Well, we certainly know that Bluray Bluray is significantly more capable all the way around: 25 and 50 GB discs with the potential to reach 100 and 200 GB. Bandwidth of Bluray greater than HD-DVD and already slated to reach twice the bandwidth of HD-DVD (reaching 72 Mbps and potentially higher). Recording capacity that with 50 GB now and will reach 100 GB, and a prototype of 200 GB is in the lab. Then you have 10X times LESS power requirements for recording for Bluray which is huge for portable recording.

If cost to the consumer will be roughly equivalent and copyprotection/digital rights will be the same, why would a consumer chose HD-DVD over Bluray? I believe it is in the best interests of consumers to resist temptation of buying HD-DVD products, forcing the three holdout studios to release product on Bluray. Certainly two of those three studios will likely cave very quickly. These are obviously plans based on today's knowledge. I hope Bluray continues to give consumers reasons (such as adoptation of the advanced video codecs) to unite for one superior format. Would be great to see one superior format (Bluray) for games, movies, music, and music videos.

I'm not sure what is going on with DVD-Audio and SACD 2.0, however, DVD-Audio/MLP (as well as DD+) is mandatory in HD-DVD players. As a personal preference, one of the last negative aspects of Bluray (for me) would be lack of inclusion of MLP (DVD-Audio) as mandatory. I believe MLP is a wonderful audio codec with great features which is necessary to include for DVD-Audio support anyway. With today's HD standards, music videos released for Bluray should support 24/96 audio with 1080p video. I would strongly prefer mandatory support in Bluray players instead of optional support. If too many manufacturers make models without MLP/DVD-Audio capability, you will likely see the same continued lack of success of MLP as we see today. DTS is now offering Lossless capability, but it is not DVD-Audio (needed for backward compatability), and also seems to be less efficient than DTS. Seems to me you could provide a lossless 24/48 multichannel MLP track for movies in addition to a few DD tracks (other language, commentary, etc..) for the price of a single DTS track which includes core DTS + lossless DTS info. While I'm certainly glad consumers can have lossless quality with movies, I'd prefer to have MLP as a choice for soundtrack compression. I think MLP should be the preferred choice for 24/96 audio + 1080p music videos.

DD+, and MLP, and SACD 2.0 are currently optional for Bluray players. 100% of CE manufacturers 'could' include these audio codecs if so desired, but I'm worried the el-cheapo models (good for the general public) will not include such suppport and will propagate in the future. With optional support instead of mandatory, it ends up being difficult for studios/software companies to support anything but the mandatory audio codecs (DTS Lossless) since there may be a significantly sized installed base without such codecs.

Nonetheless, the superiority and capabilities of Bluray are obvious. My plan is to purchase a Bluray player, probably entry level, as well as all the movies I like that are released in the Bluray format. I'll watch Warner Brother movies on DVD on the Bluray player which will use all digital upscaling to the desired resolution of 1080p (or 1080i/720p just as you selecet with HDTV set top boxes for those wanting 720p/1080i). When Warner Brothers comes around, fine, I'll buy their HD movies on Bluray. I look forward to seeing the success of Bluray with computer, games, music videos, and movies.

I'm sure we will all need to see the final prices/specifications of Bluray/HD-DVD, but at somepoint later this year, I think it will be important for consumers to rally behind one of these formats. Supporting both formats is way to expensive, and the shorter the format war, the better. The competition is really starting to outlive its usefulness. Both formats have improved because of the competition, but it is soon becoming time for support of one format only where consumers will likely have to decide their own fate. I hope cooperation prevails, and I hope One format emerges ASAP.

The vast majority of people are going to sit on the sidelines (until both formats are released), so I don't think it is critical if one format comes to market a few months before the other. Even if I had money to burn: 1) I hate redundancy 2) Universal players will not be out for a while, if ever. If universal players come out, we all know they are uneccessarily complicated, more expensive, and less likely to perform as well. 3) 2 HD players, more sets of cables, switch boxes, and categorizing 2 more sets of incompatable movies... What a mess. I sincerely hope nobody contributes to this mess and buys into both formats.

[This message has been edited by Health Nut (edited 02-14-2005).]

7.1 System