Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

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RE: The trouble with HD DVD and Blu Ray.....

Posted by townsend on December 9, 2007 at 15:04:35:
Chris, I agree with much of what you've said. ;^)

However, while there are striking similarities between hi-def audio (SACD vs. DVD-A) and hi-def video (blu-ray, HD DVD), I think there are significant differences.

1) The movie-watching-&-purchasing public is far larger than the music-listening-&-purchasing public. The habit of going to the theater to watch a movie is deeply engrained in American culture, and though it is waning with the advent of home theater, it established a huge base of buyers for DVD to tap into.

2) Sight, not sound, is the primary of all human senses. Trying to hear subtleties in recordings . . . more space between instruments, sound stage, tight low end, etc. . . . is an impossible task for many of us who are music lovers, not to mention the masses!

However, I do think that well-done hi-def video (be it blu-ray or HD DVD) is clearly superior to standard DVD (even when the latter is upconverted), and there is some likelihood that even some average consumers can detect this difference.

3) The introduction of hi-def video was indeed "hurried" to market. But I imagine this was in part largely "competition driven" by two competing formats trying to beat each other to market first.

Of course, these hardware deficiences are disgusting. But place these shortcomings against the general regress of quality electronics over the past three decades. E.g., I have three color TVs, and quality is inversely related to age . . . older is better.

Prices need to come down to facilitate the adoption of any new video format. In general, they have come down rapidly, primarily driven by competition between the two formats.

So unless digital movie downloads kill both the hi-def video formats, I believe that both will survive for awhile, and possibly one for the indefinite future.