The Blu-Ray HD DVD War and current televisions and DVDs
Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:38 pm
Right now we are in a war in the entertainment industry. Sony has Blu-Ray and the Japanese have the HD DVD. I don't know a lot about either, but from what I have heard, it may be unwize to purchase any high definition television or DVD just now, or one will end up with the equivilant of a Betamax. Remember the Betamad VHS war? Well you don't want another peice of junk you can't use. I am unsure what to purchase just now.
But if a person wants to continue to watch DVDs or even watch Television there will come a point soon where a person is going to have to purchase a new High Definition Set. I think all media is going to go to this within a few years. I don't remember the deline they have set, but it isn't really soon but within the next few years. It may be sooner than we think. I don't know how fast these types of things go.
Are old televisions and DVDs going to be obsolute? I am pretty sure the answer will be yes, as everything is going to be in a new format. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about, you are free to correct me.
But if this is correct, just imagine the BILLIONS of televisions and DVDs that are now "junk". I mean, think of the impact to the environment!
This is why I am going to try to get some kind of thing started, even if it is just locally in my town or state. I am just one person, but I'll see if I can get people to recycle their sets when the time comes. If this happens I want to try to start some kind of Campain.
Now we all know that little kids love big machines. Well at least little boys seem to like big machines. And they might think it is fun to "feed" a machine. If we can get some kind of mascot, like very small trash compactor capiable of compacting a television or DVD, we could let the kids pretend they are feeding him. He could tour the country and eat all our junk! He would visit schools or maybe shopping malls. Well they'd probably only get to watch from the sidelines as a responsible adult does the actual feeding, but of course, "Charlie the Trash Compactor" is dangerous, they could tell the kids, but he does love to eat your television, so just drop it here and stand back and let us do the feeding.
What do you think?
It has to be better than letting our land fill with garbage.
But if a person wants to continue to watch DVDs or even watch Television there will come a point soon where a person is going to have to purchase a new High Definition Set. I think all media is going to go to this within a few years. I don't remember the deline they have set, but it isn't really soon but within the next few years. It may be sooner than we think. I don't know how fast these types of things go.
Are old televisions and DVDs going to be obsolute? I am pretty sure the answer will be yes, as everything is going to be in a new format. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about, you are free to correct me.
But if this is correct, just imagine the BILLIONS of televisions and DVDs that are now "junk". I mean, think of the impact to the environment!
This is why I am going to try to get some kind of thing started, even if it is just locally in my town or state. I am just one person, but I'll see if I can get people to recycle their sets when the time comes. If this happens I want to try to start some kind of Campain.
Now we all know that little kids love big machines. Well at least little boys seem to like big machines. And they might think it is fun to "feed" a machine. If we can get some kind of mascot, like very small trash compactor capiable of compacting a television or DVD, we could let the kids pretend they are feeding him. He could tour the country and eat all our junk! He would visit schools or maybe shopping malls. Well they'd probably only get to watch from the sidelines as a responsible adult does the actual feeding, but of course, "Charlie the Trash Compactor" is dangerous, they could tell the kids, but he does love to eat your television, so just drop it here and stand back and let us do the feeding.
What do you think?
It has to be better than letting our land fill with garbage.
Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:54 pm
Sony...is in Japan?
Anyway. Considering there isn't anymore content to add, there isn't much reason for rebuying on whatever new format. Unless they plan to make every single movie over in High Definition or something.
I'd rather the blu-ray. Lots of storage space. I could fit all 167 episodes of Naruto so far on a single disk.
Anyway. Considering there isn't anymore content to add, there isn't much reason for rebuying on whatever new format. Unless they plan to make every single movie over in High Definition or something.
I'd rather the blu-ray. Lots of storage space. I could fit all 167 episodes of Naruto so far on a single disk.
Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:05 pm
What I mean is that I heard once that there is a deadline. I can't remember but it might be like 2007 or later. But soon all format is going to be high definition. I mean, everything on television, all DVDs, everything. So I was thinking that nothing we have currently is going to work. I mean, you just won't be able to watch television all all unless you get a new set. I know it isn't any time soon, but I am thinking there will come a day when suddenly we are going to have billions of junk televisions. Heck, it might not be until 2010 and some people think we have a lot more to worry about than junk televisions in a landfill. Probably this is right and who knows?
Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:24 pm
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As for the DVD-Blu-ray wars, here's something I found googling blu-ray DVD:
Emphasis added by me
Source: http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#2.3
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As for the DVD-Blu-ray wars, here's something I found googling blu-ray DVD:
Will Blu-ray be backwards compatible with DVD?
Yes, several leading consumer electronics companies (including Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and LG) have already demonstrated products that can read/write CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs using a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical head, so you don't have to worry about your existing DVD collection becoming obsolete. Although it's up to each manufacturer to decide if they want to make their products backwards compatible with DVD, the format is far too popular to not be supported. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) expects every Blu-ray Disc device to be backward compatible with CDs and DVDs.
