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Stop using ads and start doing stuff like being an Amazon merchant. Link your reviews and stuff to your Amazon merchant account - when a user clicks through to buy something, they get revenue. There are several Blu-Ray review sites that do just that. Stop bombarding us with flash ads and stuff - give us your story, and a link to where we can buy the game. Happy users, and a solution to your issues.

Here is some links to sites that do just this:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/ (notice the ads are off to the side of the page, its not distracting, and relates to the site)

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7388/santa_martians.html (provides Amazon link to buy the product. Side bar has some ads relating to the site)

http://www.blu-ray.com/ (Links at the top of the page take you to their articles, with a link in their article to buy the product on Amazon)

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Life-of-Pi-3D-Blu-ray/60865/#Review (example of an article, with links to the Amazon store)

Both of these sites are very clean and well designed, do not bombard the users with ads, with the exception of links to buy movies, which is exactly why the users are at the site to begin with. The sites make enough from click-throughs to stay in business (unless movie companies are paying them to write reviews, which is possible). In any case, the sites are able to stay in business, pay operating costs and pay staff, and are able to keep from bombarding users with ads.

It's not that foreign of a concept. If I go to a review site, don't bombard me with a flash ad for Pepsi or some reverse-home-mortgage, or something. Just give me a link to where I can buy the product you are talking about.

Stop using ads and start doing stuff like being an Amazon merchant. Link your reviews and stuff to your Amazon merchant account - when a user clicks through to buy something, they get revenue. There are several Blu-Ray review sites that do just that. Stop bombarding us with flash ads and stuff - give us your story, and a link to where we can buy the game. Happy users, and a solution to your issues.

Here is some links to sites that do just this:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/ (notice the ads are off to the side of the page, its not distracting, and relates to the site)

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7388/santa_martians.html (provides Amazon link to buy the product. Side bar has some ads relating to the site)

http://www.blu-ray.com/ (Links at the top of the page take you to their articles, with a link in their article to buy the product on Amazon)

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Life-of-Pi-3D-Blu-ray/60865/#Review (example of an article, with links to the Amazon store)

Both of these sites are very clean and well designed, do not bombard the users with ads, with the exception of links to buy movies, which is exactly why the users are at the site to begin with. The sites make enough from click-throughs to stay in business (unless movie companies are paying them to write reviews, which is possible). In any case, the sites are able to stay in business, pay operating costs and pay staff, and are able to keep from bombarding users with ads.

It's not that foreign of a concept. If I go to a review site, don't bombard me with a flash ad for Pepsi or some reverse-home-mortgage, or something. Just give me a link to where I can buy the product you are talking about.

apple and microsoft are flip sides of the same coin. both have supported censorship outright before changing their mind when it was a potential publicity disaster.

So I would indeed say that apple and microsoft are pretty much in the same boat entirely, yes.

And unfortunately, I know of no way for a consumer to determine if the Blu-ray is well made from an original HD source or just reprocessed low deff DVD content before they actually buy it.

Try a review site. There are several out there you can easily find through Google. Here's one:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/

To be a bit more serious: the current bluray of 2001 is regarded as one of the finest vintage releases.

Fine detail sets a new bar for high definition catalog releases. Facial imperfections are a cinch to spot, hair is crisply defined, and the star fields are flawless. I paused on several occasions to note actors' naturally splotchy skin and chipped fingernails. There are even scenes in this transfer that I completely re-watched just to have another chance to explore the intricacies of the sets and props. For the first time, I was able to read all of the small text Kubrick strategically placed across the film. Call me obsessed, but I found myself completely fascinated by these minor details that I'd previously been unable to enjoy. Pay close attention to the barren wilderness in the opening scenes, the space station electronics, and the slightest etchings on the ships floating above Earth. My apologies for sounding like Captain Adjective, but this transfer is just that beautiful.

source

The opening "Dawn of Man" sequence seems to have been shot entirely at magic hour. The resulting shots are beautiful and really show off this discs flawless handing of color. Just about every scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey looks as though it could have been filmed yesterday. The print is flawless and the images are truly spectacular. This is a must own title on Blu-ray and is the very definition of reference grade.

source

How do you watch the slow, ponderous, two and half hour cut? Running at the gym? Out the corner of your eye while hacking? In five minute increments? Or do you sit down in a darkened room before a good sized high resolution screen and soak it up?

