A Battle Won, War In Question...Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

[whatchel1]

They said the same thing about records too and now you can only find them in used, recycled (ie Goodwill) or DJ specialty stores. Who would have thought that Wherehouse and Tower would be out of business? At the rate the technonlogy is moving we'll just have to wait and see who's right.

I agree with Steve about the CD audio quality we definitely need better or lossless compression algorithms - 20-24 bit depth would be a nice (super CD?!?)

You now they use a form of compression on phonograph records commonly called RIAA compensation. If the wasn't compressed it would throw the needle out of the groove. That's why you can't take your turntable and plug into an aux input - it has to be decompressed to sound right..

You don't have internet access - just bring your portable drive to the download store (or kiosk at the mall) Thats what all of the old folks are doing with their digital cameras now anyway.

The problem w/ having every thing going on to an HDD is that drives crash and burn after a few years. The disc that is used in a device that plays is a bit better in that if the player dies it can be replaced. Whereas if the HDD dies you are out of luck recovering the data easily. The real future will be non mechanical storage devices. If it doesn't have a motor it is less likely to be destroyed. Non volatile storage is expensive right now but will come down in price as the ability to store larger amounts becomes possible.

[stevekaden]

All formats are volatile. Just burn the building they're in down. So, going forward in a digital medium, the only choice is backup yourself, or backup via a vendor. And if you do it yourself...don't leave it in the same building. (and check the vendor's plan for safety)

[jcrobso]

The two sides fighting it out!!! Sony kept claiming how much better Beta was,,but the prices on VHS decks kept coming down,down and down.
Plus you could get a 2 hr movie on one cassette at the VHS SP speed and most of the time they looked better than a 2 hr movie recorded on the Beta II speed. John

[regman]

You're preaching to the choir here. I have had so many HDD failures I have lost count. I have an entire box full of dead drives. My itunes library (along with other critical data) is backed up on multiple drives, computers across my LAN and a monthly DVD set of disks burned for backup. I think the ticket is to buy a license to own the movie from the studio, then you get a free replacement if your HDD crashes.

[stevekaden]

Reg...I agree with the license ownership. The only recovery downside is that if you have a lot of items, each would need to be re-verified and downloaded upon disaster. Though...I suppose with a narrow set of vendors (like iTunes) that could be somewhat painless.

[regman]

Just bringing this back to the top.

In 2007 I predicted the end of removable media, as we know it, and Netflix internet s/t box and phase out of DVD's is not surprising (of course the internet is not quite ready for all of this video downloading so we will all suffer I am sure).

So now we'll get to repurchase everything yet AGAIN for our HD libraries.

Except that I have gotten smarter and now realize that most movies aren't worth the shelf space (let alone the plastic they're made from), unless you want a spot on "Hoarders". It now has to be viewed annually or out it goes - Goodwill loves me... Anyone want a blu-ray copy of "Wild Hogs"?

[roschetronic]

I think its all about pride rather than tech inside the DvD forum. when giant corp like Philips and sony in the same track along with Panasonic and JvC to backup anything is possible, there is Samsung and LG also to support them even though both seems neutral. So Toshiba and team had no other go,they are forced to witdraw the HD DvD format

[regman]

Hello - HD DVD has been dead for 4 years now!?!?!

But to your point, isn't all of enterprenuerial fueled technology like that? Didn't we see that during the dot.com boom and bust (and all throughout history for that matter). We've certainly seen it in automotive technology. We're seeing it right now with 3D HD.

My point was that removable media is going away so who cares about Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD - it'll all be a blip on the radar.

I'm amazed that LP's and 45's have lasted as long as they have. According to the latest sales data vinyl record sales last year were the same as 1991 when the CD was released, but I digress..

[JazzGuyy]

I think all of the forecasts of the total demise of physical media are way overblown. While this will certainly be true for the bulk of the public who are more interested in convenience than quality, there will always be a group of people who are interested in the highest level of quality and also want to have something physical which is immune to loss because of computer failures, network crashes, vendors going out of business and other things that make no-media video at least risky. This is what has kept vinyl alive, for one. Not everyone wants to live in or trusts "the cloud".

[film11]

Hello - HD DVD has been dead for 4 years now!?!?!

I'm amazed that LP's and 45's have lasted as long as they have. According to the latest sales data vinyl record sales last year were the same as 1991 when the CD was released, but I digress..

Actually, vinyl sales have been rising every year (14-15% increase this past year, according to a CNN Report.) And HD-DVD isn't 100% dead...there are rare independent releases (two last year, I believe)