High Def and BlueRay...

[Ajax]

It has been proven that once you get a title key from the HD-BR_DVD disk you can decode it right!:rolleyes: "Well it is stored in memory" I think that anydvd should hold up to its name(ie any dvd) and emulate keys from a dictionary to decrypt these movies:) ...

Oh yeah and truly thanks for the forum its awesome...:)

[gus738]

i agree slysoft should make a total hd decoder due to the reason that again like dvd the disc can get damged , this is another reason why i havn't steped in on the standard disc due to not being able to backup the movies and worrying about damging them

[4x4le]

this is a big worry of mine too because I hate to see a new formatte come out! It is just a marketing ploy to make us buy new stuff. Its not like the human eye can tell that much of a difference to make the new stuff worth throwing out all your old stuff. Anyways, I think that if the new formatt is not compatible with old dvd players (i dont know much about this hd dvd and blue whatever besides I dont want it and I think standard dvds are enough) anyways, I think that It would be a nice feature if you could make it so that we can put one of the new formatted disks in our existing writers and copy it to a standard dvd and watch it in a standard dvd player like a standard dvd. That way even if were forced to buy the new disks, our existing software will be good enough. My biggest complants about these new disks is that I heard the rumor that they are supposedly impossible to copy.:( I somehow doubt that) and defenatially hope it isnt going to be true in the near future.

[tigert]

Most things were impossible at one time or another......

[Franchise]

From what I understand, SlySoft has no intention of siding with Sony on this one or I could be mistaken. It would have to change if Sony "wins", but from what I've seen so far from either side, HDDVD sounds better to me.

[Ajax]

HD is for weirdies like me who like to have the new stuff they brain wash us with it makes politics and the world around us disappear... MMMM forbiden Dohnut...

[4x4le]

I first heard of these in a crutchfield mag. They (at the time but well see) said that they refuse to carry these products and invite everyone else to protest and boycott these products. Humm nevermind, I wanted to check befor I posted. I went to check my latest mag from them. They now carry both products. Looks like they dont dont believe actions speek louder than words anymore. Guess Ill be calling them up and bitching about the article I read a few monthes ago.

[munnman84]

While most people were quick to through out there VHS players, the same won't be said about switching out for DVD to HD....at least for now. The best way to describe the difference between HD and regular DVD and even Blu-ray is getting a better and better MP camera. The higher the MP (megapixel) the clearer the image (duh!). I'm sure most if all know this, but you reach what I call a "clarity" point where the naked eye cannot distinguish and DVD manufacturers have now reached that point with the introduction of HD and Blu-ray. Blu-ray and HD isn't effective SCIENTIFICALLY unless you have a HD ready Tv WITH add-ons (meaning all extra necessary equipment) on a 36" large screen. (don't believe me visit http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hd-dvd.htm for further "specifics"). I myself am a poor college student unable to financially aquire a large enough HD even though I have the Xbox 360, and HD attachment, etc. but I will play the waiting game which is my recommendation because I assure you it will go down. The first year dvd players came out, they were a minimum of 250-350$ and on years end you could aquire one for a little over $100 (now there like $5). Give it time and HD will come down and they will release HD burnable discs and my fav. company for backups will be right along-side with firmware updates for it; for free (SLYSOFT ROCKS!!). Give it between 3-5years and DVD as we know it will not exsist, whereas Blu-ray will FAIL! Yes I said it. It is much larger in overall size, in-affective as most media (especially movies) will not hold or utilize this information (which is PS3's current situation). Blu-ray is a slighter better idea than UMD's of PSP but still remains a doomed product because HD is the mainstream, not Blu-ray. HD is a collective idea embraced by "a collective" whereas Blu-ray is a sole idea by Sony. Good idea Sony, but they sealed there own fate by making a product that others must conform to. Other companies will relase players, and eventually it will tank. The one thing to look for HD wise will be HD projectors as they are FASTLY becomming affordable to the masses. A $2000-3000 projector of yester-year is a $500 projector now. There smaller than bigscreens and boast enough lumens and resolution to be HD ready and display is perfect 64-72" screensize compariable to the best HD TV on the market today.... I love Slysoft, but I think CloneDVD is over-priced when its nearly identical to DVD Shrink which has been out forever and is free. I think they should offer CloneDVD for $15 or even free with AnyDVD as there are many similar products out there like ratDVD, Shrink, DVD +rb, etc. I don't knock them though because they honestly rock!! bought it for my entire family!!! Cheers!

[Ajax]

You only need to post once munnman84

[assembel]

munnman84> Get your facts right before posting something like that.

"HD is a collective idea embraced by "a collective" whereas Blu-ray is a sole idea by Sony."
Blu-ray is supported by Sony, Apple Inc., Dell and Panasonic.
HD-DVD is supported by Toshiba, NEC Corporation, Microsoft and Intel.
So you're a bit wrong there.

"Blu-ray and HD isn't effective SCIENTIFICALLY unless you have a HD ready Tv WITH add-ons (meaning all extra necessary equipment) on a 36" large screen."
I don't know what you mean by add ons. But of course you should not get a HD media player to watch on your 21" monitor. I don't know where you're from, but here in Denmark 42" HDready TVs are taking over the market. You can't buy a picture tube TV anymore, and the big flat screens are so cheap that everyone can affordt it. I'm a poor college student and i have a 42" HDready TV, so has several of my friends.
And there REALLY is a difference in picture quality on such a screen. It's amazing. Once you see the difference, you'll take your comment back, and dream about HD-DVD or Blu-ray.

You're right about the timeframe on HD-DVDs. I will take some time before homeburners for the media and the mediums are down in price. But I'll bet on 2-3 years max.
I know the DVD burners where longer on the way, but the technology today is far more faster.


4x4le>
"Its not like the human eye can tell that much of a difference"
I can tell you never watched HD material on a 38"+ screen right? When you do, you'll have an other opinion. Thrust me. I was skeptical at first, but the difference is SO amazing.

[James]

It has been proven that once you get a title key from the HD-BR_DVD disk you can decode it right!

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good. :D

[KoRn]

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. :D

WOW really quick.

[doughnut]

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good. :D

I know this is very early to ask, but how about pricing - any chance that current AnyDVD users could get discount for this new product? ;)

[lwgreen]

With the larger capacity, Blu Ray would seem to have an advantage. That's how VHS won out over Beta. Of course, they had some help from the porn industry. I understand a lot of porn makers are going with HD since Blu Ray is ignoring them. The question here is: Will AnyDVD HD work with HD and Blu Ray?

[4x4le]

thats my main consern too, not the porn thing, but rather if i can copy the 2 new formatts

[Ajax]

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awesome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good. :D

So how dose this new version work dose it use a library file of title keys or dose it use brute force decryption methods?:o

Oh by the way the both use aacs encryption... so it should do both HD and Blu-Ray...

[Peer]

So how dose this new version work dose it use a library file of title keys or dose it use brute force decryption methods?:o


Well, let me put it this way: nobody's gonna have to painfully search for title keys in the memory of some badly written player.

The rest is just plain old simple magic, like we always done... 8)

Lean back, wait, then see...

------
Peer

[James]

I know this is very early to ask, but how about pricing - any chance that current AnyDVD users could get discount for this new product? ;)
Sure, there will be an upgrade path.

[James]

With the larger capacity, Blu Ray would seem to have an advantage. That's how VHS won out over Beta. Of course, they had some help from the porn industry. I understand a lot of porn makers are going with HD since Blu Ray is ignoring them. The question here is: Will AnyDVD HD work with HD and Blu Ray?
As long as you don't want to record, it doesn't matter. Capacity of HD DVD discs is big enough for movie DVDs. For data storage Blu-ray has the advantage (capacity). For movie discs, I like HD DVDs (no region coding, less DRM).
AnyDVD HD will only work with HD DVD. Blu-Ray support may be added at a later time.

[James]

So how dose this new version work dose it use a library file of title keys or dose it use brute force decryption methods?:o

AnyDVD HD does not require you to search the title/volume Keys in a WinDVD memory dump, if that's what you're asking. :D

Oh by the way the both use aacs encryption... so it should do both HD and Blu-Ray...
Should, would, could... but it doesn't. Maybe later.

[lostboy]

Sure, there will be an upgrade path.

Damn, you guys totally rock. I'm going to buy this anew rather than upgrade .. my little bit to try and help support y'all. Keep it up!

[Ajax]

In responce to James #20


Ok well I am a C++/C# programmer and have been working on my own decrypter program for HD and Blu-Ray. I made a key finder extension that uses the unpatched version of the dump file. It is quite proficient at grabbing volume keys and title keys when run. Then stores them in a *.DLL file so I have them on hand... That's why I asked these Questions...

