[ale] OT: Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD

[James Sumners]

I think you're overlooking some things. Joe Blow is almost being
forced to buy a new television within the next year and a half.
Granted, those who get their television through a pay service really
don't _have_ to upgrade. But do you really think those who can afford
to pay for television won't want to upgrade? The disappearance of
analog television is going to do a lot, in my opinion, to usher in
high definition. Once people have their new television, a majority
capable of HD display, they will hunger for content. MPEG2 (720?480
NTSC) doesn't look too bad on a 32" LCD, but the same thing in 720p
(1280x720) looks a helluva lot better.

I agree that DVD is here to stay for sometime yet. Mostly because it
is much cheaper than the HD formats (I usually get my DVDs from the
$5.50 rack at Target). But I don't think it is going to hang around as
long as VHS. And if it does, it will probably because it is so easy to
produce (home videos, etc.).

As for porn driving the HD format decision. It doesn't look like that
is happening --
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070606-porn-2-0-is-stiff-competition-for-pro-pronographers.html
. Free downloads seem to be hurting the porn business. They're also
having trouble keeping the illusion up (really, no pun intended) --
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/business/media/22porn.html?ex=1327122000&en=ae526fc82277506a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
. Let's face it, the people in porn aren't always the best looking.
The imperfections get multiplied when viewed in HD.

On 6/18/07, Jay Goodman <ale at goody.homelinux.net> wrote:
>
> Both will truly lose.  DVD's will be the defacto for a quite a few more
> years because of the wide availability and the fact that the general
> consumer has owned their DVD player for less then 5 years. Keep in mind
> they owned their VHS for many  more years even when DVD players came out
> and be damned if they want to shell out $300 bones for the current player.
>   By the time the general consumer will be ready to adopt full HDTV
> format, HVD should be ready to roll.  How willing the greedy studios will
> be on adopting HVD is a different story....
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc
>
> On the otherhand: cable, satellite, and fiber to the home will have a
> larger impact on delivering HD on demand.  This will eventually eliminate
> the need for replacement DVD technology.
>
> Besides, the adult film industry controls the real format wars.  This is
> why betamax, though superior quality, lost to VHS.  The adult film
> industry has already put their leverage behind HD-DVD if I'm not mistaken.


-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

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