Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: The Anti-Fanboy View!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 01:54

Here's a well written article by one Chris Gould from DVD Active:

http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/arti ... -view.html

It's relatively short but manages to sum up the current situation really well.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 12 Dec 2007, 02:23

Yeah, pretty much agree with the advice to just wait it out a while, which I was already doing.

The only problem with that is that pretty soon I WILL have a HDTV, and at that time I will probably think my DVD's look like crap when played on a HD screen (or can you set the resolution to 640x480?)

It's just a complete mess now, though. TBH, I already know I WILL have BluRay one day, as I will own a PS3 in the (near?) future. But the region-stuff and the version 1.0, 1.1 and soon the 2.0 ... it doesnt seem like the greatest thing to get.

HDDVD I MIGHT get, but there's no reason to do so yet. The add-on player for the 360 is still way too expensive here in Holland. While it costs about 130 DOLLARS in the USA (about 80-90 Euro), it costs 180 Euro here in Holland(!). That's just madness.

I kinda hope Microsoft will just release an advanced Elite which will have a HDDVD player built in, but I doubt it.

It's an annoying battle. DVD came and pretty much immediately won our hearts, but now you have these 2 formats battling eachother, and it's just a mess

Maybe in a year orso the battle will mean huge price-wars and such, but at the moment, it's just a big joke.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 02:38

Yi-Long wrote:The only problem with that is that pretty soon I WILL have a HDTV, and at that time I will probably think my DVD's look like crap when played on a HD screen (or can you set the resolution to 640x480?)

640x480 is a 4:3 aspect ratio why would you want to use it for widescreen material?

Yi-Long wrote:It's just a complete mess now, though.

It's far from ideal but it's not half as bad as most think. DVD took years to fully develop as a trouble free format. Sure you need to think about two formats not one but meh it's not that big of a deal.

Yi-Long wrote:and the version 1.0, 1.1 and soon the 2.0 ... it doesnt seem like the greatest thing to get.

A Profile 1.0 Player will still play standard extras (which make up the bulk of extras and probably always will) and will continue to crucially play the movie.

Yi-Long wrote:HDDVD I MIGHT get, but there's no reason to do so yet.

IMO there is just as many juicy titles on both formats.

Maybe in a year orso the battle will mean huge price-wars and such, but at the moment, it's just a big joke.

Do you want to wait another year? That's a long time. I don't.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 12 Dec 2007, 02:43

Dont 'normal' tv's have 640x480? Or something like that? I am not sure.

Anyway, can you change the settings so your HDDVD will play DVD and last-gen games without being butt-ugly?

IMHO there arent enough interesting titles out YET on either format to really warrant upgrading just yet. And the titles I AM interested in, are still too expensive. So no hurries.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 02:56

Yi-Long wrote:Dont 'normal' tv's have 640x480? Or something like that? I am not sure.

I'm confused how you mean and why you'd want it? Yes HD Ready and FULL HD TVs support 640x480 (as do CRTs) but that's not the resolution of Digital TV (at least in the UK) or DVD.

Yi-Long wrote:Anyway, can you change the settings so your HDDVD will play DVD and last-gen games without being butt-ugly?

Oh I see what you're getting too. On LCD TVs there is no setting but they all support the standard 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 as well as some non-standard (at least on PC's) resolutions.

Are most last-gen games 640x480?

Yi-Long wrote:And the titles I AM interested in, are still too expensive. So no hurries.

Which ones?

I know you didn't bring this up, but as to having to re-buy a HD Player in a few years or more. I've now owned four DVD Players since my first DVD Player (1 is a Recorder which I jointly own). Times move on. Each time I got a better DVD Player than the last and none of them were remotely faulty.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 12 Dec 2007, 03:07

bradavon wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:Dont 'normal' tv's have 640x480? Or something like that? I am not sure.
I'm confused how you mean and why you'd want it? Yes HD Ready and FULL HD TVs support 640x480 (as do CRTs) but that's not the resolution of Digital TV (at least in the UK) or DVD.

I dont have digital TV yet, so that's also a reason why I'm not upgrading to HD yet. Plus I believe that if we DO get digital TV, you cant use it on more than 1 tv for some shitty reason...

Yi-Long wrote:Anyway, can you change the settings so your HDDVD will play DVD and last-gen games without being butt-ugly?
Oh I see what you're getting too. On LCD TVs there is no setting but they all support the standard 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 as well as some non-standard (at least on PC's) resolutions.

Are most last-gen games 640x480?

I ask because I wouldnt like all my old DVD's to suddenly look like CRAP when watched on a HD screen... so I'd rather change the resolution so it looks OK. And same goes for games. I wouldnt want all my old games to suddenly look all crappy and stuff.
And yeah, I believe the last-gen consoles used 640x480 or something like that. Eva probably knows better than I do. I've got a bad memory when it comes to all the speccy stuff.

Yi-Long wrote:And the titles I AM interested in, are still too expensive. So no hurries.
Which ones?

TMNT got some very good reviews, as well as Ratattouille... which are just 2 I can think off. Ow yeah, also Casino Royale

I know you didn't bring this up, but as to having to re-buy a HD Player in a few years or more. I've now owned four DVD Players since my first DVD Player (1 is a Recorder which I jointly own). Times move on. Each time I got a better DVD Player than the last and none of them were remotely faulty.

