Q&A: Why HD DVD beats Blu-ray

Q: When you say your recommendation of HD DVD comes down to three things and list the three, I think you could actually distill it down to just No. 3. Your first reason, "Picture and sound quality is identical between formats," doesn't favor one over the other. No. 2, the lack of support for Blu-ray features in most current players, is also a non-issue unless you can tell me that HD DVD currently has features unavailable in any Blu-ray player. So, if I follow you correctly, the only advantage to HD DVD is lower initial cost, if one discounts the higher capacity and potential of Blu-ray discs. I read your print article and came to your blog in doing my own research to try to find the better unit/format, but was disappointed by what appears to be a personal dislike for Sony.

[wil4hire]

Yet all the sales figure data point towards Bluray.

Seriously, this is retarded.

[toughNAME]

- bubble for lack of intelligence

[razer]

I guess you can say the same about all the Blu-ray articles as well.. Just because sales numbers are high doesn't mean it's the better format. Those sales numbers are absolutely laughable for both camps when you compare it to the whole home movie owner/rental market.

This article is simply in response to the whiney sissy Blu-ray/Sony fanboys who seem to think that if they keep telling everyone they are winning that somehow the format will win. Even the author says the quality is great in BR, lets hear some Blu-ray douchebag say that about HD-DVD. They don't even give the slightest bit of credit to HD-DVD because many are butthurt by the fact that HD-DVD is hanging in there, PS3 isn't doing all that well and the UMD got laughed off the planet.

[chrno6]

Just a reminder the only format war is in America, as blu-ray pretty much dominates Europe and Japan.

[zapass]

don't you love corporate suckas masturbating in public and obviously thinking people care. No, your hddvd collection will not be worthless if you learn to play frisbie. You'll just have to forget about that inconvenient time when you got so pathetically involved in a disc format war while a real war was being fought in your name.

[PS3PCFTW]

the more you see articles like this, the more it proves hddvd is dying.
MS is not the only king of false advertising.

[wil4hire]

Every data-mining-statistic is reporting Bluray outselling HD-DVD. This has been the standard. I'm not making anything up. Bluray doesn't need to make-up articles about why its superior. Sales speak for themselves.

You guys can keep pretending there is a "format war" There isn't. I've always said that people that can afford HDTV's that actually CARE about HD video, can afford to buy bluray players. These are the people, like me. That are buying my entire dvd-collection over again, because I am an Audio/Video Phile. People that cant, are buying non 1080p dvdplayers & aren't spending $600+ on HD-DVD's a month.

I have a home theater setup, and not a "combo" that you buy from some kmart or something like that. Look up marantz when you get the chance. Just upgraded from a custom NHT setup. And Guess what, even if some how the sky does fall.. and HD-DVD makes a come back... Well guess what? I can afford to buy an HD-DVD player. It really doesn't matter.

I'll change my Tune when the HD-DVD camp posts data that is confirmed by NPD/Neilsen hell.. even VGchartz if they did it lol. The truth is, the HD-DVD #'s are embarrassing. Transformers sold 150,000 units. End of story. Its over for HD-DVD. keep reading these articles if they make you feel better.. but that wont prevent me from picking up all of my favorite Pixar movies in the next few months. I know millions of other families that are a lot more interested in Pixar/Disney.. Than shrek.

@ Touchname:

I approve stories that are stories. I may disagree with it, but unlike all of you XBOTS I can see beyond my own console. My EGO isn't invested into it.

[mikeslemonade]

We had an article like this last week about how HD-DVD features are better. That isn't a selling point really. The biggest selling points are in order of:
1. Software
2. Price
3. Resolution
4. Brand- I think more people value brand that features
5. Features

[marinelife9]

I just care about what movies I can watch in hi def. I can get almost all the movies I covet on Blu Ray and hardly any of them on HD DVD. Blu Ray has many more popular movies.

[blackmagic]

Wil4hire, you are one to talk about console allegances when you so clearly show your colours when you assume HD DVD supporters are 'xbots'.

