hddvd players are backwards compatable, while blueray players are not. 

#2.  Sony did not make cd or dvd formats, nor did they "help" to make them.  I'm not talking about what they USED, I'm talking about what they MADE.  Any format that sony designs is doomed to failure.  I don't know why, maybe they are cursed, but they've never made a successful, universal format.  Yes schmokes as crazy as it sounds, the fact that sony made it could doom the format.  It has nothing to do with my dislike of sony though, they just tend to produce bad technology, or technology that isn't cost-effective ect....  At least when it comes to storage formats, they make great televisions. 

#3.  DRM is a non issue.. if anything the format with the weaker drm is going to be the most popular. 

#4.  pointdablame you just ranted off without reading anything I said.  I already stated that I expected porn to arrive on the blueray player, just to a lesser degree.  Some other points you misintrepreted too, but they aren't major enough to bring up.  And no I didn't come out acting like I know which one is going to win, I said right in my post that a curve ball could come around and change the tide, BUT as is it's all hddvd.

#5.  Storage capacity is a non issue at least when you are talking about dual/quad layer discs.  Yes I heard about the quad blue ray player too, I also heard it costs 2k atm.  Regardless hddvd can do multi-layer discs as well.... any format based on the compact disc can.  Theoretically hddvd can't go beyond around 60 gb, but dvd's weren't supposed to go over 4 gigs either so I'm not sure how accurate those numbers are.  Regardless, I'm not sure if blueray can get a leg in on the computer market, at least not yet because m$ is kinda stone walling them.  There seems to be some unknown reason that keeps m$ from certifiying buleray player drivers.  Again it's that m$ factor I talked about.  Nobody ever said they play fair.  ;)

#6.  Blueray is not out-selling hddvd, I'm not sure where you got that info.  If you got it from a sony fansite remember that they tend to skew things.  Remember there are currently more blueray titles than hddvd, so if you look at sheer sales blueray is probably going to be on top simply because there are so few films released in either format atm that an early adopter is going to snatch up as many discs for their player as they can.  Also you have to be careful to look at only US sales.  Japan will support any format sony spews out... at least initially.


#7.  I know this sounds insaine but how many movie companies support a format, at least this early on doesn't matter at all.  When vhs vs betamax was going on, initially betamax had more backers.  Once both players were widely available though, it became apparent that the consumer wanted vhs and they all quickly jumped ship.    I intentionally didn't mention studio support in my reply for that reason.

#8.  I had no doubt that the ps3 effected blueray disc sales because it is pretty much the only hi def player out there atm.  And certainly you aren't going to be playing any games on the thing as there is only one that is playable.  ;)  Now that ps3 sales are at a halt though, this will end up being a short lived boost, unless sony somehow turns around the ps3 and saves it.

#9.  I share everyone's indifference to a degree.  I even stated in my reply that there is a decent chance neither format wins because we get all of our content digitally.  However I need to point out that schmokes's point about dvd vs hd content makes absolutely no sense.  Dvd's are written at a resolution of 720x480, which IS sd broadcast quality.  If you have digital cable or satellite (and hopefully everyone does at this point) then the digital channels should look identical to your dvds.  Well that is assuming you aen't dumb enough to use the coaxial output on your cable box and use component or svid instead.  (Most coaxial signals are interlaced.)  I appreciate your enthuasim man, but you really need to understand the formats if you are going to make a valid argument.  I see your point, but it should be noted that if you have a hi def set and cable.... even if you aren't getting hd channels you are seeing things at 480p.  Don't get confused... 480p is 720x480(ntsc non interlaced)... 720p is 1280x720  and the hi def formats are at 1080p, which is 1920 x 1080, which is a buttload beyond the puny 480p.  Yes if your tv is less than 30 inches then you won't see a difference, but you sure will on a larger set.  Heck on a lcd tv a standard def signal, even a dvd is pretty much unwatchable without some upconversion.  With upconversion though, a dvd is prefectly presentable and crisp, it just lacks detail.  I threw some 720p imax films on my modded xbox the other day (it can't handle 1080) and it blew me away.  I can only imagine how good true hd would look. 

So wrapping things up, except for the things I corrected good points all around.  And I agree most likely neither will be adopted. Myself I'm in no hurry, that is not until I'm offered more films than the latest box-office flop, 20 year old films that couldn't possibly have good enough special effects to merit such a hi transfer and "gems" that were born for hddvd like Rick Bobby.  All I was saying is IF there is to be a winner it'll be hddvd.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #33 on: January 22, 2007, 03:56:23 pm »
Heck on a lcd tv a standard def signal, even a dvd is pretty much unwatchable without some upconversion. 

We watch standard def stuff on our LCD all the time and it doesn't bother us in the least.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #34 on: January 22, 2007, 04:00:33 pm »
Heck on a lcd tv a standard def signal, even a dvd is pretty much unwatchable without some upconversion. 

We watch standard def stuff on our LCD all the time and it doesn't bother us in the least.

