Hope you didn't buy that HD DVD

Dreamer · Feb 17, 2008

Looks like it's going the way of Betamax.

FOXNews.com - Report: Toshiba May Withdraw HD DVD Video Format - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News

Turtle · Feb 17, 2008

Yep. Been watchin' that one closely. The studios themselves divided on it, but then Warner pulled the trigger. But now, on the heels of Target and Blockbuster announcing the move, in less than a week Netflix, Best Buy and Wal Mart all announced the move to Blu-Ray exclusively. Wal Mart and Best Buy combined makes up a full 50% of the video sales market, Netflix and Blockbuster is 70% of the rental market. Wal Mart alone may have been enough to do it, but they and Best Buy combined was more than enough for Toshiba to throw in the towel.

I think it was inveitable, though. The recorder market would have dictated Blu-Ray over HD DVD simply because you can record 25GB versus 15GB in single layer, two and four times that in dual and quad layer. Both formats offer the same quality, except that with Blu-Ray you can store nearly twice as much data as with HD DVD.

Moot · Feb 17, 2008

Betamax???? Long live the Elcassette! DAT forever!

ATeam · Feb 17, 2008

Yes, Sony won this format war, but is it a Pyrrhic victory? As a simple consumer of video content, I am seeing less and less need for disks of any kind. Direct downloads are less expensive and easier to manage. Uploading video content off digital video recorders also can be done without a disk. Why use disks at all when files on hard drives (yours or an online server) will do?

piper1 · Feb 17, 2008

I love my Betamax!!! It came with my DeLorean.

Turtle · Feb 17, 2008

Depends on what your definition of "will do" is. If your simple consumer needs consist of simple video, then High Definition video isn't needed or wanted. And out here on the road, in the truck, I think simple video is something that probably "will do" just fine. But those who want high def video to be able to take advantage of their HDTV screens and home theater audio systems, HD video such as Blu-Ray gives a spectacular audio and visual experience.

I download a lot of tv shows and movies, but they have been rendered down to a manageable size for transport over the Internet. It's much easier to download a 600MB video that has been rendered out from its 4.2GB original DVD. Blu-Ray high def discs range from 15GB to 100GB. For those consumers who like to have a substantial video library, storing such huge amounts of high definition data on hard drives can become a problem rather quickly.

ATeam · Feb 18, 2008

Turtle said:
And out here on the road, in the truck, I think simple video is something that probably "will do" just fine. But those who want high def video to be able to take advantage of their HDTV screens and home theater audio systems, HD video such as Blu-Ray gives a spectacular audio and visual experience.

Good point, Turtle. I forgot that most people watch TV at home. We spend most of our time in the truck and, by choice, have no TV in it. Our laptops serve as TV or movie screens if there is something we want to watch.

Refer Hauler · Feb 22, 2008

Phil
What software or tuner card do you use to watch TV on your laptop? My TV has died and I would prefer not to replace it.

davekc · Feb 24, 2008

Ok....help me out here. Does that mean all movies will require this "Blue" technology to be watched?
We have a HD wide screen but our DVD player isn't "Blue" anything.

Turtle · Feb 24, 2008

You need a Blu-ray player to play Blu-ray discs, same as you need a DVD player to play DVD discs. It's basically that simple.

Blu-ray players are backwards compatible, and will play Blu-ray discs, as well as DVD's and CD's.

Blu-ray discs have Hi-Definition video, DVD's have Standard resolution video, and CD's (VCD - Video CD) have (over-the-air) "broadcast" resolution video.

If you watch an HD-broadcast on your HD TV, it'll look HD. If you watch a regular DVD on your HD TV it'll look like standard TV.

If you watch a HD broadcast on a regular TV, it'll look like regular TV. If you watch a Blu-ray discs on a regular TV, it'll look like regular TV.

If you watch a Blu-ray disc on a HD TV, it'll look like HD, same as an HD broadcast viewed on an HD TV.

The optical disc technologies for DVD (and CD) rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with greater precision. You can pack more data into the same space, giving Blu-ray discs the capability to hold than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVD's, and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc, 50GB on a dual-layer disc, and 100GB on a quad-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs offers a truly spectacular Hi Definition audio and visual experience.