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Author Topic: Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?  (Read 127 times)

Ranger72

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« on: June 17, 2007, 07:03:00 PM »

I thought Blu-Ray already won? I bought a HDDVD addon so I will have both formats but then realized that Wal-Mart likes Blu-Ray better. I go to get some movies and every movie that is dual format is $5 cheaper on Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray gets 3 or 4 releases a week to the one or 2 HDDVD.

Even though Blu-Ray has won I will still hold on to my HDDVD until Serenity gets ported.
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Kamasutra318

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2007, 08:22:00 PM »

QUOTE(epsilon72 @ Jun 17 2007, 10:41 PM) View Post

That is one of the biggest disadvantages blu-ray has.....not having Serenity. sad.gif

I completely agree.
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mlmadmax

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2007, 09:19:00 PM »

QUOTE(Ranger72 @ Jun 17 2007, 06:39 PM) View Post

I thought Blu-Ray already won? I bought a HDDVD addon so I will have both formats but then realized that Wal-Mart likes Blu-Ray better. I go to get some movies and every movie that is dual format is $5 cheaper on Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray gets 3 or 4 releases a week to the one or 2 HDDVD.

Even though Blu-Ray has won I will still hold on to my HDDVD until Serenity gets ported.


Actually wal-mart is backing HD-DVD and not blu-ray and I think that is a much bigger blow than lame ass blockbuster. It is not like they sell players, wal-mart will bring hd-dvd to the masses for half the price of blu-ray by the end of this year. When that happens things may shift.

Another wierd thing is even though hddvd's only have WB and blue ray has a bunch of studios i still like the movies on hddvd better (serenity, army of darkness, 40 year old virgin, matrix)

The only blu-ray i own besides shitty ass taadega nights is casino royal and that is one of the best looking movies in terms of picture quality I have ever seen.

Also this isn't really a war since the sales of both formats is totally in the shitter. The vast majority of people still buy dvd's.

I do own both formats so i could care less, what i really want to see stop all this nonsence is a high quality dual format player that also upconverts standard dvd's to 1080p, now that will be sweet tits biggrin.gif
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Ranger72

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2007, 10:02:00 PM »

QUOTE(mlmadmax @ Jun 18 2007, 04:55 AM) View Post

Actually wal-mart is backing HD-DVD and not blu-ray and I think that is a much bigger blow than lame ass blockbuster. It is not like they sell players, wal-mart will bring hd-dvd to the masses for half the price of blu-ray by the end of this year. When that happens things may shift.

Another wierd thing is even though hddvd's only have WB and blue ray has a bunch of studios i still like the movies on hddvd better (serenity, army of darkness, 40 year old virgin, matrix)

The only blu-ray i own besides shitty ass taadega nights is casino royal and that is one of the best looking movies in terms of picture quality I have ever seen.

Also this isn't really a war since the sales of both formats is totally in the shitter. The vast majority of people still buy dvd's.

I do own both formats so i could care less, what i really want to see stop all this nonsence is a high quality dual format player that also upconverts standard dvd's to 1080p, now that will be sweet tits biggrin.gif



That is what I hear but what my eyes see is totally different. I have been too many different Wal-Marts and every one I have seen is the same. Look at the Blu-Ray and HDDVD racks and see for yourself. Fact is that Blu-Ray has tons of movies coming out every week and HDDVD don’t. Fact is that HDDVD titles are more expensive than the same titles on Blu-Ray.

The porn industry backing HDDVD mean crap today. Maybe it did years ago when they backed VHS but unlike those days today people mainly get their porn over the internet where they feel it is more private.

And I guarantee by the time Christmas comes around there will be a cheap Blu-Ray player to compete with the cheap HDDVD.

Plus take into account that Sony did do the right thing on adding a Blu-Ray player into the PS3. People are buying Blu-Ray movies not because they want the 1080P experience and went out of their way to buy an expensive Blu-Ray player to watch them. But rather they got a game console that happens to play those high end 1080P movies so they may as well buy some movies to see what the fuss is about. And it turns out that many (like me) happen to enjoy those 1080P movies after all.

Like I said I have both formats and enjoy movies on both. I own 20 Blu-Ray movies and 2 HDDVD. NOT because I like Blu-Ray more but because most of the movies I like is ether Blu-Ray exclusive or dual format. And since Blu-Ray movies are cheaper than HDDVD I pick the Blu-Ray versions.

Truth be told I could care less who wins this format war. But from a person that regularly buys movies and does a lot of movie shopping I can clearly see that Blu-Ray has won the format war.
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twistedsymphony

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2007, 06:05:00 AM »

I really do think that Blu-Ray is selling strong enough to emerge the winner this format war.

Most the audiophiles I've spoken to seemed more impressed with current Blu-Ray releases over HD-DVD (though there are still some on the other side)

Most of the Stores I go into (Best Buy, Sears, Walmart, etc) will have 2 or 3 Blu-Ray players setup on 1080p displays while HD-DVD is tucked away in a corner somewhere or it's sharing a TV with some other devices and not being used.

Most new movies coming out are being released on Blu-Ray and when they're advertised they say that they're  "Available on Blu-Ray Disc" and show a picture on the screen of the Blu Ray version next to the DVD version. HD-DVD by comparison rarely gets news releases and when they do they only say "High Definition DVD" in the voice over with no text or image on the screen to aid in driving the message.

