[Cymro]

Quote

McLink

If this is true, then the anticipated war between HDTV formats will be avoided, and both will become the mainstream replacement to the ageing DVD, as logic (and history) dictates that if one comany can do something, the rest will catch up fairly soon. Whoo fuckety hoo.

[Jason Vines]

Link please.

[Cymro]

Sorry, my current state of family-newly-bought-local-pub related intoxication must have caused me to use the wrong tag...

McLink

and Link King

This post has been edited by Cymro: 17 July 2006 - 08:13 PM

[Jason Vines]

This is welcome news, as it will obviate the possibility today's super duper hi-def player could become tomorrow's expensive paper weight should one hi-def standard prevail over the other one. One massive stumbling block to acceptance of high-definition DVD has been removed. Still, more obstacles remain:

• Non-tech savvy people might be confused about the difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. So they might not buy any.
  
• Hi-def DVD players' compatibility only with HDMI-enabled HDTV's will alienate a large base of customers who spent thousands of dollars on older HDTV's with component and/or DVI inputs. The HDMI requirement will also push away many customers with non-HDMI computer monitors. (This is the reason I have no intention of purchasing a hi-def DVD device for either my computer or television. If Hollyweird--the force behind the HDMI copy protection scheme--is so intent on pissing off consumers, then I consent to being pissed off.)
  
• DVD's are good enough for many older films and television shows.
  
• People have already spent hundreds or thousands of dollars building up DVD collections. Entertainment companies will need to improve picture quality a lot and include more special features to persuade consumers even to consider starting their collections anew.

High-definition DVD still has many factors pushing it toward the fate of laserdisc.

[Cymro]

I think another flaw with the HDDVD formats is that they are both (as far as I know) is that they aren't physically much different from DVDs (or CDs). A big selling point for portable data storage is size, as well as extra features not present on older formats. CDs offer better quality in a smaller package than vinyl and cassete, as well as the ability to easily skip between songs. DVD offered similar advantages over VHS tapes, HDDVD offers a better picture than DVD, but as far as I know, nothing else substantial. It's essentally the difference between an Audio CD and an Audio DVD, and Audio DVDs haven't really taken off even though they've been around for a number of years.