Should I buy an HD-DVD player or a blu-ray DVD player?

Question

Will one or the other be obsolete in a year or so? Which has the better long range prospects? Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Right now HD-DVD seems to have the edge:

- The players are less expensive--standalone players start at $500 (though I saw a first-generation HD-DVD player selling new at Best Buy for $300), and XBox 360 owners can buy an add-on drive at $200. The cheapest Blu-Ray player is the PS3 at $500...if you can find one.
- There are more titles out, because HD-DVD debuted months before Blu-Ray.
- The discs are often less expensive, because it was easier for DVD manufacturers to switch to HD-DVD technology than Blu-Ray.
- The players are already in their "second generation," with more kinks having been worked out.
- Reviews of the picture quality of HD-DVD's versus Blu-Ray have consistently been in favor of HD-DVD, if not tied. That's because, despite Blu-Ray's *potential* of holding more data than HD-DVD, the majority of HD-DVD's actually hold more data than the majority of Blu-Rays. Many Blu-Rays also use the older, more space-hungry MPEG2 codec for their video, while HD-DVD uses the newer, more compact VC-1 codec.
- Sony, the primary backer and developer of Blu-Ray, has been plagued with PR problems for the past year--the PSP hasn't been as popular as they'd hoped and the UMD format is flopping as a way to distribute movies; the company was found to be putting software in their Music CD's that install "rootkits" in computers that made the computers more vulnerable to hacking and viruses; and the disappointing debut of the PS3 has made Sony the easiest company to hate lately. And, as someone else said, given Sony's track record, it's easy to predict that Blu-Ray will fail.

Blu-Ray's only advantages so far are that certain major film studios (Sony, Disney, and Fox) are exclusive to Blu-Ray, and that the 400,000 or so PS3's that are out there are Blu-Ray players, making its market penetration just about even with HD-DVD, except for the fact that many PS3 owners may not be using the PS3's for movies.


So, personally, if you were to get into high-definition movie watching, I'd recommend HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. But that doesn't mean you won't be missing out on some stuff (mainly movies from Sony, Disney, and Fox).

Answer 2

You asked specifically about long-range prospects, and I'll give you the short and sweet answer - Blu Ray will win the war within the next year.

HD-DVD has a very vocal and active user community and current owners of HD-DVD will push very hard to convince you that it will survive, but to most dispassionate observers, the writing is on the wall.

Things may change at the upcoming CES show, but the current situation is that all studios except for Universal Studios are releasing content on Blu Ray, and there are several key studios (Disney, Fox, Columbia/Sony Pictures) who are not releasing movies on HD-DVD.

Since Universal does not have a vested first-party interest in HD-DVD, it is assumed that the liklihood of them switching is far more likely than the 4 other studios, one of which is a major investor in the Blu Ray format, switching the other way.

I would say either wait for CES to see if there are any major shifts, or go with Blu Ray is LONG TERM prospects are your main criteria, which based on your question, they seem to be.

Answer 3

Nobody really knows at this point, but I say examine the movie titles of each format and decide from there. HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc players are closer than ever now in performance and price. Also, if you play video games, it might be in your best interest to get a PS3 (Blu-Ray) or an Xbox 360 (HD DVD), and in that way you get the best of both worlds at a lower price than just a DVD player alone. And if worse comes to worst, at least you won't loose the movie titles that are currently available and you will always be able to play regular DVDs.
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Answer 4

A Blue-ray player displays 1080 progressive resolution and HD-DVD plays 1080 interlaced.Your TV should be able to support 1080p otherwise it down converts the display to to 1080i A Blue- ray discs are recorded in 1080p and cannot be played on HD DVD whereas a Blue -ray player can play HD discs as it is backward compatible

Answer 5

In a year or so they'll more than likely have a DUAL-FORMAT player...That's your best bet...Blu-ray costs more, but has more movie studios and electronics companies backing it...HD-DVD costs less and has more titles available, but on paper it's the inferior product...There's no way to know which one will win.

If I had to go on Sony's history of trying to introduce NEW formats (Beta, Minidisc, SACD, UMD, etc.) I'd say the Blu-ray is DOOMED...All of those products were superior to the victor (VHS, CD, DVD-Audio and UMD is losing without a rival) and lost anyway...But only time will tell..."Time makes liars out of prophets."

Answer 6

Unless BluRay can lower costs, they will always be at a price disadvantage. Both formats have the potential for outstanding picture and sound quality (although both are having consistency problems now), and price could be a determining factor for many. However, I believe that soon there will be dual format players available, and that there will not be a "winner", but both will continue to exist. In any case, i think it is too early to get a player for HD for two reasons:

Players still have bugs to be worked out.
Dual format players will come out.

Unless you have to have it now, wait.

Answer 7

alright see u wait a year or 2 and see how the blue ray thing goes if it turns out to be bad then u go with the hd but if it turns out good buy it also theres alot of controversie over if some dvds are going to boycot other companies for sales and stuff

wait and itll all be good again dawg

Answer 8

go in for hd dvd player that is what which is comming up
and will be a hit in this year

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Answer 9

hd dvd player there are very few blue ray titles you can take xbox360 and it can pelow all except blue ray and you dont have to throw your titles

Answer 10

Wait another year, you do not want to be stuck with the new Beta