no. i knew after I typed that that you would think i mean "you" in particular when I actually meant the collective "you."

I figured that. And I posted anyway.

Side note:

We're still over a month away till we see ANYTHING from BR.

Don't forget, you'll have to pay at least $1,000 to watch anything until November. And then you'll only have to pay $600.

Damn. Another misstep. Who's driving the ship at Sony?

Sony? Oh. we won't be seeing any of THEIR stuff for another 2 month, i believe.

How interesting.

Sony faked a BR demonstration.



http://gearlog.com/blogs/gearlog/arc.../16/11622.aspx

Stevie Wonder?

Well, to be fair, they probably did use real HD content on that disc. I don't know why, but I can't imagine they just used SD content.

EDIT: looking at the story again, one of the responses says they compared a BR disc to a DVD recording of the same title, and of course the picture is of the DVD. That still doesn't explain what they were doing with an illegal backup though.

I am curious if anyone here thinks that universal players are the future? I am personally for hd dvd, but I am thinking with the market so sharply devided, this could be the only way for it to have its cake and eat it too. Those who want just movies with great video and audio quality can have hd dvd, and those who want tons of extras, interactive features and all that other nonsense that Hollywood studios are busy thinking up will get what they want as well. It might be more expensive initially, but it will offer maximum flexibility for users and studios. It would make for a de-facto unified standard.

Stan

no. It would be expensive to produce dual players. I'm sure everyone will wait and see if there is one clear winner before they even think about making a player that features both formats.

Plus, HD-DVD can provide "tons of extras, interactive features" in addition to the spectacular audio and video at half the price of BD.

Dual-format players almost always result in a compromise to performance quality. That would be my biggest concern.

And if "dual-format players" come out, what's the point in WB or Paramount even having "dual" releases? This whole thing is just going to confuse people.

Right now, BB puts the HD-DVD releases right by the HD-DVD machine. What's going to happen when BR comes out? Are they going to have 2 separate end-caps?

BTW, in the latest Sound And Vision mag, there's a whole article on the battle and a shitload of ads for HD-DVD, including one on the back cover. Not one for BR.

If dual format became the "norm" it would only be so that Sony can still sell their films on BD. Why would any studio bother with dual releases? If BD takes the lead, HD goes away, and the holdouts sign on. If HD wins... it will be interesting to see how long Sony holds out before releasing their films onto HD-DVD. How long can a company's stockholders allow said company to ignore a revenue stream?

I am not saying that dual format players are in the immediate future, but let's say a year from now, if neither of the formats gains a decisive advantage, and there are still hold out studios, then that gives opportunity for dual format players to take over. Of course if one format outsells the other by a factor of 5 to 1 by that time, it might not make sense to make those players.

I am also wondering if Sony will even survive if blu-ray really fails.

Josh Z,

my understanding is that the challenge will be in the actual drive... otherwise the processing is very similar for both, unlike sacd/dvd-audio. Do you really think that performance compromise be a problem.

Anyway, according to highdefdigest.com, Samsung is once again making noises about dual format player.

Stan

That's interesting about the Samsung. I thought Sony had said 'No' to licensing BD for a dual format player?

Heh.

That piece is sourced from an article on HDTV UK, based in turn on a Pocket-Lint article.

Only problem is, the original article is from September 2005.

I don't know for certain, but it's something that I worry about.

oops! That's embarassing. :-)

Sony will be just fine. Nobody here seems to get just how vast they really are. (part of why I dislike Sony) All you see is headlines.

I also worry about this. But the SACD/DVD-A universals give me hope. Several companies made quite capable dual format players. Some of them even did CD well. I'm hoping the same will be true of BD/HDDVD.

Believe me if Denon decides to make a dual format player I will be first in line for it no matter how expensive it is.

New reports coming out the BR is clipping whites and blacks on their discs.

The Toshiba HD-DVD does this as well (through HDMI only) but it will be fixed through firmware.

BR is doing it on the discs themselves.

Way to go, BR!

Not to mention screwing up the colorspace for those of us whose display has a DVI (not HDMI) input.

No problem here. I'm hdmi all the way.

Is that fixable through firmware as well?

And what do you care? You're a BR boy anyway.

Stop news: there are more people in the world other than yourself.

Probably. Hell, going by the promises made on avs, a new firmware might well turn the Tosh into a universal player!

First, I am not "a BR boy".

Second, what do you care about BR (sic) clipping or not? You're an HD-DVD (sic) boy anyway.