.

[Wula]

.

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

It's the same thing as when regular DVDs came out. It was a long transition period until the kit came down in price enough so Joe Wal-Mart would be enticed into buying it. The players have to come down below $100 first. Once that barrier is broken, it'll be the floodgates opening and you'll see cheap Blu-Ray everywhere.

On a different tack, a Salvation Army shop near here has a bunch of laserdiscs in a bin for about a buck apiece. I was tempted. =P (I'd pull an Austin Powers, trying to play one on my turntable.)

[PyroVulpes]

I, for one, welcome our new Sony overlords. x3

Well sorta, anyways. But as MSB said, just like the transition to DVDs, prices will eventually come down, even if it takes a few more years. Back only a couple months, when I was just buying the parts for my current computer, the "HD wars" had just ended so I decided to get a Blu-ray drive for my computer (which I was quite surprised to find for less than $400). Recently, I began collecting Blu-ray movies, and I have to say the increase in picture quality alone is more than worth it (although, newer movies obviously look much better than some older ones). Unlike with video games, where the developers #1 priority SHOULD be gameplay, a lot of movies are nothing more than an hour and a half of action and special-effects, so the increase in resolution is quite welcome.

[Kesarra]

I vote DVD. DVD writables are cheaper than Blu-Ray, even when you consider how many DVD's it takes to be equivalent to one Blu-Ray disk. DVD-DL disks, when they came out, ran about as much as Blu-Ray is now, but their price came down very quickly. A Blu-Ray burner runs about $400 (American) to DVD's $20-30.

[Seamus]

DVD + Upscaling DVD Player to run 1080i = $100
BD +  Bluray player to run 1080p = $500

I think DVD would be the more sensible choice.  It all depends on the TV you have though.  if you don't even have a TV capable of playing 1080p, don't get suckered into Bluray.  A good deal of people with HDTVs in their homes who bought anytime within the past 5 years most likely has an HDTV only capable of 1080i.  1080p got affordable only about a year and a half ago, and even then it was on the high end sony bravias.  If your TV is only 60hz, the difference isn't going to be enough to make you throw $400 more at.  If your TV is 120hz, you're going to see an amazing difference (one that might be akward to view at first, kind of looks like they are in fast motion but after a while you get very used to it).

DVD is going to take a hit as the price of HDTVs lowers significantly in 09.  People buying up all this "switch to digital" bull (i'd like to point out that unless your tv is generations old, it's probably capable of recieving digital signal.  and digital does not mean HD as all the retail and cable companies would like you to believe.) are the ones who are going to be buying bluray players as if their DVD players were going the way of laser disc.

Out of all honesty, If you're going to buy the whole home theater experience (1000 watt 7.1 Sony surround, Samsung 71 series 120hz 1080p LCD (40" to 52") or any variation of those, this was just an example).  As I was saying, if you're going to buy THAT, then and only then do I recommend getting situated with Blu-ray.  Thats about a $3,500 set up by the way if anyone is interested   Guaranteed to floor you with a home theater experience.

Buy one of the newer up-scale DVD players, Read reviews on them first though as i'm not really sure whats the best one out right now, but you'll save a great deal of money and get a significantly better picture quality.

[Kesarra]

Costco carries a 1080p DVD player for $40-50. For $250 you can get an all in one DVD burner. I don't know if that burner is p or i and I simply don't care. If I'm watching a movie I care about quality of content and the picture takes a distant 4th or 5th place. For really good image and sound quality I'll step outside.

[Kyvr]

Not ready to replace my entire movie collection...again 

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

Torrents are your friend. Especially when you're just going to downconvert them to a nice multiple of an Eee screenwidth to save disk space

I'm still experimenting (but not too hard) with finding some compromise between standard 700mb filesize and 400p video width. It's really not that big of an issue now that I have this nice little external HD and I can throw anything 2gb or less onto the SD card to watch in my rack (protruding cables are not condusive to comfort, lying in a small bed on your side trying to watch movies) but fuck, the more I can cram on there, the merrier, eh?

It's more a big deal if I want to bring a lot of TV or anime series along with me, cos those rip through disk space like it was me with a case of beer.

