Whats the big deal about blueray?

[Shadowmeph]

I am just wondering about this blueray to me it seems to be just a fad do you think it is or is there that much of a difference to go out and buy a system that supports blueray?

[Moneyless]

Well thing is, right now there's a high-def optical format battle going on between BluRay and HD DVD. (Kind of like the Cassette Tapes Vs. Betamax thing)


BluRay

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigabytes (GB), over five times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.
[...]
Blu-ray Disc has gained a large amount of support in the corporate world,[69] with companies such as Apple Inc., DELL, and Panasonic Electronics for all of your home, business, or industrial needs backing it. Blu-ray Disc was started by Hitachi Global, CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, Panasonic Electronics for all of your home, business, or industrial needs, Pioneer, News Center - Royal Philips, Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd, Sharp HealthCare - San Diego's Health Care Leader, Sony.com Geo-Filter CA, and The Thomson Corporation in February 19, 2002, with Sony as the back-bone of the foundation.[70] Several members of the Blu-ray organization's Board of Directors who had originally pledged to support Blu-ray Disc later also supported HD DVD, such as Hewlett-Packard, Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd, and CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene.

Among the movie studios, Blu-ray Disc is currently exclusively supported in the United States by Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM (20% of MGM's stake is owned by Sony.com Geo-Filter CA) as well as GO.com - Official Home Page, 20th Century Fox, and LIONSGATE.

[...]

Source

HD DVD

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The HD (High-Definition) DVD standard is designed to be the successor to the standard DVD format, and is derived from the same underlying technologies. Since it employs a blue laser with a shorter wavelength, it can store about 3 1/2 times as much data as its predecessor (Maximum capacity: 30 GB instead of 8.5 GB). A 51 GB triple-layer preliminary spec has been approved. However, no movies are currently scheduled for this disc type.
[...]
HD DVD Promotion Group Member List contains the main promoters of HD DVD, namely Toshiba America, Inc., NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft Corporation, RCA, Kenwood Corporation : Global Site, Welcome to Intel, Venturer Electronics and Memory-Tech Corporation. The HD DVD format is also non-exclusively supported by Acer, Asus, HP, Hitachi Maxell, CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, Lite On, ONKYOƒz�[ƒ€ƒVƒAƒ^�[�AƒRƒ“ƒ|�AAVƒAƒ“ƒv�APCƒI�[ƒfƒBƒI‚Ì‚²ˆÄ“à, Meridian, Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd,[57] and Alpine.
In terms of major studios in North America, HD DVD is currently exclusively backed by Universal Studios (including subsidiaries Focus Features and Rogue Pictures), Paramount Pictures (including Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films, DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation), The Weinstein Company (including Dimension Films), and First Look Studios.
[...]

Source

Hope that clears it up somewhat for you.


My advice: hold out on buying a reader for one of the format until we see who wins, unless you buy a dual-format reader which are notably more expensive.

I myself would like HD DVD to "win", because it is somewhat technologically more advanced then the BluRay (I don't mean storage), and because of the raging PS3 fanboys who also love mindlessly BluRay.

EDIT: Sorry all the links screwed up in the quotes, it's not my fault, even if I try to change them back they re-change back. CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene is LG, The Thomson Corporation is Thompson, and News Center - Royal Philips is Philips.

[MaDDN3ss]

I am currently building a new HTPC and was going to hold out as well to see who wins the battle but prices are coming down considerably on dual readers.

Memory Express here in Calgary currently has an LG SATA Blue Blu-ray / HD DVD-ROM Drive, (Retail Box) for $259.95. While this is still pretty steep it is a heck of a lot better than the prices just two months ago.
Also this is still retail pricing, once it becomes OEM it will drop even more.

[magictorch]

Last week or so a major movie company gave its support to Blu-ray (in addition to others in the past) giving blu-ray the main chunk of the market. Ill try and dig out the article.

