Let's Discuss HD Combo Players!

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Let's Discuss HD Combo Players!

Post by bradavon »

Last edited by bradavon on 30 May 2008, 18:43, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by bradavon »

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Post by tom2681 »

Is this the end of the format war ?
I sure hope so.
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Post by romerojpg »

Not a chance, as one format has to win, there is no other way its going to end, one will fail and one will make shitloadsofcash.
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Post by tom2681 »

Romero wrote:one format has to win
Why ?
DVD+ and DVD- are getting along just fine.

Maybe, in one or two years, when we all own hybrid players and burners, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will follow the same path.
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Post by Yi-Long »

As long as it will play VCD's, I'll be satisfied!

j/k ofcourse. Personally I dont give a rat's ass about which format will win. It's still at least more then a year from when I'll think about upgrading. I dont have a HDTV yet, so normal DVD's are still perfectly fine fo me. Plus right now it's still all too expensive anyway. I'm a patient guy, so I can wait it out :)

There are rumours btw about Microsoft releasing a new 360, with a HDMI port and a bigger HD. Who know.... perhaps they'll include a HDDVD drive as well!? Maybe sell it for 500 euro or something?

That would probably be the nail in PS3's coffin, as far as Europe is concerned ...
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Post by bradavon »

Exactly. As are DVD-Audio and Sony's Super Audio CD. Both going strong (well no weaker than they ever have been).

Romero only understands absolutes :D

Personally I think the dual-format Disc idea is rubbish, it will just mean expensive discs when you only want one side anyway but LG (who release reasonably priced hardware) releasing a dual-format player is a great one.

Fingers crossed come the summer I'll finally be able to get one (i.e - the price will have come down). One of those links does say it's possible it will just be two drives in one box which I really hope not.
Yi-Long wrote:As long as it will play VCD's, I'll be satisfied!
BD Players can't play CDs ;)
Yi-Long wrote:There are rumours btw about Microsoft releasing a new 360, with a HDMI port and a bigger HD. Who know.... perhaps they'll include a HDDVD drive as well!? Maybe sell it for 500 euro or something?
It's no rumour but the HD-DVD is still an addon:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/05/the- ... me-zephyr/

Source: http://www.theimportforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7584
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Post by bradavon »

The fact is neither are going anywhere for at least 12 months. Sony don't give up easily.
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Post by IronMonkey »

bradavon wrote:BD Players can't play CDs ;)
Where did you hear that? Panasonic's DMP-BD10 plays CDs just fine. In fact it'll play a hell of a lot of things:

BD-Video
DVD-Audio
DVD-Video
DVD-RAM
DVD-R/RW
DVD+R/RW
CD
CD-R/RW
MP3
JPEG

I don't know why you would think BD players won't play CDs...
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Post by bradavon »

IronMonkey wrote:Where did you hear that? Panasonic's DMP-BD10 plays CDs just fine.
All the press releases said so (something about the way it works). It must be just the Sony and Samsungs then.

No DivX, Xvid, VCDs or SVCDs though ;)
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Post by gojensen »

Yeah because that is what I want my €1000 HD player to play :D

Anyhoo. If you ask me, SACD and DVDA killed the "next-gen" CD offerings. If they had agreed on ONE it would today be much larger than both combined. I think the same will be true for HD.

Joe Public really doesn't care THAT much about it yet. And "everyone" says to wait it out and see which format gets ahead. Joe Public as we all know listens to "everyone".

Personally I would send HD-DVD into Oblivion if it were up to me. Mostly because Microsoft is involved :D
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Post by IronMonkey »

gojensen wrote:Personally I would send HD-DVD into Oblivion if it were up to me. Mostly because Microsoft is involved :D
And I would send Blu-ray into oblivion if it were up to me. There's pros & cons for each format. Nobody can tell which will win yet or whether there actually will be a winner but I will be buying both I would think. I want certain films that are only available on Blu-ray & others that are only on HD DVD, so I guess I'll have to buy both...
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Post by Yi-Long »

IronMonkey wrote:
gojensen wrote:Personally I would send HD-DVD into Oblivion if it were up to me. Mostly because Microsoft is involved :D
And I would send Blu-ray into oblivion if it were up to me. There's pros & cons for each format. Nobody can tell which will win yet or whether there actually will be a winner but I will be buying both I would think. I want certain films that are only available on Blu-ray & others that are only on HD DVD, so I guess I'll have to buy both...
Just get the cheap DVD versions, and wait 1-2 years. I'm sure that most movies will have both a BR as well as a HDDVD version out, or at least you will have a system that can play both...

...or just get a 360, and buy the add-ons, like the HD-DVD player, and if BR becomes a succes, they will most likely also have an external BR player... :)

Either way, for most of us it's still too early yet, as we dont have HD screens yet, and buying HD/BR discs isnt very interesting yet either, because of the prices and such...