Some newer disks Have some issues but nothing I haven't found a way to patch. I know that there is a Java decrypter for HD disks But you have to do the looking your own self to get the keys...

By the way dose anybody know if there is a encoder that can handle EVO files yet??? This is one field I have no experience in is encoding algorithm's...

[savyone]

I just bought a Toshiba Hd dvd player & you can really see the difference & hear the difference & it plays on my Sony Hd 42" xbr LCD-using the hdmi connections it is wonderful &&&&&& it will upconvert regular dvds that now look great too---I wasn't going to go for the hd player either but found it for a really low low price so succombed to the temptation and do not regret it. I hope HD DVD wins-so far all the articles that I have read are calling it the winner for now.

[James]

I hope HD DVD wins-so far all the articles that I have read are calling it the winner for now.
This really depends on what articles you read. :)
For us the decision to support HD DVD with AnyDVD HD was simple:

1.) No region code. Makes my job easy.
2.) Less DRM. Again, makes my job easier.
3.) XBOX360 HD DVD drive. Cheap solution to read HD DVD discs on a PC. Works fine under Windows XP & Vista. Available now for everyone.
4.) Consumer friendly. You can write HD DVD structures on normal DVDs, and HD DVD player will (well, should) play it.

Maybe I have to support Blu-ray in the future, but if I am lucky, Blu-ray will die first. :D

[Charlie]

This really depends on what articles you read. :)
For us the decision to support HD DVD with AnyDVD HD was simple:

1.) No region code. Makes my job easy.
2.) Less DRM. Again, makes my job easier.
3.) XBOX360 HD DVD drive. Cheap solution to read HD DVD discs on a PC. Works fine under Windows XP & Vista. Available now for everyone.
4.) Consumer friendly. You can write HD DVD structures on normal DVDs, and HD DVD player will (well, should) play it.

Maybe I have to support Blu-ray in the future, but if I am lucky, Blu-ray will die first. :D

We can only hope:bowdown:

[Ajax]

Yeah Lets face it Blu-ray sucks crap! Sony should keep it for there own PS3 Games Nothing More... The High capacity of them makes them perfect for PS3 games and graphics nothing more...

[GaPony]

I wouldn't count Sony out. They remember losing to VHS and I doubt they plan on it happening again. Like it or not, Sony is the 800lb gorilla in this game.

[Ajax]

Well I think M$ has a couple of trix up their sleeve...

[Metrogirl]

I also can't wait to see this version.

James, just out of interest, have you been following the developments on Doom9?

[James]

I also can't wait to see this version.

James, just out of interest, have you been following the developments on Doom9?
Only a little bit. I was a little disappointed that someone else was faster in releasing a backup tool. But this is in a way a great motivation. :D

[marlowe]

1.) No region code. Makes my job easy.
2.) Less DRM. Again, makes my job easier.
3.) XBOX360 HD DVD drive. Cheap solution to read HD DVD discs on a PC. Works fine under Windows XP & Vista. Available now for everyone.
4.) Consumer friendly. You can write HD DVD structures on normal DVDs, and HD DVD player will (well, should) play it.

Maybe I have to support Blu-ray in the future, but if I am lucky, Blu-ray will die first. :D

This sounds great^^:D
Just upgrade my pc(buy new VGA card-HDCP and new LCD-HDCP)
Hope can see AnyHD-DVD soon

[James]

This sounds great^^:D
Just upgrade my pc(buy new VGA card-HDCP and new LCD-HDCP)
Hope can see AnyHD-DVD soon

Save the money for the HDCP monitor. Buy AnyDVD HD instead. :D

[marlowe]

Save the money for the HDCP monitor. Buy AnyDVD HD instead. :D

Oh,it`s too late(already buy..)

[Metrogirl]

@James - do you have a beta test program at SlySoft? If you need anyone to help beta test the HD variant of AnyDVD in some demanding real-life scenarios as you develop it, I'm more than happy to help out. Drop me a PM if you want to check out my credentials; I have quite bit of experience in testing environments and I'll sign non-disclosure etc. if you want. Just an offer, no problem if you don't want to take me up on it. Good luck anyway.

PS hope this post doesn't trigger a flood of 'me too'. Also, sorry if there is a specific area for beta-testing, I didn't see one.

[James]

@James - do you have a beta test program at SlySoft? If you need anyone to help beta test the HD variant of AnyDVD in some demanding real-life scenarios as you develop it, I'm more than happy to help out. Drop me a PM if you want to check out my credentials; I have quite bit of experience in testing environments and I'll sign non-disclosure etc. if you want. Just an offer, no problem if you don't want to take me up on it. Good luck anyway.

PS hope this post doesn't trigger a flood of 'me too'. Also, sorry if there is a specific area for beta-testing, I didn't see one.
We don't have a beta test program yet, but we want to utilize this forum for this purpose (with a closed beta test group).
But this isn't my department, so I don't know when this will happen. We opened the forum just yesterday so we need some time to get things running smoothly before thinking about the beta program.

[DanITman]

I would love to participate in a beta as well. I have all the neccessary equipment to provide feedback for a beta.

[wdgoldstein]

We don't have a beta test program yet, but we want to utilize this forum for this purpose (with a closed beta test group).
But this isn't my department, so I don't know when this will happen. We opened the forum just yesterday so we need some time to get things running smoothly before thinking about the beta program.


Please put me down as a possable Beta tester. I'm a PC tech hence have tons of Hardware and experience. Also a registered user of both AnyDVD and Clone.

[WesleyTech.com]

I volunteer for Beta testing as well. :D

[baygins]

** scratches head and tries to figure out how AnyDVD is going to figure out the decryption part **

So no need for a memory dump.. Hmm, so all I need is the XBOX360 HD DVD player and "magically" the program figures out how to get the decrypted content from the disc.

So, is AnyDVD "tricking" the player to just spit out the decrypted packets? Does that mean that I will be able to Copy/Paste the disc contents to my HDD and watch the movie later without the need for decryption? And maybe later burn to a disc to be played back on an HD DVD player?

Can I also be put on the list for the beta test?

[stevelot]

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good. :D
Your product has sold millions of dvd burners. If you can support the upcoming HD DVD burners you will make that format the winner in the HD DVD vs Blue Ray war. I have a Toshiba HD DVD player and HD DVD is much better then an up-converted DVD.

[stevelot]

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!:D
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good. :D
What is a DVD burner realy good for without a DVD back up program. The same is true for HD DVD burners. I have a Toshiba HD DVD player that up-converts DVD's and I have watched both up-converted regular DVD's and HD DVD's of the same title and HD DVD is way way better. You will end the HD DVD vs Blue Ray war if you make it a reality to back up HD DVD diks. DVD back up programs sold millions of DVD burners and if you make backing up HD DVD's you will be the reason people buy the HD DVD burners as soon as they are available. Capacity of the disks is mute as long as the movie fits. There are better ways then Blue Ray or HD DVD disks to back up computer files.

[Ajax]

So James When can we expect this new version of the AnyDvD implementation into HD...

[Fireball]

James, I certainly do hope that SlySoft do a Blu-Ray version of HD-AnyDVD.

Blu-Ray is the natural choice of HD for computer users because of the much greater storage capacity. With 200 gigs of storage available to BD in the future it is a far more attractive option as a backup device - Discs are far more reliable than tape for example. It may not take off in terms of home players, but then home player users are not SlySoft's customers.

BD is therefore the choice I have made currently. I built a new computer recently with a BD drive and bought a supposedly HD Ready Hitachi SX5600 projector only to find that its DVI input is not HDCP compliant and I therefore cannot watch HD movies unless I use an analogue cable which kind of defeats the object of HD despite the fact that Sony do not reduce the image quality on analogue - it does reduce slightly naturally and the signal drops off somewhat on a 10m cable run.

From a business point of view, surely, supporting and selling HD-AnyDVD for both formats will give you more customers and therefore more revenue?

Having said that I am staggered by Sony's apparent death-wish for their format. They seem to be making it as hard as they can to have their format accepted: They make it more exepensive, the make it region coded and they increase DRM. As corporate decisions go that has to be one of the most crass! :)

[Peer]

James, I certainly do hope that SlySoft do a Blu-Ray version of HD-AnyDVD. [...]
Blu-Ray is the natural choice of HD for computer users because of the much greater storage capacity. [...]

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I? :)

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it :(

[Charlie]

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I? :)

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it :(

I totally agree with this.:agree:

[Clams]

I totaly agree also. Reminds me also of the lesson Sony didn't learn in the VHS - Betamax shootout.