So does my grandma, but she's 71.   ;D

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #35 on: January 22, 2007, 04:02:26 pm »

If you even have a point, you're failing to make it.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #36 on: January 22, 2007, 04:10:41 pm »
My point was you are satisfied with a lower resolution because you are old and your eyesight is poor.  I didn't want to insult you though.   :angel:

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #37 on: January 22, 2007, 04:14:48 pm »

Still failing.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #38 on: January 22, 2007, 04:22:14 pm »

Still failing.

Perhaps when you realize that grandma bit was a subtle joke you'll quit being all snippy and maybe snicker a little.  Sheese man am I going to have to start putting sarcasam in brackets again?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #39 on: January 22, 2007, 04:25:43 pm »

Maybe.  People aren't buying it without them.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #40 on: January 22, 2007, 05:07:46 pm »
Also -

I'm not ready for HD in any format. I'm fine with DVD's. I'm ready for one of the formats to go away and all future titles to be released on a disc that contains both HD and SD. I think thats the only way for one of these formats to gain hold. I might be in the minority here - but I don't see a real upgrade from SD to HD.

You should get your eyes checked then.  The difference is there, and it's very noticable.  make sure you watch HD content on an HD set though, not on that 25" CRT....

 :dunno

Obviously the difference isn't that noticeable. I just said I didn't notice it. If you have to convince me it's there - it's not. I do have my eyes examined - and I need glasses. Even with them on, I don't see all the hype. If the picture is sharper - it isn't THAT much sharper. Not enough to justify the expense of replacing my catalog and equipment.

Going from tape to digital makes sense. Lots of advantages. Going from digital to better digital just doesn't do it for me. If you see the difference as worth it, good for you, but it doesn't mean everyone else does.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #41 on: January 22, 2007, 06:05:15 pm »
Responding to responses. 

#1.  Yes the blueray players can be combo drives, that is a given, but hddvd players don't need two lasers to play dvds as it is an expasion of the format.  In other words, when you buy a blueray combo drive, you pay not only for the expensive blue laser, but the traditional red one as well.  On top of that combo drives are expensive to begin with.  So I'll repeat what I said in more clearer terms.... stand alone hddvd players are backwards compatable, while blueray players are not. 

Just a note.  HD-DVD uses a 405 nanometer blue laser. HD-DVD uses a similar blue laser like BluRay, despite it's name.  That was the crux of my statement, and the reason you are wrong.  Prices are falling though anyway, so it's not really a huge deal.

#2.  Sony did not make cd or dvd formats, nor did they "help" to make them.  I'm not talking about what they USED, I'm talking about what they MADE.  Any format that sony designs is doomed to failure.  I don't know why, maybe they are cursed, but they've never made a successful, universal format.  Yes schmokes as crazy as it sounds, the fact that sony made it could doom the format.  It has nothing to do with my dislike of sony though, they just tend to produce bad technology, or technology that isn't cost-effective ect....  At least when it comes to storage formats, they make great televisions. 

I guess you can play semantics about "made" and standardized or what have you.. but the fact is that Sony and Philips standardized the Compact Disc format.  Go read up on it.  It's not like I'm just pulling it from thin air.  They were also in the DVD consortium, which is a far different situation from creating the format, but they still had a critical role in the adoption and creation of the format as we know it.

But yeah, they really are pretty horrible at going it alone when it comes to media formats.


#4. ...And no I didn't come out acting like I know which one is going to win, I said right in my post that a curve ball could come around and change the tide, BUT as is it's all hddvd.

This just lead me to believe you had some insight to it no one else did....

hd dvd is going to win, for the following reasons....


All I was saying is IF there is to be a winner it'll be hddvd.

Seems like a bit of clairvoyance to me. :dunno

Some good points though, and I agree with all about the indifference.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2007, 06:07:08 pm by pointdablame »
first off your and idiot

Man I love the internet, haha.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #42 on: January 22, 2007, 07:24:49 pm »
Total Hi-Def discs.... Nuff Said.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #43 on: January 22, 2007, 09:49:21 pm »
I can't believe this but I'm on the same opinion of HD as Chad.

Couldn't really care less until the stuff gets way cheaper and bug have been hammered out of it. As far as DVDs were concerned, I got my first player 18 months ago. Sure it wasn't the cheapest (one of the first with DVI outputs) but the quality of the DVI output was worth it.

I'm gonna wait to see who the last man (disc ) standing in this one before going ahead with any purchase.

And I can't give a crap about HD broadcasts myself. Not because I'm blind, but because I have about 100 channels on Cable TV in SD with good content as opposed to commercial HD-TV with 5 channels of bull-crap.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #44 on: January 22, 2007, 10:36:22 pm »
I guess I fall into the early adopter camp, but I still haven't bought a hi-def player for myself yet. I'm waiting to find out which format will win. If a clear winner is decided (or at least it becomes apparent that there won't be a winner) then I won't feel bad about dropping $500 for a quality player. I use Netflix anyways, so the cost of discs doesn't bother me. Chances are, though, that I would just buy a PS3 and go BluRay if it comes out as a tie.

