Blu-ray+hd-dvd = friends?

[8th lutz]

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/10/ricoh-de...ray-and-hd-dvd/

 

Seems like Ricoh developed a device that reads and writes Blu-ray and hd dvd.

[Gregory DG]

I read awhile back that the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD proponents were working together and that players would support both formats. But then something happened and they returned to their prior hostilities.

 

A player that plays both is a good stopgap, but eventually one will win out and it will be irrelevant anyway.

[Ze_ro]

As much as I like Joystiq, they're basically just a blog that comments on interesting links. The real story (which Joystiq actually links to) is here.

 

Anyways, in the event that devices like this become the norm (which I think is inevitable), then there will be no "winner" in the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war... we'll just be stuck with dual-licensed players and cabinets full of red and blue cases.

 

--Zero

[AtariJr]

i dont think there will be both.. its like those players that had vhs and dvd in the same machine.. eventually those started to slowly become less popular.

 

now i know its not the same situation as this as the vhs was already old, but one will win in the long run, .. you wont have the dual set up for long.

 

 

on a somewhat unrelated note.. how long till these things come out? ive heard about this crap between blue ray and hd dvd for so long im sick of it. When are they releasing movies in this format? Im assuming since the ps3 is coming for christmas that the blue ray will be at least made available for the holliday right? or are they just going to use the blue ray format for games in the beginning?

Edited July 11, 2006 by AtariJr

[Starscream]

Now

[ventrra]

i dont think there will be both.. its like those players that had vhs and dvd in the same machine.. eventually those started to slowly become less popular.

I would have thought that would have happened in computer recording formats as well (DVD-R vs DVD+R and variants), but that's not what happened. It seems like it's really gotten to the point that most people just don't care one way or the other as long as they get to make reasonable use of it.

[AtariJr]

wow.. ive never seen those movies in stores...

 

ok, how long till we start to see a victor in the war ya think?

[shadow460]

Probably now as well. Did you see the cost of the Blu Ray players?

I'm sorry, but they're not getting my firstborn for one of those things.

Toshiba's price is a little more like it.

[Hydian]

I see it becoming just like DVD +R and DVD -R. As long as there are players that handle both of the new formats, consumers wont care which your movie is on. Everyone will just produce on whichever format is cheaper and consumers will neither know or care what the difference is.

[liveinabin]

In that linked article about the Ricoh solution, I'm just seeing 'storage', not actual movie playing. They might well be able to use both BluRay and HD-DVD as computer storage and retrieval but it's unclear as to whether you'll be able to play movies from either one/

[AtariJr]

i dont think both formats will live... too many people would want the same format... i mean it would kinda suck to bring some movies to a party on blue ray, only to find out your freind had a HD dvd player.

Edited July 12, 2006 by AtariJr

[Ze_ro]

ok, how long till we start to see a victor in the war ya think?

Probably not for quite a while. There are a number of major problems that both tech's need to overcome before they can really start selling any significant amount of product:

• These things are so new that the vast majority of people have never even heard of them. Although I remember seeing at least one commercial advertising a Blu-Ray version in addition to a regular DVD of some movie, the marketing has yet to kick into high gear.
  
• Many of those that DO know they exist are hesitant about buying one over the other, and will choose to wait.
  
• They're still WAY too expensive. Once the players drop to around $200, their sales will really start to pick up.
  
• They're still not widely available. I've only seen HD-DVD available at Future Shop, and I haven't seen Blu-Ray available anywhere yet (although I imagine by now Future Shop and Best Buy have both for sale, I just haven't been there in a while). Less exposure means less sales. The point at which DVD's started to become popular is often said to coincide with the time at which Wal-Mart started carring them... although I think that's a coincidence.
  
• Not enough movies are available yet. According to Wikipedia, there are 34 HD-DVD titles available, which simply isn't enough to justify buying a player.
  
• Most people still don't have HDTV's. I know I don't. And without one, what's the good of having HD movies?
  

I don't imagine this will be all cleared up any time soon. I very much doubt either will see a huge sales rush this Christmas, but next Christmas might be a breakthrough for HD movies. If the PS3 becomes as successful as Sony hopes it will, then that'll likely accellerate things quite a bit.

 

Another thing to consider is that both camps are trying to push their format as the next generation of computer storage. It's entirely possible that one format might succeed in the movie industry while the other might succeed with PC users, which would make for a very unusual situation. For PC applications, size and cost are the primary concerns, but I would imagine that whatever format wins out for movies will likely win out on computers as well, if only due to the number of people who will likely pirate movies. Of course, if we get dual-licensed writers for PC's, then this is all moot.

 

--Zero

[shadow460]

The only point of buying the players without a HDTV (or without a TV at all, if you're like me) is simply to be able to play the movies. then you can go ahead and switch to buying the new formats now instead of later when you're forced to.

It's not worth spending even $500 on, though. Until the price drops a lot and DVD movies start to thin out, there's no point in trying to make sure you're got a player that will play the movies you're going to buy in the next two years.

Heck we've got enough problems today without worrying about whther or not we still watch new movies when they stop releasing DVD's.

[AtariJr]

do both HD DVD and Blue Ray players at least play old dvds, or no.. if not that would really suck as i JUST got my dvd collection to semi-satisfied... id hate to have to buy all those again, infact i know i wont (except for star wars.. that original trilogy dvd collection was HORRIBLE with all those mat boxes on the space ships.. and i could see them on my non HD crt tv)

Edited July 12, 2006 by AtariJr

[shadow460]

Just hang on to a regular DVD player, then. A lot of folks had a VCR and a DVD player sitting on the same shelf for a long time.

In fact, many people still do have both. The next gen format is going to add yet another player to the stack.

lol, I just looked into my VHS side of my own DVD player. There's a ton of dust in there!

[AtariJr]

Just hang on to a regular DVD player, then. A lot of folks had a VCR and a DVD player sitting on the same shelf for a long time.

In fact, many people still do have both. The next gen format is going to add yet another player to the stack.

lol, I just looked into my VHS side of my own DVD player. There's a ton of dust in there!

 

Wait... so NEITHER Blue Ray or HD DVD have DVD playback?????... oook, that just totally turned me cold to this next gen of formats altogether... im sorry but yea, a tape going into a dvd drive was impossible, but they could have done a dvd going in a blue ray drive!

[Ze_ro]

Both formats are backwards compatible. Don't throw out your DVD's yet.

 

--Zero

[AtariJr]

Both formats are backwards compatible. Don't throw out your DVD's yet.

 

--Zero

 

oh thank god.. im sorry, but that would have been the final straw as most of my movies are perfectly fine in DVD format.. i dont need Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back in HD lol.