What you need to know about Blu-ray
by Adams Briscoe 
{ Jun 16th 2006 at 2:00PM }
This is definitely aimed at those readers not learned in the ways of hi-def formats (all three of you), but Yahoo has tackled the nitty gritty on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. With the first Blu-ray players coming out next week, it's important that consumers educate themselves on the ins and outs.Coming in at $1,000+, these players are going to cost you a pretty penny to invest. However, as we all know, the PS3 doubles as an affordable Blu-ray player (surprise!). So if you're a newbie at this whole HD format thing, check out the article to get up to speed. The future is fast approaching and the write-up wasn't off the mark when it said that this Christmas season will put the medium to the test. Stay tuned!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Night Elve @ Jun 16th 2006 2:27PM
I think if we think this as a format that the PlayStation 3 will use, well yeah is the main reason why PlayStation 3 will cost a lot, but anyway if most of the games for this console will support 720p or 1080p the storage capacity is a huge advantage.
Because im pretty sure that games like Metal Gear Solid 4 or Final Fantasy XIII will need more storage than a DVD can give.
Anyway viewing this as a replace for the current DVD Movies well i dont think is going to happen any soon.
visionrider @ Jun 16th 2006 4:00PM
One thing sony is not telling you game discs are going to be locked to your machine manager in game shop was telling me you will not be able to sell games which you have finished as the serial no of disc is registered to your machine and will not work on any other machine as machine registers disc online when you first use it this is part of system that was going to be on blue ray dvd players its anti piracey thing movie companys wanted to start with it is not being used on films as no body will buy them you would not even be able to use different dvd players in same house but they are possible useing it on game discs so you would not be able to let your mates try your games or trade them in for new games we will see if they bring in this mad system I hope not I for one would not buy this crazy system I will stick to PS2.
El Perron @ Jun 16th 2006 4:05PM
Sony already confimed that; that rumor was false a long ass time ago.
scab @ Jun 16th 2006 4:08PM
@visionrider
ummmmmmm wth have you been
that rumor was sqaushed a month ago
SuicideNinja @ Jun 16th 2006 4:37PM
Overall, that article isn't very helpful. It misses info on the DRM "features" which are important.
One EXTREMELY important thing was mentioned:
"Users report that the picture is stunning, though the quality increase may be lost on those who aren't videophiles."
In other words, the general consumer may not be "stunned" by the quality increase.
The commentor's aren't even sure what is going on. Some think that Bluray drives can't play DVD. Some think that HD-DVD doesn't support 1080p. Both are wrong.
bobeotm @ Jun 16th 2006 4:38PM
wow visionrider
It just goes to show how easily the gaming public believes the false rumors that are spread by some sites. It seems like sony has to shoot a rumor down every single week.
I personally will only repurchase a handfull of dvd's on blu-ray. Since dvds will play on virtually any blu-ray or hd-dvd player on the market, there is not reasone to rebuy unless you want the WOW factor. I'm just going to rebuy visually impressive titles like StarWars (since 20th century fox is on the side of blu-ray) and other big action movies with explosions.
ozymandias @ Jun 16th 2006 10:50PM
Night Elve:
Why do higher resolution games require more storage space?
...scary @ Jun 17th 2006 2:12PM
Do you know what's scary about blu-ray ...
It looks like a beefy UMD. Sony better pray it doesn't go the same route. If UMDs were a little bit less expensive than their DVD counterparts, I imagine PSP's would be selling like hotcakes all over the place and so would UMDs. And I guarantee if UMDs had done better, they would've included a UMD slot on the PS3. That would've been the smart thing.
PS3 = Great Deal on a Blu-ray Player, but a bit too expensive for a game machine.
boots @ Jun 17th 2006 8:56PM
"PS3 = Great Deal on a Blu-ray Player, but a bit too expensive for a game machine."
And what about a Blu-ray AND a game machine that connects to the net to get media?
Vince @ Jun 17th 2006 9:45PM
What's the problem with UMD's?
The DS and it's ridiculously lauded replacement uses "carts".
What makes UMD's seem so bad?
KingOfGods @ Jun 17th 2006 11:02PM
Vince,
1. Load times are horrible
2. Wear and tear on moving parts over time
3. Too much battery being used to spin the disc up and down during those long load times and so on
"I" really wouldn't consider them carts..."to me" they resemble solid state memory which can be cheaper to manufacturer.
Vince @ Jun 18th 2006 12:07AM
"10. Vince,
1. Load times are horrible
2. Wear and tear on moving parts over time
3. Too much battery being used to spin the disc up and down during those long load times and so on
"
Thanks for the stats KoG I see what you mean, but the whole proprietary argument still seems a bit irrelevant considering you cant watch movies on the DS, or can you?
Still seems to me the UMD format is good enough for a handheld.
I doubt i'll ever have a handheld gizmo but I can't see how a format for handhelds will ever be anything but proprietary.
Posted at 11:02PM on Jun 17th 2006 by
KingOfGods @ Jun 18th 2006 1:41AM
"I doubt I’ll ever have a handheld gizmo but I can't see how a format for handhelds will ever be anything but proprietary."
I agree with you but think of the possibilities if Sony would have went with other forms of memory (like SD) or went with a solid state "cart" The PSP would be one sweet handheld. I own a PSP and a DS lite but find myself using the ds more because I can pick it up and start a game faster and play longer between charges.
