How I Skirted The HD Format War

MikeCore - 8-21-2007 at 10:48 PM

I was an early adopter to HDTV. In Jan. '03 I bought a Mitsubishi 1080i HD projection TV. It was state of the art for it's time and a predecessor to many of the LCD TV's that exist today. My TV only does 1080i over component so my HD input is limited by that but I don't see much diff. in pic quality between component and DVI/HDMI. DVI/HDMI are digital but mostly used to enforce DRM not to improve pic quality.

I had digital HD service for about two years but after not using it very much I eventually canceled the service and now only have basic cable with broadband internet. Up until recently I thought that I would have to buy a new 1080p LCD and a new HD-DVD player to take full advantage of HD but, I was wrong.

I have a bunch of x264 1080p HD-DVD/BR rips but right now there is only one player that is confirmed to play them and it is having trouble playing the 1080p rips and it costs $250+ You can get a hard drive in it to store your movies but I prefer discs so my content can be stored easily off my PC.

I started doing some research on players and came across this player

http://www.divx.com/products/hw/detail.php?p=118

This player is progressive scan, my TV is also, and this player plays DivX-HD/XviD-HD files and WMV-HD files. It does 480p/720p/1080i. You can get it for $89 at Fry's right now. I tried a 720p XviD-HD file and it looked stunning. Even regular DVD's playing at 480p look great after adjusting the pic with Avia.

I could only imagine how good this player would look on a LCD/Plasma TV. My next purchase, in early Oct., will be one of these:

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/5024355;jsessionid=QbiCYsMp...

I will us that to rip HD-DVD's and encode to 720p XviD=HD. Then some time next year I will buy one of these:

http://www.dfwdepot.com/opticstor/index.php?main_page=produc...

After I get that I will be able to rip both Blue Ray and HD-DVD's and watch them on my player in true 1080i HD. So I basically I will be able to 'step up' to HD for a fraction of the cost. I could wait a while for the prices to drop more but I'm addicted to HD now and I would rather adopt now s0 a year from now I can just get the latest HD-DVD/BR from NetFlix and rip it with my eyes closed :cool:

So it seems the format war isn't going to affect me

Thanks for reading. It;s almost time for my smoke :cool:

BDx13 - 8-21-2007 at 11:40 PM

interesting. i don't know why, but i haven't had much interest in ripping or downloading movies. hell, any interest. too time consuming, i guess.

anyway, we got our first HDTV a few months ago and I absolutely love it. the picture quality is SO good.

i'm gonna go ahead and side with blu ray and get a PS3 later this year. i'm wasting my time not getting hd videos from netflix!

MikeCore - 8-22-2007 at 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
interesting. i don't know why, but i haven't had much interest in ripping or downloading movies. hell, any interest. too time consuming, i guess.

anyway, we got our first HDTV a few months ago and I absolutely love it. the picture quality is SO good.

i'm gonna go ahead and side with blu ray and get a PS3 later this year. i'm wasting my time not getting hd videos from netflix!

I don't think 'siding' with either format is a wise economic choice right now because if you look at the socio-economics behind each format they each have their pros and cons:

HD-DVD
----------

1. Cheaper
2. Brand Name Recognition (People have been buying DVD's for the last 10 years not 'Red Ray Discs")
3. Backward Compatible w/DVD
4. Less In bedded DRM
5. More studios back it
6. Xbox 360

Blue Ray
-----------

1. BD-R disc are more cost effect then HD-DVD-R
2. Had 1080p first
3. First to retail market with Burners/Blank Media
4. PS3

I think I am fairly safe in my choice to skirt the format war and if I had to pick one I would go with HD-DVD. The players/discs are cheaper and when it comes down to it that is usually what decided things. Besides, there seems to be another studio lining up behind HD-DVD every other day

BDx13 - 8-22-2007 at 07:42 AM

all good points, but i have to disagree with you on what decides it...
the porn industry has sided with blu ray, and more often than not, THEY decide it!

honestly, though, i think it's still too soon to tell. this could wind up being no different than the DVD-R vs DVD+R thing and manufacturers just make players than read both.

the hard part for me is now that i'm sitting in front of a 50" Pioneer Elite, i can't wait much longer! in the PS3, not only do you get a good gaming system, but you get a blu ray player that is widely regarded as one of the best available - hdtv magazine uses it as their reference player and sound & vision picked it as tops in a three way shootout a few months ago.

Muttley - 8-22-2007 at 08:28 AM

I'm gonna wait this one out for a while. Paramount announced they're going exclusively HDDVD and already that's causing issues... Spielberg's flicks aren't part of the deal and Michael Bay blew a fit saying he may not do Transformers 2 now because of this.

I think if Sony tries too hard they're gonna sink the Blu Ray thing on their own. The PS3 isn't doing that well, and if they stay too heavy handed with manufacturing/authoring BR discs the whole thing will tank because studios will get tired of the headache. Same reason why there's not as many PS3 games out as there should be. Sony's tanked a new format before..... remember how big UMD was supposed to be?

