The HD DVD clubhouse

[effmaster]

btw microsoft didnt create HD DVD it just supports it

Exactly they are the ones that created the HDi technology and that pissed microsoft off when the Blu Ray group decided to use BD Java over Microsofts HDi technology Can you blame them for being upset? Not to mention the fact that Microsoft created I beleive the H.264 codec did it not? Either way Microsofts making money. But im just glad that they support HD DVD

 

[mak247]

Im a huge supporter of HD DVD but dont own it. so to show my support i have gone ahead and purchased a HD DVD EP30 for £179.99 from amazon.co.uk.

it comes with 7 free movies and i can see a further 9 HD DVD movies i shall be buying this week from the 3 for 2 amazon offer.

 

[effmaster]

Im a huge supporter of HD DVD but dont own it. so to show my support i have gone ahead and purchased a HD DVD EP30 for £179.99 from amazon.co.uk.

it comes with 7 free movies and i can see a further 9 HD DVD movies i shall be buying this week from the 3 for 2 amazon offer.

congratulations you have been added as well mak

 

[effmaster]

I strongly recommend that everyone that I PMed also sign this petition as well
I have already signed it as well. If anyone knows of any other ones for HD DVD please PPM me or post it on this thread. Right now im done for the night with looking to get HD DVD supporters to group together. Its been a rather long day for me. Good night all

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SAVEHDD

Currently there are 5438 signees at the time of this posting


Edit also there is this other petition for anyone i may not have pmed that helps HD DVD:
http://www.hdnowonline.com/Join.html

 

[Dangle]

effmaster, none of these petition sites will do anything to save HD DVD. $$$ only money will pursuade movie companies to pick the REAL format.

 

[effmaster]

effmaster, none of these petition sites will do anything to save HD DVD. $$$ only money will pursuade movie companies to pick the REAL format.

You dont beleive in the phrase "consumers should always be the ones to make the choice"?

Well now that I look back at your sttement you could very well be right. but i desist im done for the night. But it did take sony Half a BILLION dollars to secure Warner Brothers and anothe Half billion to secure Fox from what I have read.

 

[gtc954]

I love my HD-DVD

I purchased my Toshiba A-30 because it is the best machine with the best features. I do not want to get stuck with "profiles" and obsolete machinery.

Also anything Sony touches is tainted. They always come out with something to throw a monkey wrench into everything and it is half-ass and does not work with anything else.

Look at the new wireless USB that is coming out. Sure enough Sony comes out with its own version and it is sub-standard just to start another format war. It is not compatable with wireless USB.

Warner should be so ashamed of themselves with what they did sticking a knife into the back of 1 million people who bought an HD-DVD and many like myself whose decision was based on Warners claims to back the format. They rejected the very consumers who they want now to switch formats to a substandard version and repurchase their movies...never. To purchase players that are profile 1.0 and movies made for 1.1 will not allow acess to all the extras and then later on profile 2.0 which also will not work if you happen to repurchase a new bluray 1.1. When will that fiasco every ed and whose pockets are we linning buying all those machines. People you really cannot be that much like lemmings?

I would wait for downloadable HD first. In the mean time everyone buy as many movies as you can to show them we have the power to make the superior format the only format.

Thank you,

 

[EastCoasthandle]

I stopped buying BR for a while now and don't plan on going back, period. I haven't been satisfied...
5th Element
POTC:COBP which I believe can be exchanged now
Total Recall
Scary Movie
Spiderman 1
Spiderman 2
etc, etc

Besides the fact that to date, profile 1.1 players cannot produce sound for both PiP and the movie at the same time. It's either one or the other, even though you can have PiP on the screen. I haven't heard news about profile 1.1 movies yet (Resident Evil and SunShine).

If you go with BR you will have to pick between a few different sticker'd titles:
No sticker = I assume you can use any BR player
Bonus View = Profile 1.1
BD Live = Profile 2.0

Blu-ray may have taken a commanding lead in the next-generation format war, but the group has a big problem looming: early supporters of the format will be left out in the cold when the Blu-ray Disc Association introduces BD Profile 2.0

Unlike HD DVD, which mandated features such as local storage, a second video and audio decoder for picture-in-picture, and a network connection from the very beginning, the companies behind Blu-ray took a different approach. Initial hardware players lacked these capabilities in order to keep costs down.

