Why did you choose HD DVD over Blu-ray?

yea i knew that i have a 20.1" Widescreen the resolution is 1680x1050
thats where i used to watch HD movies but then decided to buy an HDTV and went with the 55", just havnt decided which HD format to pick this holiday season

 

Dual format you can't lose that way lol!

 

I was actually in BB the other day. He said Blue Ray sales overtake HD 5-1 although he said it may start turning around as Star Wars will be coming out on HD as well as XXX (his words not mine)

I asked him about the LG dual player, said there are alot of probems and to steer clear...

 

I think it's to early to jump into a dual format player. I would wait until 2nd gen dual format players were released (by more then one company) before considering this option. HD-DVD seems like the best buy right now, but the lack of "major" studio support concerns a lot of people. Has anyone had any problems with their HD-DVD player? What about firmware updates? Any good or bad experiences?

 

LG has announced a 2nd gen DF player with pretty impressive specs at CEDIA:

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/lg_dual_high_def_dvd_player_coming_next_month/

I've had the A1 and the XA2 and they're both very reliable and have been trouble-free performers for the most part. Firmware updates through the internet have been pain-free. Just remember to remove any disc that's in the tray before performing updates.

The only thing I'm waiting for is 1080p/24fps playback from the XA2 particularly for my Sony Pearl projector.

 

I totally agree with my friend here. I also have the A1 (in the bedroom) and the XA2 (in my main A/V setup). They're excellent performers and a breeze to update.

 

@eatsushi & dblbogey7

How do you update the firmware on your players? Is it as simple as plugging in a cat5 cable from your home network and pushing a button or do you have to download the update and burn it to a disk? Also, do you have to keep your player connected to the network to watch movies? I heard that they were going to do that to some players/movies (as a copy protection) at one point in a time. Thanks for the feedback!

 

You can do it either way. My home network and internet connection is pretty stable so I have no problems with directly connecting the player to my hub.

Detailed instructions here:

http://www.tacp.com/tacpassets-images/notices/hddvd2firmware.asp

There's no need to keep the player connected. Actually I disconnect from the network once I've updated my firmware. You can watch movies whteher you're connected or not. The only time you need to be connected while watching is if you want to access web-enabled extras like those on the 300 HD DVD.

For copy protection? Maybe you're referring to BluRay's BD+ but I haven't heard of this happening for HD DVD.

 

I think the below is a bit far fetched.

Firstly what does it matter why studios are choosing hd dvd?

Also the blu-ray exclusive at blockbuster is already being revisited. My store just put their hd dvd display back up. the manager told me they are getting just as many hd dvd online rentals as bluray so they knew the demand had been going up not down.

In terms of more storage, this is kind of pointless isn't it? all films at full hd resolutons easily fit on hd dvd.

If you look at amazon com sales numbers the hd dvd players seem to be outselling blu ray player by a huge margin.

 

My DVD player stoped working and because of the prices of the HD players, I thought I'd go for it.
I've always felt that Blu-ray would win this war but after Paramont/Dreamworks move to only HD DVD. I'm feeling much better about making the move to HD DVD.

This has also been a good week for the HD DVD camp.

"Monday"
China High Definition DVD Industry Association announced CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD), and is based on HD DVD. This means that a Chinese-produced disc will not play in an HD DVD player from the US. However, a Chinese player will play their HD format as well as regular US and EU HD DVD releases.

The 51GB HD DVD disc is apparently one step closer to becoming a reality. It has been approved a 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD disc for production.

1) Improved studio support

2) (HD DVD was launched in a very stable way) HD-DVD used advanced codecs like VC-1 and True-HD (blu-ray still uses MPEG2,That’s not an HD codec is it?)

3) Better price point (cheeper)

4) An approved 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD disc for production.

I've even heard of talks of Toshiba working on a 90GB HD DVD (but will it work with the first 2 gen players is the question?)

It's dumb to say that Blu-ray will win hands down at this point in the game. I had 100% believed that Blu-ray would win this war 6 months ago. But now I'm happy with there being two on the market driving the prices down.

