Errrr.. because you are paying for the R&D, not just of the disc manufactoring, but of EVERYTHING relating to HD DVD.
Can you tell me why Blu-Ray players are AT LEAST twice the price of HD-DVD players? Aren't they pretty much the same thing?
It's no big deal, I got standalone players for both formats just so I'll be covered either way. That being said, My HD-DVD collection is much larger that my Blu Ray collection.
Errrr.. because you are paying for the R&D, not just of the disc manufactoring, but of EVERYTHING relating to HD DVD.
HD DVD and Blu ray have gone through similar R&D processes, but there are a couple big differences.
1. Blu Ray disc have a protective coating on their disc.
2. Blu Ray has a larger standard capacity for single and dual layer disc.
So again, why are HD DVD movies similarly priced as Blu Ray movies?
These comments started when I mentioned how I felt HD DVD disc were practically identical to standard dvds, but using the blue laser to put more info on the disc, which sc7 didn't believe to be true. I'm still waiting for his evidence on that.
One other thing, no longer are Blu Ray players double the price of HD DVD players. Oddly enough when there was the gap, you'd have though HD DVD would have gotten a huge lead over Blu Ray, but for whatever reason they didn't.
Okay, just humor me here. How is Blu Ray, as far as technology goes, that much different that HD DVD? Even if the manufacture process is different, it isn't much different. Why does Blu Ray charge higher prices than DVD?
That being said, the purpose of a business isn't to create a product and then sell for a standard markup. They set prices based on several factors. For instance, people pay for the value they receive from a product. For the average purchaser, HD DVD and Blu Ray give them the same value. Sure, each format has different strengths, such as extra capacity or features, but for the most part, they provide the same 1080P movie.
Blu Ray players are still double the price of HD DVD players. They are dropping, sure, but so are HD DVD players. I've seen Blu Ray players as low as $399, but I've seen stores such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy run specials on HD DVD players for as low as $99, with regular prices still in the $199 range (I purchased the new Toshiba A3 from Amazon for $199, and it included 10 HD DVDs.
And yes, HD DVD did have a substantial lead on Blu Ray before the introduction of the PS3. That was Blu Ray's ace in the hole, and it is doubtful that it will be able to keep them afloat in the long term. The PS2 greatly helped DVD adoption rates, but eventually people stopped using it to watch movies. It just wasn't convenient. Yes, the 360 has a HD DVD player add-on, but it accounts for a very small percentage of sales, and every person that buys it WILL watch HD DVD's with it (as opposed to Sony's PS3). Besides, HD DVD standalone players are now similarly priced and include more features.
Blu Ray may be winning now, but neither format has very much penetration into the overall market. That means things can swing very, very quickly. If Blu Ray can't drop the prices of their players quickly, and HD DVD is keeping players under $199 (and possibly down to $99 and under), you'll see the momentum shift quickly. The format war is far from over, and will no doubt drag on for a time to come.
2. Blu Ray has a larger standard capacity for single and dual layer disc.
But you deliberately exclude triple layer disks which allow 51GB HD-DVDs according to the new HD-DVD spec. The Blu-ray is still restricted to two layers, and I don't think that's going to change, because every time there's an update to the Blu-Ray spec, a lot of the hardware will not read the new disks correctly (e.g the new menu systems, and the PIP). This third layer HD-DVD will work without any updates.
HD-DVD has gone through much more R&D because they actually found a way to make cheap (in comparison) disks with low risk of damage, and lots of nice (upgradable) specifications. In comparison Blu-Ray looks like a hack job with stupid amounts of compulsory encryption thrown in.
No Regions, AACS >>>>> 3 Regions, AACS, BD+, BD-ROM Marking
What happened to the right to do what you like with your possessions? Baring in mind that AACS has been broken, So HD-DVD is essentially a free format.
All in all, I refuse to accept an inferior format because Sony wants to force it onto me.
But you deliberately exclude triple layer disks which allow 51GB HD-DVDs according to the new HD-DVD spec. The Blu-ray is still restricted to two layers, and I don't think that's going to change, because every time there's an update to the Blu-Ray spec, a lot of the hardware will not read the new disks correctly (e.g the new menu systems, and the PIP). This third layer HD-DVD will work without any updates.
