Blu-Ray add-on again mentioned as a possibility
Anyone that reads technology news knows that Warner dropped their support for the HD-DVD movie format, switching to Blu-Ray exclusively. Many declared the High Definition movie format over, despite a number of studios still in the balance. However this has got Microsoft thinking, and Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware, today declared that bringing a Blu-ray add-on for the 360 is something they might yet have to think about.
When asked about the possibility of an add-on for the Blu-ra format, Penello replied:
“It should be consumer choice; and if that’s the way they vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider.”
He doesn’t believe the Warner announcement will affect the sales of the 360 however, since the majority of people are not buying the console purposely for the movie playback. This also isn’t the first time we have heard Microsoft employees speaking of the possibility, so should more studios switch to Blu-ray exclusively, you can expect to see an add-on for the format coming at some point in the 360’s life.
It seems Sony have done at least one thing right by supporting Blu-ray and including it in the PS3. Is a Blu-ray add-on something you would welcome considering how poorly HD-DVD is doing of late? Let us know below.
This is smart business for microsoft. Now maybe Sony will follow suit and announce a game add-on.
That post was GODLY…
LOL!!
Hahaha! Hats off to that
So besides memory, what else does Blu-Ray offer that the HD-DVD lacks? Give it to me in a Nutshell.
lack of a unified interactive layer … i mean what 2 players support their new 1.1 standard….
and further, the 2.0 standard which is still yet to show its face ( god knows if their will be 1.2 1.5 1.8 players lol ) will probably also break disk/old player compatability in some way….
I’m not really a fan of Blu-Ray because it only uses MPEG-2 compression (the same that’s on DVD) where HD-DVD uses VC1 compression. VC1 looks alot better in motion and takes up a smaller digital footprint. HD-DVD also loads faster and has more interactive features. On top of that HD-DVD’s are cheaper to manufacture/produce. I think space is the ONLY advantage that BD-ROMs carry. But isn’t that how it always goes? Betamax was the better tech too…
All this doesn’t bother me much anyway since digital downloads are coming!
Blu-ray DID use Mpeg-2 in it’s early days, however it quickly switched to the more superior VC-1 from what I understand.
Yes HD-DVD’s HDi features are solid and standardised unlike Blu-Ray’s but that doesn’t seem to have helped it overall. I’ve got two HD-DVD players (360 one and the Tosh HD-E1) and have to admit that the marketing for the format has been non-existent from Toshiba and it’s partners here in the UK.
I’m avoiding the digital download of films because they’re downsized compared to their HD disc equivalents, and they’re rental…however I do look forward to the download of TV serials which aren’t rental from what I understand and download to your hard disk.
i feel bad for the people that bought the HDDVD add on only for microsoft to bail on them and switch to bluray, luckily for me ill be able to get the hd add on dirt cheap once they do
i also seem to be hearing a faint sound **betamax, betamax**
umm if we were referring to betamax it would be bluray that would die, the techncally supperior format of the time technically…
besides, as was said by some analysts if the studios that are with hddvd still do flee, hddvd will most likely become the nextgen replacement for DVD-R/RW because of its low cost of ownership relative to bluray.
And microsoft isnt bailing on the HDDVD people bought, if they release an addon they can pick up both the hddvd and bluray player if they so choose they didnt force anyone to pick a side like bluray did.
Lol Outhouse that was genius, well technically nothing Blu-ray uses Blue light rays (hence blue-ray) in the laser to decode the disc its a smaller colour width (unlike Infer red which is larger) But HD-DVD matched the memory size of Blu-ray by adding an extra layer (there is a practical theory which says every 18 months DVD’s and micro chips will increase in storage so same for HD DVD) Im sad HD DVD is the Beta Max of this generation the packaging always looked better but least I will get them for next 2 nothing noe
Who really gives a crap about HDDVD or Bluray???? The difference between the DVD & HD formats are barely knowticable, well besides the raping of my wallet.
u cant notice the difference if u dont have an HD t.v.
blu-ray has started using the vc-1 compression.
so finally there discs look comparable. before that every review stated how bad the low light and about every other scene looked in bluray format compared to hd-dvd. i am only sad because i own an hd-dvd add on. (oh yeah and i hate sony!)
Doesn’t matter for me I’m sticking with DVD… Besides more memmory and extra money, nothing…. I mean nothing I’ve seen out of either camp makes me want to convert. I don’t really care about how much disc space a format has…
I can’t even fill up a DVD… And ALL movie studios will support Regular DVD for a very..very long time to come.
i am the same way
If microsoft is indeed going to release a Blu Ray player for the 360, let’s hope they do it sooner rather than later. Give customers the choice b4 it’s too late and sony wins too many of them over just because of the blu ray playback capability of PS3
F@%kin A-holes at Warner. Bite me doosh bags.