I've got an HDTV and a DirecTV HD Tivo. There's no turning back for me. Anything in SD just looks blurry to me now. I just ought a new Onkyo A/V receiver with dual HDMI input and analog-to-digital upconversion with HDMI output so I'm really jumping in head first. I say "bring on the HD"!


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #45 on: January 23, 2007, 03:00:11 am »
With every new technology, there will be early adopters and those that follow behind.  With the new HD disc formats, I'm NOT an early adopter, but I am interested in the battle as it is, and in due time will accept whatever the new standard is.

I don't see broadband at this time as a real competitor to true full bandwidth 1080p HD distribution of movies on physical media.  Until we all have fibre to the house, its just not a feasible solution.  Even downloading full resolution DVD's isn't real-time. 

As far as the quality difference, sure that's subjective.  If you don't see any advantage, then that's fine for you.  I have a 720p native projector and several other HD compatible displays (3 plasmas and pair of LCD tv's).  A well mastered DVD looks good on these sets, but there is a distinct difference between a true HD source and a well mastered dvd.  I have a very nice dvd player (panasonic RP-82), have experimented with several upconverting dvd players, and use a HTPC for most movie playback.  I use ffdshow for processing and upconversion on my HTPC and output pixel perfect resolutions for my projector. 

I've done blind A-B tests with DVD vs HD content (same programming) and the HD content always wins by a landslide.

I frankly don't care which tech wins.  I personally find blu-ray technically superior, but would prefer sony to lose mostly due to the fact that they shut down lik-sang.  Long live HD-DVD!!!!! ;D

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #46 on: January 23, 2007, 06:57:08 am »
I will not trust your judgment until you've conducted some double-blind tests.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #47 on: January 23, 2007, 09:05:07 am »
How does one conduct a blind test of video quality anyways?
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #48 on: January 23, 2007, 09:18:57 am »
I can't believe this but I'm on the same opinion of <anything> as Chad.

I hear that a lot, like I'm a child molestor or Rush Limbaugh.


Quote
And I can't give a crap about HD broadcasts myself. Not because I'm blind, but because I have about 100 channels on Cable TV in SD with good content as opposed to commercial HD-TV with 5 channels of bull-crap.

Other than the NFL and 24, nothing I watch is broadcast in HD, and even then it's only some of the NFL available in HD (most of Sunday Ticket is not).  And I'm not willing to pay the heavy price of upgrading dish, receivers, Tivos, and televisions to get a bit more resolution. 

Quote from: AlanS17
Chances are, though, that I would just buy a PS3 and go BluRay if it comes out as a tie.

Gotta be careful there.  A LOT of people wore out their PS2s early using it as a movie player because of the crappy laser they put in there.  The PS3 may not be built well enough to stand up to long term game and movie use.  Hell, early reports are that it's not good enough to stand up to either long term.  Just like its predecessor.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2007, 09:23:48 am by ChadTower »

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #49 on: January 23, 2007, 09:33:41 am »
I resent that quote mangle.   :hissy:


Wait.... blue and white background.... hmmm..... did Stingray redecorate?
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #50 on: January 23, 2007, 09:36:18 am »
I resent that quote mangle.   :hissy:

What quote mangle?  I made it more generic, I didn't mangle anything.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #51 on: January 23, 2007, 01:45:01 pm »
I will not trust your judgment until you've conducted some double-blind tests.
:dunno
How does one conduct a blind test of video quality anyways?

with 2 identical htpc's I simultaneous played the WMV HD and standard DVD version of T2: Extreme Edition.  Both HTPC used the same software player and interface, both output pixel-perfect 720p (calibrated to my projector) and the standard DVD one was setup with my standard ffdshow upconverting settings.  I had my wife set the initial source (while I was out of the room) and then switch sources for comparison.

Not a pure scientific approach, but I was unaware of what source was what and had to rely on my perception of the picture.

 :dunno

I'm not trying to convince you to by an HD set and get HD programming, that's your call.  I enjoy HD programming and what little network programming I DO watch, there is only one show that I watch on a somewhat regular basis that's not in HD -> scrubs.  Pretty much all primetime stuff is in HD, the NFL that I watch is also HD (all the locals this year were in HD).  NFL in HD however is absolutely spectacular.  I have a hard time watching it in SD now.

In my area, to update from std cable to HD cable is only an increase of $5.95 a month, but unlike any of the dish providers you don't have to buy equpment.  I can totally understand being invested in hardware and not wanting to have to toss all of that and upgrade, that's a ---smurfette---.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #52 on: January 23, 2007, 01:49:57 pm »
I can totally understand being invested in hardware and not wanting to have to toss all of that and upgrade, that's a ---smurf---.

Yep, if the HD DirecTV DVR weren't so damned expensive, and if they actually HAD Tivo (which I like), then I'd consider it. 

But I consider Tivo > HD content. 

