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Topic: Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray?

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-25-2008 03:30 PM

Just to get things back on topic...

XBox360 HD-DVD Drive Getting Pulled From Market

quote:
Home Media Magazine

Microsoft Discontinues HD DVD Add-on
Author: THOMAS K. ARNOLD
tarnold@questex.com
Posted: February 24, 2008

Less than a week after Toshiba officially pulled the plug on its HD DVD next-generation optical disc format, Microsoft Feb. 24 announced it will no longer manufacturer add-ons to its Xbox 360 game console that allow users to view HD DVD movies.

John Porcaro, a senior group manager in Microsoft’s Global Games Marketing Team, noted on the company’s Gamerscore blog that “as a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD players in the market.”

Toshiba last week announced that fewer than 1 million HD DVD players had been sold, about 300,000 of them HD DVD add-ons for the Xbox 360.

No word on whether Microsoft plans on offering a Blu-ray add-on, or whether the company will incorporate a Blu-ray drive into future Xbox 360 models, as Blu-ray developer Sony has done with its PlayStation 3 console.

Observers speculate Microsoft will do neither, focusing on delivering movies electronically through Xbox Live.

According to the statement Porcaro posted on his blog, “As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.”

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 02-25-2008 09:06 PM

So without the higher capacity disks available, are they (Micros~1) limiting themselves in the gaming department?

I've been out of the gaming world main stream for a while, but I'm assuming that most games have grown from CD size to DVD size if not multiple DVD size.

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Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 02-25-2008 09:19 PM

Xbox already uses DVDs for games, and had announced they would not be releasing games on the HD-DVD format. This doesn't change much, except you can expect a Blu-ray add-on drive for the Xbox 360 pretty soon, I would imagine.

The limit on DVD size is a concern, however. I recently purchased "Lost Odyssey" and the thing comes on 4 DVDs!

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 02-26-2008 10:08 AM

I wonder if it's cheaper to mass produce four DVD disks or one Blu-Ray disk for data only... assuming the authoring and everything else is the same for both. Don't forget about the extra packaging that's needed too.

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Larry Myers
Master Film Handler

Posts: 371
From: Herndon, VA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 02-26-2008 12:42 PM

I am using a Panasonic PT-AX100U 720p projector that I believe works very well with a 720p input image. I paid about $1200 used with 300 hours on it about 6 months ago. If I wanted to upgrade to a 1080p projector, what would that be and how much would it cost new.

I am using it in a totally dark theater with it's own booth alongside a standard Devry XD 35mm projector. The projection distance is 12 ft and the view distance is 9 ft. The screen size is 3 by 7 ft but can go to 8 ft for a 2.66 image. Not long ago I played a standard DVD of Ben Hur at 2.66.

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 02-26-2008 02:03 PM

The AX-100's big brother is what I spec'ed for a project a while ago - the PT-AE1000U. 1920x1080p. Kinda pricey at $1900 or so new on the street. Makes purdy pitchurs though.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 02-26-2008 03:26 PM

All I have to say is if the following things do not happen Blueray will be out of the market too or will at least be another format that sits around like Laserdisc.

One is the prices for the players need to come down below $200.

Two, the prices for the movies need to drop below $20 for all of them and stay there.

Three, they need to convince the average Joe that the process is worth the money and better than what they are watching.

Right now all I see is a niche market just like Laserdiscs. If they don't do the above three things I listed above that is all it will be.

The people who post here I think are above the average Joe. But there are far more average Joes out there than there are us. Those are the ones that Bluray has to win over to have a successful product not the people who went out and bought into HDDVD rather than Blueray.

I will say I have an HDDVD player and had already planned to get a blueray later this year after they update the units since the current units supposedly can't be upgraded.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 02-26-2008 03:41 PM

quote: Mark J. Marshall
Don't forget about the extra packaging that's needed too.

?????

BD cases are smaller and use less plastic than normal DVD cases.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-26-2008 06:28 PM

What will likely insure Blu-ray's success is that the players will eventually replace the DVD players. The manufacturers make virtually no money on the DVD players that sell at Wal-Mart and like venues...watch and see them be phased out in favor of the new technology that will "upscale" all of your DVD collection, plus offer the new wiz-bang technology. My opinion....yours may vary.

