Transformers Movie Info

blu ray or HD DVD?

On August 20, 2007, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, announced they would no longer be supporting the Blu-ray Disc format. Citing HD DVD's lower consumer equipment and disc replication costs (due to its similarities to the standard DVD format), all future Paramount/Dreamworks titles will be released exclusively on HD DVD. Together, Paramount and DreamWorks are currently the 2007 box office leaders, and their first two HD DVD-exclusive titles Shrek 3 and Transformers are both poised to be top sellers during the 2007 holiday season. In an interview with PC World, Alan Bell, the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Paramount Pictures, stated the exclusive support for HD DVD is currently indefinite. Blu Ray exclusives are found on HD DVD in defferent regions under different studios, and vice versa for HD DVD exclusives but HD DVD players are not restricted on playing them as Blu ray can't.

Public Comments

1. Go to any Best Buy or Circuit City and compare their HD-DVD selection to their Blu-Ray selection.


2. There are just about the same number of blu ray exclusives as to HD DVD ones. I personally like blu rays, first because i own a ps3 second becuase, more companies on blu ray such as disney, fox, and sony. Probably meaning more movies. the only disappointment i have is that transformers in HD DVD, but i guess ill just it on DVD. Also blockbuster only carries Blu rays no HD DVDs, which is pretty big on ppl eho rent. Blu rays are also bigger thus could store more extras in the future. They also do have good movis that came out, such pirates and spiderman. so i guess its upto wat companies you like more, or you could go spend a $1000 and get one of blu ray and HD DVD players, ithink there made by toshiba or mabe panasonic not sure. but i think its not worth oit atleast at the moment that is.


3. What exactly is your question?

   HD-DVD is a joke. Toshiba and the HD-DVD people are only delaying the inevitable and making the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray war last a year longer.

   Paramount might have deflected, but they deflected because Toshiba paid them a buttload of money to make movies for HD-DVD. It not going to put Blu-ray out of business because 1 company is not going to outdo all the studios and companies that support Blu-ray. I doubt Shrek and Transformers are going to outdo Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

   The article is way back in August, and I doubt that Paramount and Dreamworks are still the current leader.

   Just in case you didn't know, Michael Bay (executive producer of Transformers) has always been a backer of Blu-ray. When Paramount made the deal, Bay was not happy. He said he wanted Transformers to go to Blu-ray. And just recently, he said he still supports Blu-ray and thinks that his films are better suited for Blu-ray.

   All the big name producers and directors support Blu-ray over HD-DVD. The only reason any company would leave Blu-ray is when Toshiba offers them over 100 million dollars just for 18 months of HD-DVD exclusivity.



4. It'll probably end up being Blu-ray. Why? For one simple reason. I just bought a Toshiba HD-DVD player from Amazon for under $200 with 10 "free" HD-DVDs. I bought Beta and it ended up being VHS. I figure the same thing will happen.

   But at that price, I got a decent upscaling DVD player for free for the price of 10 movies.

   I added the Paramount Star Trek Season 1.

   Frankly though, I'm wondering why there can be 4 major video game platforms (Wii, Playstation 3, X-box 360, and Windows) and we've basically given up on the "which one will win". The last decade has demonstrated that we can have multiple platforms. Same for audio (Apple DRM, Windows DRM).

   So, why, just why, must it be HD-DVD vs Blu-ray? It needn't be. But for some assinine reason, people seem to think it must be.



5. I don't think it matters.

   The "format war" has now gone on so long that -- considering the reasons for this, and the implications -- there is a high probability that:

   - neither HD DVD nor Blu-ray disks (HDM) will ever be more than a niche format ... reserved for the minority that want and can benefit from 1080p HD (similar to Criterion Disks in the DVD world, or SACD and DVD-A in the audio realm). Neither disk format is likely to "win" -- rather dual format players will appear that satisfy both sides and since this will be a niche market the higher price ($500-$700 and up) won't be a deterent for those who choose to support HDM.

   - HDM disks will remain higher priced than DVDs (or even increase in price) to reflect their premium status (and much lower sales volume).

   - the majority of consumers (and even videophiles since it is unlikely the 80,000 title DVD catalog will ever be available on HD disk) will continue to watch DVDs (probably via upscaling DVD players, including HD DVD and Blu-ray players) and, for an increasing proportion, some form of lower HD quality (i.e. less than 1080p) video on demand or download service (this will be partially enabled by ever more efficient video codecs and, analogous to MP3 in the audio realm, reflect the higher priority most consumers put on convenience than on quality).

   - in the longer term -- once digital TV has been implemented so that backward compatibility is no longer a constraint -- there will be a gradual move to replace Blu-ray and HD DVD for high end home video with a higher HD resolution format (e.g 1440 or, possible but less likely, 2K (D-Cinema)), but certainly based on a broader colour space than BT.709, say xvYCC with 4:2:2 or even 4:4:4 sampling and 10 or 12 bit pixel depth . This would solve the problems with HD DVD and Blu-ray re. banding and limited colour range. The HDMI 1.3 specification already includes support (e.g. Deep Color), and 2K display devices already exist. The disc format is difficult to predict, but based on storage and bitrate demands possibly some form of DHD (digital holographic disk).

   So ... it doesn't matter which format you buy. Either HD player is currently backward compatible so you can play DVDs on your HDTV in "good enough" video quality. A greater choice of dual format players -- including some form of universal player to handle HD DVD, Blu-ray, DVD-ROM, DVD-R (etc), SACD, DVD-A and CD -- will appear that will allow consumers to buy/rent and play the media of their choice according to the capability of their audio and video system.

   Gradually, people will replace DVD players with universal players, but neither HD format will "win" ... they will simply coexist.



6. I think your question is regarding who going to win the format war and comparability.

   As far as quality both output HD signal, meaning 720p, 1080i or 1080p. As such you will not notice much diff in viewing. There are other differences to be knowledgeable of however not including costs.

   Blu-ray

   Storage capacity 25GB (single-layer)

   50GB (dual-layer)

   Transfer rate 54Mbps

   Content provided by:Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate

   Hardware support from: Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp, JVC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, TDK, Thomson, LG, Apple, HP and Dell

   Blue Ray is installed in the PS-3

   HD-DVD

   15GB (single-layer)

   30GB (dual-layer

   Transfer rate 36.55Mbps

   Content provided by: Warner, Paramount and Universal

   Hardware support from: Tosheba

   As of November 2007, HD DVD has the advantage in maximum disc capacity, 51 GB triple-layer versus 50 GB dual-layer) but no titles have yet been released on the triple-layer format. Blue Ray is said to be developing a 200 MB disc, it's unknown at this time whether the final specification will be compatible with current players. As of November 2007 44% of Blu-ray titles use the 50 GB disc and 56% use the 25 GB disc while almost all HD DVD movies are in the 30 GB dual layer format. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc support the 24p (traditional movie) frame rate . In terms of audio, there are some differences and there are also regional coding differences. Blu ray arguably holding the competative edge at this point..



7. Ive just brought the Toshiba hd e1 for £130 on ebay with bestbuytradings and i must say it is fantastic.

   the up scaling of normal DVDs is amazing

   people keep saying yeah but it only goes up to 1080i yet other people say that the 1080p on bluray is terrible and a lot of TVs have problems with scaling it this high.

   a lot of people will prob say I'm wrong but i really do think hd DVD will come out on top because the discs are cheaper and easier to manufacture and at the end of the day it is all about the money and hd dvd is backed by the mafia of the electronics industry microsoft and the porn industry.