Today on "Days of our lives", I mean Blu-ray vs. HD DVD
By Richard Lawler 
posted Sep 30th 2005 5:04PM
posted Sep 30th 2005 5:04PM
Dell, HP and the rest of the Blu-ray proponents said that Microsoft is a bunch of lying liars. To be more specific, they said 50 GB is real and on its way, managed copy is an option, and that their interactivity is much more L33T.Microsoft has now responded to the response, saying that dual layer Blu-ray is not nearly as much of a certainty as has been suggested.
"HD DVD is proven to deliver 30GB capacity today, with the potential to deliver even greater capacity. The 50GB claim for BD-ROM discs is unproven and will not be available for many years to come, based on discussions with major Japanese and US replicators. Replicators not only do not have test lines running, they cannot even pre-order the equipment to begin evaluating this disc. They cannot judge the cost of these discs, or even whether they can be manufactured at all. Major replicators can mass manufacture 30GB HD DVD discs today and it's well understood that these discs will cost significantly less to manufacture than the lower-capacity 25GB BD discs."
Just when you thought it might be over, Josh Peterson of HP went on record with Tom's Hardware saying:
"I've seen the lines that are making dual-layer BD-ROM drives. I've been to the factories. I've seen the lines where they're making dual-layer recordable discs. So [Microsoft and Intel] saying that it's not possible is obviously misinformation that they were fed, or that they're feeding others."
So where does each challenger stand on your scorecard now?
..."As the World Turns"...The bottom line is that 30gb is plenty of space for a movie and soundtrack plus a few extras...as far as i'm concerned, anything above 30gb is really just a gimick! I've said it before, and i'll say it again, Sony wants to be in control, unfortunately, many of the big boys are seeing right through their crap! It's about time...HD-DVD will be king! Trust me!
I don't care. Just give it to me by Christmas!
Unfortunately not by Christmas! Even if you happen to find a unit under the Christmas tree, it won't be wrapped with movies! Some say February...I say March.
Blue-Ray has a cool name but it sounds like HD-DVD is easier to create. Why not take the Blue-Ray name and use HD-DVD's method of creating discs? ...if it were only that simple.
I don;t think that 50gb is a gimmick. With 50GB, you oculd record more hdtv which is why blu-rzy/hd-dvd was created in the first place right? Or, higher bitrates could be used to deliver better quality, as well as allowing for extra features such as computer interactivity and so on. I think the only reason why Ms and Intel would back hd-dvd would be because there is possibly more profit to be made due to initially lower hardware manufacturing costs. Still, Blu-ray discs would still work with the next generation of windows as manufacturers can create their own drivers. While many people say that the technically superior doesn't always win e.g vhs vs betamax, the reasons behind the winner was higher capacity. While Blu-ray will be more expensive than HD-DVD, with an overwhelming amount of players/recorders visible on the show floor, plus great movies on the shelves, I think that Blu-ray has a good chance. Anyway, if you;re going to spend the kind of money on a machine which can record to 30gb discs, you might as well pay a bit more for one that can record 50gb discs.
The only reason Microsoft is backing HD-DVD over BD-ROM is because the next PS3's are scheduled to be equipt with BD-ROM while the XBox360 sucks. Since they can't win by a console matchup, they are trying to make Sony's standard obsolete. Sony will prevail this time however, as they own a large part of the Hollywood movie catalog.
Perhaps my use of the word gimmick was incorrect. In terms of recording HD, sure 50gb is better than 30gb. Unfortunately, I'm not sold on the fact that we are easily going to be able to record HD..I'm sure the studios will fight to the death. As far as interactive, etc...I think most people will purchase the unit for the same purpose they purchased their dvd players. They want to view movies with the best possible picture quality, period. I know some people enjoy all of the added features of dvd's, but most people I speak with, never even look at anything beyond the movie...The fact remains, backwards compatibility is really the dealbreaker as far as i'm concerned!