Just got HD-DVD for the 360.

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
[If only you realized what you are saying. Go look up what DVD resolution is and what 720P is. The jump to HD-DVD isn't that great of an improvement over DVD if you are using 720P.

And it's still an issue of cost. Want a 42"+ plasma now ... you are getting a 720P model unless:
1) you are stupid.
2) have more money than brains

Does it really matter what the theory is. The point is that upon comparing the same movie in DVD and HD-DVD, there was a big difference.

Type and size of display is all subjective.

 

[Fingolfin269]

You know, the main reason I prefer HD-DVD is the DVD/HD-DVD combo feature. The Superman Returns I bought can be played in both types of players.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: VIAN

Originally posted by: Kappo
You should probably start trying to look at the technology instead of hating a company.

I dont care who wins the format (personally I think it will be HD simply because HD-DVD is familiar terminology for consumers and the logo is very similar to the DVD logo), but holding more = better.

I think Blu-Ray is crap. But before you kill let me give you my reasons.

If King Kong, a 3.5 hour movie, and a lot of special features can fit on one HD-DVD disc, then what good is Blu-Ray. That's practically a worst case scenario for movies. Even if there was more content, we're not even talking about the capacity of dual layer HD-DVD which will eventually roll out.

Now for the statement that makes the previous paragraph stronger. A HD-DVD players are half the cost of Blu-Ray players.

So... why Blu-Ray?

For the 1st time in a long time, i agree with VIAN.

Cost is going to win the war, Sony is simply overcharging on both the PS3 front and the High Def front.

I dont give a rats ass about HD, and i dont want it crammed into my gaming console anyway because the drives tend to die anyway from the prolonged load of reading movie disks.

(ask anyone who used an Xbox for a DVD player for extended period if its still working, red light of death + disk click of death)

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: VIAN

Originally posted by: Kappo
You should probably start trying to look at the technology instead of hating a company.

I dont care who wins the format (personally I think it will be HD simply because HD-DVD is familiar terminology for consumers and the logo is very similar to the DVD logo), but holding more = better.

I think Blu-Ray is crap. But before you kill let me give you my reasons.

If King Kong, a 3.5 hour movie, and a lot of special features can fit on one HD-DVD disc, then what good is Blu-Ray. That's practically a worst case scenario for movies. Even if there was more content, we're not even talking about the capacity of dual layer HD-DVD which will eventually roll out.

Now for the statement that makes the previous paragraph stronger. A HD-DVD players are half the cost of Blu-Ray players.

So... why Blu-Ray?

1. PS3 can be bought for the same amount of money as an HD-DVD player
2. Blu-Ray holds more, and for any video geek, that means either better quality video (especially with less compression) and more features
3. Blu-Ray is backed by more companies than HD-DVD. (more choices)
4. Blu-Ray movies costs are equal to HD-DVD.

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
You know, the main reason I prefer HD-DVD is the DVD/HD-DVD combo feature. The Superman Returns I bought can be played in both types of players.

Yeah except those cost like $35-40. (at least at Best Buy)

Originally posted by: Acanthus
For the 1st time in a long time, i agree with VIAN.

Cost is going to win the war, Sony is simply overcharging on both the PS3 front and the High Def front.

I dont give a rats ass about HD, and i dont want it crammed into my gaming console anyway because the drives tend to die anyway from the prolonged load of reading movie disks.

(ask anyone who used an Xbox for a DVD player for extended period if its still working, red light of death + disk click of death)

$500 for a game system that offers roughly the same (a bit more, considering its features like Linux, still having Blu-Ray, Etc) than the $400 Xbox 360? Considering they're losing around $300 for each console, I hardly call that overpricing.

That's funny how I've never had problems with watching movies on my PS2, and it's never "destroyed" my console.

If you ever get a PS3 or the HD-DVD add on for 360, maybe then you'll care about HD. Just even watching TV on HD should be reason enough to care.

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I dont give a rats ass about HD, and i dont want it crammed into my gaming console anyway because the drives tend to die anyway from the prolonged load of reading movie disks.

(ask anyone who used an Xbox for a DVD player for extended period if its still working, red light of death + disk click of death)

Happened to me. But I thought there was a problem with the first gen DVD drives.

 

[rbV5]

If only you realized what you are saying. Go look up what DVD resolution is and what 720P is. The jump to HD-DVD isn't that great of an improvement over DVD if you are using 720P

It's actually a pretty decent improvement both in actual 2D pixel resolution, and data throughput.
Pixel representation

Max DVD bitrate A/V = 9.8 Mbits
Max HD DVD bitrate A/V = 30.24 Mbits

My math shows quite a difference in potential PQ

 

[Rage187]

got mine today and I am very happy, easily worth the $$$

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by:

Fingolfin269

You know, the main reason I prefer HD-DVD is the DVD/HD-DVD combo feature. The Superman Returns I bought can be played in both types of players.

Yeah except those cost like $35-40. (at least at Best Buy)

did it hurt pulling those numbers out your ass?

The Combo HDDVD/DVD disc cost the same thing, the Superman was $29.99 at BB B&M.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: rbV5

If only you realized what you are saying. Go look up what DVD resolution is and what 720P is. The jump to HD-DVD isn't that great of an improvement over DVD if you are using 720P

It's actually a pretty decent improvement both in actual 2D pixel resolution, and data throughput.
Pixel representation

Max DVD bitrate A/V = 9.8 Mbits
Max HD DVD bitrate A/V = 30.24 Mbits

My math shows quite a difference in potential PQ

Yes, last I checked 720x480 (NTSC) wasn't 720p. It isn't about the discs, its about the content you can store. DVD can do 1080p content - however it certainly won't hold much video at a competitive bit rate.

