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IGN Declares Blu-Ray Winner of The Format War


Atomicfog
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Now, the war isn't over yet, but if you read IGN's article, it seems it's about to be.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/852/852769p1.html

I knew it would probably be Blu-Ray after seeing everyone using the PS3 as Blu-Ray player at NAB 2007. Hasn't done much else yet, but the PS3 is definitely what did it.

Actually, it's funny, because I have some video footage from CES 2002 of some serious biz Toshiba guys gathering around an HD-DVD ("blue laser") prototype that long ago.

Edit: I just realized, this is the first format war Sony has won in... Awhile.

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Now, the war isn't over yet, but if you read IGN's article, it seems it's about to be.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/852/852769p1.html

I knew it would probably be Blu-Ray after seeing everyone using the PS3 as Blu-Ray player at NAB 2007. Hasn't done much else yet, but the PS3 is definitely what did it.

Actually, it's funny, because I have some video footage from CES 2002 of some serious biz Toshiba guys gathering around an HD-DVD ("blue laser") prototype that long ago.

I saw this coming a while ago. Sony won the war this time. It lost the first one but not this time. I wonder what microsoft's reaction will be. I mean technically the 360 is using what will eventually be considered the dodo of its time.

The first indicators were that HD DVD was in front (the porn industry used it and it had a big hand in the beta/VHS outcome)

Quickly however major movie studios were signing on with bluray and now the biggest online renter went blu ray exclusive. It will be intresting to see how long it takes for Blu Ray to come down to usable levels in Standard PC builds.

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Had the 360 featured HD-DVD by default, the fight would likely have gone the other way.

At any rate, this definitely makes my PS3 more valuable.

I can't WAIT until blu-ray recorders/media get down to sane prices.... the prospect of being able to back up that much data to optical is really appealing...

BTW, for those who own blu-ray players - HIGHLY recommended: http://www.ocremix.org/amazon/?id=/detail/B000MRAAJM/

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Had the 360 featured HD-DVD by default, the fight would likely have gone the other way.

ble to back up that much data to optical is really appealing...

Yeah, probably, but there is no Microsoft would be willing to lose that much money for a format that isn't there own.

BTW, for those who own blu-ray players - HIGHLY recommended: http://www.ocremix.org/amazon/?id=/detail/B000MRAAJM/

Want.

I wonder if this means Microsoft will have to buy Sony's format for Xbox720... awkward... MS should just buy Sony then.

Yeah it will be interesting to see how that turns out... Seeing the money Microsoft put forth in an attempt to buy Yahoo, I hope Sony would be able to resist such an offer.

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Had the 360 featured HD-DVD by default, the fight would likely have gone the other way.

At any rate, this definitely makes my PS3 more valuable.

I can't WAIT until blu-ray recorders/media get down to sane prices.... the prospect of being able to back up that much data to optical is really appealing...

BTW, for those who own blu-ray players - HIGHLY recommended: http://www.ocremix.org/amazon/?id=/detail/B000MRAAJM/

Hell yes. Planet Earth is the greatest documentary I've ever seen and it's my very first blu-ray purchase outside of games. Even if you guys aren't into the whole animal/wild thing, you'll be amazed by what's shown in this series.

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You know what fomrat I think is gonna win the war!!!! HD Upconverts. They cost, what, $40 for a decent one. Hell, I have one & i can't tell the difference between it & one of the "true HD" formats. Besides, everyone knows downloadable HD movies are the future!

Truth

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Excellent, I was hoping BD would win the fight.

Honestly I'd always wondered why there was a fight to begin with. BD IS a technically better format, isn't it (50gigs compared to 30 gigs, higher transfer bitrate, much more space for higher audio quality)? Was advertising money (and thus companies signing up for exclusives) and the 360 the only reason HD-DVD was in the running at all?

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Excellent, I was hoping BD would win the fight.

Honestly I'd always wondered why there was a fight to begin with. BD IS a technically better format, isn't it (50gigs compared to 30 gigs, higher transfer bitrate, much more space for higher audio quality)? Was advertising money (and thus companies signing up for exclusives) and the 360 the only reason HD-DVD was in the running at all?

