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[BenjaminBirdie]

let's get back on topic


Blu-ray >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HD-DVD

Considering what turned the tide here at Chateau My Place, Hot Fuzz >>>>>>>>>>>>> Every Single HD Format Release To Date.

 

[Petrarca]

Blu-ray is opening another front in the format war, Personal Camcorder. Is HD-DVD ready?

First blu-ray camcorder in time for the holiday

Me want

http://av.hitachi.com/camcorder/blu-ray/index.html

News
Hitachi Unveils 1st Blu-ray Camcorder
The company says it will be available in U.S. in October.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (August 2, 2007) -- Hitachi today announced the world's first Blu-ray camcorder which will record one hour of 1080p HD video on a Blu-ray disc.

The company said two Blu-ray camcorders will launch in Japan on August 30 and then worldwide in October.

The Hitachi DZ-BD7H has a Blu-ray drive and 30GB build-in hard disc drive which can record four hours of 1920 x 1080 high-def video or up to eight hours of 1440 x 1080 HD video. The camcorder, which will be roughly $1,600, can also record HD video on a 8cm Blu-ray disc.

The second Blu-ray camcorder, the DZ-BD70, is a single drive camcorder which can record approximately one hour of 1920 x 1080 HD video or two hours of 1440x1080 high-def video. The price will be roughly $1,350.

Hitachi says the camcorders capture and record high-def video using a new HD, 5.3 mega pixel image sensor. They will be compatible with any Blu-ray player including the Play Station 3 and will include HDMI connections so they can be connected directly to a high-def set.

The two camcorders were unveiled today in Japan.

 

[Forsete]

Very cool.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

HD Home movies? That seems crazy to me. Cool, but crazy. Careful with that lens!

 

[mrklaw]

you can already get HD camcorders, but they don't record on bluray. If they make discs that can play directly on PS3/bluray players that would be good. Or if you can record on HDD then dub across to bluray.

 

[Ponn]

HD Home movies? That seems crazy to me. Cool, but crazy. Careful with that lens!

A whole new era of homemade porn has just been started.

 

[Forsete]

Time for Google to launch YouTube HD!

HD era am here!

 

[yacobod]

some parts of 300 really pop and have a nice 3d quality, but i cant place it among the best BRDs and HD-DVDs that i own from a PQ perspective

some movies like Pirates 1&2, King Kong, Crank, Riddick, Matrix Reloaded, Casino Royale, and Apocalypto kill it imo

i know the grain was the director's intent, but i find it distracting because it really isnt consistent, some scenes are absolutely pristine and others look slightly better than upscaled dvd, personal preference i guess

cant wait to check out hot fuzz today after all the glowing reviews, and see how it stacks up against some of the best discs

 

[djkimothy]

A whole new era of homemade porn has just been started.

Can't wait.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

While I don't hate grain, it is very annoying in 300 as it really distracts you from the movie.

Also, in regard to that camera, I think Sony will eventually phase out SACD in favour of the 8cm Blu-ray discs for surround music. There needs to be 1 surround format. There's good stuff on SACD and DVD-A, and I have to use 2 players to play music still. gah! Sounds familiar somehow.

 

[djkimothy]

I think the subtlety of the grain is exagerrated thanks to the sharpness of the picture. The visual "buzz" is annoying.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Thats one damn nice camcorder (especially the 1600 dollar one).

 

[Suikoguy]

Those HD Camcorders are far less expensive then I would have expected, wow

 

[StoOgE]

My friends are all too ugly for HD recordings

Spoiler

so am I

 

[kaching]

looks like a nice formfactor to that camcorder.

Stupid question, would the smaller size discs work in a slot loader drive like the PS3s? This is a question out of absolute ignorance of ever having thought about it before.

 

[Crisis]

looks like a nice formfactor to that camcorder.

Stupid question, would the smaller size discs work in a slot loader drive like the PS3s? This is a question out of absolute ignorance of ever having thought about it before.

It's a good question. I'd kind of like to know, too.

 

[captive]

It's a good question. I'd kind of like to know, too.

thirded. :lol

 

[DarkJediKnight]

looks like a nice formfactor to that camcorder.

Stupid question, would the smaller size discs work in a slot loader drive like the PS3s? This is a question out of absolute ignorance of ever having thought about it before.

Yes it should work. The motorized wheels (or whatever they are) grip the disc from about 1/2 down the disc, so they should grip 8cm discs. Plus, I'm sure Sony thought of that when they designed the PS3 drive.

The funny thing is, those little 8cm Blu-ray discs hold 16.5gb in single layer and 33gb dual layer. And here comes the obligatory HD DVD slam: That tiny little thing still has more space and bandwidth than a full sized- HD DVD.

