I'm quite worried...

[AA67]

...and not by the format war...

Both formats are excellent and offer such an advance over Standard Definition...
I support both of them, and i'm pleased with every new title released... or every new player released...
"If the Hi-def market grow is good..." that is my philosophy...


What worries me are all the mistakes done by the vendors & all the Hype surrounding this so called "formats war"...

On the vendors side we got some huge mistakes:

1) They produced two formats that are so similar that the studios are standardizing their productions and just record the same software on different media... with the only difference in menus and the proprietary AI interface of each format...
2) They are stressing the punters showing minor differences between the two formats e ingenerating confusion... on best productions the PQ for both BD & HD is the same...
3) The BD camp did some huge early mistakes (not due to format limitations) releasing a first batch of movies with awful PQ...
4) The prices of standalone players was so high that Bill Gates only was able to purchase them! Not the "average Joe"... after all HD is a commodity and the consumers are mostly happy with the DVD.
The Jump to HD is an expensive one: you need both a new HDTV and a new player...
Thank God this situation is changing & prices are dropping... current prices of stand alone players are about 50% lower than the introduction ones...
5) The first generation of stand alone players (on both sides...) was "bugful" at last...

All the above problems are almost solved at the moment... vendors did a great job in fixing them... excluding the fact that are still throwing FUD to each other; but that is marketing...

On the punters side... we simply foresee insanity...
Instead of promoting all HD, tryin' to make it grow and widely supported... we gotta fanatics on both sides fighting each others... over "vapor"...
We gotta people fighting each other over the superiority of each standard... people that "bark" in the exact moment you express an opinion different from theirs... a lotta nonsense...

I'm almost sure that this war will be solved the same way of the DVD-/+ one, not the VHS/Betamax one... for some good reasons:
1) you can play the same content (with minor differences) on both standards... With THD, Warner is just doing so, like it or not...
2) The first Dual-Format players are on the market and both the consumers and the retail are feeling "re-assured" on the future of high-def...
3) Both standards are widely supported (yes, even HD-DVD) by several major studios around the world... that is a place much bigger than America...

All this despite the propaganda of the vendors... the marketing of dual standard players and disks show us the future trends of the market... like it or not...

Last day i argued with someone that told me that the PQ quality is not important, is nothing... only sales figures and the Storage capacity counts on...
This unnamed guy gotta a lotta confusion in mind & is a clear example of the total nonsense we are watching: first, PQ IS EVERYTHING; excluding some "smartguy" that acquire the HD stuff as a "status symbol" (to show the new gadgets to friends...), the majority of us is investing hard earned money to sit down and ENJOY THE SHOW, Simple as that... second, storage is just an empty warehouse you gotta fill in with contents; you can have a Ferrari engine, but what is the meaning of it if you can go only at 30MHP in you neighborood?

Just imagine the confusion of an "average Joe" that enters the boards looking for clarifications... Many posts are nothing more than acts of fanatism, based on marketing proclamations and written by people than DON'T EVEN OWN AN HD PLAYER...
SOB!
Do you really think that this "average joe" will run to buy a brand new HD player after looking at alla FUD?

I really hope that things will change and we will finally be able to talk about our hobby, stopping alla the "free marketing" fanboys are doing on both sides... there is NO WAR! It is just a marketing struggle between companies... and we are not shareholders of them!

[Tejstar]

But unfortunately it is this marketing struggle that all the average Joe there will see. That's why sites like these are so valuable, it allows us to sort the truth from the hype.

[AA67]

Sacred truth...

[illegalprelude]

I agree with most of the stuff and it is indeed unfortunate that one format was not formed because thats both hurting the consumer and the providers

[eNoize]

I agree with you, AA67. Unfortunately, we've gotten ourselves into this mess from which we can't seem to escape.

And for the record, I support both formats. I love movies more than picking sides.

[hstewarth]

Originally Posted by illegalprelude

I agree with most of the stuff and it is indeed unfortunate that one format was not formed because thats both hurting the consumer and the providers

But didn't the companies attempt to make one format?

