Blue-ray wins HD format war

[Alpha]

Hell, there has recently been rumors and speculation now that Microsoft will be making a Blu-ray add on for the 360.

 

It's actually a very old rumour based on a quote taken out of context from some MS rep at the time of the HD-DVD player add-on's release. It went like "we're not taking sides... if Blu-Ray wins we may end up making a BD-ROM add-on too."

 

It was flat out denied by Microsoft ages ago.

Actually, this *new* rumor came out yesterday.

 

Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008. The move will allow the Company to go head to head with the Sony PS3 gaming console which has been credited with being one of the main reasons that retailers have preferred Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD.

 

Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft has already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months.

 

The Company has also been working on a built in Blu-ray player however insiders are claiming that Microsoft see the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download as opposed to having to buy a HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.

 

Both Intel and Microsoft have been supporters of the HD DVD format that is set to be killed off this week.

 

The Company has also held discussions with several OEM manufacturers of media centres with nearly all of them telling the software Company that they are set to move to Blu-ray configured Media Centres within the next month.

 

Late last week US Media Centre maker Niveus dumped HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray.

 

The Company VP of marketing Brian Paper said that Niveus had received support from Microsoft and Intel when implementing HD DVD. The format wasn't pushed on Niveus, he said, adding that the commitment in both Intel and Microsoft "isn't religious for HD DVD".

 

Michael Ephraim the Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment said: "We would welcome Microsoft to the Blu-ray stable. In fact it is quite logical for them as the PS3 has been very succesful in driving consumers to Blu-ray. In fact we believe that it has done more to win the format war than traditional Blu-ray player".

 

When asked whether Sony would grant Microsoft a Blu-ray licence he said: "That is up to Sony Corporate but I see no reason why they would not do it".

 

During CES 2006 the then Microsoft's Xbox corporate VP of worldwide marketing and publishing Peter Moore told Japanese site ITmedia that a Blu-ray Xbox 360 peripheral could appear for the system if the need arises. Moore admitted that Microsoft isn't sure of the next-generation format war's outcome, with the worst-case scenario being a repeat of the Beta vs. VHS war of the '80s.

 

However, he suggested that whatever the outcome of the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war, the Xbox 360 can adopt the dominant format since its uses an external drive.

Source: http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/J7L7H2R4

Thanks to: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=641678 [XBOX-Scene]

[Inky]

I don't really see MS going with a bluray player. they already got burned on the hd-dvd player. not to mention their own marketplace rentals and word on the street is netflix could be coming to xbox live soon. like I said, digital distribution is where it is at.

[Wizard]

While Blu-Ray won the battle, they haven't won the war. The war with DVD Media. Still strong and until HDTV becomes a the standard, they got to fight another battle.

 

I'll give one thing though, HD-DVD Players are great upscales compared to all the Blu-Ray players. Nearly all the Blu-Ray Players upscale sucks royally and from what I'm told by the hardcore, HD-DVD players do a way better job at upscaling DVDs.

[solidius23]

hd dvd players do a piss poor job of upscaling too imo.

[General Plot]

It's good to see that history didn't repeat itself. Beta was the technologically superior format and wound up losing the battle to VHS. With twice the storage capacity, it only made sense (especially in the case of HD) that Bu Ray would win. For anyone that hasn't had a chance to see one, I'll tell you from personal experience there's nothing like it. I recently got a copy of Con Air on Blu Ray, and it looks amazing.

[Tynvar]

I wish the HD tvs would detect if you media is DVD and unite pixels to lower the resolution and avoid that blurry oil look to them.

[L.S.D]

I wish the HD tvs would detect if you media is DVD and unite pixels to lower the resolution and avoid that blurry oil look to them.

I think Sony LCD TV come with this capability.

[Tynvar]

I wish the HD tvs would detect if you media is DVD and unite pixels to lower the resolution and avoid that blurry oil look to them.

I think Sony LCD TV come with this capability.

 

That would be awesome because right now HDTVs really make DVDs look crappy.

[Wizard]

That would be awesome because right now HDTVs really make DVDs look crappy.

It's because theres crappy upscalers. While it does help that a TV does that, it isn't as one sided as that. The newer gen Sony Bravias do it very well, that's because the BDP-S300 is also a decent upscaler. Both are Sony products lol! But it gets the job done.

[Weirdy]

can't wait until bluray technology becomes as cheap as dvd technology today

 

it would certainly make data backups much easier

[Ryuken]

i don't get y some of you r hating on blu-ray and keep saying u'll stick to DVD. besides the price i don't see any disadvantage of blu-ray. i eman eventually the price of blu-ray and hdtv and anything having to do with blu-ray and HD will go down so just wait. As for digital distribution, yea it's great but not everyone have internet and even if they do, not everyone have fast internet so physical media will stay.