Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD (2006)

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Comments

  • Reply 961 of 2106
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Man you're a tough customer.



    So you think that Q1 2007 when these discs are shipping and 2nd generation hardware is you'll hop on the train?




    Heh...I'll buy one after you buy one.



    Q2 of 2007 should be about when I upgrade my projector again too so Q2 its as good a guess as any. Late Q1 of 2007 (i.e. Nov-Dec 2006) is likely when I get a 2nd gen intel mini. I hope anyway. I also hope that the 2nd gen mini keeps the CPU socket...hmmm we talking fiscal or calendar year?



    But anyway...back to the BR vs HD-DVD tempest...
  • Reply 962 of 2106
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    i hope hd-dvd gets the matrix trilogy first. =)



    that'd be a real push for me to go out and actually get one rather early.
  • Reply 963 of 2106
    brunobruinbrunobruin Posts: 552member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by marzetta7

    Just wanted to point out that Lord of the Rings will NOT be HD DVD exlusive as New Line has pledged Blu-ray support.



    OMG!!!!! I had missed that when Warner Bros. announced they would support both formats. Well, game over for me, man. Fox will serve up my astonishing X-Men in Blu-ray, and if I can get Peter Jackson's holy trilogy on BD as well, I will be Sony's bitch and love it. Money is no object when it comes to these mighty movies!



    And I say this as someone who bought both RCA's SelectaVision and later laserdisc to watch "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." And I would do it all again!
  • Reply 964 of 2106
    blackcatblackcat Posts: 697member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BrunoBruin

    OMG!!!!! I had missed that when Warner Bros. announced they would support both formats. Well, game over for me, man. Fox will serve up my astonishing X-Men in Blu-ray, and if I can get Peter Jackson's holy trilogy on BD as well, I will be Sony's bitch and love it. Money is no object when it comes to these mighty movies!



    And I say this as someone who bought both RCA's SelectaVision and later laserdisc to watch "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." And I would do it all again!




    Not to mention Star Wars, which being Fox/Lucas will likely be on Blu-Ray and 4 of which are worth seeing in HD!
  • Reply 965 of 2106
    marzetta7marzetta7 Posts: 1,323member
    Apple to point Blu-ray gun at Microsoft



    http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/4967/53/

    Quote:

    By Stan Beer

    Friday, 14 July 2006

    It seems that everywhere you turn these days the age old feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys of the personal computing world, Apple and Microsoft, is resurfacing. In this epoch, however, the battlefield is not just desktop computing but online entertainment, whether it be music downloads or high definition video.



    Microsoft has already publicly declared its hand in the high definition video war, lining up firmly behind the Toshiba led HD DVD camp. The software giant turned games console maker plans to incorporate HD DVD into its Xbox 360 platform in direct opposition to games console king and Blu-ray champion Sony.



    Meanwhile, Apple has kept a relatively low profile in the building optical disc war as far as the general consumer public is concerned. In fact, however, Apple has already declared its hand. Apple is board member of the Blu-ray Disc Association. This, as others have pointed out, would suggest very strongly that Blu-ray players will be a feature of future Macintosh computers.



    Apple's support for Blu-ray probably doesn't sit well with Intel, which supports HD DVD, but given Dell also supports Blu-ray what is the chip king going to do. Are HD DVD supporters NEC and Toshiba more important to Intel than Dell and Apple?



    Despite Microsoft's overt support for HD DVD, it is notable that so far its commitment has amounted to little more than words. When a Toshiba executive put out the claim that Microsoft was planning to release an Xbox 360 with integrated HD DVD player, Microsoft issued a denial. To be sure, a plug-in for an external HD DVD player may become available but that's something quite different from an integrated player.



    The difference between Microsoft's commitment to HD DVD and Sony's adoption of Blu-ray is stark. Sony has laid its cards on the table, while Microsoft appears to be taking an each way bet - appearing to support HD DVD but still leaving its the door slightly ajar with Xbox 360.



    Apple, which has always been a technology driven company, appears to be in the Blu-ray camp and, given its once again growing influence in the home computer market, will, like Sony PlayStation 3, be a critical driver of Blu-ray going forward.



