Just purchased HD-DVD drive

[Crash]

pics of the quality video when I get home.

:D

[gekko]

Standalone?

[Dyne]

Standalone?

Why would he post about buying just a standalone in the console gaming forum?

[Bube]

Speaking of HD, I bought a HD tv recently, and almost bought a standalone HD-DVD - DivX player along with it, but when I asked the guy if I could hook the player to my amp, he said that if I use HDMI to get the image on my tv, I couldn't get another sound or video output. I don't care about a second video output, but what if I wanted to get audio out of the "audio out" on the player? He said it wasn't possible, so I didn't buy it.. But still, I wasn't really convinced it could be that way.. Is it true?

Oh, are HD-DVDs on the market?

[Crash]

yeah, got the xbox 360 one. It was only $159.99 so I couldn't resist. Will be buying Mission Impossible 3 later tonight. King kong looks great, but I need a new tv. Maybe this weekend I'll get one.

Pics later tonight.

[Crash]

couple-a hd-dvd king kong pix

http://www.woopics.com/uploads/073ef7ad60.jpg

http://www.woopics.com/uploads/b3fcceb447.jpg

[Dyne]

Good ****ing god that's amazing.

[Perfect Stu]

are you rich, dude?

it sounds like you're about to buy a new HDTV on a whim, lol...that's just not fair! :p

[Crash]

no, i'm pretty poor. I make about $30,000 a year. But, I sold my other HDTV, so I need a new one.

And Best Buy Prices are really good right now.

[gekko]

Speaking of HD, I bought a HD tv recently, and almost bought a standalone HD-DVD - DivX player along with it, but when I asked the guy if I could hook the player to my amp, he said that if I use HDMI to get the image on my tv, I couldn't get another sound or video output. I don't care about a second video output, but what if I wanted to get audio out of the "audio out" on the player? He said it wasn't possible, so I didn't buy it.. But still, I wasn't really convinced it could be that way.. Is it true?

Oh, are HD-DVDs on the market?


Best bet is to wait for a player to support HDMI 1.3. HD-XA2 will be the first.

Anyway, HDMI carries both a digital video and audio signal on the same cable. That is your audio out. You need a get a receiver that supports HDMI. Get yu Dolby TrueHD as well.

[GameMaster]

yeah, got the xbox 360 one. It was only $159.99 so I couldn't resist. Will be buying Mission Impossible 3 later tonight. King kong looks great, but I need a new tv. Maybe this weekend I'll get one.

Pics later tonight.

Well, you should've resisted. Looks like you just missed out on the DEAL OF THE CENTURY:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/918/picture4by6.png

[bobcat]

w0wsers..........

When the time comes i will upgrade my lcd tv from 720p to >1080p when it comes out. Still 720p looks super nice too :)

[jeepnut]

That's a pretty good price, but there's no way I'm purchasing an HD player until I know which format is going to win out. Right now, it's looking like it will be Blu-Ray.

[Perfect Stu]

It will be Blu-Ray.

[Typhoid]

Blu-Ray looks the same as that.
I'm not taking anything away from the quality, the quality of both are clearly amazing.

[gekko]

Well, you should've resisted. Looks like you just missed out on the DEAL OF THE CENTURY:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/918/picture4by6.png

They were pretty much forced into it. You can but the HD-A3 for the same price on Amazon. The Xbox player used to be an amazing deal, but now Toshiba had dropped prices and Microsoft hasn't. I'd buy a standalone any day.

But they will definitely continue to drop.

[GameMaster]

Still happy with your purchase, Crash?


http://24.4.115.29/~synthoid/saucy.png

[Angrist]

HD-DVD canned.

[gekko]

HD DVD rocks. Still has features Blu-Ray isn't scheduled to get until August.

EDIT: I didn't sat August, I said October... really. October, month 10. Auto-correct must've changed it to August :D

[Bond]

Fuck.

[Jason1]

Even though I know fairly little about the actual differences between the 2 formats, I was rooting for HD-DVD. Because its not a Sony product.

[gekko]

Why the potty mouth?

Blu-Ray and HD DVD combined made up < 1% of total DVD sales. Losing HD DVD, Blu-Ray now gets 0.66% of disc sales. HD DVD dropping out of the war does not mean Blu-Ray has won, it's just now uncontested. DVD still get 99.33% of sales. Once again, 99.33% of all disc sales belong to the out-dated DVD platform.

