DVD or Blu Ray?

The T wrote: Finnforest wrote: I buy my players from a specialty place that modifies them so they will play ANY disc from any country or region, whatever....it plays it.    When I buy the next player, which will be BR if it really does kill DVD, does BR have the same issue with region coding?   Does a Euro BR play on an USA BR machine?     If available I want a player that will play USA BR and DVD, plus foreign BR/DVD.  Possible? DVD, for example, subdivides the american continent in two, north america (Zone 1) and south america (zone 4). With bluray, all the entire continent is region A. That's a good and reasonable change. But for European and asian and else releases, some modification you will still need.

An insignificant change, since US consumers aren't exactly known for purchasing loads of Latin American films. However, there's a larger supply of material from Europe and Asia that does have demand in the States yet Blu-Ray failed to do anything. They could've gotten rid of the regional nonsense once and for all, but they didn't. Even less of a reason to switch...

Finnforest wrote: I buy my players from a specialty place that modifies them so they will play ANY disc from any country or region, whatever....it plays it.    When I buy the next player, which will be BR if it really does kill DVD, does BR have the same issue with region coding?   Does a Euro BR play on an USA BR machine?     If available I want a player that will play USA BR and DVD, plus foreign BR/DVD.  Possible?

I buy my players from a specialty place that modifies them so they will play ANY disc from any country or region, whatever....it plays it. 

AtomicCrimsonRush wrote: WE DO NOT NEED A NEW SYSTEM! We are only lining the pockets of the rich companies making them more richer, buying thins we would never even consider if not advertised in such a manipulative way. Advertising is all about tellin us we need something we do not have. If the advertisers succeed in persuading us we must have a product, they are doing their job. That is their function. That is their motto. Tell the customer they must have a product even though they do not need it. Rant over!

Before even looking at the poll results, I expected ignorance to win out.

If we were to follow the Ferrari analogy, then both formats would share the same market (with different marketshares of course) because, as with the Ferrari, there will be people who want/need/afford the Blu-Ray. I don't understand why people perceive this as a war between the two. 

clarke2001 wrote: rdtprog wrote: When they will no new DVD available in stores, you'll see how much people will change their preferences to Blu Ray. It could take a lot of years, but it will be a new reality, like it or not. They're will be a new kind of Blu Ray, can't stop the technology... I disagree. Stores changed their offer, gradually, from VHS tapes to DVDs. From Vinyl albums and cassettes to CDs. But the new technology offered back then was radical, different, new. VHS tapes were slow, heavy, bulky, analog, tapes were prone to breakage. DVD offered digital reliability. Blue-ray is nearly that revolutionary. It's digital media on steroids. Is it worth it? Surely, if you appreciate high-end performance. But in the war of formats, BluRay won over HD-DVD...by a hairline. I'm afraid it will be obsolete in a decade or so, going in history like one of those 'in-between' formats. Everyone of my age (or older) remember diskettes (floppy disks of 3.5 inch size). They were ubiquitous. But what about the 'new, bigger, better, faster, more reliable'  formats that came later and falled through the cracks of history? Mini disc, zip drive, jazz drive, digital cassette, where are they now?!? UMD, for God's sake! (And they were better, at least some of them, actually.) Technically, there's no difference in storing the file that contains HD movies on BluRay or on a bunch of (thousands) floppy drives, providing you have a retrofit equipment for the practical use. (You can even store digital media on analog tape, but that's beside the point.) Where's the catch? In blue laser light? Is it really worth it? In our (near) future, USB stick is the physical format that will prevail (or should). The next step will be, most likely, the complete absence of physical media - on-demand data online. Further on, we will reach quantum computers, and/or non-binary digital devices. I'm not saying BluRay disk is no good, or not technically better than DVD, that's stupid. A new Ferrari is certainly better car than my old little Ford, no doubt about it: it's faster, stronger, better in overtaking, more stable on a winding road. But, price and availability aside, do I need it? No. I need a car with a reasonably high level of reliability that will transport me from A to B, while I'm able to appreciate the countryside. I'm not interested in driving 300 km/h. Surely, if driving 300 km/h is your thing, go for Ferrari. If watching high-definition movies with stereo surround is your thing, go for it. But I tell you one thing: my favourite music genre is progressive rock. I can tell you my favourite actors, directors and movie genres. I experienced them all through various media. Would be my opinion different if watched on different, better media? I don't think so.

I like the point about the Ferrarri - they have been around for years and yet who owns one beside the filthy rich? Blu Ray will go down in price but why do we need it at all when DVD is so damn good.

rdtprog wrote: When they will no new DVD available in stores, you'll see how much people will change their preferences to Blu Ray. It could take a lot of years, but it will be a new reality, like it or not. They're will be a new kind of Blu Ray, can't stop the technology...

I disagree.

Stores changed their offer, gradually, from VHS tapes to DVDs. From Vinyl albums and cassettes to CDs.
But the new technology offered back then was radical, different, new. VHS tapes were slow, heavy, bulky, analog, tapes were prone to breakage. DVD offered digital reliability.

Blue-ray is nearly that revolutionary. It's digital media on steroids. Is it worth it? Surely, if you appreciate high-end performance. But in the war of formats, BluRay won over HD-DVD...by a hairline. I'm afraid it will be obsolete in a decade or so, going in history like one of those 'in-between' formats.

Everyone of my age (or older) remember diskettes (floppy disks of 3.5 inch size). They were ubiquitous. But what about the 'new, bigger, better, faster, more reliable'  formats that came later and falled through the cracks of history? Mini disc, zip drive, jazz drive, digital cassette, where are they now?!? UMD, for God's sake! (And they were better, at least some of them, actually.)

Technically, there's no difference in storing the file that contains HD movies on BluRay or on a bunch of (thousands) floppy drives, providing you have a retrofit equipment for the practical use. (You can even store digital media on analog tape, but that's beside the point.) Where's the catch? In blue laser light? Is it really worth it?

In our (near) future, USB stick is the physical format that will prevail (or should). The next step will be, most likely, the complete absence of physical media - on-demand data online. Further on, we will reach quantum computers, and/or non-binary digital devices.

I'm not saying BluRay disk is no good, or not technically better than DVD, that's stupid. A new Ferrari is certainly better car than my old little Ford, no doubt about it: it's faster, stronger, better in overtaking, more stable on a winding road. But, price and availability aside, do I need it? No. I need a car with a reasonably high level of reliability that will transport me from A to B, while I'm able to appreciate the countryside. I'm not interested in driving 300 km/h.

Surely, if driving 300 km/h is your thing, go for Ferrari. If watching high-definition movies with stereo surround is your thing, go for it.

But I tell you one thing: my favourite music genre is progressive rock. I can tell you my favourite actors, directors and movie genres. I experienced them all through various media. Would be my opinion different if watched on different, better media? I don't think so.

harmonium.ro wrote: That's an interesting point. Several new technologies did become the "standard" but all those I can think of (the cassette, the CD, digital radio/video/audio/photo etc.) came with the advantage of a more efficient production and a lower (or at least not higher) price for the end consumer. Not the case with Blu-Ray...

The price of the Blu Ray will go down when people are going to buy more of it and  when the manufacturer going to do more of them.

rdtprog wrote: When they will no new DVD available in stores, you'll see how much people will change their preferences to Blu Ray. It could take a lot of years, but it will be a new reality, like it or not. They're will be a new kind of Blu Ray, can't stop the technology...

I don't know- throughout the years several superior technologies have been marketed to the public and have failed to catch on sufficiently enough to become the new standard media.

In fact, I only know one household that has upgraded to Blu-Ray.