Should You Jump to High-Def DVD This Holiday Season?

Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:10PM EDT

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High-definition DVD formats will get their first big test this holiday season, as consumer electronics makers hope to get you to shell out some big bucks for the latest generation of hardware. Should you do it? Is it worth spending $400 to $1,000 for the absolute best video quality you can get? Don't pull the trigger just yet. Here are a few things to think about before you plunk down your Visa.

  • The Picture's Killer - Everyone who's used a high-def player has raved about the video. If the special someone on your gift list has eagle eyes, he may really appreciate the added detail and clarity that Blu-ray and HD-DVD offer. (Tragically, this is pretty much the only positive of note, so get ready for some drawbacks...)
  • You Need an HDTV - There's no point getting a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player unless you've got the rest of the setup, which means an HDTV with an HDMI connection if you want the absolute highest-quality picture.
  • You Need a Lot of Cash - The cheapest HD-DVD player still runs about $500 ($400 if you're willing to go with a less reputable seller). The only Blu-ray player on the market runs $800 to $1,000, and Sony's (delayed) player will cost about the same.
  • You Need a Lot of Patience - Early reviews of high-def players have been lukewarm at best. There are also major concerns over the DRM schemes in both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, and you might find your gear crippled down the line if you try to play "unsanctioned" films on it.
  • High-Def Movies Cost More - Expect to pay an extra two bucks or so per disc. Also note that "extras" like interviews and featurettes will almost always still be in regular resolution. This may be moot, however. Right now there are only a few dozen discs available for either format. This should get better by December, though.
  • The Game Console Factor - If you've got a gamer in the family, remember that the upcoming PS3 will include a Blu-ray drive and Microsoft will soon be releasing an add-on for the Xbox 360 that will play HD-DVD discs. This might be a much less expensive way (the PS3 will be $500 or $600 depending on configuration) to dabble in high-def content and you won't have to wait long to get one.
  • That Format War Issue - Like it or not, one of these formats is probably going to go away in a couple of years. Problem is, no one can say which one. Who wants to get stuck with an expensive boat anchor? Not me.

So, should you buy one? That's a decision only you can make for yourself, but I'll tell you one thing: I'm personally sticking with good old DVD for 2007. 

Need more of a primer on Blu-ray and HD-DVD? Click the link and read all about it.

Comments on Should You Jump to High-Def DVD This Holiday Season?

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  • 6 Posted by evergreendm on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    Beta lost out quickly because it turned down overtures by the Adult Industry for Adult In-Home movies because its leadership was too righteous. As a result Adult films were only made in VHS format and more men went out and bought themselves VHS VCR's instead for their families so they only bought VHS movies. That's what ruined Betamax, not Sony. I think it's always good policy to never buy the first 2 'runs' of any product. The first 2 years of cars, electronics, and such tend to overpriced and full of problems. It takes time to iron out kinds in production and for the technology to become cost effective. Almost never has a first run audio receiver, speaker set, auto model, etc. been better than its predecessor 2-3 years down the line. Sure you may get HD-DVD now. But you'll be likely buying a product with problem spots and you'll be overpaying. In 3 years the same device will be out for $300 without the problems, more HD-DVDs available, and more features.

  • 7 Posted by brownoseman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Have you seen a regular DVD on a High Def TV? It looks remarkably good. Tests with Blue-ray and HD-DVD are only marginally better side by side. I'll let the dust settle and price come down to earth before making this very questionable investment.

  • 8 Posted by bamblkwdr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    All of my tvs are old but work ok.I get my signal from an outside antenna and a convential satalite dish( no hd). In 2009 all television will be hd. What changes will I have to make to watch tv. Will my antenna work and will I have to get a new dish and receiver?

  • 9 Posted by frevelcason on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not unless they drop the price of the players. I've seen the cost of the Blue-Ray disc, crazy. You can purchase two new movies for the cost of one. And to be honest a person isn't going to get more pleasure out of a movie because it has better quality. So does the Blue-Ray disk make Gigli better because it's clearer? I don't think I'll ever say, you know what that movie was terrible, but it looked really clear, so I really like it.

  • 10 Posted by jodieevanskr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have just one question, can you play a HD-DVD on a regular DVD player?

  • 11 Posted by sexcrime on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    evergreendm and wiil_terlop are right on target. but there are other reasons beta failed. pricing, lenth of recording time, the arrogance( i cant spell so dont start) of having a better product. but the most interesting thing about the first post is the sony comment. he has no cd's? no dvd's? never bought a walkman? no playstation 1 or 2? im old school but thats taking it too far. i think that comment has more to do with sony than anything else. i will buy a ps3.but thats a gaming thing. but because i will do that i wont be buying hd-dvd unless it wins and it hits $300 price point. and thats the point. a lot of things have changed since beta. and having your own studio and movie library makes things a lot diffrent. and of course this time sony will be calling the porn industry. hope they pick up.

  • 12 Posted by will_terlop on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    No, jodieevanskr neither formats will play in a standard player.

