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HD DVD, we hardly knew ye


The Irish Doggy
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CNET

 

Well, that's it. Toshiba appears to be pulling the plug on HD DVD. Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan's NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

 

This news certainly doesn't come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD DVD's format war with rival Blu-ray. HD DVD had suffered a string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.

 

The NHK report says existing HD DVD products will remain in the market for a while, but Toshiba will stop further development of HD DVD. The report also estimates that Toshiba will take a hit to the tune of "hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars" and will close factories in northern Japan.

 

Elsewhere this weekend, Sony and its Blu-ray buddies are going to make like VHS and party like it's 1989.

 

UPDATE: Reuters now points to an unnamed company source who says, yep, we're done. An official announcement from Toshiba could come next week.

 

reuters

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So, what does this mean to those of us who have not gotten into the fray yet? We've been watching a behemoth 32" that's nearly as deep as it is wide for a while now but will be converting our guest bedroom to a TV room with one of those fancy new convertible couches. To do this, we're going to need to switch to something flatter but I haven't even begun the reasearch.

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So, what does this mean to those of us who have not gotten into the fray yet? We've been watching a behemoth 32" that's nearly as deep as it is wide for a while now but will be converting our guest bedroom to a TV room with one of those fancy new convertible couches. To do this, we're going to need to switch to something flatter but I haven't even begun the reasearch.

This won't have anything to do with the type of TV you buy except just make sure it's 1080.

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1080p only REALLY matters if the HD set is larger than 42"...but some people say that even then the 1080p sets tend to have deeper contrast...

 

and Blu-ray won't get more expensive because they still have to compete with DVD itself and the future possibility of downloads :wacko: ...but downloads aren't even a possibility until 2010 at the earliest....

 

but if your HDTV is 42" or smaller, it won't matter if it's 1080p or not...just as long as it is HD...and it's harder to find a TV set that isn't HD than it is to find one that is right now...

 

also I just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on Blu-ray the other day for the very 1st time....this is a must own as they seriously did a great job on this movie regardless if it is from 1968 or not....it looks as good as it is going to right now...

 

and another tidbit for people who may complain about there being quite a bit of grain in certain movies, I'll offer some info on that...

 

a lot of movies that are older have lots of grain because it is intended because they don't want the movie looking brand new, they want a nostalgic feel....same for 300 because they want it to appear as if it was taken right out of a novel so the detail is obviously there, but there is a slight coating of grain so you feel like you're watching something that happened ages ago...

 

also they use grain in some of the newer movies to cover up the flaws in CGI because the great detail makes them more noticeable...grain is part of the "art" more than a part of the quality...but majority of the newer movies don't have grain....

 

just thought I'd ad that because people think that everything in HD has to be completely vibrant....but it's the same thing with the aspect ratio "it's how the directer intended their movie to be viewed"

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One thing I have noticed is there is a big PQ diference from Blu Ray movie to movie- some look/sound incredible, some only marginally better than DVD

 

Cool link gives a break down of the best BR flicks by PQ.........

 

Blu Ray Movie PQ

 

a lot of the movies that don't look so hot are the very early Blu-ray releases and also a few movies that were an HD DVD port where Warner Bros used the same encode for both formats...

 

the only problem is that Blu-ray has a much higher ceiling....Disney, Sony and Fox titles generally are flawless...but a lot of Warner titles are hit/miss....however Warner is now promising to use higher bitrates as well as lossless audio for their movies to use Blu-ray to it's highest capability...

 

take Blood Diamond (Warner) for instance...horrible transfer....but you'll see Blood Diamond (Warner) have many scenes throughout the movie look like up-converted DVD....

 

but if you take Fox titles...the only movie that I know on Fox that doesn't look spectacular is Me, Myself and Irene....but from what I heard they didn't have much to work with to begin with....yet it still looks way better than Blood Diamond...

 

I usually check what studio puts the movie out and check for reviews...

 

one movie that is coming out probably within 2 months is Transformers (Paramount) and it's said to have a high bitrate with AVC encode (AVC=greatness) and lossless audio on a 50 GB disc.....not to mention Michael Bay is like a Blu-ray groupie so this version of the movie will look and sound better than the HD DVD version...

 

I could go further....but I don't feel like it :wacko:

Edited by Avernus
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also, wildcat....AVS has been anti-blu-ray for awhile....I'm not so sure that that would be a good resource for this instance even though that site has a wealth of information available...

 

but since they are backed by Microsoft to begin with, they sort of had a bias towards HD DVD since the format war began....especially when they let morans like Amir run amuck on those forums spreading absolute lies and such....

 

however, now it seems they have accepted Blu-ray as the winner after HD DVD was pretty much decapitated...not to mention that the xbox 360 is rumored to have a Blu-ray add-on drive coming out.....so that makes sense...

 

but that site has been the worst place to go for information on the Blu-ray/HD DVD war since day 1...they might as well have been called hddvd.com for the discussion forums regarding the HDM war topic...

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and Blu-ray won't get more expensive because they still have to compete with DVD itself and the future possibility of downloads :wacko: ...but downloads aren't even a possibility until 2010 at the earliest....

