Blu-ray or HD DVD? The future of High Definition Video Discs

Blu-ray or HD DVD? The fight is still on and the end unknown. However, there are still guys out there buying both. Especially since the prices went down recently and both players are available at $300 or less. No one is able to conclude if the Blu-ray sales is more of a PS3 Game System sale or really a Blu-ray player sale. Likewise, the HD DVD Player sales do not necessarily indicate that the Blu-ray is not going to survive. Both have their loyal user base. The question is if both are going to survive. The answer is most likely, yes. The reason is obvious, this war is unlike the Betamax and VHS war where we had two different Cassette Cartridges to deal with, two physically unlike objects. But here, it is not the same. The size and shape of the media in DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray are all the same. So the war is most likely to be more like that of a DVD+R and DVD-R, which ended up co-existing in all modern day players and a fact many among the common consumers are not even likely to be aware of. Why so? The answer is simple. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray use the same blue laser with a slight variation in the pickup apertures. A problem that can be technologically overcome. The same way LCD technology had overcome the 37 inch barrier. A small adjustment and a software upgrade is all that is required to have both formats play in the same player. However, Sony and Toshiba don't want to agree on this. It is quite a difficult thing to understand. To be a monopoly is considered a crime, however an obvious attempt to leave the consumer with no choice is not considered a crime. Strange, isn't it?

But, forget it. They can't do it. The customer is the king and the decision maker. The first generation of Blu-ray and HD DVD combo players are beginning to roll out, the Samsung BD-UP5000 and the LG BH200, which comes after a failed attempt by LG earlier with the BH100 combo player. We have already seen reviews saying there are problems with both. But the reality is that there are quite a lot of problems with most of the Blu-ray Players and HD DVD players in the market. A computer with Windows Vista is most likely to start up quicker than one of these out there. The number of firmware releases in quick successions are very much at the same pace as the Microsoft Security Patches released on "Patch Tuesdays". We are not going to comment either ways on the quality of the picture that any of these produce because it is senseless to comment on that. A 1920 x 1080 resolution has to be identical so long as the encoding is done right and both use the established and most popular MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards other than a few proprietary tweaks. So what difference does that make? We think none. Any shortcoming, if so, can be fixed with software fixes and not really an issue to break your head over. So regardless of Blu-ray or HD DVD surviving, trust us, it is quite a pleasure to watch movies in High Definition (1080p/1080i). So there are quite a few choices below to choose from:

The Combo Dual Format Players:

LG BH200 Blu-Ray and HD DVD Combo Player - Priced in the range of $799

Samsung BD-UP5000 Blu-ray and HD DVD Player -Priced in the range of $749.99

The Single Format Players (Blu-ray):

Sony Blu-Ray 1080p Disc Player BDP-S300 -Priced in the range of $299.99

Samsung BD-P1400 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player -Priced in the range of $299.99

Philips BDP9000 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player -Priced in the range of $299.99

The Single Format Players (HD DVD):

Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player -Priced in the range of $179.99

Toshiba HD-A30 1080p HD DVD Player -Priced in the range of $249.99

All of these players have an introductory mail-in offer of 5 Free High Definition Movies, which somewhat makes the cost reasonable for now. Like any other electronics, these are bound to come down in the coming months and years, but the question is, do you want to wait? For those of you who think that you need to have it today, here are some tips. Go for the Dual format player if you are hard pressed on the shelf space in your entertainment center and/or HDMI inputs in your Home Theater Receiver. But those of you who have room in both, the best and cost effective choice would be buy one of each and enjoy both formats. We won't talk about the number of remote controls as we are sure you are already in the habit of juggling with a few or you have found yourself one of those Logitech Harmony remotes that make life easier.

Also, here are a few warnings, the Sony players do not handle the DVD-Rs very well, or rather they handle them very poorly. All those DVD-R discs you have with your home video may face some issues on the Sony Players even with the latest Dec 20, 2007 firmware. So Beware and be prepared. We won't even talk about the inability to handle raw video files or DivX files from your Digital Camera or Camcorders. You know Sony and so do we.

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Samsung BD-UP5000 1080p HD-DVD Blu-Ray Disc Combo Player

A solution to the format war? This player plays both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats and supports all the features of both formats.

The BD-UP5000 Duo HD player is positioned as the flagship in the company's growing line of high definition players. Offering the same playback capabilities as the BD-P2400 including HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) processing, the BD-UP5000 supports both Blu-ray and HD -DVD formats as well as their interactive technologies, BD Java and HDi. Consumers can now enjoy additional studio content such as trailers, director's comments, more elaborate interactive menus and behind the scene footage.

Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player + 5 Free HD-DVD Movies - $197.99

• Plays HD-DVD discs • 720p, 1080i • Tuner not included • HDMI interface • HDMI upconversion • Ethernet connection

5 free HD DVDs: See Details!

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