  • 13 Posted by bradleya2183 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not to be a downer, but 720p is NOT the resoltion you get from a DVD. It is 480p, also generically referred to as "progressive scan" on your DVD player, although any ###p is technically progessive scan. 480i is standard tv, and 720p is the min. to be considered hi-def. Just wanted to clarify that for everyone. You can upscale a DVD to that resolution, but it is not the native resolution for a DVD.

  • 14 Posted by bsball23 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Will standard DVD's be able to play in an HD-DVD or Blue-Ray Player? Like PS2 could play PS1 games.

  • 15 Posted by felicia_hepburn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Personally I put my money on Blu-ray because the PS3 is a given to be a winner and most people are not going to go out and buy a hd-dvd player when they already got a blu-ray player built into their playstation.....there will be millions of PS3s sold can hd-dvd say that right off the bat....i dont think so.....besides who wants to go out and spend money on a hd-dvd adapter for their xbox360......that is just another last minute addition to a crappy xbox360 system.....

  • 16 Posted by felicia_hepburn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    PS3 will be backward compatible and will be able to play standard dvd but i dont know about the hd-dvd

  • 17 Posted by xnoedgex on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:53PM EDT Report Abuse

    you are wrong about pretty much everything you made a point about. only a killer picture. nope format war. no again alot of cash and patience. wrong high def movies cost more. totally inaccurate (unless you expect to pay the same amount for a jaguar as you do for a chevy cobalt)(because you know they are the same thing and all) this is totally inaccurate. first the sony playstaion 3 is the cheapest player with a base model at 500 dollars or more robust model at 600 dollars. it includes an operating system and is also a gaming&media console. that isn't a bad value for that price point and what it delivers. if you want to go the way of hd dvd as opposed to blu-ray you can purchase an xbox 360 with its hd dvd addon for the same price points and it has roughly the same features for media. secondly, a samsung monitor/ with tv component can be had for 400-600 price point for a 20 inch or more. many other monitor manufacturers offering similar products that for the price point and versatility can not be matched. Sony playstation will not be crippled by santions because it uses an hdmi component to keep digital rights protected and is a producer of movies, umm spiderman? you merely touch on these consoles and brush the notion that they may serve as an avenue of cost reduction and that is really sad. of course high def movies cost more its a new technology and will hold more content. you are comparing a far superior experience to something that is a fraction the quality. it isn't just a killer picture either. wrong again. many hd tv's have a way better spectrum of color. so vibrant color, sharper iamges, and the fact that most are a fraction of the size giving more space in a living room is attractive to most people. a male wanting a big tv and a female not wanting a monolith in the living room finds happy medium if you want to play the stereotype game. as for format wars plenty of technology will be available that will play both formats making that a moot point. and all this technology will see price reduction given time as did the dvd format.

  • 18 Posted by emtwannabeny778 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm not wasting money on buying the lastest thing for home movie viewing...at least not right now. I'm one of those people who thinks, if it isn't broken,then why fix it? If the decision comes that we HAVE to go to a different format DVD, in say 10 years, then I'll switch. PS...I have an HD LCD tv, with a DVD/VCR cheap-o player hooked up to it that I bought for 60 bucks at K Mart, and guess what - the picture is outstanding!

  • 19 Posted by forestsong12 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you have a large HDTV and have it hooked up correctly (which many people don't) the High Def DVDs will be a completely different experience than regular DVDs, just like TV looks completely different (amazing!!) in High Def. I can't wait until I can buy my PS3 and begin watching DVDs in High Def (not to mention gaming) on my 37" 1080p HDTV.

  • 20 Posted by nodent@snet.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    BETA lost in America but was popular else where. BETA was better quality, but price was higher, Americans are cheap. I think HD-DVD will win over BlueRay, because of price and that term "HD"-DVD is something that non-tech people can relate to. Niether format will work in the other or any standard DVD. BlueRay has a slightly higher capacity then HD-DVD.

  • 21 Posted by felicia_hepburn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Blu-ray hold up to 20 gigs on one disk.....hd-dvd doesnt even hold half as much..

  • 23 Posted by mariovaor on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    I heard that they are making a universal player that will play both new formats.

  • 24 Posted by david_susilo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    to felicia_hepburn: HD-DVD doesn't even hold half as much as blu-ray? Kindly go back to grade-1 math. HD-DVD is 15 Gb per layer, Bluray is 25 Gb per layer. How is that "less than half"? HD-DVD and Bluray will play standard DVD without a problem to jamesgameslapierre: Regular DVD played on an HD machine will "slightly improved" but HD discs will have dramatically improved picture quality. How is 6x the resolution of regular DVD is considered "slightly"? to the rest of you. Have you guys even TRIED high-def content? From the sounds of it, most of you are just spewing assumptions on the quality of HD content.

  • 25 Posted by david_susilo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    You DON'T need HDMI connection. The cheapest HD-DVD player is about $350 ($300 is you're willing to go with a less reputable seller). The cheapes Bluray player can be bought for as low as $600. Get you facts straight before writing an article... or don't write it at all. You should be fired for your incompetence!

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