Dual format release are cheaper on Blu-Ray... one of HD-DVD's selling points was that it's cheaper to manufacture but doesn't mean anything if it doesn't effect the retail prices.

While the Porn industry did support HD-DVD early on they've since found a way to make Blu-Ray discs as well, not to mention as others have said Internet porn is probably more popular then disc based at this point.


HD-DVD had a head start and they had their tech solid when they released too. This gave them a strong starting library before Blu-Ray was even released. Sony had a lot of technical problems and higher priced players... they caught the library up quickly but disc issues in terms of usable space and codecs were still a problem.

For a while it was the technically strong format (HD-DVD) vs the one with more content (BRD).... Sony has since quashed their technical issues so now HD-DVD really doesn't have all that much more going for it.

I still think it's too early to call a victor but I don't really see HD-DVD being able to do anything to get back into the lead at this point... I mean, if any other rental chains or services follow Blockbusters lead and simply cutt off the current sale leader then it will only fall in Blu-Rays favor at this point.

Despite the fact that the PS3 is selling poorly it still selling better then any other Blue Laser players including the 360's HD-DVD add-on.

Maybe Toshiba has something else up their sleeve... but I doubt it.

If the PS3 gets a price drop, or HD-DVD gets another big blow like this one, I'll be buying a PS3 if for nothing else but a Blu-Ray player. I've wanted to get into the HD disc market since before any player was released... but I've been waiting until I could see who's taking the market and it's leaning very strongly in Blu-Ray's favor at this point.
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Ranger72

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2007, 08:22:00 AM »

CNN just screwed this one up.

I was watching their news about this when the reporter said that if you have a PS3 it has a blu-ray player and if you have a 360 it has the HDDVD player built in and you can buy a blu-ray addon to it. lol
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hamwbone

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2007, 02:33:00 PM »

This kinda sucks. I really wanted to justify buying a HD-DVD player but this kinda smashes it. I really see the ps3 as a better value, the only reason i dont buy one walking through the isles is because it doesnt have a 5.1 ch analog audio out. I know thats a crazy thing to ask for on a console but i guess iom gona have to get over it or buy a new audio reciever, or external decoder. Think im still going to wait to see if sony decide to knock a 100$ off or so.
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twistedsymphony

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2007, 06:10:00 AM »

QUOTE(hamwbone @ Jun 18 2007, 05:09 PM) View Post

This kinda sucks. I really wanted to justify buying a HD-DVD player but this kinda smashes it. I really see the ps3 as a better value, the only reason i dont buy one walking through the isles is because it doesnt have a 5.1 ch analog audio out. I know thats a crazy thing to ask for on a console but i guess iom gona have to get over it or buy a new audio reciever, or external decoder. Think im still going to wait to see if sony decide to knock a 100$ off or so.


Normally that would would be a crazy thing to ask for in a console... but it's also something you should flat out DEMAND in a Blu-Ray Player... particularly if you're spending $600 on a Blu-Ray player.

Unless you just barely bought a brand new receiver... and the "RIGHT" brand new receiver you wont be able appreciated the HD Audio offered on these discs.

The HD experience is more then just pixels on the screen its sound through your speakers.

My receiver (like most good receivers) has analog inputs for all channels... because it was made about 6 years ago when HDMI wasn't even around yet, nevermind these new audio formats....

If Sony doesn't drop the Price of the PS3 soon you'll see cheaper Blu-Ray players by this holiday.

no matter what you'll likely be able to get into Blu-Ray for $400 before the end of the year.
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Thraxen

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2007, 11:41:00 PM »

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Jun 19 2007, 07:46 AM) View Post

Normally that would would be a crazy thing to ask for in a console... but it's also something you should flat out DEMAND in a Blu-Ray Player... particularly if you're spending $600 on a Blu-Ray player.



Why would you 'demand' analog audio out?  Most people use digital audio out and a receiver or pre-pro to process the audio.
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hamwbone

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2007, 01:36:00 PM »

because 95% of the audio receivers out the cant decode the HD audio tracks on the disc. even if it did the only way to send it the the receiver is through HDMI.  very few receiver do that. a lot do however have 5.1 channel analog inputs that could accept a decoded signal straight form the player. that way you get hd video, AND audio - the way its intended to be.
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twistedsymphony

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Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2007, 11:11:00 AM »

QUOTE(Thraxen @ Jun 20 2007, 02:17 AM) View Post

Why would you 'demand' analog audio out?  Most people use digital audio out and a receiver or pre-pro to process the audio.

hamwbone knows what I'm talking about  wink.gif

Basically the only way to get HD audio is through HDMI (v1.3a if you want to get even the latest formats) or analog line level outputs for each channel.  S/P-DIf doesn't have the bandwidth for HD audio.

So while the PS3 can output the HD audio via HDMI, it doesn't have a decoder or line level outputs... and at present there are only 2 receivers for sale that can accept HDMI v1.3 AFAIK.. both of which came out after the release of the PS3.

So unless you just barely bought your receiver and you just happened to pick up one of these new HDMI models you'll want analog outputs for each individual channel... hell even cheapo sub $100 DVD players can do that for 5.1

Only caring about a large dimensioned high resolution screen and completely ignoring the audio aspect of HD is horribly pedestrian. You might as well ask me why you would need an HDTV to appreciate Blu-Ray wouldn't that old 25" 480i tube be just as good? Video is only half of the experience.
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