Blu Ray or HD?

[Mike Kozak]

I know this has probably been asked before, but what is the general opinion of the fine folks here?

Thanks

[dephinistr8]

I have both, love both, however it would seem as far as industry support is concerned, Blu-ray may have the upper hand.

Early on I preffered the HD-DVD's just for the fact that many of them are dual-format (dvd and hd-dvd on one disc), perhaps they did this to sway consumers, although it doesn't look like the consumers are the ones deciding this format war.

[AndyGwis]

I only have HD-DVD (actually have 2 players). Love it, but I'm starting to get scared. Less and less of the good titles are coming out on HD-DVD. Most of them that do also come out on BluRay. I'm seriously considering picking up a BR player here shortly.

Not to threadjack, but anyone have opinions on the Sharp BR player? I see it onsale and looks like a good buy for around $300.

[dephinistr8]

I only have HD-DVD (actually have 2 players). Love it, but I'm starting to get scared. Less and less of the good titles are coming out on HD-DVD. Most of them that do also come out on BluRay. I'm seriously considering picking up a BR player here shortly.

Not to threadjack, but anyone have opinions on the Sharp BR player? I see it onsale and looks like a good buy for around $300.


I gotta say the Sony PS3 is a damn fine BR player...although a lot of folks seem to have an anti-sony thing going...

[Face]

I wouldn't pick up a BR player yet. BR 2.0 is going to be released later this year.

[dephinistr8]

I wouldn't pick up a BR player yet. BR 2.0 is going to be released later this year.

Well the PS3 is 2.0 ready.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080118-new-nlu-ray-2-0-spec-makes-ps3-the-most-future-proof-player.html

[jdhdiggs]

I only have HD-DVD (actually have 2 players). Love it, but I'm starting to get scared. Less and less of the good titles are coming out on HD-DVD. Most of them that do also come out on BluRay. I'm seriously considering picking up a BR player here shortly.

Not to threadjack, but anyone have opinions on the Sharp BR player? I see it onsale and looks like a good buy for around $300.

I have the sharp and it SUCKS compared to the A35. I am still working thorugh bugs such as menus not showing up and skipping and pausing and other issues. Check the AVS forums for more info.

Personally, now that I've gone purple (bought the A35 after the sharp) is that I am really pissed that HD-DVD will probably lose. IMHO: The HD-DVD picture is better, they have more mature/less expensive players (in general). Hell, my wife has no problem using the A35, but has trouble with the sharp...

[shawn474]

With the deal that sony has going on the PS3, I don't think it can be beat. If you sign up for the sony card, they give you $100 statement credit on a purchase 299 and up. I got the 40 gb PS3 for 399 - 100 credit = $2992 with SPider Man 3 and 5 free movies. If you so choose, it also comes with 12 months no interest. From all that I have read, the PS3 rivals all of the stand alone players in terms of quality of components and build quality. I might be wrong, but that was my understanding.

[AndyGwis]

PS3 does sound nice. I think I'll eventually head down that path. For $299, you get BR, SACD (which would mean I can get a better CD only player and not lose my SACD playback), media server. . . and gaming console to boot.

I might just need to get one and store it away somewhere. Is Sony still offering a 5 BR rebate? I think the last one expired 1/31/2008.

[Mike Kozak]

I have an xbox 350 so no need for another game machine. I may wait for Blu Ray 2.0 to come out.

[shawn474]

I think the rebate for blu-rays expired, but am sure they will run a new promotion soon.

What is an XBOX 350?:D

[dorokusai]

Beta.

[Mike Kozak]

it is a typ0 Ha Ha

[danger boy]

I just got an HD DVD playa and two things bug me.. first, you can't resume your movie were you left off. with standard DVD's. you can just turn the player on and start watching the movie where you left off.. not so with HD DVD. It starts from the beginning every time. Did you hear that? Every time you have to start the movie from the beginning. sucks hard.

on my old tube TV which is 1080i, i set the output of the Toshiba player and it looks great and i set it to 16:9 format, even on my 36" tv, it still looks good.. then when I insert a standard DVD, the picture is all very narrow and I have to go into the menu and change it over to 4:3 letterbox to look normal. i am using component video cables.. I don't have HDMI anything.. just DVI.. which I'll try out in the coming weeks.

loads times are long.. maybe a minute or two... forwarding or rewinding to the next chapter is slow.. it freezes, then 5 or 6 seconds later is moves to the next or previous chapter.

