NEWS: Chris Gore’s Footage Fetishes: Red VS. Blu – The HD-DVD War

CULTURE: Chris Gore’s Footage Fetishes: Red VS. Blu – The HD-DVD War

One day I imagine a world at peace. A day in which a small black box on top of my television comes armed with the ability to download and view any movie or TV show along with those accompanying extra features that we once found only on those silver platters we used to collect so long ago, way back at the turn of the century. Remember those things? Remember DVDs?


The battle for the next DVD format rages on and consumers have yet to pick a winner.

WeÂ’re still a long way from downloadable content taking hold in numbers worth noting. (My estimate is five years.) However, the war raging now is a different kind of Red VS. Blue. IÂ’m not talking states in the US, of course, but the competing HD-DVD formats that have been thrust upon the public. A public that didnÂ’t even know that the current televisions or DVDs they were watching were in need of an upgrade.

While there have been countless articles quoting techno-babble and specs and stats comparing the two formats of HD-DVD, I want to add to the discussion by pointing out a few things that traditional tech writers may have missed. So, hereÂ’s a few of the basic questions answered without a lot of techno-babble.

Do I really need an HD-TV?
I guess that depends on how good your eyesight is. I was at an electronics store once when I realized that the average person doesn’t really care and the HD-TV format is being forced upon consumers. After staring for some time at an HD-TV a woman turned to me and asked, “Is that HD or not?” And this has happened on more than one occasion. While the differences in picture quality are clear, especially considering the rectangular shape of the widescreen, the general public still needs a side-by-side comparison to tell. Here’s the deal—
Regular TVs have 480 lines of resolution.
HD-TVs have 720 lines of resolution, nearly double. And many new HD-TVs support up to 1080 and there are newer HD-TVs coming that will go as high as 1350.

WhatÂ’s the difference between the formats of HD-DVDs?
There are a lot of complicated specs thrown at consumers regarding the two formats of DVDs—HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc. And you can look at a great comparison of those tech specs here. The bottom line is that Blu-ray (blue packaging) can hold more data than regular HD-DVD (red packaging). And neither format is compatible with the other.

Do technical specs really matter?
In this battle, it really does not matter. So, while storage space on Blu-ray is higher, the other differences are negligible when you consider picture quality. On the quality of image, both are superior with no visible differences when viewed on the same television screens. In fact, if your TV is smaller than 32 inches, itÂ’s probably not worth getting an HD-TV anyway, much less an HD-DVD player.


In glorious 1080 resolution, some movies are still unwatchable.

Do I have to choose a side, I mean, can I go both ways?
Yes. You can. A combo player that will accommodate both Blu-ray and regular HD-DVD is coming soon, but will cost about $1,000. In addition, some studios such as Warner Brothers, are releasing DVDs that are playable on both a regular DVD player and a standard HD-DVD player. So, if you were considering buying Superman Returns anyway, and you donÂ’t have an HD-TV or an HD-DVD player, you can purchase the film and get both. Once you do upgrade to HD, youÂ’ll be ready for image quality that is both jaw-dropping (explosions) and disconcerting (bad skin on actors you may have previously found attractive). The combo DVD/HD-DVD format is really the only edge in the format war.

IÂ’m confused, just tell me what to do!
That is the reaction from most consumers, “Just tell me which one is the best.” In this battle, there is no best format. It really comes down to cost. Sony’s PS3 (if you can find one) is also a Blu-ray player, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has an add-on that will allow one to play regular HD-DVDs. When you add them up, both cost the same (about $600), although, for $200, you can by the Xbox HD-DVD add-on and, with a USB and some technical ingenuity, connect it to your computer.


XBox 360 has an external HD-DVD drive available.

My advice is to wait. Just be patient. And before you even consider an HD-DVD format, it’s more important to choose an HD-TV. Next Christmas will see the real HD-DVD format battle when more and more people actually have HD televisions in which to view them. So, go ahead and buy that HD-TV (as long as it’s larger than 40” it’s well worth it) and, if you buy DVDs frequently, get those combo discs to build your library. That’s what I’m going to do.

Gore gone.

Chris_Gore is an author, a filmmaker, the creator of Film Threat, and happens to own an XBox 360 with an HD-DVD drive.

I guarantee you what happens is that Sony decides to release something huge like Spiderman 3 as a Blu-ray exclusive and forces the market their way.

At my place we're all ready to handle 1080P but this is the first I've heard of this 1350 business. Muy interesante. Especially since you'll be hard pressed to find a decent amount of content available even in 1080i currently.

ah HD DVD, the new laserdiscs

more like "ah hd-dvd and blu-ray, the new dvd-audio and super audio cd" or "ah, blu ray, the new minidisc".

The more people who buy HD tvs and switch from watching HD broadcasts to a lower res regular dvd , the more the market will swell for high def players.
As for me, I've got my money on HD-DVD. Not only is the name much more logical when joe sixpack walks into retailstore off the street and asks about it, but the players and discs are cheaper to produce.

Well, I still own about 50 laser discs, all special editions and rare material. And I watch them, um. Uh. Well, almost never now. Damn you AndersWolleck!

Yeah, I think HD-DVD currently has the edge. In fact, some tech writers are declaring blu-ray dead already. I think it's too soon to call, but Sony has a history of pushing its own proprietary formats into the market which the public quickly rejects. Sony's greatest hits, er, flops include:
- Mini-disc
- UMD discs
- Their own format of SD cards
- ATRAC format for digital media
Any I forgot?

super audio. that's ok. no one remembers something no one bought.

Didn't Sony bring the Beta Max to the table also?

