I think there are definitely some benefits to this format war. They mainly revolve around quality, especially from the Blu-Ray side. I think both sides are going to have to give it there all so so that the other side doesn't have a big edge.

When blu-ray was released it looked pretty bad. I don't think they would have had a reason to make things look better or use VC1 or anything had they not had competition.

Both sides are throwing out a bunch of titles quickly to get people to join there sides. Granted HD-DVD's side has slowed down a bit, but I'm sure things will pick back up.

Hate the format war all you want, but I'm ok with it. Hopefully one day we can get cheap universal players and it won't matter. You will hopefully be able to just throw any disk in any player and life will be good.

I am ok with the war as well.

It is keeping me from spending money.

I agree it has been useful.

BD has shown a substantial improvement in quality.
BD has really pushed 50GB and AVC/VC-1 over 25GB and mpeg2.
HD DVD have kept player prices low and are looking to bring prices down even more.

So up to this point it has been good however the format war will need to end eventually. J6P is simply not going to replace DVD (which looks "good enough") in large enough numbers while a format war is going on. HD DVD and BD will become the next DVD-A/SACD.

So at some point (end of 07, 2008?) one side needs to fail. Even if BD "wins" the battle with HD DVD it likely will lose the war against DVD unless it can get prices much lower, much quicker. Sony's statment that we should see prices in the $299-$399 range in 2-3 years will simply not fly with J6P. You could conduct a phone poll right now of HDTV owners and 80%+ will never pay $400+ for a DVD player (HD or not).

So like in an election I think BD is the candidate who is more likely to win the primary (BD vs HD DVD), it is also more likely to lose massively in the general election (BD vs DVD).

HD DVD and BD will become the next DVD-A/SACD.

I believe they already have although I am almost certainly in the minority with that view.

With Ultra High Definition Video being worked on, how many years can these two formats co-exist before being replaced themselves?

I'm sticking with what I have, which to my eyes is just fine!

how many years can these two formats co-exist before being replaced themselves?
Does everything not get replaced eventually? As technologies emerge faster so does the speed of replacement.
Hi-def music, DVD-A and SACD, are niche markets. HDTV's are not.

HD movie players, be it BD or HD-DVD, are the next logical step in HT and would be much more widely embraced if one format had been adopted. Now that step may only last 3-4 years because tech. is growing ever faster. But I would rather enjoy HD/BD today, then "uber HD" in 4 + years.
Just my .02

Sony's statment that we should see prices in the $299-$399 range in 2-3 years will simply not fly with J6P. You could conduct a phone poll right now of HDTV owners and 80%+ will never pay $400+ for a DVD player (HD or not).



I'm sure that's not lost on Sony. J6P will just have to wait...meanwhile the studios (including Sony) will continue to rake in billions from DVD.

I believe the positive have certainly outweighed the negatives.

Ultra High Def.

People don't actually think this is coming in a decade do they? Go price a 4k projector and see how you like that pricing.

I don't see the BD/HD DVD war going the way of SACD/DVDA simply because people couldn't see why CDs needed to be replaced with a format that offered little benefit other than higher resolution.

These new HD formats not only look and sound better but function much better as well (interactivity) and Web enabled features coming this year. I think that's enough to push these formats over the Niche edge.

Ultra High Def.

People don't actually think this is coming in a decade do they? Go price a 4k projector and see how you like that pricing.

I don't see the BD/HD DVD war going the way of SACD/DVDA simply because people couldn't see why CDs needed to be replaced with a format that offered little benefit other than higher resolution.

This is what I believe as well. It has to do with how far along technologically each medium was at. Audio was the farthest along: although audiophiles will disagree, the jump from a well-mastered CD to a DVD Audio disc or SACD, multichannel capability aside, is not that great. In fact, audio is so far along that many are willing to give up some quality from a CD for the convenience of compressed audio. Video was behind: a DVD is a relatively poor representation of a film, but HD is a lot closer. Video games are the farthest behind, which is why people will buy a 360 or PS3 and connect it to a SD TV.

I think Ultra HD is more analogous to DVDA/SACD. People need to be a certain distance from the display to discern a difference between SD and HD anyway, and the distance needed for UHD may be too close for comfort. In addition, some films aren't going to show any improvement. We're already seeing less improvement from some softer films than others, and will there be much of a point to upscaling a 1080p-sourced movie like Sin City to UHD?