So it has DRM. So did DVD. Big deal. The practical reality is you pop in the bluray, press play, and watch the movie. There's one "FBI warning". That's all. And then it's on to the overture, and the men in furry suits.

If you truly enjoy vintage films, there are quite a few releases that look less like video, and more like film. There are others that are plagued by sharpening masks and other digital artifacts, but DVD releases had those too. Read the reviews.

And that's why blue-ray is the format these days. And no, there was no porn on it...

Porn has been available on bluray since the first quarter of 2007, over 9 months before HD-DVD imploded in early 2008.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2915/avatar.html

'As for its other image quality attributes, this 'Avatar' Blu-ray is, frankly, perfect. I can find nothing at all wrong with it. The digital video picture is razor sharp and has enormous amount of fine object detail that puts the comparable DVD to shame. There is absolutely no grain or noise in any shot. Nor are there any digital processing artifacts such as artificial sharpening, Digital Noise Reduction, or compression flaws. The vibrant, vibrant, vibrant colors are stunningly beautiful. Cameron uses colors in 'Avatar' that you just don't see in other movies. The contrast range has solid blacks and excellent shadow detail. For a 2-D image, the picture has a terrific sense of depth. Really, this is the best-looking demo material yet released on Blu-ray, regardless of which aspect ratio you watch it in. I'd give it 6 stars if I could. '

These figures show something but I am not sure I like it.

People who have stand-alone players probably want to buy media in that format. Even when the gaming systems are included, the numbers are roughly equivalent. But, there is a sizable lead HD-DVD over BluRay.

I have an HD-DVD player. A few movies for it (although, its mostly just a DVD player for me). Would I buy HD-DVD movies? Hell, yes, I keep getting marketing literature for Hi-def movies, to which I reply "Yes, I would be interested, please give me HD-DVD format".

The demand is there (30% greater install base) -- where is the media?

Yes, I believe there is a conspiracy to eliminate HD-DVD. Personally, I don't give a hoot if players are no longer available, but, given the install base, it WOULD make sense to make HD-DVD releases.

But, no new HD-DVDS: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html

No HD-DVD rentals, no HD-DVD "classic" sales at Walmart. EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MORE INSTALLED HD-DVD PLAYERS. Sounds like cartel behaviour to me. Certainly no market forces at work. Why doesn't someone get into the business of mastering "bargain" HD-DVDs to sell for $15? If one in ten US households have an HD-DVD player, it certainly sounds like a business opportunity to me. At least I should be seeing HD-DVDs in the second-tier retailers "XS Cargo". Simply run more of the movies already mastered!

Blu-Ray == fail. Anybody who buys Blu-Ray media will go the way of the schmucks who blew thousands of dollars on Laserdiscs. Every game I've ever bought has either been on cassette tape, 5.25" or 3.5" floppies, downloaded, CD-ROM, or DVD, and every movie I've ever bought has been on VHS tape or DVD. When Blu-Ray drives cost $19.95, can be made by anybody, and the Blu-Ray disc section is bigger than the DVD section, then let's talk.

BluRay is penetrating at double the rate DVD did.

So.... how's that HD-DVD player working out for you?

No. 5th Element is a good movie, and is one of THE BEST looking Blu-Ray movies out there.

Hey - watched this on Blu-Ray last Friday. It looked great. Note that there are two versions floating around, an older Blu-Ray release that was widely slated for being a bad transfer, and a newer one that is super-green in quality. I assume we both have the latter.

An excellent place to check out the quality of a HD movie before you buy it is High Def Digest which is the place that warned me to watch out for the older version (as I always buy discs second hand). So much of the final quality depends on the processing that the studio does that it's not a good idea to simply assume because it's Blu-Ray tha quality will be top-notch, so I always check things out first.

The quality of high-def is undoubtedly better than standard and noticeably so. But those of us who consider the benefits to be worth the additional money are a minority, I think. I'm quite a film-buff and have reasonable disposable income, but even I only buy very special films on HD. For example, the recent Blu-Ray of Baron Munchausen is incredible in quality and well worth it. Lesser movies will do fine on standard. They have to bring the prices down.