The disc read speed of Blu-ray atm is a problem (especially with the PS3, which reads slower than current DVD players), and there were a few other upsides with HD-DVD, although I don't remember them (something about the video quality?).

Anyhow, I still don't care terribly much about this war, as I don't have an HDTV yet (in about a half an year I intend on buying a 1080p HDTV though) - I seem to recall someone posting something here before about a format in the works that will might make Blu-ray obsolete anyway.

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You know what fomrat I think is gonna win the war!!!! HD Upconverts. They cost, what, $40 for a decent one. Hell, I have one & i can't tell the difference between it & one of the "true HD" formats. Besides, everyone knows downloadable HD movies are the future!
Truth

10 characters

Oh... no no no... this is wrong. If you've got 42" or above that supports 1080p or even 1080i, and you can't tell the difference between upconverted DVD and even 720p content, much less 1080, something's wrong. Honestly. I'm not a hi-fi snob that will tell you that the difference between, say, 16-bit 44.1khz audio and 24-bit 192khz will "blow your mind" or anything like that, but I can plainly tell the difference between interpolated definition and native definition HD content.

Upconverting DOES make things look better, but you can't get blood from a stone - the detail's just not there to begin with, and no amount of interpolation is going to bring it back. 720p and 1080p movies, of which I have a fair number, look ridiculously better than upconverted DVDs on both my 50" and 64" HDTVs. Anything sub-42" and you MIGHT have an argument.

As a side note, perhaps the end of the format war will bring more attention to one of Blu-ray's more interesting features/specifications: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BD-J

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I wouldn't hate this format war so much if it didn't mean I'll have to replace my DVD collection sometime in the future, especially if I want the best picture fidelity.

But this will all just start over with holographic discs. Imagine, 3.9 terabytes, you could put the entire series of Seinfeld, Simpsons, and any other long running show on one disc and still have room left over.

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Anything sub-42" and you MIGHT have an argument.

I'm not even sure I'd go that far. Watching DVD's on my PS3 (upconverted to 720p) and watching BD movies, I can see a difference on my 27" Sharp Aquos. I'll grant you that it's not as stark a contrast as it is on a 42" or larger, but it is noticeable, and I do prefer having true HD by a long shot.

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Yeah, why can't we just skip the format war altogether and go straight to downloadable HD movies? I'm running out of living space here!

I would agree, but try downloading 25 GBs worth of content. The only way to do that is via torrent, and there's no way any commercial venue would rely on torrents.

both my 50" and 64" HDTVs

What the hell? Share the love, man!

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I would agree, but try downloading 25 GBs worth of content. The only way to do that is via torrent, and there's no way any commercial venue would rely on torrents.

What the hell? Share the love, man!

Not to mention that you need a very fast broadband connection, which is still in transition. Not everyone has lightning fast broadband. Some of us still have to make do with shitty 384 kbps speeds. That's tolerable for downloading standard definition video, and totally impossible for streaming HD video.

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I love it when someone says there's a huge difference between HD, & non-HD. What, maybe a few more pores on show for everyone to see? The fact is, most people don't really care about 1080p/720p.

I sell electronics, & to be quite honest, most people just want HD because it's HD. Not because this TV is so much clearer than that one, but merely because popular culture declared HD to be all that & a bag of chips. They really can't tell the difference, unless I point out this TV has slightly better contrast than that one.

Why I say I can't tell the difference, is basically because I'm not nitpicking every inch of every frame. Even an Xbox only looks slightly better then my regular TV. The only difference being that it's much more crisper, & I can see the graphical mistakes that much clearer.

Basically, what I'm getting at is, why do we even have a different format to begin with. DVD barely got mainstream acceptance, yet Sony wants everyone of those people, both early adopters as well as recent ones, to buy an entirely new box. I know the extra content is a big deal, but really, how many of us really watch, or have time for, the featurettes on current DVD's?

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