Less than 50% of homes in America (much less the world) have HDTVs. Of those 50% tech junkies... very few even cared about this new format. Blu-Ray has a long, long road ahead before it matters, and your HD DVD player still works. Hell, all my HD DVDs I either have on DVD, or are combo discs. Win-win for me.

But really, there's still a very, very high chance of Blu-Ray never taking off. So enjoy your HD DVDs, definetly don't take another gamble and buy Blu-Ray, and sit back and wait. Also, some companies are continuing to support HD DVD, because some people have huge collections. As the priced go down, and with licensing out the window, you may see many players allow playback on HD DVD in a few years.

Or we may all lose be watching movies via digital distribution. Or another format may come out and be even better. It's not the first Sony product that didn't take the market by storm... Beta-Max, Memory Stick, UMD, MiniDisc. All are either dead, or used exclusively by Sony, and Blu-Ray has yet to succeed. Their track record is great!

[Ginkasa]

HD DVD rocks. Still has features Blu-Ray isn't scheduled to get until August.

EDIT: I didn't sat August, I said October... really. October, month 10. Auto-correct must've changed it to August :D


What features are these?

[gekko]

Secondary audio and video decoders (picture-in-picture), and an internet connection. And that's only because they finally got interactive menus working, which albeit was very late (also a HD DVD launch feature).

[Dyne]

Hahaha. Oh gekko.

[Perfect Stu]

Wow.

[manasecret]

I never understood why it was even a contest, i.e.

Bluray Capacity = 50 GB
HD-DVD Capacity = 30 GB

50 GB >> 30 GB. End of story. I'm glad they finally figured out Sesame Street number comparisons.

[KillerGremlin]

Blu-Ray sounds cooler.

Both formats fail as a medium to back yo shit up. You can buy a 500gig Seagate external drive for like ~120 dollars. By the time a Blu-Ray burner and Blu-Ray discs are as cheap as DVDs, 500gig hard drives are going to be like 30 or 40 bucks.

[Angrist]

The differences between Blu-ray/HD-DVD and DVD are too small. Much smaller than VHS and DVD. Back when DVD was new, everybody was amazed by it and wanted one. Not with a Blu-ray.

[thatmariolover]

The differences between Blu-ray/HD-DVD and DVD are too small. Much smaller than VHS and DVD. Back when DVD was new, everybody was amazed by it and wanted one. Not with a Blu-ray.

I think it's a bigger jump if you've got an HD set, but maybe that's just me. DVD was a nice jump, but it wasn't that huge.

[Perfect Stu]

I think it's a bigger jump if you've got an HD set, but maybe that's just me. DVD was a nice jump, but it wasn't that huge.

Yeah it's very different on a 52" 1080p TV. The leap isn't ridiculous, but it's nice to have something that really takes advantage of a top of the line television.

[Dyne]

The differences between Blu-ray/HD-DVD and DVD are too small. Much smaller than VHS and DVD. Back when DVD was new, everybody was amazed by it and wanted one. Not with a Blu-ray.

It's not just a better picture, is the lossless sound that's being included on Blu-rays, too, which you can only play in 5.1 and up on HDMI receivers. It's true quality audio straight from the source, none of this Dolby Digital 5.1 crap. (Although, it's not on EVERY Blu-ray.)

Blu-ray IS a noticeable jump on both video and audio if you have the equipment.

[Angrist]

Selecting scenes in your movies instead of fastforwarding the tape wasn't that huge? Bonus features weren't that huge? Extra languages, deleted scenes, multiple subtitles etc. wasn't huge?

That all together wasn't bigger than HD TV? o_O

[Dyne]

Selecting scenes in your movies instead of fastforwarding the tape wasn't that huge? Bonus features weren't that huge? Extra languages, deleted scenes, multiple subtitles etc. wasn't huge?

That all together wasn't bigger than HD TV? o_O

Yeah, but now you have more interactive menus, picture-in-picture, and online functions. Not to mention, in the PS3's case, firmware that updates itself over the web so it's future-proof.

And it's not like Laserdisc wasn't around before DVD, so you have to keep that in mind. "Huge" has to be in perspective in the context you're using it in.

[Bube]

Yeah, but now you have more interactive menus, picture-in-picture, and online functions. Not to mention, in the PS3's case, firmware that updates itself over the web so it's future-proof.