    Hmm, I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Apple will be serving up a Blu-ray especial soon.
  • Reply 966 of 2106
    marzetta7marzetta7 Posts: 1,323member
    Yet another report regarding Apple and Blu-ray...is the press preparing us for something? WWDC announcement of some sorts?...I don't know if I'd go that far, but as stated by the article, I think January of 2007 is nice timing.



    http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/07...pple/index.php



    Quote:

    Analysts: Blu-ray looms in Apple's future

    By Jim Dalrymple



    The competition between the competing next-generation optical disk technologies of Blu-ray and HD DVD has entered a new phase, as optical drive makers start rolling out the first products based on the rival technologies. As products based on these formats begin to arrive in stores, one major question for Mac users is: When will Apple integrate this new technology into its computers?



    The question is more than just idle speculation. Apple enjoys a long track record of embracing emerging technologies?think FireWire, Bluetooth, and wireless networking, among others?and incorporating them into its offerings. Also consider that Apple is on the board of directors for the Blu-ray Disc Association, and it?s not hard to envision a future where Macs are sporting Blu-ray-based drives.



    As with any future product, Apple is keeping its plans for Blu-ray under wraps. But industry analysts don?t think we'll have long to wait before Apple puts a Blu-ray drive in an Intel-based Mac.



    The most likely candidate? The as-yet unreleased machine that will replace the Power Mac as Apple?s professional desktop offering.



    ?Apple?s past practices favor bringing new optical technologies to professional systems first,? said Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox. ?DVD-RAM and DVD-R formats are excellent examples.?



    Ross Rubin, director of analysis at market-research firm NPD Group, agrees that Apple will work with the professional machines first. However, noting that Intel-based pro desktops have yet to appear, he predicts Blu-ray drives won?t wind up in Apple systems for a few more months.



    ?January would be good?the timing for that would work out pretty well,? Rubin said. ?It comes down to the introduction cycle, but we would see it in desktops first, no doubt.?



    Behind the format feud



    Blu-ray and HD DVD are competing optical disc formats aimed at storing large amounts of high-definition video. The competition between the two standards pits some of the biggest companies in the technology industry against one another.



    Blu-ray is supported by consumer electronics vendors Sony and Panasonic as well as PC vendors Dell and Apple. HD DVD is backed by Toshiba, NEC, Intel, and Microsoft.



    The Apple supported H.264 technology is part of the technical specification for both Blu-ray and the competing HD DVD format that hopes to beat out Blu-ray as the industry standard.



    For the winner comes the spoils of being the industry standard and having acceptance from movie studios and supplies?which translates to bigger sales. And since the formats are not compatible the loser could easily drop out of the consumer market, much like what happened to the Betamax video cassette format when it lost out to VHS in the 1980s.



    Toshiba began selling two HD DVD players in North America in April, beating rival Blu-ray Disc to market by about two months. Speaking in late May, a Toshiba executive said sales in North America were above 20,000. Samsung began shipping its Blu-ray writer in mid-June and BenQ has said it will ship its Blu-ray writer in August.



    The impact on Apple



    One drawback of the current format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray for the supporting companies is the confusion it causes in the market. Many people may hold off on buying products sporting either format until a clear winner has been found.



    For that reason, Technology Business Research senior analyst Tim Deal believes Apple will shy away from adding a Blu-ray optical drive to any of its consumer Macs. ?[The format war] will cause confusion in the market which will ultimately mean slow acceptance of the technologies in the consumer market,? he said.



    But that doesn?t mean Apple will avoid adopting Blu-ray until after the smoke clears in the format battle, analysts add. ?Apple is an active participant in the Blu-ray consortium, and they didn?t let the last format war between DVD- and DVD+ stop them from moving ahead with the drive,? NPD Group?s Rubin said. ?I don?t see them rushing to support both?typically Apple supports one and they support it well.?



    Look for Apple to follow the same playbook it used in adding DVD-burning SuperDrives to its hardware lineup: pro-level machines first, followed by consumer offerings. The reason for that strategy, Rubin said, has much to do with minimize the cost of adopting new technologies.



    ?One reason Apple been able to introduce new technologies at relative low cost has to do with cost reductions," Rubin added. ?In DVD writing they were very good at timing?they made a volume purchase play and introduced the drives at a relatively low cost compared to what had been available. I see them taking that approach with Blu-ray."



  • Reply 967 of 2106
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by marzetta7

    The most likely candidate? The as-yet unreleased machine that will replace the Power Mac as Apple?s professional desktop offering.





    Boy, I hope so. I can just see it now. Steve at introduction of the new Mac Pro: "Oh, just one more thing. It has a Blu-ray drive. And no price increase." (The crowd explodes into applause.)



