Blu-Ray takes the lead

Rob Lohman · March 19th, 2007, 06:08 AM

Paulo: could be the case indeed. Saw a lot of advertising suddenly. Had already seen that in the US when I was last down there ;)

Anyway, it's here or nearly here. Will still be interesting to see what it does with Blu-ray sales over the next months

Heath McKnight · March 19th, 2007, 10:05 PM

I've been seeing more PS3s in stores, and though my friend is unhappy he can't use HDMI successfully with his Westinghouse Digital 42" LCD (1080p), component isn't bad. I think most of the bugs in the PS3 are getting worked out nicely.

Note, HDMI seems to work best in Sony HDTVs (I have some friends with PS3s and Sony HDTVs). Go figure.

heath

Heath McKnight · March 20th, 2007, 06:09 AM

Another story, incl. a "not-so-fast" from HD DVD:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31950

heath

Wayne Morellini · March 20th, 2007, 06:55 AM

I thought these things were 35mb/s and bad, now I understand. Looked at another BD demo the other day, and the grain is so pronounced. People might think their grain is authentic, but it obscures the authentic image and leads to poor compression (even making the grain more pronounce) I wish they would clean it up before compression.

I wish camera companies would stop playing with us, and introduce cameras that offer the highest BD recording formats.

I thought h264 on the BD toped out at 24mb/s, is 40mb/s for true? If so, it is good news.

Jon Fairhurst · March 20th, 2007, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne Morellini

I thought h264 on the BD toped out at 24mb/s, is 40mb/s for true? If so, it is good news.

It's true. BD-ROM (movies) supports a maximum rate of 54 Mbps with 40 Mbps for video. The 24 Mbps number is the rate for Japanese digital HD broadcast, including audio & video, so that may be where that number came from.

According to Wikipedia, BD recordable discs support 36 Mbps total. 2x drives support 72 Mbps and 8x drives of 288 Mbps and beyond are expected in the future.

Paulo Teixeira · March 20th, 2007, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

Another story, incl. a "not-so-fast" from HD DVD:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31950

heath

I could be wrong but I read that you get 5 free HD-DVDs per every HD-DVD player purchased and those vouchers that are included with the PS3 are discounts, not free movies that Toshiba is claiming.

Heath McKnight · March 20th, 2007, 02:14 PM

When my family bought me a DVD player in late 1998 for Christmas, I received five free Warner Bros. DVDs (not good movies, incl. Lethal Weapon 4, Sphere and more) and one free Hollywood Video DVD rental a month for a year. Not too bad, plus the old www.reel.com allowed me to buy one DVD and get the second one for a buck.

Just a way to sell more of the product.

heath

Harrison Murchison · March 20th, 2007, 03:02 PM

This War is so freakin awesome! Toshiba is set to reduce MSRP of their HD DVD players on April 1st.

HD-A2 will drop to $399
HD-A20 will be $499 (despite being announced at CES at $599)
HD-XA2 will be $799

Street prices should be pretty damn nice. I'm ready to buy a player and take advantage of 7 free movies.

http://www.valueelectronics.com/Tosh...A20_HD_DVD.htm

Then I'll grab a Blu-ray or Universal player next year for full movie support. Sometimes the consumer can win in a War.

Heath McKnight · March 20th, 2007, 03:15 PM

Interesting take on it, Harrison. That's why I asked for an SD DVD player in 1998--they wanted us, the consumers, to buy with great incentives.

heath

Mike Teutsch · March 20th, 2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

When my family bought me a DVD player in late 1998 for Christmas, I received five free Warner Bros. DVDs (not good movies, incl. Lethal Weapon 4, Sphere and more) and one free Hollywood Video DVD rental a month for a year. Not too bad, plus the old www.reel.com allowed me to buy one DVD and get the second one for a buck.

Just a way to sell more of the product.

heath

Heath,

Lethal Weapon 4 and Sphere is not "THAT" bad!

I just want this thing settled, but my fears are that it will not be for a long time, maybe years.

Mike

Tom Vaughan · March 20th, 2007, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harrison Murchison

This War is so freakin awesome! Toshiba is set to reduce MSRP of their HD DVD players on April 1st.

