# All Change?



## Foxbat (Nov 22, 2005)

Ho hum. Over the years, I've gone from VHS to Laser Disc to DVD and now it seems that change is afoot once agan. Scheduled for release next year, both Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-Ray are set to duke it out for the hearts and minds of the unsuspecting public to become the next big format. 

Given that it's only a relatively short time since DVD hit homes in a big way, there could have been a chance of the public suffering format fatigue. But all is not lost. It seems there will be backward compatability..so you don't need to throw away all those DVDs you've been collecting like some demented disc squirrel.  

I guess the big question is - who'll win the war. Well studios are signing one way or the other (rarely both) but, given that the Playstation 3 is rumoured to be Blu-Ray friendly, I'll be putting my money on the guys over at Sony. 

There's a FAQ here:   http://www.blu-ray.com/


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## Brian G Turner (Nov 22, 2005)

From my personal consumer point of view, I'm not buying until I see which wins out.


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## Thadlerian (Nov 22, 2005)

But what if there is no winner? Or that at least none of them will accept defeat? And then you have half the movies published in one format and half in the other...  

I like that part about backward compatibility, though. But I hope they're getting rid of those horrible region codes.


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## Alysheba (Nov 22, 2005)

So we are in for another Beta VS VHS? Lovely. Just greaaaat. Of course my Dad... yeah he bought a Beta. I agree. I'm not putting down cash until I know which one will win this.


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## dreamwalker (Nov 23, 2005)

HD-DVD is gunna be used on the microsoft's xbox 360
so its really a battle between those consoles.
Before long all this will be replaced by ultrhigh bandwidth net connections and flash memory cards... so which ever wins, you won't have to put up with it for very long


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## Valentine (Nov 23, 2005)

I'm gonna put my money on HD-DVD.


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## ravenus (Nov 23, 2005)

The current model of XBox 360 ships with standard DVD support. HD-DVD will take at least a year and quite likely more to appear on the XBox.

The standard DVD format still has a good amount of life left, atleast 5-6 years, especially given that you need a high-quality big-screen HDTV to notice the difference between standard and HD DVD content. At least for the next 2-3 years HD hardware and software will be significantly expensive and not likely to attract the average customer.


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## Foxbat (Nov 23, 2005)

Agreed about High Definition and price,  but where both formats might score an early hit is in the sound side. The extra disc space may lead to uncompressed sound formats  becoming the norm. Admittedly, this is only likely to appeal to audiophiles of the cinematic variety


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## chrispenycate (Nov 23, 2005)

Foxbat said:
			
		

> Agreed about High Definition and price,  but where both formats might score an early hit is in the sound side. The extra disc space may lead to uncompressed sound formats  becoming the norm. Admittedly, this is only likely to appeal to audiophiles of the cinematic variety


YEAH!! Someone's noticed that sound exists!
(Frustrated sound engineer with full 5.1 mixdown studio passes glass of twlve year old single malt to supporter)

The new "professional" aquisition standard (no, not the new Blue ray cameras, they're great for audio) DVCAM HD has 2(!) channels of audio in mp3(!!)

I whimper


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## Foxbat (Nov 24, 2005)

It's amazing how many people  take the sound for granted. I remember going to a Star Trek exhibition a few years back and noticing how bad some of the props actually looked. I then realised that a major part of their effect was in the sound that went with them. Without it, they just looked like the cheap plastic artifacts that they were. 

As for mp3...don't get me started. I don't rate this at all and wonder how succesful it would be if folk started listening to it through good quality amps rather than stuffing tiny speakers into their lugholes


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## ravenus (Nov 24, 2005)

MP3's are means of convenience, not for audiophiles as such.

But getting back to the discussion I'd say the mass market needn't worry about next-gen DVD for a good while.


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## Foxbat (Nov 24, 2005)

I think it will happen quicker than expected. It seems to me that both the Xbox and Playstation consoles are going to be used as Trojan Horses to get the relevant format into the home. If discs are available, I believe the consumer will buy whatever format is provided by their console rather than going out and making a specific choice.


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## kyektulu (Dec 30, 2005)

*It is only a year or so since I forced myself to buy a dvd player (the old vhs having finally packed out, and it becoming harder and harder to find videos) so I wont be buying one of these untill dvd's are impossible to find.

I think that blu-ray will win however everybody trusts sony alot.*


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## hedgeknight (Dec 30, 2005)

*Re: All Change? Passing what?*



			
				chrispenycate said:
			
		

> YEAH!! Someone's noticed that sound exists!
> (Frustrated sound engineer with full 5.1 mixdown studio passes glass of twlve year old single malt to supporter)


 
I thought you were gonna say you were so frustrated/excited you passed *GAS*!    Whew! Must clean my glasses.

-g-


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## Foxbat (Dec 31, 2005)

> *It is only a year or so since I forced myself to buy a dvd player (the old vhs having finally packed out, and it becoming harder and harder to find videos) so I wont be buying one of these untill dvd's are impossible to find.*


 
But that's exactly my point. They will be banking on the games consoles beating this sort of attitude. The simple fact is, if you buy either a SP3 or 360 you won't _have _to buy a new format DVD machine....you will already have one


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## Rosemary (Dec 31, 2005)

I hardly ever watch a movie, VHS or DVD, have never used a Playstation..so I might as well go without when the time comes...


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## cornelius (Dec 31, 2005)

hey, can't we all just download all the movies and watch it on our comps?

* dodges sticks, stones, rotten fruit, fridges and other things thrown *

I just watch dvd's on both my PS2 and my laptop ( gotta love those WXGA color shine lcd screens)


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## SukiTrek (Jan 3, 2006)

cornelius said:
			
		

> hey, can't we all just download all the movies and watch it on our comps?
> 
> * dodges sticks, stones, rotten fruit, fridges and other things thrown *
> 
> I just watch dvd's on both my PS2 and my laptop ( gotta love those WXGA color shine lcd screens)


 I was thinking the same thing. Have it where you can download to your computer or to something like a DVR to watch on your TV with an option to burn to disk if you want.


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