For those who own both formats, which do you prefer?

They are the same. Pop in a neutral movie, Put a blanket over the players, and hide the case and I would have no idea which player was being used.

Oh great. Another useless thread in the dual-format forum that is out to pit the two HD formats against each other. And of course, it didn't take long before a couple of saps bit.

I have an LG BH100, and the one I 'prefer' is BOTH. I simply don't care which HD format the film I want comes out on. As long as it comes out on at least one of them.

Well said. The previous two posters have once again proven that there are lies, dam* lies, and statistics. These arguments have nothing to do with sitting down and enjoying a movie.

Doug

To the OP, I enjoy my HD DVD movies more, as they generally look better, have more advanced menus and extras. Yes, Blu Ray looks better on paper , but not delivered. Sony jump the gun rushing out to compete with Toshiba. The BD releases on MPEG 2 just can't deliver compared to VC-1. They also seem to expect consumers to buy halve finished equipment. I also prefer the releases that I can only get on HD DVD. Yes, I have the best releases on Blu Ray so I have compared both.

HD DVD = 50, XA2
Blu Ray = 16, PS3

I'd say your 'bias' isn't because of the actual PQ difference of HD and BD, as much as it's because you're watching your BD's on a PS3 (a bloody gaming console!).

Again, this is the dual-format PLAYER forum. So maybe if you (and others here) actually watched your discs on a 'single unit'. You would see that your bias has no merit.

I'm more of a BR fan, because that's what I own, but I'll probably get both eventually.

Arguing that HD-DVD is better because they have the top selling disk is ..... stupid.

Why?

Because the titles HD-DVD has aren't strong. When one of the few good titles comes out, that's where everyone's money goes. Fewer quality choices = more sales for the few that are quality choices.

we can go on all day, but I don't think anyone wants to read our crap as it has all been said back and forth a million times. Your rebuttal was weak (both times) and has more holes in it than swiss cheese. If you want to continue though, PM me and we can continue this "pointless" argument there.

Thanks,
Have a great weekend!

Well I guess BD is in trouble as the PS3 is considered the Blu Ray player to buy if you don't want a obsolete paper weight! I don't think the OP said anything about a single unit! If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen! Yes there is a PQ difference, get your system calibrated.

My system is calibrated just fine. And I haven't seen a player review yet that has stated that the PS-3 has equal or better PQ than ANY of the stand-alone BD players. As far as PQ between HD and BD goes, I've found that it's far more title dependent, than it is format dependent. Furthermore, since you obviously can't read, I didn't say anything about the OP saying anything about a single unit. I did bring up the fact that this is the "Dual Format Player" forum, and not the "People who have two players so they can play both formats" forum.

Watcher, please scoot to a thread that actually applies to you.

As for my preference, I started with the HD-A1, and I still love it, despite it's molasses speed. I'm also an avid lover of the underdog,which also contributes to the support I give to HD. The Matrix set is a fine piece of work as well.

Having said that, the Pirates BDs (specifically Dead Man's Chest) show that the higher bitrate and storage ability of BD CAN make a difference, for studios like Disney and Sony that actually take advantage of those abilities. I can get dual-format releases I want on BD for $7-10 cheaper than I can their HD combo counterpart, and the difference on loading times between my PS3 and my HD-A1 is astronomical, all signs that point to my BD collection catching up with my HD collection at some point this year.

Both formats still have their flaws - HD should have taken a more aggressive approach with disc size and bitrate abilities, while BD should have taken a big note from HD and had their software solution be one that was all-encompassing and mandatory from the start and not some half-baked incremental solution.

Universal provides mostly dual-layer quality titles at $19.99-24.99 (at most retailers) with generous extras (on most), Fox provides mostly single-layer quality titles for $34.99 (at most retailers) and next to no extras. Warner BDs I can get for about $27 B&M on day and date titles, whereas they want me to pay $34.99
B&M for the same title on HD Combo.

There are pros and cons to both, but I'm starting to lean more towards Blu in regards to total technical quality. This is not to say I am abandoning HD though (I may be the only one, but I am genuinely hyped to have Darkman in HD with lossless audio).

If only one side is being shared, I will share the other.

This applies to me.

