Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The one of MANY HD-DVD threads (No bashing Blu-Ray)

I think this is a prime example why a format war can benefit the customer. Competition between the two formats would appear to be driving down some of the costs. I don't think that we would have seen such a drop had blue-ray been 'allowed' to go it alone.

Not sure if it is having much of an impact on software costs as the only experience that I have of HD-DVD/Blu-ray is walking passed them in my local HMV - they seem to be priced much the same and around �10 above DVD.

I think the software would have to start coming down with the introduction of very cheap players because it`s certainly one thing for a consumer to walk in and see a $150 player but be put off by $28+/�24+ discs. HD DVD is certainly in the better position to reduce disc prices I`d have thought, and perhaps that will be part of the forth quarter strategy.

The E1 is �269 at Play.com at the moment, and they even sent me an e-mail offering it to me for �249. Just couldn`t bring myself to do it though - as tempted as I was.

I agree as it puts pressure on the format backers to drive prices down to win the war... But I think it's even more efficient (benecfial to the customer), when the format itself is established by all parties so the consumer decides who implements it best (cheapest for quality). I think you get there faster because most consumers will not engage at all when doubting the future of the committment.

Formats are are not an efficient use of consumer decision making factors, which are pretty much no deeper than price, quality, ease of use...

Certainly if a development group or company chooses a format that creates substantial end-differences in the product it can produce a consumer difference; but in most cases and certainly this one, I don't think there's enough difference between the two on end-customer experience to drive one or the other to a victory - It will boil down to content available and if one or the other doesn't have all major content available, neither will fly.

I wonder, if all studios put out content in both, and all manufacturers produced players on both, with equal marketing, truly letting the consumer 'decide', what would they pick?


ken

" The E1 is �269 at Play.com at the moment, and they even sent me an e-mail offering it to me for �249 "

Im surprised more people arent getting involved at that price point . I mean ,at the very least you gt an upscaling DVD player and CD player. You can always put it in the kids' room or something when the Meridian comes out or the format goes belly up

Details of another even cheaper offer here :

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504273

~M~

Good question. Meanwhile, in this less utopic universe, this consumer has chosen both.

Grabbed an XE-1 off fleabay and have just successfully bid on a Japanese ps3 for region A BDs for �270. That's cheap enough for me.

Philosophically I may prefer the politics of HD DVD, but I don't care enough to indulge in principled self-denial if there are movies I can only watch on BD. Darren Aronofski's The Fountain has just been announced on BD. I really enjoyed Pi and Requiem for a Dream so that clinched it for me. I was also keen to see the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven.

I think if there was a region hack for its DVD playback I'd jump on one as 99% of my DVDs are region 1, and my only R2 discs are various UK TV shows (and I've some R3 discs too). I'm still without an HDTV. Getting a player might actually force me to make a decision and finally buy a new television however. I'm just not interested in investing in two formats. I`m quite fed up with the situation really as I miss buying films, and I`m so eager to finally enjoy my favourites in high definition.

Although Fox's European rights dictate a Bluray only release over here, The Fountain is in fact going to be out on both formats in the US via Warner in May (15th to be exact). Good film. Flawed but I admire its ambition.

The European disc of it won't work on your Japanese PS3 incidentally, since Fox show such a strict love for region coding. I'm amazed after how they treated it in cinemas that Fox is bringing it to Bluray at all. Traditionally they've ignored bringing out new titles for a broader audience (Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine...etc never got released) because they're genuinely too preoccupied in marketing titles for their interpretation of the gaming demographic that the PS3 brings with it.

I was unaware of the HD DVD issue of that film. Thanks. I should have dug a little deeper; being Warner it should have been obvious. I'll grab whichever version is cheapest.
As I am forced to choose with BD, Region A makes the most sense to me: more, cheaper, earlier releases and no BFC. Traditionally, Europe has tended to get the fag ends when video formats have been introduced. Hence the Nipponese ps3.

Any of you guys thought of creative ways to deal with fan noise of these HD players? I'm used to a dead silent environment, and I can't quite get used to the Toshiba whirring in the distance (11ft).

Both of the above would make it into any of my top film list, particularly Pi, so I was also very keen to see The Fountain. Unfortunately the Aronosfski train derailed on this film - three of us went to see it, all fans of his previous work, and three of us agreed it was truly *awful*. But the strange thing was that I couldn't stop thinking about the film during the following week and as soon as the disc was announced on HD I put in my pre-order If nothing else it does have some stunning visuals which HD will show off but I really think that if any film needs a director's cut to sort it out, this is out, but unfortunately Aronofsky has said that this is the only cut we will see. If you want the unabridged story there is a graphic novel available.

Mark

Yup - I have my electronics in a separate room :p

Mark

The US Bluray version will probably be the cheaper of the two as the HD DVD version is a combo release, although that would still only make it about $4 more at Amazon I think, and with the pound worth just over two dollars at the moment it may become a choice of which format you think deserves the support.

No argument from me there. If Bluray shows itself to be an unstoppable force I`ll jump and wouldn`t dream of anything else other than an imported region A device.

I think people tried to overcomplicate the film, which rendered many writing it off as a pretentious mess. At its core it`s a very simple concept and the film is served best if viewed without trying to analyze everything that`s going on. It is flawed, but I found it quite captivating and again I praise its ambition. It was rare to see something like that come out of a Hollywood studio.

For this to be made for $35million, and this to be made for $64million speaks volumes. Of course the former only made about $10million at the US Box Office, and the latter was a number one release taking $59million so what do I know?

I only saw The Fountain once, but I`ve been invited to a special screening of it in June with some of the effects team in attendance to talk about it. Really looking forward to it.

Ken,
I would choose the format that Mark H has sent me the player for!

best regards,
Jerry