Sony has been talking out of both sides of thier mouth for a long time now. They have been the most agressive about copy protection, yet they are one of the biggest producers of blank media and burners out there.

-W

[Metrogirl]

@ Peer - sound logic and I agree totally.

I'd like to see Sony lose out on this too. Although Blu-Ray capacity is better (and on that basis alone I'd prefer it) I am frustrated by Sony's view that everyone is a potential criminal and we must be treated accordingly. Their iterations of ARcoSS, SCMS, BD+, the rootkit fiasco, hiding FBI warnings after the main menu, enforced trailers, encrypted drive firmware and hard-coded region restrictions in DVD players - these things all show disregard for what the consumer actually wants. I have to admit that their AV products are generally excellent quality, though.

I'm excited by the prospect of an HD version of AnyDVD, and just as the Doom9 efforts appear to have prompted many members to by HD-DVD, I think that the availability of a product like AnyDVD-HD may be the boost the format needs to ensure its dominance. People will buy the format they can back up, not the one they can't.

I think however that there is a significant risk in leaving Blu-Ray out of the AnyDVD stable for too long. Some studios support both formats and others could switch. If they perceive Blu-Ray as being more secure because it's not so easily ripped, they may choose that format exclusively for delivery.

[WesleyTech.com]

Thanks for all the info on the upcoming AnyDVD HD product.
I posted an article on my site about it.
http://wesleytech.com/anydvd-hd-coming-soon/

[SamuriHL]

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.

Also, I'll throw in one more question just to really get you guys going(hi James! ;) )...will there be an updated CloneDVD HD in the works, as well, to handle encoding tasks of the new HD formats? I realize that even if you are considering such a thing it could be a LONG ways away. I'm more curious about whether you've even thought about such a thing. Obviously the CloneDVD HD would be able to rip trailers and other useless crap out of our backups and be able to write those backups to discs. (Wouldn't it be great if you could rip BluRay discs and then write them to HD-DVD's and vice versa(I guess...I'm not a BluRay fan...I'd rather rip those to HD-DVD's personally)? MUAHAHAHAHA)

Anyway, congrats on the new forum. Congrats on the apparent upcoming success of AnyDVD HD. And I look forward to the beating I'm about to get for suggesting CloneDVD HD. :D

[DetroitBaseball]

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.

Also, I'll throw in one more question just to really get you guys going(hi James! ;) )...will there be an updated CloneDVD HD in the works, as well, to handle encoding tasks of the new HD formats? I realize that even if you are considering such a thing it could be a LONG ways away. I'm more curious about whether you've even thought about such a thing. Obviously the CloneDVD HD would be able to rip trailers and other useless crap out of our backups and be able to write those backups to discs. (Wouldn't it be great if you could rip BluRay discs and then write them to HD-DVD's and vice versa(I guess...I'm not a BluRay fan...I'd rather rip those to HD-DVD's personally)? MUAHAHAHAHA)

Anyway, congrats on the new forum. Congrats on the apparent upcoming success of AnyDVD HD. And I look forward to the beating I'm about to get for suggesting CloneDVD HD. :D
As far as your first question, I am under the assumption that AnyHD-DVD will only work with HD-DVDs. As far as the second question, I have heard nothing about CloneHD-DVD.

[SamuriHL]

As far as your first question, I am under the assumption that AnyHD-DVD will only work with HD-DVDs.

That's why I'm asking. I would imagine it'd be a separate product, as well, but, if it can handle regular DVD's that'd be neat. If not, no big deal. It was more a curiosity than anything.

As far as the second question, I have heard nothing about CloneHD-DVD.

Nor have I, hence the reason I brought it up. ;) If we want tools like that to exist, and I badly do, then we need to let Slysoft know there's a market and interest out there for it. I think that *IF* the following things happen they'd have a HUGE jump on any competition. IF they can add BluRay support(assuming it doesn't die off...latest statistics suggest that it's gaining steam in the market, unfortunately), then a CloneDVD HD program would be extremely beneficial in allowing people to convert their movies to the format of their choice while also editing the content to remove crap they don't want. That, IMO, would be one hell of an application if it could do all that! But the development time on something like that is pretty long. So if Slysoft hadn't even considered the idea yet, I was hoping my post would at least get the wheels turning a little. :)

[SamuriHL]

I just wanted to say I hope my questions don't get lost. If it's not something you want to answer, that's fine, too. I realize it's the weekend and you're probably taking time off which is perfectly fine...I just didn't want to lose the subject.

[DetroitBaseball]

AACS has not actually been cracked. Muslix64 just found out how to extract the key from memory. Unless Slysoft uses this method, or makes one of their own, HD-DVDs cannot be copied.

[SamuriHL]

I'm not sure I follow what you're getting at, exactly. AnyDVD HD will be able to remove the encryption from HD-DVDs thus allowing them to be copied. What I want in addition to that is a tool like CloneDVD to allow me to work with the copied disc. I don't care HOW AnyDVD HD removes the encryption, the fact is, it will. Whether they do key extraction, howl at the moon, or have James speak a key into a microphone and translate it into binary at 3am, that's all irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. :D

[DetroitBaseball]

I'm not sure I follow what you're getting at, exactly. AnyDVD HD will be able to remove the encryption from HD-DVDs thus allowing them to be copied. What I want in addition to that is a tool like CloneDVD to allow me to work with the copied disc. I don't care HOW AnyDVD HD removes the encryption, the fact is, it will. Whether they do key extraction, howl at the moon, or have James speak a key into a microphone and translate it into binary at 3am, that's all irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. :D
AnyHD-DVD will not be able to remove the encryption unless it can crack AACS, which some think could take decades to crack such a tough algorithm. I heard initially AnyHD-DVD will only let you play HD-DVD movies on a non HDMI-compliant monitor.

[SamuriHL]

AnyHD-DVD will not be able to remove the encryption unless it can crack AACS, which some think could take decades to crack such a tough algorithm.

Uhhhhhh, WHAT? If it can't remove the encryption, then it's completely useless. :) They don't NEED to CRACK AACS to remove the encryption...they only need the keys. The algorithm is public knowledge, so, as long as they have the keys, they can use the algorithm to decrypt the contents of the disc. This is how BackupHDDVD works now. Slysoft has eluded to us several times that they are using a different method for retrieving the keys than BackupHDDVD, but, they are still able to decrypt the movie.

[DetroitBaseball]

Uhhhhhh, WHAT? If it can't remove the encryption, then it's completely useless. :) They don't NEED to CRACK AACS to remove the encryption...they only need the keys. The algorithm is public knowledge, so, as long as they have the keys, they can use the algorithm to decrypt the contents of the disc. This is how BackupHDDVD works now. Slysoft has eluded to us several times that they are using a different method for retrieving the keys than BackupHDDVD, but, they are still able to decrypt the movie.
Removing the encryption would be cracking AACS. Bypassing the encryption would be doing what muslix64 did.

[SamuriHL]

What do you call it when you use the algorithm and a key to extract the decrypted content? Cause that's essentially what we're talking about.

[DetroitBaseball]

What do you call it when you use the algorithm and a key to extract the decrypted content? Cause that's essentially what we're talking about.
Bypassing AACS.

[SamuriHL]

To my knowledge, that's what AnyDVD HD will do, as well. They are just using a different method for extracting the keys. In the end, you still have decrypted content that you could then edit with a new CloneDVD program and burn to disc.

[d_bohne]

since Any DVD HD will remove the need for HDCP compliancy, what kind of hardware will be needed to output 1080p from a computer to a HD TV with an X-Box360 HD DVD drive? 1080p has to be pretty demanding for a computer, what kind of processor and graphics card would be needed for that??

[Clams]

I'd suspect most existing video cards and and a lot of the monitors out there can already do 1080p. The absolute minimum spec might be lower than you think.

-W

[Peer]

since Any DVD HD will remove the need for HDCP compliancy, what kind of hardware will be needed to output 1080p from a computer to a HD TV with an X-Box360 HD DVD drive? 1080p has to be pretty demanding for a computer, what kind of processor and graphics card would be needed for that??

On a mid to high end Dual-Core with a decent Video card (like NVidia 7xxx or equivalent ATI) you'll have a CPU-load around 20-30%.
If you copy the HDDVD-content to your harddisk first (of course with AnyDVD/HD running 8) ) and then play from there, you'll save another 5-10% by eliminating the need for realtime decryption.

What monitor to choose, of course, is only a question of how pretty you want your images to be.

