http://news.com.com/Sony+details+Blu-ray+plans%2C+new+product+releases/2100-1041_3-6018590.html?tag=nefd.top

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01/04/fujimedia/index.php

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01/04/toshiba/index.php ($500?!--I'd rather wait and buy an Xbox 360 when it ships with an HD DVD deck--or just wait until the HD DVD/Blu-Ray noise dies down and is settled.)

hwm

so, is everyone going to replace their DVD collection? i only have about 100. i will definitely be replacing all of it as the titles come out =).

This is rich kid stuff...for now. These players will sell for between $799 and $499. In contrast, DVD players sell for as low as $28.00 right now, so that should give us some idea as to how long this HD DVD will have to come.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060105/ap_on_hi_te/japan_next_generation_dvds_1

But of course, Sony will have the bigger advantage, since the PS3 will all ready have Blu-Ray.

I was an early DVD adopter, but even I waited a year to get one (Christmas 1998 was the day). It was a cheap $249 Toshiba that was slow at the time, but I remember being thrilled. I had waited 4 years, since I saw a show with a DVD player on it in 1994 and they said it'd come out in 1997 in the US. The Japanese already had it then.

Since it's such a format war, I may do PS3 and maybe an Xbox 360 with the HD DVD player in it.

heath

I wouldn't replace any titles unless they're collection packs of big-name stuff like the Matrix Trilogy, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter Collection (after all of them come out), Alien Quadrilogy, Terminator collection if they make one, and some TV shows like Buffy and Angel. Otherwise the DVD's are good enough. I wouldn't mind buying new movies in HD-DVD and/or Blu-ray, Peter Jackson's King Kong should look just as amazing as when I saw it in the theatres. Some other movies like Dogma would be good too if they added even more features but if the movies only have the same DVD features but they're in HD, I'd pass on the update.

Now for delivery, I'm still torn. I would be safe and go with HD-DVD as Sony has messed up quite a bit with formats. The Betamax thing was downright thievery but then VHS killed it, so all was well. What I think will hurt Blu-ray is that it will be delayed a little bit after HD-DVD comes out, alternatively, what I think will hurt HD-DVD and could very well kill it instead of Blu-ray is that there's apparently a lot more advertising for Blu-ray than for HD-DVD and somehow many of the younger crowd have heard of Blu-ray more than HD-DVD from one source or another. Also, last time I looked, Blu-ray holds more data than HD-DVD and that could lead some to believe that Blu-ray is better.

What I think is the deciding factor in this whole format war is one little thing, price. Whatever is cheaper, will ultimately win out.

What I think is the deciding factor in this whole format war is one little thing, price. Whatever is cheaper, will ultimately win out.

Well, perhaps not.

Obviously people are going to make VHS/Betamax parallels… which I think are all invalid due to the fact that not only media playback is at stake here. The winner between HD-DVD and Blu-ray will also dominate in the computer industry. To this market end, a Blu-ray victory would benefit everyone exponentially more than an HD-DVD, which is why I hope they win out. Right now, the disk storage sizes are 15 and 30GB, and 25 and 50GB for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray respectively. I think HD-DVD is developing a triple layered disk capable of holding 45GB of data, while Blu-Ray disks with four or even eight(!) layers are in development. Just imagine… 200GB on a single disk.

Also, one of the big supporting factors with HD-DVD was the fact that they were easy to manufacture with current technology. Logically, I would then think that they would be easy to rip and pirate as well. We all know how painfully serious the industry regards security, and that may, in the end, be a deciding factor.

VHS gave us 2 hours, Betamax 1 hour. Blu-Ray's specs call for more space than the HD DVD.

It's going to be an interesting year.

heath

Playstation 3 will include Blu-Ray player and will cost $399. Toshiba will have external drive for Xbox to play HD-DVD movies.

I've heard two things about the Xbox 360, one was confirmed from their Japanese chief:

He doesn't want to put games on HD DVD, rather on regular DVDs. I don't think or know if this will happen. More space on HD DVDs means more quality and features.

This is a rumor:

They will have a built-in HD DVD player but those who bought the 1st gen of the Xbox 360s will have to buy an add-on.

heath

Sony's Blu-Ray titles (thanks to imdb):

Titles Announced for First Movies Released in Hi-Def Format

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Tuesday announced the first 20 titles that it will release in high definition for its Blu-ray Disc system. They will be released as soon as the first Blu-ray players hit the market in the spring. Among the titles are The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT and XXX. The company also said that, in the future, it plans to release high-definition versions of all movies being put out on conventional DVD. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment said today that it, too, plans to release 20 films in the Blu-ray format this spring. The films, it said, will include Fantastic Four, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Behind Enemy Lines, Kiss of the Drago and Ice Age. In a statement company president Mike Dunn said, "The release of our films on Blu-ray will provide consumers with in-home entertainment beyond anything they have imagined."

I already own three copies of RoboCop, because I'm a sucker, so I may not buy that. But I'll probably stop buying new DVDs soon that aren't HD.

heath

Since it's such a format war, I may do PS3 and maybe an Xbox 360 with the HD DVD player in it.

heath

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the XBox 360 has an HD DVD player built into it.

EDIT: I just read your last post Heath.

Some of those titles don't make any sense. Do they honestly think that movies like "Knight's Tale" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" will fly off the shelves?

