Consumer Reports Rates Blu-ray, HD DVD Players

[jed]

Two next-gen disc players from opposite sides of the high-def format war tied for first-place honors in the December issue of Consumer Reports.

Full story:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1168

[ericede]

I wish I had a Consumer Reports subscription. I'd love to see the break down. I'll have to hit the news stand.

[joemin97]

We all knew that both formats gives you HD video both of the same quality. I sort of figured that the upconversion on the lower end models would be of poor quality due to lesser expensive chips/inards. To me the deciding factor has been the wide varitey of BluRay Manufacturers. I like being able to buy a Sony Samsung Pioneer or any other brand for my Tastes to match the equipment that I own or have just recently purchased. That and BluRays large amount of Studio & Hardware Support. The Paramount Deal to switch over to HDDVD is only for 18months it isn't permanent and BluRay movie titles has been consistently outselling they're HDDVD counterparts, majority of the hit movies are Disney, Sony or Fox owned Studios.

[Perssian]

I wish they would have looked at the PS3 too. Just for *&#^$ and giggles...


By the way, how appropriate is it that in the end they rate them equally? LET THE NIT-PICKING BEGIN!!!

[blu-bird]

Yes they should of done the PS3 and the Xbox 360 ad on too. I hope they do them next time. I bet there is a lot of people who use game system as their HD players. I'm one of them with my PS3. It's not a bad thing that both formats did well. I honestly don'twatch DVD movies in my PS3 much, so the upscale quality dosn't wotty me.

[Keegs]

Originally Posted by blu-bird

Yes they should of done the PS3 and the Xbox 360 ad on too. I hope they do them next time. I bet there is a lot of people who use game system as their HD players. I'm one of them with my PS3. It's not a bad thing that both formats did well. I honestly don'twatch DVD movies in my PS3 much, so the upscale quality dosn't wotty me.

I have always used consoles as movie players and bought a PS3 not just for gaming. Blu-ray was something I wanted to jump into and as a hardcore gamer, it was a no-brainer to pick up a PS3.

[Paul Armola]

Doesn't that echo what the Sony CEO stated the other day, "stalmate." The bottom line is consumers will always go for price vs quality every time. Look how long its taking people to buy into HDTV's. Once the price came down to a range where the lay person thought there was value for the buck then sales increased. The same will stay true to the two formats. If the equipment reaches the range of affordability thats where interest will peak. Software, i.e. the movies, will affect acceptance, but not as much as the equipment prices. I don't know how many people not following the formats said to me, "why should I pay that much when I can get a regular DVD player for $50."

[ericede]

Originally Posted by Paul Armola

Doesn't that echo what the Sony CEO stated the other day, "stalmate." The bottom line is consumers will always go for price vs quality every time. Look how long its taking people to buy into HDTV's. Once the price came down to a range where the lay person thought there was value for the buck then sales increased. The same will stay true to the two formats. If the equipment reaches the range of affordability thats where interest will peak. Software, i.e. the movies, will affect acceptance, but not as much as the equipment prices. I don't know how many people not following the formats said to me, "why should I pay that much when I can get a regular DVD player for $50."

No. What they are saying is the player quality is similar. How the hell do you pull "stalemate" out of player quality. I would pay more for a Samsung over say a Coby anyday. I never jump on price unless it's a deal on a quality item.

The rare exceptions are the no name manufacturer's who actually make players for the big name companies.

[Godfa7h3r]

Originally Posted by ericede

"I hate these filthy neutrals! With enemies, you know where they stand, but with neutrals—who knows. It sickens me." - Zapp Brannigan

Just perfect...

Love that show.

[irrob]

Originally Posted by ericede

I would pay more for a Samsung over say a Coby anyday. I never jump on price unless it's a deal on a quality item.

Great point. Thus, anyone who claims price over quality is oversimplifying.

[crazzeto]

Originally Posted by Paul Armola

Doesn't that echo what the Sony CEO stated the other day, "stalmate." The bottom line is consumers will always go for price vs quality every time. Look how long its taking people to buy into HDTV's. Once the price came down to a range where the lay person thought there was value for the buck then sales increased. The same will stay true to the two formats. If the equipment reaches the range of affordability thats where interest will peak. Software, i.e. the movies, will affect acceptance, but not as much as the equipment prices. I don't know how many people not following the formats said to me, "why should I pay that much when I can get a regular DVD player for $50."

I'm just curious why when BD people talk about a customer making a choice to buy HD-DVD it's usually in the form of "the customer choosing price over quality"... I'm not trying to rag on the BD format here, but as far as I can tell not only by first had experience but also just about every BD/HD-DVD disc review I've read, HD-DVD and BD offer exactly the same quality... Until very recently the only difference was the fact that HD-DVD offered better speacial feature options (web content, PiP etc), but with the new Players that will start to become a non issue for that camp... As far as I can tell, the only difference is your selection of exclusives and price. If anyone has hard data indicating otherwise (besides 20GB extra of data) then I would love to see it. I don't say that sarcastically, I really would like to see it because I have to admit I don't know *everything* there is to know about both formats.

As far as the 20 extra GB... Warner doesn't have any trouble producing high quality transfers that combine great speacial features and high res audio, I'm not sure why certain other studios seem to have difficutly with the concept

[Dyana B]

I beg to differ crazzeto. Lately I've noticed that Warner's releases will have great picture quality, yet on some discs, they don't have high res audio.

[crazzeto]

Originally Posted by Dyana B

I beg to differ crazzeto. Lately I've noticed that Warner's releases will have great picture quality, yet on some discs, they don't have high res audio.

Which ones? I have What Dreams May Come, The Matrix, Bat Man Begins and Harry Potter (from england). So far I've gotten TrueHD on every single disc plus speacial features.

[Das Koopa]

Originally Posted by ericede

No. What they are saying is the player quality is similar. How the hell do you pull "stalemate" out of player quality. I would pay more for a Samsung over say a Coby anyday. I never jump on price unless it's a deal on a quality item.

The rare exceptions are the no name manufacturer's who actually make players for the big name companies.

This may be true for you but the general public just cares if there getting there actual product for cheap, especially when there is press saying there is no difference between the two except the price.

[Perssian]

Where is everyone? Normally this topic would be up to 15 pages by now? Guess this is what happens when sales of HDM go up...