Just wait, and save money by waiting :)
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Post by bradavon »

gojensen wrote:Yeah because that is what I want my €1000 HD player to play :D
Well I doubt you'll being playing MP3s much on it either ;) . DivX/Xvid though definitely.
gojensen wrote:Anyhoo. If you ask me, SACD and DVDA killed the "next-gen" CD offerings. If they had agreed on ONE it would today be much larger than both combined. I think the same will be true for HD.
I partially completely agree however for reasons I mentioned CD is already digital and can skip tracks so for Joe Public there is no obvious advantage.

The same will apply to HD over DVD.
gojensen wrote:Joe Public really doesn't care THAT much about it yet. And "everyone" says to wait it out and see which format gets ahead.
I doubt Joe Public has a clue either format exist, especially Blu-ray. HD-DVD has an advantage with the name.

Hell most people think Freeview HD Ready TVs give you Freeview in HD.
Yi-Long wrote:...or just get a 360, and buy the add-ons, like the HD-DVD player, and if BR becomes a succes, they will most likely also have an external BR player... :)
Right now no chance. MS is very much behind HD-DVD.
IronMonkey wrote:but I will be buying both I would think. I want certain films that are only available on Blu-ray & others that are only on HD DVD, so I guess I'll have to buy both...
Exactly. Me too.

Which camp are Apple in?
Yi-Long wrote:Either way, for most of us it's still too early yet, as we dont have HD screens yet
You'd be surprised how many people are upgrading.
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Post by bradavon »

You have raised my biggest long term concern Yi in cost. When I can pick up a DVD for average of £8 (and seeing as we all buy loads of DVDs) paying £13 minimum and Combos are £18-20 it's going to be bloody expensive.

That does put me off some what. I have an HD Ready LCD so no doubt I will upgrade when a Combo comes out (I'm to excited not too) but I sure as hell won't be buying everything HD and will still get DVDs too.
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Post by gojensen »

bradavon wrote:
gojensen wrote:Yeah because that is what I want my €1000 HD player to play :D
Well I doubt you'll being playing MP3s much on it either ;) . DivX/Xvid though definitely.
You misunderstood my irony.

No I will not be playing mp3, or similar "music" on my HD setup.

No I will not (ever) be playing xvid or similar "rubbish" on my HD setup.

There. Clear now? :D I'll be having a 32'' WS CRT for xvid and SDTV stuff, anything above that will go in my theatres 106'' screen. And xvid is truly rubbish on that setup. I might go for some mkv/x264/TS stuff - but I doubt it. I will bet gettin' this for highdef movies... And untill the Toshiba XE1 falls heavily in price I will be getting the PS3 (which is rumoured to be one of, if not THE, best Blu-Ray player on the market).

As for the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray thingie... I see two major differences, HD's presumed superior "interactive layer" (which I'm no fan of anyhoo - I watch the movies and care less about the gimmicks of the formats) - and Blu-Rays superior storage capacity (which can be a major factor on longer films - like LOTR).

That is ofcourse if we are not talking about content - of which BRD is still king afaik (as in more studios are exclusive to BRD than support HD or are exclusive to HD) ... all stuff that can change at the whim of the Hollywood execs, but if you ask me they'd do best to GET OVER it and select ONE of these systems/formats and screw the other.

I can't see how Warner can think that it's better to have a disc with two nearly identical but not compatible systems on one disc than to have one format. Not to mention that it will decrease the quality of both. As I understand the Total HD Warner disc there will be only one layer for each format or something like that so the total disc capacity is reduced.

Oh and don't be suprised if the LG drive comes with 2 disc slots and a big neon light flashin' "For HD-DVD go LEFT, for BluRay go RIGHT" :D (which according to insider speculants may be how things end up as combining the 2 HD pickups in one drive is what caused samsung to scrap the idea...)
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Post by bradavon »

You're mistaken the LG is one drive (my first post):

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... &start=120

You're also mistaken HD-DVD is now 51Gb, Triple layer is out (my second post):

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... &start=120
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Post by tom2681 »

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/07 ... ulti-blue/

How good does this player look ?! 8)

+, $1,199 is quite reasonable for a hybrid player.
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Post by bradavon »

Lovely and I reckon the same, but then LG have always been reasonable. I bet as usual they'll just swap the $ for a £ so in the UK it will be over a grand :shock:

Also: "The BH100 supports 1080p playback through HDMI". Most only offer 1080i. It better have analogue 5.1 outputs too, a must for me and I'm surprised not most other people.

p.s - Interesting to see the computer one is BD Recordable. What does the E stand for in BD-RE? Recording Engine maybe.
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Post by gojensen »

Brad I was simply stating speculation since the unit was not launched yet. And just because Toshy says they can produce triple layer HD-DVD Roms (notice how they say ROM and not video? because I'm pretty sure there aren't any HD-DVD settops that would understand the 3rd layer (yet)) - you seem to be totally missing the fact that BRD could have 4 or more layers (lab discs have been done with 200GB storage).