I own stand alone players for both formats. I don't think either format is going anywhere but I do think that HD DVD is the better solution for home theatre. Am I an 'xbot'?

Let me mirror your sentiment in terms you can understand. The 360 has over twice the install base and sells more than twice the software. By your logic the ps3 is dead but the reality is that you would have to be a moron to think the ps3 is dead.

btw, Marantz has a budget line like most everybody these days, the sr7002/8002 are the only two receivers that are worth a damn. Personally, I have the NAD Master Series M15 Preamp and M25 7 Channel Amplifier pushing PSB Platinums coupled with an Optoma HD81 1080p projector on a 120" Stewart Firehawk screen.

[godofthunder10]

all the br fans need to stop saying that br won already,because it's not true and hd dvd fans need to stop saying that hd dvd will win because they don't know.
the truth is that hd dvd is really starting to give br a run,hell even the president from sony said that it was a stalemate when a few months before he said that they won already.
br and hd dvd is identical except that br offer more space and now that will be even because hd dvd got the approval to make a 51 gb disc.
i've read where one br fan said that disney will never put their movies on hd dvds because they are loyal to sony,hell disney said that they will never put their movies on video tapes when disney was using beta when it had a lead.
disney care about disney and doesn't give a care about sony,disney is just like any other company,they are only loyal to their stock holders and their big bonuses.if disney was so loyal to sony then why did they vote with toshiba to make 51gb disc and against sony who tryed to get people to vote no.
disney knows that it's getting harder to over look hd dvds with all the stand alone players that they are selling and disney isn't makin any money on br,(hell neither format is making money)and disney knows that if they make both format that they can have a better chance at making a profit on the new formats and disney knows that it doesn't hardly cost any thing to make hd dvds so they will make a bigger profit then br.
hd-dvd is selling stand alone hd dvd players like crazy and people will keep on buying them because of the price because no matter what some one says price is a big thing and it's not true what one smart ass prick said when he said that only poor people buy hd dvds and people that could afford the best buy br,the fact is that they are the exact damn thing no matter what he says because he just made an ass of his selfs and i know that other br fans will agree with me on this.
if br and hd dvds don't make a profit by the end of next year then they both might lose because they don't have a endless bank account to keep loosing money.some time next year i bet that disney will make hd dvds because the way that they voted,hell they could've almost killed hd dvd if they voted no instead of yes.all the movie companies will have to start making both versions because they will not beable to ignore any one of them.
the one thing that hd dvd have of br is that when they released hd dvds they were 100% finished and it was the final product and it had internet use and pip and things like that and now that they will start using 51 gb disc they already confirmed that the 51gb disc will be able to play in all the older player so people want have to buy another player.
when sony released br they wasn't finished yet but they released it so they could put it in the ps3 and get a good start with br,but now that they are upgrading br so it could do the same thing that hd dvds does it will not be good for people that bought a br player because sony already confirmed that the older players will not beable to play the new discs
i know that some people thinks that the only thing that counts is how many br discs sold already but what they don't get and what movie companies look for is how hardware is selling to and the pertentual sell of hardware and right now hd dvds don't look so bad.
i wish that they would put all the movies on both formats then people could pick the one they want or make a disc with br on one side and hd dvd on the other side.
i wasn't planning on buying any new hd player because i wanted to wait to see who wins but when they had the $100 sell on hd dvd players i bought one(i never would have bought one if it wasn't a $100) because it plays regular dvds to and if br wins it want be a big lost.
all the fans could say what ever they want but this war is far from over and it really is a dead heat or hd dvd is on it's ass.

[UnblessedSoul]

Lol yeah maybe they still believe or maybe they are just stupid

[LaxMan986]

agree

[Shaka2K6]

' ' Picture and sound quality is identical between formats," ' '

Pretty much stopped reading there.

who ever wrote this needs to put to sleep, the FUD they spread is just pathetic to say the least.

[Kholinar]

The articles are getting tiring.

I do wish people would use FUD correctly, however. If you disagree with this article you could categorize its statements as disinformation. FUD is something completely different and is not being used here.

