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Thread: Sony wins one.

  1. #1
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    Sony wins one.

    Looks like it is official....Blu- Ray has won.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/newsO...080216?sp=true

    Kinda makes up for Betamax, huh?
    Gary
    Last edited by Gary Keedwell; 02-19-2008 at 12:12 AM.

  2. #2
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    I couldn't resist.

    Gary

  3. #3
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    Yes, it's quite interesting how fast this seems to have resolved. I think the combination of Walmart, Tar-zeh and Netflix jumping on the Blu-ray bandwagon was the final kicker on this.

    Oh, and I ordered my Sharp Blu-ray player last night as a matter of fact... ...gotta love President's Weekend sales...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Yes, it's quite interesting how fast this seems to have resolved. I think the combination of Walmart, Tar-zeh and Netflix jumping on the Blu-ray bandwagon was the final kicker on this.

    Oh, and I ordered my Sharp Blu-ray player last night as a matter of fact... ...gotta love President's Weekend sales...
    Jim, 'ja get that 52"? You're gonna love the 'Ray.

    I guess we'll just be saying "HD" now, kinda like we don't say 'color' TV.
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    ]

    Oh, and I ordered my Sharp Blu-ray player last night as a matter of fact... ...gotta love President's Weekend sales...
    I see the Sharp Aquos BDHP20U is $308 at amazon....I guess once I watch all the HD-dvd movies out there it will be time to switch Hopefully by then everything will be downloadable

    Waiting for appleTV to mature a bit more

  6. #6
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    Do not underestimate Sony's ability to screw things up.

  7. #7
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    The mega retailers fell into line once Warner Bros. decided to switch from HD to Blu-ray last month. Shortly after WB announced they were abandoning the HD DVD format the retailers jumped on the band wagon.

    With pending termination of analog broadcast signals and the format war over, it looks like this years holiday shopping season will be ripe with HD / Blu-ray offerings.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mitchell Andrus View Post
    Jim, 'ja get that 52"? You're gonna love the 'Ray.
    Not yet. I'm not ready for it in the addition (they just started painting and the floors still need finished, etc.) but soon. I do have my wall mounts arriving from Lee Valley, oh...probably tomorrow. It's hard to postpone, however, as I know of a deal this week on the 82 series at 6th Ave for $2288. But I'll probably still end up with the 64 series at a similar price from Amazon with free white glove shipping when I'm able to take delivery. Can't do that right now for practical reasons.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Morton View Post
    I see the Sharp Aquos BDHP20U is $308 at amazon....
    Yes, that seems to be the going price right now and is what I paid. It has nice comments about it and given I'm going with a Sharp LCD, it was a choice that will make the whole remote control situation easier to manage. I'll have a chance to play with it a little, too.

    Of course, the price will probably drop again soon! LOL
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    Okay, I'm confused about the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray thing. What happens to the millions of DVD players and hard drives going forward. In time will we all need to purchase new disks or will the none HD play in the new Blu-Ray machines?

    Personally I don't give a flip for the HD experience. It is very rare for us to order any of the newer movies and I doubt the likes of "The African Queen" or the Charlie Chan "The Black Camel" will every be released in HD.

  10. #10
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    The Blu-ray and HD machines are backward compatible with existing DVD's. In time even the latest, greatest formats become obsolete.

    Blu-ray (and HD) essentially provide greater storage capacity. How that capacity is used will be up to the owner of the content being stored. While older movies may not up-convert to high def, you may see several movies on one disc. So you may eventually see The African Queen, Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon on one disc, provided there is ample storage capacity for these three movies.

  11. #11
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    In addition to Greg's comments most of the Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) players do improve how older matieral looks through their up-conversion features. (variable quality since this is a mathmatical interpolation process that actually creates more pixels between the material being accessed on the DVD and the display showing the material--whomever writes a better algorythm to do this will create a better result) So African Queen will likely look better when played on a high-def player and routed to a high-def capable display via HDMI connections. (or sometimes component connections, too)
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
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    Soon there might come a time where one might want to buy an HD-DVD player, just to upgrade the output on standard DVD discs. I suspect the "obsolete" players will get real cheap in the near future.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Hixon View Post
    Soon there might come a time where one might want to buy an HD-DVD player, just to upgrade the output on standard DVD discs. I suspect the "obsolete" players will get real cheap in the near future.
    Yea.....the HD-DVD will be at your local flea market...right next to the Betamax....real cheap.

    Gary

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Hixon View Post
    Soon there might come a time where one might want to buy an HD-DVD player, just to upgrade the output on standard DVD discs. I suspect the "obsolete" players will get real cheap in the near future.
    John, I "think" you meant "HD-DVD" in a generic sense, rather than more specific. Best to leave out the hyphen in that case. "HD-DVD" is a specific type of technology...the one that "lost" the battle as of this week to Blu-ray. But yes, upgrading to an HD format DVD player will provide you with benefits in improving picture quality of your existing SD DVDs, but ONLY if you have an HD television and hook up via HDMI. (or sometimes component cables on some systems) If you have a regular 480 line TV or one that doesn't accept HDMI input, there will be no real benefit to buying a Blu-ray player right now.

    The "experts" are actually suggesting folks hold off on buying a Blu-ray player a little longer if there is not an "immediate need". They expect that in the next 6-9 mos that there will be feature additions to the format and also that prices will settle down a little as more producers jump on to the format. Current afterage prices for Blu-ray machines is close to $400, with good deals at just over $300...considerably more than Toshiba was/is dumping the HD-DVD format machines as we speak.

    -------
    BTW, I just read on MSNBC.com that Universal has now announced they are flipping to Blu-ray. The other two or three studios that have been in the HD-DVD exclusive camp have not yet commented...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #15
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    Siiiiiiiiiiigh...this all just makes me more tempted to go out and get a PS3.

    Jason
    "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."

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