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It's official. HD DVD has thrown in the towel;
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Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps -
Gartner analyst Van Baker, however, said he doesn't believe that Blu-ray will be as lucrative as DVD. For one thing, Blu-ray will have to compete against digital download services, which could prove popular with consumers. Second, the studios have been knocking down the royalty rates.
"This is what a lot of the negotiations were about," Baker said. "My suspicion is that this is not going to be as good as it was for DVD."
Jerry Jones
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With the format war over, Blu-ray backers may slow the pace of price reductions on the drives that sold for just under $300 in the holiday season. But that would be a mistake, according to several analysts.
"Manufacturers have to realize that standard definition DVD has always been their biggest competitor," said Rubin, noting less than one million standalone players of both HD formats shipped in all 2007.
"The reality is that the end of format war confusion will neither boost an already saturated and naturally declining DVD market, nor suddenly spur mainstream Blu-Ray uptake," wrote Paul Erickson, a research director at DisplaySearch, part of NPD, in a report sent out Tuesday. "The mainstream consumer remains conservative about buying next generation DVD in the face of existing satisfaction with DVD and perceived high prices for next generation hardware and software," he added.
Both Rubin and Erickson noted the rise of new sources of HD content from cable TV providers and telcos building out their networks as well as Web sites such as Microsoft Live and Apple's iTunes.
"The future of next generation DVD as the consumer's preferred HD content delivery method is far from certain," wrote Erickson. "The window of opportunity for alternative HD content delivery methods, particularly pay-TV and broadband services, will continue to widen," he added.
Jerry Jones
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And there are alternative disc and card technologies waiting for BR movie distribution or player costs to give them an opportunity.Dr. Mordrid
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An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.
I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fpsComment
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For all of you considering the move to HD.
For about $200 you can purchase a Blu-Ray drive for your computer and have a HTPC. Despite what our resident Apple rep says there are not cables and messy setup. If you have a Core 2 Duo processor of around 2.4GHz or faster you'll be fine.
And then you can see what all the hub bub is about. Blu-Ray titles at 1080p are absolutely eye popping.
If you're content with SD then just use your computer and hook it up to your TV FOR FREE!
Watch all the SD DVDs and streamed content you want!
Jeez I'm watching "Night at the Museum" right now in HD and it's amazing. Full on 1080p baby!
YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!!
These new video cameras major motion picture studios are using are full raster, sometimes at resolutions as high as 4k then downsampled to 1080p. They are making each pixel count and with a good display the quality is astounding. And it's only getting better every week as the technology gets better and more and more movies are made with the new gear.- Mark
Core 2 Duo E6400 o/c 3.2GHz - Asus P5B Deluxe - 2048MB Corsair Twinx 6400C4 - ATI AIW X1900 - Seagate 7200.10 SATA 320GB primary - Western Digital SE16 SATA 320GB secondary - Samsung SATA Lightscribe DVD/CDRW- Midiland 4100 Speakers - Presonus Firepod - Dell FP2001 20" LCD - Windows XP HomeComment
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Keep in mind, Mark, that Apple is one of the companies in the Blu-ray camp.
But Apple -- wisely -- has waited to see how the format war would end.
I would not be surprised to see Apple Mac Pro workstations with Blu-ray drives in the months ahead.
Even your favorite company, Sony, has offered no Blu-ray support in Vegas Movie Studio Platinum even as Corel's Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus has added both "HD DVD" and "Blu-ray Disc" functionality.
Of course, none of this changes the fundamental state of reality, which is that "HD DVD" and "Blu-ray Disc" are as dead as DISC-o.
Jerry Jones
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Actually, there's no need to buy Blu-ray to see "Night At The Museum."
See a FREE preview here:
Then decide if you wish to rent or buy via iTunes.
That's what I love about the Apple TV.
It features the same FREE previews of each TV show and movie so that I can decide if I want to buy the film/TV program.
If I decide to buy, I can then watch it -- not only on my computer or TV -- but also on my iPod or iPhone or on my notebook computer when I'm traveling.
Jerry Jones
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How much are Apple paying you? The only explanation for your monomania.
Actually, thou doth protest too much, methinks. It has a negative effect of just getting everyone's backs up.Brian (the devil incarnate)
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$250,000 per year.
Stock options.
Retirement health benefits.
One three week vacation per year in Hawaii.
(Just kidding.)
Jerry Jones
Originally posted by Brian Ellis View PostComment
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Originally posted by Jerry Jones View PostActually, there's no need to buy Blu-ray to see "Night At The Museum."
See a FREE preview here:
Then decide if you wish to rent or buy via iTunes.
That's what I love about the Apple TV.
It features the same FREE previews of each TV show and movie so that I can decide if I want to buy the film/TV program.
If I decide to buy, I can then watch it -- not only on my computer or TV -- but also on my iPod or iPhone or on my notebook computer when I'm traveling.
Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net
Two things Jerry.
1. I prefer to watch 1080p. Thank you for the link though.
2. I predicted long ago that Blu-Ray would prevail. You were on the side of HD-DVD. Remember?
Seems your prognostication skills maybe a little lacking
- Mark
Core 2 Duo E6400 o/c 3.2GHz - Asus P5B Deluxe - 2048MB Corsair Twinx 6400C4 - ATI AIW X1900 - Seagate 7200.10 SATA 320GB primary - Western Digital SE16 SATA 320GB secondary - Samsung SATA Lightscribe DVD/CDRW- Midiland 4100 Speakers - Presonus Firepod - Dell FP2001 20" LCD - Windows XP HomeComment
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Mark,
The battle between "HD DVD" and "Blu-ray Disc" could have easily been won by either side.