If you don't see people buying movies - maybe you should release some good movies?

Star Wars Trilogy (the original one): No
Lord of the Rings Trilogy: No
Indiana Jones: No

How many good movies you see on this list:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/releasedates_historical.html

Start releasing the good stuff, and people might actually buy your movies. I don't quite feel like running to the store and paying premium to get my hands on Gigi when it comes out.

Maybe because Toshiba never produced a single decent HD-DVD player, and the discs will scratch to the point of being unplayable if you just look at them wrong.

I could power my PS3 up and load the movie, be through the warnings and have the movie started in less time than it took to even power up my HD-DVD player. Then you had LONG loading times, and there would be a couple of second delay between the time you hit a button and the time the player actually responded. Then there was the space issue. Paramount actually said the reason there was no high-resolution audio on Transformers was because there was not enough disc space.

Also, there were some early movies that were released on both platforms where the HD-DVD actually costs more than the BluRay discs. The only reason you can pick up HD-DVDs now for $12 (I picked up six at that price two weeks ago) is because they are clearing out the discs.

But this is offtopic. The article is not about HD-DVD vs BluRay, but Xbox vs PS3. I also have both of those, mainly because I had the PS3 first to play older PSX and PS2 games, and I wanted a BluRay player, but also wanted to play Viva Pinata and Beautiful Katamari. My experience with games that are released on both systems are quite interesting. Early PS3 games were usually Xbox 360 ports. As such, you rarely saw a difference between the two, and when you did, the Xbox outperformed the PS3. However, on newer games, I have seen the PS3 have better framerates and sharper colors. It is really annoying playing the exact same game on both systems, to have the Xbox drop frames at a crucial moment.

As for the Final Fantasies, if you do not have a PS2 or an XBox, the PS3 would probably still be your best option for playing the older games. Last I checked, Final Fantasy 7 and 9 did not play on the Xbox. And I am still looking forward to Little Big Planet.

They denied it over 6 weeks ago.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show//1327

Now, I know lying isn't impossible for CEOs. But they don't have any financial incentive to lie about this, and in general a company will just give no comment instead of lying because it's safer, you can't get sued for saying no comment while you can for lying.

It's a very sad state of journalism that a story like this can be printed with unsubstantiated allegations weeks after it was already cleared up.

Slashdot is BEHIND. NPD group said that report shouldn't even have been released. It's completely bloated since the Blu Ray players were being given away FREE with Sony and Samsung HDTV's. Granted, that doesn't have much to do with the decline in HD DVD sales, it's a misleading NPD report that shouldn't get any press. Where' the slashdot article covering this???

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Industry_Trends/High-Def_Retailing/NPD:_Free_Blu-ray_Players_Contributed_to_Weekly_Hardware_Lead/1403

That makes HD-DVDs as scratchable as regular DVDs (read: very).

From what I hear, that coating on Blu-ray is very good.

1) AACS is not mandatory on Blu-Ray, and in any case all HD-DVD discs to date have made use of it.

Wrong. New discs will soon use the 1.1 profile. And the players for it (like the newest PowerDVD) will NOT play AACS-less BD+ titles! And BD+ isn't hacked. The were rumors last month, but nothing surfaced yet. And the latest AnyDVD HD doesn't do it either.

2) As noted, Blu-Ray has more space for higher bitrates and also a higher maximum bitrate.

Bitrate doesn't automatically translate into superior quality. I suggest you read this. At some point you get diminishing returns. Tons of groups are releasing HD rips in DVD9 format (x264, some even in WMV-HD) already and they have GREAT quality. You don't need 50GB at all to have excellent quality.

The main differences between the 2 (other than studio backing) are:

-Blu-Ray has more DRM (BD+, which STILL isn't publicly hacked, notice how the latest Fox titles aren't pirated yet) and I think that's the main reason some studios are switching (that, or major sums of $)
-The Blu-Ray players are more expensive, especially those that support the newer profiles or are region free
-Blu-Ray uses BD-J, which might be a real nightmare (I won't be surprised if some VMs have issues with new titles, the performance isn't good at all seemingly, etc) versus simple, elegant web-like markup for HD DVD

The war is far from being over. A studio changed their mind. Any of them can change it again anytime soon. Dual format players are getting cheaper (ncix.com has a dual format drive for your PC for $250). Sometimes the market changes very quickly. DVD-R had a pretty big lead for a while, then +R came out with faster discs quicker and got more sales. Now we have dual formats.

