This is all true, although I would argue that even the best-looking upconverted DVD can't compare to even a mediocre HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc.
. i hadnt used blockbuster in 4 years. Until about 3 months ago when i rented a video game. i hardly think this move is the deciding factor of which will dominate (if one or the other actually will). Im still sticking with cost.
true, its price performance. dvd vs hdformat is going to take alot longer than dvd vs vhs. have u seen the hd-dvd matrix yet? is it worth it?
I've been saying this since the beginning of the debate. Unlike the switch from VCs to DVDs, there is no compelling reason to go from DVDs to either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. DVDs won't be going anywhere for a loooooooooooong time. Downloads are the future but I think it will be DVD quality videos and not so much HD content. The big problem is the jitters the major studios have about copy protection. Long term, Blu-Ray will beat HD-DVD. This has been clear for quite some time and it's just a matter of when and how fast (or slowly) HD-DVD disappears into oblivion. Blockbuster's move is just another nail in the coffin.
I bought the Ultimate edition and it is awesome. Well worth the money. Has anyone heard when the Harry Potter movies are going to HD? They pimped them over and over but they still haven't come out. I figured they were waiting until Order of the Phoenix hit theaters but I still don't see anything.
I just switched from NetFlix to Blockbuster about 4 months ago and it is far superior in my opinion. I love that I can just run to the store, return my DVD there, and get a new DVD on the spot and it can be whatever I feel like watching at that point in time. Blockbuster made a great move in leveraging what they have (stores and physical infrastructure) that Netflix does not. Its also a good deal for Blockbuster because they are not paying as much for shipping costs.
The Matrix Trilogy is by far the best live action video I've seen on the HD-DVD format. Incredible transfer as well as some sick lossless audio. As for whether or not it's worth it, that really depends on how much you want Unloaded and Convolutions since the first movie is not available separately. The best deal for it was a few weeks ago when Circuit Sh-tty mispriced the Trilogy on their website for $19.99. I picked up a spare copy(I'd already gotten the Ultimate Collection on HD-DVD) since they offered to honor the misprice for anyone who'd ordered it.
Video Business just reported last week that some if not all of the Harry Potter flicks will be available on HD-DVD/Blu-ray in the fall when Order of the Phoenix hits home video. The Ocean's Trilogy should also be available then on both formats.
Same with online movie rental. Since Netflix and Blockbuster can efficiently stock both for internet rentals, they remove themselves from the debate (unless they choose to only go with one, but why would they do that?). That people go to physical Blockbusters has some effect, but it is watered down, and will be less and less important as time goes on. It could be that both formats will continue on indefinately -- until they're replaced by high-def streaming video.
The infrastructure does not exist that would allow this kind of streaming at such a wide level. Bandwidth is not infinite.
you can stream HD content. its partially about bandwith, partially about compression. I've seen the fiber optics demo of IPTV. you can watch HDTV and record 12 things at the same time.
matrix and planet earth have been awesome on hd-dvd i believe the harry potter movies are in hd-dvd overseas in england already. there are a lot of movies over there already released but not released yet here. i saw the last harry potter movie on hbo-hd and it looks awesome, figure the hd-dvd to look even better. i just dont know if they are region-coded or not, there are a few threads over at avs over the region coding discussion of both formats. also i think because of certain distributing rights there are some movies that are exclusive blu-ray here but can be found on hd-dvd there, and they are not bootlegs but legit copies. i think crank is one of those movies. its a shame that some movies are not released here at the same time as other countries. supposedly austrailia and new zealand of all places is going to have the first blu-ray releases of kill bill vol 1 and 2 real soon. i havent bought those on dvds because i wanted the high-def and also wanted the japanese version of vol 1 which i believe is being released on blu-ray. now if sony was able to solve the long ass loading time of blu ray i would be a bit more happy with the format
oh yeah Dave2000 I havent seen the mummy (its on its way from netflix) but KK is one of the nicest HD-dvds released, def demo-material. thats probably why you thought it looked soo much better than the blu-ray movies. if they showed pirates or casino royale it would have been a bit better.
No but you could buffer quite a bit of it and as compression algorythmns improve it will become more likely. Most people today don't have the capability to even take advantage of Blue Ray or HDDVD because most don't have an HDTV yet. Has anyone tried one of the DVD players that up-res the current DVD to make it look better? How does that look? DD
I have a standalone player, the samsung BDP-1200....the PQ is supposed to be superior to the ps3 but it has those load times...the worst load was pirates, both of them, load a bunch of trailers you have to skip one by one and the load and then the menu. i dont really play too many video games and i got a great deal on the sammy (cheaper than the ps3) so i got the standalone. its also the best upconverting player i have seen on par with toshiba A2 (? forgot model #) since they use the same chip for video processing.
It's pretty sad when something like this comes into play in a format war. Now, it is not just competing formats. It is now rental availability wars added into the mix.
No, I understand that it is possible for someone to stream HD content. My point is that the entire networking infrastructure in this country cannot support that kind of data transfer on a national level.