My original question was why HD DVD movies are as expensive as Blu Ray disc. I don't think any movies are using triple layer HD DVD disc so I'm not sure why that would come into play or why I would bring that up when asking about current pricing. Right now the official HD DVD website doesn't even recognize a 51gb disc as something they are using or will be soon. Below is a little info on how Blu Ray disc development is going. It's a little long-winded, but since you brought up a "future" HD DVD disc capacity, I thought I'd show this also.
Although the Blu-ray Disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue working to advance the technology. Quad-layer (100 GB) discs have been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics (TDK version) and standard unaltered optics ("Hitachi used a standard drive.").[109][110] Hitachi stated that such a disc could be used to store 7 hours of 32 Mbit/s video (HDTV) or 3.5 hours of 64 Mbit/s video (Cinema 4K). Furthermore TDK announced in August 2006 that they have created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers.[111]
Also behind closed doors at CES 2007, Ritek has revealed that they had successfully developed a High Definition optical disc process that extends the disc capacity of both competing formats to 10 layers. That increases the capacity of the discs to 250 GB for Blu-ray compared to 150 GB for HD DVD using the same process. However, they noted that the major obstacle is that current reader and writer technology does not support the additional layers.[112]
JVC has developed a three layer technology that allows putting both standard-definition DVD data and HD data on a BD/DVD combo. If successfully commercialized, this would enable the consumer to purchase a disc which could be played on current DVD players, and reveal its HD version when played on a new BD player.[113] This hybrid disc does not appear to be ready for production and no titles have been announced that would utilize this disc structure.
Hitachi has recently showcased 100 GB Blu-ray Disc, which consists of four layers containing 25 GB each. Unlike TDK and Panasonic's 100 GB disc, this disc is readable on standard Blu-ray drives that are currently in circulation, and it is believed that a firmware update is the only requirement to make it readable to current players and drives.[114] TDK has also produced a 200 GB six-layer prototype.[111]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_Ray#Ong...evelopment
My point remains that a new Blu-Ray spec would result in a bunch of incompatible readers.
That point about TDK proved it (It had to alter the lenses on the diode), Hitachi was just fortunate to have the correct system in place before.
The good thing about the 51GB HD-DVD is that the consumer (allegedly) won't have to upgrade their players.
The pricing is the way it is because Average Joe doesn't know that an HD-DVD is the same basic layout as a DVD (hell, I only just found out) so why should they be priced any cheaper, after all, a high street store shouldn't have any bias against a format (Aside from sales) so why should they make it cheaper when they can get away with charging BDROM prices?
The way I see it, HD-DVD was made with the consumer in mind, Blu-Ray was made as a technological showcase.
The consumer doesn't want to be restricted in how they use their Movie (Multiple encryption schemes)
The consumer doesn't want to have to wait for a release in their country (Region coding)
The consumer doesn't care that the (current) blu-ray disk can hold more data, especially if the HD-DVD versions have better additional-content (Many Blu-Ray players are unable to run advanced interactive content)
we'll just have to wait and see
no need to wait and see, Transformers in HD-DVD only, that gets my vote over Pirates 3 anyday.
Face it, it's probably been said 100 times before,
$ony's media never takes off, sure there will be an initial burst,
and then there will be the long death knoll, look there still releasing movies on UMD, why bother, the format is esentially dead, just like minidisk and betamax.
I'm not sure what Transformers on HD DVD has to do with this, but I agree, it was a kick ass movie, and there will be exclusives on both sides, that someday will be for whoever wins or perhaps eventually for both formats if they decide to live in harmony.
As for your comment on betamax, you'd better look it up on wikipedia. A lot of good things came from the betamax including PCM.
no need to wait and see, Transformers in HD-DVD only, that gets my vote over Pirates 3 anyday.
Face it, it's probably been said 100 times before,
$ony's media never takes off, sure there will be an initial burst,
and then there will be the long death knoll, look there still releasing movies on UMD, why bother, the format is esentially dead, just like minidisk and betamax.
you can't really compare bluray to UMD in that sense, since it could only be played on a PSP, so of course you can't expect it to do well unless the PSP sold millions each week, not to mention bluray wasn't even solely created by Sony like UMD