• Blu-ray player sales dominate HD DVD, 3 to 1
• Latest Japanese data shows Blu-ray outsells HD-DVD 9:1
• Blu-ray outselling HD DVD 2 to 1 this year
• Blu-ray Winning Europe 4-to-1
• Sony claims Blu-ray had 95% Australian HD market in October
• Blu-ray Dominates HD- DVD in Holiday shopping
• Disc Sales: 'Pirates' Leads Blu-ray to Decisive Weekly Win Over HD DVD
• PS3 to Go Blu-ray Profile 1.1 With New Firmware Update
• Blu-Ray Wins a Battle in the High-Def War

• Blu-ray player sales dominate HD DVD, 3 to 1
• Latest Japanese data shows Blu-ray outsells HD-DVD 9:1
• Blu-ray outselling HD DVD 2 to 1 this year
• Blu-ray Winning Europe 4-to-1
• Sony claims Blu-ray had 95% Australian HD market in October
• Blu-ray Dominates HD- DVD in Holiday shopping
• Disc Sales: 'Pirates' Leads Blu-ray to Decisive Weekly Win Over HD DVD
• PS3 to Go Blu-ray Profile 1.1 With New Firmware Update
• Blu-Ray Wins a Battle in the High-Def War

Blu-Ray's DRM is much, much, MUCH more complicated than HD-DVDs. Not to mention Blu-Ray's Java runtime requirement. This also translates to Blu-Ray players costing much more than HD-DVD players, and Blu-Ray discs costing much more to master.

This story is bogus, and has been shown to be such:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Kmart/Kmart:_Were_Purple/1137

I can't remember my login at the moment since I'm not at my own desk, but someone please correct the top story:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Kmart/Kmart:_Were_Purple/1137

That annoucement has been retracted.

Target had announced they were only offering a dedicated Blu-Ray player in store?
Well, somebody better tell Target to take this Toshiba HD-DVD player off their website.

You mean the one they sell online only, as in - not "In store"?

Well, 47.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot, do you have links which site those figures (at least)?

Most statstics can be verified quickly with Google. If you'd been following the whole thing at all, you'd know yo look at NPD figures which have been tracking sales week to week...

Well, a single one format may seem attractive, but the price war will bring in High Def Video at an affordable price more quickly than a single format.

That's a common myth from the HD-DVD side. Ad there is makes sense, because with only one hardware maker where would competition come from for pricing?

You forget that on the Blu-Ray side you have Samsung and Sony and Panasonic and a few others (even Denon) all making Blu-Ray players. Why would price competition not be just as fierce if there were one format - and with more dollars buying players, there would be a reason to fight for marketshare.

HD-DVD is really being aggressive in price, and when standards compete, it's usually the one which delivers a lower price who 'wins'.

Almost never is that true. It's usually a mix of features and marketing and price that cause one format to win over another.

Warner and Paramount are supporting both formats. Universal is exclusively HD-DVD, and the rest of the majors are exclusively Blu-Ray.

Between Warner and Paramount it looks like around 70-80 titles are currently available on both formats according to High-Def Digest's historical release lists.

Warner's been a little quicker about getting their HD-DVD titles out, so they have about 20 more titles that are still waiting for Blu-Ray releases.

Warner and Paramount are supporting both formats. Universal is exclusively HD-DVD, and the rest of the majors are exclusively Blu-Ray.

Between Warner and Paramount it looks like around 70-80 titles are currently available on both formats according to High-Def Digest's historical release lists.

Warner's been a little quicker about getting their HD-DVD titles out, so they have about 20 more titles that are still waiting for Blu-Ray releases.

Warner and Paramount are supporting both formats. Universal is exclusively HD-DVD, and the rest of the majors are exclusively Blu-Ray.

Between Warner and Paramount it looks like around 70-80 titles are currently available on both formats according to High-Def Digest's historical release lists.

Warner's been a little quicker about getting their HD-DVD titles out, so they have about 20 more titles that are still waiting for Blu-Ray releases.