As far as the PS3 goes I will definitely pick one up when the price drops a couple of hundred dollars. As of right now I don't own an HDTV or plan on buying one in the next year so blu-ray doesn't appeal to me at all.
Nik @ Jun 18th 2006 9:32AM
I still can't believe they are coming in those hideous cases. Is that actually cheaper than making the disk surfaces scratch resistant like my brothers glasses? Also, if the PS3 drive is supposed to read DVDs as well, then how thin are those things?
sputnik @ Jun 18th 2006 11:56AM
This referred article is actually pretty lame and short on details. It's funny how the person states that they don't know how the quality of Blu-Ray will compare to HD-DVD as Blu-Ray is not out yet. What a rediculous statement. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD both support the same resolutions...720p, 1080i, & 1080p. So the visuals will look exactly the same on either format. There may be a bit of difference in terms of the quality of individual players just as current gen DVD players...but in general the visual quality will be exactly thre same. Yes HD-DVD does support 1080p. Yes the Blu-Ray players will playback normal DVD.
Juan-Tan @ Jun 18th 2006 9:44PM
The way I see it is...
If you want a Blu-Ray player, get a PS3
If you want the latest in video game technology, get a PS3, and you get the bonus blu-ray player.
Rich people are going to be all over this.
Pit @ Jun 19th 2006 4:19AM
One other thing -- all regular (standard definition) DVDs play in Toshiba's HD DVD player. I've tried it -- no problems. Standard definition DVDs will not play in Sony's Blu-Ray machines when available (that is my understanding). Not sure where all this misinformation is coming from!
Jeffler @ Jun 19th 2006 7:59AM
You all deserve a slap in the face.
The cased BD-R's were prototypes, they don't ship in them. No UMD 2.0. They look just like regular DVD-ROM's.
What the hell PS3Fanboy, its you're job to keep up with the ps3 and by not even knowing the format, you aren't fanboys, just reporters.
boots @ Jun 19th 2006 3:35PM
"Standard definition DVDs will not play in Sony's Blu-Ray machines when available (that is my understanding). "
Ignorant. DVDs will play in all blu-ray players and all HD-DVD players.
Highlander @ Jun 23rd 2006 7:08PM
What a crock this story is.
a) Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray will play standard DVD and CD discs.
b) Dual layer BD discs are here, now.
c) $500 for a HD-DVD player may sound like a bargain, until you realize that it's $500 for a Blu-ray player also (aka PS3)
d) HDMI is needed for neither format now, the Image Constraint Token is no longer an issue, so plain old analog compnent video will be just fine for everyone, which is why the $500 PS3 will be a bargain. The whole panic over copy protection, DRM and whether HD content will play over compnent video is moot. There is no reason to panic until about 2012.
Compare the situation around Christmas. Sony will have sold millions of PS3s. It doesn't matter how many Xbox fans come out and bleat about the cost of it, the fact is that there are enough Sony Playstation fans out there that the PS3 will sell millions. That means that there will be millions of Blu-ray players out there. Now, the HD-DVD players from Toshiba and the like do not hand anything driving them except HD DVD playback. So they have to sell purely on their merits. Sony has more studios lined up behind Blu-ray than Toshiba has with HD-DVD. Had MS waited long enough to put a HD-DVD drive in the 360, this would be a different story. An add-on drive for the 360 is not exactly an answer to the all in one unit from Sony. This fact alone punctures the baloon of so many theories based on Blu-ray not having sufficient sales to succeed. The fact is that compared to HD-DVD, Blu-ray is in a position to have an order of magnitude better sales in the first year or two.
One more thing to consider is that many of the early PS3 buyers are exactly the kinds of early adopters that are needed to build an early market in consumer electronics. I'm not talking about the bleeding edge early adopter who's already rushed out and purchased both the HD-DVD player and the Blu-ray player, they're so few in number that they make the membership of Mensa look enormous. I'm talking about the folks with a reasonable amount of disposable income who are the very ones buying HD TVs right now. Selling millions of PS3s that double up as Blu-ray players virtually guarantee that Blu-ray will not lose a format war. It doesn't guarantee a win, nor does it guarantee that HD-DVD will die ether. In fact, with Samsung already talking about dual format drives that can do everything from Blu-ray down including HD-DVD, there is no reason why either format should disappear in the long term.
Fundamentally though Blu-ray is a better format, it has a higher capacity and higher data transfer rates. It's better suited to high definition content than the stretched DVD format.
However my point about the article is that the article glosses over a lot of the stuff that really matters. It doesn't really look into the comparison of the two formats, and it's not entirely accurate in any case. All in all, it borders on being misleading.
Mee @ Jun 29th 2006 8:09AM
Me "I sell apples and half apples"
You "Ok, how much for an apple ?"
Me "600$"
You "Hey man it's very expensive"
Me "Not at all, See I sell the half apples 1000$ each"
You "Aye aye ok I understand so it's a good price, a bargain for me to buy an apple at 600$ because half an apple cost 100$"
Me "that's right Mr consumer, you are indeed very cleaver, can I have 600$ ?"
You "yes with great pleasure, I can't wait to tell evreybody how much a great deal I just conclued"