*douche
If MS release a BR addon for the 360 then the next format war is over. Better sooner than later…
I cant wait for my battle rifle add on!!!!!!
lol
Even though the odds are against HD DVD I have a good feeling that HD DVD will come out victorius in this format war. Plus like said before wasn’t betamax suppose to beat all competition out there like Blu-Ray? IT ISN’T OVER YET PEOPLE!
Betamax was supposed to beat the competition as it was technically a far better platform. It lost the war at the time based mainly on media sales and availability of that media. If you look at the current media sales and availability of HD DVD vs Bluray then it is pretty obvious which way it is going. And for the guy earlier asking the technical difference between the two - it doesn’t matter a toss as the average punter doesn’t base his decision on tech specs.
Blu-ray uses VC-1 and MPEG4 AVC. Most disc’s by the same studio tend to look identical on both formats.
IMO HD is only worth bothering with if you have a decent size display. On my 32″ LCD it’s not worth it, on my 100″ PJ screen SD is pitiful by comparison and looks terrible.
The only negative with blu-ray is the region coding on some discs.
If HD-DVD wanted to get a serious leg up I have a suggestion. They do standard one disc DVD’s and two disc versions with the extras. Simply do a “special edition” that comes with a full DVD and an HD-DVD version, not a flip disc but both full discs.
This would encourage people without HDTV’s to future proof and greatly increase HD-DVD sales.
i got the HD DVD add-on and it is a nice bit of kit like. almost bought the PS3 as i thought well i’ll get the blu-ray dirt cheap plus the option to play 3 or 4 games as they do them as well apparently.
Both HD DVD and Blu Ray are failing so far.Having two formats cetainly has not helped, but its not the only problem they are facing.The main problem is that for the vast majority of people, DVD is fine. Every film is released on DVD. And at a fraction of the price.
DVD … or in reality a DivX rip streaming to XBMC works just fine for most people I know
Microsoft is not giving up yet…
http://www.pcworld.com/ar...vdtechnology/article.html
does it really matter who wins?
not really
except for the poor schmucks that bought into microsofts dream of a hddvd revolution
….erm..not really.
Microsoft kinda did the smart thing by not building the HD-DVD drive into their system.
At only £100 it’s not a major pain to buy a blu-ray add-on if one is ever released, and you would still have an HD-DVD drive for any discs you bought.
If things had gone the other way Sony would have been screwed, they are very very lucky.
eitherway, i dont care about any, im not rebuying all my dvds. ive been around for awhile, and i went from vhs to dvd and im all caught up, im not about to do it all over again. and dvd is a great picture. i have no plans now or for later to “upgrade” to blue ray or hd-dvd
dont forget that there is a whole multi-billion $ film industry waiting on the brinks to decide which format, and it happens to be who helped win over VHS (only because Jvc who invented VHs gave the right to everyone to use vhs) maybe you have heard of it THE PORN INDUSTRY!!! From the latest articles they are not to happy with blu-rays big partner Disney who has three main disc making facilities in the u.s. and have stated they will not let 1 porn be made in any of the three facilities that produce there movies. These studios happen to be three of the biggest manufacturing facilities in the u.s. So war might wage on a little longer, but damn this is getting old. What a way to alienate the average consumer!!
Something tells me you want blu-ray porn…
actually it was said months ago that the porn industry decided to go with HD DVD period. And I would LOVE to watch a nice blonde on HD DVD
the holodisk’s are in the make to so give it another 3years and bluray and hd-dvd are both gone.
becouse how doesnt want a terabyte on 1 disk
Ya know… I really don’t care, there I said it. I own both HD and Blu-ray players. When VHS was out I was still buying beta movies. Now isn’t any different, I own over 300 DVDs and I won’t be getting duplicates, that said, I own close to 200 Blu-ray and HD movies combined and could care less if HD is going down the toilet. All the movies I have are movies I wanted so I’m not disappointed in the least.
Also, I too would like to see blu-ray porn or HD, whatevs lol
thing is its cheaper and better to go to the movies ,you cant beat it
You have to think realistically, Microsoft would never come out with a Blu-ray drive, and heres why. Who makes Blu-ray, Sony, and isnt sony a fierce competitor with microsoft. Sony might allow it so they can make more money but microsoft wouldnt allow it.
Sure they would. They are competitors in gaming, not movies. MS would offer a BR drive if people want one, but then push harder for online delivery through live.
Sony are only part of the Blu-ray association as are many other companies. MS have hedged the bets from the beginning (more like didn’t want to wait for a HD drive) and that gives them the option to add Blu-ray with very little shame.
If a 360 with a BD drive is the same price as a PS3 or even slightly more expensive but much more quality games that’s the route many would take.
simple as this, just like before if porn goes with hd-dvd its over =hd-dvd wins. and by the way i dont buy porn. why would you its free.
Hence why it won’t be so influential this time around. Porn is readily available everywhere now, sales of porn are way down. It won’t hold as much influence as it did back in the day.
Also, a porn company today announced they will be going Blu-ray. Only one company, but it’s a start.
13.3$ billion in 2007 is still huge. but i do agree with what you are stating= makes sense.