 

[nofi]

It's a good question. I'd kind of like to know, too.

Try an 8cm CD.

 

[thaivo]

Why did someone bring Amazon graphs in here again? They should be banned they are completely worthless at determining sales numbers.

What's funny is that the Nielson data is also not about numbers but ratios...

I mean what is ths 100.00, 34.56 business anyway?

 

[Darobga]

The mini discs will work, I've used the mini DVD's from my camcorder and they work no problem with PS3

 

[djkimothy]

What's funny is that the Nielson data is also not about numbers but ratios...

I mean what is ths 100.00, 34.56 business anyway?

It easier to analyze normalized relative data than absolute ones.

You don't go to a science conference and point out that 65,894 rabbits exist in an ecosystem when only 45,349 existed a year before that. It's better to speak in relative terms sometimes.

 

[thaivo]

It easier to analyze normalized relative data than absolute ones.

You don't go to a science conference and point out that 65,894 rabbits exist in an ecosystem when only 45,349 existed a year before that. It's better to speak in relative terms sometimes.

Yes, but ratios are rather uninformative, if you don't have at least some point of reference. If they at least released the numbers for the top disc, then it would be much more helpful. There is a huge difference between 40% of 10, then 40% of 10,000,000.

 

[jjasper]

Yes, but ratios are rather uninformative, if you don't have at least some point of reference. If they at least released the numbers for the top disc, then it would be much more helpful. There is a huge difference between 40% of 10, then 40% of 10,000,000.

Well we get actual numbers every quarter or so. Those quarter numbers were the ones that eventually showed how bad Amazon was for overall sales when titles like the 5th Element were in the top 10 but never once appeared on the Amazon charts.

 

[djkimothy]

Ratios give the magnitude of the top selling titles relative to the rest of the pack. The problem with absolute numbers is that it changes every week and is difficult to observe trends.

1 week, 10,000 discs may be sold. Another week, 5,000 on a slow release week. You need to normalize the numbers for it to make sense.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

No matter how you show the data, HD DVD is getting its buck kicked, and has been pretty consistently for 6+ months.

Upcoming releases are weighted heavily in BD favor, and the gap between numbers of active players (standalones + PS3s that are used for movies) is growing.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

No matter how you show the data, HD DVD is getting its buck kicked, and has been pretty consistently for 6+ months.

Upcoming releases are weighted heavily in BD favor, and the gap between numbers of active players (standalones + PS3s that are used for movies) is growing.

They're both getting their butt kicked by DVD and will be for a while. What matters is specific content, because for a long time, that's what's going to sell players. Mainstream acceptance of either format is a long way off.

So you talk about upcoming releases and weight and all I can tell you is that if Blu-Ray had even one release with content as compelling as the Hot Fuzz HD-DVD, I'd own a player by now. Both formats are still playing to the niche market, and so far, speaking as a niche cinema consumer, only one of them is preparing appealing enough content for it.

 

[thaivo]

Ratios give the magnitude of the top selling titles relative to the rest of the pack. The problem with absolute numbers is that it changes every week and is difficult to observe trends.

1 week, 10,000 discs may be sold. Another week, 5,000 on a slow release week. You need to normalize the numbers for it to make sense.

I agree with you to the large extent. However, if one were an analyst, you would want to track data most likely with hard numbers, compared to ratios. This is especially important, as you stated "absolute numbers is that it changes every week." So if you were to compare ratios over a period of time, and those ratios actually represented varying numbers, it would skew your data completely, leaving a terrible mess.

 

[captive]

They're both getting their butt kicked by DVD and will be for a while. What matters is specific content, because for a long time, that's what's going to sell players. Mainstream acceptance of either format is a long way off.

So you talk about upcoming releases and weight and all I can tell you is that if Blu-Ray had even one release with content as compelling as the Hot Fuzz HD-DVD, I'd own a player by now. Both formats are still playing to the niche market, and so far, speaking as a niche cinema consumer, only one of them is preparing appealing enough content for it.

prototypical hd dvd fan response.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

They're both getting their butt kicked by DVD and will be for a while. What matters is specific content, because for a long time, that's what's going to sell players. Mainstream acceptance of either format is a long way off.

So you talk about upcoming releases and weight and all I can tell you is that if Blu-Ray had even one release with content as compelling as the Hot Fuzz HD-DVD, I'd own a player by now. Both formats are still playing to the niche market, and so far, speaking as a niche cinema consumer, only one of them is preparing appealing enough content for it.

