Hd dvd

[blankall]

Is the quality of HD DVD the same as Blu-ray?

HMV has a ton of great HD DVD movies on sale 4/$20 (so $5 each). These movies on blu-ray are in the 25-35 dollar range.

I am thinking of picking up a HD DVD player and about 30 of these movies. It makes sense economically.

Any thoughts on the quality?

[alltherage]

It will be very similar to blu-ray. The only thing is, it's an obsolete format so once you've bought the player and these movies, that's it. New movies will never come out in this format.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by alltherage

It will be very similar to blu-ray. The only thing is, it's an obsolete format so once you've bought the player and these movies, that's it. New movies will never come out in this format.

That part I realize.

For the hundreds of titles that are available, it seems worth it. Apparently there are warehouses full of them in the states, and they will continue to fall in price.

I think the way to go may be to buy the XBOX 360 arcade. Then get the HD DVD add on.

[Meelapo]

What you'll find with these movies is that their Blu-Ray counterparts have the exact same video transfer but a higher quality lossless audio transfer. If picture quality is your only concern then I would go for it. If on the other hand you want superb audio as well you should know that most (not all) HD-DVDs that are on sale have compressed sound (Dolby 5.1 compared to Dolby True-HD, DTS-MA, uncompressed tracks, etc.)

I would go for it. HMV has 4 for $20 deals, Superstore has them for $6.99 (if you can stand going through their cheap DVD/HD-DVD bins), and Walmart sells them for 4 for $20 too. You can find some great titles if you do a bit of searching. I probably have about 20-25 HD-DVDs because of these sales and they are a great buy.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Meelapo

What you'll find with these movies is that their Blu-Ray counterparts have the exact same video transfer but a higher quality lossless audio transfer. If picture quality is your only concern then I would go for it. If on the other hand you want superb audio as well you should know that most (not all) HD-DVDs that are on sale have compressed sound (Dolby 5.1 compared to Dolby True-HD, DTS-MA, uncompressed tracks, etc.)

I would go for it. HMV has 4 for $20 deals, Superstore has them for $6.99 (if you can stand going through their cheap DVD/HD-DVD bins), and Walmart sells them for 4 for $20 too. You can find some great titles if you do a bit of searching. I probably have about 20-25 HD-DVDs because of these sales and they are a great buy.

Hmmm was unaware of the audio issues.

It still might be worth it. I am probably going to get an XBOX 360 anyway (you can get them for 150 now). I can find a used HD DVD add on for about $50 bucks.

So for 200 i get an xbox 360 and the ability to play a ton of hi-def movies for $5 a piece.

[Meelapo]

It's not a huge issue. It's like you're getting a visual upgrade from going from DVD to HD DVD but the audio is still DVD quality (which is still quite good). There is a difference, however, listening to a compressed vs non-compressed sound track but for $5 a movie you can let that slide

[ken0042]

My concern would be compatability going forward. As i stands right now, my DVDs will play fine in my Blu-Ray player, and also will in the next format they are working on. Word is that in the next generation of optical drive player will have backwards compatability for Blu-Ray.

So for me if it would be a "I'll only watch this once" movie then I'd be better off renting it, and if it was a movie I wanted to keep- I would want a format that was going to stick around.

My 2¢.

[Esoteric]

I hear portable tape players and tapes are dirt cheap as well. You can save tons if you buy those instead of a mp3 player!

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

I hear portable tape players and tapes are dirt cheap as well. You can save tons if you buy those instead of a mp3 player!

I think that's a terrible analogy. I have the HD add-on for the 360, and love it. I own a number of HD-DVDs, and wouldn't hesitate to buy more, especially at the 4/20 price.

[cKy]

I know Future Shop (a few months back) had the 360 HD DVD player addons for dirt cheap.. like $20 if i remember. I'd check a few FS's to see what they got... Best buy may of also had these

[Meelapo]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

I hear portable tape players and tapes are dirt cheap as well. You can save tons if you buy those instead of a mp3 player!

There is a significant quality difference going from tapes to mp3. Going from HD-DVD to Blu Ray is not a significant change at all. They are pretty much equal in quality. Blu Ray just has more things going for it than HD DVD did, most notably a larger storage space.

[kukkudo]

you cant go wrong with a $20 xbox hd dvd player, and a whole bunch of $4.99-$6.99 hd dvds. I have over 100 hd dvd's that i only payed from the range of 3.99 to 10 bucks. This time last year was when I was picking them up I remember i got the mission impossible set for 25 bucks compared to 80 bucks on Blu ray.