Chris, your forgot: let's face it, it's betamax vs VHS all over again, the specifications don't matter. Sony will screw it up again betamax was nicer, blue-ray seems nicer. But Sony never want to share & play nice.

I honestly can't see the point in investing in either until something more universal comes along at a reasonable price. I don't mean to be rude, but I'll be waiting for all the chumps who can't wait to get their hands on new technology to buy in and then I'll buy something when the price is actually right & that buying has made the decision for me. Why buy anything that restricts your playback? I also honestly believe that in this age of the Internet that DRM will contribute to that decision, I think both formats are similar in that regard? I've not read into that though.

I'd say Blu-ray has a much better chance than betamax ever did - because while Sony is certainly a driving force behind it, and their current clout may be questionable... it's not an exclusive format. You don't have to buy Sony to get Blu-Ray... they're simply a strong backer of the technology, rather than the one company with the rights to license the tech.

Where the biggest difference between the formats will become apparent, I think, is when you can buy an entire season (or run even) of a TV series on one disc, or an entire series of a video game (PS3) on one disc. I'd imagine this is in the works already... one BD title with the entire FF series, the entire run of Friends (not in HD most likely). In regards to that sort of thing, the massive size difference between HD-DVD and BD will become much more apparent.

Artsitis: for sure the shear size of BD is an advantage, I just think it's a shame that it will most likely be used to deliver 'quantity over quality' as you describe. (not meaning that the quality will bes less than HD-DVD), but I've worked in broadcast TV a little on-and-off, and the data rates they use for HD video often tend to exceed what we get at the user end of things (obviously). But I'm a person who notices MPEG-type compression a LOT when watching DVD / TV, and even current HD broadcasts in the UK. I worry that distributors will use the capacity availability to cram more on, instead of delivering the best possible quality. (Like you say, all of Friends, but not in HD). Practical, but hardly an 'improvement' :/

This is most likely true for either format though...

Slight correction:
Standard TV = 480i (240 viewable lines at a time)
EDTV = 480p (480 viewable lines at a time)
HDTV = 720i-1080p (540 viewable lines at a time)

The average, uneducated TV buyers are being suckered into HDTVs at low prices because they ONLY do 720p. Most HD channels don't even broadcast in the full bandwidth and I'm willing to bet both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs for the next few years won't either.

Fair enough - but with a 500GB disc, you could do a full season of a series in HD no problem... maybe 2-3 seasons. A full series that was never broadcast in HD would fit no problem in an EDTV format (unless you're talking, say, the simpsons... or any series going 20+ seasons)

While I said it has a better chance than Beta did, I certainly don't think it's a sure winner. But, as with Beta, it's by far the better format, with the most potential... and a lot of the reasons that Beta failed don't exist with BD (Inferior recording time, poor market planning by Sony)

Love all this added info! I'd love to do a poll question somewhere about where most of you stand.

Anyway, this conversation is getting so geeky and hot, I forgot that there are naked pictures on this site.

History does have a way of repeating itself. We'll see.

Sorry, I've not really clarified my position here, to be honest I'm in full support of BD, technically speaking. I'm just not in the financial position to be jumping on any bandwagons until they're multi-format bandwagons . I'm a proud owner of a still fully fuctional betamax machine btw (they don't build 'em like that nowadays... etc.. )

I just don't trust those in charge of DVD creation (distributors?) not to go for best-bang-for-buck when making these things. I've bought several TV series on DVD and been really disapointed that they've always opted for more-compression-less-discs rather than a quality copy. I would get all air-fairy and start talking about open-source codecs now, but I don't live in a total fantasy land

Another reason VHS beat Beta is that pr0n wasn't available in Beta format.

I'm waiting out the prices on HD-TV, and waiting out the format war on the next-gen DVD formats. Already got stuck with one Ti99-4a, thank you. And OS/2 Warp.

Actually, I did research when I bought my HDTV. There were some 1080p TVs that came out while I was shopping around, but the TV I was getting was going to was in the 23-32 inch range. 1080p for those sizes (even though I believe 32 inches is the smallest TVs right now that have 1080p) seems unnecessary as the differences would seem miminal.

At least that is what I heard.

RE:the Laserdisc comparison. Not sure why laserdisc has been a punchline to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray threads for the last year or two (not just here); LD lasted for over 20 years in the marketplace, had quite a bit of exclusive material, was the connoisseur's format of choice for well over a decade, and was significantly cheaper than concurrent VHS releases for most of its life (people shudder now at the idea of paying $45 for a LD, but they conveniently forget that most VHS releases were $99; the concept of sell-through VHS was limited to the most popular material until the advent of DVD.)

Anyway-- one of the most important distinctions between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray was left out: the studios producing content for each format. Even in the VHS/Beta war, most studios (including Sony) released material in both formats; that's something that's not happening currently. HD-DVD had a head start in the market, and still has more material out (and, IMO, a higher number of titles I would want). I doubt Sony could win the battle by releasing a single blockbuster as an exclusive-- it's a large library of exclusives that is more likely to win marketshare, not just a single title.

As for the dual-format players, they've been shown by manufacturers since before the formats made their commercial debut, but the licensing agreements of both consortiums makes a commercial release impossible. Until one format group or the other relaxes licensing restrictions on manufacturers, the only way you'll see a dual-format player is by building a multimedia PC with both types of drive installed.

Actually Pr0n was as available on Beta as on VHS... sadly, the porn industry isn't quite as influential as some would have you believe

i still prefer rca's CED format.

Gotta love "needle-vision." I've got a case of spare stylii for my CED players.

God, I'm a geek.