 

I've been downloading HD movies on XBOX 360 for awhile now. :D

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I've been downloading HD movies on XBOX 360 for awhile now. :wacko:

 

they are 720p at best and the selection is scarce....

 

I'm talking about a format that people can buy in stores....

 

you can't get real HD downloaded right now in less than 3 hours.....I'm talking about 16+ GB...

 

the movies on XBL are like watered down HD....they are presented in 720p at best and you have to own a 360 to get them...

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also, wildcat....AVS has been anti-blu-ray for awhile....I'm not so sure that that would be a good resource for this instance even though that site has a wealth of information available...

 

but since they are backed by Microsoft to begin with, they sort of had a bias towards HD DVD since the format war began....especially when they let morans like Amir run amuck on those forums spreading absolute lies and such....

 

however, now it seems they have accepted Blu-ray as the winner after HD DVD was pretty much decapitated...not to mention that the xbox 360 is rumored to have a Blu-ray add-on drive coming out.....so that makes sense...

 

but that site has been the worst place to go for information on the Blu-ray/HD DVD war since day 1...they might as well have been called hddvd.com for the discussion forums regarding the HDM war topic...

 

I love AVS- had no idea of an MS bias- there is some good Blu Ray info in there alot of PS3 love actually.............but there is a wealth of Audio/Video info there- Plasma/LCD, A/V receivers, speakers- Blu Ray, gaming consoles - they cover it all and there is a ton of good info there- chit I found the optimal settings for my Pioneer in there - something I never would have known otherwise.

 

Yer exactly right in Blood DIamond- it was my first BR I rented- I was pissed- Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian is this? the a/v was better but not by much.

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they are 720p at best and the selection is scarce....

 

I'm talking about a format that people can buy in stores....

 

you can't get real HD downloaded right now in less than 3 hours.....I'm talking about 16+ GB...

 

the movies on XBL are like watered down HD....they are presented in 720p at best and you have to own a 360 to get them...

I don't care to get into another pissing match with you, but you said we won't be able to download HD movies until 2010 at the earliest. I backed it up with facts that it's been available for awhile. You were wrong. I was right. :wacko:

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I love AVS- had no idea of an MS bias- there is some good Blu Ray info in there alot of PS3 love actually.............but there is a wealth of Audio/Video info there- Plasma/LCD, A/V receivers, speakers- Blu Ray, gaming consoles - they cover it all and there is a ton of good info there- chit I found the optimal settings for my Pioneer in there - something I never would have known otherwise.

 

Yer exactly right in Blood DIamond- it was my first BR I rented- I was pissed- Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian is this? the a/v was better but not by much.

 

yeah AVS is known for deleting threads that favor Blu-ray regardless if it was a rumor or not....but when anything appeared about HD DVD, it stayed and morans like Amir were allowed to spread a whole bunch of BS there even after he "retired"....

 

but that site is great for everything else.....I went there for information on a HDTV antennae and I was almost overloaded with info....well, not almost I was easily overloaded because I know nothing about the topic and which antennae's to buy...

Edited by Avernus
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Been reading that the best option for Blu-Ray is simply to buy a PS3 game system rather than a stand alone. Thoughts?

 

I agree even though there are certain audio formats that it can't support yet (I forget what it is)....but it's a minor setback compared to everything you get with the PS3...

 

everything is identical to a standalone, plus I've found the load times to be quicker....

 

not to mention the 9 million other features the PS3 has....

 

also, if you purchase spider-man 3....it comes with a card in the case that calibrates your HDTV for you so you get the most optimized settings...

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Thanks. Right now Wal-Mart is throwing in the Spiderman 3 for free with the PS3 purchase.

 

yeah that's the 40 GB version, right?...every store that has the 40 GB version has it with Spider-man 3 right now....

 

I would recommend the 80 GB, but if you're not using the PS3 for online capabilities much...I'd get the 40...plus I think the 80GB version is discontinued because they are coming with a new package that includes a dual shock controller in the next month or 2...

 

but when you 1st get it, make sure you hook the PS3 up to get online so you can get the latest firmware upgrade...this way you'll be all set...

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Thanks. Right now Wal-Mart is throwing in the Spiderman 3 for free with the PS3 purchase.

 

that is what I got the 40g for $400 - Spiderman 3 obiviously sucks, but the machine itself is awesome.

 

The 40g is just fine if you are not planning on playing any PS2 games- and aren't go completely :wacko: out yer system - if needed you can always add memory down the road- way more machine than I need.......

 

also, as a player, I thought the gaming remote would suck for the Blu Ray playback - but it actually is way easier to use than yer standard dvd remote..............

Edited by wildcat2334
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among all the news that just keeps pouring out for Blu-ray....Oppo has now joined the party....

 

I could post all the news that's been happening lately, but it would be pointless...

 

but I know a lot of people on these forums know about how good Oppo is for Up-converting DVD...

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I've got an up-converter DVD and it looks purty good...these pesky marketing people aren't going to scam me out of more money to buy all my media over again....like I had to when inferior CDs came out to replace LPs. At least I got more than a couple of years out of CDs...unlike you will with Blu-Ray when the next pretty blonde comes along to sweep you off your feet and steal yer wallet.

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