[Meelapo]

If there's an interest for this perhaps we should start a list of where people have seen them on sale. Off the top of my head...

HMV
- Four Brothers
- Top Gun
- Hot Rod
- Transformers
- Ocean's 13
- Blazing Saddles
- Matrix
- Nacho Libre
- Shooter
- Blades of Glory
- Beowulf

Walmart
- Shrek 3
- Transformers
- Sahara
- Mission Impossible
- Hustle and Flow

Superstore
- The Kingdom
- Chuck and Larry
- Hot Fuzz
- Slither

[Esoteric]

But why would you purchase old technology now, when you can get something that will be supported in the future? No new movies are coming out on HD-DVD, and nothing in the Future will support them.

At least if you buy a Blu-Ray player and Blu-Ray movies, you can use them in the Future. Sure, everything regarding HD-DVD is cheap, but I'd rather pay for something being supported now. And my home audio system definitely takes advantage of a Blu-Ray.

I personally would rather spend more money now, then having to replace equipment in the future.

[Meelapo]

I can't speak for others but for me I already purchased an HD-DVD player when it came out a few years ago. I don't plan on upgrading these movies until a new technology comes out (whatever is coming after Blu-Ray). At the moment I would just rather pay $5 for a movie on HD-DVD than pay $25 for the same movie on Blu Ray (I do have a Blu-Ray player as well).

I just think that if you can buy a player for $20 and the media for $5 then you should go for it provided you don't plan on buying the Blu-Ray equivalent in the future.

To each their own, I guess.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

But why would you purchase old technology now, when you can get something that will be supported in the future? No new movies are coming out on HD-DVD, and nothing in the Future will support them.

At least if you buy a Blu-Ray player and Blu-Ray movies, you can use them in the Future. Sure, everything regarding HD-DVD is cheap, but I'd rather pay for something being supported now. And my home audio system definitely takes advantage of a Blu-Ray.

I personally would rather spend more money now, then having to replace equipment in the future.

I already have a blu-ray player I got for 150 bucks on boxing day. The problem is all the good movies are 25+.

If the HD movies are only 5 and I can get the player for 100 then I only have to buy 5 movies to make the purchase worthwhile. At 5 dollars (and falling) a pop I'll probably buy closer to 100 movies.

From what I've read the HD is comparable to the Blu-ray in terms of quality. In fact, identical as the information that is coded onto the disc is encoded using the same methods. The talk about sub-par audio may be isolated to specific disks, but the format itself is capable of the same audio.

Whether or not I buy the 360/add on or the stand alone HD-DVD player will depend on the price I can get.

If I can find a stand alone for 80 or less I'll go with that, otherwise it's the 360

[Rathji]

For me, the only thing stopping me from considering doing this is lack of space in my unit for the additional player. If I had the space it would be a no brainer to pick up a buncha movies and very least it is an upconverting dvd player for another TV when the time comes.

[metallicat]

I'm not buying a Blu-Ray player because I don't buy movies anymore. For quite awhile, I was buying a fair amount of DVDs. I just can't justify the cost anymore, so I just rent the movies I really want to see. Because of that, I also can't justify the cost of a Blu-Ray player. The DVDs look good enough for me when watching on my HD-DVD player.

I suppose eventually I'll get a Blu-Ray player, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

I'm not buying a Blu-Ray player because I don't buy movies anymore. For quite awhile, I was buying a fair amount of DVDs. I just can't justify the cost anymore, so I just rent the movies I really want to see. Because of that, I also can't justify the cost of a Blu-Ray player. The DVDs look good enough for me when watching on my HD-DVD player.

I suppose eventually I'll get a Blu-Ray player, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

That's the thing... how much does it cost to rent a movie now? 5 bucks...

How much does it cost to buy an HD-DVD... 5 bucks...

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by ken0042

My concern would be compatability going forward. As i stands right now, my DVDs will play fine in my Blu-Ray player, and also will in the next format they are working on. Word is that in the next generation of optical drive player will have backwards compatability for Blu-Ray.

So for me if it would be a "I'll only watch this once" movie then I'd be better off renting it, and if it was a movie I wanted to keep- I would want a format that was going to stick around.

My 2¢.

Isn't the next format Holodisc? And that can hold like TB's worth of data?