Blue Blu-ray

TopSpin writes "Early this year the meme circulated that Blu-ray might be going the way of Betamax, and for the exact same reason: Sony's unfriendliness to the porn industry. But at Japan's recent euphemistically named Adult Treasure Expo 2007, adult filmmakers said Sony has begun offering technical support, and this was later confirmed by Sony PR. The company stated that Sony would offer support to any filmmaker working on the format, no matter their industry. Apparently, Blu-ray is now the preferred medium for Japanese adult films."

Re:Difference?

[harryk]

without getting to the nitty gritty details. It's something like your example.

think more like the porsche and the toureg. Both essentially luxury class suvs, one costs more than the other, but essentially still just a sporty suv.

The difference really is space. compare say ... the sporty suv to an escalade or something. Both still luxury, but one can physically fit more inside.

I believe hd-dvd is on the order of 15-20gb, where a blu-ray disc is 50-60gb. So the blu-ray disc can hold the same length movie, with less compression, and as a result ( theortically ) a better image.

there are a number of technical differences, but the end user I think is more concerned with the physical aspects of data storage, wether for audio/video or data, which is why I think (opinion only) Blu-ray is the better format.

cheers,
harryk

Re:Difference?

[GreatDrok]

"I believe hd-dvd is on the order of 15-20gb, where a blu-ray disc is 50-60gb. So the blu-ray disc can hold the same length movie, with less compression, and as a result ( theortically ) a better image."

HD DVD is 15GB (I have no idea what a gb is) per layer. Blu-Ray is 25GB per layer. Both can come in dual layer formats and so HD DVD can have up to 30GB and Blu-Ray 50GB. Both support exactly the same video and audio codecs and also AACS DRM although Blu-Ray has an additional layer of encryption which HD DVD lacks although it hasn't be used yet. Blu-Ray is also region encoded whereas HD DVD isn't so you can buy your discs from anywhere in the world if you buy them on HD DVD but you can only buy them within your own region if you buy Blu-Ray.

Picture quality wise there is nothing in it. In all the tests so far, HD DVD has been equal or better where the film is available on both formats. Truth is, a 1080p HD signal can easily fit into 30GB using VC-1. A number of Blu-Ray discs are still using MPEG2 which is less efficient and is why they don't look as good as the HD DVD VC-1 equivalent.

In the end, the technical differences are small enough not to make the slightest difference. Physically, the discs are the same dimensions and a combi drive is practical so there is no reason to believe that a cheap multiformat player won't exist. Samsung is supposed to be releasing their DVD/HD DVD/Blu-Ray combi player in europe for 400 shortly and it will support all formats fully.

Personally, I bought an HD DVD drive for my Xbox 360 so I would have some HD material for my HD TV and HD projector. For the money I would have been daft not to and there were enough films on the format to get me started. Even today, there is little to choose between HD DVD and Blu-Ray when it comes to choice of films. Compared with DVD, HD DVD is definitely clearer and has richer colours and deeper blacks. I have an upscaling HDMI DVD player which helps make DVD look very good, but HD DVD is definitely better. When the combi player becomes available I will buy one and use that instead of my Xbox 360 and also have the option of Blu-Ray.

Re:Any consensus?

[MontyApollo]

HD format and capacity was kind of implied.

Blue Laws of the Colony of Connecticut

[spun]

I thought it came from the term blue law [wikipedia.org], which is any law designed to enforce a moral standard. I believe that term derives from the original Blue Laws [wikipedia.org] of the Colony of Connecticut.

Re:Any consensus?

[HTH NE1]

Normal DVD- cracked DRM,

Hasn't HD-DVD and Blu-Ray already been cracked repeatedly, with BD+ protection as yet untested in the market?

and most people still don't have HD.

You can get VGA monitors with better than HD resolution. My 21" screen is driven at 2048x1536 (QXGA), more than enough for 1920x1080p, and at less than half the price of most dual-link DVI displays (WQXGA: 2560×1600).

Still being compatible with my KVM switch and the legacy machines on it is a plus.

Re:Any consensus?

[cerelib]

It is not implied. The OP made no mention of capacity being a deciding factor. You could package HD content on DVD, but to get a full length movie it would probably have to span multiple discs. Given the logic of the poster, the price of burners, price of media, and device support, DVD still wins even if you consider using it for HD content.

low level format

[tepples]

Except, I heard that the ATAPI signal for Eject is the same as the ATA signal for Low-Level Reformat

Citation needed. As far as I can tell, ATAPI optical drives use the SCSI start/stop command [wikipedia.org] to eject media. Besides, ATA hard drives don't really support a "low level format", as a true low level format [pcguide.com] writes embedded servo information, which requires more precision than the drive's own mechanism can provide and is done only at the factory. The "low level format" that you usually see in PC based utilities really just writes a constant value (often a block of 0x00 bytes) to each sector of the drive.

Re:Rock and a hard place

[dgcurtis]

Ah yes but porn is not going to determine the winner in the current format wars.

Back the in VHS/BetaMAX days, the Internet wasn't available to every joe lunchbox with a $300 Nascar computer from Wal-Mart. There is so much free porn out there that people don't need to rent/buy it.

Blu-ray has all the major studios except Universal and HD-DVD has less than that.

Not that I really care. They'll both be cheap enough very soon that you'll be able to buy both formats.

BS revisionist history

[FredThompson]

Betamax failed because Sony wouldn't license the tech to other manufacturers at an affordable rate.

The common belief is that porn made the VCR desired in households. The porn producers were smart enough to set a low price point.

Those are 2 very different things.

Re:Any consensus?

[king-manic]

Almost 1/3 have HDTV? Really? I live in Canada, and it isn't that different from the USA up here, and I cannot believe that for a second. I would say that maybe 10% of the people I know own an HDTV. And I know some people with a lot of money. Most people I know just don't see the need for it. Granted most people will probably buy HDTV when it's time to upgrade, since it's hard to find a decent SDTV, but people aren't just running out and buying these things.

Happen to live on th far east coast where ma and pa have only a quarter and nickel to rub together? Over here in Alberta almost every house hold in my family and friends has one. Of course the housing boom in my city has made everyone more flamboyant with their spending but it's very common here. In my family of close cousins all of them have one in their house/condo. In my circle of friend all of them except the "suffering for my art" ones have one too. Anecdotal certainly. but so is your evidence.

Re:Any consensus?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you will find that pimples was, in fact, mentioned.

Re:Rock and a hard place

[Bobartig]

There was a rather larger issue to betamax which limited its adoption. From wikipedia (but cited in a bunch of places prior to wikipedia):

Betamax held an early lead in the format war, offering some technical advantages. By 1980, VHS was gaining marketshare due to its longer tape time (3 hours maximum, compared to just 1 hour for Betamax in USA) and JVC's less strict licensing program. The longer tape time is sometimes cited as the defining factor in the format war, allowing consumers to record entire programs unattended

Re:AO Games

[Ender77]

Actually, Sony,Microsoft,Nintendo has said that they will not allow AO titles on their systems. If it was distributors they could simply sell it on the companies website.