Now, people posting that "BR will survive no matter what, but Hd-dvd may not..." that's FUD. It creates "F"ear/"U" ncertainty/"D"oubt using an unproven unknown which may affect a buying decision.

This is just an argument over relative merits. Nothing to fear here. Nothing uncertain/doubted except which choice you'll make (which is always uncertain before a purchase) and this doesn't deepen it in an unreasonable way.

[cuco33]

BOTH formats use the same video codecs producing the same PQ.

BOTH formats have studios that pump out high quality compressed audio like DD+ as well as lossy uncompressed audio.

BOTH do the same thing, red just does it cheaper.

[LaxMan986]

maybe if you knew what you were talking about you wouldnt sound so dumb. Anyways yes alot of HDDVDs are the same codec and outputed at 1080p... but how about Transformers porr audio quality and now they are selling players that dont even play in 1080p just to push the format that only exists here in the US. It seriously is lame when they advertise it as the "Look and Sound of Perfect" when they are selling players and HDDVDs that arent at maximum potential and "Perfect"

[jaja1434]

Poor audio? How come every review of the disc said it had fantastic audio? Or are you just referring to spec while at the same time ignoring your ears?

[jaja1434]

Silly me and my double posting ways. :)

[athlon770]

Shaka: Are you hinting that both formats do not offer the same audio/video quality? You do know that BOTH Red and Blue offer the same codecs right? I hope you are stating that the quality of the hardware might not be a level playing field and not that either format is inferrior to the other because it is not. If you are, do some more research.

Laxman: Cuco is 100% correct in what he posted, just because you don't support Red doesn't make anything he wrote wrong! And Poor audo with Transformers? With the reviewers stating "astounding sound", I think I will side with the reviewers opinion on this. I am a Blu-Ray supporter and pretty much think anything Red comes up with at this point is usless. Blue is here to stay. Between the settop boxes, the PS3's, and the PC hardware, Blue is not going anywhere. Red is that little dog yipping at the big dog. Red is an inconveinence at most, nothing more. You do not have to make stuff up to try to swing people over, looks bad for you, and looks bad for Blu-Ray.

[MaximusPrime_]

<< still prefer Bluray.

[BloodySinner]

You're a PS3 owner, of course you'll prefer it.

[toughNAME]

Your forced to

---

"Now swallow it b*tch!"

[rofldings]

And your forced to hate it because it's on PS3?

Xbots.

[Rick James]

I own a 360 and could care less about the HD movie format war. I use my 360 to play games. I dont need Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. I am going to wait till one format is declared the winner. My only issue is the FUD being spread about Blu-Ray being superior. More disc space does not make it superior only larger. Bigger doesnt mean better. From what I have read HD-DVD actually has superior features right now till Blu-Ray 2.0 comes out. We could argue about whats better all day. Whats the point?

In the end I think we will be stuck with dual format. DVD isn't going away anytime soon. HDTV's still havent reached mass market penetration. Movie studio support is divided. This format war is only getting started.

[MaximusPrime_]

well done, you correctly guessed that i own PS3.

Even if i do not own PS3, i still support Bluray because:

- Best box colour, blue
- Loads of major movie studios support
- Holds more memory than HDDVD.

[Vip3r]

More crap on HD-DVD.

Here's a question for you.

Can the xbox 360 addon and older players play the 51GB disk and how come Transformers has compressed sound?

[Crazyglues]

Why does Transformers have compressed sound? is it really a space issue. or is just the way it's done. Anyone know? I would like to hear the answer to this.

[demolitionX]

Silent hill, sony barely fitted it on a 25GB BD with 5.1 uncompressed, no 7.1. HD DVD is already 30GB????!!!!
give me a break! people who bought HDDVD players were cheated. they should have stuck to DVDs if they don't have money to buy a blu-ray player

[razer]

Do you own a system capable of reproducing loss-less audio??

I'm sure you have never listen to Transformers audio before, maybe you should because it's incredible and doing a comparison to Spider-Man 3 it's laughable how bad it stomps on SM.

[Kleptic]

iirc from the interview with Micheal Bay, which was posted on this site some time ago...