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Blackcat

    Not to mention Star Wars, which being Fox/Lucas will likely be on Blu-Ray and 4 of which are worth seeing in HD!



    Yeah, but would they do the original trilogy? The original theatrical versions (not those Special Edition travesties) will be available on DVD for a limited time later this year, but I don't think that's enough time for Blu-ray. And there's always Lucas' claim that he destroyed the negatives, so there's no good source material for HD masters. That'd be a heck of a driver for Blu-ray sales if they did it, though. "The theatrical versions, now available exclusively for the next best thing to the theater -- Blu-ray!" There'd be massive adoption of the format by SW fans. Maybe they could suddenly find some long-forgotten reels in the vaults that George missed when he went to the dark side. Yeah, wouldn't that be surprising.
  • Reply 968 of 2106
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kolchak

    Boy, I hope so. I can just see it now. Steve at introduction of the new Mac Pro: "Oh, just one more thing. It has a Blu-ray drive. And no price increase." (The crowd explodes into applause.)



    Sony would probably be willing to sell Apple blu-ray drives at cost for a couple years in order to make this happen.



    I don't think that the "no price increase" think will work out though, at least if you want dual-core woodcrest 3 ghz chips ($1700 total just for the two processors).
  • Reply 969 of 2106
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    I don't think that the "no price increase" think will work out though, at least if you want dual-core woodcrest 3 ghz chips ($1700 total just for the two processors).



    There is more than one model of Powermac/Mac Pro, though. They can't have a massive price gulf between the iMacs and the Mac Pros, so there must be at least one basic model in the sub-$2000 range, preferably $1899. Although they may leave Blu-ray off that one to keep it at that price, just like the original low-end Powermacs lacked Superdrives.
  • Reply 970 of 2106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    It doesn't matter if Sony give Apple drives at cost. With two formats currently in the market it makes NO sense trying to cram one in as a selling point.



    Those who are authoring discs for a living will probably want both as options which means BTO is the best way to handle this.



    You don't cut out %40 of your potential market if you can support %100 with BTO and your authoring applications
  • Reply 971 of 2106
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    It doesn't matter if Sony give Apple drives at cost. With two formats currently in the market it makes NO sense trying to cram one in as a selling point.



    Those who are authoring discs for a living will probably want both as options which means BTO is the best way to handle this.



    You don't cut out %40 of your potential market if you can support %100 with BTO and your authoring applications




    Movie playback is relatively unimportant for computer use, so the format differences don't matter. You just pick the bigger one and go burn backups.
  • Reply 972 of 2106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    Movie playback is relatively unimportant for computer use, so the format differences don't matter. You just pick the bigger one and go burn backups.



    Home backup strategies mirror business backup strategy. Thus you will likely see backup to hard disc rather than optical drives.



    Low cost NAS devices are proliferating far more quickly than high capacity optical recorders. Hard disc will be much cheaper per gigabyte for the forseeable future.
  • Reply 973 of 2106
    19841984 Posts: 955member
    My guess is the mid and high-end models will come with a Blu-Ray drive (aka the new Superdrive) as standard while the entry level model will not. It just depends on whether they feel the timing is right given the recent delays. As far as Star Wars goes we will be seeing it on Blu-Ray but probably not for a couple years. Lucas wants to add even more CGI crap to them first. The original unaltered versions are being included on an upcoming DVD set but they are using the same transfers used for the Laserdisc/VHS release many years ago. It's not even anamorphic widescreen. I'm sure they must have a copy stored digitally of the original unaltered version as they would need to have had something as a starting point for the not so special editions.
  • Reply 974 of 2106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    There are too many component shortages for Apple to make Blu-Ray a standard item on any Mac Pro.
  • Reply 975 of 2106
    Yes, shortages..............that's why Sony has released a Blu-ray laptop model, because of the shortages.
  • Reply 976 of 2106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aircft.sys.spec.

    Yes, shortages..............that's why Sony has released a Blu-ray laptop model, because of the shortages.



    And this rebuttal somehow refutes my poin? The Sony VAIO is $3500 meaning that it's in the strata of laptops that has the least amount of sales.



