Universal, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray

Universal is so freaking stupid. See HERE.

ADMIN NOTE: this discussion originally took place in The Shoutbox.

Well, dude, you like Blu-Ray, so of course you think that. To someone who believes HD-DVD is the superior format (which is a perfectly reasonable, defensible position, as Peter has shown), it wouldn't be stupid at all.

In order for it to be superior, it needs massive support behind it. The two formats are exactly the same except, Blu-Ray has yet to implement the advanced features. Which would change if they didn't draw out this pointless format war. Universal is stalling for the inevitable.

Support has nothing to do with superiority at this stage. I'm talking about quality weighed against price.

Hm, how about, "exactly the same except, Blu-Ray has to implement the advanced features, and HD-DVD is cheaper"? :) Also, it's not as if HD-DVD is standing pat. Both technologies have major leaps forward in various stages of development, from what I've read.

Anyway, it sounds like Universal prefers HD-DVD, and is hedging its bets. This seems entirely reasonable to me...and surely nowhere near "so freaking stupid."

Most, if not all, of the new Blu-Ray releases are amazing quality; Blu-ray is the superior format.

Like I said, Universal is postponing the inevitable. Now that's just stupid.

You're impying that the HD-DVD releases are not "amazing quality"? If so, is this firsthand knowledge?

Here we go again. Some mother-uckers are always trying to ice skate up hill.

I'll save a second shout to shut down the argument as to which is a superior format. For now, we'll talk Universal.

Universal has a great strategy in delaying the format war. The longer the market lacks a definitive 'winner', the more prices will HAVE to fall on HD players. Discs will remain roughly the same price for now, so seeing as Universal does not make Hardware, they will simply dive like Scrouge McDuck into a vault of gold coins once Toshiba slashes their prices for Christmas, yet again. They've put the market entrance barrier on Toshiba's shoulders - who have already proven willing to steadily drop prices in favor of the consumer - if Toshiba loses coin, its no sweat off Universal's massive back. All it means is there will be more players and more people to buy Universal HD discs, which are a great library exclusive to HD DVD and make up the majority of discs sold.

It's a brilliant strategy and I guarantee it'll pay off in both the short and long run. IF HD, and I stress IF, loses it is absolutely no problem for them to jump to Blu-Ray as well - they've already got the masters made. IF, however, HD wins, Universal already is the dominating manufacturer and will just make even more money.

Either way, it doesn't matter who wins or loses - they are the ONLY company that, as of right now, stands guaranteed to make a huge profit on sales out of this whole debacle.

I've still got some Betamax tapes in a box. I was sad to see that format die.

No 8-Tracks, though.

And I've got a Model-T with the hand-crank in the garage.

I like how you refer to ALL of the features that have been STANDARD to every single HD DVD player ever manufactured as 'advanced' for Blu-Ray. I seriously do think that is hysterical.

Sony pushed the format prematurely, plain and simple. They made no attempt to unify the manufacturers of players, to mandate standard features. Not only do they now have to release constant firmware updates, they have to completely redesign and remanufacture new players to implement what Toshiba and Co. have been doing for well over a year now.

I think I'll go watch 300 with a picture-in-picture of what the entire production looked like pre-effects - a feature I have always wanted from DVD and simply is currently not possible on Blu-Ray. Or I'll go pop in Blood Diamond and go online through the player and look at real-time updates on the issues presented in the movie.

And don't even begin on video/audio quality. They are absolutely identical. The statistic of Blu-Ray's higher capacity disc is just that; a statistic. It is entirely non-functional. HDDVD achieves the EXACT same quality with its marginally smaller disc due to its superior compression and technological implementations.

I also like how you point out that the recent Blu-Ray discs are amazing quality, since you KNOW that they've put out poor discs. Again, I point out that no HD DVD publisher has had to remaster a disc and replace it at cost because consumers knew what was sold to them was bull.

I hope the format war keeps dragging on. I researched and chose my side, as opposed to simply having one bundled in for me because I was going to buy a Playstation 3 blind. I knew what I was getting into and so far the whole 'war' has played out exactly as I expected.

HD DVDs quality has always been spectacular, their features superior from the beginning. This 'war' is simply driving down the price substantially for players, which in turn means more titles announced and more people who are buying standalone players. Many movies I do want that are Blu-Ray exclusive in the States are HD DVD titles in Europe and Japan, and since all HD DVD players are region free, I can simply import them - another thing you can't do with Blu-Ray.

Oh, and I should clarify. Both discs are CAPABLE of identical quality. I have seen both Blu-Ray and HD DVD side by side in a non-retail environment. Blu-Ray looks good, don't get me wrong, but comparing the same titles, HD DVD walks away with it hands down. I have friends who have both formats in the same house, in all blind tests anyone watching elects HD DVD over Blu-Ray.

Oh, and if we want to talk voting with dollars, I'll be buying a second HD DVD player when Toshiba releases the 3rd generation of players in October. Finding someone who eagerly pays full retail for two PS3s has to be a truly Promethean task.

It matters a lot to the consumer.

Blu-Ray is going to win. I called it before it happened, I called it during and I will certainly rub it in anyone's face afterwards.

Universal could do for Blu-Ray what they did for HD-DVD, that's why I'm pissed.

If Universal was to switch right now, HD-DVD would die. They'd make just as much money, if not more, and unite the movie industry under one format. Yes, I think it's entirely asinine that they're still HD-DVD exclusive.

One last argument to throw in; which group outnumbers the other one, the well educated advanced feature wanting viewer or the semi-educated casual viewer who just wants to watch a movie in really pristine quality? That one is a no-brainer, and we all know it.

The "mindless" masses will decide this war. Excuse me, HAVE decided this war.

What did I miss?? :D

An attempt to trout the better quality of two exactly alike formats.

It is asinine that they refuse to support an immature format? When did caring about quality control become a point of hatred?

The masses haven't decided jack sht yet. This Christmas will be the biggest indicator and I guarantee beyond any doubt that Toshiba is going to have the price advantage by at LEAST $200 dollars.

I'm also curious to know just how the masses have already decided this war? The volume gap between titles is negligible. Sales for Blu-Ray are slowing noticeably in the US, where as in every other market except Japan they have consistently lagged behind HD DVD. The US is NOT the only market in the world.

Not to mention in cross-platform titles, HD takes the cake by far. The sales of Planet Earth alone prove that.