I only got it to get me thru till my player is released later this year by Samsung. BD5500 hasn't hit the market yet. but will later this year. it's a combo player. and is about half the price of their current combo player the BD5000.. (which I hear is already discontinued, but there are plenty of them around for $800)

[mantis]

I said it before and I'll say it again...

The Ps3 is the only Blu Ray Player on the market worth buying. All the others fail compared. Upgradeability is key here not to mention a very nice media server WITH SACD playback (only with HDMI and a preamp/receiver that can take it like the Pioneer Elite vsx94txh..love it.)

I'm cool with HD DVD losing. Now we can all get on with our lives and enjoy the new Blu World. I'm sick of format wars.

[Demiurge]

I just got an HD DVD playa and two things bug me.. first, you can't resume your movie were you left off.

Hmmm, wondering if this is just a problem with the player you have. I think I have read that. I only have the XBox 360 Add-On and I don't recall having an issue. I'll have to check it out tonight. I'll check my PS3 with a Blu-Ray disc tonight as well.

[grif32]

I just got an HD DVD playa and two things bug me.. first, you can't resume your movie were you left off. with standard DVD's. you can just turn the player on and start watching the movie where you left off.. not so with HD DVD. It starts from the beginning every time. Did you hear that? Every time you have to start the movie from the beginning. sucks hard.

on my old tube TV which is 1080i, i set the output of the Toshiba player and it looks great and i set it to 16:9 format, even on my 36" tv, it still looks good.. then when I insert a standard DVD, the picture is all very narrow and I have to go into the menu and change it over to 4:3 letterbox to look normal. i am using component video cables.. I don't have HDMI anything.. just DVI.. which I'll try out in the coming weeks.

loads times are long.. maybe a minute or two... forwarding or rewinding to the next chapter is slow.. it freezes, then 5 or 6 seconds later is moves to the next or previous chapter.

I only got it to get me thru till my player is released later this year by Samsung. BD5500 hasn't hit the market yet. but will later this year. it's a combo player. and is about half the price of their current combo player the BD5000.. (which I hear is already discontinued, but there are plenty of them around for $800)


All you have to do is set a "bookmark" and you can start it where you left off. Really simple thing to do.

What player do you have?

I have the 1st generation HD DVD player by Toshiba. Works like a champ and the load times are a little long but whats a 1 minute or so when I am going to watch a 2 - 3 hr movie. No different then any Standalone BR player.

[PhantomOG]

What are load times like with current gen blu ray players? better or worse than HD-DVD? Just curious, I have neither yet.

[shawn474]

The load times are definitely better with the blu-ray. I had the A-2 and now have the PS3 - I like the PS3 better for a few reasons but load time definitely bugged me with the A-2.

[Demiurge]

What are load times like with current gen blu ray players? better or worse than HD-DVD? Just curious, I have neither yet.

I don't have load time issues with either format, this is quite curious.

[shawn474]

My A-2 would literally take at least 90 seconds to 2 minutes to boot up and load a disc. I am pretty impatient as it is so it really bothered me.

[ViperZ]

This is not fair to compare loading times on game system vs. loading time on stand-alone player.

Generally, if you compare apples to apples, load times seem to be around the same mark, although load times of java-script based menus in blu-ray players suck big time.

Here is a good comparison head-to-head of blu-ray and HD-DVD technology:

http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Blu-ray_HD_DVD_Buyers_Guide_page1.html




The load times are definitely better with the blu-ray. I had the A-2 and now have the PS3 - I like the PS3 better for a few reasons but load time definitely bugged me with the A-2.

[mantis]

Load times are a huge problem with the new formats. Both sides take way to long to get going but the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive and the Ps3 are the current fastest loaders. The Ps3 alone only takes 13 seconds until you can load a disc, the next quickest player is the Panasonic 30 at 43 seconds before you can load a disk. Now thats only to get the damn disk in, the xbox 360 you can hit eject and load the disk right away. It the fastest overall.

