Page 1 of Blu Ray or HD players

Hi

Which one should I buy? do they do exactly the same thing? and I have a HD ready TV, will i need to buy any thing else to watch HD movies or just the player?

andysun73

Usually an HDMI cable as well, because they`re too cheap to include them with the players.

As to which one you should get, it depends on a number of things. How much have you got to spend? Do you like titles from a particular studio? Do you definitely have to buy now?

Here are some for and against points for both formats:

BD for: Larger number of major studios exclusively supporting the format (Sony, Fox, Disney, Lionsgate etc) so a wider selection of titles. More storage capacity and a higher maximum bitrate with higher capacities promised). The potential to offer more advanced interactive features in the future.

BD against: Players are expensive. The format is immature and still has not been standardised, so any player you buy now will be obsolete in a fairly short space of time. Because of this, many titles take a long time to load (2-3 mins) and some future titles will not be compatible with older players. The lossless audio format used for most titles (DTS-HD MA) can only be streamed/decoded by a small number of players and amplifiers, which renders it fairly useless. Blu-ray has three regions (A, B and C), which are different to DVD regions in terms of the countries included. Region coding is here to stay for BD titles, although some discs are `all region` (mostly UK releases from Sony/Warner).

HD DVD for: Exclusive support from two of the most prolific and famous studios (Paramount & Universal), plus many other studios both large and small (Warner, Optimum etc). Cheaper hardware with a more mature, standardised spec and working interactive/online features. Lossless audio format used (TrueHD) can be decoded internally by most players and passed as PCM to amps. HD DVD is multi-region, so any disc will work in any machine.

HD DVD against: Lower max bitrate and storage capacity (although greater capacity promised in the future). Lower storage capacity means less room for uncompressed/lossless audio, so it`s often sacrificed for extras. Fewer studios means fewer titles, although I believe there are actually more HD DVD titles available than BD at the moment (that could have changed though).

The reason I asked if you could wait is because there`s a new combo player due from Samsung in the near future. Crucially, it should support BD`s profile 1.1 (current players are only profile 1.0) and offer more advanced HD DVD support than LG`s dismal effort, which was basically a BD player that sort of played HD DVDs as well... having said that, multi-function devices rarely do any one thing as good as a dedicated unit, so expect some playback issues (at least to begin with).

In terms of audio-visual quality, both formats are all-but identical, so it just comes down to price and selection of titles. however, if you go for the dual format player that`s not an issue.

What he said.

Dr 42%er


Care in the football community is proved not to work.


It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

Chris, do you know the model of the new Samsung multi-format player?

BD-UP5000.

Thanks for that, It probably be after Xmas before I buy one. Mostly for LOTR movies Sci Fi and Fantasy movies. and I reckon the Blue Planet.

andysun73

If it`s after Christmas I`d go for the dual format player if you can stretch the budget that far. Personally I think both formats are immature and I wouldn`t have bought into them if the website I work for hadn`t ponyed up the dough. Having said that, 1080p does look nice :) Now I `only` have to spend £400 on an Onkyo amp with DTS-HD MA capability.

I`ve pretty much decided I`m going for a HD-DVD player as I can`t justify the cost of a Blu-ray player (and because the specs are still up in the air). Been looking at the Toshiba EP-30 going for 310 euros on Play but they don`t deliver to Ireland. Anyone know of an online retailer that will ship the EP-30 overseas?