None of the Profile 1.0 players can be upgraded to Profile 1.1, which was finalized recently, with the exception of the PlayStation 3 -- whose update arrived in mid-December. Likewise, Profile 2.0 is expected to arrive in October bringing Internet connectivity that Profile 1.1 players lack.

Representatives at the Blu-ray booth at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to customers.

In order to allay confusion, the BDA has adopted special labels that will be placed on Blu-ray movies. Those with a "Bonus View" sticker will require Profile 1.1 players, while those with "BD Live" will require Profile 2.0...


When BetaNews asked developers of BD Live whether they were concerned about a backlash from early adopters who supported the format from the beginning, we were told: "They knew what they were getting into..."

BDA President Andy Parsons echoed that sentiment at the Blu-ray press conference Monday, telling BetaNews that it's normal for new technology to change and older hardware to become obsolete. He added that early Blu-ray owners can continue to do everything they could in the beginning: watch movies in high-definition.

Still, the confusion will only likely further alienate existing and potential customers of the nascent format. One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for personal use.

When BetaNews asked why these manufacturers rushed out players that were not fully capable and potentially buggy due to their BD-J implementation, the Blu-ray partner pointed blame across the room to HD DVD. "We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation," he said. HD DVD was already coming and the BDA had no choice but to launch Blu-ray.

Source


So far, all the movies I have for DVD and HD DVD have been fine, no complaints, no problems. And that's to "just watch the movie". I do enjoy the added bonuses that come with HD DVD and the way the movie menu is setup I have to get use to as you can pop it up during the movie itself, not exit the movie and go to the menu screen among other nice features like web content, etc. To me simply adds value to paying a premium to watch a HDM.

 

[department76]

I stopped buying BR for a while now and don't plan on going back, period. They have a questionable releases:
5th Element
POTC:COBP which I believe can be exchanged now
Total Recall
Scary Movie
Spiderman 1
Spiderman 2
etc, etc

Which have been less then stellar. The reasons vary from bad PQ for HDM to PQ being cut off (in the case of POTC:COBP). Besides the fact that to date, profile 1.1 players cannot produce sound for both PiP and the movie at the same time. It's either one or the other, even though you can have PiP on the screen. I haven't heard news about profile 1.1 movies yet (Resident Evil and SunShine).

If you go with BR you will have to pick between a few different sticker'd titles:
No sticker = I assume you can use any BR player
Bonus View = Profile 1.1
BD Live = Profile 2.0



Source

shocking. after reading that, it would seems as though any BR supporter would have to be either ignorant to their hardwares underdevelopement and/or revision (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, w/e) or have deep enough pockets to not care.

then consider i got my HD-A2 for exactly $100 with 5 free titles, and my player already supports internet enabled content, TrueHD decoding, etc which to my understanding not all BR players do, even for three or four times what i paid for my HDDVD player..

wow.

 

[effmaster]

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Site-News-More-Hi-Def-Decisions/8765

The BBC still supports both formats

And you have been added gtc954 as well as you EastCoastHandle

 

[effmaster]

Also great post EastcoastHandle.

IT seems rather foolish to me that Blu Ray would blame HD DVD for their own mistakes, thats just plain idiocy and self denial right there.


BTW what kind of HD DVD player do you have?

Dont forget to vote either on: www.youchoose.net everybody

 

[EastCoasthandle]

shocking. after reading that, it would seems as though any BR supporter would have to be either ignorant to their hardwares underdevelopement and/or revision (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, w/e) or have deep enough pockets to not care.

then consider i got my HD-A2 for exactly $100 with 5 free titles, and my player already supports internet enabled content, TrueHD decoding, etc which to my understanding not all BR players do, even for three or four times what i paid for my HDDVD player..

wow.

But wait, there's more. Do you want to know what they demonstrated at CES08 for profile 2.0? Wait for it...wait for it...