All other players come in at 1 minute or more. 1st gen players are 1:30 to well over 2 minutes. Who the hell wants to stand around and wait?? Sucks but part of the new formats.

[wodom1]

I've got a PS3 and about five blu-ray DVD's. I've never seen an HD-DVD outside of a store. The Blue-ray picture is awesome on my 40" 1080P LCD HDTV.

[Demiurge]

It's very amusing to me we used to be perfectly happy with VHS and now we're bitching about 1 minute effin' load times on a DVD! :D

[shawn474]

Demi,
I agree with you that in the grand scheme of things it is trivial to complain about load times. I got the PS3 for a few reasons, namely I wanted a new gaming system. I got pissed that HD-DVD seems to have lost the format war and started feigning for a Blu-Ray. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. The Sony deal with the $100 credit swayed me.

That being said, the load time did irritate me.:D

[Demiurge]

Demi,
I agree with you that in the grand scheme of things it is trivial to complain about load times. I got the PS3 for a few reasons, namely I wanted a new gaming system. I got pissed that HD-DVD seems to have lost the format war and started feigning for a Blu-Ray. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. The Sony deal with the $100 credit swayed me.

That being said, the load time did irritate me.:D

Ah, cool, unfortunately I already had that card when that deal went down. I got in on the $100, but that was before the PS3 came out. Go figure. :p

[ND13]

I have both and prefer HD overall. They both have comparable PQ, but the HD has better sound, imo.

[Ron-P]

I can't agree that HD has better sound, they both, for the most part have lossless audio tracks so the sound is identical between the two, even more so now that Blu offers TrueHD audio tracks. Very few HD-DVDs contain lossless audio tracks were most Blu-ray's do. PQ is identical.

It's now come down to studio support, Blu owns them all but two, Universal and Paramount. At this point in the game I'd only go Blu, HD-DVD is dying a slow death and it's future looks grim, much more so then Blu anyway.

I haven't bought an HD-DVD in 3+ months, I'm only buying Blu from here on out.

[ND13]

Ron,

I watch all my movies in "state-of-the-art" 2.1, so all the fancy, pantsy audio formats are lost on me.:p I don't even own an AVR.

[Mike Kozak]

I really just wanted to know if I should buy HD or Blu ray, guess I will make my own decision

[Ron-P]

Ron,

I watch all my movies in "state-of-the-art" 2.1, so all the fancy, pantsy audio formats are lost on me.:p I don't even own an AVR.

Sorry to hear you're missing out on so much Noel.

[dorokusai]

I really just wanted to know if I should buy HD or Blu ray, guess I will make my own decision

Blu-Ray.

[Emlyn]

I really just wanted to know if I should buy HD or Blu ray, guess I will make my own decision

At this point, I'd recommend Blu-ray over HD-DVD. I've had three HD-DVD players, and each of them has frozen, stuttered, or skipped while playing some HD-DVD discs and some standard DVD's, usually having more trouble with combo discs (DVD one side, HD-DVD the other). A user shouldn't have to wash a disc before putting it in the machine, and keep fingers crossed hoping the movie will play all the way through and not embarass the owner. I was hoping the playback issues would decrease over time. They haven't for me. Firmware updates did nothing to fix this, and some made the problems worse.

Blu-Ray players just seem to be more stable playing back movies to me. I've had zero problems with my Panasonic.

[jdhdiggs]

At this point, I'd recommend Blu-ray over HD-DVD. I've had three HD-DVD players, and each of them has frozen, stuttered, or skipped while playing some HD-DVD discs and some standard DVD's, usually having more trouble with combo discs (DVD one side, HD-DVD the other). A user shouldn't have to wash a disc before putting it in the machine, and keep fingers crossed hoping the movie will play all the way through and not embarass the owner. I was hoping the playback issues would decrease over time. They haven't for me. Firmware updates did nothing to fix this, and some made the problems worse.

Blu-Ray players just seem to be more stable playing back movies to me. I've had zero problems with my Panasonic.

