exile Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 *ADMIN* To Reference past threads here are some handy links HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part I HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part II HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part III HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part IV HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part V HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part VI HD-DVD and Blu Ray Discussion Part VII HDDVD and Blu-Ray Discussion Part VIII HDDVD and Blu-Ray Discussion Part IX HDDVD and Blu-Ray Discussion Part X *ADMIN* Just got back from Cedia and these are my comments: Blu Ray: I can't say I saw one demo that thrilled me. My friend wants BR to win but also didn't see anything to make him say wow. I did see Sharp, Phillips, and of course lots of the Sony and Samsung player but nothing to ever blow my skirt up(so to speak). No titles to mention as the titles on the floor were exactly the same. As far as HD DVD goes, I saw the 2 players. The A2 was a static display but I can confirm no 5.1 outs for the price point. The XA2 $999 one was a box with no inputs on it at all. I'm betting that Toshiba is seeing people buy BR players for $1k and with the influx of HDMI receivers they are seeing less of a point to provide them at a low price point. That's the gist I got. HD DVD was EVERYWHERE though. I'd say most booths had one on display on a 10-1 margin. All but the Sony Pearl projector had one paired with it. They were all using the A1 via HDMI. As far as other hardware goes, nothing. Nobody else had something on display which frightens alot of HD DVD supporters. Toshiba can't keep up this up as they need partners to make players. NOBODY had one on display or mentioned one and I asked.. Movie wise the only thing I saw was the disc for The Matrix. Otherwise they had titles already announced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Shane ive read that they had a demo for HDDVD F&F Tokyo Drift playing. All reports are that the transfer is stunning, and they showed off a ton of new Interactive features no other film has yet. Did you get to check it out? The HDDVD Demo Tour is supposed to be at The Digital Life con at the Javitz center here in NY next month. I definatly want to check it out, if it is there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Some late HDDVD news Rykodisc is indicating that they are releasing 2 special interest titles on HD DVD on Oct 31. Priced at $29.95 SRP. Visions of the Sea: Explorations Fireplace - Visions of Tranquillity Also word is Digital Video Essentials HD DVD will be available on Oct 31st Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted September 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Yes I did see that. It was quite nice but the movie is a terd. It was funny, they showed alot of the same demos around. I will say that I have to take it back on the one BR demo that was stunning. I did see Corpse Bride which looks simply amazing in BR. Granted this was on the 1080P SXRD Pearl but it was a knockout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 I just watched HDDVD Backdraft. Simply a terrific all around disc. I forgot just how good the movie was. Definatly one of Ron Howards best. The transfer is the best ive seen for this film. I even have seen it on a D-VHS demo at a store i used to shop at. Lots of extras which are the same ones which are on the new SE DVD. Definatly worth a buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel P Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Glad to hear it. My copy is on its way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 F&F Tokyo Drift is now the first HDDVD to officially to use the 30 gig/9 gig combo disc. That and some more info from Video Business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainmaykr Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Trigger pulled. I ordered through ValueElectronics (they're back in stock today, the 18th) but they are out of Serenity, and have been for 2 weeks, so I couldn't get that as my freebee. I didn't want to get in on a 1st gen anything, but you guys were making too much sense about getting in now before the model change and having too much fun with your A1/XA1's already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan_E Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Got LW2 this weekend but only managed to watch about 1/3 before football started (a guy's gotta have his priorities!). But the movie looked about as good as I've ever seen at home, leaving me satisfied with this purchase. Looking forward to Backdraft, as I've always liked that movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted September 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Big news if 100% true Universal ditches Blu Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan_E Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Read that over the weekend, and if true, a surprising move for Universal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Isn't that basically akin to Fox touting Blu Ray above its competitor though? What else could we expect them to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted September 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Dan, I think it is basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BdoUK Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Read that over the weekend, and if true, a surprising move for Universal. I thought Universal had always been exclusively in the HD-DVD camp. As such, this annoucement is kinda pointless. I don't doubt for a second that if Blu-ray started to pull ahead in the format war that Universal would begin to develop software for both platforms. Likewise if HD-DVD pulls ahead Fox and Disney will likely jump into that fold. Also pronouncing Blu-ray dead is very premature. This format war is not going to be won in the next twelve months and the Blu-ray group has plenty of time to get their act together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I do think Fox will go down with the ship, if indeed the Blu Ray ship does go down. Disney on the other hand are trickier to make a guess about. The signs from their telling shareholders they'd probably support both, to the lacklustre 'testing the water' titles coming to Blu Ray this year might suggest Christmas is quite a big deal to them, and that if HD DVD continues to show a market lead into the new year that they might go dual format by the spring. I actually wish HD DVD had some stronger hardware support at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Also pronouncing Blu-ray dead is very premature. This format war is not going to be won in the next twelve months and the Blu-ray group has plenty of time to get their act together. Amen. For all the Sony/PS3 bashing, if Sony can get any kind of quantity out in the first shipment of PlayStation 3 units, then the Blu-Ray hardware base will equal or surpass the HD-DVD base in one fell swoop. Add in more Blu-Ray hardware from multiple providers (compared to HD-DVD's one manufacturer to date, Toshiba,) and things get very interesting indeed. *Yes, yes, I know about the 360 HD-DVD add-on. If history holds, it will sell slightly better than the PS2 HD add-on or the Sega CD. Which is to say....* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Figures for sales of the PS3 only really account for much in the format war if a) everyone one of those buying a PS3 connects it to an HDTV, and everyone one of those starts buying a lot of blu ray movies to watch on it. The reality of either is realistically very slim indeed. That's what many of the exclusive Blu Ray backers touting the PS3 as the device that will lead them through the gates of heaven seem to forget. They've really got nothing but hope to go on and I'm unconvinced the PS3 or the 360 add-on will do much for the format war in the long term because both parties will be hit in the face with the reality that the majority of gamers actually just want to play games. The 360 is in a better position in making its drive optional of course, which is also better for its backers as for every 360 drive sold they at least know the user will have made the purchase with the express purpose of wanting to watch movies in HD. Still, we’ll hear a lot of hype about what good both devices are doing for each HD format, but whether it’ll be groundless hype remains to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Figures for sales of the PS3 only really account for much in the format war if a) everyone one of those buying a PS3 connects it to an HDTV, and everyone one of those starts buying a lot of blu ray movies to watch on it. The reality of either is realistically very slim indeed. But if even a relatively small fraction of PS3 buyers do connect them to HDTVs and buy Blu-Ray discs to watch, it makes a major dent in the HD-DVD hardware lead (which was less than 30k players, last I remember.) I don't think one can completely discount the ability of the PS3 to make a difference in this format war. Mind you, I couldn't care less who "wins," but it can't be discounted out of hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Actually we do not know exactly how many HDDVD players have sold, and we dont know how many of the Samsung players have sold either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I agree one can't dismiss the PS3 factor entirely, I just think it might only potentially help Blu Ray in the short term. Like UMD gamers may buy some Blu Ray movies during a dry spell on the PS3 until some AAA game content starts to appear. I don't think that beyond that the PS3 will get much use as a movie player with the majority of its owners, though by the time PS3 fans might cease buying movies and start buying games there ought be sub $500 blu ray players on the market at which point things would be purely dependant on how well HD DVD is doing by that point and whether it has won over any support. The PS3 works better as a tool of merely raising awareness about Blu Ray than it does as a potential Trojan horse getting millions of working players into homes. The retraction of a global launch is in this respect potentially damaging however, especially in the European markets since we could turn out to be a marketing department’s wet dream in as far as promoting an HD disc format is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BdoUK Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Figures for sales of the PS3 only really account for much in the format war if a) everyone one of those buying a PS3 connects it to an HDTV, and everyone one of those starts buying a lot of blu ray movies to watch on it. The reality of either is realistically very slim indeed. I hope most of the people laying $500 - $600 (or more on Ebay) down for a PS3 are connecting it to some type of high-def display. Whenever someone asks me about getting a Xbox 360 I always recommend they purchase a HDTV first. I would bet that most of the initial PS3 purchasers will have some type of HDTV or monitor. The selling of Blu-ray movies is another matter. As shallow as this sounds I think the fact that Sony is using the same cases for PS3 games and movies will help move some items. People will start to associate the films in "the blue boxes" as working with the PS3 and purchase them over regular DVDs. Then again Sony could have another UMD debacle, but I highly doubt that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 People will start to associate the films in "the blue boxes" as working with the PS3 and purchase them over regular DVDs That could backfire as I have said in the past though if people associate the blue boxes with the PS3 too much they might ultimately believe Blu Ray movies to be a proprietary format like UMD movies were to the PSP. Sony must walk a fine line in allowing the PS3 to help promote Blu Ray, but not to the extent where the consumer thinks Blu Ray purely equals the PS3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted September 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Actually we do not know exactly how many HDDVD players have sold, and we dont know how many of the Samsung players have sold either Toshiba has said 25,000 recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 They also made the bold claim that owners on average were each buying about 25-30 titles which sounds a little too optimistic to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 They also made the bold claim that owners on average were each buying about 25-30 titles which sounds a little too optimistic to me. Well im way above those numbers so it helps the average Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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