It wasn't until one studio triggered a critical "tipping point" in the direction of "Blu-ray" that the issue was decided and -- I would maintain -- the final decision had nothing to do with the merits of either format.
In other words, this battle was not decided by consumers.
This battle was decided by corporate giants.
Sure, I thought "HD DVD" was technically superior for a number of reasons, but -- in the end -- I decided not to support "HD DVD."
Contrary to your suggestion, I ultimately rejected both obsolete high definition optical disc formats when I realized that both would LOSE -- in the end -- to wireless streaming and hard disks and flash memory and the Internet.
They are relics and they are surely as dead as DISC-o.
Now, those of you who suffer from pixel envy have a new reading assignment.
This article is by Randy Hoffner of ABC who explains the difference between temporal vs. spatial resolution and what really constitutes good image quality.
Here:
It's a great article.
Jerry Jones
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Key article text...
...and the knockout punch:The advocates of 1080i HDTV support their cause with a flurry of numbers: 1080 lines, 1920 pixels per line, 2 million pixels per frame. The numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story. If we multiply 1920 pixels per line times 1080 lines, we find that each 1080i frame is composed of about two million pixels. 1080i advocates are quick to point out that a 720p frame, at 1280 pixels by 720 lines, is composed of about one million pixels. They usually fail to mention that during the time that 1080i has constructed a single frame of two million pixels, [1/25] second, 720p has constructed two complete frames, which is also about two million pixels. In a given one-second interval, both 1080i and 720p scan out about 60 million pixels. The truth is that, by design, the data rates of the two scanning formats are approximately equal, and 1080i has no genuine advantage in the pixel rate department. In fact, if the horizontal pixel count of 1080i is reduced to 1440, as is done in some encoders to reduce the volume of artifacts generated when compressing 1080i, the 1080i pixel count per second is less than that of 720p.
...and the CHECKMATE:Picture quality is not dependent on resolution alone. Numerous studies of perceived picture quality reveal that it is dependent on brightness, colour reproduction, contrast, and resolution. Colour reproduction is identical in all HDTV scanning formats, and may thus be disregarded as a factor. A typical study assigns the following weights to brightness, contrast, and resolution:
Contrast 64%
Resolution 21%
Brightness 15%
Resolution, then, is only a factor, and not the largest factor, in the determination of the subjective quality of a television picture. This was well illustrated in an industry meeting of professional video engineers that took place a few years ago. At that meeting, two direct-view (cathode ray tube) monitors of the same size, shape, and brand were fed the same HDTV signal. One of these monitors was priced in the $40,000 range, while the other was priced in the $4000 range. The $40,000 monitor unsurprisingly had a picture tube of far higher resolution capability than the lesser priced monitor, but the lesser monitor, because of its larger pixel “dotsâ€, had the higher contrast ratio, the relationship between the lightest and darkest parts of the picture. With a single exception, the engineers preferred the pictures displayed on the lower-definition monitor. While they seem at first glance to contradict intuition, the results of this demonstration are consistent with all the published literature on the subject.
Having worked in the TV industry for more than a decade, I am pleased to agree with Mr. Hoffner.Television pictures move, so when we consider resolution, dynamic resolution is typically a more important factor than static resolution.
Jerry Jones
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nobody here has argued that 1080i was good, it is 1080P which is being discussed... your arguments are waaay off... again.We have enough youth - What we need is a fountain of smart!
i7-920, 6GB DDR3-1600, HD4870X2, Dell 27" LCDComment
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The proof of the Apple TV 720p pudding...
What impressed us about the Apple TV HD rental was that the video, despite needing to be sent over the Internet rather than residing comfortably on a DVD or Blu-Ray Disc, exhibited little in the way of motion blur or compression artifacts—it looked as good as could be expected from 720p, which is to say comfortably better than DVD quality, but shy of the best a Blu-Ray Disc can offer on a top TV. ... Blu-Ray Disc’s biggest video and audio advantages are real, but will be lost on many HDTV users. Since the majority of HDTVs sold before 2007 were not capable of displaying true 1080p output—most were capped at 720p or 1080i—the superior video quality of the Blu-Ray versions of movies won’t be noticeable on such sets, and the difference between the Apple TV and Blu-Ray versions will be less noticeable. If you’re using a TV without the ability to display 1080p video—especially if you don’t have a receiver capable of decoding the Blu-Ray Disc’s DTS-HD signal—an Apple TV rental will be an almost complete substitute for renting the Blu-Ray.
Jerry Jones
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Jerry thanks for the information above, and yet again not relavent to this thread. We are talking about Hollywood movies which are made at the right contrast, brightness in 32mm format downscaled to native HD resolution 1920x1080 progressive.
One thing to note... The movie industry will not shoot themselves in the foot, if they are going to support a disc media, they will make sure they sell, so to conclude...
1-Disc media will be sold to include the highest quality picture and sound possible.
2-Extra content will be included as it does in DVD's, however with the large disc capacity, they can include a lot of extra content people will want. (no way will this ever be made on a downlaod)
3-Special features will most likely only be available on disc (Blu-Ray)
Let's face it...
Downloads and streaming = limited quality and features
Disc media = highest quality + tons of extra features and market
ElieComment
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