Decius wrote:
HD-DVD or BlueRay?

What's common:

* Both support MPEG2, H.264 and VC-1
* Both support all the lossy/lossless Dolby alphabet soup
* Both support up to 1080P resolution
* Both use AACS content protection

What's different:

* HD-DVD discs hold 15 or 30 gig, Blu-Ray discs hold 25 or 50 gig
* Blu-Ray also adds BD+ content protection
* HD-DVD is region free, Blu-Ray supports 3 regions
* Blu-Ray supports a Java VM in the player for menus, extras, etc

Studio support differs between the formats. For example, you've got a situation this month where the first two Pirates of the Caribbean hits Blu-Ray exclusive, while Matrix Triology hits HD-DVD exclusive. That's the pisser really.

Also heard anecdotal talk about the Blu-Ray consortium not allowing adult content (not that it matters beyond freedom of expression concerns) but that turned out not to be the case. It's just Sony that won't allow any of its replication facilities to produce porn, which is their prerogative.

On the whole, I think it's a wash. I'm holding out for a good sub $500 HDMI 1.3 enabled dual player before I take the plunge. HD content sure is pretty at 1080P. Contrary to what I've read, I can tell a difference between 1080I and 1080P.

RE: Survey Question