Sorry about the length of the last post, in order to try to show both sides it does take some time and space.
Quote:
| wbassett wrote:
I've outlined this before and that is for people to take some time and look through both formats and make a 'wish list' of what movies are exclusive to each format. When I looked at the full list for both formats, Bluray did have a slight edge in total titles, but it really wasn't as big as people say or think. More important though is that the movies that I personally like are more HD DVD titles. So for me it wouldn't matter if BD had three times the titles, if I personally don't like them, then volume means nothing to me when it comes to enjoying a movie. |
This post will be shorter but I did want to follow up on that with what I said before.
Some movies are format exclusive, we all know that. I was actually surprised when I went through a list of all HD DVD content and all Bluray content. When you break things down like this it makes it much clearer which format a person will enjoy the best.
There were a total of 87 high definition movies on my 'wish list'. I say wish list because after making that list I went through the tier ratings and some had pretty bad transfers and the general comments were they did not look any better than an up-converted SDVD copy of the same movie, so ultimately those movies were removed from the 'list'.
I found that there were 23 movies that I really liked that are HD DVD exclusive, while there were only 14 that were Bluray exclusive. Then there were 19 that are on both formats. The rest are movies that haven't come out yet and some of the studios in that list have done both formats, so those are a wait and see situation.
So I looked at the exclusives as well as the 19 that are in both formats and that made 42 movies I love and would be able to watch on an HD DVD player, and Bluray came out to 33 movies. It wasn't a blowout, but HD DVD did have the edge. For some people this list may be totally reversed and for what they like BD may have a bigger list, so they should go with a Bluray player then.
Personally I'm surprised more people don't do this before making their decision. Both have outstanding picture quality from what I have seen, yes there is a price difference between them... but in the end isn't the real factor what movies a person likes? I'm format neutral as I mentioned, but before anyone takes the plunge, they should at least go through the movie lists of what's out there like I mention and then make their decision on a player.
Each side wants us to think they are clearly winning, but it really is a stalemate and both formats are going to be around until something ends up replacing them. Hopefully it won't be the inferior downloadable content concept- like how mp3 is starting to replace CDs even though CDs are superior sound than most mp3s. I think most people will be happy with either format as long as they take an honest look at what type of movies they like, and then upconvert the SDVD version of anything unavailable on that format.
I know some of you out there are looking forward to the next gen dual format players getting ready to come out, I won't say don't buy them if that's truly what you want. I will be following Marshall's lead and be building a an HTPC that plays
both formats as well as acts as a DVR and the price list right now is an estimated cool $1200. That's a bit much for most people, and building an HTPC isn't something the masses would want to do, but for us Shackersters and forum savvy people, it's something you may want to step back and consider. I have three players, two HD DVD players and one Bluray player but if I could have one unit that plays both and acts as a media center... well I don't need to tell anyone what I would opt for!