Here are the positives from my perspective:

1) Has made a emerging technology relatively cheap. I don't own any software (with the exception of talladega which came free). Rent online. Spent a bit over 1000 for an HD-A1 and a PS3. My understanding is that both manufacturers lost money on this deal. Just for a moment imagining the HDA1/PS3 as a single player - it is in fact an incredible deal: top of the line hi-definition video player supported by every studio (both), impeccable upscaler (HDA1), CD player (both), media center for my MP3's, pics, and video (PS3), and internet browser (PS3) and advanced gaming system (PS3). What an incredible addition to the home theater setup for 1000!. Anyone complaining about the format war is really seeing things half empty.

2) If there was no competition I think less attention would be paid to transfers and the pace of releases much slower.

3) I actually find it kind of interesting from a business standpoint.

I think we can thank competition for the following:

1.) Improved BR video quality

2.) Less than 6 months into this- and over 300 titles available between the 2 formats- with another 700 coming in the next year

3.) Lower prices- both software and hardware- by the end of this year - the entry player from at least one format will be under $250- ideally under $200

4.) Responsive firmware updates- from both camps- if both sides didn't fear the competition these would be less of a priority

5.) Software quality- both sides have started to emphasize quality transfers- how long would this have taken if their was no choice

6.) Much more impressive releases of A list movies- much faster than they appeared on DVD- both sides are going to offer more attractive titles to secure their formats future

I bet I missed some- but overall, for new formats, I think things are moving at a very aggressive pace- and quality HD content is what the end result will be.

Ultra High Def.

People don't actually think this is coming in a decade do they? Go price a 4k projector and see how you like that pricing.

I don't see the BD/HD DVD war going the way of SACD/DVDA simply because people couldn't see why CDs needed to be replaced with a format that offered little benefit other than higher resolution.

These new HD formats not only look and sound better but function much better as well (interactivity) and Web enabled features coming this year. I think that's enough to push these formats over the Niche edge.

I spent far more than that for my first projector just 4 years ago.

To your CD analogy, I have yet to see why I should replace my existing DVD's. I have seen demos of both competing formats and I am just not impressed.

To your CD analogy, I have yet to see why I should replace my existing DVD's. I have seen demos of both competing formats and I am just not impressed.

Sounds like you've seen some pretty poor demos. I'm sorry to hear that.

Sounds like you've seen some pretty poor demos. I'm sorry to hear that.

Yes that maybe true. If so alot of potential customers are seeing the same demos I am.

I spent far more than that for my first projector just 4 years ago.

To your CD analogy, I have yet to see why I should replace my existing DVD's. I have seen demos of both competing formats and I am just not impressed.

I'm pretty sure 4K projector doesn't mean 4.000 dollar projector so I doubt you did :-)

If you spent what a so called 4K projector would cost you would certainly be impressed.

I'm pretty sure 4K projector doesn't mean 4.000 dollar projector so I doubt you did :-)

If you spent what a so called 4K projector would cost you would certainly be impressed.

I don't understand your point, 4K is $4,000. And yes I spent far more than that on my Sharp XVZ10000U, 4 years ago.

Perhaps this is a negative for the format war if the stores selling the product are unable to show quality demos.

I'll stand by my statement that my home theater at 720p is satisfying to me and I have yet to see a demo in any store that convinces me to switch.

I don't understand your point, 4K is $4,000. And yes I spent far more than that on my Sharp XVZ10000U, 4 years ago.

Perhaps this is a negative for the format war if the stores selling the product are unable to show quality demos.

I'll stand by my statement that my home theater at 720p is satisfying to me and I have yet to see a demo in any store that convinces me to switch.

So we can this topic back on track....

A 4K projector is not a $4000 projector.

A 4K projector refers to a projector with a 4096 x 2160 resolution.
It is 8million pixels or 4x the resolution of 1080P.
Cheapest price I have seen is around $30,000.

So we can this topic back on track....

A 4K projector is not a $4000 projector.

A 4K projector refers to a projector with a 4096 x 2160 resolution.
It is 8million pixels or 4x the resolution of 1080P.
Cheapest price I have seen is around $30,000.

I am sorry if I stomped on some holy acronym.

Good luck with the war, I'm out