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #53 on: January 23, 2007, 03:09:27 pm »

Yep, if the HD DirecTV DVR weren't so damned expensive, and if they actually HAD Tivo (which I like), then I'd consider it. 

But I consider Tivo > HD content. 
Heh, I'm the same exact situation.  I have a directv tivo and one of the newer directv dvr's (not tivo brand) and the tivo is so much nicer.  If tivo actually came out with an HD directv box, then I would definately upgrade.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #54 on: January 23, 2007, 04:57:04 pm »
I'm actually really looking forward to the new HD Tivo cable boxes (comcast) but I'm not holding my breath yet.....


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #55 on: January 23, 2007, 11:00:36 pm »

Yep, if the HD DirecTV DVR weren't so damned expensive, and if they actually HAD Tivo (which I like), then I'd consider it. 

But I consider Tivo > HD content. 
Heh, I'm the same exact situation.  I have a directv tivo and one of the newer directv dvr's (not tivo brand) and the tivo is so much nicer.  If tivo actually came out with an HD directv box, then I would definately upgrade.

I have an HD DirecTV Tivo box. It's genuine HD Tivo in a DirecTV box. I paid $400 or so back over a year ago for it. They retired it in favor of the new generic DVR. That box is the main reason I still even use DirecTV. Way better price than the new $800 standalone HD Tivo plus it has a built-in DirecTV receiver. Very hard to beat.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #56 on: January 24, 2007, 01:34:33 am »

Yep, if the HD DirecTV DVR weren't so damned expensive, and if they actually HAD Tivo (which I like), then I'd consider it. 

But I consider Tivo > HD content. 
Heh, I'm the same exact situation.  I have a directv tivo and one of the newer directv dvr's (not tivo brand) and the tivo is so much nicer.  If tivo actually came out with an HD directv box, then I would definately upgrade.

I have an HD DirecTV Tivo box. It's genuine HD Tivo in a DirecTV box. I paid $400 or so back over a year ago for it. They retired it in favor of the new generic DVR. That box is the main reason I still even use DirecTV. Way better price than the new $800 standalone HD Tivo plus it has a built-in DirecTV receiver. Very hard to beat.
Hmm, I may have to start searching ebay for that.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #57 on: January 24, 2007, 07:44:54 am »
From the front, it pretty much looks exactly like the SD DirecTV Tivo. PM me if you're interested in the model number. I'll look it up for you if you want me to.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #58 on: January 24, 2007, 10:02:01 am »

The problem with that is that there is no clear info on how long DirecTV will continue to offer Tivo.  Some reports say indefinitely, others say a year.  Others say they will not activate any more Tivo boxes, period, and still more say that it's all fine get one and go.

$400 is too much for me to upgrade to HD Tivo anyway, so for me, still waiting.  I'd have to do my Tivo customizations all over again and sacrifice having hundreds of hours of capacity... bleh.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #59 on: January 24, 2007, 10:21:15 am »
The issue with older DirecTV HD Tivo's is that they'll stop working at some point. In fact, all HD receivers that are more than  a year old will stop working. The reason: MPEG-4 transmition. At some point this year or early next, they'll start the transition of everything to MPEG-4, which none of the older boxes support.

Now, they may give more time in the conversion (e.g. do both) to those users as they ramp up their new sats, or they may have some sort of trade in program. But, anything not current is going to be a doorstop (at least for HD content). Don't sink money into a $400 Series 2 HD Tivo, when another couple hundred will future proof you by getting the Series 3.

Both IMO are way to expensive, but that's a whole other story.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #60 on: January 24, 2007, 10:32:17 am »

Okay, make me understand that.  Everything you just described is done in software.  Is it not possible that they will send updates to at least some of those models?  I have no idea what the actual plans are but I can't see how saying "anything not current will be a doorstop" is useful.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #61 on: January 24, 2007, 01:26:29 pm »
Okay, make me understand that.  Everything you just described is done in software.  Is it not possible that they will send updates to at least some of those models?

Certainly. :)

Everything in the Tivo is done in hardware, not software. A majority of ebedded equipment uses specialized chips and circuitry to do what software does in a more common PC. But, even a PC needs specialized hardware to perform certain functions. Let me give a few examples:

  • The original DirecTivo could simultaneously record two MPEG2 streams while displaying a third recorded stream on the TV. It has a IBM PPC CPU running at 60Mhz. You're not going to get that level of performance with the main CPU horsepower alone. You need specialized chips for encoding, decoding, and storage I/O functions.
  • You could put the latest core2duo processor in a PC. But if you put some dink 8MB PCI video card in it, those latest FPS aren't going to run to well. Again, the graphics cards have specialized hardware to perform the tasks a normal CPU just can't do well in software.

You can't exactly just flash those specialized chips and reprogram them for another purpose. Granted, the technology exists to have chips with this kind of flashing, but they're far and away more expensive than a vendor would use in a commodity piece of hardware such as a DVR.

