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DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. Oh my!




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thepew



Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:15 pm Reply with quote
Hello,

Lately I'm very hesitant about purchasing any anime, no matter the format.

I'm just very confused about why there are so many differing formats. What's the reasoning behind them? Is the situation similar to the one that played out between Betamax and VHS?

Any information and sources that help inform me are more than appreciated.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:21 pm Reply with quote
The quality, obviously.
DVD= 480p -
HD DVD= 720p -
BD = 720p or 1080p.
Something like that.
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braves



Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:37 pm Reply with quote
Most DVDs are in 480i. Every anime Blu-ray is on 1080p (though, whether it's in native HD or an upscale depends). The big difference is just picture quality. DVD looks good at best, depending on the authoring. Blu-ray looks great at best, depending on the authoring.

Anime on Blu-ray almost always has at least one lossless audio track, while that's pretty much non-existent on R1 DVDs.

HD DVDs are in 1080p, but nobody makes them anymore. The HD format war has been over with for quite some time.
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thepew



Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:47 pm Reply with quote
I see now. Thanks for the help. I guess I'll start saving up for a Bluray Player/PS3. Any thing else I should know about?
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:00 pm Reply with quote
Yes. You also need a tv capable of handling that 1080p, otherwise it's all in vain. And well, a tv capable of playing that probably costs more than the player itself.
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RHachicho



Joined: 07 Oct 2009
Posts: 897
Location: Essex, UK
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:24 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't spend too much money on a single format right now. Like you said we have a few new formats trying to grab the "next big format" titles and the best one wont necessarily win.

Our last one was minidisc vs dvd and look how that ended up. Minidisc was a vastly superior format however dvd won out in the end.

Personally i guess im lucky as my tv was already blue ray capable and my ps3 gave me a player that I would have baught as a games console anyway.
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