MS & Sony Talking About Blu-Ray!

[ThaMaskedGamer]

According to Eurogamer:
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MS has been talking to Blu-ray all along

News by Rob Purchese
Today 11:11
Xbox marketing bigwig Jeff Bell says Microsoft has been talking to Blu-ray about the possibility of a partnership all along.

He was speaking about Warner Bros.'s recent decision to exclusively pick the Sony-championed disc format, and did not rule out the possibility MS will adopt it at some point in the future.

"We've been talking to Blu-ray all along because we have the best piece of software in the business, called HDi. It is the backbone that powers interactivity in HD-DVD and we have that available to potentially partner with others," Jeff Bell told 1UP.

"You never say never. I think we'd like to see how things evolve. Our commitment, however, to HD-DVD is profound and consistent, and we have done very, very well in term of our accessory sales."

Microsoft still counts Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks among the supporters for HD-DVD, and Warner Bros. continues to be one of the largest contributors to its IPTV service.

Interestingly Bell also highlighted the relationship between Microsoft and Sony, as its rival uses Windows software on its laptops and what not. They do more talking than you might expect. Bell calls it "coopetition".

Xbox Live Video Marketplace launched last December in the UK, offering downloadable films for digital rental; you splash out 250 MS Points (GBP 2.13 / EUR 2.91) for standard definition and 380 MS Points (GBP 3.23 / EUR 4.42) for high definition, and films will become unwatchable 24 hours after you first start viewing them or within 14 days of download.

The service has been available in the US since late 2006 and also lets you download television shows like CSI or Star Trek. No word on when this will happen here yet.

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Long time ago before 360 launched when MS confirmed they would be going with DVD, they actually said that down the road they could always add a HD player internally once the format war was settled. Looks like they weren't joking.

At this point I wish Toshiba would just give up. I think HD-DVD is a fine product, but the problem is they simply cannot win without studio support, period. So if they can't win don't force a stalemate. Blu-ray can win, though it will take a long long time for it to happen, they eventually can win. HD-DVD simply cannot. They needed to add studio support, not lose more. It is simply over, so they should just squash it. Yeah it wasn't a fair fight, but that's life.

[joquito]

It would be awesome if Blu-ray supported HDi. HDi is years ahead of BDLive.

[silversparrow]

HDi is years ahead of BDLive.

How so? It's true that the specs for BD-J are as of yet still incomplete. However once BD-Live rolls out it will be capable of everything HDi is right now, if not more.

BTW, the PS3 has been confirmed as being upgradeable by firmware to BD-Live.

[joquito]

How so? It's true that the specs for BD-J are as of yet still incomplete. However once BD-Live rolls out it will be capable of everything HDi is right now, if not more.

BTW, the PS3 has been confirmed as being upgradeable by firmware to BD-Live.

BDLive was shown at CES earlier this month. Many of the features are the same, such as managed Copy, PiP, etc, but its execution is slower and clunky. HDi doesn't require you to leave the movie to access any of its features while BDLive at CES required it. I am not saying that BD-Java can't get there but that is isn't there yet, and look how long it has taken BDLive to become a reality compared with HDi. Given that very few BD players will be upgradeable to the latest profile, they have little to lose by dumping BD-J all together in favor of HDi. This, in my opinion, takes away HD-DVD's biggest advantage. In the grand scheme of things, its not that big a deal.

[theWacoKid]

It would be awesome if Blu-ray supported HDi. HDi is years ahead of BDLive.

Oh, yeah, exactly how many years, oh, grand poobah of HT knowledge? :rolleyes: Care to venture a hand pull out your ass and slap down a figure.

[joquito]

Oh, yeah, exactly how many years, oh, grand poobah of HT knowledge? :rolleyes: Care to venture a hand pull out your ass and slap down a figure.

What are you even arguing, ignorant skeptic? "Years" is used figuratively. HDi is being used today in every HD-DVD player today. How many Blu-ray owners can say they can even utilize BD-Live? One works, one doesn't, hence the, "Years ahead" statement. Why don't you grab a google link to show how many "Years" off I am. Talk about hand in ass!

[thelastword]

You're promoting Hdi as a feature of worth against the pristine Ratatouille on BD, you esteem interactive menus over the best looking HD film out there atm, do you watch movies or do you play with menus? You esteem trivial software features that Z level programmers could write as homework, because it was being pushed by MS, yes that's right WAS, MS is done there but you're fighting for the cause aren't you?

Why do you continue to dream such foolish dreams? What do you mean BD Live is clunky? Have Bluray 2.0 players been released to the general public yet? Is the firmware support for profile 2.0 available on the PS3 yet? When they release let me know. I judge products on shelves, products that's launched, like the 360 and it's HDDVD component, they're both garbage and are inferior products, that's what I know...oh!..and this is not from CES.

