Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD part 2. Choose Blu-Ray.

Posted on January 15th, 2008
By Alex Clover in Other, Research, Technology

Since January 4 when Warner Studios announced it was going to be supporting the Blu-Ray HD media format exclusively , the choice between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has been made a lot simpler. Blu-Ray is now the HD media format of choice. HD-DVD simply does not have the movie studio support it needs to offer a significant number of titles. 

 

The movie studios currently exclusively supporting Blu-Ray are:
Sony Pictures (including MGM/Columbia TriStar)
Disney (including Touchstone, Miramax)
Fox
Warner
Lions Gate
This accounts for the vast majority of movie releases on the market.

 

HD-DVD only has the exclusive support of:
Viacom (including Paramount, Dreamworks)
Universal

This amounts to a fraction of the overall number of movie releases available on the market.

 

To top this all off, Blu-Ray players are only available with full 1080p capability (some HD-DVD players are 1080i only), making them future proof (those el-cheapo WalMart HD-DVD players were 1080i). The media itself also has more storage space leading to lots of Blu-Ray titles carrying HDMI lossless audio while HD-DVD titles sometimes only carry compressed audio. The bitrate (read: picture quality) of a Blu-ray picture is also often marginally higher than that of HD-DVD. Blockbuster also only stocks Blu-Ray movies, no HD-DVD there either.

 

The sad thing is that HD-DVD is, as a format, more consumer-friendly than Blu-Ray as it's media carries no regional encoding (meaning you can buy an HD-DVD disc here in the UK, in France, in India, or in Japan and they will all play well on your player). In addition, the players themselves run for about half the cost of a comparable Blu-Ray player.

 

But what good is an HD-DVD player if you have no movies to play on it? My suggestion: the format war is over - if you've been waiting, feel free to go and buy yourself a Blu-Ray player (make sure it's "profile 2 compatible or upgradeable").

 

*By the way, the cheapest place I've found to buy Blu-Ray media is on Amazon . Sometimes they'll have 2 for 1 specials. There is also a great sale going on now here .

 

**We had previously published a post regarding Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD available here .

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1. HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray: Which to buy and When to Wait » The Bivings Report
   

   January 15th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

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   January 18th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

Comments

1. Matt
   

   January 16th, 2008 at 9:36 am

   Why buy either when reliable downloadable HD media is so close to being widely available. Just like cds, dvds of any format will soon be a thing of the past.

2. Lee
   

   January 17th, 2008 at 4:01 am

   I think you need to check what you are saying again. The problem with Blu-Ray is that there are (soon to be) 3 different versions, many players you already own are non-upgradeable and therefore all these new features on blu-ray you wont be getting, unless of course you fork out for another player making it very expensive.

   I wouldn’t write hddvd off just yet, I think theres going to be a backlash still to come from the consumers over this fiasco of revisions and I think your jumping in too early yet to say who will win the format war. In all honesty I think we wont find out for a few years just yet as uptake is slow due to the fact that consumers dont really see any huge difference in quality (unlike the jump from vhs to dvd).

3. Jorn
   

   January 18th, 2008 at 2:12 am

   @ “Matt” mate, you’ve got to be kidding (unless you live in Japan). There is no way hd media will be available to the majority in the US. Why? Major changes to the infrastructure need to be made (optic) to facilitate faster download speeds. Hell, there are some cities which don’t have cell phone access, let alone a dsl line.

4. Kenny
   

   January 18th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

   I don’t think it’s over just yet. The average joe schmoo user still can’t benefit fully from either formats and they sure as heck aren’t going to spend 2x-5x the average cost of a DVD player to not be able to get the benefits. Or, 2x the cost of a regular DVD movie for an HD one. Only a video/audio tech head will tell you the side by side difference between the two HD formats. Unless the average users sees them side by side (and even then it’s like wine, some like it one way, others like it another, others can’t tell, while most just don’t care :)), both would look and sound the same.

   I believe it’s still going to come down to cost and some other factors. The first one with a $100 HD player will have a definitive lead here. If Sony were to do it today, the war would probably be over. If Toshiba were to do it today, sure HD DVD wouldn’t have the titles, but their players would probably replace a lot of DVD players in everyone’s home that wanted the benefits of at least upconversion of their existing DVD library with the option to play HD DVDs as well. Once these players are in the home it’s only inevitable that these users will go out and start to purchase the HD DVD movies available. Personally, I’ve been waiting to pick up 2 additional upconverting DVD players and seeing 1080P HD DVD players selling for $200 now has peaked my interest considerably, and if Blu Ray does win I still will have a player that can play existing DVDs quite well and may even get a good deal on existing HD DVDs in the clearance bins to boot.

