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Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray suck
I have something I need to get off my chest about the high definition disc format war vying to replace the DVD.
I can't stand either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I sort of want both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats to fail commercially and for DVD to continue market place dominance for at least a decade. They both remind me of all the bad things about old expensive, giant Laserdisc movies.
I simply don't think enough time has passed since the DVD format gained mainstream popularity and the so called advantages of the format are simply not there yet. Regular DVD has hit a sweet spot with a huge selection of titles, a super affordable price point, empowered end user options and it still has an awesome level of quality.
Here is what I loathe about both HD disk formats.
1. They are officially effectively closed formats. You can't rip them easily and make MP4s for iPods, and other devices like Zune, Xbox 360, PSP and PS3s.
2. Blu-Ray is region locked, HD-DVD has no region locking, PS3 games comes on Blu-ray disks and are not region locked but the movies sure are. I know that DVDs were region locked but it was easily defeated.
3. Both discs are expensive. Itís not uncommon to see a version of a same movie at least ten buck more expensive than a regular DVD. Damn it, I am not ready to buy the same movies that I have yet again on a new format.
4. Both are guilty of fermenting and encouraging a culture of excess and represent an audiophile / videophile expensive escalation of equipment of questionable value. I don't see a decent reason to spend hundreds on gold plated cables and several thousand on theater quality speakers.
5. I don't see a real advantage for games. DVDs offer 4.6 gigs of data and a pretty fast access to data. The 25 to 50 GB of date on Blu-Ray is complete overkill for games, so is 15 to 30 GB for HD-DVD. I've read about how game developers have taken to making deliberate uncompressed file structure on PS3 games so that it loads more efficiently. While it is true that the PS3 can store much more information on a single disk it does not have as fast access to the data as a dedicated DVD drive. I don't think that spanning a game on multiple discs will prevent a game from selling well. Being on multiple discs didn't stop Mass Effect and the Final Fantasy 7-9 from being hits.
6. I blame the Blu-Ray for the current market stumble of the PS3. I doubt that the Playstation 3 would have been a six hundred dolor boondoggle if it were focused as a dedicated game machine instead as a format pimp for Blu-Ray discs. I suspect that if the Playstation3 was designed for a DVD drive they could have devoted massive amounts of engineering resources toward making it closer to the launching $300 price point of the PS2 and a would be a much more polished dedicated game system. The only real advantage that I see to the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 is that it is probably going to be tougher to pirate.
7. Both are mostly based on the video standard H.264 also known as MPEG-4 part 10 also known as AVC and visually they are more similar than different. If you have the same movie mastered from the same digital source on a Blu-Ray and HD-DVD running side by side you will not be able to see any clear advantage on one image than the other.
8. I find most of the PS3 Blu-Ray arguments to be complete malarkey. It hurts my ears to be in my local Gamestop and it hear the clerk use her canned push about how awesome Blu-Ray is when she is trying to push a Playstation 3 over an Xbox 360. She pointed out how the HD-DVD drive was an extra purchase and totally implied that a high definition disk for movies was an essential component for anyone. Even after the chump explained that he didn't have an HDTV and was going to play his PS3 on a normal TV it didn't phase her. She also left out that they either totally neutered or removed PS2 backwards compatibility and that the online game play experience on the PS3 is nowhere near as robust as Xbox Live. I mean the PS3 has its charm but just "Blu-ray is awesome" is not going to cut it with me.
9. The selection of movies on both disks are pretty bad with only about three hundred titles for each and both have movie titles that are only on that format.
10. I don't think the future of digital video is a better high definition picture but is rather about increasing choices of programming and ease of access for the user. PVRs are a major unsung competitor to these new disk formats and over the next couple of years we are going to see a variety of high-tech video distribution such as BitTorrent, online websites, iTunes like stores, IPTV and probably some things that we never saw coming. I personally would rather have instant access to a wide variety of shows and movies that being stuck watching the same Hollywood "blockbusters" over and over but this time with better picture.
