Blockbuster goes Blu-ray, HD DVD=beta?,

08-21-07: Rysa4
Pretty major stuff really, in the minor world of Hi Def DVDs.

That's just it, isn't it? I've still got a nagging suspicion that this is a tempest in a tea cup, and this particular format war will end up with NO winners.

Many people, myself included, have older HD monitors that have neither HDMI nor DVI inputs. People with 720p or 1080i displays, by far the majority I would guess, have also been dealt out of the high definition game. Is there any reason why people in this situation should even consider purchasing an HD or Blu-ray player? This situation is not unlike SACD vs DVD-A. Leedistad is probably right: there won't be any winners, but the sure losers are the early adopters in any format war. Corporate greed is likely to sink all the boats in the harbor. If high-speed, high-resolution downloads to a hard drive ever become feasible, and if the selection of HD films ever expands so that it rivals the vast number of titles available on DVD, the game will have ended. The studios have the content, and they will dictate the outcome.

Actually, believe it or not, 720P displays are being slowly replaced across all technologies by 1920 x 1080 displays with HDMI 1.3 connectivity as the standard. So in that sense, a Hi Def PLayer makes sense, particularly if it can upscale and play regular current DVDs.

Just to update, it looks like there are going to be 9 or 10 HD-DVD player manufacturers on board in time for Christmas, with sub 200 dollar HD-DVD players. The pictures of these various units are now everywhere. Names like Onkyo, Intgera, and Magnavox as well as some newer ones. In ddition, Alpine went HD-DVD for Car Video ( quite the industry I understand) there is also a portable HD-DVD manufacturer as well, which is pretty cool too. Probably ubiquitous Hd-DVD drives for computers in the near future ( besides Microsoft).

This, inconcewrt with the now slight lead HD-DVD has in movie studios among the top 100 releases for movies this year, makes HD-DVD the current format of choice it seems.

I'm writing this from the Denver Airport on my way back from CEDIA Expo. I saw a LOT of Blu-ray and HD-DVD demos in the last week. Much like last year, they alternated between breathtakingly good looking, and "meh."

Just like DVD (or any other format) what was goin on in the mastering process has a profound impact on the final image on screen, no matter how good your player or how fastidiously you've calibrated your display.