"Blu-ray Disc" vs. "HD DVD": Neither Is Winning

[Jerry Jones]

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/2/prweb684223.htm

The DVD, with us barely 10 years, is on the verge of extinction, thanks to new technologies with vastly greater storage capacities. But as proponents of Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats, the competing pretenders to the throne, prepare to pop the champagne corks to celebrate, they may discover the real party is online.

Apple introduced its Apple TV television product, designed for downloading and playing video content, to the market last year, with mixed reviews. In January the company announced a major software upgrade that provides more functionality and greater ease of use, combined with reduced pricing.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[paulw]

My budget will only allow for $329... the price of the 160GB Apple TV:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&node=home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv

PLUS, I want the APPLE software.

That's key for me.

So I'll wait for an APPLE TV with a bigger hard disk.

I'd like to see an APPLE TV with a 1 terabyte hard disk.

500GB minimum.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

Atually the reason I'd wait is for a Apple TV with a more grunty video process chip..

[Jerry Jones]

My budget will only allow for $329... the price of the 160GB Apple TV:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&node=home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv

PLUS, I want the APPLE software.

That's key for me.

So I'll wait for an APPLE TV with a bigger hard disk.

I'd like to see an APPLE TV with a 1 terabyte hard disk.

500GB minimum.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

Jerry,

Why don't you just buy an inexpensive Mac and put in a video card with HDMI and hardware acceleration for H.264? Then you'd have a full-featured HTPC.

Of course for about $500 you do build a PC (gasp!) like I did to do get it all done. I'm running a HTPC with my Sony 52XBR4 with excellent results. My wife is using it all the time no problem. And we actually do quite a bit of viewing from the Netflix online content. We just finished season 1 of Heroes and I have to say the quality was pretty darn good. Great series too.

HTPC with combo drive, Comcast HD box, surround sound receiver. Done.

I can play DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-Rays, stream online content, and play video files from my hard drive as well as normal HDTV and on demand from the Comcast box. Of course all SD content on the computer upscales beautifully from the PC. Nice and simple, inexpensive, and it plays everything.

[Jerry Jones]

Darn.

I've decided to delay my Apple TV purchase.

After reading posts from others using it, it seems one really needs 802.11n and not just 802.11g wireless to get enough speed to stream high bitrate video wirelessly from any hard disk in the house.

All I have currently are Macs and PCs with 802.11g... not 80211n.

Too slow for live streaming.

I could still transfer back and forth.

But that seems as if it would only be practical if I had a very large hard disk in the Apple TV -- otherwise -- I would be constantly moving material back and forth to be viewed.

I'm wondering if one can attach a very large external hard disk to the Apple TV.

If not, I think I might wait until they offer an Apple TV with a 500GB hard disk or larger.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Here is a pretty fascinating Web page that dispels some myths about APPLE TV such as the fact that you don't really need a widescreen TV to make it work just fine if you select the 480i mode in the SETTINGS menu. This means you can use the APPLE TV with an older 4:3 tube TV if you have component inputs.

LINK: http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts...07-03-22-21-30

APPLE TV: http://www.apple.com/appletv/

The other interesting thing is that there is a 1080i setting available that doesn't get much publicity either.

I plan to take the plunge for an APPLE TV soon.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Dr Mordrid]

Porn is sticking with HD DVD, for now

Link....

One thing that bodes ill for both HD DVD and BR is the coming of 'net video downloads by cable/satellite boxes to "whole home" DVR's; ONE physical DVR that any box in the house can record to. AT&T's U-Verse starts this in the Detroit area very soon with DVR's that can record 4 programs at once.

Not only that but what happens when rental services discover that DivX can do HD and download quickly? Don't discount DivX, they're signing partners at a very rapid clip and just bought out MainConcept to get their hands on encoder tech.

[Elie]

Hmmm, doesn't look all too good for movie downloads...

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Time-Warner-Trial-Could-Stifle-Net-Films/story.xhtml?story_id=10200BKRDFD6

[Jerry Jones]

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/01/itunes_movies_o.html

"iTunes Movies Outsell HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc"



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Yep... right next to the Laserdiscs and the 8-tracks.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

HD DVD maybe, but certainly not Blu-Ray, it will be here for a very long time

[Elie]

HD DVD maybe, but certainly not Blu-Ray, it will be here for a very long time

[Jerry Jones]

"APPLE TV: THE NEW HD FORMAT?"

Nice article:

http://www.cio-today.com/news/Apple-TV--The-New-HD-Format-/story.xhtml?story_id=10000CBBGYJC

...the prospect of Apple's easily available HD movie downloads may render the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray dispute moot.

Gartenberg agreed that consumers will eventually prefer HD downloads over disc purchases, but predicts that it will take some time for that to happen. "There's a still a format war going on," he said, "and downloading HD content, while viable, still takes awhile for most folks, given their Internet connections."

Certainly, however, the percentage of homes in the United States with broadband access to the Internet is growing steadily, and a number of manufacturers (including Apple) are rolling out Internet-ready devices specifically for downloading and storing HD content. Downloadable HD movies may still be in the preview phase, but the main feature is right around the corner.

The undeniable, inevitable conclusion?

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are as dead as DISC-o.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Apple won't do that.

But consumer demand in Europe will.

It will happen sooner than you think.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

You mean Apple are going to ensure that Europe has high-speed broadband...

[Tjalfe]

here bell canada is offering 15Mbit DSL, but has a 30GB/month cap, after which it is $1.5/GB up to $30 extra per month.. That means the speed is available, at least to the select few who can actually get this speed, but they make IPTV impossible with the caps
funny how at full speed, you can fill your monthly cap in 16 hours

[Brian Ellis]

But it's going to take time for Apple to get this rolled out all over the globe.

You mean Apple are going to ensure that Europe has high-speed broadband connections, better than the 1 Mbit/s peak that I "enjoy"? If so, I'm all for it! There is no way that I can download a 30 Gb HD blockbuster: at an average download speed of 500 kbit/s, it would take 5½ days If it's less than 30 Gb, it ain't HD.