+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! (/showthread.php?tid=55379)
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - michaelb - 05-22-2008
I have a 720 37" lcd tv, and bought a HD-DVD player. We sit about 10' back, so well outside the range of what you are supposed to see the difference. It upscales really well. I could see the difference between a DVD being upscaled on the new player vs. my old $20 black friday DVD player (but it wasn't a huge difference). I haven't compared a HD DVD to the same DVD being upscaled. I would guess I could see the difference in some scenes, but that depends also on the quality of the transfer to HD and the source of the original film. There is a huge difference between OTA HD TV and regular TV; that difference is upmistakeable, and it is hard to watch analog now. I can see getting a blu-ray player in several years when they are cheap, but nothing I am seeing now on my set suggests that I will "have to" do that, or that I will be unhappy at all upscaling regular DVDs.
Blu-rays problem to me is that many (most) people still rent DVDs from a shop locally, and those places may not have Blu-ray disks, and certainly don't have a large inventory. Our video place has none. By the time they upgrade their inventory, if they ever do, because so few people have Blu-ray disk players, I think video on demand of HD content willl be viable and there won't be a compelling need to buy a HD disk player in any format.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - MacMagus - 05-22-2008
> The "battle" involved manufacturers deciding which technology they would go with.
The "battle" involved movie studios deciding which monopolist's patents they'd license to enhance their control over what you are allowed to see and hear in your own home.
Now that the media-monopolists have chosen, Sony owns the whole market. Sony does not have a good record for lowering prices or giving consumers useful features. Rather, they charge premium prices for mediocre products and add crippled "features" that do little more than enhance their control over what consumers are allowed to watch or listen to.
You think I'm wrong? That's fine. Come back to this thread in a year. You'll agree with me by then.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - Drakesgirl - 05-22-2008
David, I have no idea who Rusty is. But I'm an independent person, if that helps? XD I just joined like a week ago or something.
Michael - I'm hoping the online video rental stores (i.e., Netflix) will at least stay up to date and consistently offer Blu-ray, but who knows.
I get the feeling I'm up on my soap box a bit too much... I mean, I don't own a Blu-ray player, and while my roommate owns a PS3, I don't know that she owns any Blu-ray movies. I have no intention of buying one anytime soon (though of course, my roommate owns the PS3, so that affects that decision). I just think it's silly to condemn people as consumerist whatevers based on the fact that they like the Blu-ray technology. It's their cash, they can do whatever they want with it.
MacMagus - Fair enough. Market predictions are valid, and we can agree to disagree.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - Chupa Chupa - 05-22-2008
[quote mikebw]I
After reading about the HDMI 1.2 and 1.3 specs, it seems that the feature set we currently have for BluRay is pretty much never going to change.
I'm not sure how you can say this since the BD spec has been a "work in progress" since it was released. The new Profile 2.0 BD players w/ BD Live are just hitting the market now. Previous BD models with older firmware (PS3 excepted, but it has other BD playback issues) will not be upgradable to use this feature. New features will continue like this for some time to come making older generation players semi-obsolete, or at least unable to use all the features baked into a disc.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - RAMd®d - 05-22-2008
For most people who care about the quality of what they watch, it's easy to see the improvement of BR over SD DVDs.
But that segment of "most people" is a much smaller segment of "Most People" who really don't care a *lot* about quality and who's "Good Enough" would be our "Can you really watch that after BR?!"
Most People will probably see the difference between VHS and SD DVD in a non-A/B comparison, but would be harder pressed to do the same with SD DVD and BR, in a variety of circumstances. Not that they *couldn't*, but that they probably wouldn't.
I agree that for those folks, the compact, easy to handle format was the bigger if not biggest reason to go to DVD.
For them, the expense of BR just won't be worth it. I've still got 4 BetaMax machines which are superior to my 2 much more modern VHS machine.
But then there's DVD...
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - N-OS X-tasy! - 05-22-2008
Just wait and see how many people find BR religion when prices drop to levels comparable to current prices for DVD players and media.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - deckeda - 05-22-2008
You people have been duped into arguing over yet another Lance Ulanoff waste of time.
Blu-Ray could fail. SACD essentially has, and after edging out DVD-A.
On the other hand it's too early to tell, and Lance Ulanoff has already been revealed to be a sensationalistic hack devoid of logic, real, legitimate examples or insightful analysis. He caters to people's fears and homespun intuition and emotions. He's a pure FUD machine, nothing more. You may also note PC mag also employs another, better-known writer with similar credentials.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - Harbourmaster - 05-22-2008
What MacMagus said!!!!
and
[quote N-OS X-tasy!]Just wait and see how many people find BR religion when prices drop to levels comparable to current prices for DVD players and media. With Sony in charge of the technology that will be in what, 20 years or so...?
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - N-OS X-tasy! - 05-22-2008
[quote Harbourmaster]What MacMagus said!!!!
and
[quote N-OS X-tasy!]Just wait and see how many people find BR religion when prices drop to levels comparable to current prices for DVD players and media. With Sony in charge of the technology that will be in what, 20 years or so...?
With the exception of the PlayStation, Sony has lost every technology showdown it's been involved in since the advent of the CD in the early 80s, and it came damn close to losing this one too.. They've literally bet the company on BR and the PS3; you can be sure they've learned their lessons from past defeats. Pricing WILL come down on players and media -- there is (and will continue to be) too much competition in the CE market and from online content distribution for that not to happen.
Re: Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War. Some of us knew this would happen!! - deckeda - 05-22-2008
8mm and Hi8. Just sayin'
And technically, MiniDisc beat off Philips' Digital Cassette and SACD beat away DVD-A (barely.)