Make sense?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #62 on: January 24, 2007, 01:42:21 pm »

I wasn't aware of how much hardware decoding/encoding the DirecTivos were doing, but now that I think about it, the CPU/RAM specs are pretty damn low.  Makes sense.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #63 on: January 24, 2007, 02:52:01 pm »
Well then I just hope I get a good upgrade discount when that day comes. I've already paid a lot for this DirecTivo box and don't plan on getting another any time soon.

The new Series 3 standalone HD Tivos are a whopping $800 if that's any indication of what the next generation of DVR's is going to cost. Forget that! They even increased the monthly charge and cancelled the whole lifetime subscription program.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #64 on: January 24, 2007, 03:00:54 pm »
They even increased the monthly charge and cancelled the whole lifetime subscription program.


They did that a long time ago, though.  The lifetime sub was too easy to fake.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #65 on: January 24, 2007, 03:54:50 pm »
They even increased the monthly charge and cancelled the whole lifetime subscription program.


They did that a long time ago, though.  The lifetime sub was too easy to fake.
You can still find older Tivo boxes on Ebay with lifetime subscriptions that are supposedly transferable.

In about 6 months I'll be getting my own place. I'll have to decide at that time what I'll do. If they dont' offer satellite service (and some apartments don't), I choke at the thought of buying a Series 3 Tivo with cablecard.

*shrug*

Back on topic, though... I won't need expensive HD movie packages (regardless of cable or satellite) because I'll likely get a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player and Netflix. Heck, that along with over-the-air HD might be good enough for me.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #66 on: January 24, 2007, 03:57:31 pm »
You can still find older Tivo boxes on Ebay with lifetime subscriptions that are supposedly transferable.

That's because they still exist and have lifetime subscriptions.  They stopped selling new lifetime subs a long time ago but obviously they still have to honor the remaining subs of those lifetime boxes that still function.  The lifetime sub was for the life of the unit, not the user.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #67 on: January 24, 2007, 09:26:54 pm »
You can still find older Tivo boxes on Ebay with lifetime subscriptions that are supposedly transferable.

That's because they still exist and have lifetime subscriptions.  They stopped selling new lifetime subs a long time ago but obviously they still have to honor the remaining subs of those lifetime boxes that still function.  The lifetime sub was for the life of the unit, not the user.

Not everyone is out to argue with you, CT. Quit trying to start arguments that just aren't there. It wasn't a statement of contention. It was a statement of fact. One of those, "all is not lost" sort of things. I'm quite aware they're not sold anymore. Did you even read my post where I originally addressed the issue of lifetime subscriptions by specifically mentioning the fact that they now longer offer that deal

I'm fully aware of the whole Tivo situation. I don't need someone talking down to me. No wonder people lose their patience with you. Even your conversational tone appears to be contentious.

And by the way... for a fee, those lifetime subscriptions are certainly transferable to new units. Of course, the window on that deal is about to close forever.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #68 on: January 24, 2007, 09:59:32 pm »
I will not trust your judgment until you've conducted some double-blind tests.
:dunno



Sorry.  That was totally tongue in cheek.   I guess I didn't pull it off.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #69 on: January 30, 2007, 02:36:42 pm »
Ok, HD is on the way.  Like it or not.  Everyone is comparing this to the VHS-Betamax war.  Well, Sony was a young company back then.  I think everyone would agree Sony is a major player in the market now.  Last year, Universal was really backing HD-DVD.  The format war was heating up...with no clear winner.  This year Universal seems to have done a 180.  Annoucing nothing as far as HD-DVD goes.  The blu-ray movie releases just about doubled the HD-DVD releases at the last CES.  The only companies that seem to back HD-DVD now are Microsoft and Toshiba.  Microsoft is a major player, no doubt, but look what they did with the 360.  Released an aftermarket player just for movies.  They plan on releasing no games for it.  Not to sound like a Sony Fanboy, but at least they're utilizing their format.  Add-on's to consoles have never panned out.  And Howard, your comment on the blu-ray having to use two lasers and is therefore, not truly backward compatible, makes me laugh.  You know what else has two lasers?  All CD/DVD burners on the market.  One for CD's, one for DVD's.  This is nothing new people.  Blu-ray players are more expensive, I'll give you that.   
But DVD players were a thousand bucks when they first come out.  Time will tell, as with all things, but don't count Sony out yet.  Okay, somebody, debate me......

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #70 on: January 30, 2007, 03:02:57 pm »

Sony has been around since the 1950s.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #71 on: January 31, 2007, 09:07:16 pm »

#2.  Sony did not make cd or dvd formats, nor did they "help" to make them.  I'm not talking about what they USED, I'm talking about what they MADE.  Any format that sony designs is doomed to failure.  I don't know why, maybe they are cursed, but they've never made a successful, universal format.  Yes schmokes as crazy as it sounds, the fact that sony made it could doom the format.  It has nothing to do with my dislike of sony though, they just tend to produce bad technology, or technology that isn't cost-effective ect....  At least when it comes to storage formats, they make great televisions. 
Not a sony fanboy but I gotta say this. If you think sony formats are such a failure why are 99.9% of all shows on broadcast television are being played back from a SONY CREATED FORMAT!! Sony created the Betacam SP VTR and tape stock. Then they moved on to Digital betacam VTR's and tape stock. Then they moved onto HDcam 60i/720p/1080i/1080p. Their next machine is the HDcam SR which covers all the HD standards plus more robust up and down conversions. Bad technology???????? Why does every postproduction company/edit house/broadcaster use sony Trinitron monitors for display and color timing?? Like watching the super bowl in HI DEF?? Well you can thank sony for that as CBS will be using only sony high def cameras. It's starting to smell like poo here Howard please stop talking outta your ass.
Curls in the squat rack !?!?!

