Thursday, December 17, 2009

DVD Vs. BluRay!!

Before I start I just want to say that this isn't a arms race between Blu-Ray's and DVD's. Obviously Blu-Rays are better I'm merely stating that they need to really think about what they are doing before they come out with something.

I mean DVD's have only been around since 95, why the sudden change in products!? It's took VHS 25 years to get the product out.

Ever since the DVD has been around it's been talked as being a huge step in our home entertainment! Same was said for the Blu-Ray Disc.

And in that regard I agree.

But when they talk about Hi-Def I get confused. I personally don't have a Hi-Def Plasma TV, my TV is Standard Definition (meaning it's almost Hi-Def) but when I want to watch something on Blu-Ray I go to my dads house (he's got a 62" Plasma TV). And I noticed something a while ago...

The difference is almost completely unnoticeable. And Actually while watching a Blu-Ray on my dad's TV I could see some places where the pixels weren't fitting correctly to the screen (if that makes any sense...)

I found this list of Pro's and Con's of various websites such as Helium, Yahoo Answers,

Blu-Ray

Pros:

-high storage capacity of 25 Gb per layer.

Having more storage capability means that more data can be stored per disc. For movie watchers, this means that the image and audio quality can potentially be better than other formats such as DVD (which can only store 4.7Gb per layer). More content (such as trailers, interviews, behind the scene clips) can also be squeezed into the standard disc. For gamers, it means basically the same thing, more space equals less compression, which means better graphics and sound. Bonus materials such as more levels, weapons, etc.

-supported by big name retailers such as Blockbuster Video and Target Corporation.

Blockbuster Video, one of the largest video rental store is set to carry Blu-Ray movies in 1450 other stores, while Target Corporation, one of USA's top retailer, announced that it will expand its Blu-ray disc inventory as well as exclusively carry Blu-ray stand alone players through the holiday season. It currently does not carry any other high definition DVD Players other than Xbox 360's HD DVD addon. This means that the availability of Blu-ray products will be more widespread as compared to its competitor such as HD DVD.

- Ownership

Unlike downloads -- or cable's Video on Demand service -- Blu-ray enables you to own your movie. Like the standard-def DVD, you can start collecting a library of Blu-ray films that can be watched over and over.

Cons:

- Blu-ray players generally more expensive than its competitors.

- Hi-def media requires hi-def ready television sets.

If your television set is not hi-def ready, the difference in quality between Blu-ray and normal DVD would not be that apparent.

- Region Coded + DRM enabled.

In an attempt to stop/deter piracy, Blu-ray employed both region coding as well as DRM (digital rights management). Region coding makes it such that movies bought from a region A (eg. USA) cannot be played on a player that is bought in region B (eg. Europe). DRM is used to only allow the disc to be played if certain conditions (such as whether the player has been tampered with, whether the disc being played has the correct ID, etc) were met. It usually would not pose any problem unless you want to make a copy of the protected disc.

- Data stored very close (about 0.1mm) to surface of disc.

Data in the Blu-Ray Disc is stored very close to the surface of the disc (0.1mm) as compared to DVDs and HD DVDs (0.6mm). Scratches of more than 0.1mm will possibly damage all data stored under the scratch marks. However, various companies have came up with their own method of hard-coating the surface to make it scratch proof. TDK's Durabis technology is one such method and claims to be able to withstand steel wool scrubbing.

- Downloads

While this site believes digital downloads are years away from becoming a convenient way to watch movies at home, some analysts disagree. They say companies such as NetFlix, Microsoft and TiVo will soon enable viewers to watch a new video release without having to leave the house -- and waiting long periods of time for the video to download. If true, the Blu-ray business could sputter and eventually die away.

It just bugs me that they are trying to force us to spend more money by buying more expensive TV's, more expensive Videos, And more expensive Video Players. Some of us aren't shitting out money.

2 comments:

Izzy said...

Standard definition is 480i, meaning there's 480 rows of pixels, the i meaning 'interlaced'. Interlaced video is where the even rows are drawn on one screen refresh, then it goes back to the top and draws the odd rows on the next screen refresh, effectively halving the resolution. 'Full' HD is 1080p, 1080 rows of pixels, and the p means 'progressive', where each row is drawn every time the screen refreshes. Standard definition is not 'almost Hi-Def'.

As to the difference not being noticeable, that is a matter of personal opinion. To me, the differences are immediately obvious. Also, how far away you are from the TV matters greatly. If you're too close, you can start to see the pixels, and if you're too far away, the pixels start to blur together. See THIS to calculate the optimum viewing distance for a given TV.

As to the cons... New formats are always more expensive than their older counterparts. This is to be expected of something new. Give it time, and the prices will come down as manufacturing costs decrease and the technology becomes more commonplace.

The fact that it requires an HDTV is a con for those that don't already have one, yes, but HDTVs are becoming more and more common, and will only become more so in the coming years.

DVDs are also region coded and DRMed. See THIS for more on that. Both the DVD and Blu-Ray region coding and DRM can and has been worked around and/or broken for your choice of purposes.

Disc scratches have always been a problem with optical media, and probably always will be(Unless you want to pay for diamond discs?). Yes, Blu-Ray is even more susceptible to them, but if you are careful with your discs, you're not likely to have problems with them.

As to digital downloads, Netflix and other businesses are already very successful. And what these sites are doing is not letting you download these movies, they are letting you stream them. You don't wait for the whole thing to download before you watch it, it is downloaded as you watch it and deleted as soon as you close the window. Also, I don't see how this is a con to Blu-Ray...

They're not forcing you to buy Blu-Ray. If you'll notice, new movies are still being released on DVD, and probably will be for years to come. I don't know anyone who has bought a Blu-Ray player yet, due to the price. But the price will come down, and more and more people will buy them as it does. They are not cutting off DVDs and saying "All our future releases will be on Blu-Ray". They would lose money that way, because most people don't want to(Or can't) shell out $200 for the 'basic' player. They would be asking for bankruptcy that way. There will be a gradual switch to Blu-Ray, same as with VHS, DVD and HDTVs.

That's my two cents on the matter, and you're welcome to point out any errors you find in it.

Slacker's Blog said...

lol there is nothing wrong with your opinion.

The Only thing I have a problem with regarding Blu-ray and the Plasma Screen TV's is the Price.