Heh I haven't seen a "fanboyism" thread before - that's kind of cool.

Does it mean if I say something factual that highlights the advantages of disadvantages of one of the formats, that I'll get beaten up

And which side is going to beat me up more?

At the moment, it seems like there are more Hd DVD fans so...depends on what you're feelin.

I'll make two test posts - one as a BD fanboy and the other as an HD fanboy.

It's a scientific experiment to see who has the most intelligent responses

Ready??

Bluray is better than HD DVD and will win the war. Sony is bigger and smarter than Toshiba.

Bluray has 90% of all studio titles backing it. No one will buy HD DVD if they want Underworld.

Bluray has 1080p - that's TRUE Hi Definition, the best - 1080i is a joke! It's only half the resolution.

Bluray can do 50 Gigs, way more space than HD DVD's 30 Gigs - this is going to let them do much bigger movies and more sound. LOTK on HD DVD will be terrible.

Bluray has LOTS of manufacturers making GREAT players - only sad Toshiba is making players for HD DVD. Bluray players will come down in price once manufacturing is up to speed and be cheaper and better.

Bluray is like a laser that will wipe HD DVD from the earth! It even sounds cooler!

Bluray is designed to work with next-generation AVRs that use HDMI 1.3 - decoding ALL audio formats will be possible when these new AVRs come out. HD DVD can't do this!

HD DVD is a better format than Bluray! - Bluray's only potential advantage is more data on the disc.

HD DVD is encoded at 1080p just like Bluray. Only 1st gen players output 1080i and this can be deinterlaced back into the original 1080p data!

Bluray may have a denser disc, but HD DVD is a better format - because:

HD DVD ENSURES that all players MUST have decoders for DD+ and TruHD onboard, so that these formats are properly supported - more releases for HD DVD will have these audio formats. And you can enjoy this audio now.

1st gen Bluray players can ONLY decode old time DD and DTS. BD specs don't force players to have more.

HD DVD manufacturing is three times as efficient as Bluray. HD DVD is having 95% yields on manufacturing of Dual Layer discs. Bluray is having 33% to 50% yield on Single Layer and as low as 25% yield on Dual Layer.

Bluray is having to launch with only 20 Gigs Single Layer discs, since they cannot manufacture the single layer disc properly is the data runs to close to the outside edge, so they had to cripple it from 25 to 20 gigs.

Bluray is launching with Mpeg 2 - eyyargh! AND, HD DVD players cost 1/2 to 1/3 what Bluray does.

The PS3 has dragged on and on - now launching in November because of feature creep and it's too expensive.

You were really stretching it when you were playing the BR person, eh?

Heh I was trying to give it the max from the hip for both exercises

You forgot that BD standalone players are twice the price. Thats my main hangup with BD right now.

Fixed

OK - I'm leaving the office to help my Mom pack.

I'll be back in an hour!

This should be interesting

ok KOOL!

We'll be here waitin'!!!!!!!!!!
LOLOLOLOLOL

what exactly is mpeg2 and why is it bad - ?

but from what I have heard, isn't hooking up the audio for HD audio to an existing receiver quite daunting and complicated to hear the DD+ and TruHD soundtracks? whereas hooking up BD is going to be alot easier.

No receivers that I know of can produce the True HD tracks yet. For the DD+, all you have to do is hook up via the analog ports. I'd hardly call that daunting and complicated. I'm not the expert on mpeg2, but I do know it's an old codec and the same one that is used on dvd. HD DVD uses vc1, which is a newer/better codec. I believe Microsoft had a hand in developing that one.

Just basic, but MPEG2 takes up more space....since the discs are only single layered at launch AND they are MPEG2, there is the possibility of size constraints. I dont know if this will come in to play though.

for my home theatre setup - yes, yes it is... under this scenario, I'd have to find out a way to hook up both a HD-DVD player (if I decide to go this route) and my SACD player.

You mean no player can decode them fully, yet. No receiver can do anything about any of the new codecs, that's why you need the analog jacks. With analog input, they can play whatever you want.

The Toshiba players can only do 2 channel TrueHD, and only 5.1 channel DD+, and can't do DTS-HD at all.

The BD players announced can't do anything with audio. Should be interesting. Maybe if the video is good enough, no one will notice that there isn't any sound.

Ditto. Guess I'd pull out a couple switchers for short term. 2 push button A/V switchers would cover the 6 channels.

Heh! heh! I guess it's really not that bad - the thread didn't get closed, people are still breathing!

And in case no one guessed, no I wasn't heading out to pick up my Mom.

Good fun, tho.

So forget about which format is going to win, which format SHOULD win?

That reminds me of a rumor I heard that the Sony players are not going to support SACD.... True? False?

The Sony player does not list SACD support which is strange since it supports LPCM on movies.

I found a Phillips one for $20 at Walmart that does just that in one switcher. The way it is designed you can hook up six different hookups (granted the design is for component and regular video and two channel audio) and works really well. I tried a few SACDs direct to the receiver and through the switcher and really couldn't hear anything noticable in the sound between the two so I have been using that to hook up my Denon and my Toshiba HD player.

LPCM is very different from SACD, so that part isn't too weird. But doesn't the PS3 support SACD? Would be strange if the standalone did not for $400 more.

I thought I heard the Sony's first BR player won't support SACD or CD.

No CD playback in any of the BD players except Samsung's at the moment.

That's what I've read, too. And I find that strange. And a reason not to buy them. I really want to replace my DVDp, not augment it. I just don't have the space.