I enjoy both i first decided i would have nothing to do with sony but after buying a ps3 and some br movies i have changed my mind. The thing i hate most is the pr campaign for sony whether it be"we have already won" or the bb employees spinning the truth it is all fud but when it comes to movie watching i enjoy both. I prefer to buy an hd dvd movie if it comes out in both formats because of the extras such as ime and the true hd lossless audio (even though pcm sounds amazing too) that and i am a longtime toshiba fan(I still use my sd-9200 as my dvd-audio player.

Let me reiterate the beginning of this thread's title, which is "For those who own both formats".

I also don't understand the raising of noses towards using the PS3 as a primary BD player.

I wasn't raising my nose towards anyone using a PS3 as BD player. I was raising my nose at someone using a PS3 to judge BD's picture quality compared to HD-DVD. Oh, and I was also raising my nose at this entire thread in that it's simply in the wrong forum.

Blah, Blah, Blah...video bitrate...Blah, Blah, Blah...lossless audio...

The winner goes to HD DVD...I don't have to wait on the stupid menu like Blu-ray.

And I do own both. For what its worth...I own 2:1 HD DVDs to Blu-Ray Discs (80 to 40)...but I never got a call from Nielsen Videoscan.

HD DVD has always been about whats available now, and reality. BD has always been about "whats coming" and hope. PS3, FOX titles, studio support equaling more tittles, bla bla bla. When it comes to BD ill believe it when I see it.

Buying into BD was the worst investment I made in my HT since I started this hobby 10 years ago. HD DVD has been the best.

I own 80 HD DVDs and 19 BDs.

I prefer HD DVD. When there's a choice, that's what I buy. I'd like to get some exclusive BD ... but FOX and Disney aren't releasing anything that I want.

But I do love my Panasonic BDP10 ... I just don't have much to play on it. Probably shouldn't have purchased it when I did. But I really wanted "Eight Below".

My HD-XA2 is just great. After some early confusion about mating it with my IN76, it's now working just fine. Reliable ... no glitches at all.

So both players are very fine. There's just no BD software that I want.

And isn't that ironic. All that fabulous studio support for BD ... yet nothing to buy ... nothing that I want anyway.

Edit: I have 19 HD DVDs and 3 BD

I know where you're coming from, but the places for people who love both formats to have civil discussion on AVS Forum are becoming few and far between.

For what it's worth, the menus on the Pirates BDs are a lot quicker to load than my HD-A1 is to load (and also the HD-A2, based on when I demoed one). I still love 'em both, though. Children of Men is on its way from DDD, Hellboy will be mine Tuesday - ahh, it's good to be neutral.

I like both formats. I think that the picture is slightly better for HD and the extra abilities are much better so far. I like the sound better on many Blu-Ray disks. I would love to see a dual player at a low price. I thought that the competion was bad but it has lowered the cost of both players. I am hoping that Samsung knocks the ball out of the park with their new dual player.

I first got the HD-A1, and love it. I then got the PS3 for "insurance". However, I still prefer HD DVD. If a movie is released in both, I will buy the HD DVD. The features are much better, and the PQ is usually a bit better. HD DVD has so many "must-haves" for me, but POTC 1 and 2 were probably the only BD movies I rushed out to get.

BTW, I own about 18 HD DVDs and 5 BD movies.

I was leaning towards HD DVD but the 10180p 24 support has me rethinking this. I don't have a disc on both formats to compare but I really enjoy the 1080p24 support the PS3 brings to the table. Casino Royale or Apocalypto in 1080p24 looks awesome. Likewise I have HD DVD's on an A2 that look fabulous as well. This is display independent on either an RS-1 or a 60 XBR2.

Not another thread war!

1080p/24 is great. The Toshiba HD-XA2 is suppose to be getting a firmware upgrade this summer to support it.

HD DVD

I'm impressed with the pq of the ps3 with the 1080p/24 update feed to my 940hd. I would hope for similar pq-once toshiba does the firmware update on the X2A.

+1

I prefer my PS3 as a player over my A2, because the PS3 does absolutely perfect 24p and operates a lot smoother.

Why would any film fan be biased other than the performance of the players?

+ 2

i honestly dont prefer any side i love them both and it would be very hard to pick a side. i like hd-dvd cause of cheaper stand alone price, but i like blu ray due to specs.