Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Drakoi]

Who do you think will win the format war?

[Drakoi]

For those of you who haven't been following this story, Sony backed Blu-Ray technology will hold 30-50 gigabytes of data while HD-DVD will hold about 25 gigs. Current DVD's hold 4 gigs per side

Sony is putting blu-ray into its PS3, but HD-DVD has the backing of the consortium of DVD manufacturers because it will require less capital investment for them.

HD-DVD has I think HP and Dell on it's side for computers, Sony has Sony. and I think they picked up a couple smaller guys.

But the latest news is with the movie studies. HD-DVD picked up some important endorsments with Paramount and some parts of AOLTW. Meanwhile Blu-Ray just got the huge prize of Disney's catalog to go with the recent purchases by Sony Pictures.

To me it looks like the sony group has a slight edge and if they win the stock price is going to soar.

But based on how much money has been put into HD-DVD, it seems that those companies are pretty intent on keeping that format around for awhile.

So I can see a situation where both formats are around for a long time. maybe 3-7 years before a clear victor is declared. Probably with HD-DVD getting a large part of the early market due to marginally lower costs and more manufactures.

But I think Sony is going to win out in the long run.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Some people are theorizing that neither format will take off. DAT and minidisc are supposedly better than CDs, but they weren't accepted by the public. Laserdiscs were around for years, but most people still preferred VHS tapes, even though their quality was awful compared to Laserdiscs. People are spending a lot of money on DVDs these days, building collections (myself included), and they don't want to purchase the same titles all over again, especially since it has only been 5 years or so since DVDs really went mainstream.

Of course, if HD DVD or Blu-Ray (a stupid name; could be its downfall. Seriously) players allow you to watch regular DVDs as well, then the formats might become accepted. But add to the fact that one of the two will go the way of Betamax (which, it should be noted, was superior in quality to VHS), and I think it will be a long time until the general public switches from DVD in favor of either.

Sparkles*_*

[Demophobe]

I really have no interest in this topic, but it seems to me that we aren't talking about a quality issue. Optical is optical, and thus will not negate or otherwise have any effect on our DVD collections.

This is a capacity issue. The only reason to have to switch formats is so one can put 15 DVD's onto one disc.

I could be wrong...perhaps it is a quality issue. I am not up on this tech, and didn't vote in the poll because I have no idea.

I will agree with Sparkles in that the name "Blu-ray" is silly and won't fly. Sounds like something out of a 1950's Superman movie....

[Drakoi]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]