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"Should we be waiting for High Definition?"

I was just adding things to my Amazon wishlist when it crossed my mind, 'should I wait for the High Definition version instead?'.

It wasn't long ago that my brother threw away a big pile of VHS tapes. Although we don't have DVD versions of them all, he felt he had to because they take up so much room. He literally had a wardrobe full of VHS tapes and whenever you opened the door they'd all come crashing out, making a big mess. Let me tell you, having a tower of VHS cases fall on you is a lot more painful than a tower of DVD cases. :(

We use to watch tapes all the time, atleast a hundred epsiodes of The Simpsons, Red Dwarf you name it, we'd just watch them again and again. But then DVDs came along, the prices dropped and when anime companies made the switch, we followed suit and never looked back. Now we have over 300 DVDs in our collection and it's still growing. (In December we added another 14)

Now we have High Definition, but there's a problem, we have a choice of two formats. That's right, it's the VHS vs BETAMAX thing all over again. (Please correct me if there was a rival to the DVD that lost out) Sometimes it's great to have a choice, but other times you wish you didnt have to (DVDR/RW+ DVDR/RW- *sigh*).

Blu-ray, HD-DVD I have no idea and I'm so out of touch with the latest technology that I'm not even sure who's winning. Sony are doing Blu-Ray, it sounds good and I like the idea of it being in the PS3 but then lots of people arent keen on the PS3 like they were with the PS2. Which is a shame for Sony as the PS2 was the first DVD player that a lot of people owned.

Looking on Amazon there are 33 Blu-Ray DVDs and 64 HD DVDs. Most of the good movies are on HD DVD though (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Blu-Ray? =S) so perhaps Sony will lose once again.

Getting back to my question, apparently these HD players should all be able to play DVDs. Which is great, because then we can carry on watching everything in our collection. But things are going to change aren't they? They'll want to release everything again in HD format.

Your Limited Edition [B]Lord of the Rings[/B] Trilogy Boxset is now obsolete. You know how the studios work, they'll bring out each episode one at a time and then release the boxset after you've forked out money for the 3 movies already.

Of course we don't have to buy the HD versions of our DVDs, but then didn't we buy these DVDs to replace VHS copies? If the prices were right could we be tempted to replace our inferior DVDs for these super duper High Definition masterpieces? Hmm I suppose it's still too early to tell but do we really need High Definition DVDs of movies like Santa Clause 3? No probably not, but I wouldnt mind having Planet Earth in High Definition, so I think I'll hold out on that one. :D

Geffdof wrote:
> Well thats sorted then. I can buy HD-DVDs now and play the
> regular side of the disc on my current player, then get a combo
> drive at oe time in the future incase there are any BR only
> movies that I want.

Be careful, HD-DVDs with standard definition on the other side arent a feature of the format. Its just something some movie studios are choosing to do. So not every HD-DVD release has it.

I wouldnt hold your breath with combo drives either. To be able to support any of the formats a manufacturer has to license the technology. And its simply not in the interests of either side to let that happen. Apparently, the licencing at the moment strictly forbids such drives too.

EDIT: Seems we will get a combo drive after all, LG plan to launch one at CES next week apparently. I originally thought it wouldnt happen after reading an article about Samsung who claimed they werent allowed to launch a dual format drive because of licensing.

Well thats sorted then. I can buy HD-DVDs now and play the regular side of the disc on my current player, then get a combo drive at oe time in the future incase there are any BR only movies that I want.

The winner of the war, by the way, will be the format that has the backing of hte porn industry. Most technology has either developed due to the need of winning a war or getting hold of porn.

Yup, I do believe there were a number of VHS/Betamax combos produced back in the day, so it could well be a possibility. I hope so too, Format Wars are stupid and it really sucks if you end up backing the loser.

But if someone makes a player that will play either type of disk it means that you dont have to choose and you can buy both.

Indeed it is. All three formats - SD, HD & BRD - are read on different layers, so if they were to be put on the same disc, they'd be perfectly separated and each relevant laser could access it's own data without interference.

Apparently working 'models' have been created (the disc or the laser, I forgot, not both though) but it's thought the 3-in-1 disc won't take off because publishing houses will want to make more money selling separate formats.

I didnt realise that. Thanks for the tip.

Ive heard that in the future someone may develop a player that plays both HD-DVD and BR. Is that true/possible?

p.s. if you're planning on holding out, it won't hurt to start buying HD-DVD versions of the stuff you are yet to buy. HD-DVDs come double-sided with a regular DVD version chucked in so you can enjoy your Standard Def movies now, then when you take the HD plunge, you already have a collection of High Def movies to play with.

This is where Blu-Ray loses out in my opinion.

Fair enough. Not a direct rival then.

Laserdisk came out years and years before DVD though. The main reason it never took off was because of how pricey it was.

Personally I dont want to buy a HDTV yet. Id then have to get a HDDVD player (or Blu-ray, whichever) in order to make use of it and Id be in the same problem you are in. By the time our current tv breaks and we need a new one there should be a clear winner in the HD vs BR war.