Emasher Posted February 22, 2008 Posted February 22, 2008 The new HD war is probably going to between these two. Even though Blu-Ray will for the most part be higher quality, I still would go with online downloads just because of the convenience factor. Especially for rentals.
Shino Posted February 22, 2008 Posted February 22, 2008 There's no war, both will be useful, blu-ray will be there first and will be overall better.
Emasher Posted February 22, 2008 Author Posted February 22, 2008 Online downloading is already here. Its just not that big yet. People are going to most likely choose to either buy an Apple TV or similar product or a blu-ray player.
That Guy Posted February 22, 2008 Posted February 22, 2008 I like Blu Rays for buying films, but agree about the renting going with downloads.
DCK Posted February 22, 2008 Posted February 22, 2008 I don't think there's any of the two that will win, because they aren't competing each other. At least not in the way BD competed against HD DVD. These 'formats' can probably coexist succesfully. Online downloads will take a few more years though.
Guest bluey Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 until i stop using my laptop as a dvd player and get a decent tv - i guess it doesnt matter to me... *squeee!!* @ DCK's avatar! CUTE!
Caris Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Download will take a long time before there meanstream. Most people don't have that sort of equipment or the knowledge. I mean look at iTunes and stuff like that yet CD's are doing just fine. DVD, blu-ray and Downloads will all live together nice and happy.
Slaggis Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Download will take a long time before there meanstream. Most people don't have that sort of equipment or the knowledge. I mean look at iTunes and stuff like that yet CD's are doing just fine. DVD, blu-ray and Downloads will all live together nice and happy. Agreed, I think for now the "war" is over.
Cube Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Most people don't have that sort of equipment or the knowledge. Just like Blu-Ray. Most people seem to assume that getting a HDTV will magically turn everything into glorious High Definition.
Noodleman Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Until I can download a 40gig file in under an hour I'll stick to physical media thanks. Or they find a way to compress a proper HD movie into something thats not 40 gig.
Sanchez Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Until I can download a 40gig file in under an hour I'll stick to physical media thanks. Or they find a way to compress a proper HD movie into something thats not 40 gig. A 40GB movie can be compressed to about 15GB with little noticeable loss in quality.
Emasher Posted February 23, 2008 Author Posted February 23, 2008 A 40GB movie can be compressed to about 15GB with little noticeable loss in quality. exactly, you don't need a 40 gig file. For most people its not really worth going out into the cold and buying a disk just so they can gain a bit of quality which is hardly noticeable.
Slaggis Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 exactly, you don't need a 40 gig file. For most people its not really worth going out into the cold and buying a disk just so they can gain a bit of quality which is hardly noticeable. "Going out into the cold". Jeez, it's like an advertisment for obesity.
Emasher Posted February 23, 2008 Author Posted February 23, 2008 Its been -40 C for the last couple weeks where I live. Going outside just isn't worth it.
Slaggis Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Its been -40 C for the last couple weeks where I live. Going outside just isn't worth it. For most of the population (Though, as with you there are exceptions obviously), it's not hard to go and buy a disk. Most people prefer to have a physical disk rather than something on a harddrive. Also, with everyone also going out shopping, going on days out to city's etc, it's just as convinient to buy something from a shop as it is to wait for a 15GB download. Which at the moment for most people still takes a fair while, and still will do at least in the near future.
Pyxis Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Until I can download a 40gig file in under an hour I'll stick to physical media thanks. Or they find a way to compress a proper HD movie into something thats not 40 gig. A Blu ray disc can store 25GB of data if its single layered. Virgin Media will be rolling out cable broadband speeds of up to 50Mb soon. They currently offer 20Mb. 50Mb / 8 = 6.25MB a second. 6.25MB x 60 = 375MB a minute and 22.5GB in an hour. That means that the speed is there to download films faster than you can watch them.
McPhee Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 I won't buy in to a HD disk format until the prices fall sub-£80 for the player and £10 for the disks. They're pretty, but not enough of a radical improvement over DVD to warrant the sort of price currently asked. Definitely a luxury at the moment. I'd like to see downloads sorted pretty soon, if i can use my 360 or PC to download high def movies for a few quid then i'll happily buy. Yes, the quality is worse. Do i care? Not really, for the price difference im happy A Blu ray disc can store 25GB of data if its single layered. Virgin Media will be rolling out cable broadband speeds of up to 50Mb soon. They currently offer 20Mb. 50Mb / 8 = 6.25MB a second. 6.25MB x 60 = 375MB a minute and 22.5GB in an hour. That means that the speed is there to download films faster than you can watch them. At theoretical maximum bandwidth, which only happens under idea conditions and will only be available in certain parts of the country
That Guy Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 For most of the population (Though, as with you there are exceptions obviously), it's not hard to go and buy a disk. Most people prefer to have a physical disk rather than something on a harddrive. Also, with everyone also going out shopping, going on days out to city's etc, it's just as convinient to buy something from a shop as it is to wait for a 15GB download. Which at the moment for most people still takes a fair while, and still will do at least in the near future. Exactly. It's almost as if people actually want to live on the internet. I love going round shops and buying crap. I do a lot of online shopping as well but I still like to actually have physical media.