So it's fair to say, that AnyDVD/HD reduces the hardware-requirements significantly ;)

[SamuriHL]

Sweet. :) Any comments on my question about a possible CloneDVD HD type product to remaster the content before writing it to a blank disc? Like being able to remove trailers, logos, etc would be nice. Also, it would be killer if you could rip BluRay and write it back to an HD-DVD R, would it not? :)

[DetroitBaseball]

First we have to have a HD-DVD drive for our computer. Which isn't cheap. :(

[SamuriHL]

First we have to have a HD-DVD drive for our computer. Which isn't cheap. :(

I have an XBox 360 so the add on drive would serve dual purposes. I consider that a worthy investment if I can throw it on an HTPC with AnyDVD HD running in the background. ;)

[DetroitBaseball]

I don't own an Xbox 360, sniff sniff. :(

HD-DVD drives cost too much.

[SamuriHL]

I don't own an Xbox 360, sniff sniff. :(

HD-DVD drives cost too much.

Wow, you miss out then. :D Not owning a 360 doesn't preclude you from getting an HD-DVD add on drive, though. 200 bucks isn't too bad for an external drive. Depends on how bad you want HD-DVD on your PC I suppose.

[DetroitBaseball]

Wow, you miss out then. :D Not owning a 360 doesn't preclude you from getting an HD-DVD add on drive, though. 200 bucks isn't too bad for an external drive. Depends on how bad you want HD-DVD on your PC I suppose.
I want an internal drive that I can put into my tower. They just cost way too much right now.

[SamuriHL]

I want an internal drive that I can put into my tower. They just cost way too much right now.

Oh yea, in that case, definitely. They'll come down but right now I'd not even consider an internal at all. The only reason I'd consider the external is so I can use it on both the 360 and a media pc. Like all things, the prices will become reasonable eventually.

[DetroitBaseball]

Oh yea, in that case, definitely. They'll come down but right now I'd not even consider an internal at all. The only reason I'd consider the external is so I can use it on both the 360 and a media pc. Like all things, the prices will become reasonable eventually.
I don't like external because you have to hook them into a USB port, which is slower anyways. Not to mention $200 is too much anyways. I'm not a big movie guy to spend $200.

[James]

since Any DVD HD will remove the need for HDCP compliancy, what kind of hardware will be needed to output 1080p from a computer to a HD TV with an X-Box360 HD DVD drive? 1080p has to be pretty demanding for a computer, what kind of processor and graphics card would be needed for that??
A fast processor would be nice, like an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 GHz.
For graphics, an ATI X1600 is fine. (You could buy more expnsive cards, too, of course..)

[James]

Sweet. :) Any comments on my question about a possible CloneDVD HD type product to remaster the content before writing it to a blank disc? Like being able to remove trailers, logos, etc would be nice. Also, it would be killer if you could rip BluRay and write it back to an HD-DVD R, would it not? :)
AnyDVD HD already does this "on the fly".:D
Really, I had to do this before the first beta, 'cause I couldn't stand the 40 seconds unskippable Universal "HD-DVD is so great" intro on *every* Universal HD DVD.
As a side effect, the Warner & Paramount intros are now gone, too.
8)

[James]

On a mid to high end Dual-Core with a decent Video card (like NVidia 7xxx or equivalent ATI) you'll have a CPU-load around 20-30%.
If you copy the HDDVD-content to your harddisk first (of course with AnyDVD/HD running 8) ) and then play from there, you'll save another 5-10% by eliminating the need for realtime decryption.

What monitor to choose, of course, is only a question of how pretty you want your images to be.

So it's fair to say, that AnyDVD/HD reduces the hardware-requirements significantly ;)
Careful, Peer. Your measurements are certainly with hardware acceleration in the graphic cards enabled.
You don't want this at the moment, because it really doesn't work 100%. Trust me, I am a professional. :p
Some titles are more demanding than others. Try MI:3 (which requires two VC1 decoders running at the same time) without hardware acceleration, you'll reach 80% CPU load on demanding scenes on a Core2duo 2.4 GHz.

[James]

So James When can we expect this new version of the AnyDvD implementation into HD...
I finished the beta today. It is tested now internally (hi, peer).
I don't know how the beta will be distributed, someone else (Tom?) will probably make an announcement.

[James]

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I? :)

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it :(

Very well said!

[James]

Sweet. :) Any comments on my question about a possible CloneDVD HD type product to remaster the content before writing it to a blank disc? Like being able to remove trailers, logos, etc would be nice. Also, it would be killer if you could rip BluRay and write it back to an HD-DVD R, would it not? :)
CloneDVD HD is not planned at the moment. Maybe later, if the HD formats gain popularity. There will be an "AnyDVD ripper like" application to copy files to the harddisk (remember, Windows XP doesn't support UDF2.5, so you can't "drag'n'drop", until you manage to install the UDF2.5 filesystem from Toshiba Laptops on your PC... cough, cough)
There will be an upgrade to CloneCD to make 1:1 copies and harddisk UDF images. There will be an update to Virtual CloneDrive to mount them.
(Well, it already mounts them, but the stupid PowerDVD Ultra doesn't play them yet).

[James]

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.
AnyDVD HD will contain all functions from AnyDVD "classic". So you will only have one Fox icon. In fact, AnyDVD HD installs in the same location as AnyDVD, and uses the same dlls and drivers. In other words, you *can* only install one or the other.

[DetroitBaseball]

AnyDVD HD will contain all functions from AnyDVD "classic". So you will only have one Fox icon. In fact, AnyDVD HD installs in the same location as AnyDVD, and uses the same dlls and drivers. In other words, you *can* only install one or the other.
I don't like that. You mean you can't have AnyDVD and AnyHD-DVD installed simultaneously?

[James]

I don't like that. You mean you can't have AnyDVD and AnyHD-DVD installed simultaneously?
No, because AnyDVD HD replaces AnyDVD. Why don't you like it? It is only a few kBytes bigger and "looks and feels" the same.
The only difference is in fact a new "Video HD DVD" settings page in the preferences.

EDIT: If you use your regular AnyDVD key AnyDVD HD will "convert itself" into AnyDVD classic. I've done this to make development and distribution simpler.

[DetroitBaseball]

No, because AnyDVD HD replaces AnyDVD. Why don't you like it? It is only a few kBytes bigger and "looks and feels" the same.
The only difference is in fact a new "Video HD DVD" settings page in the preferences.

EDIT: If you use your regular AnyDVD key AnyDVD HD will "convert itself" into AnyDVD classic. I've done this to make development and distribution simpler.
Oh, AnyHD-DVD will be able to decrypt HD-DVDs and normal DVDs?

[James]

For those curious, here is a screen shot:

http://sandbox.slysoft.com/AnyDVDhd.JPG

[James]

Oh, AnyHD-DVD will be able to decrypt HD-DVDs and normal DVDs?
Sure. It's "all inclusive". :D

[DetroitBaseball]

For those curious, here is a screen shot:

http://sandbox.slysoft.com/AnyDVDhd.JPG
Looks sweet, too bad I don't have an HD-DVD drive.

[DetroitBaseball]

Sure. It's "all inclusive". :D
Great, I'll definitely be buying AnyHD-DVD as soon as I get an HD-DVD player and burner. Which won't be for a long time unfortunately. The stuff costs too much.

[James]

Looks sweet, too bad I don't have an HD-DVD drive.
AnyDVD HD is the best reason to get one. :D

[DetroitBaseball]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16882116085

$450 after a rebate just for a player, now imagine a burner and the HD-DVDs to burn onto. Crazy.

[Clams]

No, because AnyDVD HD replaces AnyDVD. Why don't you like it? It is only a few kBytes bigger and "looks and feels" the same.
The only difference is in fact a new "Video HD DVD" settings page in the preferences.

EDIT: If you use your regular AnyDVD key AnyDVD HD will "convert itself" into AnyDVD classic. I've done this to make development and distribution simpler.

That's super-slick!!! And much easier for all. :bowdown: :bowdown:

-W

[visionjinx]

I don't own an Xbox 360, sniff sniff. :(

HD-DVD drives cost too much.

should have asked i just sold mine on ebay with the hd dvd player and 6 games.

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

should have asked i just sold mine on ebay with the hd dvd player and 6 games.


I want an XBox 360 just so I can play Gears of War. *drool* Oh, and the HD-DVD player via USB to my computer would be nice.


The screenshot looks great, James! Nice work. I'm curious whether you plan to have somewhere that the keys (ie Volume Unique Keys) show up for the HD-DVDs along the lines of the CSS Keys under Video DVD?

[KoRn]

Looks sweet, too bad I don't have an HD-DVD drive.

