First Blu-Ray Titles Delivered -- But Who's Watching?

Sony delivered its first high-definition video discs in the Blu-ray format to retailers Tuesday -- 15,000 units each of seven titles, including Hitch, 50 First Dates, Underworld: Evolution, and The Terminator. The only problem is that no players are available yet on which to play them, and it's unclear what the retailers will do with the discs before the players are available

[bernie]

Read this entertainment sites hands-on review:-
http://www.thedigitalbits.c...

it makes for very interesting reading!

[Guttersnype]

That was very interesting. Wonder if Samsung will have firmware updates as well. Guess it is best to wait.

[Moostache]

Early production units are bug-filled messes.

Reason #1 on why I refuse to buy a launch unit PS3 (there are of course other reasons, but I really do believe the first batch of PS3's is gonna be a massive crap-shoot).

That article is hardly a resounding endorsement of Blu-Ray over HD-DVD...I think the format war is going to be very interestign over the next couple years, that is for sure.

[mikeeno7]

Blu-ray is utter crap.

[shoota33]

hd dvd is utter crap

[PS360PCROCKS]

your mom is utter crap

[AuburnTiger]

I don't see how anybodys mom hast to do with this post. Unless the mom in question had some part in the creation in Blu Ray or Sony in General. If you could shed light your comment it would be much appreciated.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Um this is funny, why do they release movies with no players thats just more confusion big sign reads "BLU-RAY MOVIES" and some consumer with no idea goes and looks, and is like hmm...best buy employee comes over "can I help you sir" "Yes, what is this blu-ray, and does it play on my dvd player?" "No it plays on a $1000 player but we don't have any their either delayed or not out yet" and that's always good for the consumer, lmao

[The Real Deal]

Ok...I went back to Best Buy to get more info on the truth on HD dvd and Blu ray. The HD dvd player that you buy at the store ships with 1080i. But, there is a firmware upsdate when you hook it up to the internet via cable and download new firmware which makes it 1080p. That is the truth of the matter. Once again when I was at best buy and both blu ray and Hd dvd was playing on the same 1080p display...they looked identical. But at further inspection the hd dvd did look a tad sharper. The blu ray movies looked a little more grainy. When I asked the guy at best buy about that. He said its all reliant on the how the movie was filmed. And that there shouldn't be a difference at all. So maybe its just the overal quality of the movies that use the hd dvd formatt. But all the same...Let all the mis information stop. The hd dvd player out now does display 1080p with the firmware update you get when you get home for free.

[The Real Deal]

I had the playstation and the Saturn and the sega saturn games looked much better than the playstation games. Virtua Fighter was 3d and amazing. It was just like the arcade game. Saturn was just hard to program for and was priced too high..hmmm...lol...sounds familiar....Sony won out because quite frankly they had much more games and a wider variety. Thats when I liked sony. Then the dreamcast came out and blew me away. I loved the games. I loved playing online Fantasy Star Online and Daytona online...ect...Then I remember like it was yesterday...They announced the ps2 and said it would have toystory in game graphics and would be 10 times more powerful than a top of the line PC. I was so excited. I still loved my dreamcast though. the games were top notch and just plain ole fun. When the ps2 launched I got one day one. I bought every launch game. I was soooooo disappointed. And I know I wasn't the only one. Dreamcast 2nd gen games quite frankly were better than sony's launch games. Remember...this is coming from a Gamer. I buy everything. Then the dreamcast section at my local eb got real small. They put the systems and games in the corner meanwhile ps2 was hyped and had the biggest section up at the front of the store. My relative was a manager there and he told me that corporate made them do that. Now I don't know what Sony did to make that happen but we all knew it was about MONEY. Sega ran out of it and Sony took over with a ps2 that did not outperform the dreamcast as far as games went. Real gamers were ready and waiting for a real gaming machine to come along. Then came xbox. Just what gamers had been waiting for. Microsoft would not run out of money and they created a better system from every stand point. Xbox live is top notch and HALO...wow. But you know what? Blu ray just got released. I went to best buy and they had the blu ray player up front and center on a big 1080p tv. I asked the guy today can I see hd dvd compared to blu ray. He told me hd dvd isn't hooked up anymore because corporate won't allow them to hook it up. So guess what? It was in the back corner where no one can see it. I then told him I wanted to see them running on the same display. He proceeded to hook it up for me. He and I agreed hd dvd looked a tad better than blu ray. He told me sony paid best buy to premier their unit and not display hd dvd. Sounds familiar. Are we going to be tricked by sony again folks? NOOOO we are much smarter this time around. If you don't believe me...go to your local best buy and see for yourself. The guy told me he gets requests every day to see a side to side comparisson of blu ray and hd dvd. But corporate won't let them have them both hooked up for display unless requested. WOW...Think about it.

[96impala]

all i know is, i love cd's and dvd's.

[no_more_heroes]

DOA 2 came out on the Dreamcast and then PS2 later on (PS2 version was subtitled Hardcore). The Dreamcast version looked better than the PS2 version which looked washed out.

[96impala]

Having finished speaking to Blu-ray, BetaNews sat down with a representative from HD DVD to discuss how the Microsoft-backed format will compete with Blu-ray. Toshiba HD DVD expert Mark Knox gave a thorough explanation of the optical disc drive technology, and said that because of Blu-ray's complicated design, HD DVD will triumph in the format war.

Blu-ray's difficulties, Knox explained, begin with the technology itself, and the idea that its 50GB dual-layer capacity is superior to HD DVD's 30GB. Through the use of better codec technology, such space is not actually needed for high-definition movies. In fact, Blu-ray admitted to BetaNews that most discs won't go beyond the 25GB mark.

Although both formats are being demoed at the show, there has been much speculation about production problems in the Blu-ray camp. Knox confirmed the rumors, and said the problem involves Blu-ray's numerical aperture. In order to store more data on a disc, the laser is bent into a cone shape.

The aperture setting on standard DVD is 0.6, with the setting for HD DVD a slightly smaller 0.65. The additional capacity is provided by the blue laser technology. However, in order to store a full 25GB per layer, Blu-ray has adopted a 0.85 aperture, meaning the divots on the optical layer are smaller and more prone to error.

Additionally, the smaller aperture requires a thinner disc and smaller layer spacing, which makes the medium more vulnerable. Initially, Blu-ray was designed with an external cartridge to protect the disc. But now, the group is utilizing a special protective coating that has not yet been finalized due to disagreements.