He mentioned it being a space issue...in order to fit all the extra features (which were also in HD) with the full length film on one HD DVD (putting it on 2 would immediately get made fun of I guess)...corners had to be cut, and it in this case...it was the sound...and Bay wasn't happy about it, nor Paramount's decision to go HD DVD only except for Spielberg's stuff...

in either case...that isn't really a huge deal, and at this point in time...is not a huge advantage for BD...so few people actually have recievers capable of playing uncompressed audio that its nearly moot...now down the line, when they are far cheaper...it will be a big advantage for BD, where as all current BDs already have the uncompressed sound (most anyway)...but currently, its not going to be a deciding factor in how quickly HD DVD gets the foot...

It really is irrelevant though...HD DVD backers will keep this thing going for years to come...BD is the superior technology, but everyone knows that doesn't always make a winner...I am only going by sales though...the PS3 is acting as a very successful trogan horse for BD...2 to 1 sales, when HD DVD came out first...and has cheaper players?...the white flag isn't up yet, but there is no denying that someone has been ordered to bring down the colors...

[blackmagic]

Apparently older players can play the TL51 discs. No mention about the 360 but if the 1st gen HD-A1 can do it...
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/dvd...

As far as Tranformers having compressed sound, well the disc received universal acclaim for it's sound so ask yourself this. Do you believe that you can tell the difference when industry proffessionals can't? I mean, at this point, listening to people claim they can tell the difference is like listening to someone say the can tell the difference between $20/ft speaker wire and $40/ft speaker wire. It's the spec whores looking at a piece of paper then telling everyone it sounds better because the specs are better, not because they can actually perceive any difference.

[Crazyglues]

http://www.n4g.com/NewsPend...

[razer]

I like this place because it compiles lots of news stories on gaming in one place. But the userbase here is full of some of the dullest bulbs on the internet and I would not listen to or even appreciate any review they would give. N4G lost all credibility and the comments section is more of a joke to the gaming community then anything. Just look at this very post to see the proof.

[blackmagic]

Seems like a good idea on paper but probably would only turn into a chearleader camp. Just look at the comments on this thread.

[Meus Renaissance]

These articles are embarrasing for any HD-DVD owners. Please stop them. I will report anymore I see, unless there is a change in the sales trends between the formats because all these just come across as ignorant and arrogant Baboons trying to fool themselves.

HD DVD is winning the format.
HD DVD is the people's choice
HD DVD is better etc

VS

Blu Ray dominating sales.

VS

But HD DVD is better

[v1c1ous]

i'm waiting for that disc format that holds like 1 terabyte of information.

because you can never have too much porn on a single cd.

[Xemnas]

Give it a rest man god damn.

[toughNAME]

With my 360 I save that extra $200 for which ever format wins this 'war'

Although... I first have to spend f*ckin 4 grand on a new TV

[Peter360]

Hd-DVD uses compressed sound which diminishes the sound quality. You can say video quality is the same but sound quality is not. End of story

[blackmagic]

Do you have a link that can prove that the difference is even perceptible?

What do you think of the 122 Blu-ray titles that use 1992 developed Dolby Digital audio CODEC?

What about the 156 Blu-ray titles that use the MPEG 2 video CODEC of which 122 are also 25Gb discs?

209 Blu-ray releases are only on 25GB discs, are they better or worse than 30Gb HD DVDs?
http://www.blu-raystats.com...

[athlon770]

Lets just go down the list shall we...

Q: "Do you have a link that can prove that the difference is even perceptible?"

A: Probably not, but anyone with a receiver that can handle lossless can go into the settings and have it set to DD listen for a couple of moments, then switch to PCM or lossless and while the quality will not be perceived, it is definatly louder. Quality wise however, no, no one person should be able to hear the difference. But isn't it nice to at least have the option to listen to uncompressed audio?

Q: "What do you think of the 122 Blu-ray titles that use 1992 developed Dolby Digital audio CODEC?"

A: Well, while there are so many titles that have just DD, I do believe every BD has PCM audio, I may be incorrect, but of the 22 movies I own, some have DD, some have DD+, some have 5.1, some have 7.1, but ALL have PCM or uncompressed audio.