I know, but TBH that's something I wanna avoid anyway. I dont like spending money over and over again on the same thing. I'd rather wait a little while and buy a good one.
As far as DVD players go, I've had 3 (excluding PC), and my Xbox was the best of those 3. I started witha region-free Pioneer (454 or something) which had a not-so-good imagequality. I think I already had my Xbox at that time, which has always been pretty damn good for region 2 movies. I bought a cheap region-free player last year orso, but again, the videoquality isnt great to say the least. It doesnt even automatically jump to widescreen with anamorphic discs(!)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 03:27

I dont have digital TV yet, so that's also a reason why I'm not upgrading to HD yet. Plus I believe that if we DO get digital TV, you cant use it on more than 1 tv for some shitty reason...

Digital TV isn't the same thing as HD

Why can't you use it on more than one TV? Presuming you have a digibox under each TV. How far forward is Holland with upgrading to Digital TV?

There's now one town in the country which is fully Digital, Analogue was switched off a few weeks ago. It's starting properly in November 2008.

I ask because I wouldnt like all my old DVD's to suddenly look like CRAP when watched on a HD screen... so I'd rather change the resolution so it looks OK.

What are you talking about?

. All LCD TVs support 720x576 and 720x480. You cannot choose the resolution (just like you cannot on a PC monitor) but if it's fed a particular resolution it understands it will work just fine.

If your DVD Player support Upscaling and Progressive Scan DVDs will even look better than they do now. All HD Players Upscale DVDs and offfer Progressive Scan.

What makes you think DVDs look shit on LCD TVs? Far from it. The opposite in fact. DVDs with bad quality you'll see the problems more but DVDs that look ace look much better.

TMNT got some very good reviews, as well as Ratattouille... which are just 2 I can think off. Ow yeah, also Casino Royale.

I'll give you Casino Royale but otherwise of all the HD titles those are the two that interest you the most? Ratatouille???

I know, but TBH that's something I wanna avoid anyway. I dont like spending money over and over again on the same thing. I'd rather wait a little while and buy a good one.

Agreed. I was just making the point that people getting irate they'll have to buy a second Player is dumb. You yourself have bought 3 DVD Players.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 12 Dec 2007, 04:32

bradavon wrote:I'll give you Casino Royale but otherwise of all the HD titles those are the two that interest you the most? Ratatouille???

Fuck off Brad. Brad Bird is the most talented family filmmaker working in Hollywood today. Watch "The Incredibles" and "The Iron Giant" for proof of this.

Legacy consoles reportedly don't look too flash when upscaled to HD. The exception being Xbox1 titles played on a 360 - they look even better then they ever did in SD.

The last gen consoles were 4:3 480p/i or 576p/i. The widescreen games of that generation use the same anamorphic technique that DVDs do. They either had increased horizontal information (like Halo 2 or The Getaway) or decreased vertical information (like the Grand Theft Autos).

Even some HD games of today are vertically cropped, like most Unreal Engine 3.0 games (Gears of War, Bioshock, Unreal Tournament 3, etc). But that's an inherit flaw of the graphics engine, which can be remedied on the PC versions of said games (console versions are shit up the creek without a paddle though, unless you want to play in 4:3/5:4).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 04:56

EvaUnit02 wrote:Fuck off Brad. Brad Bird is the most talented family filmmaker working in Hollywood today. Watch "The Incredibles" and "The Iron Giant" for proof of this.

I wasn't dissing Brad Bird you knob. Both The Incredibles and The Iron Giant are critically acclaimed, Ratatouille is not.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Dec 2007, 13:25

@Yi:
Buy an Oppo DVD Player (or any DVD Player equipped with a Faroudja or Reon chip).

I've got a few DVDs that look perfect (and I do mean PERFECT) on my 106" screen when upscaled to 1080i (My videoprojector is 1280x720 BTW).
You'd be amazed by the improvements that a good upscaling player can offer.

Don't be afraid to stay in the SD club.
With the format wars, the compatibility issues, the loading times, the firmware updates and the lack of interesting titles, HD has a long way to go before it can match DVD on any level.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 12 Dec 2007, 16:54

bradavon wrote:
EvaUnit02 wrote:. Both The Incredibles and The Iron Giant are critically acclaimed, Ratatouille is not.

Have you seen Ratatouille Brad.? thought not. it's a great movie and a fantastic blu-ray disc.It was a very well reviewed film.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2007, 17:47

Would it rate number 1 of your BDs to own?

Nope I thought not. That's what I meant.

With the format wars, the compatibility issues, the loading times, the firmware updates and the lack of interesting titles, HD has a long way to go before it can match DVD on any level.

Except quality???

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 12 Dec 2007, 18:22

Who cares, just get a fooking player! get it over with.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 12 Dec 2007, 18:32

bradavon wrote:Both The Incredibles and The Iron Giant are critically acclaimed, Ratatouille is not.

Is it not? I've read nothing but good things about it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Dec 2007, 00:07

romerojpg wrote:Who cares, just get a fooking player! get it over with.

Sigh do I have to repeat myself again? You know why I don't yet own one. I cannot buy something that isn't yet for sale

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 Dec 2007, 21:38

I enjoyed Ratatouille too, it's a fine film, but I preferred The Incredibles