PlayStation 3: $499 – Developers Speak

You know, I hear this argument over and over again on the Internets. "Why should I be forced to buy all my movies again?" The simple answer is that you aren't!

All the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players will be able to play normal DVDs. All the HD televisions and projectors will be able to display SD resolutions. You won't have to re-buy a single movie unless you want the "HD experience".

Of all the issues with the new HD formats, re-buying your movie collections is such a non-issue it's laughable.

What about the oppressive DRM that prevents free (as in speech) software from being able to read the movies? It's still not legally possible to play DVDs under Linux with free software.

What about the flag that tells players to downscale to SD resolutions over non-HDCP enabled cables? Sure Sony say their Blu-Ray movies won't make use of that flag, but nothing is stopping the other movie studios from using it, or Sony using it in the future.

What about the AACS system that enables studios to revoke the ability to play future movies on a specific player model?

When it comes to movies on the new HD formats, there is much, much more of an issue with the erosion of fair use of copyrighted material than there is with the erosion of your bank balance.

As someone who doesn't pay attention to HD right now (I live in an apartment, and I have a 4 year old TV that I'm happy with right now) I can see people waiting on the HD stuff.

Why? The standard APPEARS to change, as every year there's a new high-end (720 i to 720p to 1080 or whatever i and then to p)

So, to many people, when will it stop, so we know that the "high end" HD we end up getting won't be "mid level" in two years. Standard TVs are predictable, people know what they're about. Now, I think there's a concern by many "average" consumers that TVs may be getting too much like computers -- great for the first few months, then outdated, and in need of replacement.

I think many also are thinking the same thing about the DVD format. Remember, the VHS format was in wide distribution since the 80s. DVDs haven't really been on the market for 10 years (at least at a price worth considering).

These factors are generating the response of "What? another format / high end? when will the market settle, so we know that what we get will be viable for 10 years?"

Maybe not entirely realistic, but since when have people been rational and realistic? :/

Sony hasn't have much luck shoving new formats down our throat... just look at their past. The one time they did succeed, was with something called the DVD... but that wasn't a "Sony Only" deal. UMD's seem to follow the curve of what the past has dictated. Blu-ray may suit the needs of the PS3 fine in terms of games, but in terms of movies... The average person will go to buy a movie and see the DVD version for $15, and the blu-ray for $30. Unless they have a cutting edge home theatre with HDMI compliant devices and a Yamaha DLP projector with a 200 inch front projection TV, most people are more concerned with 'Why should I pay more?'.

People won't have to rebuy their collection, its not like we're moving from optical disks, to optical tubes. It's a matter of what format movies will be purchased on in the future. Sony the video game developer could care less whether or not blu-ray is a successful movie format. Sony Studios, the movie publishing sect, is concerned...

For those who need blu-ray it will be there, for those who don't, they can suck Sony's left nut, because they're giving it to you any way.

Well the variable your leaving out is how much faster we're churning out better technology. It's just a law of nature. Pretty soon we won't have formats but images that form from the particles in the air.

As for the whole my tv isn't the newest or the best, people just need to stop complaining and be happy. Be happy you have an HD set or be happy that you can afford. I sell tvs for a living and it's funny. Everybody is a cheapskate, except for a handfull, even rich people, and everyone always is looking for the best deal. They always want me to reassure them that the 42" $1000 tv is just as good as the 42" $10,000 tv. I laugh and crush their shred of hope. If people aren't willing to spend money, they won't get quality. Technology becomes obselete, electronics wear out, the latest and greatest becomes yesterday's slop.

I don't really think we're presenting any valid arguments. Well except for the not having to re-buy the dvds point.

Two points on this response (it's nice having someone that knows their HD stuff)

Like I said, I live in an apartment, and don't have room for an HD. I'm happy with my 27' Wega. But when people buy TVs, they generally expect for them to last 10 years or so, and they aren't sure if when you get one early (or now) that you won't be behind the standard in a few years.

I have an old 13 inch TV that's at least 8 years old. Its picture is fantastic. The curve seems to be changing, and that's not necessarilly good for either group (consumers or producers). People are more wary to adpot a format that might be way behind on 2 years from now if they adpot now (hope this makes sense, still waking up). New standards or high ends continually changing will make more people wait, or more people that already have HDTVs wait to adpot next time around, as they found that their 720p were outdated by the time the HD broadcasts really come out to everyone.

I'm all for HD, it sounds like it's pretty cool (haven't seen any examples yet) but I know I'll be a late adpoter. Cost and living arangement are two factors, lack of programming another, but I know that those 1020p will likely drop price by the time I could actually use one (based on the above two factors). Of course, what will be the high end by that point? I'm fine not having the high end, I just don't want the high end to be the standard, if you get me on this.

Well for one it's 1080p, but I digress. The thing is that for small apartments, the space saved by mounting an LCD or Plasma tv is amazing. Of course it'll set you back $4-5000 easy but it is sure worth it. You'll get about 6-10 years on Plasma and 10-15 years on LCD roughly dependent on usage.

Although I definitely agree that people should be cautious when buying into new technology. It has a strong negative, like a lack of HD content. But if no one is buying HD, no one will produce content for it. But if we adpot early then manufacturers are quick to develop new technology and better formats that we'll be buying into sooner.

It is indeed an odd situation.

4-5k for a TV, to me, is nothing short of a waste, especially for an apartment (here in the 'States, at least, where unless you're in NYC or other major city, you only rent the place). If I had a house with a space that could be used for a home theater, and had enough money to piss away on a TV (again, I'd rather just invest that cash for retirement. Yes, I'm rather boring) then I might consider the unit. But not likely.

Like I said, if I spend 4-5 grand on a TV, it had better be the high standard for a long time. Perhaps you can shed light on this -- will the current iteration of HD have an upper res limit of 1080p, or will we see yet higher resolution?

And of course, the higher res doesn't really make the programs you watch any better, right? It won't make me magically like "American Idol."

Well for one, LCDs and Plasmas have native resolutions and according to the experts,in theory when a program is not displayed in it's native resolution, it won't look as good. I know this to be true with my LCD computer monitor. Anything but 1024x768 looks fuzzy. Not so easy to tell with tvs though, with all the variables at hand. Cableing, any scaling (up or down converting to improve picture) used (either by internal components in the tv or dvd player or cable box or a separate piece of machinery), outside interference, etc. So as you can see, it's much harder to differientate.

As for the higher than 1080p, I haven't heard of any higher resolutions. I don't know if they will be able to fit better quailty over coaxial cable. That's one number I can't get a hold of. How much space and data coaxial cable can handle and how much compression you can use on a signal to send it through and how much the tv or decoder can decompress in a timely manner. Compression is also a big issue. Most tv programs are super compressed to save bandwidth, using an ariel antenna nets a much better picture. Which is why HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are going to be amazing, much less compression.

Does that solve everything?

Doubt they'll go any higher in the forseeable future given that HD-DVD and BluRay both cater to this spec.



Sadly, no. Actually, not sadly. There's enough of this dross going around without the ratings indicating a greater viewing audience.