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #72 on: January 31, 2007, 09:57:51 pm »

Sony has been around since the 1950s.

Thank you Chad, you are absolutely right.  Those of you that have trouble sleeping will appreciate this link, the history of Sony:

http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/index.html

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #73 on: February 01, 2007, 10:39:51 am »
This from The Digital Bits yesterday.


"The first official retail tracking data from Nielsen VideoScan seems to show Blu-ray Disc outselling HD-DVD in unit software sales by a more than 2 to 1 margin, and the gap is widening. According to data reported in Home Media Retailing (you'll find it on page one of the digital edition available on their website) for the week ending 1/7/07, Year-to-Date tracking indicated that for every 47.14 HD-DVDs sold there were 100 Blu-ray Disc titles sold. Just a week later, ending 1/14/07, the same YTD tracking indicated just 38.36 HD-DVDs sold for every 100 Blu-ray Discs sold. What's more, tracking by Nielsen VideoScan since the inception of both formats appears to indicate that Blu-ray Disc is quickly erasing the sales lead HD-DVD enjoyed as a result of launching months earlier in 2006. On 1/7, HD-DVD's lead was 100 discs for every 85.05 Blu-ray Discs sold, while just a week later on 1/14, that lead had been reduced to 100 HD-DVDs for every 92.40 Blu-ray Discs sold.

Specific unit volume numbers are not available, but one would guess they're still fairly low. No doubt much of the sales surge has to do with the arrival of Sony's PS3 game system in November. We'll have to watch closely over the next few months to see if these trends are affected by specific new software/title releases on both formats from week to week. Still, this data seems to bear out claims made by the BDA at CES, to the effect that their format was outselling HD-DVD as of December 2006 and that the margin could grow to as much as 3 to 1 in early 2007. It'll be interesting to see how continuing sales of the PS3 (and new dedicated players for both formats) impact these numbers as well."

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #74 on: February 01, 2007, 12:47:26 pm »

Intuition tells me that more attention should be paid to hardware than software.  One guy buying 45 discs is far less significant than 5 guys buying two players each.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #75 on: February 01, 2007, 01:37:33 pm »

Intuition tells me that more attention should be paid to hardware than software.  One guy buying 45 discs is far less significant than 5 guys buying two players each.

I agree with you on principle, but unit sales of titles will always be the gold standard.  Studios only care about unit sales on the titles, and will be unwilling to back either horse fully (if they are on the fence) based solely on player sales, if their titles aren't selling.  I wonder if those sales figures include sales to rental outlets and/or are normalized for number of titles available per technology or not, or are raw numbers.

Just as print media makes its money by advertising, but guages success by readership, digital video technology will rely on player sales, but will guage success by title sales.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #76 on: February 01, 2007, 01:41:57 pm »
I agree with you on principle, but unit sales of titles will always be the gold standard.  Studios only care about unit sales on the titles, and will be unwilling to back either horse fully (if they are on the fence) based solely on player sales, if their titles aren't selling.  I wonder if those sales figures include sales to rental outlets and/or are normalized for number of titles available per technology or not, or are raw numbers.


We're not discussing success of the studios, we're discussing success of the format.  All any individual publisher is ever going to worry about is their own title sales and that has a lot more to do with what the titles are than what format they are released in.  The success of any format is heavily dependent on how many people actually have the necessary hardware.  Maybe in the moment the VHS/Beta companies were judging by titles but it wasn't long before they were using player sales instead.  Installed user base is everything!   :)

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #77 on: February 01, 2007, 02:08:23 pm »
I think boykster is probably hinting at a complimentary relationship, though, between the success of the studios and the success of the hardware.  If studios find that their titles sell better on BluRay, they have more incentive to make more titles available for that format.  The more this happens, the more the BluRay section at BestBuy begins to dominate the HD-DVD section.  If I'm just an average, know-nothing consumer, looking for a next-gen media player and I see that there are twice as many titles available for BluRay as HD-DVD I'm going to say to myself, "Hmm . . . that's a pretty big selling point.  It looks like it's much more likely that any given title I want will be available on the BluRay format, so I think that's the technology I'm going to go with."  This, in turn, gives studios even more incentive to release movies on the BluRay format, because the install base of BluRay players is increasing, which, in turn, gives consumers even more reason to choose BluRay, which in turn, etc., etc.