This is worse than the 1980s video tape format wars since we already have a format that works. In the early 80s there were exclusive movies or TV shows made available on either VHS or Betamax and it took market forces several years until one format won out over the other. Since DVD is still the dominant format for both movies and games the consumer is not going to be forced to pick a high definition disc camp in any haste if we even need a new disc format in the end. Bah Humbug!
Update: A few additional thoughts on the matter.
I don't have a lot of faith in the Hollywood establishment and I don't just watch studio movies. I loath the MPAA and their draconian tech agendas.
Why would I want to rip a movie from a DVD and make a MP4 version? Easy so I can watch it on my iPod on a plane or the Ferry across the puget sound. I live in Kitsap county so going to Seattle is two hours round trip by boat. Having a movie in HD on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD sitting at home is not going to help me then. One of the best films that I saw in 2007 was This Film is Not Yet Rated and it was not rated or distributed by the Hollywood system.
You see that image in the article? That is from the sci-fi anime series Cowboy Bebop from an episode where they find a Betamax video tape from the distant past and they need to try to track down the last working Betamax player in the entire universe. I made that screenshot directly from the DVD and then made the web image to illustrate my point. You can't do that on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and that that series is not on HD disk, and the series was never mastered in HD.
With a DVD if I want to I can take a screenshot, make a movie, or get as sound clip. I can play it on our DVD players, Windows PC, Mac, PS2, Xbox 360 and if I make an MP4 from it I can watch it on my PSP, iPod, Linux PC and Xbox 360.
I was at a store today doing some minor Christmas shopping and I wasn't too excited to see that on an average a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movie was about fifty percent more expensive than the same movie on DVD. They are both mastered from the same source on comparable materials. They are both digital movies burned on a plastic disc. The writing is not any better, the direction is not any better and certainly the acting is not any better on the HD versions. So why should I give Hollywood fifty percent more money for the same movie? A bad movie is still a bad movie in HD but you get to see the bad acting at 1080p (however my HDTV will only do 1080i).
Last night I was talking to my friend BBQ, who spent a decade working at a movie store and is still a super film buff. I asked him if he had ever even seen a Laserdisc movie on a laserdisc player. He said no he had not. I don't think that the DVD format is going anywhere any time soon. If he is not a HD movie true believer than they are in in trouble.
Currently as of December 2007 the only movies that you can get on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are common Hollywood movies. It sort of looks like Hollywood is trying to use both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD to cut out the little guy at this point. In my house we love love independent movies, Asian action cinema, old film noir movies, cult movies, TV shows and animated films from all over the world. I don't see those on HD disk. There are literally tens of thousands of choices on regular DVD while only a tiny selection on HD disk. While I am at it there is only a few music albums available on CD compared to the decades of pressing vinyl records.
For me the media content has not reached the saturation point where it would be worth my time to invest in new hardware and to start to buy media in a different format. I am not convinced that both HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will ever get to that saturation point.
But that's just my 25 cents.
If it ever gets to the point where there are more new films and TV shows on an HD format than regular DVD than I might consider getting one.
Or if Sony, Microsoft or Toshiba wants to send me a free HD movie drive I would take a look at it with an open eye.
Jake at December 18, 2007 
Rants
Comments
Though I've been able to experience HD-DVD format on a really nice TV (and I'll admit, I like it), I still have to agree with you. I keep hoping that both high def formats will either die out entirely, or remain simply an option, keeping DVD around for a long long time.
I do have to argue with you about DVD's price point though. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason DVD's are getting so cheap is because for years, they have been prepping to empty their warehouses of the "soon to be old format".
I guarantee you that if there was no other, forth coming format, DVD's would still be priced at $30 and up for a single disc. They have been working on Blu Ray and HD-DVD for years and years, knowing very well that DVD may be on it's way out.
But on another note, if I did have to choose one, it would be HD-DVD, simply for the name. Blu Ray. Come on! They can't even spell properly.
