Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2008 23:26:55 GMT -5
Now that the "format wars" are long over, I was curios to see what you guys think of Blu-ray. Working with electronics, I see and hear a lot about it, and quite frankly, I'm not too impressed. Sure, the storage capacity is amazing and is ideal for normal data storage as a means of back-up, but I really think it's being wasted on "high definition movies". I don't particularly care about seeing every single wrinkle on aging actor's face, or every strand of hair in Gerard Butler's beard in 300. No. You can keep that stuff, Blu-ray. I just want to enjoy a movie at a reasonable price. I don't have the need or the time to examine every single minute detail of a film, nor do I have the money to gamble on this questionably better format. I just can't justify paying about $400 for a player (whether it be a PS3 or not), then having to pay $30+ for each disc, many of which I already own on DVD. And I may be alone on this part, but I think that all the bonus content being thrown on these discs is worthless clutter that the majority of audiences won't even look at. Another thing that bugs me about it is the marketing. It's being talked about like some kind of elite club that separates the people who are willing to pay their hard earned cash for this BS, and those who are not. I was quite young, but in the mid-90s, I do vaguely remember Laser Disc being shoved at consumers is the same fashion, and look where that's at now. Laser Disc had some cool features but it was lacking, mainly when it came to affordability (not so different from Blu-ray), which caused it to ultimately fail. If nothing else, it paved the way for DVD. I may be wrong, but I feel Blu-ray will see the same stepping-stone fate. Only time will tell. I guess this thread could have easily been summed up in a post on the "Rant Thread", but I really wanted to do a poll to see if I'm alone on this, or if anyone else feels the same.  |
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Locke333
30 Point Warrior
"Don't mistake coincidence for fate."
Posts: 756
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Post by Locke333 on Aug 15, 2008 9:12:00 GMT -5
I hate Blu-Ray. And the sad part is, eventually, DVDs will fall and then we will have to use them  |
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Post by malform on Aug 15, 2008 9:57:01 GMT -5
DONP's opinions on blue-ray really reflect my own opinions on the whole HDtv thing in general. I dont seem to care all that much that my television viewing isnt in high definition.... And I will hold out as long as I can before I break down and buy a new HDtv, and shell out more cash every month just to get the HD channels to go with it.
I was really hoping that HDdvd was going to win the new format race. Sony winning anything like that just seems to me to be bad for the future of consumers.... Seeing how they just love to block features (like the ability for their dvd burners to make discs that will play in any other player), and force people to use proprietary components (stupid sony memory sticks over sd cards like the rest of the planet) on just about everything they make.
I pretty much hate sony... The only sony equipment I have at home is a PS2 (actually 3 of them), and thats the only thing they make thats worth owning.. They can shove their PS3, and their blue-ray....
Locke333, I woldnt worry too much about the DVD going the way of the buffalo just yet.... After all, you can still buy VHS players.
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Post by superflytnt on Aug 15, 2008 11:39:56 GMT -5
The HDTV is AWESOME. I use it as a Home Theatre, PC Monitor, XBOX Monitor, and oh-so-many other things I have yet to think of. The Blu-Ray? Waste of money. If you really want to sharpen movies, go to Wally's and get a 100$ upconverting progressive scan DVD if you must. Way better picture with existing DVDs, and under 100$ generally.
And Malform, Sony is all over your home. They also make electronic components (the itty bitties on circuit boards) , which are affixed to many common household items. Sony rules the world!
They still have VHS units being sold so what makes anyone think that DVD, which is in pretty much every household of non-poverty in the world, is going anywhere? Only the sgaf that have WAY too small 'packages' and way too large pocketbooks, or the TRUE videophiles will buy the players standalone. I think all of this is being driven by PS3, since 70% of BluRay owners have it on their PS3. I envision a time where the only component you will have is your video game console where all of your music, video, and streaming content will come from.
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Post by malform on Aug 15, 2008 12:15:34 GMT -5
The HDTV is AWESOME. I use it as a Home Theatre, PC Monitor, XBOX Monitor, and oh-so-many other things I have yet to think of. Dude... I do the same thing. But with a 36" computer monitor that gets used as a computer, and a television.... And the monitor only put me back $100.. Just a tiny drop in the plasma bucket .  I have not heard of this dvd up converter thingamabob... Gonna have to check that one out. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2008 12:42:59 GMT -5
Yeah, up-convert is a wise choice if you want better image quality without the high price tag that goes along with that Sony garbage. It takes standard DVDs and makes them the best they can possibly be. And does it, as Superfly already said, at a fraction of the cost of Blu-ray.
It's nice too, because with up-convert you're only buying the new hardware and there's no need for new software... so Sony can take their $30 discs and shove em! ;D
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Post by superflytnt on Aug 15, 2008 14:58:16 GMT -5
Malform, a lesson on upconverting DVDs but first a lesson on TV signals.
The sets we've all had for years are 480i, or 640 pixels across and 480 down. The TV carrier, to save bandwidth, shoots us TV programming like AC power, in the first 'blip' it sends even lines, then on the second 'blip' it sends the odd lines. They then interlace very quickly so that on a standard TV set they show 30 even lines and 30 odd lines every minute - faster than the eye can generally detect. This is called interlacing. The 480P signals shoot the whole picture at once progressively, so that you get all the lines displayed every second, thus doubling the speed at which the image is displayed and making images more smooth. DVDs are encoded in 480 lines, irrespective of whether or not your TV or DVD player can actually display it, so on regular old interlacing DVD players it simply outputs the choppy 30 odd, 30 even interlaced images. Now, at Wally's for 30$ you can get Progressive Scan DVD players that output the faster output 480P. You have to have an S-Video cable to make this work, for the most part.