Porn on Blu-ray is okay, but Sony facilities won't be used to press it.
Gizmodo
High-Def Digest
The Inquirer

The facts here seem very unclear. First of all, there has been no confirmation from WalMart as to which format they are buying. Also, a $300 Blu-Ray player is already on sale in China!

But while abstract ratios and percentages like these have been bandied about for several months now, the Sony report goes one step further, providing the first public release of hard sales figures for HD DVD and Blu-ray discs from Nielsen VideoScan, the home entertainment industry's leading source for competitive sales data.

Among the numbers revealed: as of March 18, VideoScan put the cumulative number of Blu-ray titles sold since the format's inception at 844,000 units, versus HD DVD at 708,600.

The first pressing of Chronos on Blu-ray had a similar problem with the PS3, but no one found that newsworthy at the time...

Yeah, or you could read the reviews of the blu-ray dics where they clearly state the PQ of each release. I head they are widely available on this 'internet' thing. I guess if you had this 'internwt' access thing you would be better informed.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html

Casino Royale:

"To be honest, I like this transfer, but I don't love it. 'Casino Royale' is actually the first film I've seen more than once in theater since, I believe, 'Jurassic Park' (in 1993!), and this 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 presentation does a pretty good job of approximating my experiences at that theater. But it also looks a bit digital and artificial. I'm certainly all for the filmmaker's intent, but even if that is the case here, I can't deny that the sheer level of detail rarely reaches the heights of the best Blu-ray titles I've enjoyed, and though the image does have pop, I wasn't consistently blown away."

So you may have made the right choice this time...but there is no point in guessing!

JON

It's your lucky day....

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3 065&page=14

They also have Sony CEo on the aircraft carrier:

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3 065&page=4

Clever people, those HD geeks.

JON

It's your lucky day....

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3 065&page=14

They also have Sony CEo on the aircraft carrier:

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3 065&page=4

Clever people, those HD geeks.

JON

The film being released is, according to the article linked to by MSNBC, "Debbie Does Dallas Again", not "Debbie Does Dallas".

Popularity in google doesn't necessarily mean sales.

According to dvd empire and Eproducwars blu-ray is currently outselling hd-dvd, an effect widely attributed to Ps3 owners buying HD movies. The average blu-ray movie costs less than hd-dvd in amazon as well.

Here's Debbie does dallas in blu-ray, porn in 1080p and multiple angles.

In a objective comparison, both formats are about the same(excluding player costs which will eventually be similar), except for future catalog:

Blu-ray
HD-DVD

Popularity in google doesn't necessarily mean sales.

According to dvd empire and Eproducwars blu-ray is currently outselling hd-dvd, an effect widely attributed to Ps3 owners buying HD movies. The average blu-ray movie costs less than hd-dvd in amazon as well.

Here's Debbie does dallas in blu-ray, porn in 1080p and multiple angles.

In a objective comparison, both formats are about the same(excluding player costs which will eventually be similar), except for future catalog:

Blu-ray
HD-DVD

Popularity in google doesn't necessarily mean sales.

According to dvd empire and Eproducwars blu-ray is currently outselling hd-dvd, an effect widely attributed to Ps3 owners buying HD movies. The average blu-ray movie costs less than hd-dvd in amazon as well.

Here's Debbie does dallas in blu-ray, porn in 1080p and multiple angles.

In a objective comparison, both formats are about the same(excluding player costs which will eventually be similar), except for future catalog:

Blu-ray
HD-DVD

why would I want to see a crappy movie really well? Maybe I'm just getting old, but there hasn't been much lately that has made me want to go to the movie theaters. I could be wrong, but even the latest epics (LOTR, and Potter) aren't available in High Def...

Frankly the format will go nowhere until Ishtar is available on it...

the reviews of the PS3's BluRay features and playback are absolutely gushing and calling it the best player on the market

If I'm not mistaken, the PS3 is only the 2nd Blu-Ray player on the market... There's the Samsung player, which has been out for a little while now, the PS3, and the Sony one won't be released until just before Christmas, I believe. Pioneer and Philips should have players... eventually... but for now they're getting screwed over by the already short supply of blue lasers going to the PS3. I'm sure the main reason the Sony BD player has been delayed so much is also because of the blue laser shortage.