Please refer back to my plethora of postings quoting similar sentiments about DVD from the late 90's. The battle is relative to each other for who gets the homor of the "HD" spot which is niche now and will grow in coming years. Comparisons to DVD sales today are irrelevant. What matters is which one the industry is going to back. Again, Blu-ray is winning that fight on all fronts-- movies sold, studios backing, and electronics companies manufacturing.

 

[djkimothy]

I agree with you to the large extent. However, if one were an analyst, you would want to track data most likely with hard numbers, compared to ratios. This is especially important, as you stated "absolute numbers is that it changes every week." So if you were to compare ratios over a period of time, and those ratios actually represented varying numbers, it would skew your data completely, leaving a terrible mess.

Yah, definitely, absolute numbers would be useful to track overall sales and if these companies are even making any money. However jjasper stated that these numbers are reported quarterly. So they exist, just not as frequent.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

prototypical hd dvd fan response.

You mean Pegg/Wright fan response. I'm barely a fan of the format. I'm a fan of the disc producer, if anything. If I really believed either format was poised to take over, why would I buy an HD-DVD add on? All signs point to it "losing" to Blu-Ray. But I know that either one is destined for nichedom so what does it matter? I'll be treating it like my Laserdisc player. Buy content for it that I can't see anywhere else.

 

[thaivo]

Please refer back to my plethora of postings quoting similar sentiments about DVD from the late 90's. The battle is relative to each other for who gets the homor of the "HD" spot which is niche now and will grow in coming years. Comparisons to DVD sales today are irrelevant. What matters is which one the industry is going to back. Again, Blu-ray is winning that fight on all fronts-- movies sold, studios backing, and electronics companies manufacturing.

I don't disagree with you. I think HD Media is going to be quite successful, but the move from VHS to DVD did not require people to have a new vastly more expensive TV.

Also Blu-ray is not winning on every front, as last I heard stand alone unit sales for Toshiba actually was better than all BD CE company (i.e., Samsung, Sony, etc.) players combined.

 

[Chemo]

They're both getting their butt kicked by DVD and will be for a while. What matters is specific content, because for a long time, that's what's going to sell players. Mainstream acceptance of either format is a long way off.

So you talk about upcoming releases and weight and all I can tell you is that if Blu-Ray had even one release with content as compelling as the Hot Fuzz HD-DVD, I'd own a player by now. Both formats are still playing to the niche market, and so far, speaking as a niche cinema consumer, only one of them is preparing appealing enough content for it.

Look, it's awesome that you got an HD DVD drive for your 360. Congratulations, I am glad you are happy with your purchase, pretty much everyone in this thread is high on next gen formats, regardless of which one they are supporting. But I think at this point everyone at NeoGAF in both OT and Gaming know that you have an HD DVD drive and Hot Fuzz now. You don't have to mention it in every post anymore.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I don't disagree with you. I think HD Media is going to be quite successful, but the move from VHS to DVD did not require people to have a new vastly more expensive TV.

Also Blu-ray is not winning on every front, as last I heard stand alone unit sales for Toshiba actually was better than all BD CE company (i.e., Samsung, Sony, etc.) players combined.

The fact that this stuff goes back and forth just proves my point. The longer this squabbling goes on, it just puts ANOTHER hurdle for an HD disc format to overcome, on TOP of barely anyone actually watching HD content on their HD TVs.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Look, it's awesome that you got an HD DVD drive for your 360. Congratulations, I am glad you are happy with your purchase, pretty much everyone in this thread is high on next gen formats, regardless of which one they are supporting. But I think at this point everyone at NeoGAF in both OT and Gaming know that you have an HD DVD drive and Hot Fuzz now. You don't have to mention it in every post anymore.

I haven't gotten it yet, obviously. Why else would I still be talking about it? I'M EXCITED!!!

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

What's typical is dismissing both as niche for people who are interested in HD DVD offerings for one reason or another. Blu-ray may never get the numbers of DVD, but it's going to be much bigger than a niche market.

Besides, don't you have a PS3 already?

 

[Chemo]

I haven't gotten it yet, obviously. Why else would I still be talking about it? I'M EXCITED!!!

Oh my god, all that talk and you still don't have it yet?

:lol

Alright, alright. XD

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

What's typical is dismissing both as niche for people who are interested in HD DVD offerings for one reason or another. Blu-ray may never get the numbers of DVD, but it's going to be much bigger than a niche market.

Besides, don't you have a PS3 already?

Me? No.

 

[jjasper]

Just to make BenjaminBirdie question his decision making skills Disney has "officially" (even if they let it slip months ago) announced Lost Season 3: Unexplored Experience for 12/11.


http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Disney/TV_on_High-Def/Disc_Announcements/Disney_Confirms_Lost:_Season_3__Blu-ray_Release/834

Disney Confirms 'Lost: Season 3' Blu-ray Release
Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 07:55 AM ET


After months of speculation, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has confirmed a December 11 release date for 'Lost: The Complete Third Season - The Unexplored Experience' on Blu-ray.
Rumblings of a high-def debut for 'Lost' first began back in May, when a December arrival date surfaced on various retailer websites. However, only days later Disney would officially deny the rumors, saying it had no plans to release any seasons of the series on high-def.