Sidetracked again... anyways, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a 1080x DVD burner. DVD is a set MPEG-2 format, caps out at 720p width. You're getting bamboozled if someone is selling you a 1080-capable DVD burner.

[Seamus]

Costco carries a 1080p DVD player for $40-50. For $250 you can get an all in one DVD burner. I don't know if that burner is p or i and I simply don't care. If I'm watching a movie I care about quality of content and the picture takes a distant 4th or 5th place. For really good image and sound quality I'll step outside.

that would be 1080i, i is the lower quality "p" is the higher one.  Blu-ray is 1080p, the highest DVD can achieve is 1080i

[Kesarra]

Costco carries a 1080p DVD player for $40-50. For $250 you can get an all in one DVD burner. I don't know if that burner is p or i and I simply don't care. If I'm watching a movie I care about quality of content and the picture takes a distant 4th or 5th place. For really good image and sound quality I'll step outside.

that would be 1080i, i is the lower quality "p" is the higher one.  Blu-ray is 1080p, the highest DVD can achieve is 1080i

Then '1080p HDMI upscaling' is something different. I know not. Philips DVP5992

[Seamus]

Then '1080p HDMI upscaling' is something different. I know not. Philips DVP5992

Yeah, unfortunately a lot of companies are slapping that "1080p" logo on a lot of the newer upscalers in an attempt to outrun Blu Ray by grabbing the uneducated buyer.  For anyone out there who actually did buy, or is thinking of buying one of those and thinks they're getting Blu Ray (or anywhere close to) quality on their machines, the answer is a simple "you aren't".

If you want to get technical, they do output in 1080p.  Trying not to get too technical here but basically the difference between 1080i and 1080p is that in 1080p: There are more pixels being refreshed on the screen at any given time.  However, the resolution itself doesn't change between 1080i and 1080p.



When you upscale it, you're essentially stretching the Red box to fit the Blue box.  The 1080p upscaling players might give you a slightly smoother picture, but that doesn't help if the picture is stretched to begin with

[Alex]

Bluray isn't ready yet. Give it another year or so. By then, equipment will be cheaper and there will be a far wider selection of products that carry Bluray support. As it stands right now, I feel it's too expensive to justify.

[Drewdle]

I work in a store that sells this equipment, and here's what I think: Blu-Ray is going to be the lost leader in the generation of formats. Yes, it did technically win the war against our other HD optical format (RIP Toshiba's HD-DVD), but in another five years, it's not going to matter. The price of computers and bandwidth is continually getting cheaper, energy costs are on the rise, and almost everyone is on broadband now, all of which will conspire to make legal digital downloads the next format of choice for the mainstream consumer. The advantages of digital vs. Blu-Ray are listed below, using the iTunes store to make the comparison.

1) No warehouses full of movie stock that needs to be shipped back and forth from store to store
2) No manufacturing waste from over-estimating the popularity of a new release
3) Digital download players don't require an HDTV to be useful, but can output in HD if desired.
4) Once the physical mediums for playback die off, you'll be able to keep your digital files backed up and use them for 20 years or more without having to replace your library and your equipment every time a new format is introduced and the old one is shelved.
5) Content rentals become cheaper and easier to acquire, and you never have to remember a return date again.
6) Digital media (such as that on the iTunes store) can be played back on your computer, your television, your iPod, and who knows what else, making that one file very flexible to your viewing desires. Blu-Ray currently does not support any kind of backup to other storage devices, so Blu-Ray movies must be watched on a Blu-Ray player. No portability, no convenience.

The technology is already out there. Apple has the AppleTV, and it is gathering steam and attention in the Canadian market now that we have access to the movie catalog our Southern neighbours have had access to for years. Microsoft offers a similar, rather limited service for the Xbox360. People just need to embrace it. Once we leave physical media behind, things will get much easier and cheaper for everyone.

[Kesarra]

The 1080p upscaling players might give you a slightly smoother picture, but that doesn't help if the picture is stretched to begin with

I don't even have a digital capable TV, so it makes little difference to me. I've only ever considered a digital TV for getting a better picture when hooking up my computer. I've never even owned a standalone DVD player before. This Philips has USB and will take many formats I download. It is a little slow getting the file system off a full CD MP3, but it works for me. We've barely scratched the surface of the theoretical lifespan of the DVD and now we have Blu-Ray, which is a more delicate media.

