[Ears]

Ears you are in dream land if you think we are a decade away from HD downloads.  It was 2015 and not 2025 with regards to the Japanese Super HD
Hollywood would have to have blinders on by not selling to over a billion up and comers in China, let alone India.  Even if they pay buck on each movie they sold it would make up for ANY weak US sales. 
Look at these numbers
India 700,000,000 persons between 15-64 years of age
China 900,000,000 persons between 15-64 years of age  (All from CIA world fact book 24 of January 2008)
US of A 202,000,000 persons between 15-64 years of age

There will be no 1080p HD downloads that are viable for the majority of the U.S. for 10 years, that is if we ever see anything besides 720p HD lite to begin with.
There will be no Hollwood support for a crappy no profit Chinese format.
Your link says 2025 for a non format super HD that will be used in theaters some day well before we ever see it in homes.

You can see how much interest your thread on  Super HD in the distant future  had, so why push it here where the Topic is Blu-ray vs hd dvd?
If you have no interest in the thread topic, why are you posting in it?
Or rather thread crapping in it?

[Woodsea]

Thread crapping?  Well maybe.  But, who is it hurting?  Do you work or have an stock investment in either of these?
What is wrong with a little information or argument. 
You, sir seem rather touchy on this subject.
I find it rather interesting in the long run of LD,VCR,Beta,VCD,DVD...et al.  How can you possibly say, that we will not have 1080p over the net inside 10 years.  10 years ago, did you think we would have youtube?

[John Casler]

Downloads at 1080p are more than 10 years away for most of us, and they will never have HD audio and may always be limited to 720p when they do become viable.

Came late to this party but I think VUDU already offers 1080p/24 download (takes 4 hours) of The Bourne Identity which is their 1st.

http://www.vudu.com/

[Ears]

Thread crapping?  Well maybe.  But, who is it hurting?  Do you work or have an stock investment in either of these?
What is wrong with a little information or argument. 
You, sir seem rather touchy on this subject.
I find it rather interesting in the long run of LD,VCR,Beta,VCD,DVD...et al.  How can you possibly say, that we will not have 1080p over the net inside 10 years.  10 years ago, did you think we would have youtube?

I asked if you  had seen a Blu-ray on a 1080p/24 display or heard uncompressed PCM, DD-THD , or DTS-MA, and got no answer???
This tells me you are against something that you haven't even tried but yet seem to be pushing formats that don't even exsist yet instead , evidently because you hate a company thats involved.


I have bought into VHS, Laser Disc, DVD, D-vhs, hd dvd and Blu-ray, so who has an agenda here? 


Pushing future downloads and unproven and undeveloped Chinese future formats are all things that hd dvd hardcore fans do on all the A/V sites ever since they figured out they bought into the losing format, and it's gotten to be very pathetic.

Some of us bought into both HD optical formats knowing that only one would survive long term, while others clearly should have waited like 7 out of 10 HDTV owners are still doing.
I have always spoken from experience when it comes to HDM, and believe those without personal experience, have absolutely no viable opinions to share on these matters.

[Woodsea]

Sorry Ears, I sincerely did not see your question.  I have experienced the 1080p/24, but not uncompressed sound.
Have a great day!

[Ears]

Downloads at 1080p are more than 10 years away for most of us, and they will never have HD audio and may always be limited to 720p when they do become viable.

Came late to this party but I think VUDU already offers 1080p/24 download (takes 4 hours) of The Bourne Identity which is their 1st.

http://www.vudu.com/

http://gizmodo.com/352392/vudu-test-confirms-hd-downloads-worries-plus-what-needs-to-be-done

It's not just a matter of saying it's 1080p and 4 hours is not even close to viable.
A few tech geeks may get into downloads much sooner than the masses ever will for sure, but downloads are not even a drop in the bucket compared to dvd, and they will not be for HDM for at least 10 years.

Notice it says that 8 hours would be required to get to hd dvd/Blu-ray P/Q, and this is without the extra bandwidth needed for DD-THD, DTS-MA, extras and interactivity features.

I would say when the day comes that HD downloads are equal to HD optical with regards to P/Q, S/Q as well as extras and interactivity that a lot of consumers seem to crave, then I may even be interested at that point.

Bandwidth is going to be the biggest limiting factor in the long wait for a viable source of future HD downloads, and a big part of why Warner went Blu to begin with.

[Woodsea]

Ears, what kind of argument are you making now?
I am not going to take the time and effort to find out what the percentage is in regards to persons using P2P for video.
Nor am I going to do the same for persons without HD viewing capability vs people like me who have an HD monitor of some kind.
Also, not going to figure out who has not purchased a next gen HD format vs who has bought an HDDVD and/or BR.

But, for you to says that it will be a few tech geeks that download, than I can certainly say it is even fewer tech geeks that have purchased a DVD player capable of reading High Definition disks.

I believe both our points have been made, we are squabbling over semantics at this point.  I believe in the future, and it is uncertain.  OK?

