The Trap of BluRay

I feel this way right now, although I did just upgrade to BluRay.

I have entered the age of High Definition...

...with a new HD TV (got a GREAT deal on Woot) and a Playstation 3 as a BluRay player. I also christened it with GATACCA on BluRay - the same movie I christened my original DVD player with (though it was one of the only DVDs available at the time). The image and sound quality were excellent!

And I was reminded what a GREAT movie GATACCA is. If you've never seen it, go out and get a copy on VHS, DVD, BluRay, or digital doanload!

DO NOT buy a Blu-Ray player yet

I know a lot of our Mod-Blog readers personally, and know that now now HD-DVD is "officially" dead I suspect a lot of us are looking for the excuse to upgrade to Blu-Ray now. But Gizmondo notes that now is NOT a good time to make the jump.

The place to be is spec 2.0, referred to as "full profile." Suddenly, it's Sony who is looking the best here, with not only the amazingly upgradeable PS3 but two new players announced this week, the BDP-S350 and S550. For $400 and $500 respectively, they are set to deliver all of the features promised in the Blu-ray palette, including both picture-in-picture and BD-Live internet connectivity (with USB storage for downloaded content). Nobody else, with the possible exception of Daewoo, has even muttered about a 2.0 spec player.

The only player that makes sense to buy now is the Playstation 3, because Sony is already committed to make it fully software-upgradeable to the new Spec 2.0 Otherwise, any player you buy today may be incompatible with disks released 6 months from now.

Bye-Bye HD-DVD

It is unofficially official. Toshiba has decided to shut down its HD-DVD operations and end support for the format altogether. It appears the last nail in the coffin was Wal-Mart's decision to stop stocking the format. If you were one of the millions (?) who bought an HD-DVD player when prices began to plummet before Christmas, all hope is not lost. We are hearing that Wal-Mart, Target, and other retailers will be having blowout sales soon to clear their inventories and you may wind up picking up some titles for a few dollars that won't be out on Blu-Ray for years and even then may cost $40 and up.

If you have not yet invested, and do not plan to buy a Playstation 3, my advice is still to wait. Holographic discs, iTunes HD downloads, and other options are still out there, so the "next generation format war" may not truly end with this move.

Warning for BluRay Buyers

There has been a lot of news lately about Hollywood finally choosing a single format for High Definion (HD) movies, and BluRay has won over HD-DVD. What is NOT being talked about much is the fact that most of the players currently on the market are not set to be compatible with disks to be released even later this year. The Consumerist warns us that unless you are watching your BluRay disks on a Playstation 3, you may be in for a rough wake-up call.

But with the exception of the Playstation 3, current Blu-ray DVD players were built without future-compatibility capabilities, so come this October owners won't be able to take advantage of features like Internet connectivity or enhanced interactivity (whatever that means—details are sketchy). "One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for personal use."

Buyer beware. Even if the HD wars are over (and I suspect we'll learn from Apple next week that they are not), it is still very easy to get burned in the current market.

HD-DVD to go Betamax

The debates have been raging for some time now about which format would win the HD video format battle and it now appears that BluRay has won. Today Warner Bros. announced that they were supporting BluRay. I believe that means that all of the major studios have gone with BluRay and thus HD-DVD doesn't have much of a chance to win out. Though as the article points out, other delivery options are on the very close horizon, so going out and buying that BluRay player might not be the most prudent use of your funds.