[ilnadmy]

Speaking of Blu-ray, I just received my first two Blu-ray movies, with one more on the way. I wasn't intending on using the PS3 for Blu-ray playback, at least not yet, but there were some movies I've been dying to buy (I only buy really, really, really good movies that really impressed me), and I figured getting them in hi-def would be pretty sweet. I just received Casino Royale and Die Hard today, and should be receiving Blood Diamond within the week. Haven't watched them yet, but I'll let you guys know what I think.

Oh and I never received the 5 free Blu-ray movies either. I changed apartments during the summer and the guys living there are *******s and so I haven't been able to check up on my mail.

[Cuddly Knife]

The only thing I've bought is Planet Earth, which BTW, is freaking sick.

I would only buy stuff on BR if it was really visually intense.

[T.Tashi]

The first HD DVD sales figures since Warner Brothers jumped ship to Blu-ray are starting to trickle in, and the news is bleak: both HD DVD disc and player sales have plummeted since Warners' surprise pre-CES announcement.
Engadget HD has the numbers from Nielsen VideoScan, which details disc sales for both Blu-ray and HD DVD. The latest word, for the week ending January 15: Blu-ray snagged a whopping 85 percent of disc sales, compared to just 15 percent for HD DVD, with no HD DVD titles at all in the top-10 list. Now, the numbers represent only one week's sales, and as Engadget HD points out, HD DVD didn't happen to have any big titles coming out that week; still, given that the historical Blu-ray/HD DVD split has been more like 60 to 40 percent, that's a sharp drop.

Meanwhile, NPD Group (via High-Def Digest) has sales numbers on the hardware side: for the week ending January 12, Blu-ray players represented an overwhelming 92 percent of all HD decks sold, compared to less than 8 percent for HD DVD. Compare that to the previous week, when Blu-ray and HD DVD player sales chalked up a 50-50 split. Ouch. That said, Toshiba announced an HD DVD player fire sale on January 13, so we'll have to see if that kicks up next week's sales a notch.

Again, we're just talking one week of figures here, but the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Looks like the format war may be drawing to a close, rapidly.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/11874

[joquito]

You're promoting Hdi as a feature of worth against the pristine Ratatouille on BD, you esteem interactive menus over the best looking HD film out there atm, do you watch movies or do you play with menus? You esteem trivial software features that Z level programmers could write as homework, because it was being pushed by MS, yes that's right WAS, MS is done there but you're fighting for the cause aren't you?

Why do you continue to dream such foolish dreams? What do you mean BD Live is clunky? Have Bluray 2.0 players been released to the general public yet? Is the firmware support for profile 2.0 available on the PS3 yet? When they release let me know. I judge products on shelves, products that's launched, like the 360 and it's HDDVD component, they're both garbage and are inferior products, that's what I know...oh!..and this is not from CES.

This topic isn't about HD-DVD and Blu-ray, but about HDi and BD-Java. Either format could have and still can use either software. The menu system allows the viewer to access the content provided by the producers. HDi currently is the better option by a long shot. Owners of both formats don't deny this. If Blu-ray picks up HDi, it would be good for Blu-ray supporters, and actually a huge blow to HD-DVD.

[ilnadmy]

The only thing I've bought is Planet Earth, which BTW, is freaking sick.

I would only buy stuff on BR if it was really visually intense.

I wanted to buy that, but I read that the Blu-ray version had some visual artifacting in certain scenes, especially dark scenes. Apparently the regular DVD version doesn't have this issue, and if you play it at 720p then it isn't obvious. But if you play the thing in 1080p then you can see this sort of "grainy" effect in dark scenes.

Dunno if it's true, but it sure stopped me from buying the set.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

I judge products on shelves, products that's launched, like the 360 and it's HDDVD component, they're both garbage and are inferior products, that's what I know...oh!..and this is not from CES.


B.S. you more than anyone judge products before they come out. Case in fact Sony's entire 08 line up. You go so far as to judge products that haven't even been announced yet.

And to get back on topic.

I like Blu Ray too.

[silversparrow]

I wanted to buy that, but I read that the Blu-ray version had some visual artifacting in certain scenes, especially dark scenes. Apparently the regular DVD version doesn't have this issue, and if you play it at 720p then it isn't obvious. But if you play the thing in 1080p then you can see this sort of "grainy" effect in dark scenes.

Dunno if it's true, but it sure stopped me from buying the set.

There is some grain during the darker scenes, but this has a minimal impact on the overall viewing experience. This being a nature documentary, I think the editing team decided to limit the amount of filtering they did in order to maintain as much of a natural look as possible. Overall it looks superb in HD.

[Fivespot]

Silver Sparrow is right. Planet Earth looks AMAZING in Blu ray and is a must buy if you're into that type of thing. I plan to buy it once the price comes down (rented it initially).

[ilnadmy]

Apparently the reason behind the grain is because the radio in the helicopter caused some interference with the camera, and they didn't realize this until after they landed, and couldn't go back and reshoot.