HD disk format wars are over

[Ragnarok]

Well so say's this artical http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36574 .

I agree, It's so easy to find HD movies and TV online with no DRM. Mostly in captured from Transport streams or encoded with the open source x.264 encoder which is ironicly much better than the real time professional h.264 encoders in making mpeg4 AVC content.

All the DRM and inter co-operation of all the media companies and the rise of the internet may have finished the format wars already.

[BadAss]

Piracy only works if a small amount of people do it. Its like dole cheats the people in work pay taxes to support the people out of work. If everyone claimed JSA then the country would grind to a halt.

Same goes with software Piracy. If we all did it then Hollywood would go bust and we'd all have no new films to enjoy.

The article is a very imatue way of looking at getting something for nothing and passing the buck onto the more mature and honest people in our society.

The problem for the Studios is not to wipe out piracy but to manage it. Only problem with Blu-Ray is, the Studios have come up with a solution thats absolute, if the ICT is switced on then the pirates must turn their attention to P2P. Here lies the headache for the Studios. My guess is we'll see cut versions of movies for broadcasters and directors cuts for BD and HD-DVD only. That way it forces people to buy the full version.

[Dave2]

Originally Posted by BadAss

Piracy only works if a small amount of people do it. Its like dole cheats the people in work pay taxes to support the people out of work. If everyone claimed JSA then the country would grind to a halt.

Same goes with software Piracy. If we all did it then Hollywood would go bust and we'd all have no new films to enjoy.

The article is a very imatue way of looking at getting something for nothing and passing the buck onto the more mature and honest people in our society.

The problem for the Studios is not to wipe out piracy but to manage it. Only with Blu-Ray is the Studios have come up with a solution thats absolute, if the ICT is switced on then the pirates must turn their attention to P2P. Here lies the headache for the Studios. My guess is we'll see cut versions of movies for broadcasters and directors cuts for BD and HD-DVD only. That way if forces people to buy the full version.

Yea good points there, i tend to find that tv broadcasts are cut down alot and tend to miss some good stuff out. Im not agains downloading items as such ... likes of TV shows is ok as if i download a series i like i will just purchase it on DVD or hd-dvd or BD when released . When it comes to films .. well this is a different opinion If you want to watch a film and like it then buy it

You are corect that it only works with minor ammounts but if its a big ammount that cant be managed that is where problems lie.

[gixxerman]

The fact that people are here defending the 'right' of the movie studios and CE companies to take control away from the owners to ever increasing degrees and 'supporting' the format that does this the most -Blu-ray being the current worst example - shows us that the claims that piracy is going to wreck anything are much over-done.

.....and equally this insanity ensures piracy is going to remain with us for a long long time to come.

[bladeaku]

Can you honestly blame pirates though?,If bluray players were priced fairly and not at stupid money people might buy one.
I think it was in china where superman returns was released on dvd for 1.99 in a bid to stop people copying the movie.
As long as people get over charged and ripped off, piracy will always get my backing.

[smashed]

If you make the prices a lot cheaper, then the profits tumble, the budgets tumble, and the film quality tumbles. Difficult situation

[bladeaku]

Why do we have to pay double for a bluray player when the americans get it for half the price?
I know we have an evil tax system called vat, but even so far to often in britain $ are exchanged for £ signs without a proper conversion.

[SAH]

Originally Posted by bladeaku

Why do we have to pay double for a bluray player when the americans get it for half the price?
I know we have an evil tax system called vat, but even so far to often in britain $ are exchanged for £ signs without a proper conversion.

Wait a couple of months and prices will tumble.

As for piracy, give me a break, how many people have the connection, hardware and space to download more than a few movies.

To most people dvd is new fangled technology, nevermind hi def downloads.

[Dave2]

Originally Posted by SAH

Wait a couple of months and prices will tumble.

As for piracy, give me a break, how many people have the connection, hardware and space to download more than a few movies.

To most people dvd is new fangled technology, nevermind hi def downloads.

I for 1 could download movies I also have the space and connection. However i prefer to have a physical copy in my hand , purchased with my hard earned cash

[Duncan Harvey]

Originally Posted by bladeaku

Why do we have to pay double for a bluray player when the americans get it for half the price?
I know we have an evil tax system called vat, but even so far to often in britain $ are exchanged for £ signs without a proper conversion.

you dont like VAT - fine, how about paying 45% or 65% income tax instead.

[Rasczak]

Originally Posted by Dave2

I for 1 could download movies I also have the space and connection. However i prefer to have a physical copy in my hand , purchased with my hard earned cash

I am certainly not against high def downloads - likewise I have the hardware and software to support it - but for the foreseeable future I see packaged media as the way forward. The bitrates used on media will always exceed broadcast (whether over air or online).

[gixxerman]

Originally Posted by bladeaku

I know we have an evil tax system called vat

- I agree with your complaint in principle, we pay far too much for our kit here in the UK.

It's also true that whilst they don't have VAT as such the USA does also have state taxes and sales taxes etc (and this rarely figures in comparisons).

[Bald Monkey]

Originally Posted by SAH

As for piracy, give me a break, how many people have the connection, hardware and space to download more than a few movies.

Oddly enough I'm currently considering putting all my SD DVD's onto Hard disc, and I have a lot.. so I can archive the discs some where. To simply giove me the space back to start my HD-DVD collection. SO I might only have a limited amount of electronic storage at present but I may soon have plenty for HD downloads too. Although to be honest I'd prefer the disc. I do think the number of people with the space to store HD downloads will grow as quicly as the size of you average Hard Disc has.... which is pretty quick. And didn't people say music downloads would never take off?

[Rich777]

Do not agree with the editor of that 1.

If quality was equal then there may be a debate, but DivX/Xvid x.264 encodes from DVD that is what is being talked about in the main are poor at best, maybe they look good on the editors laptop, but comparing even broadcast mpeg2 its easy to choose a dedicated player and HD-DVD media (or BD ).

[andythescientis]

Originally Posted by Duncan Harvey

you dont like VAT - fine, how about paying 45% or 65% income tax instead.

How about getting rid of all the spongers, and introducing a proper health service that's not the bloated dinasaur it is today first...