Okay, so you all know about HDTV. At the very least you've heard how it's, "the future of television and will change the way we watch TV" and crap. Or if we want to get even more visceral than that, unless you've been under a rock for about 10 years, you've at least seen a pretty HDTV at Best Buy in that wonderful "Section of Stuff I Can't Afford."
What you may not be aware of is the fact that DVD's, as pretty and fancy as they are, do not have the same eye-blistering resolution of HDTV. Believe me on this one. Go watch Lord of the Rings in HD, and play it on the same TV on a DVD side-by-side, and you will notice a big difference in picture quality.
So you may be wondering exactly where I'm going with this little lesson. Well someone finally got off their ass and made a disc that can hold an entire high definition movie. Actually two different formats were created that could hold movies in HD, each one backed by a bunch of technology companies and movie studios. They are called Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. There are benefits to each, but that doesn't really matter. We're in another VHS or Beta battle, and the winner won't be known for some time, and will come down to price and movie availability, not tech specs.
Now many tech geeks and home theater enthusiasts like myself know far too much about these two discs, and the fact that they both have launched their first players this spring at very high prices with low movie selection(actually you can only buy HD-DVD movies so far, but you can buy computer based Blu-Ray drives and burn obscene amounts onto data onto a BD disc, at least 50GB I believe). However, a frightening amount of people dont know about this. They have never heard about either of these formats and will likely be very confused when they first see them in their local store. My girlfriend for example had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned HD--DVD a few weeks back. When I explained it all to her she wondered angrily how this could happen. Well part of it is due to the fact that few people have TV's that will support these new formats, or the money to care. There's also a big worry that the new format will enforce a copy protection scheme similar to Sony's now infamous DRM scheme. Makes me cringe just thinking about it.
You may be curious(although I highly doubt it), "I wonder which format John thinks is better?" Well since I haven't seen Blu-Ray in action I couldn't make the call on that one, but I am leaning in one direction. You see, as is common in the Electronics business, Sony holds the apparent Trump card. This comes by way of the PS3. The PS3 will arrive this November by all accounts, likely just in time for Thanksgiving. If Sony keeps true to its word(no one knows because no one has actually seen a game running on the actual system even this close to it's release), the PS3 will retail for between $400 and $600 and include a Blu-Ray player in it, much the way the PS2 included a DVD player. Why is this a big deal. Well there are a bunch of reasons but the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the fact that all the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players coming out this year are going to retail for at least $500. Are things starting to add up here kids.
Why the fuck would anyone pay the same amount for a player they're gonna get for likely the same price along with a very powerful next-gen gaming system. I sure as hell know I wont. The first time most people even hear about Blu-Ray is when they see the logo for it on their PS3's come November, and like that the decision will be made for them. HD-DVD is gonna have a hard time stopping that charge.
Oh there's one more thing though. HD-DVD cases fucking suck.
Well have fun watching the battle begin kids.
What you may not be aware of is the fact that DVD's, as pretty and fancy as they are, do not have the same eye-blistering resolution of HDTV. Believe me on this one. Go watch Lord of the Rings in HD, and play it on the same TV on a DVD side-by-side, and you will notice a big difference in picture quality.
So you may be wondering exactly where I'm going with this little lesson. Well someone finally got off their ass and made a disc that can hold an entire high definition movie. Actually two different formats were created that could hold movies in HD, each one backed by a bunch of technology companies and movie studios. They are called Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. There are benefits to each, but that doesn't really matter. We're in another VHS or Beta battle, and the winner won't be known for some time, and will come down to price and movie availability, not tech specs.
Now many tech geeks and home theater enthusiasts like myself know far too much about these two discs, and the fact that they both have launched their first players this spring at very high prices with low movie selection(actually you can only buy HD-DVD movies so far, but you can buy computer based Blu-Ray drives and burn obscene amounts onto data onto a BD disc, at least 50GB I believe). However, a frightening amount of people dont know about this. They have never heard about either of these formats and will likely be very confused when they first see them in their local store. My girlfriend for example had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned HD--DVD a few weeks back. When I explained it all to her she wondered angrily how this could happen. Well part of it is due to the fact that few people have TV's that will support these new formats, or the money to care. There's also a big worry that the new format will enforce a copy protection scheme similar to Sony's now infamous DRM scheme. Makes me cringe just thinking about it.
You may be curious(although I highly doubt it), "I wonder which format John thinks is better?" Well since I haven't seen Blu-Ray in action I couldn't make the call on that one, but I am leaning in one direction. You see, as is common in the Electronics business, Sony holds the apparent Trump card. This comes by way of the PS3. The PS3 will arrive this November by all accounts, likely just in time for Thanksgiving. If Sony keeps true to its word(no one knows because no one has actually seen a game running on the actual system even this close to it's release), the PS3 will retail for between $400 and $600 and include a Blu-Ray player in it, much the way the PS2 included a DVD player. Why is this a big deal. Well there are a bunch of reasons but the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the fact that all the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players coming out this year are going to retail for at least $500. Are things starting to add up here kids.
Why the fuck would anyone pay the same amount for a player they're gonna get for likely the same price along with a very powerful next-gen gaming system. I sure as hell know I wont. The first time most people even hear about Blu-Ray is when they see the logo for it on their PS3's come November, and like that the decision will be made for them. HD-DVD is gonna have a hard time stopping that charge.
Oh there's one more thing though. HD-DVD cases fucking suck.
Well have fun watching the battle begin kids.
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