[Empty_Quarter]

In the past week alone, WB, New Line Cinema, and HBO have gone Blu-ray exclusive. This is good news for Blu-ray users. Blu-ray is currently the winner in the battle. The only (worthwhile) company backing HD-DVD now is paramount, If paramount makes the Blu-ray switch, HD-DVD is finished. By the looks of it, Paramount is firmly holding its ground.

A month ago, I bought a PS3 with the sole intention of watching Blu-ray, and it’s absolutely fantastic! I can never go back to watching SD’s again. I don’t even have a 1080p TV, and the difference between SD and 720p is more than enough to justify the cost of me buying the PS3 (I watch the movies on a 1080i signal downsized to 720p).

Two weeks ago, I was on the verge of getting an HD-DVD player, but now that I see a lot of companies making the switch to Blu-ray, I’ll hold on to my PS3 for a little longer J

Be it Blu-ray or HD-DVD, I can never go back to SD. The quality/colors is so much better.

Blu-ray has forced me to upgrade my Home Theatre system ^.^ (Projector + 92” screen on the way J)

Originally Posted by Moneyless

I myself would like HD DVD to "win", because it is somewhat technologically more advanced then the BluRay (I don't mean storage), and because of the raging PS3 fanboys who also love mindlessly BluRay.

If anything, the technology used in Blu-ray is more advanced than that of HD-DVD. HD-DVD uses the same technology as DVD with slightly different parts. This is the main reason why Blu-ray (Discs and Players) cost A LOT more, specifically the players. That is as far as the manufacturing process goes, BR is far more advanced.

From the beginning, Blu-ray had a greater selection of movies that HD-DVD ever did, and that difference will get a lot bigger within the next few months.

As far as the PS3 goes, Sony took a gamble and it worked out for them. A lot of PS3 users (including me) bought the PS3 for BD-movies rather than actually playing games, and seeing that the PS3 is probably one of the cheaper BD players around, it is a pretty good deal.

As for capacity, this is where the selling point is. Blu-ray is capable of 25GB per layer while HD-DVD is capable of 15GB per layer. At a two layer scale, it’s a 40% difference, a pretty big difference. HD-DVD is about to release a tri-layer disc making its capacity to 51GB, 2% greater than that of Blu-ray. However, If Blu-ray does go tri-layer, and most probably will BD will be king again with 75GB. BD will eventually release quad-layer discs capable of holding a whopping 100GB per disc. This is enough to fit entire 200 episode series on HD.

I personally like the technological advancements of Blu-ray, but I support how cheap HD-DVD really is. HD-DVD movies can go for around a $1 or $2 less than BD, however, HD-DVD players are far more cheaper than BD players (again, because it uses an enhanced DVD technology). HD-DVD players such as the Toshiba A2 can go for as low as $100, while the A3 can go for $150 if searched for properly (The A3 was going for $100 in Future Shop on Boxing Day, just goes to show how cheap they can really go for)

At first it has seemed that HD-DVD was on the lead, but now the tide has strongly turned to Blu-ray.

[Cheator]

Originally Posted by magictorch

Last week or so a major movie company gave its support to Blu-ray (in addition to others in the past) giving blu-ray the main chunk of the market. Ill try and dig out the article.

If you're refering to Universal, that was a rumor. That confimed that they are sticking with HD DVD

Universal: We're staying with HD DVD

[Empty_Quarter]

Originally Posted by Cheator

If you're refering to Universal, that was a rumor. That confimed that they are sticking with HD DVD

Universal: We're staying with HD DVD

I believe he was referring to WB, New Line Cinema and HBO followed (HBO was announced yesterday)

Paramount was the rumour.

[magictorch]

Originally Posted by Empty_Quarter

I believe he was referring to WB, New Line Cinema and HBO followed (HBO was announced yesterday)

Paramount was the rumour.

Heres the article I was referencing.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Blu-ray supporters scent victory