So HD DVD wont do the same had they won? Someone somewhere will get paid regardless.
Looking it up some more, the Blu-ray format was founded by nine members of which Sony was one.
This might bring Blue Ray prices down a bit
Honest opinion, I’m with DT - 28" CRT and standard DVD player, no issues 
It will be a long time yet before I upgrade to Digital TV :nod:
For as long as anyone can come up with a standard and ask for support it shall be a farse and result in more than one competing standard i.e. just like Intel & Microsoft / ATI & Nvidia blah blah blah you’ll buy into one of them and will follow on buying the next incarnation so on and so forth maybe switch back and forth and just like computers they have hooked.
CD has lasted 25 Years and been the definitive media and currently still is.
DVD being younger about 12 years but only really out stripping VHS sales in the last 4 years.
In essance DVD is still relatively young and the time is right for a new high capacity format but that new format I cannot see lasting long before the next incarnation and its back to square one.
Japan are already pushing the next gen HD format envelopes for displays/TV/film studio camera’s that without a doubt a new format will evolve in a few years to out do blue-ray.
Unless there is a global decision that nails a format in stone for the next X years to be fare and proper to the consumer then we will buy what ever they chuck out at us in the hope of being top of the pack until the next best thing comes along.
I hope Blue-ray lasts but lasts for how long will be interesting to see.
Interesting thoughts in a BBC news article, saying the battle is now Blu-ray vs downloads. That article mentioned the flop of “HD audio” formats. CD is good enough, people don’t want a replacement. Downloads are typically lower quality and as popular. Will the same happen to Blu-ray?
To me, visual quality is much easier to notice than sound quality.
Can I hear the different between a 128kbps mp3 and a 256kbps one? Yes. But repeat that comparing 256kbps mp3 with “CD” and I’m not so sure. Maybe if played side by side, I could tell the difference, but if listened to normally I probably wouldn’t be able to tell without training what to listen for in specific music. So to me, sound reproduction is good enough and better doesn’t get me any more. Apart from some failed experiments in surround music, I’m not sure what else they can really do to move it forward by a big step.
On video, I’d argue there is more headroom. Not saying that SD isn’t “good enough” for most, but I’m sure most people would be able to tell the difference between SD and HD if asked. Personally I have found that, at around 32 inches, the deficiencies in DVD encoding can start to be seen. Above that, it gets easier. So for high quality large display viewing, HD has a reason for existing.
Contrasting with this, I’d say there is a general decline in picture quality since moving to digital. The digital encoding artefacts are more noticeable than analog noise, assuming you’re in a good signal area. So the big question is: is digital video downloads going to be the next mp3?
So personally I think this HD upgrade will bring enough to survive in the long term. But a future beyond HD will have a hard sell as it will be ever harder to see the improvement. Maybe by then we’ll have pseudo-3D displays to look forward to instead.
I have both formats here, and for my money there is nothing quality wise between them, I’ll be keeping my HD-DVD drive for sure, more people will addopt blu-ray and ditch their HD-DVD films, I’ll be there to pick them up cheep 
HD Audio never took off but if you have a decent set up and get some decent DTS remixes it’s awesome, I have War of The Worlds, the metalica black album and a few other bit’s and bobs and they are awesome.
In TV terms mackerel yes the quality is poor on alot of channels for the reason they are cramming in as many sub channels as they can force on the viewer off each multiplex.
Got DVB as an external box and via PC and certainly a few are on a good res majority of the other Id have to say IMPO that analog TV beats them hands down.
equally at least with analog in poor area’s the picture might get snowy but at least you have a picture once the signal is down on digital its all splutter or nowt.
/// Edit – All-star LED team quietly working on Blu-ray successors
Hmmm - where to go next?
The elephants in the jungle are pitching at media and media delivery as the next “THING”. Personally I see a divergence in the market.
The “on-demand” crowd serviced by Apple, BBCI player, C4OD, Slingbox & the like who want what they want, where they want and sod the quality.
The “quality” crowd who have learned that hi-def displays when displaying lo-def content look awful, who want quality in one place. I place myself firmly in this camp, 720p minimum no compromise.
Instant problem. Company “a” sells you a 1920x1080 TV at a premium price 'cos that is what they do - make TVs. And like AMD, Intel, Nvidia, ATI, Via etc. etc, they want you to upgrade, get the latest bestest most wonderful thang now. Their business depends on it, it is how they recoup their R&D costs. These guys are into the quality of the content you see, that is their bag, and they will apply what pressure they can to the media industry as a whole to push quality.
Company “b” just want media sod the format - delivery and the revenues from it is their business model. HD? Look at the bandwidth - no way. These guys typically own the delivery mechanisms (DSL,cable, wireless) or the tech to use them (phone, Ipod, PSP, Nintendo DS). They want to charge you Itunes style for content, quality is irrelevant for 320pixel screens. Its all about flexibility, choice, delivery.
This to me is the real media battle, Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD is a sideshow. “May you live in interesting times”
[QUOTE=wolram;411963]Honest opinion, I’m with DT - 28" CRT and standard DVD player, no issues
It will be a long time yet before I upgrade to Digital TV :nod:[/QUOTE]
Yep… me too!!!
32" Widescreen Panasonic CRT… one of the very last Panasonic CRTs and it has a cracking picture… certainly a lot better than the LCD TVs I have seen! Does have a built in Digital Decoder, but I am on Sky Digital anyway so don’t use it
Pioneer DVD/HD Recorder… again a cracking piece of kit…
I am certainly happy with the quality of my old-tech stuff… and it does me, since i don’t watch TV very often.