Nice screen shot.:D

[Peer]

Careful, Peer. Your measurements are certainly with hardware acceleration in the graphic cards enabled.
You don't want this at the moment, because it really doesn't work 100%. Trust me, I am a professional. :p
Some titles are more demanding than others. Try MI:3 (which requires two VC1 decoders running at the same time) without hardware acceleration, you'll reach 80% CPU load on demanding scenes on a Core2duo 2.4 GHz.

Yes, sure, you're right James, I should have added that info.
This whole topic deserves somewhat more detail anyway and I'm sure that several threads are going to cover it soon.

WinDVD has severe problems with hardware acceleration - I remember you telling me of some with PowerDVD too.
But my system here hasn't shown one glitch yet that would've been owed to hw-accel when running PowerDVD Ultra (maybe thanks to AnyDVD/HD? :) ).
The hardware acceleration just works perfect here and leaves most of the system at my disposal while playing a HD-DVD.

So let's just say "careful with hw-accel, it may or may not work...".

[James]

Yes, sure, you're right James, I should have added that info.
This whole topic deserves somewhat more detail anyway and I'm sure that several threads are going to cover it soon.

WinDVD has severe problems with hardware acceleration - I remember you telling me of some with PowerDVD too.
But my system here hasn't shown one glitch yet that would've been owed to hw-accel when running PowerDVD Ultra (maybe thanks to AnyDVD/HD? :) ).
The hardware acceleration just works perfect here and leaves most of the system at my disposal while playing a HD-DVD.

So let's just say "careful with hw-accel, it may or may not work...".
Right. You remember us watching the "Slither" HD DVD together? This played without a glitch with hardware acceleration enabled & synched to 48hz using ReClock.
But MI:3 can stutter in some demanding scenes with the same settings. PowerDVD Ultra doesn't seem to have some "load balancing" - if hardware acceleration in the graphic card isn't fast enough, you'll get stutter. So the only solution is to completely disable hardware acceleration at the moment, hence I would recommend "get a fast CPU, but save your money on the graphics card".

[James]

I want an XBox 360 just so I can play Gears of War. *drool* Oh, and the HD-DVD player via USB to my computer would be nice.


The screenshot looks great, James! Nice work. I'm curious whether you plan to have somewhere that the keys (ie Volume Unique Keys) show up for the HD-DVDs along the lines of the CSS Keys under Video DVD?
No, there are no plans to expose the volume unique keys. :D

[UserName]

This may be in the wrong thread, but any mention of AnyHD-DVD gets my attention, so here goes...

When the AnyHD-DVD comes out, will it be a patch to the AnyDVD program, for a small additional charge to existing users, or must we delete the old AnyDVD and purchase a totally new $50.00 program (or higher $$$) ?

It would be nice if the upgrade was in the form of an additional add-on patcher, purchased at a reasonable price by existing AnyDVD customers, and the full program, at the full price, to new customers, but not knowing how complex programming actually is :D , if you really have to re-do the entire program, I guess I can understand a higher price tag.

just my 2-cents
feel free to smack me... :p 8)

[James]

This may be in the wrong thread, but any mention of AnyHD-DVD gets my attention, so here goes...

When the AnyHD-DVD comes out, will it be a patch to the AnyDVD program, for a small additional charge to existing users, or must we delete the old AnyDVD and purchase a totally new $50.00 program (or higher $$$) ?

It would be nice if the upgrade was in the form of an additional add-on patcher, purchased at a reasonable price by existing AnyDVD customers, and the full program, at the full price, to new customers, but not knowing how complex programming actually is :D , if you really have to re-do the entire program, I guess I can understand a higher price tag.

just my 2-cents
feel free to smack me... :p 8)
Technically it is a different program which replaces AnyDVD on your computer. But you don't need to pay the full price, users of AnyDVD will get an attractive discount.

[UserName]

any idea how attractive?

make me an offer I can't refuse ;) :eek: :D

by the way- on a totally different note - I hope my profile picture isn't offensive - it's meant as a light hearted spoof.

[James]

any idea how attractive?

*Very*. :D
Probably not much more than the price difference between AnyDVD classic & AnyDVD HD.

[UserName]

that sounds reasonable, then, if purchased on Giancarlo Bettini's birthday, or Christmas, or New Years holiday, we get an additional $5.00 off :p :D ;)

This was when I got my key, during the Christmas discount, and OLD price before the New Years day price-hike.

[DetroitBaseball]

*Very*. :D
Probably not much more than the price difference between AnyDVD classic & AnyDVD HD.
So then I guess AnyHD-DVD is going to cost more than AnyDVD.

[James]

So then I guess AnyHD-DVD is going to cost more than AnyDVD.
It sure does.

[d_bohne]

A fast processor would be nice, like an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 GHz.
For graphics, an ATI X1600 is fine. (You could buy more expnsive cards, too, of course..)

Thanks for the response, James! I have a laptop (mobile workstation) with a 3.2 GHz P4 processor, an ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 Pro Graphics card. The computer has DVI output, and my 1080p DLP TV has HDMI/DVI inputs. I'm hoping to use this computer with an XBox 360 HD Drive. Do you think this would be sufficient to output 1080p to the TV? When I connect the computer to the TV to watch movies and stuff I am not having the computer do any other tasks at all. Also, the graphics card is replaceable, so I could upgrade to something in the Mobility Radeon X1K Family...

Also, what kind of media player software is neccessary? Right now I primarily use Nero Showtime and Windows Media Center...

Thanks always for the great SlySoft products and OUTSTANDING customer support!!!

[gus738]

hi james well i have a xps 700 core 2 duo 2.66 2 gb ram 533 ddr2 nvida geforce 7900Gs i take it this is more then enough power?????

[DetroitBaseball]

hi james well i have a xps 700 core 2 duo 2.66 2 gb ram 533 ddr2 nvida geforce 7900Gs i take it this is more then enough power?????
Sounds good to me.

[James]

Anybody interested?
Look here:
http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=937

[James]

Thanks for the response, James! I have a laptop (mobile workstation) with a 3.2 GHz P4 processor
Seems a little bit underpowered for HD, sorry.

Also, what kind of media player software is neccessary? Right now I primarily use Nero Showtime and Windows Media Center...

For HD DVD playback there is currently only one product available (PowerDVD Ultra), so the choice is quite limited. :D
For DVD playback my personal favourite is Zoom Player & NVIDIA Pure Video Decoder.

[James]

hi james well i have a xps 700 core 2 duo 2.66 2 gb ram 533 ddr2 nvida geforce 7900Gs i take it this is more then enough power?????
Sure, more power than you need.:D

[SlyFox 1]

Don't you also need HD-DVD media? That is not easy to find either.:disagree:

[DetroitBaseball]

No one has all the resources needed to be a tester.

[James]

Don't you also need HD-DVD media? That is not easy to find either.:disagree:
HD DVD media? What do you mean? Movies? I don't even think there is a HD DVD recorder available for PCs at the moment.

[SamuriHL]

AnyDVD HD already does this "on the fly".:D
Really, I had to do this before the first beta, 'cause I couldn't stand the 40 seconds unskippable Universal "HD-DVD is so great" intro on *every* Universal HD DVD.
As a side effect, the Warner & Paramount intros are now gone, too.
8)

ROFLMAO! Ok, Ok, that sounds good then. If I had an HD-DVD drive I'd help out with the beta testing. I just bought a new car, though, so my budget is a tad bit stretched at the moment. :)

[James]

ROFLMAO! Ok, Ok, that sounds good then. If I had an HD-DVD drive I'd help out with the beta testing. I just bought a new car, though, so my budget is a tad bit stretched at the moment. :)
Who needs a car? Stay at home, watch HD DVD movies! :D

[SamuriHL]

CloneDVD HD is not planned at the moment. Maybe later, if the HD formats gain popularity. There will be an "AnyDVD ripper like" application to copy files to the harddisk (remember, Windows XP doesn't support UDF2.5, so you can't "drag'n'drop", until you manage to install the UDF2.5 filesystem from Toshiba Laptops on your PC... cough, cough)
There will be an upgrade to CloneCD to make 1:1 copies and harddisk UDF images. There will be an update to Virtual CloneDrive to mount them.
(Well, it already mounts them, but the stupid PowerDVD Ultra doesn't play them yet).

Pardon my excitement here, but, "OH HELL YEA!' :D That is seriously awesome! And what's this "Windows XP" you speak of? You mean Vista, right? ROFLMAO! ;) Well done, guys. VERY well done.

[SamuriHL]

Who needs a car? Stay at home, watch HD DVD movies! :D

I wish! Somehow my boss type person wouldn't like that very much. Not all of us have cushy movie hacking jobs like you, ya know. :D LOL!

