HD-DVD Death Made Official!

[DeadPoolX 9]

It seems that in the current "format war" between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, it looks like Blu-Ray has won. Reuters reported this morning that Toshiba has ceased manufacturing HD-DVD equipment, allowing Sony's Blu-Ray to have free reign over high-definition video.

Sure, DVD still exists and in fact, is doing very well (which makes sense, since DVD players are cheap nowadays, some come built inside televisions and practically every computer has at least one DVD-compatible drive), but if someone wants high-definition, it appears they may have to look towards Blu-Ray and that format only. That's good news for Sony (since the choice before was keeping consumers from adopting the new format), but without equal competition and the format controlled by one company, it seems like a dangerous proposition for most movie buffs.

Anyway... if you were debating between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, well... the choice has been made for you now. The downside is that most Blu-Ray players are at least twice as expensive as high-end DVD players. At present, the best deal one could come across in terms of a Blu-Ray player would actually be the PlayStation3, which retails from $400-500 USD. That may seem like a lot, but the dedicated Blu-Ray players I've seen (which can only play video and audio discs, whereas the PS3 can also play games) are usually well over $1000 USD.

[Flames9_RN 359]

And I belive walmart just announced that they are soon going to only sell blue ray!!

[Mags 112]

Wal-Mart is no longer going to stock HD-DVDs either.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

This was all a crock of ####### from the beginning. Just as stupid as VHS & Betamax make when.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Buyers Beware: Current Blu-ray Players Won't Correctly Play Future Discs

After the past week, it seems more and more likely that Blu-ray will be the movie disc format of the future. But with the exception of the Playstation 3, current Blu-ray disc players were built without future-compatibility capabilities, so come this October owners won't be able to take advantage of features like Internet connectivity or enhanced interactivity (whatever that means—details are sketchy). "One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for personal use." Regarding current Blu-ray player owners, Blu-ray developers told BetaNews, "They knew what they were getting into."

Representatives at the Blu-ray booth at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to customers.

So here's how it's going to work: current players are Profile 1.0, and can play future hi-def discs but no bonus stuff. Profile 1.1 dics will include additional bonus material that won't play on 1.0 players—these discs will have a "Bonus View" sticker. Come October, Profile 2 capability will come to the market, which includes Internet activity, but only on Profile 2.0 players—these discs will have a "BD Live" sticker.

When asked why current players were released to the market when in such a primitive state, manufacturers blamed the release of HD DVD and said it forced them to come to market too soon. "We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation." Okay, well how about we just don't buy any Blu-ray players for a while (not counting the PS3) until you guys decide to get your act together?

http://consumerist.com/344116/buyers-bewar...ay-future-discs

[rebeccajo 14]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

[DeadPoolX 9]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

No, they won't. However, DVDs will play on Blu-Ray players.

[rebeccajo 14]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

No, they won't. However, DVDs will play on Blu-Ray players.

So I'm not going to be able to buy new releases and play them?

[GaryC 7]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

No, they won't. However, DVDs will play on Blu-Ray players.

So I'm not going to be able to buy new releases and play them?

If you bought a HD-DVD then you are indeed out of luck. If you have a regular DVD player you will still be able to play regular DVD's. They will still be made for quite a while. If you have a "old style" Blue-Ray you will still be able to play the new Blue-Ray discs but some of the features will be unavailable.

[rebeccajo 14]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

No, they won't. However, DVDs will play on Blu-Ray players.

So I'm not going to be able to buy new releases and play them?

If you bought a HD-DVD then you are indeed out of luck. If you have a regular DVD player you will still be able to play regular DVD's. They will still be made for quite a while. If you have a "old style" Blue-Ray you will still be able to play the new Blue-Ray discs but some of the features will be unavailable.

So there's a difference between DVD and HD-DVD players? Jeez, I know I probably sound like a moron but I DON'T understand electronics at all.

I'm looking at my owners manual and it gives me about 12 different disc types the machine can handle. Does that help me to know what I just bought?

