[sawtooth81]

Scenario:


You have an HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray player.


If a Fox movie comes out, you buy the Blu-Ray

If a Universal movie comes out, you buy the HD-DVD


What about the Paramount or Warner title that is available on both formats? Which do you buy?


Some possibilites:

If HD and Blu are not released at the same time, you simply buy the first one that is available.

If one gets a good review and the other a bad review, you buy the good review

If your Blu-Ray player is a PS3, you buy the HD-DVD (assuming your player is not the 360) because you prefer to play movies in a stand-alone unit.


Thoughts?

 

[Capek]

This has been discussed pretty much to death, so you'll be able to find a good number of threads on the subject, if you're interested. But just to sum things up:


Paramount titles are pretty much identical across both formats, I think. But for Warner titles, check the audio specs and extras list of each release. A lot of the time, the HD-DVD release is the one to go with for two reasons. Up until this point in time, Warner has not ported over the TrueHD track from their HD-DVD release to their BD release. So with the BD release you get no lossless track, with of course gives the HD-DVD release a major leg up. It looks like this will change in the future, as the back of the box of The Departed BD release shows it has a PCM track.


The other advantage some Warner HD-DVD releases have over their BD counterparts is the titles which have an IME track, or Picture in Picture commentary track. These have not been ported over to their BD releases, because of the mess that is BD-J, so that is more added value with the HD-DVD version over the BD version of some movies.


Of course, some people will be quick to say that is the HD-DVD version is a combo disk, it's a disadvantage for that format's version, because it adds a few bucks to the cost. But it's pretty clear that for a lot of titles, the HD-DVD release with a TrueHD track and IME hold the advantage.

 

[Rob Zuber]

Blu-Ray, so the format wins and Warner stops screwing over customers by needlessly squeezing their Blu-Ray encodes into the limited capacity and bandwidth requirements of HD-DVD.

 

[TomsHT]

For neutral movies you can base your purchase on what extra features one may have over the other, audio tracks being used, PQ reviews and price

 

[dad1153]

Unless the BD movie is 100% identical (including extras) or better than the HD-DVD version (based on reviews and opinions from fellow AVS members) I'm going with the latter. Money talks and... well, you know the rest!

 

[Frozen Sooner]

I'm not a big extras guy.


The slow load time on my HD-A1 annoys the heck out of me.


OTOH, I can't get lossless audio on my PS3 as I don't have HDMI inputs on my receiver.


I guess it'll depend on the movie and pricing.

 

[eightninesuited]

For Superman Returns, HD DVD version was the one to get due to lossless track.


For Departed, my choice is the Blu-ray version. Not only will it have uncompressed audio, but have the artwork on the disc. The HD DVD version is a flipper. I hate flippers. They look like burned discs.

 

[Scoob]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Zuber /forum/post/0


Blu-Ray, so the format wins and Warner stops screwing over customers by needlessly squeezing their Blu-Ray encodes into the limited capacity and bandwidth requirements of HD-DVD.

Gee, thanks for the "unbiased and objective" answer.