It's very similar, principle, to the console videogame market.  Playstation and Playstation 2 blew their competition out of the water.  In both cases their competitors had superior hardware.  But the third party publishers (the equivalent of movie studios) gave more support to Sony's systems, creating more software.  The larger library of software encouraged consumers to buy that system, which encouraged even more third-party support, which encouraged even more purchases, etc.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #78 on: February 01, 2007, 02:14:40 pm »

Right, but in most cases, I figure they'll make any given title available for both formats.  It's not a like a game you have to port for a different console... you just encode the movie for that format, send it to be pressed on that disc, and blam you're good for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.  Only the companies with a specific vested interest in one over the other will try and go with a single format release (and it will hurt them every time).

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #79 on: February 01, 2007, 02:57:11 pm »
Yeah, I don't know.  I don't know enough to speak with confidence, but my gut tells me that with a lot of movies the studios would only release them on the dominant platform, because when you press a disc I guess you'd want to do it in huge runs so that you would have enough to last you a long time (or forever) so you would not need to spend money retooling the machines to repress that disc in case you run out.  So if you release discs that are unlikely to sell you end up spending money you didn't need to spend, as well as having the ongoing cost of storing the unsold inventory.

I don't know.  Maybe the costs of tooling up for a run of discs is minimal and irrelevant.  But, at the very least, there must be some reason that there are quite a few studios (besides Sony) that have chosen sides.  If nothing else, maybe it's simply that having two formats is expensive for the studios so they want one format to win as soon as possible.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #80 on: February 01, 2007, 03:08:14 pm »
I don't know.  Maybe the costs of tooling up for a run of discs is minimal and irrelevant. 

I think that's the case.  DVDs are so freakin profitable that most major releases make back very quickly.  That is the only way it could be profitable for them to press everything under the sun onto DVD.  I mean why the hell else would they produce stuff like this?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #81 on: February 01, 2007, 03:19:26 pm »
How does Rob Schneider continue to be put in films?  He's so awful.  What's with the Saturday Night Live cast who always put him in their films, when they know that he's awful?  We're talking about people who know funny, and Rob Schneider is not.  Do they just feel bad for him because they worked together and then all went out and started making good movies and the best he can do is Deuce Bigalowe?
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #82 on: February 01, 2007, 03:25:47 pm »

Hey, Deuce Bigalow is one of my all time favorite movies.  The second one was a crappy script but the first one is pure gold.  I think it's more a case of dude doing any script that gets thrown at him.  He's usually good but often the script and the cast around him suck diddly ucks.  I saw The Benchwarmers the other day... terrible concept and the only people entertaining were Schneider and David Spade.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #83 on: February 06, 2007, 01:05:26 am »
I wonder if the rising prices of optical media are going to increase rental fees - both traditional (Blockbuster) and monthly (Netflix). I guess that remains to be seen. At this point in time, it becomes even more interesting to have a rental subscription over actually purchasing movies. That goes for either hi-def format.

Back on topic, though. Blu-Ray appears to be doing quite well. I haven't seen even a hint of any of the problems that people have been claiming with the format. I hope Blu-Ray wins so I'l have an excuse to buy a PS3.

The PS3 is actually a great Blu-Ray player, and it's priced down around where the HD-DVD players are priced... and now even some of the fancier HD-DVD players are up in the $1000 range. It's like they're switching places.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #84 on: February 06, 2007, 01:43:13 am »
I've noticed another thing that might be a detriment to HD-DVD as a format. Everywhere I look, I see these "HD DVD" players, but what they really mean is they're just upconverting standard DVD players that ouput in 720p or 1080i. That right there can cause a lot of confusion. It's just a plain old-fashioned DVD disc. Even retailers seem to get the two confused sometimes.

When people say "Blu-Ray" you know exactly what they mean. You don't have to ask yourself, "Ok now which one is this?"

People said Blu-Ray would have trouble with name recognition, but it sure beats the HD-DVD name confusion. Learning a new name isn't hard, anyways. People had to learn DVD back in the day when they were used to VHS, but it seemed to take off just fine. Now it's the standard.

I've heard stories of Microsoft not signing drivers for Blu-Ray optical drives, but that's going to make more enemies than friends if Blu-Ray does succeed. Eventually they'll just have to conceed. In the meantime, Blu-Ray has Apple support (as minor as that may seem).

Besides, MS has been getting chewed out lately for all their new DRM - not something you want associated with your brand spanking new optical format. Of Blu-Ray has similar copy protection, but it doesn't make the headlines like MS does.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #85 on: February 06, 2007, 02:54:23 am »
I don't think HD-DVD is Microsoft's optical format.  I think they're just supporting it because they want Sony to fail, but the didn't make HD-DVD.  Are they even on the HD-DVD consortium?  At any rate, I'm pretty sure that Microsoft didn't even have a hand in the development of HD-DVD, and they don't stand to gain anything by its winning the war except that would be bad for Sony.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #86 on: February 06, 2007, 08:51:57 am »

What is bad for Sony and their Blu-Ray player (PS3) is good for M$ and the 360.  That's probably why they are going that way.

