Coolest thing About Blu-Ray winning

[FatBastard]

In light of WB and paramount latest decisions ....

[dZeus]

In light of WB and paramount latest decisions ....

I don't think there's a 'coolest thing', only bad things imo.

I predict (or actually, many people think so and Bill Gates is betting on this idea too) that, while this may increase the adoption of physical HD media, BluRay will never match the popularity of DVD. Why? Digital-only distribution will take over before BluRay will have a chance of gaining the popularity that DVD currently has. It'll offer lower distribution costs and a lot more flexibility in pricing models.

Of course, the MPAA will try to milk as much from these physical media sales as they did with CD, untill they'll reach (or realise that they went beyond) the point of harming more of the physical sales than they can gain through adopting digital distribution.

So depending on how fast this will happen (my prediction: within 3 years), people may end up with expensive hardware and physical BluRay discs that might live a short life.

[Brian Ellis]

I'm disappointed, not that I've gone in for HD, other than my TV is HD ready. Nor do I intend to until, at least, all camcorders use the same system and the price of hardware and DVDs drop to the same level as currently for DVD systems. What little I've seen of HD has left me distinctly unimpressed: OK on a still pic, but when something starts moving, artefacts galore My TV ups 576i SD to 720p very successfully; I don't know how they do it. The only time I can see artefacts/staircasing is when there is a thin line just off horizontal, such as a violin string; if the line is more than 2 or 3 vertical pixels, you don't see any staircasing. Quite frankly, I don't see any point in rushing to BR or any other HD system.

[FatBastard]

I used to share your way of looking at things until ..... I watched the BBC series Galapagos.
First I viewed it on a regular CRT TV (SD 34" Toshiba) , Then I got to watch it on a 37" HD ready (720p) Toshiba (3000c). I was absolutely blown away.
In principle, I agree with Brian on the price drop thing, However I feel that the major drops are done.
I can remember the days when a 42" plasma, would set you back 4000$. today its 1200$ for a much nicer set.
the second my wife allows me to, I'm taking the plunge.

[ND66]

I don't think there's a 'coolest thing', only bad things imo............
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......So depending on how fast this will happen (my prediction: within 3 years), people may end up with expensive hardware and physical BluRay discs that might live a short life.

As I posted this from FT.com in the Video Forum:

Betamax’s revenge

Published: January 7 2008 | Last updated: January 7 2008

A format war in consumer electronics is like the US presidential primaries: victory requires momentum. That is certainly the case with high definition DVDs. Consumers are indifferent between the Blu-ray standard championed by Sony and Toshiba’s HD-DVD – they are similar in capability if not in design – but they do not want to buy the loser and find it obsolete within a year. It now looks, however, as if this war has been won.

In DVDs, the critical momentum-building contests are not Iowa and New Hampshire, but Paramount, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox. Without their support there are no DVDs to play. Warner’s announcement that, henceforth, its high definition releases will be exclusive to Blu-ray means that the Sony format is now backed by a majority of Hollywood’s players.

To the victor will go the spoils. The Blu-ray consortium will earn royalties on every drive and disc sold that uses their technology. Once their dominance is established, they may even be able to put the price of Blu-ray up: format wars are bitterly fought because, in the end, the winner is left with a monopoly. For Sony, loser of the most famous format war of all with its Betamax video tape, that victory will be especially sweet.

Even a Blu-ray triumph, however, will leave the industry worse off than if there had been no such battle at all. First, the costs of Blu-ray’s fight for market share will probably be recouped through higher fees, while HD-DVD’s backers have lost a fortune. Second, and more important, consumer acceptance and uptake of high capacity DVDs has suffered a setback.

That matters because the new discs are a marginal technology anyway. Basic DVD only became a mass market technology relatively recently and consumers may not be willing to pay again for a sharper picture and more storage space. If the industry is to promote new standards it must be united.

Barring surprises, or a few billion dollars in sweeteners for the Hollywood studios, HD-DVD has lost and Blu-ray has won. But rather than another video cassette or DVD, the industry may have found another MiniDisc. That format was a detour on music’s route from cassette to compact disc. Blu-ray, too, may be but a footnote to video’s move to downloads from today’s DVDs.

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PS. I would opt out for a "now they can raise the price since HD DVD is death, so they can get back some of the money used to lobby in Warner Brothers studios to lean toward Blue-ray " in the poll.





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[High_Jumbllama]

I had to vote for option 2. I don't like Sony winning anything.

[Elie]

Can I vote for all three?

[Nowhere]

As alwaysm I'm glad of possible Bluray win only because of PC perspective; even jump in capacity from DVD-R to Bluray isn't as big as from CD-R to DVD-R; HD-DVD looks even worse... (oh, and it didn't seem to have any uptake in PC burners anyway...)

[Claymonkey]

Until Blu-Ray is $100 for a set-top and still plays regular DVD's I'm honestly not interested. I'm pretty happy with DVD's. Maybe if you can get a decently priced internal burner with affordable media I might consider it for backups but all I can say is eh....

[Dr Mordrid]

No option to wait for us content providers

[Evildead666]

I'm happy with DVD's also.

I have a HD TV set, but also a really good upscaling DVD player.

AFAIK h.264 encoded 720p should fit onto DVD's anyway....
A large majority of TV's being sold in Europe are HD Ready (720p), and only a very few expensive models are 1080p...