Originally posted by: Scruffy
So far, the superior specifications of Blu-ray have not been realized. All Blu-ray titles to date are 25GB, while HD DVD titles can be 30GB. (I don't know if 30GB discs make up the majority of HD DVD releases, but I suspect they do.) All Blu-ray titles to date have used MPEG-2, while HD DVD uses VC-1. HD DVD supports Dolby and DTS lossless audio, while the only mandatory lossless codec for Blu-Ray is PCM (yes, uncompressed)! And the current HD DVD players are half the price of Blu-ray players.
Eventually, Blu-ray probably will adopt an advanced video codec, and may produce affordable 50GB discs. But for now, they are widely considered inferior to their cousins. In any case, the vast majority of people are looking at them today with the same wariness they cast towards DVD eight years ago. DVD Video's going away, or at least stepping down from the number one spot, there's top-down pressure for that. It's just a matter of when.
So far, the superior specifications of Blu-ray have not been realized. All Blu-ray titles to date are 25GB, while HD DVD titles can be 30GB. (I don't know if 30GB discs make up the majority of HD DVD releases, but I suspect they do.) All Blu-ray titles to date have used MPEG-2, while HD DVD uses VC-1. HD DVD supports Dolby and DTS lossless audio, while the only mandatory lossless codec for Blu-Ray is PCM (yes, uncompressed)! And the current HD DVD players are half the price of Blu-ray players.
Eventually, Blu-ray probably will adopt an advanced video codec, and may produce affordable 50GB discs. But for now, they are widely considered inferior to their cousins. In any case, the vast majority of people are looking at them today with the same wariness they cast towards DVD eight years ago. DVD Video's going away, or at least stepping down from the number one spot, there's top-down pressure for that. It's just a matter of when.
The problem is that Blu-Ray may not get the chance to produce the better discs, if HD-DVD wins in the meantime. Blu-Ray may be better, but they aren't taking advantage of it.
DVD is going to be around a good while longer, IMHO. As said before, there simply isn't enough reason for people to adopt a HD format. Besides a format war that has many people scared off, most people just don't have an HDTV, and therefore can't use a high def disc. Secondly, there isn't as much consumer reason to adopt high def formats. Laserdisc didn't replace VHS because to most people there wasn't a good reason to adopt a laserdisc. They were expensive, and had a better video and audio, but not that much better to compel people to buy them. So they remained in the realm of the audiophiles. DVD was a big leap forward. Complete with deleleted scenes, bonus features, alternate audio, commentary, much better sound, etc,people saw a huge difference and went to DVD. Now comes along high def DVDs. Most people don't have HDTVs, and aren't going to be getting them anytime soon. They aren't willing to buy another copy of their favorite film in less than 10 years, for not much difference. They already have extras, and the difference between HD and standard DVDs aren't enough in most people's minds to switch. They are simply satisfied with what they have and don't want anything new. "top-down" pressure isn't enough to force adoption.
An example of this is DVD-Audio. That was supposed to be much better than CD, and was supported enthusiasically by the music industry. But it failed miserably because nobody wanted it.