Posted by Doug Jacobs on 01/17/07 22:58

In alt.games.video.xbox Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06@spammerswillbeexecuted.ptd.net> wrote:

> Standard DVD is not going anywhere. DVD replaced VHS because it was
> an all-around better package: better video, better audio, more durable,
> more usable with computers (which were getting cheap by the late 90s),
> and not really that much more expensive. BluRay and HD-DVD aren't able
> to offer nearly such a compelling argument to upgrade. Sure, the
> picture/sound quality is better, but your equipment needs to be up to
> par to appreciate it.

No argument here. If anything, BluRay and HD-DVD are like the new
LaserDisk. Superior, but requires higher-end equipment to fully enjoy.

DVD was adopted quickly because everyone could see an improvement
regardless of the TV they were using.

> Secondly, unlike Standard DVD which was better than VHS for ANY
> material, there are lots of movies and shows that don't benefit from HD
> treatments. Many independent films and older TV shows won't fare any
> better in HD, and I'll wager the effect of HD on animation probably
> isn't that big of a deal.

I think this remains to be seen. I can remember early DVDs of animated
movies looking pretty horrible. However, the HD demo of Chicken Little
was pretty impressive compared to the DVD.

Blu-Ray/HD-DVD's larger storage capacities could be used to store larger
amounts of SDTV content - such as putting a whole TV show on a handful of
HD discs vs. dozens of DVDs. I doubt companies will do this, however.
DVD will have a larger marketshare for a long, long time.

> Third, since the inception of DVD, it's become a lot more common to
> make movies portable. Lots of people watch DVDs on their portable
> players, laptop computers, PSPs, iPods, and in-dash DVD players. These
> very popular devices don't yet support BR or HD-DVD, and when they
> do, will the better resolution mean ANYTHING on such a tiny screen?

There are laptops announced with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drives (burners, even!)
On a standard 15" laptop, it might be worth it. But the sub-10" portable
players? Forget it. Even then, it may just be more convienent to rip
your media to hard drive/flash card and take it with you that way. Memory
prices are dropping while capacities are growing. Were I to get a PSP or
other portable media player, I'd definitely rip movies and TV shows to my
hard drive and convert them into a compressed format for better
portability.

> Don't get me wrong, I want a HD format. I don't even really care if
> it's BR or HD-DVD, I just want one. But let's keep this in context:
> Standard DVD is cheaper, more convenient, and a more logical choice
> for most material. HD/BR are both luxury formats for people who want
> them and have the equipment to make the most out of them. So to say
> that either one will wipe Standard DVD off the market is just silly.

I'm in agreement here as well. I think it was stupid for the companies to
go to market with 2 competing mediums and expect the market to choose
one. The last time that happend, we ended up with two different burnable
DVD formats: -R and +R. Neither really holds any advantage over the
other, but they're incompatible with each other. Even when the combo
drives came out, there was still a lot of problems with players handling
one format, but not the other. Also, the complexity of making a combo
drive meant that hardware prices were higher for awhile.

The same thing seems to be happening with HD-DVD/Blu-Ray. LG has
announced their hybrid player capable of playing HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, is
due out in February and supposedly at a price of $1200. While still
expensive, it's cheaper than buying a separate HD-DVD player and Blu-Ray
player - and you know that as other vendors bring their hybrid players to
market, prices are going to drop rapidly.

This still isn't an optimum solution for the consumer though, as dual
formats cause confusion, and will make hardware more expensive - both of
which will slow adoption of this new technology. If there's something
that the HD market DOESN'T need more of - it's confusion. Things are
already bad enough between the different types of displays, each with
their pros and cons. Then there's the new connections - some of which are
still changing (HDMI 1.3 anyone?). Don't forget all the confusion about
actually getting HD TV shows - satellite, cable, and the return of the
rabbit ears?!? Finally, there's the unsettled matter of DRM that's hanging
over everyone's head. It may not be an issue now, but in the years to come
things could get very...frustrating.


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