Posted February 19, 200817 yr TOKYO - Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video. Read more here
February 19, 200817 yr I knew this was going to happen. After Blu-Ray contracted Warner Bros. earlier last month it was only a matter of time. However i will keep my HD-DVD player i will just have to purchase a Blu-Ray player now. Thanks for the info Gator
February 19, 200817 yr Now we can all move forward....finally. That was a complete drag to wait around for someone to make a decision. Ecspecially for us impulse shoppers!! It's just a matter of time before the Blu-Ray prices come down.
February 19, 200817 yr Works for me, my Toshiba HD DVD player crapped out on me. Is it PS3 time? Me thinks so.
February 19, 200817 yr tilgado that's the main reason I purchased a ps3 last month. btw the blu ray player is great and very easy to control with the ps3 controller.
February 19, 200817 yr tilgado that's the main reason I purchased a ps3 last month. btw the blu ray player is great and very easy to control with the ps3 controller. I was hesitant to buy one for just that reason. If you remember the DVD player interface from the PS2, it stunk. I didn't want to have to go through the same thing. That's why I was trying to decide dedicated player, or PS3. Well one thing is that when Gran Turismo 5 comes out I'll be able to play it! The only reason I bought the PS2 was for GT4.
February 20, 200817 yr Doesn't affect me too much as I don't have an HDTV, but at least it's finally been decided. GT5 may be the only reason I'd get a PS3 (always loved the GT series, have every game, including the US and Japanese versions of GT2, though right now I'm in ho hurry to get another console.
February 21, 200817 yr The only thing I can recall, that made it better, was the interface that had web access. Don't have it myself, so I am not sure. Otherwise, Blu-ray is far superior.
February 21, 200817 yr Author The only thing I can recall, that made it better, was the interface that had web access. Don't have it myself, so I am not sure. Otherwise, Blu-ray is far superior. Actually, Blu-Ray has considerably more storage capacity, and also will include Profile 2.0 (coming soon) will allow you to download content from the Internet, and interact with other users (e.g., movies, games).
February 21, 200817 yr What were the respective capacities? I thought that they used the same compression format for video and sound. Or is it that bluray is uncompressed? The nice thing about HD DVD was that there was a standard, if you made a player it had to have a network port and network capabilites. That way if your player needed a firmware update or the files for the newest encryption on the newest disks you just plug it in to you internet connection and it would download it automatically. With bluray there is no such standard, so each iteration of player has better capabilities than the previous one and if you have a early model you are SOL when you want to play newer movies.
February 22, 200817 yr What were the respective capacities? I thought that they used the same compression format for video and sound. Or is it that bluray is uncompressed? The nice thing about HD DVD was that there was a standard, if you made a player it had to have a network port and network capabilites. That way if your player needed a firmware update or the files for the newest encryption on the newest disks you just plug it in to you internet connection and it would download it automatically. With bluray there is no such standard, so each iteration of player has better capabilities than the previous one and if you have a early model you are SOL when you want to play newer movies. The bigger functions of Blu-Ray probably are a bigger deal to the format than, up dated firmware. And to update the firmware for a Blu-Ray without internet access, you just burn it to a CD and stick it in.
February 22, 200817 yr ps3 is the best blue ray player to buy as of now. dont buy a blue ray stand alone player for it will lack the ability to upgrade to the new software. the new BR disks will offer online access and PIP commentary like the previous HD DVD counterparts. since the stand alone players dont have internet access they cant use this feature, but the PS3 is the only BR player that will be upgradeable -G
February 23, 200817 yr Author What were the respective capacities? I thought that they used the same compression format for video and sound. Or is it that bluray is uncompressed? The nice thing about HD DVD was that there was a standard, if you made a player it had to have a network port and network capabilites. That way if your player needed a firmware update or the files for the newest encryption on the newest disks you just plug it in to you internet connection and it would download it automatically. With bluray there is no such standard, so each iteration of player has better capabilities than the previous one and if you have a early model you are SOL when you want to play newer movies. 3.2 What benefits does Blu-ray offer compared to HD-DVD? Although both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are similar in many aspects, there are some important differences between them. The first is capacity. Because Blu-ray utilizes a lens with a greater numerical aperture (NA) than HD-DVD, the laser spot can be focused with greater precision to fit more data on the same size disc. This allows Blu-ray to hold 25GB per layer (50GB on a dual-layer disc), whereas HD-DVD can only hold 15GB per layer (30GB on a dual-layer disc). Blu-ray has also adopted a higher data transfer rate for video and audio (54Mbps vs 36.55Mbps). The greater capacity and data transfer rates for Blu-ray will allow the movie studios to release their movies with higher quality video and audio than the HD-DVD format. The second is content. The Blu-ray format has received broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. Seven of the eight major movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) have released titles for Blu-ray, whereas HD-DVD only has support from two major movie studios (Paramount and Universal). This is an important difference because some of the studios might only support one of the formats, so you won't be able to get your favorite movies in the other format. Choosing the format with the most content support minimizes this risk. The third is hardware support. The Blu-ray format has broad support from the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp, JVC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, TDK, Thomson, LG, Apple, HP and Dell. The Blu-ray format will also be supported in the next-generation PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console. This means that you will have a lot of choice when it comes to players and hardware. The HD-DVD format has far fewer supporters, so the amount of players and hardware will be very limited. Currently, Toshiba is the only company offering a stand-alone HD-DVD player. Other interesting facts can be found here
February 23, 200817 yr Thanks big guy. Did you type that up, that was a great explanation. I didn't know all that. But the two studios that supported HD DVD are blue ray now. HD DVD is now kaput. My HD DVD player was the best upscaling dvd player I'd ever seen. But it took a dump, now I have no HD player, bummer. At least I got on sale for a steal! Now if I could just convince the wife we need a Playstation.
February 24, 200817 yr figures the more expensive one would win Give it a few weeks. Standalone players will probably start costing less, there was another blue laser shrink this past month. The smaller they are the more efficient they are, that means they can make more of them for less money and the players will get cheaper. Conversely I read an article that said Blue ray better not party too hard, because M$ is working on making it easier to download HD content!! I personally don't download any movie content much less HD. So I don't know how well the people who wrote that article know what they're talking about.
February 25, 200817 yr I've been watching Sony's stock and when news of Toshiba's HD demise hit, very little happened. What gives?
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