I don't trust the PS3 as a full time movie machine on top of gaming.  They said the same thing about the PS2 and the lasers/motors/drives weren't up to it at all.  Hell, they even had issues where many of their units wouldn't read certain games if the console had any substantial game hours on it.  Why would, especially given the weak initial reports on PS3 hardware, any reasonable person believe the PS3 would do better than the PS2 did in that regard?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #87 on: February 15, 2007, 09:26:07 am »
Here's a link to a recent posting by Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits which seems to contradict the predictions of Blu-Rays demise.

The post also contains a link to this Newsweek article which, in a nutshell, explains that due to a deep slump in current software sales, the porn industry may very well bypass the hi-def disc formats all together and concentrate on delivering the content straight to the viewer sans physical media, thus removing themselves from the equation.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #88 on: February 15, 2007, 09:39:24 am »

They already do that.  They're called strippers and callgirls.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #89 on: February 15, 2007, 10:33:13 am »
I'm confused...i've yet to come across a HD-DVD player that wasn't a HD-DVD player?   All upconverting players i've seen in my area say "DVD PLAYER" and then list the fact they UPCONVERT to 720p/1080i.   Maybe it's just my part of the country or something?!?
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #90 on: February 15, 2007, 11:07:01 am »
I'm confused...i've yet to come across a HD-DVD player that wasn't a HD-DVD player?   All upconverting players i've seen in my area say "DVD PLAYER" and then list the fact they UPCONVERT to 720p/1080i.   Maybe it's just my part of the country or something?!?


While I'm not exactly sure what you're confused about, I do know what Alan was getting at and I'll see if I can explain it a little better...

Some DVD (not HD-DVD) players that are coming out recently are describing themselves as "HD DVD" sans the - so they don't confuse people  ::)  These DVD players will upconvert to hi-def signals, some doing it pretty well but they won't play HD-DVD media.

While on the subject, the XBOX (1) does a pretty good job of upconverting to 720p with XBMC on a chipped box...  Even over component cables which is not allowed on commercial products per the DVD consortium due to component being an unprotected analog signal.
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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #91 on: February 15, 2007, 11:10:00 am »

I'll second that, it does a really good job for 720p, especially on harder to work with compressed formats like DivX.  It will choke somewhat often trying to go to 1080i, and some formats won't even play at 1080i.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #92 on: February 15, 2007, 01:00:36 pm »
Most new HDTV's are native 720p, anyways. I think 1080i was a more common native format when HDTV's started coming out, but not so much anymore. I know mine is 720p, and I like it that way.


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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #93 on: February 15, 2007, 01:18:57 pm »

What exactly is "native" for a TV?  Do you mean the default?  That all depends on the source, yes?

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #94 on: February 15, 2007, 02:50:42 pm »

What exactly is "native" for a TV?  Do you mean the default?  That all depends on the source, yes?

Nearly all digital displays are what are known as "fixed" pixel displays.  ie, they have a fixed resolution.  My new HD plasma has a resolution of 1024x768 and every signal that is sent to the display is scaled to this resolution.  Generally the closer you are to the native resolution, the "better" the picture will appear because less additional scaling will occur.  If you have a "pixel perfect" setup (as I do in my theater) then your source device is outputting exactly the same resolution as your display device AND each pixel is properly mapped 1:1.

Unlike CRT displays, fixed pixel displays don't reduce or increase their resolution based on the input signal, they scale the input signal to match their display resolution.

Most HD sets these days have a vertical resolution near 720, hence they are considered "720p native" even though that technically is a misnomer, as many aren't "true" 720p displays.

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #95 on: February 15, 2007, 02:53:15 pm »
I didn't know that.  Now I need to look up what the "native" resolution of my TV is.

EDIT:  It is 1366 x 768.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2007, 02:55:38 pm by ChadTower »

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #96 on: February 15, 2007, 02:59:10 pm »
So basically, the "best" picture you will get is with material near 720p.  If you were really eager (and if your xbox supports it) you're best result with XMBC would be to set your xbox to output 1366 x 768.  BUT, if you're already happy with the video quality you're seeing, you might not want to mess with it.

Tweaking sources/displays for that last little bit of picture quality is a dangerous mistress.....I spent 3 months tweaking my projector/htpc setup....I don't think I enjoyed a SINGLE movie because I was constantly critiquing the picture quality and not enjoying the show!

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Re: Bye-bye Blu-Ray...we hardly knew ye
« Reply #97 on: February 15, 2007, 03:10:22 pm »

Yeah, I'm not really all that hot on tweaking it much since I usually use it to watch downloaded DivX content.  The upconversion to 720p does a lot to increase the quality but my usual source material just isn't good enough to justify the type of tweaking you're talking about.

If XBMC supports that, I'd consider making that happen, just for the sake of doing it.  Don't know that other than gaming I've actually used any "real HD" content on it yet.