[SamuriHL]

AnyDVD HD will contain all functions from AnyDVD "classic". So you will only have one Fox icon. In fact, AnyDVD HD installs in the same location as AnyDVD, and uses the same dlls and drivers. In other words, you *can* only install one or the other.

Perfect. That's what I was hoping for. Another well done. You guys are right on top of this.

[James]

by the way- on a totally different note - I hope my profile picture isn't offensive - it's meant as a light hearted spoof.
LOL!!!!
Offensive -- maybe. But funny as hell! :D

[James]

Perfect. That's what I was hoping for. Another well done. You guys are right on top of this.
Have you seen the screenshot yet? Sure you don't want to trade the car? :D

[SamuriHL]

I want an XBox 360 just so I can play Gears of War. *drool* Oh, and the HD-DVD player via USB to my computer would be nice.



Yes, yes you do. GoW is awesome. :) I want the HD-DVD drive...maybe some day soon.

[SamuriHL]

Have you seen the screenshot yet? Sure you don't want to trade the car? :D

Yes, I just took a look. You guys are insanely awesome. And no, I LOVE my car unfortunately. As tempting as it is to get an HD-DVD drive. My birthday IS coming up in a few days though. :D

[James]

Yes, I just took a look. You guys are insanely awesome. And no, I LOVE my car unfortunately. As tempting as it is to get an HD-DVD drive. My birthday IS coming up in a few days though. :D
Did you notice the "directory to store script files" edit box?
With an XML editor you can remaster HD DVDs on the fly (!!!!!) without making a copy. The script files will magically replace the files on the physical disc. So you can create customized playback of movies *without* ripping them at all.
How cool is that?
I believe that's what you were asking for, right? ;)

[James]

But my system here hasn't shown one glitch yet that would've been owed to hw-accel when running PowerDVD Ultra (maybe thanks to AnyDVD/HD? :) ).

You're right. Since I have AnyDVD HD running, PowerDVD Ultra runs much, much better. Without AnyDVD HD I got the annoying "Pure Virtual Function Call" crash quite often. Looks like a bug in their AACS code. Together with AnyDVD HD it indeed runs without a glitch.

[SamuriHL]

You're right. Since I have AnyDVD HD running, PowerDVD Ultra runs much, much better. Without AnyDVD HD I got the annoying "Pure Virtual Function Call" crash quite often. Looks like a bug in their AACS code. Together with AnyDVD HD it indeed runs without a glitch.

HAHAHAHAHA! That's awesome. :) Fixing bugs that shouldn't even exist. Very nice. :)

[SamuriHL]

Did you notice the "directory to store script files" edit box?
With an XML editor you can remaster HD DVDs on the fly (!!!!!) without making a copy. The script files will magically replace the files on the physical disc. So you can create customized playback of movies *without* ripping them at all.
How cool is that?
I believe that's what you were asking for, right? ;)

Holy hell!!! That's exactly what I was asking for!! WOW. Just WOW!! That is so damn kuel! Ok, I know what I'm asking for for my birthday. :) I wanna try this out. :)

[James]

Holy hell!!! That's exactly what I was asking for!! WOW. Just WOW!! That is so damn kuel! Ok, I know what I'm asking for for my birthday. :) I wanna try this out. :)

So, for your birthday you'll need:
1.) A fast HTPC, the bigger the harddisk, the better
2.) XBOX360 HD DVD drive
3.) AnyDVD HD (of course)
4.) PowerDVD Ultra
5.) Lots of HD DVDs. Check out the 10% discount at amazon.com. If you buy three titles with one order, you'll get 10% discount on all HD DVD titles for one year.

EDIT:
6.) A JVC RS-1 (or similar) projector would round up the viewing experience.
7.) Use a HTPC with XP, not Vista, because of
8.) ReClock

[SamuriHL]

So, for your birthday you'll need:
1.) A fast HTPC, the bigger the harddisk, the better
2.) XBOX360 HD DVD drive
3.) AnyDVD HD (of course)
4.) PowerDVD Ultra
5.) Lots of HD DVDs. Check out the 10% discount at amazon.com. If you buy three titles with one order, you'll get 10% discount on all HD DVD titles for one year.

I'll see what I can do. If I can get my wife to maybe buy me the drive I can get PowerDVD Ultra and then pick up some HD-DVDs. It's coming up in a week and a half so I'll see what I can do. I'd LOVE to try out AnyDVD HD. :) My machine will be more than capable of handling HD-DVDs...I already deal with HD video from my cable box on a regular basis. Plus I have an HD tuner that does QAM unencrypted channels to record broadcast tv off my cable system in HD. I'll talk to my wife and see what she had in mind for my birthday. :)

[DetroitBaseball]

James, is this good enough?

Pentium 4 3.20GHz w/ HT processor
1 GB of DDR2 RAM
80GB SATA HD (SATA is fast)

[James]

I'll see what I can do. If I can get my wife to maybe buy me the drive I can get PowerDVD Ultra and then pick up some HD-DVDs. It's coming up in a week and a half so I'll see what I can do. I'd LOVE to try out AnyDVD HD. :) My machine will be more than capable of handling HD-DVDs...I already deal with HD video from my cable box on a regular basis. Plus I have an HD tuner that does QAM unencrypted channels to record broadcast tv off my cable system in HD. I'll talk to my wife and see what she had in mind for my birthday. :)
I hope your machine isn't running Vista, 'cause without ReClock you can't eliminate the 3:2 pulldown judder (if your display is capable of 24/48/72 Hz vertical refresh rate, of course).

[SamuriHL]

EDIT:
6.) A JVC RS-1 (or similar) projector would round up the viewing experience.
7.) Use a HTPC with XP, not Vista, because of
8.) ReClock

Yea, 6 is definitely not happening just yet. :) But some day soon we'll have something nice for the viewing experience. ;) I wish they'd fix ReClock to work with Vista. I have 2 media pc's...one with Vista and one with MCE2005 for that very reason. I'd LOVE to upgrade the other box but not until we get a solution to ReClock.

[SamuriHL]

I hope your machine isn't running Vista, 'cause without ReClock you can't eliminate the 3:2 pulldown judder (if your display is capable of 24/48/72 Hz vertical refresh rate, of course).

Won't be an issue. I have 2 machines so I can use the MCE2005 box for testing for now.

[James]

James, is this good enough?

Pentium 4 3.20GHz w/ HT processor
1 GB of DDR2 RAM
80GB SATA HD (SATA is fast)
Don't know, is your processor in this list?

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/support/bdhd_support/system_requirement.jsp

[DetroitBaseball]

What is Intel Pentium EE?

[Blazkowicz]

What is Intel Pentium EE?

It should be Intel Pentium Extreme Edition.

Don't have a hd dvd drive and my cpu is too slow :(

[DetroitBaseball]

In that case, my processor isn't on the list. But my CPU is very good, I have total confidence in it regardless of that opinionated list.

[James]

I wish they'd fix ReClock to work with Vista. I have 2 media pc's...one with Vista and one with MCE2005 for that very reason. I'd LOVE to upgrade the other box but not until we get a solution to ReClock.
I am indeed a little bit concerned, the author of ReClock has somehow "vanished". I doubt my boss would approve me to write a "SlyReClock" during my worktime, as I won't be able to convince him of the "commercial value" of such a tool... I doubt a lot of people would consider paying for it.

[DetroitBaseball]

What is ReClock and what does it do? I need a little clarification so I can take a stand on this issue. Need the facts.

[James]

What is ReClock and what does it do? I need a little clarification so I can take a stand on this issue. Need the facts.

The best thing is to let the author speak himself:
http://reclock.free.fr/

The purpose of ReClock is to definitely get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC (or a HTPC driving a TV, a flat panel, or a video-projector). It's a DirectShow filter which is loaded in place of the default directsound audio renderer.
It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.
It also provides a frame rate adaptator for media files that do not match a multiple of the video card refresh rate (ex: playback of 23,976fps IVTC NTSC on a PAL TV).
The combination of the two will give you the true experience of smooth playback with your PC.
Finally it is an audio renderer with hardware or software rate adaptation in real-time, multi-channel audio, audio timestretching (pal speedup compensation) and dynamic range compression capabilities.

[SamuriHL]

I am indeed a little bit concerned, the author of ReClock has somehow "vanished". I doubt my boss would approve me to write a "SlyReClock" during my worktime, as I won't be able to convince him of the "commercial value" of such a tool... I doubt a lot of people would consider paying for it.

