HD-DVD or Bluray format war, VHS v Betamax all over again or not?!?!

Posted by: SimonJ on 12 April 2007

Anyone got any views on which format may or may not win, if they will both fade out as just a fad or if both will survive for ever?!?

I for one do not have a clue, think both are great for what they do, maybe a little confusing or scarey, but both are basically trying to do the same thing.

The difference here though I think, as opposed to the VHS v Betamax war, is that both have the same physical size disk and this commonality may just stand them both in good stead.

Think back a few years back in the days of the first recordable DVD machine’s. In the early days there was DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R and no one knew what the hell was going on or who would ‘WIN’, it's VHS v Betamax all over again people said. In the recordable DVD format war though, because it was easy to make a player that could use all disks, all formats survived and still do. My Panasonic DVD recorder can record and play DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW & DVD-RW, although I know that the DVD-RAM format is not as popular as the others!

Back to DVD film's LG have already made a DVD player that can play HD-DVD and Bluray DVD so it can be done, I'm not saying well yet, but it can be done. It may be too early to say, but I hope that either one will win fast and all order be restored, which I think is unlikely, or maybe the best outcome is both formats survive and more universal players come out so that the user does not have to pick one or the other.

Smile
Posted on: 12 April 2007 by neil w
simon

ive read reports regarding the lg machine , over the last few months , that the machine is heavilly biased towards the blu ray spec/experience . and has little of the hddvd spec/experience and there were doubts whether it would get hddvd forum approval
i think they'l both survive as both have major backers, some unique to each format and some in bothcamps
however i think its software costs that will eventually decide and they are getting cheaper.
i like you own both and will make my buying decision on whatever format the film comes out on first ill buy ( so long as its not mpeg2) .
the ps3 outputting 1080p thru the 1080p pj really is quite stunning

neil
Posted on: 12 April 2007 by Mr Underhill
Hi Simon,

My Opinion:

I think it is tempting to look at previous format wars, up to & including DVDA -vs- SACD.

With VHS/Betamax there was no alternative in the market if you wanted to video TV - but of course it was not the quality solution that won.

In the current situation DVD does exist, have massive market penetration, and is recordable. The only selling point for HD-DVD/BR is increased quality - and most people I know are still using CRT.

It is made more complex by the expanding use of what is labeled as HD-TV.

HD-TV, whatever standard that is, is making significant sales - I believe. For this reason I think there will probably be some HD traction in the market.

But this won't necc. translate into traction for HD-DVD/BR.

Looking at the DVD-A / SACD situation the companies backed a couple of 'high quality' solutions. In the mass market it was convenience that won the day - MP3 et al. Quality frequently loses!

With increasing availability of upscaling players will the average buyer see a compelling reason to re-buy all their DVDs?

Well, if people buy into HD Screens the quality of what they see from their DVDs may seem poor; much as VHS looks bad on Plasma/LCD TVs. This may kick-start HD-DVD/BR.

Personally I won't go near either for a while. My DVD5/Plasma is still looking great to me!

M
Posted on: 13 April 2007 by Chris West
First of all define "win"

- Most discs sold... and by what margin?

- Most titles available

- Most high quality discs available

- Most popular with the general public

- Most popular with videophiles

- Most popular with computer users

IMHO Most likely both formats will survive in one way or another. For one format to completely oust the other (VHS/Betamax style) there would need to be a very significant bias (no pun intended) Winker
Posted on: 13 April 2007 by David Dever
...and actually–

– which disc format will be the most feature-rich from an authoring perspective

– which disc format will be more tolerant of physical media errors, whether manufactured or environmental (rentals, etc.)

– which disc format will permit existing assets to transfer easily (e.g., MLP-encoded surround) to the new format

and lastly–

– which disc format will be significant enough to necessitate backward compatibility when the next (if any) format replaces it....
Posted on: 13 April 2007 by Frank Abela
In my view, people will be turned off by the war and the Download paradigm will win instead.
Posted on: 13 April 2007 by markusp
Could be, but I for one am not big on downloads in general. I am a physical media kind of guy. Too much can happen when all you deal with is raw data.
Posted on: 14 April 2007 by SimonJ
Agree, itunes etc is great, maybe I’d go as far as fantastic, for what it is, but I still prefer to buy my CD's, albeit from the internet or Tescos rather than the high street. For one the sound quality is much better and I don't mind paying and waiting a little bit extra to have that quality product. I can see that that view may not be the view of the mainstream public and that the convenience and price may win over ultimate quality for some, but then again I think anyone who uses Naim and other similar pitched products would not class themselves with the masses as mainstream with regards their audio equipment tastes and I’d hope that most would agree that ultimate quality wins over convenience and price every time, not that we don't want convenience and reasonable prices mind! Winker
Posted on: 17 April 2007 by Frank Abela
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for having my own copies of content to play whenever I like, examine artwork etc. I just feel that the general public will switch off to yet another format war, figure that SkyHD (or whatever competivie HD supplier) is really rather good and that they get to see pretty much whatever they want since they can just download it any time they want. I hate the paradigm, but I can see how many would actually prefer it to the hassle of storing the media, choosing it from a rack and having to load it up, as well as having to buy it.
Posted on: 18 April 2007 by {OdS}
Simon,

at first, I thought a format would eventually "win". I'm not so sure anymore, though. my current idea is that both formats will survive and that marketing guys will focus on HD rather that the technology behind it. both camps are very strong, universal players will be common in the future I think (like the DVD-A/SACD thing), as well as dual fomat discs (not so sure about this one however!).
Posted on: 18 April 2007 by Chris Kelly
I was in a John lewis store on Saturday when the Grand National was on. They had banks of flat screens, most running either Sky HD demos or HD DVD. They all looked bloody good. In the middle of the back row was one plasma tuned (I use the word loosely) to BBC1 with a most dreadful picture quality. Odd way to sell tvs imho!
Posted on: 18 April 2007 by {OdS}
over here, stores use low quality tv broadcasts spread on 25 screens and display this funny warning: "sorry for the poor image quality"...!
Posted on: 18 April 2007 by Stuart M
At the moment the only way I would by a HD/Blue ray disk was if it came or could be added to a games machine. Then it would be a free cheep extra. I would not buy any dedicated player at the moment.

Downloads or Film via IP is where it's going to go and eventually I guess/hope we'll have some box that plays blue ray/HD and handles downloads/streaming video that is not a PC or MAC and the technology fades into the background.