Given the fact that the Samsung player is already running into Blu-Ray discs it can't play, and the Sony Blu-Ray player is going to need at least 2 firmware updates to play certain discs and to use the Java interactive features when it does finally launch, I'd say there's not much competition for the PS3 in the current market.

But then I'd be surprised if a $500/$600 dollar game machine can be a better BD player than a dedicated $1000 machine, too... I'm sure the PS3 will have its share of BD problems.

the reviews of the PS3's BluRay features and playback are absolutely gushing and calling it the best player on the market

If I'm not mistaken, the PS3 is only the 2nd Blu-Ray player on the market... There's the Samsung player, which has been out for a little while now, the PS3, and the Sony one won't be released until just before Christmas, I believe. Pioneer and Philips should have players... eventually... but for now they're getting screwed over by the already short supply of blue lasers going to the PS3. I'm sure the main reason the Sony BD player has been delayed so much is also because of the blue laser shortage.

Given the fact that the Samsung player is already running into Blu-Ray discs it can't play, and the Sony Blu-Ray player is going to need at least 2 firmware updates to play certain discs and to use the Java interactive features when it does finally launch, I'd say there's not much competition for the PS3 in the current market.

But then I'd be surprised if a $500/$600 dollar game machine can be a better BD player than a dedicated $1000 machine, too... I'm sure the PS3 will have its share of BD problems.

Blue-Ray is not solely Sony's. Blue-Ray is the result of the Blu-Ray Disc Association, of which Sony is a member. This does not mean Sony gets a cut of whatever Blu-Ray disk sells. It means Sony takes part in developing, through the strategic alliance of the Blr-Ray Disc Assoc., the standards of what can be called blu-ray such that a blu-ray player plays it. Sony only profits from blu-ray media it produces (as in films from Sony Motion Pictures.) Of which there are only 23 I was able to find. Although there may be more Blu-ray movies, they do not benefit Sony (outside of intagables like having a reason for a Blu-ray player or solidifying it's chose format in the market.)

Also, as far as I've seen, your website says it has nearly 150 And according to this website of releases plus previous releases, as of Nov. 14 it's only up to 99. And again, most of those are not from Sony.

Blue-Ray is not solely Sony's. Blue-Ray is the result of the Blu-Ray Disc Association, of which Sony is a member. This does not mean Sony gets a cut of whatever Blu-Ray disk sells. It means Sony takes part in developing, through the strategic alliance of the Blr-Ray Disc Assoc., the standards of what can be called blu-ray such that a blu-ray player plays it. Sony only profits from blu-ray media it produces (as in films from Sony Motion Pictures.) Of which there are only 23 I was able to find. Although there may be more Blu-ray movies, they do not benefit Sony (outside of intagables like having a reason for a Blu-ray player or solidifying it's chose format in the market.)

Also, as far as I've seen, your website says it has nearly 150 And according to this website of releases plus previous releases, as of Nov. 14 it's only up to 99. And again, most of those are not from Sony.

They're around.

According to High-Def Digest, the photos of the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 does not have an HDMI output. 1080p over component only is problematic - particularly if the movie studios turn on content protection. So, having 1080p output without the digital path to the display is not such bit thunder, IMHO.... See http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Microsoft/X box_360/High-Def_DVD_Gaming/No_HDMI_for_Xbox_360_H D_DVD_Add-On/248

The HD-DVD drive should do 1080i over component unless the disc uses the ICT, which no disc will for quite a few years probably. For information on what format it is on the disc, check out here: http://www.highdefdigest.com/. Most likely, if it's on HD-DVD, it's in 1080p using the VC-1 codec. The HD-DVD drive should either interlace that for 1080i or scale it for 720p, depending on your output preferences.

read here http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/HD_DVD_Back ers_to_Launch_Massive_$150_Marketing_Blitz/134

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Blu-ray's atrocious menu access times. The Blu-ray may boot up a disc quicker, but with every single Blu-ray disc I've played (Warner or otherwise), clicking between menu options is not only slower than HD DVD, but also even standard DVD. Even simple functions like selecting a submenu or accessing a scene are accompanied by a little icon I call the "hourglass of doom." This symbol will pop up for as long as two or three seconds and the disc's menu animation will stall as the deck access the next chunk of information off the disc. What gives? Even on a standard DVD you can click between submenus almost seamlessly. Quite frankly, with Blu-ray, I feel like I'm playing an old PlayStation 2 game, not cruising around a next-gen high-def disc seamlessly.

