QUOTE(Zoopster @ Dec 12 2006, 10:10 AM)
Faster loading?? What do you base this on? The Toshiba HD DVD player is a slow turd; takes over a minute to power up and play a disc. Incidentally, so does the Samsung Blu-Ray player. That's not because of the format, it's because of the player in both cases. Incidentally, the X360 HD DVD player starts a movie in roughly 10 seconds, or about the same amount of time required to play a standard DVD. The PS3's startup speed is comparable. So that opinion bites the dust.
Considering the cheapest BD player is the PS3 at $600 (or $800+ on eBay), and the cheapest HD DVD player is $499, I would say $200 for the X360 one is already bordering on the "ridiculously cheap" by comparison. And there is already a way to hook it up to a PC and play HD DVD movies with it. I agree that there should be an HDMI cable for the 360, but I can get 1080p already from the component cables. The Image Constraint Token that reduces HD picture quality on analog connections will not be in use on discs for quite some time to come, and by then the XBox720 will probably be out.
Face it, PS2 was a really crappy DVD player. There were already very good, affordable DVD players available in 1999 when the PS2 launched, which didn't have the compatibility problems that the PS2 had. IGN used to maintain a list of DVD movies that had problems on PS2 hardware, as well as tracking the various DVD driver updates Sony released to fix the numerous problems (I recall at least 5 offhand). If PS2 had been my primary DVD player back then, it would have made me very chilly to the format until I bought a 'real' DVD player.
Beta didn't just fail, it failed BIG. A significant portion of the tape-buying public went with Beta because the picture quality was better, and ended up getting burned when it croaked. Although Sony shouldn't bear a lot of the blame for how things turned out, they weren't blameless. The real blame should go to Sony now that they make the choice to proceed with a format war again today, when they should remember how the last one turned out. (I was around back then)
Audio CD was a cooperative venture between Sony and Philips. They share technology, and each company holds several crucial patents. It wasn't an all-Sony thing.
MD disc never caught on in the US. Nobody bought them. They were popular in Japan, less so in Europe. The fact they were recordable was the only positive thing they had going, and that was nullified with the advent of recordable CD. Overall, it was stupid for Sony to introduce a product that competed more or less directly with another of their platforms; but then, that's typical of Sony. They wanted a format that they alone could control, and not share with other companies the way CD is done.
Sony and Toshiba are co-developers of the DVD standard, along with Philips. They share technology for it, and each company controls important patents related to it.
UMD will fail for at least a couple of simple reasons: price, and exclusivity. Who the hell would buy a UMD of a movie for $25-30, which ONLY plays on a PSP, when they can get a DVD version for $15 that plays pretty much everywhere? The DVD will also usually have tons of extras that won't fit on a UMD. Once again, Sony introduces a format intended to compete with one of their own properties (DVD). Very, very stupid; but again, typical Sony. They again are trying to establish a standard that they don't have to share with other companies, and once again it will fail.
So if Sony is indeed responsible for several "successful" formats, it's through no fault of their own.
Well Zoopster, you may have a point with the "plans" with High-definition viewing. But, you have to recognize that there is a REAL difference between an analog signal and digital. Component cables only give a compressed feed, while HDMI gives an uncompressed video feed.
I'm not some little Sony fanboy kid, I'm not just basing my opinion on some current fad. I have worked for 2 VERY top end audio/video cable companies (and I'm not talking about that Monster cable shit people love for some reason). I have seen first hand the capabilities of both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, on many different players, I can also say I honestly think Blu-Ray is the better format. Whether or not Sony markets it well is another story, I was around during the Beta/VHS war also. Out of the 8 or 9 players I actually witnessed, Blu-Ray, at the time, was generally faster loading and better looking.
I've always said that UMD will fail for those same reasons...I honestly think the only way that it will be able to revive itself is if they offer standalone UMD drives/burner and if they lower the damn prices, but it still might be too late for that.
I also think that you are giving much less credit to the mini-disc then it deserves. The mini-disc was not just popular in Japan, it was wildly popular. It would've been stupid to not try and market the mini-disc worldwide. In fact, if it weren't for MP3 players probably would have been popular everywhere. Anyhow, that is neither here or there.
By the way, if you want a tip from someone who ought to know, don't buy high-end HDMI cables, there is virtually no quality difference than a regular cheap brand HDMI. But, if you want hi-fi Audio or Composite/Component cable, make sure it is good quality (Kimber Kable is probably more expensive than what most people would pay....but there are a lot more very expensive cables, and Kimber is pretty fairly priced for good audio).
Did You Buy The Xbox360 Hd-dvd Addon?
Dec 14 2006, 08:57 PM
