How long has DVD got?

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DrG · #26 Post by **DrG** » 23 Aug 2006, 14:21

Have they sorted out the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD argument yet? I don't think the new HD formats will really catch on until they settle one way or the other. In all honesty, who would go out and buy two separate systems to play two different DVD formats as things currently stand?

It's like Betamax vs VHS all those years ago. We had a Betamax VCR - I remember coming home from school and finding this massive silver machine in the corner of the lounge. All my friends were excited as they had never seen anything like it. We happily resisted VHS for four years until we moved to Yorkshire, and couldn't find anywhere to rent Betamax tapes anywhere near our house (the nearest one was 15 miles away, nearest VHS was 1 mile away). So we were sort of forced to get VHS. Damned shame as I loved that Betamax ... we still have all the Marx Bros. films on Betamax tape

Middle · #27 Post by **Middle** » 03 Oct 2006, 04:40

Nah, the fight hasn't even started yet. Hell, the first Blu-ray player isn't even released yet. For some odd reason it all seems to come down to the 'Playstation 3" vs. "X-box 360" thing. They support the different formats. Funny about it is that a Playstation 3 will cost you (premium version) $599. And a stand alone Blu-ray player will cost around $1000. So who the hell will buy the Blu-ray player in the first place, when competion (read: HD-DVD) will cost about half that, with no real downsides compared to Blu-ray.
Like Draven said, there are not enough movie fans around who are willing to refresh their DVD collection while they are still busy completing it. The way I see it the DVD has hardly made it's breakthrough (only 2-3 years ago), so why make it obsolete all of a sudden. It took VHS more than 20 years!

Hell, I won't just go buy a new player because the market says I should, let alone start stocking up on new (HD)DVD's. I would have to re-buy about 170 of them, and that's not a thing I would like to do anytime soon.

Oh, and I think the future is heading more and more towards the memory card things as well. Look at micro-sd cards. They're tiny! And already hold around 1 Gb!

alan smithee · #28 Post by **alan smithee** » 03 Oct 2006, 09:17

m1ddle wrote:Oh, and I think the future is heading more and more towards the memory card things as well. Look at micro-sd cards. They're tiny! And already hold around 1 Gb!

4GB cards are common.

But compare the price of a blank 4GB SD card and the price of a blank ~4.5GB (regular) DVD.

Middle · #29 Post by **Middle** » 03 Oct 2006, 11:56

alan smithee wrote:
m1ddle wrote:Oh, and I think the future is heading more and more towards the memory card things as well. Look at micro-sd cards. They're tiny! And already hold around 1 Gb!
4GB cards are common.

But compare the price of a blank 4GB SD card and the price of a blank ~4.5GB (regular) DVD.

No, I was talking about Micro-SD.
Look at that second picture, it's a micro-sd card, which can be inserted into a regular sized SD card. I have one of these in my phone, and they are tiny as hell! That's what I call future...

alan smithee · #30 Post by **alan smithee** » 03 Oct 2006, 12:14

m1ddle wrote:
alan smithee wrote:
m1ddle wrote:Oh, and I think the future is heading more and more towards the memory card things as well. Look at micro-sd cards. They're tiny! And already hold around 1 Gb!
4GB cards are common.

But compare the price of a blank 4GB SD card and the price of a blank ~4.5GB (regular) DVD.
No, I was talking about Micro-SD.
Look at that second picture, it's a micro-sd card, which can be inserted into a regular sized SD card. I have one of these in my phone, and they are tiny as hell! That's what I call future...

Regular SD just helps your case, at least $-wise. How much does 4.5GB of blank microSD memory cost? Compare that to < $0.50 for a standard DVD-R. (The next step would be adding the movie data, which increases the price and leads to the more useful comparison (which is presently impossible, since there is (to my knowledge) no mass marketing/production of movies on microSD or SD media.))

Batman · #31 Post by **Batman** » 03 Oct 2006, 12:51

I'm doing just fine wih my 5 1/4" floppies, thank you very much.

fnar, fnar

knarf · #32 Post by **knarf** » 03 Oct 2006, 20:59

alan smithee wrote:
m1ddle wrote:
alan smithee wrote:
m1ddle wrote:Oh, and I think the future is heading more and more towards the memory card things as well. Look at micro-sd cards. They're tiny! And already hold around 1 Gb!
4GB cards are common.

But compare the price of a blank 4GB SD card and the price of a blank ~4.5GB (regular) DVD.
No, I was talking about Micro-SD.
Look at that second picture, it's a micro-sd card, which can be inserted into a regular sized SD card. I have one of these in my phone, and they are tiny as hell! That's what I call future...
Regular SD just helps your case, at least $-wise. How much does 4.5GB of blank microSD memory cost? Compare that to < $0.50 for a standard DVD-R. (The next step would be adding the movie data, which increases the price and leads to the more useful comparison (which is presently impossible, since there is (to my knowledge) no mass marketing/production of movies on microSD or SD media.))

You also need to consider the mass production of DVD-R compared to SD - a few years ago, when they weren't nearly as popular, the DVDs were more expensive. I can't remember the prices now, but I do remember blank CDs being pretty expensive in 1994 too, and now they're incredibly cheap.