 

[VIAN]

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/dvd/reviews/df/20061120/116403120001.html

It looks like King Kong on HD-DVD is already on a dual layer HD-DVD. The studio purposely tried to fit everything on one disc. This link above goes to a review that says that there is lossy audio and limited special features compared to the DVD version.

But he also says that King Kong "is now my disc of choice to demonstrate the high definition experience in the home theater."

I still stand by what I said. That this is a worst case scenario. But instead of looking at dual layer for a solution like this, I will look at 2 disc editions that are common already on DVD. From this we can see that most HD-DVD movies will mostly be one disc, including special features. Most are 1 hour and 50 minutes, a far cry from 3.5 hours. Even the 2.5 hour movies will have no problem.

So again I feel that there is little need for the larger Blu-Ray at twice the price of HD-DVD.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: rbV5

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
If only you realized what you are saying. Go look up what DVD resolution is and what 720P is. The jump to HD-DVD isn't that great of an improvement over DVD if you are using 720P

It's actually a pretty decent improvement both in actual 2D pixel resolution, and data throughput.
Pixel representation

Max DVD bitrate A/V = 9.8 Mbits
Max HD DVD bitrate A/V = 30.24 Mbits

My math shows quite a difference in potential PQ

Backing up what rbV5 says, there is significant difference in image quality of 720x480 at 30i vs 1280x720 at 30p. It is about a factor of 2 better. 1080p doubles it again +. 4k will kill you (and OMG, it can do 60p - check out www.red.com sometime - designed to theater at the moment).

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: gsellis
Backing up what rbV5 says, there is significant difference in image quality of 720x480 at 30i vs 1280x720 at 30p. It is about a factor of 2 better. 1080p doubles it again +. 4k will kill you (and OMG, it can do 60p - check out www.red.com sometime - designed to theater at the moment).

Wow! I can't wait for 60fps progressive video. Things are looking up; real quick!

 

[HgrdGman]

HD DVD has alot of the good film productions companies too.

HBO - Band of Brothers
NewLine - Lord of the Rings
Paramount
Universal
Warner Bros - Matrix

 

[d0lorous dave]

Originally posted by: HgrdGman
HD DVD has alot of the good film productions companies too.

HBO - Band of Brothers
NewLine - Lord of the Rings
Paramount
Universal
Warner Bros - Matrix

I haven't heard anything about HBO releasing on HD-DVD, last I check they released the Sopranos on Blu Ray. If HBO and NewLine are on board with HD-DVD, that gets my vote right there.

I would LOVE to have an Extended Edition LOTR marathon in HD!

 

[VIAN]

I've seen the Sopranos on Bluray. But Newline, since it's with Warner Bros, will definitely be on HD-DVD - whether it's exclusive, idk.

Lord Of The Rings HD-DVD Screenshots

Personally, I can't wait for Newline to release "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie" on HD-DVD. That would look so awsome in Hi-def.

 

[VIAN]

This is amazing, I can't believe these reviews that I've been reading about Blu-ray titles. If it's true, it's very very sad. Twice the price of HD-DVD, but crappier picture quality in practically every movie. What are the studios thinking staying with Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray Reviews

HD-DVD Reviews

 

[Aikouka]

Are the complaints based on the fact that Blu-Ray discs were using MPEG2 for the longest time and not H264 or VC1? HD-DVD has been using VC1 for the whole duration and it definitely offers better quality over MPEG2. There's also the bit of a difference in audio if you're an audiophile.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: VIAN
I've been so excited about HD-DVD, that I had to buy me some more movies to see them this way. Hi-def video is truly amazing. So far I've got four movies:

King Kong
The Polar Express
Enter the Dragon
The Thing

King Kong looks the best. The tree branch detail is amazing. Especially in the jungle section - you can make out practically every leaf. And of course, the hair on King Kong looks super realistic.

The Polar Express doesn't really look too impressive. Probably because the CG wasn't too detailed anyway.

Initially, I didn't think Enter the Dragon looked improved at all, since it doesn't have the crispness of King Kong (being that it's an older movie). But after checking with the DVD version, WOW! It almost seems like the difference between an overused VHS and DVD. It almost looks like the DVD was never remastered. The film looks cleaned up. All the graininess from the DVD version is gone. You can make out pimples on Bruce Lee's face at times and the film looks more 3d. This one was a good buy.

I haven't watched The Thing yet. But if Enter the Dragon and King Kong are any indication, The Thing will be scarier to watch.

The bolded part is so so true. I got mine at Target and made sure to ask the sales guy if I could return it if I wasn't $214 worth of impressed. It came with King Kong of course but I picked up Bourne Supremacy to use for comparison. I put in King Kong first and the opening scene had some monkeys in the jungle. W-O-W... It looked as good or better than a great DiscoveryHD feed.

I then put my standard Bourne Supremacy DVD in my upconverting Denon 1910 player and the HD-DVD version in my Xbox drive. The difference? Night and day. Everything is more sharp, colors are more bright and rich, and darks are more deep. Since then I picked up Full Metal Jacket and compared the two. It's the same. Original DVD looks washed out compared to the HD version. Plus it's so much better because the standard DVD of FMJ is 4:3 and the HD-DVD version is widescreen (AFAIK the standard DVD of FMJ was only 4:3).

My only complaint is there's not a lot of material available on HD-DVD (or BluRay) and the prices are still high.