2007 HD-DVD and/or Blue-Ray Buying Plans

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
The 2006 HD-DVD - Blue-Ray controversy has generated an extremely active thread and now the one for 2007 has surfaced. Yet, it seems to me from reading through the posts, that most people who express such strong opinions don't even own one of the machines. So, I'm wondering how many people in 2007 are actually going to put their money where their mouth is so to speak.



As for me, now that I've rejoined Netflix, if there is a winner in 2007 I'll most likely buy a player in that format even though upconverted DVDs look pretty darn good
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    To be honest this format war is not going to be decided by coherent technical discussion but rather by whichever groups best sells their technology to laypersons. That, or hybrid drives will become the norm.
  • Reply 2 of 29
    I need an HD TV first. So regular DVD is perfectly fine.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    I answered "Who cares, I just want to see the poll results" because I currently have no HD disc system, and I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about that.



    I am beginning to get the itch to get something. I'd sure like to see a clear winner in the format war before taking the plunge, but it's possible I'll break down sooner than that. At this point, player prices and number of titles would have me leaning toward HD-DVD. Since I don't have any interest in gaming consoles, neither Xbox nor PS3 sway me either way.



    I just ordered two new reasonably priced HDMI cables (about $25 each, as opposed to the $200 each BS a place like Best Buy would love to sell me) so I'll be ready for the inevitable purchase -- I could break down in as little as a month and it's hard to imagine I'll hold out as long as a year before I get something. I only use HDMI for one component now (my DirecTV HD-DVR) and that's hooked directly from the DVR into my TV, as my current receiver can only switch analog video.



    I'll probably get myself a new HDMI-capable receiver soon, even before I've decided on an HD format. I could always punt in the short term and get a new standard DVD player with HDMI output.



    I know a lot of people here are big Blu-ray proponents, but I'd be perfectly happy to see HD-DVD win out as the new movie format, leaving Blu-ray for high capacity data storage, and using universal drives on our computers for reading and writing both formats. Since HD-DVD's data capacity is more than adequate for high-def movies, and HD-DVDs are less vulnerable to dust and scratches (that expensive coating Blu-ray needs to make it more durable doesn't fix dust problems, only alleviates the scratching problem a bit), when you add on the ease of updating DVD pressing plants to handle HD-DVD, that makes HD-DVD the one I'm leaning toward as the desired winner of the format wars and the main movie format.
  • Reply 4 of 29
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    There are, and were too many DVD threads the second soneone put up the first 2007 thread.
  • Reply 5 of 29
    I got the PS3 here, but have yet to get a HDTV. May be I'm hard to please, I'm eyeing for the 1080p model.
  • Reply 6 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kenneth View Post


    I got the PS3 here, but have yet to get a HDTV. May be I'm hard to please, I'm eyeing for the 1080p model.



    What's the PS3 like?
  • Reply 7 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes View Post


    To be honest this format war is not going to be decided by coherent technical discussion but rather by whichever groups best sells their technology to laypersons. That, or hybrid drives will become the norm.



    There will be no hybrid drives. Right there you are dealing with two sets of royalties. Ack.
  • Reply 8 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icfireball View Post


    There will be no hybrid drives. Right there you are dealing with two sets of royalties. Ack.



    Royalities to the Blu-ray and HD-DVD groups? But isn't that the same as must have previously occured with the -R/RW and +R/RW groups.
  • Reply 9 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes View Post


    Royalities to the Blu-ray and HD-DVD groups? But isn't that the same as must have previously occured with the -R/RW and +R/RW groups.



    Not really, because these were both adopted as a standard.
  • Reply 10 of 29
    Double royalties will have to be paid but it'll be transparent to the consumer as by the time Universal players hit the component costs will be lower than what we have today.



    NEC and Broadcom have LSI that allow them to sell the same chip into HD DVD or Blu-ray or Universal product. This is the benefit of "economies of scale" now they can reduce the price and manf in volume.



    We just need the optics to catch up now and Ricoh is working on a dual format optical drive. Sony has to be a bit worried about this. They are subsidizing BD50 production for 5 yrs (I'm told) stating that they will guarantee that BD50 doesn't cost more to large studios than HD30. What happens if the battle is protracted and last 5 yrs because of Universal players? Sony could see the studios take advantage of the subsidy and then switch to cheaper HD DVD production in 5 yrs. Who knows.
  • Reply 11 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    What's the PS3 like?



    The PS3 is alright.. I'm still in the newbie mode.
  • Reply 12 of 29
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kenneth View Post


    The PS3 is alright.. I'm still in the newbie mode.





    What's the frequency
  • Reply 13 of 29
    bitemymacbitemymac Posts: 1,147member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OldCodger73 View Post


    The 2006 HD-DVD - Blue-Ray controversy has generated an extremely active thread and now the one for 2007 has surfaced. Yet, it seems to me from reading through the posts, that most people who express such strong opinions don't even own one of the machines. So, I'm wondering how many people in 2007 are actually going to put their money where their mouth is so to speak.



    As for me, now that I've rejoined Netflix, if there is a winner in 2007 I'll most likely buy a player in that format even though upconverted DVDs look pretty darn good





    Having PS3 doesn't automatically make that owner a HiDef Movie enthusiast. It needs to be clearer on the PS3/BR option. Not all PS3 owners would use it as a BD movie player. It's a gaming console afterall, and most purchases of PS3 is solely for gaming.
  • Reply 14 of 29
    The thing that still baffles me is---you could buy a PS3 for around $700, but a Blu-Ray disc player will set you back nearly $1,000. Something don't add up here.
  • Reply 15 of 29
    I've already got a Playstation 3 so I'm all for Blu-ray to win the format war. And the second Apple puts out a Blu-ray-equiped computer I'm on board!
  • Reply 16 of 29
    ...I will be purchasing a PS3 primarily for movies. Will likely be interested in Madden, NHL, and GTA titles, but I doubt I play video games more then once every couple months.
  • Reply 17 of 29
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    The thing that still baffles me is---you could buy a PS3 for around $700, but a Blu-Ray disc player will set you back nearly $1,000. Something don't add up here.



    The PS3 sells for below cost right now. It's an excellent deal
  • Reply 18 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bitemymac View Post


    Having PS3 doesn't automatically make that owner a HiDef Movie enthusiast. It needs to be clearer on the PS3/BR option. Not all PS3 owners would use it as a BD movie player. It's a gaming console afterall, and most purchases of PS3 is solely for gaming.



    The title of this thread clearly states HD-DVD and/or Blue-Ray buying plans, which I ASSUMED most people would take to mean for movie viewing not gaming. PS3 was included because it is the least expensive B-R player and gets great reviews on AVSforum as a player.



    The people who post on AVSforum are, for the most part, knowledgeable video enthusiasts, while the people here on Appleinsider probably represent a more typical range of video viewers. There's been enough hot air in the two HD format threads to inflate several hot air balloons. What I'm trying to do with this thread is cut through all that and see what AI members are voting for with their money.
  • Reply 19 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    What's the frequency



    hmm... 480i



    BTW.. I noticed that regular DVD playback was awesome on the PS3 compared to the Xbox 360, better control. However, I much prefer the Xbox 360 controller. Anyway, I have the player and software (from NetFlix), but not the hardware (HDTV).
  • Reply 20 of 29
    I'm kicking this back to the top to see if any of the regulars have bought one of the formats lately.



    I'm still remaining format neutral until things sort themselves out.
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