My experience has been 100% the opposite. I guess neither format is 100% bullet proof. I would recommend waiting, and if you can't wait, go blu-ray. Although, getting a new HD-DVD player for $130 with 7 movies is hard to beat...

[fatchowmein]

I have the A2 and a PS3. I prefer the navigation menu on HD. The PS3 loads much quicker but it's louder. The A2 is more forgiving in terms of dirty discs. The PS3 isn't so forgiving. My wife left a thumb print on one of the movies (Superman Returns I think) and the entire player stopped. Eject, clean, and everything was back to normal. Other than that, I've had zero problems with lockups or skipping on either unit.

My recommendation would be for a PS3 for upgradability. HD-DVD, while not dead, is severely in trouble. They'll have to come up with a miracle like $59.99 players and I'm not even sure that will help now.

[Sherardp]

I do both and love it, love the sweet sounds they whisper in my ear. The stunning PQ is breathtaking. Ummm time to go watch a movie..............On a serious note you cant go wrong either way. HD DVD is very cheap to get into though the market does favor Blu at the moment. Still I say cant go wrong either way.

[Rike255]

Profile 2.0 is not something to worry about if I were you. However, there are a lot of new Blu-Ray players coming out this year and many of them look very nice. If I were you I'd go Blu-Ray and wither get a PS3 or wait for some of the new players to come out (that way you can make sure the war is actually over too...it pretty much is but who knows, maybe Microsoft or Toshiba will buy a studio and we'll be right back where we were).

Go Blu!

[danger boy]

buy both... prices are so dang cheap on HD DVD. why not just buy both?

[Mike Kozak]

buy both... prices are so dang cheap on HD DVD. why not just buy both?

I do not have unlimited funds, especially after having found out about the great Polk sound!!!;)

[dephinistr8]

I do not have unlimited funds, especially after having found out about the great Polk sound!!!;)

hehe..good point
If you're looking for the best performance for the price right now, HD-DVD is probably the way to go. Good players are cheap, and there are all sorts of movie bundles available to help kick-start the collection.

Unfortunately, that doesn't look like it will be the format that sticks around for the long haul.

[shawn474]

You could get the A-2 off of e-bay for between 60 and 90 dollars. I speak from experience when I say that you will get the itch to go blu-ray as soon as you get it. The PQ and SQ on both are equally impressive, but blu-ray seems to be the format that will stick around.

Shawn

[steveinaz]

Go Blu Ray. What little air is left in HD DVD's sails won't last long. There's no way 7 major studio's will all of a sudden do a 180 and go back to HD DVD--it just isn't gonna happen. They've lost too much money already, waiting for this thing to air out.

Not a "fanboy" just trying to pass on some solid advice.

[Mike Kozak]

Thanks, Blu is the way to go!!!!!

[steveinaz]

Mike, I've been very happy with my Panasonic DMP-BD30k. Loads as quickly as my Denon DVD player did (2910), and the 1.4 firmware coming in March will clear up issues with "Resident Evil Evolution" and "Sunshine."

I have had zero issues with the 14 BluRay movies I have watched on mine so far, and my firmware upgrade to 1.3 went flawlessly.

NOTE: This issue doesn't affect me, but I hear that the LFE channel is down 5dB through HDMI, and from what I understand, Panasonic has no plans to address this because it would involve hardware changes in the player. This only affects LFE thru HDMI. See the AVS forum for more details as I am "surround sound dumb." I run my audio via Toslink to my DAC.

[steveinaz]

UPDATE: Per the AVS forum, Panasonic IS looking into a fix for the LFE issue with HDMI.

[mantis]

UPDATE: Per the AVS forum, Panasonic IS looking into a fix for the LFE issue with HDMI.

I didn't notice this problem with this player. 5db is alot. I'm thinking of claibrating with this player up maybe 3 to 4 db to try and balance out systems and not over do the sub. I'll have to play around with some setups with it.
Huh, Hell I have been so Impressed with it's load time I haven't noticed this. Usually I pick up on things like this right away. I will test it out next one I do.

Shit I'm gonna set it up in the store and get to the bottom of this...

Thanks for the new task:mad:;):confused:

[lancer]

Blu-Ray, but I'm going to wait. Prices will probably go down considerably and preformance of the players should go up.