I'm taking this thing back if it's already outdated. We've only had it two weeks.

[GaryC 7]

So these Blu-Ray discs that will be out....will they still play on the DVD player I just freaking bought?

No, they won't. However, DVDs will play on Blu-Ray players.

So I'm not going to be able to buy new releases and play them?

If you bought a HD-DVD then you are indeed out of luck. If you have a regular DVD player you will still be able to play regular DVD's. They will still be made for quite a while. If you have a "old style" Blue-Ray you will still be able to play the new Blue-Ray discs but some of the features will be unavailable.

So there's a difference between DVD and HD-DVD players? Jeez, I know I probably sound like a moron but I DON'T understand electronics at all.

I'm looking at my owners manual and it gives me about 12 different disc types the machine can handle. Does that help me to know what I just bought?

I'm taking this thing back if it's already outdated. We've only had it two weeks.

At this moment there are 3 kinds of DVD players. The first kind is what has been out for 10+ years, your standard DVD player. These will be around for some time to come and regular DVD's will be made for them for a long time. Then there are 2 different kinds of High Definition DVD's. The first kind is HD-DVD. That is the format that has just lost the "format war". The other kind is the Blue-Ray DVD player. These 2 kinds have higher resolution than regular DVD's and must be played on a HDTV to get the benefit from them.

If you just bought a regular DVD player it isn't now obsolete, it's just the old style technology. It will still be useful for quite a while. At the moment I have 3 HDTV's and all I have is a regular DVD player. I have been hanging back and waiting for one of the HD formats to win. Now that it has I will probably go ahead and get a Blue-Ray player.

[pedroh 21]

yea i got the hd-dvd player for the xbox for xmas... but it's ok... the hd-dvd's are gonna be worth 5 bucks soon.. and they have a lot of classics worth buying, stanley kubrick collection, and some other good stuff..

[rebeccajo 14]

We bought a home theater system where the DVD player is in what I call the 'receiver'. That's probably not the right way to explain it to an audiophile. I'm more familiar with home theater systems wherein there was a receiver that managed all the peripherals, including a separate DVD player, equalizer etc.

Anyway, my manual doesn't even say the machine will play HD-DVD's. So I think I am safe.

This is what we just bought.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDeta...162586#proddesc

[GaryC 7]

We bought a home theater system where the DVD player is in what I call the 'receiver'. That's probably not the right way to explain it to an audiophile. I'm more familiar with home theater systems wherein there was a receiver that managed all the peripherals, including a separate DVD player, equalizer etc.

Anyway, my manual doesn't even say the machine will play HD-DVD's. So I think I am safe.

This is what we just bought.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDeta...162586#proddesc

Thats a standard DVD player and it will be useful for a long time to come. I have one that "upscales" a regular DVD like yours does and it does make a difference when played on a HDTV. Relax, your golden for quite a while.

[rebeccajo 14]

We bought a home theater system where the DVD player is in what I call the 'receiver'. That's probably not the right way to explain it to an audiophile. I'm more familiar with home theater systems wherein there was a receiver that managed all the peripherals, including a separate DVD player, equalizer etc.

Anyway, my manual doesn't even say the machine will play HD-DVD's. So I think I am safe.

This is what we just bought.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDeta...162586#proddesc

Thats a standard DVD player and it will be useful for a long time to come. I have one that "upscales" a regular DVD like yours does and it does make a difference when played on a HDTV. Relax, your golden for quite a while.

Oh, thank you!

When we moved from our old house, we pulled the very expensive Integra surround sound system and brought it with us. It had been professionally installed and all the wires were hidden, etc.

When we moved to the new place, we couldn't figure out how to have surround without having wires all over the place (our 'new' old house would have some issues with running wires through walls, etc.). So we bought this unit instead and now the Integra is boxed up in the basement.

Stupid probably on our part. This new system doesn't hold a candle to what the Integra could do. But it's better than watching movies without any 'oomph' at all.