Q: "What about the 156 Blu-ray titles that use the MPEG 2 video CODEC of which 122 are also 25Gb discs?"

A: You make that sound that if the disc does not use the AVC codec that it will have poor video when in fact all it means is they need more space to fit the movie. Not to worry though, BD can store up to 50gb. There is plenty of space on this side.

Q: "209 Blu-ray releases are only on 25GB discs, are they better or worse than 30Gb HD DVDs?"

A: That is a nice one that I really like. So Red supporters are constently saying that their discs are cheaper to manufacture, yet nearly ALL of your movies are using the dual layer 30gb disc where Blue is fitting many of their movies on the cheaper single layer 25gb disc. Kind of makes you go Hmmmmm don't it? Oh, and to answer your question, no, they look the same.

[Danja]

What is today PRO-HD-DVD day..??

Why all the Blu Ray hate..is it Sony's fault that Toshiba went and side with the devil M$

and now the M$ curse has hit them ..now they're losing alot of money on each player sold..and they have the inferior product and HD-DVD is DEAD outside of NA......damn M$ and Toshiba do have a few things in common..!!

[Shaka2K6]

It wouldnt have compressed sound if it was Blu-ray exclusive not to mention sell alot more disks.

[achira]

HD-DVD is dead, xbots should accept that, next is the 360. and the fud will change nothing.

[Gothdom]

This got to be the worst BS I've read in an article.

But I think this crap should end soon. This is just getting more confusing for customers...

[gamesR4fun]

Its better bigger badder and built into teh ps3...

Honestly think B/R woulda been dead if M$ had built a hd player standard on the 360... Too late now tho B/R wins.

[BloodySinner]

This is getting annoying. One of those formats need to die so we can all finally rest and be able to select one.

[Yo Mama]

Has anyone wondered why there are hardly any "Why Blu-ray beats hd-dvd" news posts?

The answer is because there is only a format war in hd-dvd supporters minds.

They are desperately trying to convince the world that hd-dvd is still alive and are winning.

I mean the last 4 or 5 pro hd-dvd articles have all been by the same guy, Don Lindich. You've got ONE supporter, LMAO !

[toughNAME]

eerily similar to another 'war' isn't it?

[v1c1ous]

i c what u did thar

[thepill88]

I seen somewhere, If BD takes the market by 80% worldwide Paramount/Dreamworks can back out of the 1 year deal they have with HD-DVD... its 64% in US, 84% in EU and 97% in Asia... let me do some research... It was also rumored that Toshiba was gonna call it quits in 2006 and mid 2007 without MS help...

[Vulcan Raven]

So for all those who say that sales for bluray mean nothing, well then why is bluray selling more than HDDVD. From a personal perspective it is because they have a better product, and more big name titles. For razer(1.2) is it not possible that one day either high def format will replace dvd's(very long time) if not how many vhs tapes do you watch and what are the sales figures for those these days, pretty low since the introduction of dvd right.

[razer]

the stand-alone players are in sales. Movie sales have an edge because of the PS3 and the fact that the system suffered from lack of games for a long time.

[urban bohemian]

and i know no one who has bought a HD-DVD disk

I think blu-ray is winning by 2:1 in that actual amount

2 blu-rays sold and 1 HD-DVD

EVERYONE STILL BUYS DVDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

SOMEONE POST AN ARTICLE ABOUT VIDEOGAMES ALREADY!

[zonetrooper5]

' Picture and sound quality is identical between formats," ' '

They are though...

I'm still rooting for Holographic Discs though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[Bubble Buddy]

They should combine and make Purple-Ray DVD, and also Xstation, imagine, xbox live, Home, Gears, halo, Mgs4, FFX13, ratchet, jak, uncharted, bioshock... etc etc, sony's hardware with MS' Advertising, they'd be unstoppable and take over the whole world, sigh... dreams

[cmrbe]

For 2 fundmental reasons.