    The Mac Pro will be a volume product with much higher expected sales and the form factor of the drives themselves. The issues with shortage of components will rear their head when Sony ships he PS3 in Nov. Note that a few BD player vendors are delaying their euro launch to 2007. Why would they do this? Component availability is a likely scenario.
  • Reply 977 of 2106
    marzetta7marzetta7 Posts: 1,323member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    And this rebuttal somehow refutes my poin? The Sony VAIO is $3500 meaning that it's in the strata of laptops that has the least amount of sales.



    The Mac Pro will be a volume product with much higher expected sales and the form factor of the drives themselves. The issues with shortage of components will rear their head when Sony ships he PS3 in Nov. Note that a few BD player vendors are delaying their euro launch to 2007. Why would they do this? Component availability is a likely scenario.




    And to be fair, HD DVD will be a victim of these shortages as well, as they too use the same type of blue laser diodes.



    But on the bright side, at least Sony is one of the two (the other being Nichia or something) manufacturers of such diodes which poses well for the PS3.
  • Reply 978 of 2106
    marzetta7marzetta7 Posts: 1,323member
    Disney to release Blu-ray titles as well as new Blu-ray short titles...



    http://news.com.com/Disney+to+shoot+...3-6094737.html

    Quote:

    Raising the bar in the Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD battle, Walt Disney is creating a series of short films to be shot in high-definition to accompany select films the company will release in the Blu-ray format.



    It's the first move by any studio to develop original content for the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, a step observers feel is critical to giving the format the upper edge over Toshiba's rival HD DVD.



    Finding a successor to standard DVD is a key issue in Hollywood, as 28 million U.S. households are expected to have high-definition televisions by the end of this year, and packaged media desperately needs a seat at that table.



    The latest projections are that high-definition discs could generate $10 billion in annual consumer spending by 2010, keeping home entertainment spending level despite continued and rapid encroachment by digital downloading.



    The "Blu-Scape" shorts will be shot by cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg, who two years ago directed a theatrical feature film, "America's Heart & Soul," for Walt Disney Pictures.



    Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment unit is expected to announce on Monday its first nine titles in the next-generation Blu-ray Disc format, coming in two waves, beginning Sept. 19. Five of them--Walt Disney Pictures' "Dinosaur," "Eight Below," "Glory Road" and "Haunted Mansion," along with Touchstone Pictures' "Gone in Sixty Seconds"--will come with the exclusive shorts, which the studio says will be "inspired" by the respective films.



    "Dinosaur" and "Eight Below" are slated for September 19 release, along with Miramax Films' "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "The Great Raid."



    The second wave of titles, due October 17, includes "Glory Road, "Haunted Mansion" and "Gone in Sixty Seconds," as well as Touchstone's "Dark Water" and Dimension Films' "The Brothers Grimm."



    Most Buena Vista Blu-ray titles will list for $34.99.



    At launch, Buena Vista's Blu-ray titles will feature advanced new menus, with seamless navigation and settings that can be accessed while the movie is playing. They also will come with new layering coating technology that provides a scratch-resistant surface.



    In other news:

    With Core 2 Duo, Intel again No. 1

    Volume control for indie music

    FBI grapples with outdated computers

    News.com Extra: UFO gathering draws believers and belittlers

    Video: Dell's new gaming desktop

    Still being developed: more groundbreaking interactive features; personalized chapter selections; and compelling online content, including Web connectivity that will enable users to connect to live events hosted by the studio.



    Buena Vista's expected announcement will make it the fourth studio to announce titles and release dates for Blu-ray, tipping the scale in favor of the format. Warner Home Video weighed in last week with four titles, while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Lionsgate have both been releasing Blu-ray products since late June.



    Only three studios are releasing HD DVD products: Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner.



    Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox Film are expected to announce their inaugural Blu-ray lineups shortly.



    Do some HD DVD fanboys still think Disney is going to release in HD DVD?......Doesn't look probable. This fall ought to be awesome indeed for the Blu-ray format.
  • Reply 979 of 2106
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,438member
    Quote:

    Do some HD DVD fanboys still think Disney is going to release in HD DVD?......Doesn't look probable. This fall ought to be awesome indeed for the Blu-ray format.



    Give it a rest. If you were more impartial then just how something "looks" to you would carry more weight. As of today you simply cannot see the forest through the trees.
  • Reply 980 of 2106
    blackcatblackcat Posts: 697member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Give it a rest. If you were more impartial then just how something "looks" to you would carry more weight. As of today you simply cannot see the forest through the trees.



    Irony in motion
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