Middle · #33 Post by **Middle** » 04 Oct 2006, 01:31

knarf wrote:...but I do remember blank CDs being pretty expensive in 1994 too, and now they're incredibly cheap.

Yeah, they are; there's no denying in that.
On the other hand, here in The Netherlands we have a sort of fascist 'anti-copying' regulation set up by the 'association for the home copy' (translation), which has for some odd reason gotten the right to levy a duty of €1 per blank DVD (or somewhere in the vicinity of that), making the mass buying of blank DVD's extremely expensive. I therefore import from Luxembourg, where no such thing exists....

Batman · #34 Post by **Batman** » 04 Oct 2006, 03:13

m1ddle wrote:
knarf wrote:...but I do remember blank CDs being pretty expensive in 1994 too, and now they're incredibly cheap.
Yeah, they are; there's no denying in that.
On the other hand, here in The Netherlands we have a sort of fascist 'anti-copying' regulation set up by the 'association for the home copy' (translation), which has for some odd reason gotten the right to levy a duty of €1 per blank DVD (or somewhere in the vicinity of that), making the mass buying of blank DVD's extremely expensive. I therefore import from Luxembourg, where no such thing exists....

How odd. Pirates in a landlocked country.

Arrrr.

Ze · #35 Post by Ze » 08 Jan 2008, 08:21

Warner Bros. settles on Blu-Ray

Ze · #36 Post by Ze » 08 Jan 2008, 08:26

From Wikipedia:

bratzks · #37 Post by **bratzks** » 08 Jan 2008, 17:52

Ze wrote:From Wikipedia:

Note: Warner Bros. and New Line are withdrawing support for HD DVD as of Jun '08

As of now, Blu-ray players are backward compatible correct? It's really gonna piss me off if/when they stop being so.

DaLinkWent · #38 Post by **DaLinkWent** » 14 Jan 2008, 10:55

In another 5 years there will be something different then Blu-ray and HDDVD. Consumers will forever be forced into buying some new and improved technology for hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, pesos, euros, etc....

Ze · #39 Post by Ze » 16 Jan 2008, 07:31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=friS4OOcdgQ

JJ · #40 Post by JJ » 16 Jan 2008, 09:08

Middle wrote:Nah, the fight hasn't even started yet. Hell, the first Blu-ray player isn't even released yet. For some odd reason it all seems to come down to the 'Playstation 3" vs. "X-box 360" thing. They support the different formats. Funny about it is that a Playstation 3 will cost you (premium version) $599. And a stand alone Blu-ray player will cost around $1000. So who the hell will buy the Blu-ray player in the first place, when competion (read: HD-DVD) will cost about half that, with no real downsides compared to Blu-ray.

You chose the wrong friends. This time, it will cost you.

This subject will make for a good economics thesis. I think we'll find that the fact that PS3's Blu-Ray player was intrinsic to the system (whereas the HD-DVD was an add-on to the 360) gave Sony a greater urge to fight for (read: buy by paying off studios) system dominance.

alan smithee · #41 Post by **alan smithee** » 12 Feb 2008, 01:13

Netflix dropping HD DVD (sticking with Blu-ray only)

alan smithee · #42 Post by **alan smithee** » 16 Feb 2008, 03:18

Wal-Mart to drop HD DVD

BubbyChubs · #43 Post by **BubbyChubs** » 19 Feb 2008, 02:11

Toshiba Discontinues HD DVD Format, Hands Sony Victory

TK421 · #44 Post by **TK421** » 20 Feb 2008, 06:42

BubbyChubs wrote:Toshiba Discontinues HD DVD Format, Hands Sony Victory

I bought my brother an HD-DVD player for Christmas.

Fortunately, he exchanged it for a Blu-Ray.

sldawgs · #45 Post by **sldawgs** » 20 Feb 2008, 08:23

How long until the current HD DVDs go on sale? I have a duel HD/Blu-Ray player and some cheaper titles would be nice.

alan smithee · #46 Post by **alan smithee** » 27 Feb 2008, 03:27

Ze wrote:From Wikipedia:

Well then.

sldawgs · #47 Post by **sldawgs** » 27 Feb 2008, 06:32

So Universal and Paramount will still release HD DVDs?

Ze · #48 Post by Ze » 27 Feb 2008, 07:27

sldawgs wrote:So Universal and Paramount will still release HD DVDs?

May soon drop support.

DaLinkWent · #49 Post by **DaLinkWent** » 29 Feb 2008, 09:45

I just think it is funny that Microsoft banked on HD DVD winning the fight and made a HD DVD player for thier Xbox 360. I look forward to the day where they admit defeat and release a blu-ray player instead.

Microsoft needs to be put in check.

Gren · #50 Post by **Gren** » 02 Mar 2008, 15:56

DaLinkWent wrote:I just think it is funny that Microsoft banked on HD DVD winning the fight and made a HD DVD player for thier Xbox 360. I look forward to the day where they admit defeat and release a blu-ray player instead. Microsoft needs to be put in check.

It's true that Microsoft backed the wrong horse on this occasion, but their decision to not bother with either as part of the system seems to have put the XBOX360 and XBOX Live way out in front of the PS3 and Sony Home, so I'm not sure it's hurt them all that much.

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