The new DVD formats: And the winner is......

[HardDrive]

Neither.

We are probably 12-18 months from full scale downloadable movies. So why gamble $500-$1000 on ANOTHER inane &$#%#@ format war. Do you need 25gb of optical storage? Good for you, go buy one. But if its just an issue of movies, skip this whole side show. Its clear at this point that downloads are on the way.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree. All this crap will soon go the way of the mini CD.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
All this crap will soon go the way of the mini CD.

And the Minidisc.

I think studios are behind all of this crap (format wars, etc.) because they want to get people to buy the same titles over and over (a la George Lucas and the infinite versions of Star Wars).

[1973911s]

Yeah, but have you seen the picture quality of the blue ray disc, it is to die for.

Michael

[Rob Channell]

Sure, you will be able to download a copy that will play on your choice of PC or standalone device of another type. You will probably be able to buy another license to play the movie on another device or in another format. They might even let you skip the commercials in a special version for an extra fee. The license to be able to view it will probably expire or mysteriously disappear after a time or whenever you have to reinstall your PC software. Then you'll have to buy another license.

I understand the need for some form of DRM, but I just do not trust having encrypted keys that will quit working on me when I buy buy a new PC, install a new piece of software, or try to recover from a hard drive failure.

Guess I'm just a cynic on this subject.......

I agree with you two somewhat. I wouldn't buy either format at this point.

[scottmandue]

I buy all my movies on 35mm... sure the projector takes up a lot of room and is noisy but dammit I like it!

[imcarthur]

We used a couple Toshiba HD DVD players on a DIL-A projector last weekend at CEDIA. Impressive. And I had to run all over Denver to buy one of them, so somebody's buying. The blu rays I saw were equally impressive.

I agree, though. Save your money & wait unless you like being an early adopter & throwing the dice . . .

Ian

[Drew001]

Originally posted by HardDrive
Neither.

We are probably 12-18 months from full scale downloadable movies. So why gamble $500-$1000 on ANOTHER inane &$#%#@ format war. Do you need 25gb of optical storage? Good for you, go buy one. But if its just an issue of movies, skip this whole side show. Its clear at this point that downloads are on the way.

You can download movies right now via iTunes - which is great, but while they look fine on a iPod or 15" MacBook Pro, they suck on a 55" flat panel.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD look phenomenal. I've seen them both.
Downloads won't be comparable until everyone in the US gets much greater bandwidth.

Blu-ray will win this "format war" against HD-DVD simply because Blu-ray has 90% of the film studios behind them, vastly more consumer electronics companies aboard and more space per disc.

Do I need 25GB of storage space?
Hell yes.
I shoot tons of video (DV tapes are cheap) and what a treat to be able to back up an entire project on one disc.
Cheap HD camcorders are on the way. That necessitates larger backup options and Blu-ray/HD-DVD are perfect for this.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally posted by Drew001
Blu-ray will win this "format war" against HD-DVD simply because Blu-ray has 90% of the film studios behind them, vastly more consumer electronics companies aboard and more space per disc.

Under other circumstances, I'd agree...but look at Sony's track record:

Betamax
Minidisc
DRM on CDs that "root" the customer's computer
...I could go on

[Milu]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
............ look at Sony's track record:

Betamax? I can remember the other great sony video success: The Sony U-matic

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
DRM on CDs that "root" the customer's computer
...I could go on [/B]

So that's why I've been getting a blue screen crash when trying to copy a Sony protected music cd
I guess we may learn that blu-ray is appropriately named in the very near future.