I went from the Sony booth where they were tooting BD Live and the still unscheduled 2.0 profile (in some cases with the Godzilla director there to show it off himself). And when you get to the their actual demo of BD live what was the big, great feature (really the ONLY feature they had to show)? A downloadable Godzilla ring tone for your cell phone! Are you kidding? Apparently not. It was really depressing. And I pushed the reps on the details but they had very little else they could offer. I was hoping for “this is just the tip of the iceberg and here are some of the other great things it will do” but all they could show was “and here is where you could register the disc online or join an email list, etc. Really, really lame… And the interface still looked terrible. And it totally removed you from the movie – all the content was its own screens that froze the movie and dropped the sound. I asked if they would have BD Live features that were able to play WITH the movie and were integrated to its time code and they said nothing currently was in the works, “but anything is possible.” They didn’t seem to “get it” at all. (Oh, they also showed how they would be able to update the trailers you see with a film over time, as if this was a great feature for consumers! I couldn’t help but point out that they can’t manage to get more than a token set of trailers on the PS Networks so I’m not holding my breadth on this…)

Source

 

[effmaster]

But wait, there's more. Do you want to know what they demonstrated at CES08 for profile 2.0? Wait for it...wait for it...


Source

LOL that GODZILLA part reminds me of that Jeff Dunham joke with Peanut

 

[regeya]

Count me in.

Joined your forums just to say "count me in."

I really didn't give a rip one way or another--the main reason I bought an HD set and HD DVD player is because a lightning strike (and faulty power bar) forced my hand--but the smug bastards stroking their chins after the Warner announcement have got me Irish up. You know, the ones who're so desperate for me to feel so incredibly stupid for buying what is essentially a fantastic DVD player for less than the price of a fantastic DVD player, with the additional bonus of HD content included.

Plus everything I've seen makes me think that now's not the time to buy into Blu. Maybe next Christmas, unless Toshiba and Co. manage to pull off the impossible and turn things around. I think not, but hey, both combined take up a lot less than 5% of the movie market, so despite only 30% of studios supporting it, HD DVD still has a wide open field...

At least I don't feel the absolute need to run out and buy a $400 Blu unit (or an entry-level PS3 at the same price) just to get HD content, only to realize it's not 100% compatible with movies that'll come out this year. Yes, I know, I know; I'd only miss out on the lame BD Live content. But that's still "crippled" in my book, and I'll not have a crippled player in my house right now, thanks. At least my HD DVD player is fully functional.

 

[effmaster]

Just added you regeya

 

[Mussels]

i'm not sure what format to support. neither of them are cheap here in aus for a ROM drive in a PC, set top boxes are basically impossible to find... and although HD-DVD was my initial choice, only blu ray titles are showing up in stores around here.

I guess i'm for HD-DVD, but i think we've already lost.

 

[dan82]

yeah very true ...a big difference on the picture quality...

 

[EastCoasthandle]

yeah very true ...a big difference on the picture quality...

which movie?

 

[EastCoasthandle]

I am Legend is still scheduled for release on HD-DVD
source

 

[regeya]

I guess i'm for HD-DVD, but i think we've already lost.

Afraid you're right. I don't know if Toshiba totally dropped the ball here in the U.S. but it wasn't until AFTER the Warner Bros. announcement that I started seeing equal numbers of HD DVD titles and I didn't even see a demo set until this month at any of the local electronics places.

Ultimately I'm sure it'll be a good thing; I'm not overly fond of some of Sony's business practices but I do have a number of items from them in my house, and some of the tech decisions they made on Blu can lead to a better format. Ultimately. I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude toward Blu.

Heck, until the HD DVD price drop, I hadn't even considered buying one. Now that I did, I keep thinking, "Why haven't we heard MORE about these things???" I know the Blu fanboys keep going on about the storage capacity but, within limits, that's only one factor. The few Blu titles I have seen have looked terrible, just the opposite of what I would have expected.

 

[Wile E]

Afraid you're right. I don't know if Toshiba totally dropped the ball here in the U.S. but it wasn't until AFTER the Warner Bros. announcement that I started seeing equal numbers of HD DVD titles and I didn't even see a demo set until this month at any of the local electronics places.

