I would lova a 360 with internal toshiba Blue Ray and HD-DVD player, that would be the real elite.

 Maybe next gen. Heck, even Nintendo is likely to have movie playback next gen, supposing the upcoming movie playable Wii does well enough.

It's true people say a lot of nonsense, but that's because the HD world is so full of nonsense.

Nonsense like saying that there is less difference between HD discs and DVD, than between DVD and VHS ...

The mind boggles.

Of course there is more of a difference, it can't even be compared, even if you take only 720p.

But can you blame people, when most HD-DVD and BD players can't even output 1080p24 ? And most displays sold can't even display 1080p24 anyway ?

Are there TV content at 1080i30 on HD discs already ?

But sure enough, people love to diss BD, which is nonsense. They don't sell enough anyway, even if better than HD-DVD. People don't care about the quality anyway, but I doubt any company will try putting their content on HD discs only. It's too early, they'd be committing suicide IMHO, even if that's Spiderman 3 that goes only to HD discs, and not to DVD.

A lot of people don't even have a good enough set (and well configured enough) to take advantage of the 5.1 sound.

People just don't buy DVD for the quality, that's just an added bonus. And all HD discs bring is quality :

- uncompressed 7.1 sound : but most people struggle to configure a 5.1 system (Pioneer has amplifiers with some automated config by microphone though, and you couldn't do as well unless you're a professional), let alone the amplifier to take advantage of 7.1 sound, or the speaker

- 1080p display, mostly from 1080p24 source for movies, and 1080i30 for TV content : most people don't even understand how to set their TV ratio correctly.

HD for quality is a niche right now, as it has too many disadvantages : it brings even worse protection with DRM, it is very expensive to have even a good setup. It's for a niche really.

It's pretty obvious quality is not the goal of most people, when even on this forum, you read people talking about $99 DVD players upsampling to 1080p !!! These players output crap, and some people even dare compare them to HD discs ! I'm sure they use HDMI to plug these into their display too, thus destroying any quality it may have brought. 

If they can't see a difference, that's because they have a crappy setup, and would have been better off without HD at all. I have no HD set, but I've seen what a good setup can do : it will blow you away, even with SD content. Only a 800$+ DVD player using professional circuitry (like the Denon 2930) can scale and deinterlace SD content to HD correctly.

Yes, al this HD thing is really expensive.

That's why I find this race between HD-DVD and BD funny. It's for a niche currently, so I see Sony succeeding in making BD win with its PS3. It's more likely to sneak lots of BD into people's homes by gaming door, so I don't see how they could lose that one.

 First of all, the VHS is to DVD comparison is NOT ONLY VISUALLY. We also mean convenience and ease of use. Can you honestly say that using menus in film is a big a leap as having menus at all? And loading a particular scene or feature on an HD discs is about the same speed as on DVD, while with VHS, we had to spend minutes rewinding or fastforwarding to a particular scene. Not the least of the changes was not having the most vulnerable part exposed just to play it.

 As for the rest, I agree, save for blu-ray being guatanteed by the PS3. Just because you don't see how it can't help it win, doesn't mean there isn't a way.

I think the movie studios will start to really push HD/BR in 2009. Once analog transmission disappears, and HDTV is prevalent, the studios will start to release movies on HD only, there is too much money invested in it to not push it hard by 2009.

I think you missed my point. What I was saying is the reason bluray/hddvd are ripoffs is that you can get nearly the same quality out of a dvd when used with a hdtv and upconverting dvd player. There was no way to get dvd quality out of a vhs tape. Plus dvd also had greatly enhanced usability. The only down side was price, originally. That is not the case here, the usability is the same and the quality can be very very similar, if not identical with most movies. Plus, when the prices come down to 'normal' levels it will be worth it for the minimal quality change and possible extra's. Lastly, when DVD's came out vhs prices fell and DVD's started selling at thier price. Movies stayed $15-$20. That is not happening right now. Bluray/HDDVD costs about $10-$15 more than DVD's. They should shift down as well.

I'll be enjoying my DVDs for a few more years hopefully.  All the attention on Blu Ray and HD DVD will hopefully make new DVD releases cheaper, while you suckers buy the HD discs.

HD discs are fine with me, but not right now.  Go back to the VHS/DVD transition, because that makes more sense.  Who was the smarter person, the one who paid $500-$1000 for a brand new DVD player, or the one who waited a year or so and bought one for $100?  And that was actually worth buying.

With the new HD formats, I'm going to wait until (a) there's only one format to worry about, and (b) prices are much lower.  I kind of want HD-DVD to win...I'm not sure why...maybe because it's not Sony.  And maybe because I did watch Children of Men in HD and it was great, and Blu Ray can't do that hehe.

@staticneuron:

"Yes the DVD's have a current market lead. But it is assumed that these HD/BLU sales are in line with the market integration of HD TV's. So sooner or later the question about DVD's will be how long will it be the main format when most houses are able to have an HDTV?

B'sides I have watched upscaled DVD's and HD-DVD and Blu ray's. There isn't even a question that the difference is noticble between dvd's and the next gen formats."

You still haven't answered the question! What I'd like to know is what percentage of the pie belongs to DVD, VCD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD today?

Having this stat (and perhaps a reliable source) would allow us to track not just the format war between the HD contenders, but the war of sucession between the HD formats and the current standard, DVD. 

I have only ever bought a handful of DVDs (most under $20AU) - and several of them have never been watched. When I can get a HD player for less than $150AU, and movies cost less than $20 - I might start caring.

Until then, the price differential is not even close to being worth the difference in quality.

(also worth mentioning that more than half my movies were bought in China - 15 movies for about $30AU).

...

I still believe that unless the prices drop significantly & quickly, both formats will fail against digital distribution (or even "car/flasht" movies).

Yea HD-DVD is doing so well that Warner is now going to be selling dual format discs one side Blu-ray one side HD-DVD...that leaves only Universal I believe as the only major motion picture studio sell HD-DVD's right? Sony Columbia Tristar, Fox, and Disney all back Bluray only...seems like HD-DVD is on its way out if that trend doesnt change