I suppose they think its all over

[Ragworm]

With the final demise of the HD DVD format the blue ray camp must think that now we are all going to rush out and buy a spanking new blue ray player. Well think again! Yes, a competing format was a major barrier to sale but it's not the only one.

Putting aside the premium price of BD players, there's the physical size. Right now they are all humongous brutes and I for one just don't have the rack space.

Next there's the functionality and connectivity. Currently my lounge accommodates the TV, the PVR, the DVD player, the stereo amp, the CD player, the surround amp, 5 speakers, a subwoofer and a good collection of speaker cables, video cables, analogue and digital interconnects, all with supporting racks and stands. I've been waiting for over a year for a manufacturer to bring out a combined digital twin-tuner PVR and DVR recorder so that I can reduce the box and cable count under the TV. What's the chances of such a box being launched with BD playback capability any time soon? Slim I would say. And then there's HD on Freesat!

Whilst all this new technology is great, the lack of integration is turning my house into something that looks like a hi-fi dealer's demo room. So, no I won't be buying a blue ray player just yet. Not until I can find one small enough to fit on my TV stand and, ideally, not until it combines some of the functionality of at least one of my other boxes.

Now, if I were Toshiba and I had a warehouse full of HD DVD drives, and I were reading this rant (yes I admit it) then I would consider bringing out the integrated twin-tuner PVR and HD DVD player with DVD upscaling and then we'd see if the format battle was really over!

 

[SpiceWeasel]

The final nail in the coffin for HD DVD is the fact that most if not all the movie studios have decided to release only on Blueray and normal DVD. I can't see many people buying a HD DVD no matter how cheap it is.

Yes you might be able to grab some last minute HD DVD movies. But what happens a few years down the line when you player dies and your then left with a big pile of films you can't watch ?

Regarding the size and spec of Blueray players, well look back to when DVD players 1st came onto the market. Their price almost matched the size of the player. Today you can buy a tiny dvd player for around £20-£30.

Last year you could of payed well over £1k for a top spec player, today your looking at around £350. Plus better performance and features. As soon as the budget manufacturers start jumping on the bandwagon then the prices will tumble.

Give it a year and I bet there will be some real bargains to be had.

 

[Ragworm]

SpiceWeasel:
Give it a year and I bet there will be some real bargains to be had.

I've no doubt your right. In time the price and size will both come down. However, we seem to be introducing new media formats faster than we can miniaturise and integrate them and they are all competing for space, power and connectivity in our homes. I for one, have reached the limit of what is acceptable in a domestic environment.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

I completely understand your view on reaching your limit with all those boxes. There's only so much space you can use and almost always a lack of plug sockets.

For me I have always preffered the extra performance from single devices. And the fact that you can mix and match to get better performance or to match other gadgets.

Todays technology has already cut down on extra boxes. My PS3 not only plays games,but also dvd and blueray. So thats 3 devices in 1 box. And I hope to replace my bog standard sky box and s-vhs video with either sky+ or sky hd soon. So again thats 2 in 1.

I will eventually buy a proper blueray player but that won't be for at least a year. At the moment todays seperate blueray players are not enough of a performance increase to warrant the extra money over my PS3. Next year though who knows

 

[Sorreltiger]

...and there just isn't enough material to watch yet. ÿI'm afraid that the promise of a dazzlingly clear picture isn't enough to persuade me to watch a second-rate film that was panned by the critics when it was released in the cinema a few months ago.

 

[professorhat]

Quite a few new releases are now both on DVD and Blu-Ray. And there's quite a lot of top quality films out there if you look for them. Of course, you do wonder why on earth studios bring out something like "Santa Clause 3" to this illustrious new format - I can't see it really take advantage of the crystal clear picture! Or even worse, bring out a decent film like "Gangs of New York" on Blu-Ray and not bother to really improve the picture over the DVD format - what's the point?!

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. Too much kit. Too little space. At least if you can pick up an amp with 4 or more HDMIs in, then it would be possible to pack away most of the kit apart from the amp, run everything into that discretely and connect that by a single lead to the TV. That's my plan. Once, of course there's a little more choice in the market.
Concerning HD-DVD. I bought a cheap player before Christmas and have picked up a whole bunch of discs at £3-5 a pop. I've now acquired (for very little dosh) another player that'll sit in my garage if and when the first one dies. That way, the collection stays viable. Toshiba, bless 'em, are regularly bringing out firmware, so I'm very happy. AND it's a good upscaling SD DVD player, too!
My Sharp BluRay is no bigger than a regular DVD player, though. I agree, the Sony ones are HUGE, but take a look at the Sharp.

 

[Anonymous]

I wish people would get it right. Its Blu Ray. Oh and DVD was also very expensive when it came out to replace VHS. So give it time.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Bullseye:I wish people would get it right. Its Blu Ray.

I wish people would get it right. It's Blu-ray Disc.

Bullseye:Oh and DVD was also very expensive when it came out to replace VHS. So
give it time.

And it seems the head of Sony Electronics USA isn't too convinced that BD will replace DVD - see here.

 

[Frank Harvey]

We're not sure why people can't see the difference between 576i and 720p or 1080p. Screen quality? Eyesight? We'd love to know why.......

As Bullseye states, both VHS and DVD were expensive when they were initially launched. BluRay seems to be dropping in price quicker than both of them, so there's not much of an argument here. With current BD players from £200, I fail to see where the 'premium' price hardware is. For a lot of people, they already have a BD player in their home by default thanks to the PS3. There were no DVD players for £200 a year or two into it's life span, and VHS took about a decade to get anywhere near that price. Most formats take about 4 or 5 years to bed themselves in, so BD is still relatively young.

Yes, HD-DVD movies are very cheap at the moment, so anybody can build a little (and limited) library of HD films for not a vast outlay. Great for a couple of years, but when the player starts playing up you're forced into buying a used one or scrapping the collection. If the player lasts 5-10 years it's worth a punt.

As for quantity of software, there's plenty out at the moment, and increasing. I'm sure by the time most people have saved enough to purchase what they want from the current crop of UK discs, and region free US discs, there will be many more to choose from. And with the prices that HMV and Zavvi are charging for new releases, I really can't understand why people are buying them over BD! As an example, browsing Zavvi the other day - Diary Of The Dead (not a great film by the way) is £18 on DVD and £20 on BD! And I'm sorry, but a nice steel book isn't going to persuade me to buy an inferior picture.

With the cheap prices of DVD and the increasing availability of download services, the fight is far from over. But these three categories all seem to attract rather different people.

 

[Anonymous]

Well it may be over but like most I have been taking advantage of all those HD-DVDs for £3 each, plus have just purchased an multi-region HD-EP10 for £100 to go with my EP30.

I'm not really for either camp, I have a PS3 for BD, although the price of the discs has restricted my purchases for 3 for 2 offers, still too expensive in my view. So I have more HD-DVD discs than BD and thats the way its going to stay for quite a while.

I still buy a lot of SD but only when the discs are £3-4 each which I can upscale on one of the best upscalers in the business and I can enjoy HD in all its glory. So what if the format war is over, but which one? there's BD vs SD. I still wouldn't be surprised if BD loses as well, you can blame the manufacturers and studios for that.

So what if both of my HD-DVD machines eventually fail? well I'm sure I will still be able to buy an internal PC HD-DVD drive for next to nothing in a few years time. If BD fails I'll still have the best machine on the market in the form of the PS3 which streams via my PC/Mac as well as been 'a dreaded' games console, and before you ask, yes I do play games on it, something I didn't think I would do at the tender age of 41.

Think it's all over... far from it.