[Ears]

Ears, what kind of argument are you making now?
I am not going to take the time and effort to find out what the percentage is in regards to persons using P2P for video.
Nor am I going to do the same for persons without HD viewing capability vs people like me who have an HD monitor of some kind.
Also, not going to figure out who has not purchased a next gen HD format vs who has bought an HDDVD and/or BR.

But, for you to says that it will be a few tech geeks that download, than I can certainly say it is even fewer tech geeks that have purchased a DVD player capable of reading High Definition disks.

I believe both our points have been made, we are squabbling over semantics at this point.  I believe in the future, and it is uncertain.  OK?

Did you read the link?
Vudu is a non starter for anyone looking for real HD.
You need to spend 300.00 for a box that allows you to pay money to rent HD light movies if you are one of the very few in the U.S to have a 4mbps  or better connection and want to wait 4 hours for HD light with standard audio.
Faster connections of the future are going to add even more to these costs.

Now consumers can buy a BD player for the same money and rent from Nexflix or BB online as well as local stores much cheaper and get the real thing right now in all its 1080p with lossless audio glory, not to mention you have the option of owning  physical HD media with this same set up.

The future is uncertain for any other future formats including downloads but Blu-ray is already here, proven, and cheaper than the currently much inferior downloads.

I would also include hd dvd in this but would not at this time reccomend it because of it's lack of studio support ect.
If hd dvd where still viable, it would also be a much better option than HD lite downloads.

[oscar]

At this point, I am not going to get a blue-ray either.  Because, even as we speak we know there are better formats around the corner.  I am not blowing smoke either.  Plus, it to expensive for the software, and the most upgradeable machine out there is the PS3.  Which I am not a fan of, or rather not a fan of the manufacturer.

So can  you share with us what these "better formats ar"e ?  And when can we get players, displays, and movies to play these "better formats" ?

thx

[Woodsea]

Oscar?  Did you read this whole thread?  I have already pointed to one (chinese) player and another (japanese) where the monitor is light years ahead of 1080p.  But, it is 10 years away.  You know how technology is, they bring something out and within a couple of years it is relatively obsolete.  Have you heard of USB3?  It will be here by June.  Has there been a big media event about it, hell no.  How many mp4 players and computers would be sold with USB2.  A paltry percentage that are flying out of Cupertino now, that is for sure.  Oh, and USB3 is 10 times faster than USB2.  That is just one example. 
I don't think we need to get more involved with this.  BR has won the fight over 1080p.  What I think is sad, is that I told my parents to buy a 1080p set, but the guy at the high end store told him it was to early so he sold them a hobbled (in my opinion) 720p a year ago. 
Bottom line is products come out when the market is ripe, and in today's world you have to be secretive.  The internet is full of rumors, that that sometimes wags the dog.

[DeanSheen]

I hate being in the middle of all this.  I got a HDDVD and bought about 300 bucks worth of titles.  Now I need to switch and would prefer a dual format player of which there are apparently few and none that work to well.

In addition, it doesn't seem that many BR players support the new HD audio codecs.  Now I'm a little lost on this point, IF the player doesn't DECODE but my PRE does and I send it out bitsream over HDMI will my PRE be able to see it?

[Woodsea]

Hey DeanSheen-
Longtime no see.  There will be a lot more duelies coming out, no I have not read about it!.  But, the market is there, that is for sure.  The only BR player to buy right now is the PS3.  The format is really piece mealed, you are not the only one out in the cold.  The first gen BR lack the functionality to play all the goodies on these latest BR discs.

[Charles Calkins]

Guess it doesn't mean anything but Netflix is going with Blu-Ray from now on. No more HD. We'll be able to get regular DVD's though.

                                               Cheers
                                              Charlie

[jonwb]

Well... Sounds like its about done now. Good! Now the relavent players can stop sitting on there hands and start making some good titles.

[jonwb]

Oops... Forgot the link:

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/toshiba-dropping-hd-dvd/5238

[DeanSheen]

I've found this graph most useful in sorting out my future purchase options.

The 5500 would be the best for me, but the 5000 has had a bunch of issues.

Audio Output of Various BR players.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980672

[ctviggen]

Walmart chooses Blu-ray over HD-DVD:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/technology/wal-mart_blu-ray/index.htm?cnn=yes

Maybe my wife will allow me to purchase a Blu-ray player now (she wants to wait until there's a clear winner).

[Antman27]

Toshiba will be dropping HD DVD very shortly…..so, as much as I hate to admit it, sony wins again!!!!

After Toshiba drops the format there will be no support…the only option will be bluray


This was an email from one of my AV vendors today

[ebag4]

I for one would be very happy to have only one HD format although I understand the agitation anyone who has already invested in HD-DVD feels.

WRT Sony winning again, they certainly have their fair share of wins, but in the format wars they seem to come out on the short end more often than not.  As I recall these formats failed or are failing :

Betamax
Minidisc
SACD

Just my 2 cents.

Ed

[Woodsea]

Don't forget UMD.  This format BR was the only one they really shared, except for SACD.