   Lastly, you’ve mentioned it in your blog, heard it from other sources, etc. Porn will be one of the key elements here in whether HD stays around for the long haul. Whether you agree with me or not, Porn is a HUGE industry and if they are only backing HD DVD then that should give you several things to look at
   1) Majority of Porn consumers are probably male (since I’m male there’s no point in denying that I’m a consumer also :))
   2) I would have to assume that most audio/video hardware purchases are made by males. Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but this is an assumption which I think is correct.

   Add the 2 together and you probably have a bunch of guys (and when I mean bunch I don’t mean only a dozen or so supporting a multi-billion dollar industry on their own) sitting on the sidelines, waiting for cheaper HD DVD players, wondering about how much more better can Porn be with the advanced menuing structure available on HD DVDs

   So don’t count anyone out just yet.

5. JOHN
   

   January 24th, 2008 at 11:15 am

   I disaggree kenny, while cost does play and important role in the format but it’s the movie that lure the buyers. If you want to buy upconvert players for cheap, there are 40 dollars upconvert players around, so why spend 100 dollars something that will become obsolete when hd dvd die out. No matter what you said 1080p will look way better than upconvert anyway.
   about porn, i do not think it will matter much this time around because right now internet is the way for porn. Back in the day the only way to distribute porn was through some kind of media, but now if you are to go online you would see porn everywhere.

6. Chris
   

   January 27th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

   I agree with Kenny. Simply on the fact that from what I’ve heard the Toshiba HD-DVD players are among the best upconvertors on the market and if you shop at Sam’s or Costco you can get the HD-D3 version with an HDMI cable for ~120 bucks. Sure it’s probably going to lose the format wars but it has more capability than a decent upconvert player, which is a pretty good deal for the price.

7. Valerie
   

   January 29th, 2008 at 1:52 am

   I read a lot about the both of these formats and decided at Christmas to buy a Sony Playstation 3 which has a Blu-ray player. I thought it was a great deal to have a unit that has two functions, a gaming console and a high definition dvd player. I’ve watched a number of Blu-ray discs and they look great. Amazon.com also sells Blu-ray discs at the rate many conventional dvd’s sell for. I suspect at this point most people who are getting high definition players are more discerning and are going to go with Blu-ray because it’s a better quality product.

8. Jedidiah Rose
   

   January 29th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

   This is a message to the guy who said porn is only on HD DVD,the entire japanese market for porn just went Blu ray,and most of America is going Blu ray to,so basically that little prophecy of yours won’t do fuck all for HD DVD.The format is pointless,tha war will be over in the manner of a few months,PS3’s will sell in their droves simply as Blu-Ray players,consumers will realise it’s the best game console and recommend it to their breeze-block fanboy friends who will buy the PS3 and realise they have the joy of Blu Ray at hand,and we will never see Hd DVD again,Halleluiah!

   Breeze block fanboy=Xbox360 Fanboy

9. Izabael DaJinn
   

   February 5th, 2008 at 5:08 am

   Yuck! HD-DVD is clearly better for the consumers. Sony and the other Evil Entities are out to steal our hard-earned cash on over-priced players or better yet forcing us to buy the PS3 so they can bring up the pathetic sales they’ve had so far.

   And hate to tell you guys who say the PS3 will sell in droves this year. No way jose. It wasn’t popular when the economy was riding high to pay $400+ for a game system, what the hell do you think will people will do in the midst of a recession? You got it. Stick to DVD, and stick to the Wii and the affordable high-def game system the Xbox360.

   But then again, I feel backed into a corner. I already spent money on a good high def TV and I want high-def hard media (on occassion…for now downloading is only a partial option). I’ll probably just buy a PS3 and boycott buying any games for it whatsoever.

   *Izabael

10. wonton6
    

    February 6th, 2008 at 11:53 am

    You know, I don’t know anyone who is planning to buy a P3 (4 kids loads of grandkids we are all gamers/movie buffs)- main reason is they think it will not play P2 games or regular DVD’s. Is that right? Will the new BluRay players only play bluray? If so, good luck getting anyone over 40 to adopt it. We have stuff that works now, that we paid plenty for, games, movies. This is the second time in our generation we have had to change formats, most of us just won’t do it.
    Now if the players will do both DVD & BR, then it will simply be a matter of giving people a good deal on a player that will work with a regular TV, we don’t know anyone with an HDTV either.

11. Kenny
    

    February 7th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    I think wonton6 hit it on the nose. The average user just doesn’t care right now. (Wonton6, new Blu Ray players do play DVDs, not sure about the PS3 though)

    Unless Sony, Toshiba, etc. make it more attractive price wise for the players and movies, it doesn’t matter who has what movies if a lot of folks don’t want, have or need the players to play them.

    John mentioned that the internet is the way for Porn and it wouldn’t have much affect in the battle. That may be partially true, but if you look at this further then the need for either Blu Ray or HD is also diminished by the internet. You won’t get HD quality for the most part yet, but average folks have the option to download their movies now, and that convenience over whether to buy an expensive player and an HD tv is going weigh pretty heavily on how fast either camps will get adopted.

    So again, price is going to be a major factor in at least Toshiba’s camp. Get the players out to the consumers cheaper with awesome upconverting capabilities and the movie industry may just end up supporting both formats for awhile. I say both, because we all know Sony sticks with their own formats to the grave no matter what.

    As for being able to get a cheap $40 upconverter, if side by side comparision shows there isn’t much of a difference then I would say buy one, but everyone here should know better.

    Now with Amazon lowering their prices further on the Toshiba A3 ($119) and A30 ($152) it’s going to be interesting to see how this is all going to play out.

    For the record, I’m not on either side. I do however like anything that is priced well. Toshibas current HD players are priced very well for excellent DVD upconverting capabilities while current Blu Ray players > $300 aren’t.

    The storage capacity difference I could care less about also. I remember the days of being able to pop in a VHS tape and have the movie start playing, until they added commercials. Some early DVD’s started out this way then they started to add Bonus and Extras and huge menus. I could care less about all that crap and I believe that would be the consensus for the average user. So the extra 10GB of storage on Blu Ray for this extra crap is in my opinion irrelevant so long as an HD movie can fit on 15 GB. I know that’s a moot point since both camps are going to do it anyway

12. Moore
    

    February 8th, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    For those looking for the cheapest deal as Kenny mentions. The Toshiba A3’s are going for between $50 and $75 on eBay.

    Not a bad option to get a HD-DVD player for $50 and a ton of movies for a pittance on eBay. You get to watch quite a bit in high def even though you may not be able to get new releases down the road.

13. Moore
    

    February 8th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    Looks like the death of HD-DVD is accellerating after the Warner decision.

    - FS Films goes Blu-ray exclusive
    - Kaleidescape goes Blu-ray exclusive
    - Saturn (Largest German electronics retailer) goes Blu-ray exclusive
    02-07-08 SF Films (Sweden) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    02-07-08 Scanbox (Sweden) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    02-07-08 Filmax Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    02-04-08 BAC Films (France) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    02-04-08 Manga Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    02-01-08 ADV Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    01-31-08 Highlight Video (Germany) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    01-30-08 National Geographic Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    01-30-08 EMI (Japan) Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    01-30-08 Sonic Solutions Scenarist Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
    01-28-08 Woolworths Retail Outlet (UK) goes Blu-ray exclusive in store.
    01-22-08 Grant’s Appliances to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
    01-16-08 Senator Entertainment to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
    01-16-08 Digital Playground to go Blu-ray exclusive in 2008.
    01-11-08 Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive.
    01-10-08 HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive.
    01-05-08 New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive.
    01-04-08 Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive.

14. dude_man
    

    February 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    my strategy is, buy the hd dvd for now, since the price is cheap(around $150). So you can enjoy some HD contents and prons for now. You can get many HD movies from netflix, too bad it doesn’t offer porn. PS3 price will goes down in the near future, wait a couple of years, by then you can buy the PS3 as the blue ray player. I think by doing this, you are still ahead of the game, compare to those who are wait for the war to be over, or waiting for the daul format player to come out.
    I love sony products, but I do hate their proprietary format. Just for that reason, I hope Sony lose the war.

15. Bob
    

    February 11th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    It looks like the death of HD-DVD continues. I got an email from netflix today - they are no loinger going to carry HD-DVD, they are going to be exclussive to blue ray.

    Here is the email:

    We’re Going Blu-ray

    Dear Robert,

    You’re receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

    While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.

    Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don’t worry, we will contact you before this happens.

    You can click here to change your format preferences.

    We’re sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

    -The Netflix Team

16. fred
    

    February 13th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    i have a ps3 i love it i bought it when it was 599, worth every penny.it plays all my dvds and most of my ps2 games. No subscription fees for game play. The internet browser good too. Hardly use my desktop anymore. Blue Ray owns..hd discs and xbox sucks go buy accessories for it youll spend way more then a ps3 which has all that stuff already built in.

17. Lee
    

    February 17th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    Well I admit I was wrong, so quickly HDDVD has died, toshiba are rumoured to stop producing the machines this week and admit defeat. Article here :

    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2.....dvd_claim/

    Dont know if it’s true but just in last week or two things have turned dramatically. Oh well, glad I never bought one for the 360 :p