[millerman 3732]

I didn't notice this problem with this player. 5db is alot. I'm thinking of claibrating with this player up maybe 3 to 4 db to try and balance out systems and not over do the sub. I'll have to play around with some setups with it.
Huh, Hell I have been so Impressed with it's load time I haven't noticed this. Usually I pick up on things like this right away. I will test it out next one I do.

Shit I'm gonna set it up in the store and get to the bottom of this...

Thanks for the new task:mad:;):confused:

From what I've read over at AVS this issue affects LFE on PCM tracks through HDMI only, TrueHD, DTS HD and the other that are decoded in the AVR or Pre-amp are not affected, that might be why you haven't noticed it.

[DesertPilot]

I currently own a Samsung 1200. This one will move to the bedroom (although it has worked very well). I am looking very hard at upgrading to the Denon BR player due out this month. It is pricy but I have always been impressed with Denon equipment. I may wait for their Gen 2 player (probably a year or two). See reasons below.

There should be no difference in PQ or AQ between HD and BD. Each format simply has a different methodology for getting BITS of data converted to analog and out to your tv as 1080p. A lot more important are the DACs and other internal processing electronics that each manufacturer includes in their player. But, 1080p is 1080p.

With Warner (and New Line Cinema) going BluRay exclusive, many folks think the format war is essentially over. I think Paramount is just about the only studio left that is HD exclusive.

Why wait for Gen 2? I am looking for a player with ethernet (or wireless) for automatic upgrades over the internet. I would like early adopters to work out the bugs. Gen2 is likely to include SACD playback (according to a Denon rep).

marcus

[mantis]

From what I've read over at AVS this issue affects LFE on PCM tracks through HDMI only, TrueHD, DTS HD and the other that are decoded in the AVR or Pre-amp are not affected, that might be why you haven't noticed it.

I think you have a point. I only have Installed it with HDMI 1.3 receivers.

Dan

[bykes]

Go with blu-ray. There is more industry support for the format. There are rumors floating about that towards the end of March big box retailers will be dropping HD DVD quietly. Just a rumor though.

[Deadof_knight]

Sony Playstation 3 and get Blu-ray too boot for the same price as a blu-ray!

I almost bought a hd-dvd player because of price and the fact they are putting some many in laptops now. but bang for buck ps3 was my way to play !

[cheddar]

I really just wanted to know if I should buy HD or Blu ray, guess I will make my own decision

Mike,

If you buy HD-DVD you really need to do your research to know what you're getting into. Yes, the players are cheaper, great deals...but the format may not be around that long and it will get harder and harder to buy the movies you want on it.

Looks like it will even be difficult to rent titles in the format...Netflix is dropping HD-DVD...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/11/netflix-picks-blu-ray-good-luck-renting-an-hd-dvd-soon/

[bobman1235]

Netflix goes exclusively Blu-Ray (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWEN388420080211).

Which basically means the last place you could rent HD discs is now gone.

Sigh.

(link found through Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/354890/netflix-goes-blu+ray))

EDIT : Bah, Cheddar beat me by a minute. :)

[fatchowmein]

If this is true...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ib77125d96b22e860b14b889b10defb59

[cheddar]

I don't think Toshiba will have much choice soon, with players like Wal-Mart jumping ship and going blu-ray exclusive by the summer.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Retailing/Wal-Mart/Wal-Mart_to_Go_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1469

[cheddar]

The other rumor tidbit today is that Toshiba will be producing blu-ray players by the summer as well.

http://www.1080living.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30

Again, not much choice for the company if it wants to sell any high-def players at all in markets like Japan. It's already starting two years behind all the other major hardware players who supported blu-ray years ago.

[polkatese]

Now what's going to be interesting: A new (reality) cycle of current owners of HD-DVD collection who will have to replenish theirs in the next couple years (again) with BD version.

So far, for the same movie, the cycle has been : VHS -> SD DVD -> Superbit (for some) -> HD-DVD -> BD. That's pure profit cycle for the studios and retailers. Imagine the excitement of the New (re-release) of Ben-Hur launch by Warner in 2009.:rolleyes: