Blu-Ray has won the Hi-Def war!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » October 21st, 2008, 12:42 am

I take back what I said about sets...

46" 1080p!

I was at a local store and saw both 42" and 46" Vizio models in stock, and was definitely impressed by the 46" more.

The 42" set felt too small. By contrast, the 50" sets felt TOO big!

Vizio, btw, is a domestic American brandname HDTV company. They keep their costs lower than Sony and Panasonic by using proven HD components instead of going crazy with innovation and new tech that tends to malfunction.

I'm almost set on getting a Vizio LCD TV when I can afford a new one.

The price is just about right for HD where I'm concerned now.

People on the fence about getting a Blu-Ray player or PS3 may want to wait until Black Friday (the shopping day right after Thanksgiving). There are strong reports that there will be at least Blu Ray model in-stores selling at a discounted price of $150 for that day.

Every model Blu-Ray player I saw today was priced for $298... The players are getting affordable. The Sony model I saw was also 2.0 compliant or upgradeable via firmware to full 2.0 compliance. That player or a PS3 would be safe to get.

The standalone player, however, is significantly lighter than the PS3 which is by far the heaviest gaming console I've ever owned!

Post by **tyler283455** » October 22nd, 2008, 8:54 pm

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... d=10263812

This is the one I'm thinking about getting. It is 298$

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=5984216

This is is basically the same thing but cheaper. It is 238$

I leaning towards the more expensive one. I was wondering what you guys thought.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » October 22nd, 2008, 11:14 pm

Go with the more expensive model in this case.

It's only $60 -- the cost of a new videogame for the PS3 or XBox 360!

It'll be BD 2.0 compliant.

If you want all the web extras or need to update your firmware, the $298 model is the one to get.

The cheaper Blu-Ray players will play all the titles out on the market now, but there's no guarantee they will play BD releases 2-3 years from now. The problem with some of the cheaper models is that they're only BD 1.1 compliant and can't be connected to the Internet for firmware upgrades or can't do upgrades via USB memory stick like the PS3 and a few other BD players.

The fact of the matter is that firmware updates are going to be standard for hi-def players from now on. There are not only bugs that still have to be worked (thankfully, it appears the big problems are mostly past us) but home video companies will probably force firmware revisions to defeat piracy.

Older Blu-Ray discs and most current Blu-Ray discs will continue to work on machines with the firmware installed out of the box, but newer Blu-Ray discs may not work unless you get the latest firmware revision for your player.

It goes without saying that you need hi-speed Internet to download the latest firmware for upgradeable players. Firmware files are often around 140MB and it would take forever to download off a dial-up line in that case!

I've personally upgraded my PS3's firmware at least 5 times since I bought it. 2 of those upgrades had to do with Blu-Ray reprogramming, the rest dealt with PSN/game issues.

P.S. -- BTW, $300 is what my original DVD player (1999) cost when I bought it nearly 10 years ago. However, I got $50 back in the mail from the manufacturer and 5 free DVD movies -- most of which I gave up to my parents after they bought their DVD player. On top of that, I got a year's worth of free rentals from Blockbuster Video.

It's still possible that the free Blu-Ray movie deal is on for BD players. There are also deals going on for some players on Black Friday -- if you want to deal with the crowds.

It was crazy how many things they gave away last year with purchases of Blu-Ray players and PS3s.

Post by **James** » October 23rd, 2008, 12:13 am

Yep, you want the internet connection. There are no more new BD profiles coming along to worry about AFAIK, but it never hurts to have the ability to upgrade your player firmware. Plus eventually someone will figure out some cool web content to add to BDs!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » October 23rd, 2008, 12:52 pm

I'm counting on the home video companies to pull something with the firmware.

I don't think firmware updates will affect Profile and its features but I do think there will be revisions to security and decryption on Blu-Rays in the near future through firmware revisions if it already hasn't happened (which I think it has).

While it will be possible to still play BD-RWs and BD-Rs on players I'm thinking they'll implement forced reprogramming to defeat pirates. DVD will probably be the last bit of optical media where it's practical to defeat the security locks on the media.

It's well within the law for companies to do this whether people like it or not. If the end-user doesn't bother to keep with firmware updates, then it's their problem. It's just like computer updates. They are a bother, but most people update out of habit or because their programs require them to.

Of course, not all updates are a great thing for your computer system and I've had computer programs that don't work as well after an update...

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » November 11th, 2008, 10:51 pm

Frankly, I think this deserves a separate topic for itself...

If the mods think it has to be merged in with an older thread, so be it.

It's a partial apology to Ben for a potentially dangerous topic I unleashed earlier today (more like a bad itch than a bubonic plague) and also an answer to a question I honestly didn't have a full answer for.

Thank you Otaku of the World for being so obsessed that you have to have your fix regardless of the cost!

Here's a link to a discussion about Blu-Ray players and Multi-Region switching for BD and regular old DVD.

http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=86937

I've stayed away from foreign DVDs for over 10 years because of region lock and I don't expect that to change for BD much, either, although I may eventually get Japanese BDs when and if the exchange rate favors it and only if they're films I absolutely want in BD and most likely have English subtitles minimum...

Post by **James** » January 14th, 2009, 12:32 pm

The Matrix Trilogy on HD-DVD for less than $10

http://www.borders.com/online/store/Tit ... 5391159742

Post by **Daniel** » January 14th, 2009, 2:54 pm

What's HD-DVD?

Wow, just did a check, that's a steal! Amazon currently has it for $44. Even if I went HD-DVD I wouldn't buy. There not must own titles for me.

Post by **Ben** » January 14th, 2009, 9:13 pm

Hmmm...might check out some other HD-DVD titles and see the prices...the new drive that came with my PC is a combi...

Post by **Randall** » January 14th, 2009, 10:45 pm

Looks like the decent HD DVD titles sold out quickly. Oh, well, I've got all the HD DVDs I need, methinks. I did enjoy picking up cheap ones once the format went belly-up, and have about every HD DVD I would want already.

Post by **EricJ** » January 15th, 2009, 5:38 pm

And most of Warner, Paramount and Universal's HD's are already converted to Blu, although we're still waiting on "Clash of the Titans", "Willy Wonka" and "Excalibur", darnit.

(Oh, and Paramount's still being petulant about the Star Trek:Remastered series, because Toshiba isn't paying the bills this time.)

Post by **Ben** » February 19th, 2009, 10:11 am

Blu-ray may have won the HD war, but it's not helping sites like ours actually promote the content on the format!

http://animated-views.com/2009/more-tom ... -ray-help/

With good old stand-by player PowerDVD disabling the image capture function for those with BD drives in their machines, can anyone offer a simple solution?

Post by **Sunday** » February 19th, 2009, 4:44 pm

I don't know if this will help but just about every question I ever had concerning the ins and outs of consumer media was answered via the forums and guides at http://www.videohelp.com/

Post by **Ben** » February 19th, 2009, 6:43 pm

Thanks Sunday!

After searching around for a couple of hours and not really finding (or understanding) a solution, I have signed up and asked for some help...hopefully someone will jump in with some advice.

Much appreciated!

Post by **Zach** » February 19th, 2009, 9:02 pm

I wish I could help, but I don't know how to do something that complicated.

Blu-Ray made a mistake about that. They should have made an easier solution.

But I wish you the best of luck.

Blu-Ray has won the Hi-Def war!

Blu-Ray and Multi-Region Players...