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

And lots of cheap discs and hardware on the second-hand market... I think we're some years away from that though.

My hope is that if the HD disc market is going to die, and I don't necessarily believe that it must, it will maintain itself long enough that there is a viable HD replacement. I DO NOT want to return to SD sources.

Mark

If the HD disc market dies then, by hook or by crook, I imagine I'll find a way to rip my discs to cheap server storage.

My gut tells me HD disc is here to stay - I really don't believe it is headed for SACD/DVD-A. I just think there are enough people now with large screen HDTVs to support the formats - even if, in many cases, these people still need to learn to appreciate the better quality of HD-on-disc (much as they did with widescreen)! To me, worst case scenario is that the format become what Laserdisc was: a viable but nich format. And that wouldn't be that bad!

BTW, the impending dual format player from samsung looks like a potential winner - 1080p @24 from both formats; decoding for both of the lossless hirez audio codecs. Ok, so it doesn't handle the full interactive BR capability, but does anyone actually plan to use that anyway?

Agreed. I could start looking forward again to those lovingly restored Criterion releases of films that I was barely aware of to begin with.


Nope.

I wonder how right or wrong the studios had it when they insisted on the myriad of new interactive features in HDDVD and BD "to make the format viable" and provide a reason for the "consumer" to move to HD from DVD?

Oh be quiet, you!

I honestly anticipate the eventual purchase of an imported Playstation 3 to be the turning point really. Everything will snowball from there I imagine and stop me fretting about what may or may not be with regards to the whole format war. I wouldn`t go long just using a PS3 for games before it began to taunt me with a reminder that it plays Blu-ray discs, and plays them well, and that I really should buy a new TV. I`ve too many distractions at the moment though so I`m unsure whether I`ll be able to get into it all this side of Christmas. I can get one shipped from Canada for about �320 from a dealer I often use, and I`d certainly like to get one sooner rather than later before the 60GB models all vanish from the other side of the Atlantic, but I`ve got other priorities. I hope to have a better idea of what might be possible in the next month or so (though I feel like I have been saying that for months already)...

There are an infuriatingly good number of titles out/coming out now of course. Warner`s announcement yesterday for the ‘That`s Entertainment` trilogy with TrueHD and five hours of supplements isn`t making things any easier.



My instinctive response would be to say “no” as well, but I really couldn`t say for sure. Extras don`t sway me into making a purchase, and I rarely make the time to watch or listen to them. Once in a great while however a title with extras of merit do show up, and I think there`s potential with the Picture in Picture features, it`s just a couple of years may be required before some of the better filmmakers and disc content producers begin to make worthwhile use of it. The bigger issue for me really is that this is an impending spec change for Blu-ray hardware that is to become mandatory, and if I am to invest in a dedicated player I`d feel happier knowing I was purchasing an up to date unit.

Incidentally there have been rumours since CEDIA that Samsung`s dual format player (as well as their their higher priced 3rd gen Blu-ray player) might actually be able to meet the 1.1 Profile spec via firmware. Allegedly Samsung have said the dual-format player does have the 256mb of local storage on board, which is a requirement for the 1.1 specification, so if that`s true absolute compatibility would be determined by whether the on board SoC device is capable of handling PiP content.

At this point I actually question how much dual formats hurt HD Disc sales. It seems to be common sense that one format is preferable to two, but I think the question of whether these formats succeed or fail is not really determined by whether there are one or two formats out there- but really whether the consumer base really wants to replace existing DVDs with HD discs of some sort. And to that, we have come full circle to where we started- aside from the technical superiority, I do not see where these discs offer the average consumer anything compelling over regular DVD.

best regards,
Jerry

Is a good question. I wonder whether this isn't 'learning' from SACD/DVD-A where clearly quality improvement was not enough for the formats to succeed (it has long been my contention that the primary reason for SACD/DVD-A failure was that the vast majority of listeners could not tell any difference). Although I do not do extras much, if it helps the format ....

When I show family and friends HDDVD on my plasma TV they DO NOT see any difference over DVD. They do in my theater but thats not a typical viewing setup.... yes, Im sad to say I am convinced it is SACD/DVDA all over again, just gonna take longer to burn this time as there is wider early adopter support.

best regards,
Jerry

I think this is why HDDVD will win out because it is cheap to manufacture the disc's and the players are getting cheaper. Eventually DVD's will go away or those combo disc's will replace the DVD. I know the combo disc's can be buggy although I have never had a problem with any of the ones I have watched and I have watched a few.

What's your player Ron?