In the end, the number of layers will be the final obstacle, and since BRD packs more gigs/layer they have an advantage.

As for analogue outputs, they should have 7.1 - not 5.1 - as the new "true-hd" sound formats use 7.1 channels.

And are you sure that most only offer 1080i? (Given, there's not that many players out there!) I'm pretty sure all BRD devices and the European Toshiba HD devices support the full 1080p ... in fact I remember reading somewhere that the Toshiba device ONLY supports 1080/24p output... :-/
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Post by bradavon »

gojensen wrote:you seem to be totally missing the fact that BRD could have 4 or more layers (lab discs have been done with 200GB storage).
Of course. How did you think that? We're talking about HD-DVD not BD.

I was just saying HD-DVD Triple layer has now finished it's testing phase and is a reality. Will Players be able to read them? No idea nothing's been announced. HD-DVD Video will follow HD-DVD Rom.
gojensen wrote:In the end, the number of layers will be the final obstacle, and since BRD packs more gigs/layer they have an advantage.
To what world domination? History has taught us a few times, the technically better product is far from a certain winner.
gojensen wrote:As for analogue outputs, they should have 7.1 - not 5.1 - as the new "true-hd" sound formats use 7.1 channels.
Agreed. It's weird the world hasn't moved on from 5.1. 6.1 is well old but barely used.
gojensen wrote:And are you sure that most only offer 1080i? (Given, there's not that many players out there!) I'm pretty sure all BRD devices and the European Toshiba HD devices support the full 1080p ... in fact I remember reading somewhere that the Toshiba device ONLY supports 1080/24p output... :-/
Yes. I can't talk for BD but HD-DVD but have read reviews that "most" only offer 1080i.

There is one over at DVD Times, which obviously you'll have to find yourself.
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Post by gojensen »

Well I'm on the fence anyhoo... I think the players are too expensive, too little competition, and not enough decent reviews about these from videophiles.

I'm pretty certain my first player will be a BRD in the form of a PS3 though. Cheap BRD player (about 50% the Samsung (!)) and a next-gen game system to boot? Yay!

However, I'm very afraid of TotalHD. This is something I don't want to see... I want one format to disappear. Having "some" double-sided HD/BRD discs and some not will just further the confusion... besides I hate flippers. :D
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Post by bradavon »

gojensen wrote:I'm pretty certain my first player will be a BRD in the form of a PS3 though. Cheap BRD player (about 50% the Samsung (!)) and a next-gen game system to boot? Yay!
Try playing HD-DVD on it :D . You can't compare a Sony Games Console which happens to play BD with a Samsung HD Player that plays both formats, they're two entirely different bits of hardware.

Personally I'd never use a Games Console for watching films. Looking at the PS2 it's far to clunky and noisy. I hear the Xbox 360 is no better in the noisy fan department.

Seriously though I tend to agree, they're all First Generation machines really and that's always something to avoid. Still if I could get a HD-DVD/BD Combo Home Player for £350-400 I'd snap it up.
gojensen wrote:besides I hate flippers. :D
I've never known a person who does like them. I don't mind them on HD-DVD/DVD Combos as for me at least they serve a purpose but otherwise no thanks.

p.s - Agreed about TotalHD. The market place with two formats is already far to confusing, to add a third is just a financial nightmare.
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Post by gojensen »

Bradavon wrote:Try playing HD-DVD on it Very Happy . You can't compare a Sony Games Console which happens to play BD with a Samsung HD Player that plays both formats, they're two entirely different bits of hardware.
So you say. However, rumour has it that the PS3 is actually THE best player if you want to see BRD movies. Several reasons, top among them being it's a SONY and it's probably THE most tested unit in productin :D

And why would I play a HD-DVD in it? Do I even WANT HD-DVD? No. I want HiDefVideo... screw the moneygrabbing bastards...

And all that said, the LG player looks more and more promising (!) - now if only some videophile can get a demo unit and tell us how good it is :D
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Post by bradavon »

gojensen wrote:However, rumour has it that the PS3 is actually THE best player if you want to see BRD movies.
I've heard that too, personally I'd wait for the others to catch up.
gojensen wrote:And why would I play a HD-DVD in it? Do I even WANT HD-DVD? No. I want HiDefVideo... screw the moneygrabbing bastards...
Presumably you don't like any of the films Universal own the rights to? I guess not. That's why.
gojensen wrote:And all that said, the LG player looks more and more promising (!) - now if only some videophile can get a demo unit and tell us how good it is :D
That would be sweet. I really hope a firmware update lets it support PIP though.
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