I don't think 100K units is even remotely a problem.
If you'll look at the released Blu-ray movies, you'll note that somehow they mostly have fewer features on them than their supposedly smaller DVD counterparts. The released HDDVD's on the other hand, all have at least the same amount, and some of them have movie length added features.

How could this be? with Blu-ray's huge storage advantage? For that, you need to look closer at what they've actually managed to ship.
Shipping: HDDVD - 30GB dual layer discs. VC1 and H.264 encoded movies (at about 18Mb). Leaving about 10-15GB free for added features.
Shipping: Blu-Ray - 25GB single layer discs (They _still_ can't replicate dual layer discs with any meaningful yields) with Mpeg2 encoded movies (at about 25Mb). Leaving only 2-3GB free for specials.

Even aside from their lackluster video quality inherent in high bandwidth MPEG2, and that Sony has told studios not to use BD-J until at least next year, and that the Samsung player states clearly in it's manual that it cannot play dual layer discs, some people still continue to insist that somehow blu-ray is a better format.

When you compare it to titles that have embedded video special features, something blu-ray can't do at all. And picture quality that just can't be beat by Mpeg2, you can see why the format hasn't died, even with less support currently (it'll come). Of course, it can't hurt that the studios are getting huge amounts of support and help from Microsoft and Toshiba, while Sony, being Sony is giving them the usual cold shoulder.

I don't think 100K units is even remotely a problem.
If you'll look at the released Blu-ray movies, you'll note that somehow they mostly have fewer features on them than their supposedly smaller DVD counterparts. The released HDDVD's on the other hand, all have at least the same amount, and some of them have movie length added features.

How could this be? with Blu-ray's huge storage advantage? For that, you need to look closer at what they've actually managed to ship.
Shipping: HDDVD - 30GB dual layer discs. VC1 and H.264 encoded movies (at about 18Mb). Leaving about 10-15GB free for added features.
Shipping: Blu-Ray - 25GB single layer discs (They _still_ can't replicate dual layer discs with any meaningful yields) with Mpeg2 encoded movies (at about 25Mb). Leaving only 2-3GB free for specials.

Even aside from their lackluster video quality inherent in high bandwidth MPEG2, and that Sony has told studios not to use BD-J until at least next year, and that the Samsung player states clearly in it's manual that it cannot play dual layer discs, some people still continue to insist that somehow blu-ray is a better format.

When you compare it to titles that have embedded video special features, something blu-ray can't do at all. And picture quality that just can't be beat by Mpeg2, you can see why the format hasn't died, even with less support currently (it'll come). Of course, it can't hurt that the studios are getting huge amounts of support and help from Microsoft and Toshiba, while Sony, being Sony is giving them the usual cold shoulder.

I don't think 100K units is even remotely a problem.
If you'll look at the released Blu-ray movies, you'll note that somehow they mostly have fewer features on them than their supposedly smaller DVD counterparts. The released HDDVD's on the other hand, all have at least the same amount, and some of them have movie length added features.

How could this be? with Blu-ray's huge storage advantage? For that, you need to look closer at what they've actually managed to ship.
Shipping: HDDVD - 30GB dual layer discs. VC1 and H.264 encoded movies (at about 18Mb). Leaving about 10-15GB free for added features.
Shipping: Blu-Ray - 25GB single layer discs (They _still_ can't replicate dual layer discs with any meaningful yields) with Mpeg2 encoded movies (at about 25Mb). Leaving only 2-3GB free for specials.

Even aside from their lackluster video quality inherent in high bandwidth MPEG2, and that Sony has told studios not to use BD-J until at least next year, and that the Samsung player states clearly in it's manual that it cannot play dual layer discs, some people still continue to insist that somehow blu-ray is a better format.

When you compare it to titles that have embedded video special features, something blu-ray can't do at all. And picture quality that just can't be beat by Mpeg2, you can see why the format hasn't died, even with less support currently (it'll come). Of course, it can't hurt that the studios are getting huge amounts of support and help from Microsoft and Toshiba, while Sony, being Sony is giving them the usual cold shoulder.