Yea, when Tru and I were talking about this at CDF a few months ago I looked to see if I could find a Vista solution. There are people who claim it doesn't need it but I'm not convinced. (Nor have I had the time to test that theory either) But it would be a shame if we didn't see a Vista version. You're probably right, though, the commercial value is probably next to 0. :/

[DetroitBaseball]

The best thing is to let the author speak himself:
http://reclock.free.fr/

The purpose of ReClock is to definitely get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC (or a HTPC driving a TV, a flat panel, or a video-projector). It's a DirectShow filter which is loaded in place of the default directsound audio renderer.
It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.
It also provides a frame rate adaptator for media files that do not match a multiple of the video card refresh rate (ex: playback of 23,976fps IVTC NTSC on a PAL TV).
The combination of the two will give you the true experience of smooth playback with your PC.
Finally it is an audio renderer with hardware or software rate adaptation in real-time, multi-channel audio, audio timestretching (pal speedup compensation) and dynamic range compression capabilities.
Sounds good to me.

[James]

Yea, when Tru and I were talking about this at CDF a few months ago I looked to see if I could find a Vista solution. There are people who claim it doesn't need it but I'm not convinced.
Me neither. I have a lot of PAL DVDs (it comes with the job :D ) who are (IMHO) absolutely unwatchable because of the PAL speedup problem.

PAL DVDs are nice, because they do have a higher resolution than NTSC DVDs. But the PAL Speedup is a problem, at least for me. Want to get a taste how the poor people in PAL countries suffer?
Look here:

http://www.schmidt-web.info/malte/english.html

ReClock is the *only way* (I know of) to correct this problem. Vista does not help here at all.

[SamuriHL]

Me neither. I have a lot of PAL DVDs (it comes with the job :D ) who are (IMHO) absolutely unwatchable because of the PAL speedup problem.

PAL DVDs are nice, because they do have a higher resolution than NTSC DVDs. But the PAL Speedup is a problem, at least for me. Want to get a taste how the poor people in PAL countries suffer?
Look here:

http://www.schmidt-web.info/malte/english.html

ReClock is the *only way* (I know of) to correct this problem. Vista does not help here at all.

I'm not surprised that the information I read about Vista was...um, "inaccurate". :D As I said I never got a chance to test it after I had read that. I have some PAL DVD's but they don't seem to show the speed up problem...possibly because they are shorter TV show episode discs and not full length movies. At least...I haven't noticed the problem. :) Nonetheless, if this is an issue in Vista, then we are screwed as there is no solution. That really bites...

[UserName]

LOL!!!!
Offensive -- maybe. But funny as hell! :D

:D I'd like to make it my Avatar but can't find any option in my settings to save it to...
and don't see Avatar's shown in posts anyway, for anyone else, ...
I guess only moderators get that option HUH? :bowdown:

BTW- I noticed something strange with the emotion icons ...
the one for 'disagree' is the same as the 'agree' icon
:p
not that it really matters, just noticed it, .. haha ...

anywho, I hope Giancarlo Bettini doesn't kick me off of here,
for what I did with the picture ... hehehehe!
Only members can see it anyway, after signing in...
so it's not out there for all to see, sort of.

[DetroitBaseball]

Avatars aren't allowed on this forum.

[James]

I'm not surprised that the information I read about Vista was...um, "inaccurate". :D As I said I never got a chance to test it after I had read that. I have some PAL DVD's but they don't seem to show the speed up problem...possibly because they are shorter TV show episode discs and not full length movies. At least...I haven't noticed the problem. :) Nonetheless, if this is an issue in Vista, then we are screwed as there is no solution. That really bites...
If these were (british BBC?) TV shows made on (PAL) video, you won't have PAL speedup. On everything else (with only a few exceptions) you'll have it.

[SamuriHL]

If these were (british BBC?) TV shows made on (PAL) video, you won't have PAL speedup. On everything else (with only a few exceptions) you'll have it.

Ah, yes, they are indeed BBC TV shows in PAL format that I imported (stupid BBC America...I hate that station...hence I just go buy the DVD's from the UK instead). I don't have any PAL movies currently.

[James]

Ah, yes, they are indeed BBC TV shows in PAL format that I imported (stupid BBC America...I hate that station...hence I just go buy the DVD's from the UK instead). I don't have any PAL movies currently.

amazon.co.uk
amazon.fr
amazon.de
amazon.co.jp
amazon.com

is your friendly "all over the world (HD)DVD delivery service". :D

Did I mention that HD DVDs are not region coded? :D

[DetroitBaseball]

amazon.co.uk
amazon.fr
amazon.de
amazon.co.jp
amazon.com

is your friendly "all over the world (HD)DVD delivery service". :D

Did I mention that HD DVDs are not region coded? :D
You did before, which is good news.

[SamuriHL]

amazon.co.uk
amazon.fr
amazon.de
amazon.co.jp
amazon.com

is your friendly "all over the world (HD)DVD delivery service". :D

Did I mention that HD DVDs are not region coded? :D

Oh, believe me, I know all about amazon. :) That's where I get all my UK discs. Region coding, region coding....hmmmm, OHHHH, right, that's that annoying thing I have to deal with if my red fox isn't there. IOW, it's never been a probelm. :D

[transws6am]

I keep seeing people on here saying that even though they would like to see Sony fail, they feel that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD. I have no idea were you are getting this from. Forget memory capacity. After you get past 20g for home use; who the hell cares. You really want to see which is better, get a Blu-Ray player and a HD-DVD player next to each other and compare the pictures. The Blu-ray picture is absolute garbage. My old upconverter DVD player faked a better HD picture than the Blu-ray makes. The quality of the HD-DVD players is FAR superior to that of the Blu-ray.

[DetroitBaseball]

I keep seeing people on here saying that even though they would like to see Sony fail, they feel that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD. I have no idea were you are getting this from. Forget memory capacity. After you get past 20g for home use; who the hell cares. You really want to see which is better, get a Blu-Ray player and a HD-DVD player next to each other and compare the pictures. The Blu-ray picture is absolute garbage. My old upconverter DVD player faked a better HD picture than the Blu-ray makes. The quality of the HD-DVD players is FAR superior to that of the Blu-ray.
Blu-Ray is superior for storing data. HD-DVD is superior for movies.

[transws6am]

Who the hell needs to store that much data on a portable disc? Maybe a major corporation, but the everyday joe schmoe would be blowing money out their
a$$. Blu-ray blows. I bought mine and it just sits there watching me us my HD-DVD player.

[DetroitBaseball]

Who the hell needs to store that much data on a portable disc? Maybe a major corporation, but the everyday joe schmoe would be blowing money out their
a$$. Blu-ray blows. I bought mine and it just sits there watching me us my HD-DVD player.
It could be nice to backup a lot of information.

[James]

I keep seeing people on here saying that even though they would like to see Sony fail, they feel that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD. I have no idea were you are getting this from.
Me neither, at least not for watching movies. HD DVD is much more consumer friendly IMHO (no region code, less drm, works with "red laser" DVDs).
The HD DVD standard defines more features as mandatory, so the studios can rely on more features present in all players (very important IMHO).

Forget memory capacity. After you get past 20g for home use; who the hell cares.
For data storage (backups) I do care. The more, the better. For movies, the 30GB of HD DVD is fine (when using advanced codecs like VC1 or H264).
Blu-ray uses up 50 GB space, because Sony likes to use space consuming MPEG2 on their transfers. :doh:
Or they have to encode the movie twice on one disc, because PIP is not mandatory on all Blu-ray players like with HD DVD. :doh:

You really want to see which is better, get a Blu-Ray player and a HD-DVD player next to each other and compare the pictures. The Blu-ray picture is absolute garbage. My old upconverter DVD player faked a better HD picture than the Blu-ray makes. The quality of the HD-DVD players is FAR superior to that of the Blu-ray.
Uh-oh. Maybe you had bad luck and picked one of the inferior mastered early MPEG2 Blu-ray discs, or your Blu-Ray player sucks.
If you compare titles with similar encoding (e.g., from Warner) you shouldn't see any difference. But you are right, there are some Blu-ray titles that suck. A big downer for "high definition" addicts.
I don't have one myself, but I heard of some "not so good" HD DVD transfers as well, but it seems to happen more often with Blu-ray.
But to be fair, this is not a problem of the format.

[DetroitBaseball]

James, yesterday someone posted an article that suggested HD-DVD might include region coding soon.