As far as gaming goes I've been waiting it out but the Xbox 360 will be my choice. The new Grand Theft Auto will have new downloadable missions ONLY for the 360, and GTA pretty much rules my gaming life. So Xbox wins.

BDx13 - 8-22-2007 at 10:27 AM

i'm not a huge gamer, but as long as i can play a little GTA or Tony Hawk, i'm good to go. i just don't want my money going to msft.

i read about the paramount thing today as well. my guess is that its a negotiation tactic.

DAK - 8-22-2007 at 10:43 AM

I am waiting to see who comes out on top.

Muttley - 8-22-2007 at 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Muttley
I'm gonna wait this one out for a while. Paramount announced they're going exclusively HDDVD and already that's causing issues... Spielberg's flicks aren't part of the deal and Michael Bay blew a fit saying he may not do Transformers 2 now because of this.

Just a follow up to this... Michael Bay is now backing off, says that he originally said this (in a blog it turns out) while he was drunk, he is happy with HDDVD, and he's still on for Transformers 2.

Drunk blogging = bad

I also just found out that Disney is goin exclusive Blu Ray. Interesting.

DAK - 8-22-2007 at 12:19 PM

And blockbuster is only renting blu ray.

Muttley - 8-22-2007 at 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DAK
And blockbuster is only renting blu ray.

Not any more. They're doin both.

http://www.blockbuster.com/hd

BDx13 - 8-22-2007 at 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Muttley
I also just found out that Disney is goin exclusive Blu Ray. Interesting.

That is interesting. Aside from running Apple, Jobs is on the board of both Disney AND the Blu-ray Disc Association. Although Apple has supported Blu Ray for some time, they have yet to include any HD drives in their machines. My guess is that Apple's fall release of Leopard (OSX 10.5) will have them committing to something...maybe both.

BDx13 - 8-22-2007 at 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Muttley

Quote:

Originally posted by DAK
And blockbuster is only renting blu ray.

Not any more. They're doin both.

http://www.blockbuster.com/hd

yo, it was only like 2 months ago they sided with Blu Ray! are they offering both in the stores as well as online? when was the last time anyone was actually IN a blockbuster?

Muttley - 8-22-2007 at 01:18 PM

I was gonna say, Blockbuster can't afford to choose sides. They're closing stores left and right (just closed my local store) and they're losing the online/mail battle to Netflix. I can't imagine they'd cut off a good portion of rental income by choosing a side. I would think they'd keep limited stock in the stores anyway because I don't think either format has enough foothold to justify stocking them in all stores.

MikeCore - 8-22-2007 at 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
all good points, but i have to disagree with you on what decides it...
the porn industry has sided with blu ray, and more often than not, THEY decide it!

honestly, though, i think it's still too soon to tell. this could wind up being no different than the DVD-R vs DVD+R thing and manufacturers just make players than read both.

the hard part for me is now that i'm sitting in front of a 50" Pioneer Elite, i can't wait much longer! in the PS3, not only do you get a good gaming system, but you get a blu ray player that is widely regarded as one of the best available - hdtv magazine uses it as their reference player and sound & vision picked it as tops in a three way shootout a few months ago.

True, there was a time when porn would of decided it but no body really cares if their porn is in HD or not. I mean I have 149 DVD-R discs FULL of pr0n and not just 1 movie per disc, where talkin' 3-6 movies per disc. This whole collection of say ~750 movies cost me $30-40 and for most other people a collection like this would cost ~ $15,000 :cool:

It's going to be hardware sales that decide the format and not just stand alone players but burners/blank media which have already hit stores, well, Blue Ray has. HD-DVD should have some retail before the holidays.

EDIT:

Make that 150 DVD-R's now

DaveMoral - 8-22-2007 at 07:27 PM

I think the best bet is got a player that does both formats. I'm Xbox loyal... Sony doesn't get the games I like usually. Literally every game I wanted to play in the past few years has been on Xbox and that's what led me to buying a used Xbox.

Which leads me to another though, Big D, you won't have to give your money to Microsoft if you were to buy a 360 at a Game Stop or EB Games or something. Could eventually do that with the PS3 also. For me, it's a matter of waiting a few years even on used machines like that... they're usually in good shape but if they're so old that they're from the first wave of machines they are going to have all the kinks that the newer ones don't.

BDx13 - 8-22-2007 at 09:28 PM

going used is a great idea, dave.

DaveMoral - 8-22-2007 at 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeCore

Quote:

Besides, won't those chicks just look uber-busted in HD??? I mean... most of those broads are definitely NOT top of the line. If HD makes some actresses and television personalities cringe because of the clarity and "magnification" of their flaws imagine was some busted ass cokewhore cum receptacle is going to look like in HD...