And it's not like Laserdisc wasn't around before DVD, so you have to keep that in mind. "Huge" has to be in perspective in the context you're using it in.

I agree with Angrist. The quality, the accessibility, the prices, the simplicity of it all is much superior with DVDs than Blu-Rays.

It's cliché, but the DVD was a revolution, whereas (I sure hope I used the word correctly :)) the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD generation was just an evolution.

We use these things to watch movies. The easier it is to watch my movies, the better. I don't think the new generation changes the way we watch movies, it just enhances them. You still pop a disc, and it starts directly from the beginning. You can choose a subtitle, or watch it dubbed if you prefer, in your own language. And after the film, you can watch the extras.

Everything more than that is just a bonus, and a bonus which I'm not too happy paying a lot more. Not to mention that most of it is completely unnecessary.

[Dyne]

Well, I don't know how accessibility is going to be bettered, except if you're a proponent of the new wave of Digital Downloads. And you may be uninformed, but some DVD players and Blu-ray have the function to play wherever you left off, and not at the beginning every time.

Also, don't remember DVD not being more expensive than VHS and some people even claimed they'd never make the switch. I think Blu-ray is cheaper than DVD was at release with respect to inflation, considering the technology hasn't changed much. And newly released movies are on par as far as pricing goes, if not a few bucks more for Blu-ray sometimes. At least that's how it is in Canada.

Seriously though, what would you prefer? Digital Downloads? That means you have to have a good connection, and even then, you wouldn't get to keep and rewatch the movies you download, and the quality would still only be 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1 (in the case of Apple TV).

[manasecret]

Yeah, but now you have more interactive menus, picture-in-picture, and online functions.

Just not the same as the jump from VHS to DVD.

Case in point, there are plenty of people (in fact, millions) who still have the crappiest standard definition TVs (including me) who would be willing to pay more for a new DVD player than pay less for a VHS player -- even several years ago when VHS was still an option (point being that DVD made VHS obsolete for a reason, and it wasn't high-definition TVs). You do not have the same thing for Bluray or HD-DVD. Angrist is absolutely right there, and like Bube was trying to say, Bluray is an evolution, while DVD was a revolution. This is pretty commonly held belief.

I think the adoption of Bluray will become the norm over DVD when both Bluray players and Bluray movies are equal to the price of DVDs. Will that ever happen? I doubt it, at least for a very long time.

[Dyne]

Alright, I guess movie players should stay offline, have clunky as fuck menus, and chapter selections that don't have dynamic pictures and audio so you have to guess where in the movie your favourite action scene is. :p

Also, I don't know what I did without 1.5x speed watching. It's drastically cut down my watching time of some tedious episodes in shows.

[Angrist]

Also, I don't know what I did without 1.5x speed watching. It's drastically cut down my watching time of some tedious episodes in shows.Some DVD players can do that. At least some software ones. It's a nice addition.
Alright, I guess movie players should stay offline, have clunky as fuck menus, and chapter selections that don't have dynamic pictures and audio so you have to guess where in the movie your favourite action scene is. Let's see..... I don't care about that, I don't care about that, I don't care about that. :)

[Bube]

And you may be uninformed, but some DVD players and Blu-ray have the function to play wherever you left off, and not at the beginning every time.

I know, my 5 year old DVD player does that too. That wasn't what I meant though - I meant that you don't have to rewind like you did with VHS. But, what you said just proves that Blu-ray and DVD are alike, imo.

Seriously though, what would you prefer? Digital Downloads? That means you have to have a good connection, and even then, you wouldn't get to keep and rewatch the movies you download, and the quality would still only be 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1 (in the case of Apple TV).

I'm not saying the Blu-ray is bad or anything, I just don't think it's worth it. But digital downloads..bah.. Now that sucks, plain and simple :).

What would I prefer? As long as we're still watching movies, on TVs, there really isn't much that could change the experience for me. Some new system where I plug into the movie, or one that directly generates the image in my brain, is what would be worth every penny.

However, like I said, the Blu-ray of course isn't bad, and I sure don't hate it. But if I ever buy a system, that would be my tech-geek side paying.

[Perfect Stu]

I'm not saying the Blu-ray is bad or anything, I just don't think it's worth it.

It is with a PS3.

I could never justify spending $300 on a standalone Blu Ray player...it's not that kind of upgrade. But it is an awfully nice feature on the PS3.