jeblis

ttringle

I'd expect the PS3 to get an update to Profiles 1.1* and 2 a week before the first disc comes out with features that require it.

* Technically, it's called Profile 1 Version 1.1 and it now goes by the marketing name "Bonus View". Profile 2 will use the marketing name "BD Live".

David C

Seiven

Seiven

Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E

So we can see the conundrum that Blu-ray profiles presents. The very features that are being highlighted to accelerate HDM adoption will only be available on a subset of players. Ooops! Sorry little Johnny, no web-enabled interactive "Finding Nemo" game for you!

Perhaps Blu-ray will catch up with HD DVD (shitting on early adopters along the way) before it becomes a niche PS3 format, but perhaps not.

jm9843

The second point is that even for the titles that ARE using the advanced feature stuff, it's not necessarily compelling. 300 is the best example of something that can be interesting due to PIP, but that's the exception, not the rule. Having the PIP box while I listen to director commentary or not having the PIP box and hearing the same commentary: this is what it usually boils down to and at the end of the day: whatever. This is NOT a compelling difference and not enough to even give a second thought to. I know we're all bullet-point obsessed, but PIP director commentary or the ability to buy wallpapers from the disc or whatever are NOT going to have an effect of this format war. And by the time somebody comes up with an actual, clever use of the tech, Blu-ray will have it too. The clock already ran out on PIP (and some studios were clever and used the extra space on Blu-ray as a workaround). So now all that's left is the internet stuff, but the clock is ticking on that as well.

Sure, the FUTURE of both these features may (or may not) be exciting, but the future doesn't matter to discs that have already come out. The future only matters to players, not discs, and it's the DISCS that we're all after in the end. Look at your average HD DVD collection and you see a pile of discs that AREN'T using these HD DVD features at all or at least in any truly exciting way. Again, Joe Blow's copy of Superman is going to be the same on HD DVD as on Blu-ray, despite HD supposedly offering so much more with their finalized spec.

It's clear that Blu-ray had to rush their format out unfinalized in order to combat HD DVD, but the non-finalized stuff was TRULY the least important stuff, so it's not that big of a deal. Some early adopters will have players that can't play certain features of titles released a year or two later, but these adopters are usually the kind of people who would be buying a new player semi-regularly anyway.

Padriac

Also, you have no idea what you are talking about with PIP on current Blu-ray titles. The few that have PIP have an entire separate encode of the whole movie with the PIP in the corner. Basically a complete waste of ~20 GB when compared to the proper way that HD DVD implements PIP. And that is, with a secondary video decoder that overlays the PIP over the main movie. So much for a Blu-ray capacity advantage..

jm9843

ViewtifulJason

The reason 300 did well on Blu-Ray was solely because it was $5 cheaper. The HD-DVD version not only had advanced features, it also included the full DVD version on the reverse side of the disc. As with most combo discs it was more expensive.

Jordan Lund

Also what is not mentioned is that other companies have used the larger space available on Blu-Ray to simply include a second video track that includes the PIP, skirting around the need for 1.1! This is feasible since you can compress the hell out of that track, since people are more interested in the general nature of the content than the quality.

kgelner

CyberSkull

make sure your eyes have the latest firmware and the HDBook your attempting to read doesn't have a rootkit. O and make sure there is no DRM...because that can cause other parts of your body to hurt...think lower...nope lower...yep right there.

Seiven

If there's a feature, and nobody used it, does it really exist? Or is this just sour grapes.

I think I'll go read a High Definition book.

leicaman

And while you could "care less", the studios most definitely care. They are looking for ways to differentiate high definition optical media from standard DVD to increase the rate of adoption. The increased resolution on the disc only goes part of the way.

jm9843

It's all about the discs. I could care less if BD and HD DVD players were free... I don't want to buy hundreds of dollars in discs that end up being "Beta". In this sense, BD is just as sound a buy now as HD DVD because the DISCS for both will play in all future players.

@huggy: I use the PS3 as a media center. All my content is legitimate, so it's never DivX/XviD to begin with. IF I did have DivX/XviD content I would convert it though.

Padriac

So, XviD and DivX files are converted by your PC to MPEG-2, which the PS3 plays just fine. Zero conversion steps required.

stormy24

This is just one of the reasons that HD DVD should coexist if not outright win the format war. Every HD DVD player from day one has had the equivalent feature set of Blu-ray profile 2.0. Blu-ray *might* get there two years later..

jm9843

HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak

Valis

valis

If they really wanted to do that, they'd make it an HD-DVD player...

Skiffer

graviton

fastm3driver

"The current lineup of Sony Blu-ray players, on the other hand, can never reach it, with or without firmware update."

tsolfan

AlexNC

HD-DVD on the other hand, has their shit together. I bought the Xbox add-on drive a while back and it works great. The movies look briliant! The one argument for Blu Ray (double the storage space) sure hasn't made a measurable difference in image quality.

redman042

#1 it's made by Sony, so whatever new profile or anything for SURE it would be released for it

#2 least amount of compatibility issues, as given that it's the player with the largest install base all studios will QA on PS3 for sure

#3 guaranteed non-obsolescence and availability for several years, due to the gaming side of things

why would I spend hundreds more (or even the same) for a 'standalone' which might or might not be upgradable to 1.1, which might or might not have firmware issues with movies released in the next couple of years, etc.?

As far as I remember when DVD came out the PS2 was an 'ok' DVD player, not the best DVD player around (and cheaper than standalones to boot).

What dreams may come

bandit

Of course, until that Walmart special last week, I was definatly in the same camp as FusedInertis.

rexplex

huggy

UnnDunn

@smitty1123:

[www.youtube.com]

SeattleTed

I admit I don't know what that actually means, but I saw no one had said it yet.

blank

Yeah. That would be super. And if you could do it and get the price sub-$200, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

If not, I can wait...

ideaman2020

You can find HD-DVD and BluRay in the fnac and El Corte Inglés, maybe in Media Markt too, not to mention of PS3 and XBOX HD-DVD, we are not such outdated here in spain...

Valis

valis

For those of us that like having a consistent format in our libraries, and a solid standard that would ensure that our hardware can take the future releases, neither of these products mean dick until one wins.

Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E

haha...let the forum wars begin

Seiven

smitty1123

Type-E

redgopher

graffiksguru

Galley

Well I'm glad with the PIP I'll be able to watch the director of "Game Plan" discuss the artistry of that film while still being able to see The Rock's mug in the corner. Really though, how many movies deserve extra content? And of those, how many have a big enough DVD budget to warrant paying for all this crap when they can post snippets on a website or even Youtube..?

agahnim

schrosa

fusedinertia

DomZ

axiomatic

I am feeling more and more confident about my $100 HD-DVD player purchase last week.

arkowi

I cannot see how it would not be capable of meeting any rational future standard with the appropriate firmware/software

EMoShunz

what's your experience using the PS3 as a media player? It doesn't support divX or xvid movies does it? Isn't it a pain in the ass having to convert everything to ps3 mp4?

huggy

anyways, I'm holding off. Can't spend €1000 on a duo device, and won't spend €300 on a "solo" device that could be dead within months. Specially here in Spain where hd-dvds and blu-rays aren't in rental shops yet.

huggy

Canoehead

Colonel35

I can't be the only one for whom that makes no sense whatsoever...

UnnDunn

GOKOR