Anybody else Tivo Nothing but Trailers on HDNet? Normally it is a half hour show on about 8 times per week that showcases select trailers from upcoming movies. They don't rotate the trailers as much as I would like, but it is still pretty good. Anyways, I was watching a few episodes today and earflier this week they debuted a Pirates of the Caribbean trailer for the upcoming Blu Ray releases. It did a pretty good job of highlighting the bonus features and doing a DVD/Blu Ray comparisson. It was nice to see the exposure for Blu Ray. BD is doing a much better job of getting the word out, in my opinion.

One of my favorite shows. I agree that BD does a much better job of getting the word out. Their commercials actually show clips of movies coming out unlike HD DVD, with the exception of the recent Matrix commericials. HDNet does a decent job of showing equal amounts of commericials for both formats IMO.

I really have a hard time believing that BD will not eventually prevail, although I personally think that HD-DVD is the better format. It wouldn't be the first time that an lesser format prevailed against a technically superior one. (see Beta vs. VHS).

The tech involved with BD vs. HD is not nearly as disparate as VHS was to Beta. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but no matter which format prevails, you're going to have a format which will provide us with fantastic picture, sound, and extras (should the studios provide them).

That certainly is true. But IMHO, pound for pound, HD-DVD is better, even slightly. I strongly feel that VC-1 is a much better compression algorithm than MPEG. I also believe that HD-DVDs generally have better transfers than their BD counterparts. I am also concerned about the propensity of many BD campers' penchants towards double-dipping. Additionally, again, IMHO, the HD-DVD hardware is higher quality and with less issues, and better supported on the technical side.

The main problem I find with HD-DVD is the lack of lossless tracks. I love audio and that is deal killer for me.

Well, there seems to be some dispute as to whether lossless PCM and Dolby Digital HD aren't one and the same.

I'm actually talking about the actual number of tracks as compared to HD-DVD. Lossless tracks are pretty much the norm with BD where as with HD-DVD the number of TrueHD tracks is practically nil except for the big name titles.

Finally decideing to go dual-format. Already have HD-DVD, but Pirates has me excited for Blu-Ray. Anyway...I'm extrememly confused about the Blu-Ray players. What's currently on the market and what will be coming out soon? Could someone give me a quick run down so I don't make any hasty mistakes?

I would hate for this to turn into a vs. thread all over again, but most of what you're saying is based on the studio, not the inherent technical specs of the format. VC-1 can and has been used on Blu-ray. When it's been used on HD and BD for the same movie, the transfers have looked the same. Double dipping will occur no matter which format ends up winning, because it's a behavior of the studio in question. Right now I'd agree with you on the hardware side, but the PS3 is a pretty versatile player and I really love using it for my BDs. If you want to talk technical specs, though, BD is clearly the frontrunner, which is why so many people went for it in the first place. Clearly killer discs can be made on HD, which is why I don't care who wins, but you can't deny that BD has higher bitrates, for example.

check here

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showpost.ph...56&postcount=1

I think he was talking about players :) If you're not going the PS3 route, you can get the 1st gen Samsung and Philips players new for under $500 at places like Amazon. Unless specific firmware updates come for them they can't do TrueHD or some BD-J stuff if that's important to you. The higher end 1st gen machines from Sony, Pioneer Elite and Panasonic will run you $800+, whether the extra features and build quality of these are important enough for the premium, that's up to you. The Panny just got upgraded to support TrueHD. I have the Panny and Samsung and find the A/V to be comparable, but the additional options of the Panny are invaluable to me.

The 2nd gen machines from Samsung and Panasonic MSRP for $800 & $600 (w/5 free movies including both Pirates, as you were interested in) respectively. The Panny is reportedly the same as the $1200 model with the latest firmware, but almost half the price. Sony is also coming out with their next gen players this year with $500 or sub price points.

I would recommend the upcoming $600 Panny. Analog outs with TrueHD decoding and 5 free discs. Hard to beat that.

I didn't think the Samsung could do any advanced decoding. The Panny deal would be hard for me to pass up.

Whoops, I think you're right. I edited it out.

Thanks for the help! One more question, if you don't mind...I understand Warner Brothers is having some problems importing their titles over due to the Picture in Picture feature. Is this new Panny a player that still has those problems, or, due to the upgrades it has recieved, going to be able to play those titles when they become avaliable?

Well, if Blood Diamond and 300 are any indication, Warner is not bothering with putting PIP on the Blu-Ray discs, so those titles are coming out will play on all players regardless. They were waiting for BD-J spec to be finalized apparently and that's not happening till October. Once that is finalized, we'll have to see if those extra features are playable on older machines, but the movies should always play.

Yeah, Blood Diamond is being released on June 5 a month ahead of the HD-DVD without the PIP stuff.

I haven't had time to watch either Pirates movies, but I did enjoy the new promo clip. CARS looked just jaw dropping. I hope it does release in September.

I hope we get another Pixar film by the holiday season, cause I really didn't care for CARS... at all.

According to the back cover, 300 is getting TrueHD and PCM tracks. I believe when it was first reported, only a TrueHD mix was going to be included.

http://www.dvdtown.com/images/displa...&type=1&page=1

A TrueHD, PCM, and three DD tracks? No wonder it looks like some supplements were dropped that are on the HD version.

huh? you're suggesting that extras found on the standard DVD edition are left off of the HiDef version.

I don't understand the purpose of including both TrueHD and PCM tracks. Aren't they identical once the TrueHD is decoded? I realize dual layer Blu-ray discs have 50GB of space, but there has to be a better way of utilizing it than this.

It's possible they are the same track.