I just picked up a blu-ray player and so far I'm going to keep picking up HD DVD...when there is a movie I want to see that is released on both formats...I will buy the HD DVD version hands down. The only time I'll buy a BluRay disc is if the movie is not available on HD DVD. So many bad reviews on a lot of older MPEG-2 Blu-ray release, I'm worried that by picking "the Blu-ray version". That I'm picking the format that will not look as good as the HD DVD will!

 

@ cellspawn, you made a lot of good points but I will clean up one error in your post...

Bluy-Ray and HD DVD support the same video codecs (albeit at different transfer rates). The problem is that most of the first gen BD titles were done with MPEG-2, which is capable of quality high-def, with horrible results (but not all where horrible). MPEG-2 is about half as efficient as the average (supported) MPEG-4 codec (AVC/H.264, VC-1, ect...).

The audio codecs are both supported as well. HD DVD makes it mandatory to support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2.1 channel) and DTS-HDMA as an option while in the BD spec all three are optional. That is why BD titles use uncompressed audio tracks so much.

The only glaring difference is the BD camps lack of any advanced content. Sony marked October 31st (2007) as the date when all Blu-Ray players made after that dare (MM/DD/YY : 10/31/07) will need to support the first version of BD-J. Currently the only player that supports BD-J is the $2000 Denon player. There is no advanced interactive movie content yet but a hand full of movies are planned from Disney and Fox this holiday season. HD DVD players have has advanced interactive content support since the first player hit the shelf. There are a lot of movies for HD DVD that use advanced (some of which are not available for BD (i.e. The Matrix and Batman Begins) because of this lack of BD-J support issue).

Oh, you forgot to mention that HD DVDs are not region coded and that imports from other countries will play in our players. This is helpful as there are U.S. Blu-Ray exclusive titles (i.e. Underworld and T2 Judgment Day) available in other countries for HD DVD!

Ced

 

Diabolos thanks for the info and the HD DVDs not being region coded, I did hear about that a long time ago but forgot all about it. Nice, very nice!

Question about:

Now you say "HD DVD makes it mandatory to support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD" and "DTS-HDMA as an option". But Blu-ray; they have the option to put all 3 of them on the BD or Not to put them?
Also...now does that also mean that HD DVD compresses the audio files on the disc?



How about this then, as it stands now...

1) Improved studio support

2) Better price point (cheeper)

3) An approved 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD disc for production.

4) Are not region coded (Imports from other countries will play in our players with exception like China's CH DVD; it will, how ever be able to play our HD DVD's)

5) Possible future 90GB HD DVD disc?

 

The way that I understand it is, before anyone can release something like that it must be approved and work with all players... (granted a firmware update would probably be needed)

 

That isn't always technically possible. Especially if the new technique has nothing to do with the old one. It will be interesting to see how the new 51 GB disc will fair. This is actually a larger issue for the Blu-Ray format...

Ced

 

Its cheaper. Xbox 360. Sony is the devil.

 

@eatsushi, good info. and thanks for link. The instructions seem simple enough. The option of either connecting the player to your home network or downloading the update and burning it to a disk was a good move.

@cellspawn - Good list! Now, I'm not sure if the triple-layer disc is actually a good thing. If they released it earlier, current players could have been pre-configured hardware/software wise to support this disc type. Now, the question is, if the disc will work on current HD-DVD Players. Even with a firmware update, there's a good chance that some players will not be able to read triple-layer discs. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

@diabolos - All good posts... keep it coming. Us newbs need the help.

 

This is a little extreme, even for me... pardon the pun.

 

Wouldn't bitrate be increased with the additional storage space of the 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD?


Also update:

Can't really use the 51 BG disc as a reason any more, but it's still looks good for the HD DVD camp. It's still in the works.

 

Man i just got the 3rd gen toshiba HDA30 it is sweet. Its about half the size of the smallest blueray player. It cost 399.00 and it came with 300 and the bourne identity plus they still are doing the 5 free movies deal also. Its a no brainer. It is full hd1080p 24 frames it has so many features i cant rememeber half of them. Why spend 500 on the entry level bd player which is huge. When u can get the best HD-DVD player. Go HD-DVD man it is the best choice. Trust me man!

 

Really? my blockbuster online and local blockbuster both have full HD DVD selections. They made an announcement of BD only and then reversed it a few days later.