[Mobile Suit Bunny]

Pure digital distribution right now is a pipe dream. A nice one, but it's not going to happen for a long time, until this generation coming up has the reins. It's the old people holding us back.

Case in point: it took forever for my folks to change from VHS to DVD, and the only reason they did that was because I bought them a DVD player and hooked it up and told them to go to Rogers and rent those movies in the thin tall cases, those go in this thing.

That was complicated enough, for them to figure out the concept of DVD menus and stuff. =P Now imagine these very same people, of which there are -millions- with the same technical competence, trying to manage a digital download system.

When it becomes easy enough and common enough where peoples' TVs are hooked up to to the net, then it'll probably be great. But that's not a common occurance, and older folks still take comfort in inserting something into something else and BAM, they're watchin a movie.

Give it time, it'll come around. But there's a bit of infrastructure to be laid yet that's a bit more complicated than buying some kit and plugging in some component cables.

[DogboyShugo]

I'll vote DVD. I don't know much about Blu-Ray. I don't understand it yet ^^'''. I also don't like the new casing. Like the PS3 games are based off the Blu-Ray disks now and I don't like it. At the beginning of the PS2 run I said I hated the PS2 cases to so they will probably grow on me XD.

Educate me about Blu-Ray?

[PyroVulpes]

I'll vote DVD. I don't know much about Blu-Ray. I don't understand it yet ^^'''. I also don't like the new casing. Like the PS3 games are based off the Blu-Ray disks now and I don't like it. At the beginning of the PS2 run I said I hated the PS2 cases to so they will probably grow on me XD.

Educate me about Blu-Ray?

What's not to understand? They're EXACTLY like DVDs, except much higher resolution (and obviously, you need a Blu-ray player to watch them). And what's so bad about the cases? So they're a funky clear blue colour, big deal.

[Seamus]

EDIT::
haha, ok not 6 times the resolution.  major typo XP  It can store up to 6 times more than DVD.  If you're really interested in learning more about it, just read the wikipedia page on it.  Out of all honesty I don't see Bluray dying anytime soon, as stated before I think a great deal of people will buy into it simply because they feel like they "have" to when buying an HDTV.

[Drewdle]

In my personal experience most people past the age of 50 struggle to figure out technology nowadays. Might be from how fast its moving along and that the younger generations are used to growing up with it and developing with it as it continues. But in the future when.... well the older ones pass away sadly :/ only then will majority of people know how to operate and run all this crap.

Also I will admit I struggle with a fair bit of stuff stuff but not the most common stuff. As far as common stuff goes I can sometimes know more about it then the average person. Even if I don't own the machine. I guess its mainly because I am a cheap person and not obsessive as everyone else when it comes to getting the latest greatest looking machines xP (I still wish I could refund the Wii and 360 worst purchases ever)

Hell I don't even have a cellphone yet. Why? well alot of people I know that used them go into debt or it seems like they are basically getting their money stolen from them for the limited time they can talk. And well I don't want to seem like one of those people that must chat on the phone 24/7 while walking in public or driving *cringes*. Hell I am friggin afraid for my life when my mother or my brother start TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. And yes I am serious where I start yelling and slapping them in the face to look at the road and not a friggin phone T.T Sure tech is nice and all but its really scary at times the obsessions that some people have with specific elements.

If it's any consolation, I'm one of the biggest computer nerds I know, and I don't have a cellphone because I refuse to be roped into paying for the privilege of being harassed day and night. I like my friends, but if I'm not home, then I'm not home. I don't think all technology has to go hand in hand. One of the reasons I like the idea of digital media instead of physical ones is so that people wouldn't have to adapt so often, and always be re-buying their media.

[Kesarra]

I don't think all technology has to go hand in hand. One of the reasons I like the idea of digital media instead of physical ones is so that people wouldn't have to adapt so often, and always be re-buying their media.

You still have to rebuy hardware. Motherboard/CPU/GPU have their limits as well. A Pentium3 wouldn't be able to run the 1040 or 720 standards. I've tried. It's not a codec issue, it's a compression (ie hardware) issue.