The problem is that you'll need a new dvd player, Toshiba came out with "H-DVD" and Sony came out with "Blu-Ray", which are basically two names for the same product. But the biggest problem is...
Sony-owned Columbia Tri-Star, MGM (Sony owns 20 per cent of it), 20th Century Fox and Disney are committed to using Blu-ray. Universal, HBO and Warner plan on releasing discs in HD-DVD.
Which means you can't watch a movie from Universal on the Blu-Ray dvd player, which means that to watch dvds in high definition, you need to buy two players to watch movies from both sides of production. I personally think that it's not worth the extra money in buying this new dvd player. First off, High Definition is not TOO much of a factor for me, and second, I want to watch any movie I can on the machine, and if that means buying two different machines for two different movie producers, screw that, I'm staying with regular DVDs.
I think this whole battle is a waste of money and hopefully consumers won't be sucked into buying these machines...So what are your opinions?
From CTV News
QUOTE
Corporate battle brewing between two DVD formats
Updated Sun. Mar. 5 2006 12:22 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A corporate battle between two video disc technology formats is brewing with consumers caught in the middle.
"For consumers it's gonna be an ugly mess," CTV's technology expert Kris Abel said.
Toshiba and Sony are competing against each other to dominate the next big thing in video disc technology --movies in high definition.
This new generation of DVDs hold a lot more data and provide a sharper picture. But consumers will also have to buy new machines to watch them.
In a battle reminiscent of the one between Betamax and VHS video tapes, Toshiba has created the HD-DVD, while Sony has developed the Blu-ray.
The discs look identical, but they're not compatible. So Sony's discs will not play in a Toshiba machine and vice-versa.
The new machines may cost from $1,800 for a Blu-ray players to $499 for the Toshiba HD-DVD player.
Both companies tried to create a single format, but failed.
"Both companies left meetings quite upset and won't talk to each other," Abel said.
"They've basically said the battle will now go to the stores and consumers will decide this for us."
In a further complication for consumers, different movie studios are supporting different formats too.
Sony-owned Columbia Tri-Star, MGM (Sony owns 20 per cent of it), 20th Century Fox and Disney are committed to using Blu-ray. Universal, HBO and Warner plan on releasing discs in HD-DVD.
Sony believes people will also turn to Blu-ray when the new PlayStation 3 will be released with a Blu-ray player.
"With the installed base of PlayStation, we do think we have an enormous advantage," Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp, told The Associated Press.
Henning Molbaek, editor-in-chief of HDVD.org, believes a battle between the formats is inevitable.
"Both formats look strong and, sadly, it looks like a format war is unavoidable," Molbaek wrote on the website.
Molbaek also believes the discs should be judged on more than their technical quality as both discs provide the best possible high-definition.
"One should also look at the cost for implementation and manufacturing. HD-DVD is much cheaper and faster to produce," he also wrote.
Molbaek thinks another important factor in this war will depend on whether or not people understand their names.
"Ordinary people know what DVD is about, and they can easily understand that HD-DVD has the benefits of DVD, but with HD content. With Blu-ray you have to explain all over again that it is like DVD, only better."
The HD-DVD will also have the advantage of entering the market first with a planned release for March. The Blu-ray players will be available one or two months later.
With a report from CTV's John Vennavally-Rao and files from The Associated Press
Updated Sun. Mar. 5 2006 12:22 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A corporate battle between two video disc technology formats is brewing with consumers caught in the middle.
"For consumers it's gonna be an ugly mess," CTV's technology expert Kris Abel said.
Toshiba and Sony are competing against each other to dominate the next big thing in video disc technology --movies in high definition.
This new generation of DVDs hold a lot more data and provide a sharper picture. But consumers will also have to buy new machines to watch them.
In a battle reminiscent of the one between Betamax and VHS video tapes, Toshiba has created the HD-DVD, while Sony has developed the Blu-ray.
The discs look identical, but they're not compatible. So Sony's discs will not play in a Toshiba machine and vice-versa.
The new machines may cost from $1,800 for a Blu-ray players to $499 for the Toshiba HD-DVD player.
Both companies tried to create a single format, but failed.
"Both companies left meetings quite upset and won't talk to each other," Abel said.
"They've basically said the battle will now go to the stores and consumers will decide this for us."
In a further complication for consumers, different movie studios are supporting different formats too.
Sony-owned Columbia Tri-Star, MGM (Sony owns 20 per cent of it), 20th Century Fox and Disney are committed to using Blu-ray. Universal, HBO and Warner plan on releasing discs in HD-DVD.
Sony believes people will also turn to Blu-ray when the new PlayStation 3 will be released with a Blu-ray player.
"With the installed base of PlayStation, we do think we have an enormous advantage," Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp, told The Associated Press.
Henning Molbaek, editor-in-chief of HDVD.org, believes a battle between the formats is inevitable.
"Both formats look strong and, sadly, it looks like a format war is unavoidable," Molbaek wrote on the website.
Molbaek also believes the discs should be judged on more than their technical quality as both discs provide the best possible high-definition.
"One should also look at the cost for implementation and manufacturing. HD-DVD is much cheaper and faster to produce," he also wrote.
Molbaek thinks another important factor in this war will depend on whether or not people understand their names.
"Ordinary people know what DVD is about, and they can easily understand that HD-DVD has the benefits of DVD, but with HD content. With Blu-ray you have to explain all over again that it is like DVD, only better."
The HD-DVD will also have the advantage of entering the market first with a planned release for March. The Blu-ray players will be available one or two months later.
With a report from CTV's John Vennavally-Rao and files from The Associated Press
Though it would be nice to have a true HD feed to my HDTV but upscaled 720p is good enough for now. I wasn't that impressed with HD-DVD, Toshiba had a stop in NYC a few weeks ago to show off HD-DVD to the public...in short I wasn't all that impressed but the audio was top notch. 
Posted 07 March 2006 - 01:49 PM
Posted 07 March 2006 - 08:42 PM