The latest "Make it better for cheap" gimmick is upconverting DVD players. These basically take the 480x640 images that are on the DVDs natively (as discussed before, all DVDs are encoded 480P) and then "Upconverts" them to the higher resolution 720P, which is 720 pixels up/down and 1280 lines across, essentially doubling the pixel count. This makes for smoother edges on images and a crisper look.
There's your primer, now GO OuT ANd ShOp!!!!
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Ben Kenobi
40 Point Warrior
????????? ?
Posts: 931
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Post by Ben Kenobi on Aug 15, 2008 16:34:07 GMT -5
It's nice too, because with up-convert you're only buying the new hardware and there's no need for new software... so Sony can take their $30 discs and shove em! ;D Blu-ray players are actually backwards-compatible, so no need to buy the movies again. I don't think it's the next generation of media formatting. Sure, it's a pretty picture, but it doesn't really do anything beyond that. It's not the incredible leap that the DVD was from the VHS. The DVD showed what kind of things digital video could do - store more information meaning better audio and video, DVD menus for easier start up and bonus features, scene selection; the list goes on. It's the first time ever, not counting the failed and expensive Laserdisc, that video could be cheaply distributed without film. With the Blu-ray, not much at all has changed. It's nearly identical except for storage capacity. For all I am concerned, the Blu-ray disc is merely an upgrade of the DVD. |
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Post by superflytnt on Aug 15, 2008 17:58:01 GMT -5
Truer words may never have been spoken!
I do, however, believe that Blu-Ray will be with us for the next 5-7 years since it's so underutilized as is. Imagine this: movies of the future will be shot in panoramic 3-D and the players will be able to send 3 images out to 3 seperate projectors (front, left, right) so that you literally sit INSIDE the movie. I suspect that's the next generation of home theater
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2008 8:19:56 GMT -5
It's nice too, because with up-convert you're only buying the new hardware and there's no need for new software... so Sony can take their $30 discs and shove em! ;D Blu-ray players are actually backwards-compatible, so no need to buy the movies again. Yeah, I know that they're backwards-compatible, but those movies you have right now won't be so awesome once they're played on a Blu-ray player. Kinda makes you want to re-buy your whole collection on Blu-ray to get the best out of each film, right? Wrong, and I think that's Blu-ray's fatal flaw. I don't see Blu-ray going anywhere until a studio step up and says "No more standard DVDs, we're all Blu-ray from now on". That way, the consumer has no other choice if they want the movie. ....And I honestly don't see that happening ANY time soon, if at all. While consumers have the choice, they'll go for the less expensive product, especially since you can find a $5 DVD bin at Walmart, just feet away from they're Blu-ray section. Right now, Blu-ray is a gamble at best. With the sales of Blu-ray relying solely on the PS3 and the morons that honestly believe this format lives up to it's hype, I agree with Superfly about it being around only for the next 5-7 years ......but preferably less. |
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Post by LarimusPrime on Aug 17, 2008 22:42:22 GMT -5
I don't have much against blue ray, but they are just a higher capacity version of dvd. if u don't own a hi-def tv, it's pretty much useless.
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Post by superflytnt on Aug 18, 2008 8:03:26 GMT -5
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Post by reallyniceguy on Aug 18, 2008 19:24:50 GMT -5
Wow I read this entire thread, I usually don't care enough to do that, but good old DONP asked me to. See, I am using the forum in exchange for his playing of Mario RPG for SNES. Born in 1996 around the end of the SNES era this game had stellar graphics and ... oh .. but man it's like over a decade old. My God, I have an entire Vhs collection in boxes, those bulky components don't look good on my entertainment stand.
Oh about SNES Emulation: Related to superfly's excellent lecture on Cathode Ray Tube and now Liquid Crystal Display "Dot's Per Inch", this emulator actually can produce scanlines, progressive scan, triple dithering, anti-alising, super eagle emulation or 2ax if you prefer... And it makes the game's corners bend in...
Did you ever play a Resident Evil 4 for the game cube, notice how it's rounder than Ps2's version, despite the weakness of the gamecube processor. That beautiful ATI card gave the gamecube a slight edge when it game to bump mapping (augh thats not what it's called in this era silly!).
Wow that's all kinda irrelevant to this discussion: So I'll post another reply.
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Post by reallyniceguy on Aug 18, 2008 19:29:42 GMT -5
All of that musing kinda plays in to what I and science calls industry atrophy. Every device you own is irrelevant in less than 5 years, then super relevant in 10. I was dying to drop my SNES so I could get a N64, but I'd kill a man for an SnES over an N64 today. I'm dyin for DONP to play an old mario game that really touched me, although it isn't a playstation rendition of metal gear solid 4. Just like I like to watch DVD's because they are the quickest medium for me now. I don't want a Blue ray, cause I've navigated through some of them, and they feel bulky. Look how big those players are.. they won't be that big in oh.. 2 weeks times industry blues. I love the command line because I get what i want now, but everyone isn't made for that kinda command line. Should I go out and blow my money on something that will be cheaper in 4 years. No. Am I easily amused as well as unspoiled, yes. See I can play a 10 year old game and love it, some people cannot look at one. Those people usually have money. Is a whole new 1k setup with 1k hardware worth a higher dot per inch. Well, was going to the moon relevant? It was then wasn't it.. Blue ray is relevant now, isn't it?
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Post by superflytnt on Aug 19, 2008 7:18:00 GMT -5
I have an emulator for every console ever made but ONE, which is so old that I couldn't find any cartridges.
Niceguy, get my email addy from Defender and let me know what games you are creaming your jeans over - chances are that I have it.
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