[bear89103]

Actually the primary number of average joe users will see nothing of this war. They don't even know this war is happening. there have been countless people who i've asked if they are on the Blu-Ray side or HD DVD side of this format war, and the most common responses I get is.... "WTF are you talking about? What war?", "Isn't Blu-Ray High Def DVD?", "What's the difference?" and finally "I don't have an HDTV."

By the time most average joe consumers get into being ready to purchase High Def home videos, there will be one dominant format. Early adopters and the few percentage of relatively early average joes who buy into it are the ONLY ones seeing this confusing mass of ridiculousness.

[illegalprelude]

Originally Posted by hstewarth

But didn't the companies attempt to make one format?

yessirrr yesssirrr. But they couldnt come to an agreement

[AA67]

Originally Posted by bear89103

Actually the primary number of average joe users will see nothing of this war. They don't even know this war is happening. there have been countless people who i've asked if they are on the Blu-Ray side or HD DVD side of this format war, and the most common responses I get is.... "WTF are you talking about? What war?", "Isn't Blu-Ray High Def DVD?", "What's the difference?" and finally "I don't have an HDTV."

By the time most average joe consumers get into being ready to purchase High Def home videos, there will be one dominant format. Early adopters and the few percentage of relatively early average joes who buy into it are the ONLY ones seeing this confusing mass of ridiculousness.

Sorry, but i can't agree with you... with the price dropping, Hi-def equip are becoming alternatives to mid-level Satandard-def equipment and due alla marketing FUD (and sales personnel lack of competence) the people gotta confused on what to expect from Hi-Def formats...

Once home with the new stuff THEY DON'T GET WHAT THEY EXPECTED... and they tell to their friends "High Def is alla crap... don't buy it..."

An example? you just purchased your brand new 700€s BD player and connected it to your HDTV... than you insert your first disk and you see a crappy PQ... then insert the second one with same results.. Result=BD is crap! ...NOT THE DISK, BD...
People is emotional, and studios are producing crappy titles...

All that after the sales representatives show them glittering perfect demo disks on 4000€s displays!

[dvdvision]

PQ isn't important, that the product work isn't even important, HYPE is.

Remember that line from Robocop ?

"You've insulted me. And you've insulted this company with your bastard creation. I had a guaranteed military sale with ED 209. Renovation program. Spare parts for 20 years. Who cares if it worked or not ?"

Sound familiar ?

[uc7]

Michael Bay says, "I told you so.."

Michael Bay is so awesome. I love how he takes potentially great script concepts and blows them up. I mean... shouldn't we all be listening to the wisdom of a guy who is essentially nothing more than the Ron Popeil of the movie making industry? All flash... no substance.

Wait.. I think I have to apologize to Ron Popeil for that statement. Maybe Bay is more like Kevin Trudeau.

All of us early adopters know that it was Michael Bay that made Blu-Ray what is is today. It had nothing to do with marketing tactics, behind the scene deals, technological advances, studio opinion... etc.

I think Bay just wants the movie rights to The Format War.

"I believe I can. [the officials get their pens ready to write] We start... by making a big CG building and then we have a meteor go CROSSHH! [makes a diving motion with his left arm] and it, and it's all like CRAAWWWLL [simulates an explosion with his arms] a-and motorcycles burst into flame while they jump over these helicopters, right? [has his right hand go over his left arm like a motorcycle over a helicopter]"

[BlkM383]

Can Bay Please shut the hell up!! I am really getting sick of his crap..

[Liqwid]

That picture of Michael Bay in the article makes him look even more like a douche. I love it.

[hddvdking]

I like this guys movies, but man what an idiot! I own both blu-ray and HDDVD and the HD is far better. Blu still can't do what HD can. A $200 HD player still does more than a $400 or $1000 blu play does. But they say its coming. And when it does how much more will I have to spend on a new player. Sony is just better at marketing than Toshiba. And that is the reason they will win the war. Shame on use for falling for it. Now we are all going to have to pay a lot more money in the long run if we want to stay up to date.

[StuckOnEndor]

With this clown as its spokesman how can Blu-ray go wrong? It's like having Moses there to part the sea of Hi-Def confusion allowing the masses to be led to Entertainment Salvation. He reminds me of Harry Ellis in the first Die Hard movie.