HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray Spot Check: There's still no good option
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 5, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Anand
I was talking to Mike Andrawes last night (the inspiration for my earlier post on the high definition format wars) and we got on the topic of whether or not the Warner deal meant the imminent demise of HD-DVD. Admittedly, the longer the wars went on the more disinterested I became in what titles were out on each format. I refuse to start collecting either until there's a single format that has all content available (I guess I could make an exception in the event that universal players become the defacto standard).
I popped into Best Buy last night with Manny (the guy from the Home Theater post) after dinner to pick up some last minute CES gear, and we decided to do an informal survey of what movies we liked that were exclusive to each format.
| Blu-ray | HD-DVD |
| Spiderman 1 - 3 | Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum |
| The Prestige* | Anchorman |
| Superbad | V for Vendetta |
| Casino Royal | Knocked Up |
| Life Free or Die Hard (I know) | The 40-Year-Old Virgin |
Now this isn't a comprehensive list at all, but what it does highlight is this: neither of us could, in good conscience, recommend either standard. Despite HD-DVD's more affordable pricing, you can't watch things like Casino Royal, Spiderman or Superbad in high definition on it, and that's just simply unacceptable. The same applies to Blu-ray, it doesn't matter what exclusive titles the format does have, because the ones that it doesn't are just as good.
Herein lies the problem I was outlining yesterday, this war is fought for industry members, it's fought for the Sonys and the Microsofts of the world, it's not fought for the people buying the movies. Honestly, the only options are to either support both formats or support none, backing one or another just doesn't make any sense unless you really hate all of the movies in one of the columns.
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bandstand124 - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
There are only about 900 films available on on HD optical media so the idea of using lists of your favorite films is utterly ridiculous at this point, it is always going to be a tiny sub set of the list of films you want to watch.Why not use a more tried and tested method I.E. list each formats advantages and disadvantages in the market place, work out which one is going to win and then buy that one.
There is only one conclusion.
Blu Ray.
So if you want to watch films in stunning high defintion on a massive TV with great sound then do what I am doing, that is:
Watch the films you can in Blu Ray, upscale the ones you can't or wait for them to be released on Blu Ray.
It's that simple. I have no problems recommending to anybody that HD DVD is a waste of cash and Blu Ray is it for HD films.
bandstand124 - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
There are only about 900 films available on on HD optical media so the idea of using lists of your favorite films is utterly ridiculous at this point, it is always going to be a tiny sub set of the list of films you want to watch.Why not use a more tried and tested method I.E. list each formats advantages and disadvantages in the market place, work out which one is going to win and then buy that one.
There is only one conclusion.
Blu Ray.
So if you want to watch films in stunning high defintion on a massive TV with great sound then do what I am doing, that is:
Watch the films you can in Blu Ray, upscale the ones you can't or wait for them to be released on Blu Ray.
It's that simple. I have no problems recommending to anybody that HD DVD is a waste of cash and Blu Ray is it for HD films.
bandstand124 - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
There are only about 900 films available on on HD optical media so the idea of using lists of your favorite films is utterly ridiculous at this point, it is always going to be a tiny sub set of the list of films you want to watch.Why not use a more tried and tested method I.E. list each formats advantages and disadvantages in the market place, work out which one is going to win and then buy that one.
There is only one conclusion.
Blu Ray.
So if you want to watch films in stunning high defintion on a massive TV with great sound then do what I am doing, that is:
Watch the films you can in Blu Ray, upscale the ones you can't or wait for them to be released on Blu Ray.
It's that simple. I have no problems recommending to anybody that HD DVD is a waste of cash and Blu Ray is it for HD films.
wetwareinterface - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
neither format is superior to the other.blu ray has a base storage capacity higher than hd-dvd.
there are already in place higher hd-dvd storage standards, similar in how at first we had dvd 5 and then later dual layer dvd 9 discs even though dvd 9 was a standard from the start. if 25 Gb isn't enough room for a 1080p movie, special content and interactive features why does hd-dvd have all that? simply put more room = just more crap to put on a disc. 50 Gb is better, to be sure, for backup media but is overkill for a high def 1080p stream. for movie watching hd-dvd is good enough.
there are some serious advantages to hd-dvd however that make it more consumer/manufacturer friendly. the re-tooling cost to make hd-dvd discs is minimal compared to blu ray. there licensing is free to make players. the encryption standards are less than blu ray. these all sound like factors favoring only manufacturers but here's where the consumer gains an advantage... all this = cheaper players and media vs blu ray. not to mention scratch depth/width issues on the disc media that are easier for hd-dvd to overcome because it's not packing the data so close.
blu ray only wins in the storage density and only on initial offerings. quality of playback is entirely a non-issue in one format over the other. both formats are capable of playing back the same encoded format/content. neither has an advantage in the movie formats/encoding capabilities placed on them.
the only one who stands to gain by holding out in the format war is sony as they want licensing fees for their tech. which is why toshiba was thinking of throwing in the towel early. microsoft had an advantage in seeing that not happen as it would take away a reason to own a playstation 3 if hd-dvd became the defacto standard which would really hurt sony in the game console market. yes it's true it was done to cut sony's throat, so what? if it means a format that was better for a consumer doesn't get shelved because no one backed it, boo hoo sony. i don't care about sony's bottom line at all. i care about mine.
wvh - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
Just stop buying movies, or download them for free if you must. Until they start thinking about us again.
