HD-DVD/BluRay

[[AK]Clay]

It appears they are finally settling on which is going to be our next generation DVD format.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080224/...osoft_hd_dvd_3

And it's looking like BlueRay is going to be the winner.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Blu-Ray hands down has been the better format. Based on the 49.67Gb of space that can be used to store a movie as well as audio tracks and other features it has simply been the better technology.
HD-DVD was trying to play nice with the regular DVD crowd by allowing upwards of 8gb of it's 30gb of space to be populated with the film that could be played on a regular DVD drive. That right there provides you with a quality issue when dealing with HD media. Also, now that Toshiba has given up on the format. More and more articles are coming out on how the HD-DVD format did not truly display 1080p but 1080i. To a good number of people, that isn't a big deal, but in actuality it really is.
Now that this iteration of the format war is over to anyone still looking or wondering about what Blu-Ray player to buy. The choice is easy, the Playstation 3 console. Put along side other set top Blu-Ray players, Consumer Reports has rated the Blu-Ray movie player as part of the Playstation 3 console the highest in terms of quality and performance. And at $399 for the 40gb model, you also get the ability to play Playstation3 format games. Which is a pretty slick feature for those of you who don't have anything to play when the WoW servers are down ;-)

[[AK]Bribo]

Raving about the merits of the PS3????!!!!!

Oh, how times have changed.

[[AK]Hylander]

Raving about the merits of the PS3????!!!!!

Oh, how times have changed.

Well all that frying eggs on his 360 finally took a toll....

[[AK]Rocks]

No worries,, I have both! At least I can focus on one format now!

[[AK]Mydrial]

That was one battle I sat out....early adopting and guessing in a format war is expensive (I have the box of Beta-MAX tapes and laser discs to prove it, yep, Im at least as old as Rocks).

Now I'm just gonna give it a few more months to see if a couple of nicer more affordable players possibly come out.

[[AK]Palooka]

I have a PS3 and love it. I never had a PS1 or PS2, so it has been fun to play the old classics. I even played all the way through the original Metal Gear Solid for PS1 (not to mention the two PS2 MGS games). I can vouch for what Stitch says; the PS3 is a great Blu-ray player. It's also the only player on which you'll be able to play Metal Gear Solid 4.

[[AK]Bribo]

I think I read a few weeks ago that PS3 sales have crept past Xbox360 sales. The resolution of the format wars can only help but continue to bolster Sony sales.

[[AK]Clay]

I have a PS3 and love it. I never had a PS1 or PS2, so it has been fun to play the old classics. I even played all the way through the original Metal Gear Solid for PS1 (not to mention the two PS2 MGS games). I can vouch for what Stitch says; the PS3 is a great Blu-ray player. It's also the only player on which you'll be able to play Metal Gear Solid 4.

What's the audio output like? If a PS3 can support surround sound - I'm very intersted.

[[AK]Palooka]

It does support surround--Dolby Digital 5.1, I think.

[[AK]StitchJones]

What's the audio output like? If a PS3 can support surround sound - I'm very intersted.

The PS3 supports 5.1 and the 6.1 Dolby Surround formats. It also supports the 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 DTS and DTS-ES surround formats. With HDMI 1.3 hardware you can also get the True-Surround bitstream as well. In other words likes surround sound on crack.

And to promote MGS4 again real quick. Konami said they are having trouble getting the game to fit on on dual layer Blu-Ray disc... so that means that game is larger the 48.6gb!! W0wzzers!

[[AK]Clay]

Uh oh. I looked into the PS3 the other day, and the video cable format apparently has changed to some sort of plug that looks like a modified USB line. I have an HDTV, but it has no such input. It has the old round plugs, the S-Video plug (sort of looks like the old mouse/keyboard plug of days gone by), and a square plug thing with a lot of pins. Will any of these work with the PS3 video out? Does doing so defeat the whole point of going to Blue Ray?

[[AK]Rocks]

The PS3 will hook up to anything, but u need a HDMI cable to experience true 1080p HD.. More than likely for TV only except 1080i input and/or 720p HD. That can be fed thru Component video cables. IE (R/G/B). Review the ps3 cable options via best buy or electonic site. I assume the component cable cost extra bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16879261115

[[AK]Palooka]

Get your cables at monoprice.com. You'll save a boatload of money on cables of equal or better quality to those costing ten times as much in retail stores. $5.24 + shipping gets you a 6ft HDMI cable with ferrite cores and gold-plated connectors. http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[[AK]StitchJones]

the only thing you lose with Component video is the ability to achieve 1080p if your TV supports it. Then again if your set supported 1080p, it would have the HDMI plug connector.