HD-DVD / BluRay movies

[Kristi2k]

I just finished Anandtech's article on CES. They showed HD-DVD movie titles, are they for sale yet? If so, where can I buy these titles and players?

Thanks!

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Not quite yet. An HD-DVD player *may* be released by March or April. BR is set for the summer.

 

[jlbenedict]

I believe Toshiba's player isn't scheduled to release until March (early spring)... that could be tentative though..

BluRay will follow up to that release with their player.

 

[NYTRIDR]

yup mid 2006 imo.

 

[Kristi2k]

I wonder if I should hold off on buying so DVD movies? I wonder if they will convert a lot of the other movies to this format? If they do, would the quality be any better?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Movies: yes. 360K pixel resoultion for current DVD vs. 2,025K pixels for 1080i HD.

TV shows: if they were not recorded in HD video I don't think they have any more resolution than DVD, unless they were shot on film instead of video

 

[GimpyFuzznut]

Higher resolution for movies - you will only notice the difference on a HDTV. The advantage of these high capacity discs is that WS and FS plus all the extras and bonus features could potentially be put on one disc. Those TV series on DVD could be shrunk down to one disc per season as well.

 

[GimpyFuzznut]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Movies: yes. 360K pixel resoultion for current DVD vs. 2,025K pixels for 1080i HD.

TV shows: if they were not recorded in HD video I don't think they have any more resolution than DVD, unless they were shot on film instead of video

Won't Blu-Ray go up to 1080p?

 

[Bobthelost]

I wouldn't wait with baited breath, the price is going to be horrific.

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
I wouldn't wait with baited breath, the price is going to be horrific.

I believe just for Toshiba's HD-DVD player, the MSRP is being announced as $499..
Pioneer's B-Ray player is expected to come in at $1,800

But, that is just early speculation, from news articles, and not known facts

 

[Bobthelost]

Horrific, then there's the price of the discs as well.

 

[50]

Wait for the format wars to end then buy.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Either buy a player (Samsung) that read (and writes) BOTH formats or wait until one format kills the other. Not until then will there be wide adoption anyway.

Otherwies, you might just be throwing money away. I mean, how long did SA-CDs last?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Either buy a player (Samsung) that read (and writes) BOTH formats or wait until one format kills the other. Not until then will there be wide adoption anyway.

Otherwies, you might just be throwing money away. I mean, how long did SA-CDs last?

did they even get off the ground?

 

[McPudd]

I've read elsewhwere that not only do you need a new BluRay or new HD DVD player to play these movie discs,
you are also going to have to buy a new monitor/HD TV with on-board copy protecion hardware that will allow playback in
HD.
Ditto for playing these discs in HD via MS Vista.
Something about hand-shaking that needs to occur between hardware in the player and hardware in the monitor/HD TV
to OK HD playback. If not, playback reverts to normal DVD movie play.
Monitors/HD TVs with this hardware do not yet exist.

Sure hope this isn't the case ...

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Horrific, then there's the price of the discs as well.

Well, if you've ever played a 1080p content on your computer, you would know what kind of horsepower it needs.

This is really for the early adopters. The first DVD players were like $500 too. In a few years, when it becomes mainstream and Blockbuster are carrying the movies, players will be much cheaper.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: McPudd
I've read elsewhwere that not only do you need a new BluRay or new HD DVD player to play these movie discs,
you are also going to have to buy a new monitor/HD TV with on-board copy protecion hardware that will allow playback in
HD.
Ditto for playing these discs in HD via MS Vista.
Something about hand-shaking that needs to occur between hardware in the player and hardware in the monitor/HD TV
to OK HD playback. If not, playback reverts to normal DVD movie play.
Monitors/HD TVs with this hardware do not yet exist.

Sure hope this isn't the case ...

Almost every HDTV made in the last 3-4 years (that has DVI/HDMI inputs) supports the HDCP encryption protocol. Computer monitors are lagging behind, but there are several models out now with it (and most monitors coming out in the next year are going to support it).

But yes, the content provider can choose to restrict viewing in HD resolution to displays that support HDCP.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: GimpyFuzznut

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Movies: yes. 360K pixel resoultion for current DVD vs. 2,025K pixels for 1080i HD.

TV shows: if they were not recorded in HD video I don't think they have any more resolution than DVD, unless they were shot on film instead of video

Won't Blu-Ray go up to 1080p?

Yep. This should go nicely with the new release of 1080p plasmas. NICE!

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Horrific, then there's the price of the discs as well.

Well, if you've ever played a 1080p content on your computer, you would know what kind of horsepower it needs.

Yeah, although fortunately the latest generation GPUs do H.265 and WMV acceleration.

This is really for the early adopters. The first DVD players were like $500 too. In a few years, when it becomes mainstream and Blockbuster are carrying the movies, players will be much cheaper.

Heh. $500? That's cheap. They were much higher when they debuted.

I still remember the first RCA DVD player I got. The price dropped to $300 so I drove TO ANOTHER COUNTRY just to get it. They were about $900 CAD here in Toronto, and US$300 in a small town near Buffalo. The US border guard thought I was crazy, until I told him the price, and then he wanted to get one too.

Anyways I expect to be getting DVDs for quite some time. Most movies I only watch once anyways, and 480p is good enough for my <40" screen most of the time. I love HD, but I'm not willing to pay the potential 50-100% premium for the discs most of the time.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Either buy a player (Samsung) that read (and writes) BOTH formats or wait until one format kills the other. Not until then will there be wide adoption anyway.

Otherwies, you might just be throwing money away. I mean, how long did SA-CDs last?

did they even get off the ground?

SACD and DVD-A both crashed into the tree line at the end of the runway.


Lethal

 

[CpuDesigner]

FYI: Comments from a market research analyst from CES.

Link: Analyst declares Blu-ray the winner

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Horrific, then there's the price of the discs as well.

Well, if you've ever played a 1080p content on your computer, you would know what kind of horsepower it needs.

Yeah, although fortunately the latest generation GPUs do H.265 and WMV acceleration.

Yeah i know. I'm just pointing out why it's so expensive, because it requires more than just a laser head reader and a motor to spin the CD.

This is really for the early adopters. The first DVD players were like $500 too. In a few years, when it becomes mainstream and Blockbuster are carrying the movies, players will be much cheaper.

Heh. $500? That's cheap. They were much higher when they debuted.

I had no idea they were that much. By the time i was interested in one, it was about $500 CDN or so.

Anyways I expect to be getting DVDs for quite some time. Most movies I only watch once anyways, and 480p is good enough for my <40" screen most of the time. I love HD, but I'm not willing to pay the potential 50-100% premium for the discs most of the time.

I won't bother going with a player myself. I have a grand plan of making a server to host all my DVDs and HD stuff, and will play it as well. So far i have 1TB in RAID5, and i haven't even started assembling it all yet!

 

[RebateMonger]

Oh, well....
No more "backups" of DVD (well, actually BluRay or HD-DVD) movies.
Until somebody slips up with encryption codes again.

 

[Bobthelost]

It's not all that technically difficult to rip even with the DRM they have, rip an LCD screen open and connect another computer to the output lines from the LCD's controller. Then all you have to worry about is the artifical noise and recompressing the movies.

So pirates are ok, it's just joe public that will suffer.