Emphasis added by me
Source: http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#2.3
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Last edited by MyleneFarmer on Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:45 pm
Ok, I see. So I won't have to buy anything new, I just will not have the same high definition experience. Heck, I doubt I can tell the difference anyway.
But I imagine that many people will percieve that what they have is obsolete anyway and want something better. Maybe we won't have billions of people rushing to junk their old set though. Probably they could at least give them away to people who want a set, any kind of set.
But I still hope they are going to make regular DVDs for a while, because I'll be ticked off if I can't watch anything beause it is all high definition, and as far as I know, many of the new movies coming out on DVD like Harry Potter, POA, are going to be high definition.
But I imagine that many people will percieve that what they have is obsolete anyway and want something better. Maybe we won't have billions of people rushing to junk their old set though. Probably they could at least give them away to people who want a set, any kind of set.
But I still hope they are going to make regular DVDs for a while, because I'll be ticked off if I can't watch anything beause it is all high definition, and as far as I know, many of the new movies coming out on DVD like Harry Potter, POA, are going to be high definition.
Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:52 pm
The deadline for the changeover to the digital signal from analog is March 2009. This is for the US, the rest of the world has different deadlines. It's a while off, but still a concern. MyleneFarmer is wrong. You're going to need a digital set or a converter box, because the digital signal won't work with an analog TV. Point blank, you will need new equipment. Most people probably will get digital TVs.
Personally, I'd rather see the old TVs put to good use than compacted. Sure, they won't be able to pick up TV signals, but they could be given to schools to play movies or something.
Oh, and the Blu-Ray DVD is really cool.
Personally, I'd rather see the old TVs put to good use than compacted. Sure, they won't be able to pick up TV signals, but they could be given to schools to play movies or something.
Oh, and the Blu-Ray DVD is really cool.
Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:08 am
Thanks for the info. Well anyway, we have plenty of time here in the US to decide what to do with all the surplus televisions. I'd rather see them put to good use too, but there is only so much a person can do with an old TV though.
Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:31 am
They only recently introduced digital tv here in Australia, and lots of people seem to be buying set-top boxes rather than new TVs. It seems to be working fine, no problems... there isn't a massive amount of old surplus TVs lying around 
I'm sure there'll be a few old TVs thrown out in favour of the new digital ones, but I'm guessing most will just be phased out at a "normal" rate (whatever that might be).
I'm sure there'll be a few old TVs thrown out in favour of the new digital ones, but I'm guessing most will just be phased out at a "normal" rate (whatever that might be).
Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:41 am
We don't have HDTV in NZ.
Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:46 pm
We have, and have had for awhile now, HDTV (US). The thing is, even with digital cable, there's maybe 10 HD channels and most of those are either the same news programs looping over and over or they're premium (i.e. HBO, Showtime, etc.) channels showing the same thing on their regular channels.
So, I don't know that the whole HDTV thing is going to explode anytime soon. Plus, there's the cost. I know, the flat panel TVs are much lighter and easier to move than my 27 inch regular TV (that I can't even move it's so heavy), but the price point ... I paid $200 for my TV last year. At that time a 13 inch flat panel HDTV was somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000. Yes, it's gotten somewhat cheaper - I just saw a 17 inch for $550 - but it's an off brand (cheap) name. Then there's all this hype about HD dvds, that vhs is "doa" - alot of people do still have video tapes as well as dvd players.
Until the technology becomes cheaper overall, meaning real name brands that will back up and support their product and us "normal" folks can afford it, and until there's alot more channels/dvd/other reasons for upgrading, I don't see this market moving very quickly.
It's kind of like computers. You buy or build the latest then find that some software isn't supported and won't be for some time, that this new technology really isn't needed unless you're a super user (dual processors, etc.) and more "stuff" just means more things that can go wrong IMHO.
So, I don't know that the whole HDTV thing is going to explode anytime soon. Plus, there's the cost. I know, the flat panel TVs are much lighter and easier to move than my 27 inch regular TV (that I can't even move it's so heavy), but the price point ... I paid $200 for my TV last year. At that time a 13 inch flat panel HDTV was somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000. Yes, it's gotten somewhat cheaper - I just saw a 17 inch for $550 - but it's an off brand (cheap) name. Then there's all this hype about HD dvds, that vhs is "doa" - alot of people do still have video tapes as well as dvd players.
Until the technology becomes cheaper overall, meaning real name brands that will back up and support their product and us "normal" folks can afford it, and until there's alot more channels/dvd/other reasons for upgrading, I don't see this market moving very quickly.
It's kind of like computers. You buy or build the latest then find that some software isn't supported and won't be for some time, that this new technology really isn't needed unless you're a super user (dual processors, etc.) and more "stuff" just means more things that can go wrong IMHO.