As if it's not enough for customers to pay those extortion prices for a simple digital copy and fight the DRM, the industry has to occupy itself with pissing contests like this debate.
There simply is no value in what is being offered at this moment. YMMV, but think about it. You don't have to collect DVDs. Do something worthwhile.
hieyeque - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
Sony owns both the media format and the content and in my opinion this is anticompetitive in nature. However, it's not much unlike Microsoft owning the hardware (XBOX) and also owning the content for that console - they don't, after all, develop the same titles for the PS3. But at some point consumers have to say enough is enough, what if Sony starts buying movie theaters? Do you think they'd let you watch the movies they own somewhere else? Notice the word "let", it's all about control and artificially creating demand for one product based on the demand for another. I like Sony's movies, I don't much care about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD in terms of which format is better, but now I have to have Blu-Ray. They tie products you like to products you don't care about to control the market. This is control and anticompetitive and a hassle and incovienient. What if Blu-Ray was 100GB and double the quality of HD-DVD, what if the price were reasonable? We would all CHOOSE to buy it, not be driven like a bunch of mindless cattle through a narrow path. Let's not forget Sony's other snafu with regard to the Root-kit they installed on unwitting purchasers of their music CD's. Don't forget that this is part of their evil plan to control everyone's lives. Blu-Ray was from it's inception built in to the PS3, Sony knew they would be planting Blu-Ray in children's rooms....Hey they also own the movie studios, PERFECT Muohhahhahahaha, now we've planted the players, we own the content, let's take over the format. Is it really necessary to charge $30 a disc? Come-on - is 10 movies really worth $300 dollars? I'm not saying I totally support HD-DVD, I think those on that side would do the same thing if given the opportunity. But at least it's a choice, if they didn't come out with HD-DVD there would be no choice, none, zip, nada. ...and everybody would be answering to Sony, every movie maker and otherwise. Is it any wonder that Apple is teamed up with Sony? Another organization that over the years has tried the marketing approach of control - whose consumers have overwhelmingly chosen freedom of hardware decoupled from the OS and ONE company! And look- PC's were better than Apples hardware! Why else would an Apple become a PC? Of course the OS is still theirs, but Macs are now regular old PC hardware...That's what we have to do to this format war- hold back your dollars, wait for them to sweeten the pot and start making offerings that we want to buy, not offerings where we, the consumers, have to make sacrifices...HOLD your money until they give in.jpeyton - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
Even for a normal consumer like me, who watches movies in his living room, the COST of Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD is very similar.A 1080p Toshiba A30 HD-DVD player is about $250 on Amazon. A similar 1080p Sony or Samsung Blu-Ray player is about $350 on Amazon.
Now, I buy about 25 movies for each format over the course of a year or two. Lets say, on average (including various BOGO sales), I pay an average of $20 a title.
That puts my total investment at $750 for HD-DVD, and $850 for Blu-Ray. Wow, I paid a whole 13% more for Blu-Ray. That really sunk my entire budget; I might have to take a second mortgage to afford that extra $100 that Blu-Ray cost me. Or not.
I'm sure Anand, spending tens of thousands of dollars on a dedicated Home Theater, really has to pinch his pennies when he's deciding which high-definition movie format to go with.
plonk420 - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
here's a few good missed discs:Blu-Ray:
Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3
Ratatoille
The Fifth Element
HD-DVD:
Serenity (geeks unite!)
Transformers
Heroes
Avalon - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
I'm not buying anything. Both formats are ridiculously expensive compared to DVD.SirLamer - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
I want Blu-Ray to win out. Its specs are much better and thus serve long-term storage interests. Also, Blu-Ray stuff cost more now because they need a new machinery set to build the stuff but, once built, the components are cheaper to make. This is true in particular of the discs. So, again, looking long-term, the consumer will benefit most if Blu-Ray wins out.Also, the change in technology that Blu-Ray makes is inevitable if progress is to be made, so putting that off in the name of immediate cost savings is very short-sighted, in my opinion.
Anyway, I express my desire by buying only Blu-Ray discs. I own a PS3 and that's what I use to play them. The reality is that I don't really need to own every movie that I like, and I do quite fine when restricting myself to the Blu-Ray library. However, I am confident that Blu-Ray will win out and eventually the HD-DVD titles will be available on Blu-Ray, which makes this choice a bit easier.