Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Players and Blu-Ray/HD-DVD's question.

Okay, got an HDTV... check. Now, will these new generation DVD players play both Blu-Ray and HD DVD's or will there be Blu-Ray DVD players that only play Blu-Ray DVD's and HD DVD players that only play HD DVD's? I'm hoping that all HD DVD players will play both otherwise it's stupid and they shouldn't have come out with both versions.

I don't know too much about the war between these 2 but I just want to have one of the new DVD players that will play both versions. I heard that Blu-Ray can hold more info but costs more to produce and would cost more for purchase and could be overkill unless it's a long movie then HD DVD won't be as good. This is just what I've read and heard, don't know if it's true. If anybody could help me with these questions I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Everybody hoped the two competing formats would come to some compromise. It didn't happen. Everybody then hoped the player manufacturers would make machines that would play both formats. It probably won't happen, despite several manufacturers hoping to do so; seems the two competing format backers agreed to sue anybody who tried. Now, it is hoped that eventually all studios will produce discs in both formats. So far, only a handful studios have indicated they will do so.

So, pick your format. HD-DVD comes out first (supposedly late this month), it has the backing of Warner Bros., the biggest studio in Hollywood, plus Microsoft and HP, and the HD-DVD players initially at least will be cheaper (in some cases, much cheaper). Blu-ray discs and players are slated to appear in May; the discs do have more capacity, but it should not affect the playback of most movies; they'll fit and they should look identical to HD-DVD, given the same care by the engineers in the transfer. But the Blu-rays will have room for more extras on a single disc.

John

Man, there should be a law against both of these coming out forcing people to make a choice. I've seen movies on both sides that I want to get in HD. They should just pick one to come out but that won't happen. Good job on their part messing up HD for everybody!

you don't have to buy either format to enjoy hd. just watch tv from your cable supplier. :)

I know that but it's stupid that both sides will get good movies that I want and there won't be a DVD player that plays both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD dvd's. They screwed up HD DVD's for everybody who isn't rich and can't afford to buy 2 different HD dvd players just because they can't compromise.:@

rage420,

i understand your frustration, but think also of the danger of buying both kinds of players. what if the unified format or a new format comes along? it's possible that the unified/new format won't be compatible with hd-dvd or blu-ray or both. then, you'll really be stuck with useless crap!!!

eddie

The industry itself will merge into one product. You see, a market split into two camps will bring lower profits. Studios want what they allways did, big income, Money. I Think they will finally end up using just one or making one up for themselves. Or, even better, we will get a hybrid player. Next generation media is so unfair to the consumer, look at SACD ad DVD-AUDIO, even though CD is still the king for mainstream releases, we still don't have a standart, even if every player since 2003 supports dvd-audio and SACD, meaning that at least 1 in 3 dvd owners can play either format.
The same goes for the HD Disc's codecs. All we got was copacity. No one mentioned the sound or image codec standarts (like mpeg2 and D.Digital for standard DVD's) There are tons of HD codecs out there, and microsoft's WMV9HD Suggested one to support hd releases is one of the worst. Same goes for sound, D.Digital PLus, and the new DTS HD format are both outstanding, but no standart was set too. There is something troubling me about sound though, when a movie reel arrives at the cinema with the optical track, what are the specifications for the sound on that track? how many Mbits is it? If older movies like, let's say Spiderman, are encoded into the standart 960kbps D.Digital format, how better can it be at 9mbits (that D.DIGITAL PLUS supports) ? if the source is lower than the output, we are talking about "blowing up" sound, similar to blowing up DV to 35mm.

You can thank Sony for the format war they didn't even show up or offer there format at DVD supposition to pick HD format.