Ultimately I'm sure it'll be a good thing; I'm not overly fond of some of Sony's business practices but I do have a number of items from them in my house, and some of the tech decisions they made on Blu can lead to a better format. Ultimately. I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude toward Blu.

Heck, until the HD DVD price drop, I hadn't even considered buying one. Now that I did, I keep thinking, "Why haven't we heard MORE about these things???" I know the Blu fanboys keep going on about the storage capacity but, within limits, that's only one factor. The few Blu titles I have seen have looked terrible, just the opposite of what I would have expected.

The bad looking Blu titles has nothing to do with the format itself. There's horrid looking HD DVD titles as well. It's the codec used that makes them look like ass. I can almost guaranty the ones you saw were Mpeg2 encodes. These studios need to quit being lazy and encode everything in H.264 or VC-1. Much better quality for the same space used, regardless of format. That also makes the argument that Bluray is better because of more storage meaningless. H.264 and VC-1 encoded movies can't exploit the full storage of a dual layer HD DVD, let alone a DL Bluray disk. As far as movie quality is concerned, they are both 100% equal. As far as business practices, HD DVD is miles ahead.

 

[Mussels]

H.264 is sex i got me the coreAVC codec recently, and managed to watch full 720P media on a 2GHz celeron smooth with 1-2 stutters, but otherwise peachy. Anyone with less than that, cant call it a media PC anyway

 

[EastCoasthandle]

The bad looking Blu titles has nothing to do with the format itself. There's horrid looking HD DVD titles as well. It's the codec used that makes them look like ass. I can almost guaranty the ones you saw were Mpeg2 encodes. These studios need to quit being lazy and encode everything in H.264 or VC-1. Much better quality for the same space used, regardless of format. That also makes the argument that Bluray is better because of more storage meaningless. H.264 and VC-1 encoded movies can't exploit the full storage of a dual layer HD DVD, let alone a DL Bluray disk. As far as movie quality is concerned, they are both 100% equal. As far as business practices, HD DVD is miles ahead.

The codec can play a role but one must not forget how the movie was transfered. Take a look at the list I provided earlier. You will see that some are mpeg2 while others are AVC.

 

[Wile E]

The codec can play a role but one must not forget how the movie was transfered. Take a look at the list I provided earlier. You will see that some are mpeg2 while others are AVC.

Yeah, but this is not a phenomenon limited to only Bluray. HD DVD can be just as easily effected by this. In this case, the problem with SM1 for example, comes from having a crappy source to work with. It has nothing to do with the disc format. In fact, after reviewing all of your links that deal with image quality, none of them are because of the Bluray format, and can be blamed directly on the company encoding them.

Dig around a little more, and you'll find HD DVD titles guilty of these problems as well.

And the 5th Element link is a good example of how mpeg2 is a piss poor HD codec.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, as far as potential movie quality, both HD DVD and Bluray are 100% equal, when encoded properly. Take any movie that's encoded properly, and available in both formats, and compare them side by side. They are identical.

That speaks nothing of business practices tho. lol.

 

[effmaster]

Yeah, but this is not a phenomenon limited to only Bluray. HD DVD can be just as easily effected by this. In this case, the problem with SM1 for example, comes from having a crappy source to work with. It has nothing to do with the disc format. In fact, after reviewing all of your links that deal with image quality, none of them are because of the Bluray format, and can be blamed directly on the company encoding them.

Dig around a little more, and you'll find HD DVD titles guilty of these problems as well.

And the 5th Element link is a good example of how mpeg2 is a piss poor HD codec.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, as far as potential movie quality, both HD DVD and Bluray are 100% equal, when encoded properly. Take any movie that's encoded properly, and available in both formats, and compare them side by side. They are identical.

That speaks nothing of business practices tho. lol.

I think that the whole codec thing is kinda ridiculous and almost think that HD DVD should have decided that there could only be one type of codec for the HD DVD movies. This would have greatly helped with the quality of the HD DVD movies provided that the required codec was something like H.264. This would have greatly resolved the Picture quality issues at least for HD DVD