Why HD DVD and Blu-ray Need You To Be an Early Adopter Now

[TheMoose]

Well I kind of backed in to being a Blu-Ray early adopter because I got the Playstation 3.
There wasn't that many games at launch but there was a couple I wanted so I bought the PS3 & I have 3 games & 45 Blu-Ray movies.

I'm not what you would call a traditional "early adopter", I waited till the prices got "reasonable" & more programing was available to get my first HDTV & I usually wait for new tech to be more mainstream before I spend my hard earned blue collar dollars on them, however Sony's Trojan horse of adding a Blu-Ray player to my PS3 got me in early on this format.

I'm glad I did, I have been enjoying movies in 1080p since last November while many others are waiting for a winner.
The way I look at it going Blu was a no brainer, since all the PS3 games will be on Blu-Ray discs there will always be a player for them since Sony being Sony will continue to support Blu-Ray in the next gen Playstation too because they (unlike some other companies) will not make the current gen games obsolete when the PS4 comes out.

With the most exclusive studio support & most overall studios if Sony can get the price of a player down around $200-$300 this Xmas Universal may have no choice but to release in Blu-Ray & that will be the end of the war.

This war does need to end sooner than later, the last thing we want is another DVD-A vs SACD mess in high def movies.
I personally would rather own the disc than have a DRM mess of compressed audio & video downloads that take 2 days to download, may have viewing/sharing restrictions & will die with your hard drive & have to be purchased again (like iTunes songs)

[deacongreg]

Originally Posted by TheMoose

Well I kind of backed in to being a Blu-Ray early adopter because I got the Playstation 3.
There wasn't that many games at launch but there was a couple I wanted so I bought the PS3 & I have 3 games & 45 Blu-Ray movies.

I'm not what you would call a traditional "early adopter", I waited till the prices got "reasonable" & more programing was available to get my first HDTV & I usually wait for new tech to be more mainstream before I spend my hard earned blue collar dollars on them, however Sony's Trojan horse of adding a Blu-Ray player to my PS3 got me in early on this format.

I'm glad I did, I have been enjoying movies in 1080p since last November while many others are waiting for a winner.
The way I look at it going Blu was a no brainer, since all the PS3 games will be on Blu-Ray discs there will always be a player for them since Sony being Sony will continue to support Blu-Ray in the next gen Playstation too because they (unlike some other companies) will not make the current gen games obsolete when the PS4 comes out.

With the most exclusive studio support & most overall studios if Sony can get the price of a player down around $200-$300 this Xmas Universal may have no choice but to release in Blu-Ray & that will be the end of the war.

This war does need to end sooner than later, the last thing we want is another DVD-A vs SACD mess in high def movies.
I personally would rather own the disc than have a DRM mess of compressed audio & video downloads that take 2 days to download, may have viewing/sharing restrictions & will die with your hard drive & have to be purchased again (like iTunes songs)

Yes, the war does need to end soon. No question that the picture in HD is excellent. But, having two formats is not what we need.

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by deacongreg

Yes, the war does need to end soon. No question that the picture in HD is excellent. But, having two formats is not what we need.

I totally agree, the format war is what's keeping Joe 6 pack from jumping in & that's what's needed to get the prices down & the releases up!

[snofun3]

Originally Posted by David DelGrosso

Can one of these hi-def disc formats truly wipe out the other?

As always... content strength, availability and pricing will greatly affect how this competition plays out.

* How many "A" movies are released thru the Holiday season

* What special features and extras are added onto these discs

* What kind of special prices, freebies and bundles are offered by each format

Does anybody care to predict the January 2008 market share for each of these hi-def disc formats?

DD

I don't really care about Jan '09, since it will continue to be the same clusterf*($ it is now, with no definative answer. Let's see what Jan '10 or '11 looks like.

I'd bet BluRay takes it, even though I don't like Sony at all, but after having a bunch of Beta tapes and laserdiscs still sitting around, I'll wait for the decision then make the investment.

[redfootball]

Let's see, I have several piles of "new technology" sitting in storage in the basement. Music and video, players and such. Most either died after a couple or years to be replaced by new and improved ways to listen to my music or watch my movies. No way I'm paying several hundred bucks to play guinea pig to anything else. When a clear winner emerges in the hi def vid wars, I'll go with it. As for audio, I have a collection of remastered, remastered and remastered discs that barely improve upon the original vinyl. MP3s sound like crap -- the better the system the worse the fidelity. Surround sound? I can do that quite nicely with the sound fields on my old Sony. I have never attended a concert with guitar and strings coming from in back of me and suspect I never will. If hi-def and blu-ray want to have a showdown, cut the price of the players a few hundred bucks, which will happen eventually anyway, and let consumers decide.

[snofun3]

Originally Posted by redfootball

Surround sound? I can do that quite nicely with the sound fields on my old Sony. I have never attended a concert with guitar and strings coming from in back of me and suspect I never will. If hi-def and blu-ray want to have a showdown, cut the price of the players a few hundred bucks, which will happen eventually anyway, and let consumers decide.

Unfortunately then, you never went to see Pink Floyd or Emerson Lake and Palmer. But, I bet every concert you went to had reverb, and audience behind you etc. etc. which is what a well recorded SS disc has in the ambient channels.

Try something like Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense, Cream, Royal albert Hall 2005, Peter Gabriel, etc. etc, and see if you feel the same way about surround sound.