Comments on: BRD vs HD-DVD Round 2

By: twistedsymphony

twistedsymphony — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:47:30 +0000

Chris, you’re absolutely right that there are MANY disadvantages to the new formats in comparison to DVD and many more disadvantages to DVD that a HDD based/download system would alleviate. That’s why I think a video on demand or PVR movie system will replace the current dvd system in most homes before HD-DVD or BRD will.

DVD offered a whole lot of continences through new features that VHS wasn’t able to offer. BRD and HD-DVD don’t offer any new features really, just more DRM and more space per disc. a HDD based/download system does actually offer a whole lot of new features, and is really a revolution of the format where the blue laser discs aren’t.

This article really wasn’t much about the benefits and pitfalls as it was revisiting where they are in terms of current market acceptance.

I do agree that the market really does drive new technology and like SACD and DVD-A, BRD and HD-DVD are where the corporate big wigs want people to go… and by the apathy of the current market it seems apparent to me that it’s a direction that consumers really aren’t all that interested in going.

By: chrisrees

chrisrees — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:15:32 +0000

One thing you can count on: even if one is chosen as the “winner” the DVD format is going to be around for a very long time yet to come.

It sill looks great on my screen. There are many disadvantages to the new formats which you didn’t discuss. The one that concerns me most is because of the higher concentration of data in the same form factor, the new formats are easier to slightly scratch and ruin the entire disc.

With hard drive prices falling every day (saw a 1Tb drive for 300 the other day) my future collection will be completely on hard drives ready to serve up at a moments notice without having to risk dropping the disc as it gets put into the player.

Media companies are being forced to play to consumer’s needs (See EMI). I look forward to the day when I will download my movie and be able to modify it to suit my needs. (read: remove previews at launch and remove annoying FBI piracy warnings)

By: thax

thax — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:29:50 +0000

I am also waiting for this stupid format war to be over before I buy an HD format. I bought a DVD player when they were stupidly expensive because I was confident the format would be around for a long while. It simply isn’t worth the risk of spending lots of money on a new format when it might be deprecated.

Although Blu-ray may have an advantage right now it is really hard to tell what will happen in the future.

I couldn’t agree more about the streaming download services. If xbox live could get some decent selection I think they would do very well in this space as a rental service for HD content.