Then, early last week, listings for a Blu-ray version resurfaced on top retailer sites, including Amazon.com -- a strong indicator that the series would be hitting high-def after all.

Now, after all the twists and turns in the 'Lost' Blu-ray saga, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has finally confirmed that the third season of the hit series will indeed debut day-and-date on DVD and Blu-ray December 11 in a deluxe box set dubbed 'The Unexplored Experience.'

Though final specs have not yet been released, look for a six-disc set sporting all 23 third-season episodes in full 1080p and uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround.

Among the extras will be audio commentaries with cast and crew (on select episodes TBA), five making-of featurettes, deleted scenes and bloopers.

Disney has set a $124.99 list price for the set.

We've added the latest specs for 'Lost: The Complete Third Season' in our Blu-ray Release Schedule, under December 11. A full press release from Disney is expected in the coming days, so watch this space for final details and box art.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Just to make BenjaminBirdie question his decision making skills Disney has "officially" (even if they let it slip months ago) announced Lost Season 3: Unexplored Experience for 12/11.

*spits out soda*

:lol

If they end up offering some extra content, well, for an extra $80 over the DVD, it'd have to be a LOT, it would definitely make my financial life hell. But if it's just the DVD box in hi-def, I can't really bite on that hook.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

The fact that this stuff goes back and forth just proves my point. The longer this squabbling goes on, it just puts ANOTHER hurdle for an HD disc format to overcome, on TOP of barely anyone actually watching HD content on their HD TVs.

It's not going back and forth. Blu-ray is getting, on average, a large marketshare of movies sales every week. The biggest outliers are when HD DVD closes that gap to 60:40 still in Blu-ray's favor, and I don't think we'll see it that close again.

 

[jjasper]

*spits out soda*

:lol

If they end up offering some extra content, well, for an extra $80 over the DVD, it'd have to be a LOT, it would definitely make my financial life hell. But if it's just the DVD box in hi-def, I can't really bite on that hook.

:lol well if it helps Amazon has it listed for the low, low price of $86.95

 

[mrklaw]

It's not going back and forth. Blu-ray is getting, on average, a large marketshare of movies sales every week. The biggest outliers are when HD DVD closes that gap to 60:40 still in Blu-ray's favor, and I don't think we'll see it that close again.

and as the market grows (and it is growing fast), that percentage gap will start to hurt those studios still holding out from blu-ray. This Christmas is probably the last that a studio like Universal can afford to ignore the blu-ray income for political/ideolgical/whatever reason. Next Christmas will be too much revenue to ignore like that.

To make things interesting, we should have a sweepstakes on when Universal will go neutral. I'd like to think before Christmas, just because I want stuff like Hot Fuzz and Serenity. But most likely it'll be early next year?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It's not going back and forth. Blu-ray is getting, on average, a large marketshare of movies sales every week. The biggest outliers are when HD DVD closes that gap to 60:40 still in Blu-ray's favor, and I don't think we'll see it that close again.

*shrugs*

Okay. My experience tells me that if HD Cable can't enjoy any kind of sensible penetration among your average viewer, stand alone discs will end up doing even worse.

But most importantly and revelantly, it doesn't really affect me either way. I'm just happy the barrier for entry to the content I want is currently accessible to me, financially. When I bought the Boogie Nights Criterion LD, I didn't care about LD's chances against DVD or VHS. I just wanted to hear PTA's commentary over the John Holmes documentary.

 

[thaivo]

To make things interesting, we should have a sweepstakes on when Universal will go neutral. I'd like to think before Christmas, just because I want stuff like Hot Fuzz and Serenity. But most likely it'll be early next year?

Seeing as how Universal is a leading member of the HD DVD Promotional Group, you may be waiting a lot longer than early next year.

 

[Chemo]

Seeing as how Universal is part of the HD DVD Promotional Group, you may be waiting a lot longer than early next year.

They'll leave the group when they go neutral. Universal pulling the plug is the final nail.

 

[thaivo]

They'll leave the group when they go neutral. Universal pulling the plug is the final nail.

You mean "would be" not "is" right?

 

[Chemo]

You mean "would be" not "is" right?

Hahah. No.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

An awesome example to SHUT UP those annoying "How do I get rid of black bars" crowd.

Shows you how much you're missing on a 16:9 tv with a 2:35:1 master.