Posted by: Shawn Laplante ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 19, 2007 5:54 AM
Final Fantasy 7-9 were all CDs. FF 10 on the PS2 is a DVD, and it all fit on one disc. I believe 12 is the same way.
Posted by: BBQ at December 19, 2007 9:36 PM
Couldn't Agree More man!
Posted by: KillaBob at December 20, 2007 11:36 AM
You're the guy who told me it was a crime to own a 360 and NOT an HDTV (paraphrasing, it's been a while back) I would think you would embrace at least one of the new formats. Closed formats or not, you have to admit they look amazing compared to standard def DVD's. I have gotten spoiled already, I can hardly stand to watch regular DVD's on my HD set anymore.
Posted by: Boyd at December 20, 2007 3:49 PM
See though, a lot of similar arguments were made when DVDs first came out.
The selection of DVD movies was poor.
They won't play in my VCR
The player is expensive.
I need extra software to play it on my computer.
My DVD software won't let me make screen captures (BTW, you aren't supposed to be able to make screen caps of DVDs using players that implement the DVD standards properly. You also aren't supposed to be able to convert a DVD to MP4)
The discs are more expensive. Why would I pay more for "Special Features"
Etc, etc.
All I'm trying to say is give it time and the market will work things out. Maybe both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will go the way of the laserdisc. Who knows.
Posted by: Barret7sc at December 21, 2007 12:43 PM
The thing that bugs me the most is that it's too soon. VHS was the main format for more than a decade, but once DVD took over, it was only a year or two before they started talking about this high-def stuff. It looks nice, yeah, but I haven't even finished switching over completely from VHS, and already they want me to replace everything again? Humbug!
Posted by: BBQ at December 23, 2007 12:52 PM
My thoughts exactly!
I've been on the lookout for a Full-HD HDTV the last two months and all I learned was that I won't spend my money anytime soon.
Plasma has the better colors/contrast, LCD is better for gaming (which would account 50% of usage) and brighter...
Effectively I almost picked up the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on but I also own a PS3 so Blu-ray would also be an option - I live in Europe where HD programing in normal television is far less commonplace than in the US or UK.
I like my DVDs there just fine and I don't care for the corporate greed (and stupidity) that drives the HD format wars... it's plain and simple expensive and hasn't got the quality I want for a premium price.
So I stay with my large CRT tube TV and enjoy my consoles in SDTV resolution, which isn't bad at all in my eyes.
--
I would be more than content if DVD sees at least another 5 years before I buy something new -- an in my book Microsoft is right - physical discs will be replaced soon by digital downloads, so why bother with Blu-ray or HD DVD?
Posted by: Jim at December 28, 2007 6:22 PM
you can make a copy of a DVD now, but you can't do it legally if the DVD is protected by DRM, whereas both HD-DVD and Blu Ray use AACS copy protection which will allow you to make managed copies. Once the technology catches up to the specification you should be able to create a copy of your HD-DVD or Blu Ray movie for use on your computer, media center, or portable media player. This isn't something DVD offers -- unless you're willing to break the law.
It's also worth noting that many, if not most, HD-DVD titles aren't using AVC (MPEG part 4) encoding as you say in your post, they're using Microsoft's VC-1 video encoding. More Blu Ray titles use AVC, but it's also common to see VC-1 and MPEG-2 encoded discs.
A main benefit of HD optical media formats is the new level of interactivity they allow. This is particularly true for HD-DVDs which let people download new content, watch picture-in-picture commentaries and even remix and share their own cuts of movies online (for some titles.)
In any case, I wouldn't agree that it's not time for HD movies. With so many HD sets being sold these days, we really do need a good option for playing HD video content -- plus there really is a HUGE difference in the experience. Watching a HD movie in a decent home theater is a superior experience to watching it in a theater, IMHO.
Oh, and you also mentioned that DVDs hold 4.6 GB of data, which is true for single layer discs, but the vast majority of DVDs are dual layer, and the size is closer to about 8.5 GB.
Posted by: HD at December 28, 2007 8:57 PM