1. The Blu ray will always have disc space advantage over HD-DVD. Transformers a second gen HD-DVD is already limiting sound quality because of space limitation.Now imagine when movies like James cameron Avatar comes out.

2. People buy movies to watch first and foremost and Blu ray has the most support content and hardware wise. I mean whats the point of buying a cheap Hd-dvd when you can't watch most movies on it?

[jinn]

because bluray supports the PS3

[eagle21]

[Primetimebt]

Can a HD DVD owner post me the movie sales of HD to Blu ray? I don't care about opinions

[jaja1434]

I don't own either but the concesnsu is somewhere between (1.5-2):1
In BR favor.
With somewhere around 7 million BR players which includes PS3
And about 1 million HD players, including the 360 add on.
But that might have changed over black Friday.

In any case

Sales (1.5-2):1
Players 7:1

Come to whatever conclusion you like. :)

[znu]

I have a blu ray player(PS3, P.S I hate fanboys 360,Ps3 and wii, all systems own) and its amazing, dont know much about hd dvd. Its cheap price and provides high defination video, theres one up for it.

upside is that Blu ray has 50 gb dual layer which means uncompressed video and audio for future movies will be much greater/ higher quality since it has more room. The 1 best thing is i saw a video a while back showing how much punishment a blu ray disc could take, he scratched that disc bad yet it still worked. When he took out the knife and started jabbing at it, then it stopped working. Its nice to know that unless i have a serial killer in the house my movies are safe....

[THE_JUDGE]

and has most of the industry behind it. Who does HD-DVD have? Toshiba, NBC, HP, Acer, Weinsteins, Canal, Paramount and WB. That is a tiny list compaired to the BD group. And the sales don't lie.

[Rick James]

Companies are working on better screen resolutions, more disc storage, more features, etc... In fact Blu-Ray 1.0 is anything but futureproof. 1.1 players are just now becoming available and the 2.0 players wont be out for a while. Future proof is a Sony marketing tactic. There is no such thing as future proof. My 360 isn't futureproof. The PS3 I plan to buy next year wont be futureproof. My 1080P HDTV isn't future proof. This PC I am using to type this response isnt future proof. Somebody somewhere is always working on newer technology. The 1080i HDTV I bought 4 years ago wasnt future proof either.

[jaja1434]

Future proof? Say that in 8 years with holodisc come out. Their 3.9TB beats BR and HD like some rag doll.

[THE_JUDGE]

to do more research. 1080p is the standard and will be for a long time to come even though they have made tv that have a higher definition than that. The FCC set the standard with Tv manufactures based on the bandwitdth capacity that TV stations can broadcast at. BD is future proof because its choosen to use the standard instead of cheapening itself to use only up to 1080i crap.

[xplosneer]

He makes this seem like a disadvantage: "if one discounts the higher capacity and potential of Blu-ray discs."

[whoelse]

The guys are so desperate to keep HD DVD alive and this is not good for anyone but the HD DVD supporters.

[tonsoffun]

Why the fu(k do we have to be subjected to biased, non-gaming related crap about the high def format war?

[S1nnerman]

who is tired and weary of this discussion?

[Antiomo]

Lack of choice of players.

[athlon770]

Blu-Ray has over 10 manufactures while HD-DVD has one---Toshiba. Pretty sad.

But that is ok, Toshiba is a grade 'A' company and will win this all by themselves! /sarcasm

[Says you]

agreed with toughName and razer are just blind boners that can't seem to see the truth that hd dvd is dieing & last time I check razer the PS3 sold 6 million so what are you talking about it didn't do well which actually is have you notice for the past few weeks.

[Lex Luthor]

.....NOT

[Grassroots]

I'm confused how does it beat Blu-ray, isn't it the same discussion day after day with the same results week after week. Yes there maybe a few features but won't be a problem in a few months. They ain't beating anyone but themselves selling them dirt cheap systems. Onkyo just pulled out of supporting HD-dvd with their standalone since the prices are so cheap and they have no profit involved. It is what it is, where it goes in the future who knows.

[BattleAxe]

HD DVD is nothing more than a poor mans HD format.