Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eamo]

In a huge blow to Toshiba, Universal, and the rest of the HD DVD devotees, rental giant Blockbuster has decided to stock only Blu-ray discs in the vast majority of its nationwide locations
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/17/blockbuster-chooses-blu-ray-is-the-war-over/

Blu-Ray seems to have a definite edge. In fact, it's hard to see what HD-DVD can do. The PS3 coming out with Blu-Ray drives will only push Blu-Ray further along to ultimate victory.

I'm just happy to see one or the other winning. I don't really care if it's Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Now we can start thinking about buying a machine that we know won't become a 21st Century Betamax!!!

...............well..........maybe give it a few more months........I don't have the HD-TV yet!!!

[corroonb]

Disc based formats are so 20th century. Direct downloads via the internet is the future of video media. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are largely irrelevant as DVD has a stranglehold on the mainstream. VHS lasted for 20 years even with the challenge of superior formats, DVD will be the standard format until direct downloads become more widespread. Apple and Microsoft are both pioneering in this space with iTunes and Xbox Live Marketplace. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are strictly for enthusiasts. I am currently enjoying HD videos from torrents encoded in x264 at 720p. x264 mpeg-4 is an amazing codec and the videos look incredible.

All IMHO of course.

[smogdonkey]

Downloads are incredible, but only if you have a system that can handle it, and have the knowhow to find them. That is what's for enthusiasts. Mainstream America (for example, and being such a huge market share, it's a valid one) is afraid to trust their computer with digital things they pay for.

DVD was strictly for enthusiasts for a long time, as well. It all comes down to price. When Bluray and/or HD-DVD equipment comes down in price to the levels that DVD stuff came to back in the day, the change will happen, probably comparably. Sony wouldn't have offered the ps3 for the price it did if it didn't know prices would come down eventually.

Remember how much DVD burners used to cost?

Also, on the average (even average new, non-enthusiast) computer system, those videos run choppily at best. I have a Core Duo (not Core 2) with 2 gigs of ram and only about half of the 720p or better videos I find and download run smoothly, and sound is often a problem. And this is considering the fact that I know what I'm doing, and no needless programs are running. I, like a boatload of people, never really bought many dvds, and when it comes to the point where you can find most movies in Bluray or HD format available for rental down the street, taking the plunge on the new hardware will be much more bearable, because those discs won't be choppy.

I'd like to think that everyone will be downloading everything soon as well, but there's a whole generation of people (my parents' age) who, in general, are not close to comfortable downloading things for entertainment purpose, and will continue to spend money for the sake of convenience.

[Demophobe]

[eamo]

[rocklee]

Actually HD discs and players would make far less work than what I'm doing right now with downloads, their quality is also better.

However, downloads when encoded and played right, can look very good if they are played on a high end PC than a dedicated HD based media player. So far having tried several players, none of them can satisfactorily play all my HD stuff. You become part of a waiting game for the better media player to come out and given the nature of techno companies, they never seem to produce the "right" product when we want them.

A computer on the other hand can already play anything we want and is more likely to be future proof than a current model media player. Already there are talks of 1440p coming out soon although this would be more suited to projector users as such resolution would be hard to distinguish from 1080p.

In short, if you want the cheapest and most cost effective way of playing all of your movies from VCDs to Blue-ray DVDs to .x284, a PC is perhaps the best alternative. I'm on a Pentium M 1.4Ghz (slowest of all Dave PC users) but I can play 720p MKV stuff reasonably well.

[rocklee]

[itaewonguy]

blu ray will have a life like LASER DISCS had..
direct downloads will be the future as we know it,..

but until then yeah maybe blu ray or dvd will rule..
remember people still want to go to the video store and rent a movie..
just like they want to go to the cinema..

[koon_taung_daeng]

and i don't know anyone that goes to blockbuster anyway, everybody in America that i know ether downloads the movie or uses their video on demand service, blockbuster sucks!

[smogdonkey]

The average American with money to blow and a car with gas to guzzle (almost everyone) prefers Blockbuster. A lot of people don't like to plan 2 days ahead of time when they want to watch a movie, they just drive 5 minutes to Blockbuster, Family Video, Tom and Suzie's Porn Shack, or whatever, once in a while.

Most people who can afford a bigass HDTV and a next-gen player can afford to just buy a movie, let alone rent one, rather than download it, even if they could figure it out. A buddy of mine has gawd knows how many hundreds of DVDs, and he just bought a Bluray player... I feel for his new wife.

While it seems convenient, I don't actually know anyone who regularly uses video on demand. I think there's something inherently fun about walking through the store looking at all of the DVD cases in alphabetical order together, and asking which movies your cohorts have or haven't seen.

[rocklee]

[corroonb]

Who is the 'average American'? Can the "average American" use the internet?

[smogdonkey]

Yes, but the average American doesn't have his home theater system hooked up to a computer.

[corroonb]

Most people use online rental these days, Netflix et al.

It's a stupid move by Blockbuster, fracturing an already niche market.

[smogdonkey]

Well, if you've got the statistics in front of you, I guess I'll take your word for it. I guess it's just like that in my little neck of the woods...