News Paramount first in dual-format support

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/10/03/paramount_blu-ray_hd_dvd/

 

Either way movies are still going to be way over priced I bet

 

Yeah - DVD prices were high in the early days, but have really dropped recently to all-new low levels. With the introduction of High Def formats, enthusiasts can expect to be gouged yet again

 

Without question... glad I can rent for free

Anyways, horrible move. Smart on their part, but terrible for consumers. Especially knowing Sony's invested in Blu-ray and MS started backing HDDVD, and we all know how much influence MS has

I think both are overly gimmickey except for simply putting more data in the same place, HD content looks about the same in my eyes. Some tech-savvy people are already stopping DVD purchases and most are irritated about the various region coding and copy protection, however easy it is to get around (it's UPOs that get me, who the hell buys a movie to be forced to watch previews and antipiracy/FBI warnings, then to see a movie with a crap script and some skipping around the layer transition?!?!?!?!)

 

Certainly the increased "security" of the new formats is going to be off-putting to a few people. I mean, widespread piracy isn't good for the industry, but agressive region locking just punishes the consumer. If I buy a film on a trip to America, or overseas relatives send me a film for Christmas, I should be able to watch it dammit!

Interestingly, there are plenty of enthusiasts who don't yet own a HD-ready display, so they're going to care less about Blu-ray vs HD DVD tbh. Like me: I have 150 DVDs, a decent widescreen CRT and a nice 5.1 setup, but no budget for a new HD player or plasma screen.

I'm more likely to be a HD LCD TV for Xbox 360 than I am for HD films at this point.

 

I think both formats will have a very hard time. The vast majority of consumers still have old analogue TVs and neither of the new formats will give them a significant improvement over regular DVDs.

Early adopters aren't going to be the deciding factor in the format war, the average guy is. HD-DVD certainly has the advantage of the recognizable name.

 

Good point Florian, never thought about that.

As for placing bets to who wins. I really don't care who wins as long as the battle is short and swift. I'm not sure I will invest right away anyway. This is somethign I can definitely wait for. I did buy a 52" HD DLP set last month in preperation for the HD revolution.. but that is more for HDTV broadcasts and X360 (partially movies.. but in no rush for that.) I got an HD dvd player that upsamples to HD. Its not the same as true HD but its perfectly fine for right now.

Of course, thats until I actually see an HD-DVD or Blu-ray movie.. then I'll probably HAVE to have one.. but we'll leave that decision for tomorrow. But as I was saying. I don't care who wins. Both have advantages over the other. Blu-Ray has a higher capacity. HD-DVD is cheaper to produce on which may result in lower possible (note I said possible) costs for the consumer.

Even though I say I dont care, part of my inner soul prays that HD-DVD will win as I have been horribly let down by Sonys products, support, warranties and business conduct in the past 6-8 years. I'd rather see someone else be the driving force behind the format of the next-gen home cinema software media.

 

Bah...why can't they all just get along and pick one format? I hate format wars...it's ideas like this that hurt the consumer in the end. Prices go up because discs now have to handle 2 different formats for the same thing.