HD-A2 will drop to $399
HD-A20 will be $499 (despite being announced at CES at $599)
HD-XA2 will be $799

The HD-A2 is already down to $356.99 at Amazon.com...
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-...dp/B000IJV4BC/

But I would tend to agree that Blu-ray is starting to show signs of coming out on top. Check out http://www.thedvdwars.com This site scrapes info off of Amazon product pages, turning sales ranks into comparative charts.

There is also a good article in PC Magazine showing Blu-ray outselling HD DVD 2:1 this year (roughly). http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2104850,00.asp

There are still NO HD DVD burners available, while there are 5 or 6 models of Blu-ray burners (and they have been available for 9 months).

It isn't over until it's over... but so far it looks like Sony's sponsorship of Blu-ray, costly as it has been, is proving to be a deciding factor in the HD disc format war.

Tom

Mike Teutsch · March 20th, 2007, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Vaughan

There are still NO HD DVD burners available, while there are 5 or 6 models of Blu-ray burners (and they have been available for 9 months).

Tom

Not true! A quick search found this:

http://keyword.netscape.com/ns/boomf...ner-for-pcs%2F

Paulo Teixeira · March 20th, 2007, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Vaughan

The HD-A2 is already down to $356.99 at Amazon.com...
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-...dp/B000IJV4BC/

The retail price of the XA2 is already 799 in a lot of authorized dealers and Amazon has it at 599. That player is barely a few months old and you can already get it at 400 dollars off.

The XA2 is the one to get. The A2 can’t even do 1080p.

Tom Vaughan · March 20th, 2007, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Teutsch

Not true! A quick search found this:

http://keyword.netscape.com/ns/boomf...ner-for-pcs%2F

This is a press release. Can you find this burner, or any HD DVD burners for sale?

Let me know.

Actually, Toshiba has shipped some high-end notebooks with HD DVD burners, but not in large quantities.

Tom

Mike Teutsch · March 20th, 2007, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Vaughan

Actually, Toshiba has shipped some high-end notebooks with HD DVD burners, but not in large quantities.

Tom

Wouldn't that negate your question right there?

March 19th, 2007, 06:08 AM	#31
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Paulo: could be the case indeed. Saw a lot of advertising suddenly. Had already seen that in the US when I was last down there ;) Anyway, it's here or nearly here. Will still be interesting to see what it does with Blu-ray sales over the next months __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 19th, 2007, 10:05 PM	#32
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	I've been seeing more PS3s in stores, and though my friend is unhappy he can't use HDMI successfully with his Westinghouse Digital 42" LCD (1080p), component isn't bad. I think most of the bugs in the PS3 are getting worked out nicely. Note, HDMI seems to work best in Sony HDTVs (I have some friends with PS3s and Sony HDTVs). Go figure. heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

March 20th, 2007, 06:09 AM	#33
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Another story, incl. a "not-so-fast" from HD DVD: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31950 heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

March 20th, 2007, 02:14 PM	#37
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	When my family bought me a DVD player in late 1998 for Christmas, I received five free Warner Bros. DVDs (not good movies, incl. Lethal Weapon 4, Sphere and more) and one free Hollywood Video DVD rental a month for a year. Not too bad, plus the old www.reel.com allowed me to buy one DVD and get the second one for a buck. Just a way to sell more of the product. heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

March 20th, 2007, 03:15 PM	#39
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Interesting take on it, Harrison. That's why I asked for an SD DVD player in 1998--they wanted us, the consumers, to buy with great incentives. heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

March 20th, 2007, 06:55 AM	#34
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	I thought these things were 35mb/s and bad, now I understand. Looked at another BD demo the other day, and the grain is so pronounced. People might think their grain is authentic, but it obscures the authentic image and leads to poor compression (even making the grain more pronounce) I wish they would clean it up before compression. I wish camera companies would stop playing with us, and introduce cameras that offer the highest BD recording formats. I thought h264 on the BD toped out at 24mb/s, is 40mb/s for true? If so, it is good news.

March 20th, 2007, 03:02 PM	#38
Harrison Murchison Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 243	This War is so freakin awesome! Toshiba is set to reduce MSRP of their HD DVD players on April 1st. HD-A2 will drop to $399 HD-A20 will be $499 (despite being announced at CES at $599) HD-XA2 will be $799 Street prices should be pretty damn nice. I'm ready to buy a player and take advantage of 7 free movies. http://www.valueelectronics.com/Tosh...A20_HD_DVD.htm Then I'll grab a Blu-ray or Universal player next year for full movie support. Sometimes the consumer can win in a War.