Steve

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Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 02-26-2008 07:53 PM

quote: Joe Redifer

quote: Mark J. Marshall
Don't forget about the extra packaging that's needed too.
?????
BD cases are smaller and use less plastic than normal DVD cases.

I think he's referring to extra packaging needed to package 4 DVDs vs. 1 Blu-ray disc.

For "Lost Odyssey" they stacked 3 DVDs on the normal center-spindle and put the fourth in a paper sleeve, so the only extra packaging cost was for a paper sleeve. I don't like this packaging method, as it leaves the discs more prone to scratching since they spin on the center-spindle in the case and are actually touching one another. Having said that, the discs in my copy were not scratched at all, but I can certainly see how it might be a problem.

*edited to fix QUOTE tags

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 02-26-2008 10:42 PM

Yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for clarifying it, Joe. [Wink]

(...and Anslem)

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 03-01-2008 03:44 AM

Now, since HD-DVD has lost the war and the white flag has been flown with this format, now comes the next question that has been coming over the horizon - and that is "Plasma Burn-in" and which is best - Plasma or LCD ...

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-01-2008 09:15 AM

That question has already been around. From what I understand, LCD has no burn in, and consumes less power. Quality wise I'm not sure which is better...

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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 03-01-2008 09:16 AM

Hasn't it reached a point where there's not much choice between plasma and LCD? I was under the impression that smaller monitors were LCD and larger monitors were plasma.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-01-2008 11:01 AM

Some LCD monitors have been made up to 8' in size, although those are very high end items. Sony still has a 70" Bravia XBR3 series monitor available. It's very pricey.

As to the difference in plasma and LCD, the best quality plasma monitors (such as the 60" Pioneer Kuro) still have the deepest black levels and best viewing angles of any HDTV.

Newer LCD monitors, such as the one I recently purchased, have definitely closed much of the quality gap between plasma and LCD. My 52" Sony Bravia XBR4 TV definitely has a better looking picture than many "affordable" plasma monitors. The blacks are actually deeper and the viewing angle is better. Of course, this TV flat out blows away less expensive LCD models, especially ones the same size. Panasonic has a large 1080p plasma monitor that has a very good looking picture, but it costs $1000 more than my TV. The previously mentioned 60" Pioneer Kuro has excellent image quality, but prepare to seriously hurt your bank account if you choose to buy one.

Less expensive plasma TVs also still have the major disadvantage of lower native resolution in the hardware, along with other short-comings.

TV customers really just need to seriously "test drive" any monitor they're interested in buying. They need to do some research to find out which TVs support the features that are important to them. Is 1080p resolution mandatory? Further, do they want something that can deliver true 1080p/24 video from Blu-ray? Some of those features will dramatically narrow down the choices...at least for now.

BTW, in other HD-DVD/Blu-ray news, Paramount/Dreamworks has canceled a number of upcoming HD-DVD disc releases, including There Will Be Blood and Sweeney Todd. According to The Digital Bits website and other industry journals that even includes cancellation of the HD-DVD version of Dreamworks' Bee Movie, despite some recent posturing from Jeffrey Katzenburg on how Dreamworks has an important relationship with Toshiba and remains committed to their HD-DVD agreement. Some believe those comments were only made to get more pay installments from Toshiba and Microsoft on that $150 million contract.

There still hasn't been any official announcement from Paramount, Universal or Dreamworks over just when they will start releasing movies on Blu-ray Disc. Some are guessing it could be Summer before Paramount brings any new Blu-ray Discs to stores. However, some of their previous BD releases are available to retailers again.

The wait may not be such a bad deal. If any of the three studios brought previous HD-DVD-only titles to Blu-ray immediately those titles would be quickly thrown together ports of the HD-DVD audio and video encodings. If customers are patient and wait a little while those studios might choose to go back and re-encode the video either in Microsoft's Windows Media VC-1 or MPEG-4 AVC at higher bit rates. They might include LPCM multichannel or lossless surround instead of lossy Dolby Digital Plus.

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