HD DVD releases:

http://news.com.com/HD+DVD+backers+promise+200+movies/2100-1026_3-6019023.html?tag=nefd.top

hwm

They were probably easy to release for technical and/or legal reasons. It's just another tool in the war.

The movie division will win either way, since they'll have to release the movies in whatever format wins. In fact, the movie division makes more money if the other side wins, since they get to sell the movie twice to the same people.

i didn't get a DVD player until last year!!!! =). that means i won't get a BluRay/HD-DVD universal player until 2013-2015!

i've always been a HTPC guy since 1999. i love convergence. i think the first player i'll be getting will be a BluRay/HD-DVD-ROM drive or a burner if it's cheap. i've shot a wedding in HD that i would love to burn BluRay/HD-DVD to see how it looks =).

I got my first DVD player for $599 within the first month of the arrival of DVD.

However this time I will wait. There is already lots of HD stuff over the air to fulfill any immeadate desires.

I will wait until later this year and see how the war is going...

By the way until a month a ago it was a sure win for Blue Ray, BUT now HP, Microsoft and Intel have turned to HD-DVD due to Blue Ray's paraoid DRM protection, so HD-DVD has a chance to win this war...

Playstation 3 will include Blu-Ray player and will cost $399.

I think $499 or even $599. The PS3 will have a supercomputer like processor (8 cores!) and a NVidia 7800 like GPU. There is no way this thing will cost as much as a deluxe XBox 360!

Even at $599 it will be worth it. The thing even has dual HDMI 1080p ports for crying out loud! XBox 360 has no DVI or HDMI but crappy anolog HDTV output!

i think even movie lovers will buy PS3 just to playback the content and get the added bonus of a gaming/multimedia system.

i think even movie lovers will buy PS3 just to playback the content and get the added bonus of a gaming/multimedia system.

Or they could simply get an HD DVD player and rid themselves of gaming circuitry.

but see... the point is they're getting EXTRA with the $500 or so they're spending! =).

Just read that Panasonic's Blu-Ray player will cost $1000.00. Wow.

I thought the burner was going to be $1000? Who will buy it for $1000 just to play when a $399 PS3 does the same?



ash =o)


PS HD vs 480P is not even noticeable once you get about 5 feet from your TV

I agree about HD/SD games.

One thing, the PS2 was never a good DVD player--I always had issues with my DVDs.

heath

Hands down blu-ray all the way. Put my money on it too!! I not to worried about buying HD DVD movies to replace DVDs because NetFlix is my best friend!!

New superhero movies going to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD:

http://superherohype.com/news/supermannews.php?id=3745

heath

Heard and saw on CBS Moneywatch segment this morning that Toshiba plans to have HD-DVD players available in March of this year.

Could make NAB more interesting if that's the case.

-gb-

I thought the burner was going to be $1000? Who will buy it for $1000 just to play when a $399 PS3 does the same?





ash =o)


PS HD vs 480P is not even noticeable once you get about 5 feet from your TV


I seriously doubt the PS3 is gonna be $399.00...more like $599.00

I seriously doubt the PS3 is gonna be $399.00...more like $599.00

I would still pick it up. Depending how blu-ray movies will be readily available is whats gonna hold me back. I remember when I picked up my first dvd player (I like to rent movies instead of purchasing them) it took a year before a poplular rental chain had dvds available for rent.

I'm sure there will be long lines and shortages.

heath

Sony CEO said publicly the price would be $300 - $400.... news is everywhere



ash =o)

I seriously doubt the PS3 is gonna be $399.00...more like $599.00

The price is going up and it still isn't more than vaporware, even at CES.
Don't I remember hearing a pledge a year ago, that the price would be held at $300., to encourage sales and defeat the opposition by numbers of users?
In the view of the majority of people would would likely buy it, there's a huge difference between parting with $600. and just $300.

http://business.scotsman.com/technology.cfm?id=25112006

heath

PS3 is vaporware but the RED camera is imminent? LOL...


ash =o)

These companies must love new formats.. They get to re release all the titles again and marvel as all us plebs buy the same thing over and over.. In ten years blu ray/hd-dvd will be dead and they will have the next format going with a new release of Star Wars and round we go again.

Sony CEO said publicly the price would be $300 - $400.... news is everywhere

It will be $399 with 1080p Blu-Ray player.

Here is more news:
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/top/About_us/events/CES2006/Article-14890.html

What is interesting is that the domain name is registered to Philips.

That sounds good!

heath

Then why not create a press release and announce it?

How are the people who just shelled out $1000 gonna feel when the PS3 comes in at %60 off?

I think that link goes to the $399 player.

Remember, the PS2/Xbox weren't the greatest DVD players and all my friends were so frustrated, they bought seperate DVD players to watch movies.

heath

PS3 has to be in that 300-400 sweet spot or else a lot people will probably just go xbox. We've got more knowledge of multimedia but most people won't weight all those pros and cons. The'll just see a more expensive system and game that's HD and a cheaper system and games that's HD. Trust me when I say most people have no idea what they are spending their money on. I worked at best buy randomly two weeks when they released xbox 360, most people just bought it to buy it they don't really know anything about it just "that it's better."

Sony can shower people with all kinds of features but no one is reading.

Whoa I just realized I'm a major player!

Help me out here: Doesn't HD-DVD only support 720p or did I dream that up?

I know the Xbox 360 only supports 720p, but I'm not sure about HD-DVD. I think it does both.

heath