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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
shawnmos @ Feb 12th 2008 3:59PM
More proof that HD DVD is the superior format. Too bad that's not what wins a format war.
regeya @ Feb 12th 2008 4:41PM
Dumb question: If Blu-Ray players are so great, and if they can play VC-1 and play old DVDs, what's stopping Blu-Ray players from playing these? Constantly evolving spec, new changes just a firmware upgrade away...what's the holdup, guys? Or is it possible, and y'all are just getting desperate for anti-HD DVD fodder for the continuing hatchet job? Or is it not possible at all, and boo hoo, if this were to take off, it might put a nick in Blu-Ray's armor? Or is it just that Blu already has a similar-yet-incompatible format and NIH (Not Invented Here) Syndrome is in play?
Sounds like the format that WB was asking for a few years ago, but instead got HD DVD.
DrXym @ Feb 12th 2008 4:52PM
BD9 is Blu Ray's equivalent. In other words both formats offer something similar.
aplen22 @ Feb 12th 2008 5:20PM
@regeya
You answered your own question, "what's holding us up?"
"Constantly evolving specs"
Toshiba launched with finalized specs and in my opinion a superior platform, I will elaborate. The hardware was cheaper for the consumer from the beginning, and ALL discs were guaranteed to work on ALL players, this is why ethernet and firmware update capabilities were mandatory from the beginning.
If the BDA was so concerned about the consumer then they would have been all over Samsung from the launch of their first players, it was NOT an unknown fact that they were buggy and defective, instead Sammy is now being sued by a consumer who had enough.
Technically speaking, in my eyes there is nothing wrong with Blu. Profile 2.0 will finally be up to par with HD DVD. It was how the BDA conducted themselves that left a bitter taste. If they truly cared about the consumer then first they would have met Toshiba's demands that they made that would have prevented this war. The demands were...
- Use the less expensive laser that HD DVD uses to keep costs down
- Use HDi instead of BD-Java because it's less complex to code and far more superior.
"At this particular point in time, we've been able to supply more features with HDi and HD DVD than with BD-Java and Blu-ray Disc. What we have typically done in practice is that we've created the interactive scenarios in HD DVD and then tried to pull them into Blu-ray. But that has not been entirely possible: Some things we can do in HDi are not supported in BD-Java. If you're going to do BD-Java, you need someone who's capable of programming at a low level. With HDi, you don't need somebody with that additional level of training. We don't need programmers to code our discs."
- Alan Bell, Paramount CTO
Not only would have agreeing to these demand have avoided a format war, but they would have been better for the consumer as well. But it was Sony's stubborn pigheadedness that made the BDA go with their far more "superior" hardware specs.
So there you go, if you need me to elaborate on any further points just let me know. I hope most Blu fanboys will read this with an open mind and see why Sony never did care about them, they just wanted your money from day one. And please don't say that Sony does care because the PS3 is updatable to Profile 2.0. It just proves that if you bought one that they used you as a tool to keep their failing video game console afloat. While you have no games to play, i'll just go enjoy my Wii.
roger_huston @ Feb 13th 2008 2:18AM
Funny, you sound surprised. Seen that a lot here, people discussing the technical merits of one format over the other.
When did we start believing that the best one would win? Is that how George Bush got elected president (twice) because he was the best person for the job?
It was never about the spec. It was never about which one was "better" It never is. It is about money, power and influence. Always.
I must say, it has been fun watching the debate, this is better, that is better. In the end, it made no difference. It was never about us, what we thought, what we liked. Get over it.
- Roger