Caris Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 A Blu ray disc can store 25GB of data if its single layered. Virgin Media will be rolling out cable broadband speeds of up to 50Mb soon. They currently offer 20Mb. 50Mb / 8 = 6.25MB a second. 6.25MB x 60 = 375MB a minute and 22.5GB in an hour. That means that the speed is there to download films faster than you can watch them. Well if you download more then 10GB a day you get capped so good luck with that. There's too much complication for downloads to overtake actual disks. It's much easier to buy a player and a disk and you also get a hard copy of the film.
Emasher Posted February 23, 2008 Author Posted February 23, 2008 For most of the population (Though, as with you there are exceptions obviously), it's not hard to go and buy a disk. Most people prefer to have a physical disk rather than something on a harddrive. Also, with everyone also going out shopping, going on days out to city's etc, it's just as convinient to buy something from a shop as it is to wait for a 15GB download. Which at the moment for most people still takes a fair while, and still will do at least in the near future. Not really, while waiting for a download you can do something else, if you're going out and buying/renting a film you can't do much else while you're driving there and back. I also like going out and buying stuff, just not movies. I just don't see why people need a hard copy of something. Its much more convenient to browse through a list of movies and then press a button to play them than it is to look though a shelf of dvd cases and then insert a disk and go put the one that was in the player already away.
Caris Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 To play on other things than computers, to play in different rooms in the house, to lend out to mates etc. Silly comment that one.
Slaggis Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Not really, while waiting for a download you can do something else, if you're going out and buying/renting a film you can't do much else while you're driving there and back. I also like going out and buying stuff, just not movies. I just don't see why people need a hard copy of something. Its much more convenient to browse through a list of movies and then press a button to play them than it is to look though a shelf of dvd cases and then insert a disk and go put the one that was in the player already away. There's a hardly a difference between putting a disk in a tray, or loading up something, and pressing a button. The effort for both is minimal. Also, it's sort of pyschological. I'd feel as though I have spent my money on something worth it if I have a physical copy of it, something I can hold in my hand, whereas something I've downloaded just doesn't feel the same. If you're going out to rent/buy a dvd, you can socialise with people your with, do other things whilst your out. It works both ways. I don't see downloading becoming the norm for a large number of years.
Emasher Posted February 23, 2008 Author Posted February 23, 2008 To play on other things than computers, to play in different rooms in the house, to lend out to mates etc. Silly comment that one. That's why you buy a box such as an apple TV to play it on your TV. Technically Its illegal to lend it out to mates. There's a hardly a difference between putting a disk in a tray, or loading up something, and pressing a button. The effort for both is minimal. Also, it's sort of pyschological. I'd feel as though I have spent my money on something worth it if I have a physical copy of it, something I can hold in my hand, whereas something I've downloaded just doesn't feel the same. If you're going out to rent/buy a dvd, you can socialise with people your with, do other things whilst your out. It works both ways. I don't see downloading becoming the norm for a large number of years. The least effort it could take using optical media (that you already own): Get up and walk over to your player Grab the case of the movie that's in your player, eject it and put it back in the case. Find the movie you want to watch take it out of its case and put it in the player. Wait for it too load and wait for the previews (if applicable) to finish playing. Navigate through the DVD/blu-ray menus. The least effort it could take to watch a movie stored on your hard drive: Scroll through the menus of the device you're using to watch the movie (be it a computer or an apple TV). Press enter to select the movie. The least effort it could take to rent a movie via a movie rental store: Go get in your car and drive to the movie rental store. Walk in and select a movie. Pay. Drive home. See the earlier optical media scenario for the rest. The least effort it could take to rent/buy a movie online: Navigate to the online store. Select a movie. Wait for it to download. As for the next point, its just phycological, it doesn't really matter. In fact, the production of the plastics used to make the case and disk could actually harm the environment. Why not phone someone while waiting for your movie to download if you want to socialize.
Shino Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Two problems, 1) even if you have 50Mb internet using it all on watching movies pisses everyone that's using internet in the house. 2)if you're not streaming and each film (hopefully) occupies 15GB, that's 6 movies in an 100GB HDD. Overall, too much hassle for everyone other than Emasher.
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