[James]

James, yesterday someone posted an article that suggested HD-DVD might include region coding soon.
*Might* is the keyword here. HD DVD is made by the DVD Forum, so there is a proposal, then there is a vote for approval, ...
I am certain they are discussing this topic at the moment. I am not sure, if it will happen. In some countries region codes are considered illegal (was it Australia?) because it is against "fair trade law", and "mod chips" which bypass region codes cannot be banned.
So, adding a region code could probably backfire. :D
And don't forget - a region scheme must be backward compatible with all existing discs and players. I wouldn't worry too much at this time... :D

[DetroitBaseball]

*Might* is the keyword here. HD DVD is made by the DVD Forum, so there is a proposal, then there is a vote for approval, ...
I am certain they are discussing this topic at the moment. I am not sure, if it will happen. In some countries region codes are considered illegal (was it Australia?) because it is against "fair trade law", and "mod chips" which bypass region codes cannot be banned.
So, adding a region code could probably backfire. :D
And don't forget - a region scheme must be backward compatible with all existing discs and players. I wouldn't worry too much at this time... :D
I'm hoping it doesn't happen, I want your job to easier and for it to be easier to use media.

[DetroitBaseball]

Here's the facts on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats

[James]

Here's the facts on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats
A lot of interesting facts aren't mentioned, like "what formats and features are mandatory".

[Fireball]

I keep seeing people on here saying that even though they would like to see Sony fail, they feel that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD. I have no idea were you are getting this from. Forget memory capacity. After you get past 20g for home use; who the hell cares. You really want to see which is better, get a Blu-Ray player and a HD-DVD player next to each other and compare the pictures. The Blu-ray picture is absolute garbage. My old upconverter DVD player faked a better HD picture than the Blu-ray makes. The quality of the HD-DVD players is FAR superior to that of the Blu-ray.

Firstly, we are not "home users" per say - we are computer users, and we need to make back-ups. As a computer professional I can tell you that the vast majority of users NEVER back up their computers. This is usually because there is no easy way to do it. CDs are way to small. DVDs are generally 4.7 Gb. Dual layer 9Gb RW discs are relatively expensive and not on sale in stores here in the UK. Tape drives are expensive and the media unreliable. iOmega's Rev system is pretty good but very expensive and the media is expensive also. The computer world is crying out for something like a Blu-Ray RW disc that can hold 200 Gb or potentially 250 Gb and write that amount of data in 15 minutes or less.... unfortunately I don't see the industry giving us this ability for some time. They will dribble it out slowly over the years to maximise on re-purchase profit :(

As far as your comment on Blu-Ray quality is concerned: If the content of the disc is the same the movies will be of the same quality. It is possible that you were watching an early demo BD movie. Some of these use Microsoft's WMV compression (I believe Terminator 2 is one of these but don't quote me on that!) and although these are regionless the quality is far below the levels that raw HD movies can display. Some also use MPEG-2 compression which would also mean a loss in quality.

In theory also, Blu-Ray has the potential to deliver more bandwidth and therefore better quality than HD-DVD.

If this "war" was just about home users with an HD player plugged into an HD TV then I am certain that HD-DVD would win hands down. It was out first, it is cheaper and it is currently regionless. This is not, however, just about home users.

[Fireball]

Who the hell needs to store that much data on a portable disc? Maybe a major corporation, but the everyday joe schmoe would be blowing money out their
a$$. Blu-ray blows. I bought mine and it just sits there watching me us my HD-DVD player.

Hard disks are getting more huge by the hour, seemingly! 200Gb is the norm these days and they will certainly not be getting smaller in the future! How would you propose to backup a hard disk of that size?

How many DVDs would you need to back up the contents of YOUR hard disk and how long would that take? Yep, so you don't bother do you?

A large capacity, highly portable, low media cost, permanent storage method is desperately needed. Corporate customers currently use tape mainly or 75Gb Rev drives. Home users use nothing. Both need a solution.

[Fireball]

Here's the facts on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats

Well according to that Blu-Ray is winning already. And just look at those figures for Japan! And that doesn't include Paystation 3 sales - That's a real shocker!

[James]

Well according to that Blu-Ray is winning already. And just look at those figures for Japan! And that doesn't include Paystation 3 sales - That's a real shocker!
Yes, at the moment the future doesn't look very bright for HD DVD. What a pity, because I believe HD DVD performs better for movie playback. HD DVD offers nice features like "interactive in movie experience" Blu-ray titles currently lack because the required features (like two separate video decoders for PIP) are not mandatory for Blu-ray players, so the studios can't rely on it. :(
The japanese market seems to be lost (which isn't really such a big surprise, XBOX360 market share in Japan is about nil), and Sony's strategy to plant a "Blu-ray trojan horse" in many households might indeed work as planned.
If the BDA can convince Universal to switch neutral, HD DVD would vanish, at least in the US. But I believe this won't happen anytime soon, as Microsoft and Universal are working "too close" together to let that happen (Zune).
Europe might be a different story, Blu ray is almost not present there (PS3 hasn't been released yet), and big players like Studio Canal, who have a huge back catalog, are supporting HD DVD exclusive.
I am sure Microsoft isn't very pleased with the current development, so they could try to plant a "HD DVD trojan horse", too. They already have developed a cheap reference design based on Windows CE together with Broadcom, so they have created the basis for "cheap HD DVD standalone players flooding the market". In the mass market, price *does* matter. And availability. There are only a few manufacturers able to make Blu-ray discs, where HD DVDs can be made by almost everybody. If the demand for discs really goes up fast, it would be quite embarrassing if nobody can produce the required numbers for Disney, Fox & Sony Pictures.

So, what could Microsoft do? They could:
1.) Release a new XBOX360 version with an internal HD DVD drive for a "price you can't resist" (much cheaper than the PS3). If they are dead serious, they would subsidize such a unit like Sony does with the PS3, so they could sell it for USD300,- or less.
2.) They missed the opportunity to ship Windows Vista with a full blown HD DVD software player application. But they could try to correct this mistake by offering a free download/update/service pack, at least for Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate users. They would plant a "HD DVD trojan horse" with every Vista PC, and the folks at Dell, HP & Co. would probably be happy to add a HD DVD ROM drive to the machines.
If they play their cards right, they might still be able to turn the steering wheel. I have the feeling that Microsoft will not give up so easily. Let's wait and see.

For data storage, both formats are currently too small anyway. Who wants a 25GB backup medium, with hardisks >500GB?

[Fireball]

Europe might be a different story, Blu ray is almost not present there (PS3 hasn't been released yet),

Yes there is no Region2 PS3 available yet. I think we have to wait until September to get it here in the UK much to my son's disgust!


If the demand for discs really goes up fast, it would be quite embarrassing if nobody can produce the required numbers for Disney, Fox & Sony Pictures.

I am finding it quite irritating already trying to buy BD movies here. I dare say it will be easier in 3 months time but that's not very helpful right now.

2.) They missed the opportunity to ship Windows Vista with a full blown HD DVD software player application. But they could try to correct this mistake

That was a huge over-sight, but then Vista was not ready for release anyway IMHO.

For data storage, both formats are currently too small anyway. Who wants a 25GB backup medium, with hardisks >500GB?

My drive can write 50Gb discs and I can buy Philips media here. Looks like $60 per disc for you guys but we pay the equivalent of about $75 here which is not so attractive. but no... It is not big enough yet to be much use and I don't suppose it will be for some time yet!

[James]

That was a huge over-sight, but then Vista was not ready for release anyway IMHO.

In many countries, the PS3 isn't ready for release either. :D

[SamuriHL]

In many countries, the PS3 isn't ready for release either. :D

In other countries, no one cares. :D The PS3 is available in my area just sitting on shelves unsold. Meanwhile those looking for a Wii have a better chance of finding Santa Claus. :) In any case, the PS3 is not doing as well as Sony would like. In Japan, I believe there's 4 Wii's for every PS3 sold. HAHAHAHAHA

[TM2-Megatron]

It's about time SCE took a hit with the Playstation; their arrogance was getting extremely irritating. They made some of the same mistakes with the PS3 that Nintendo made on the N64... though I hope Sony doesn't recover the way Nintendo did.

[Mistar Muffin]

Although recent numbers have reflected a sudden surge in Blu-Ray sales, it's obvious this is due to the release of the PS3. What most people would have you believe, however, is that these sales will continue at this rate. This is most likely not the case IMO. I know when I got my Xbox 360 HD DVD addon a few months back I immediately went and bought about 4 titles to go with it. I'm certainly not the only one, and I'm sure that boosted HD DVD's sales numbers for a while. I got an HD DVD addon on launch day, and I had to hunt to find one, as everyone was sold out. So in a short periord, far more HD DVD addons were sold than on average, temporarily boosting numbers. Once most of the enthusiasts had their HD DVD drives and bought several accompanying titles, they settle in an buy one or two here and there as they are released. I myself hit a point where I had every HD DVD title I cared about buying, and have been waiting patiently for more titles to be released that warranted the spending of my hard earned dollars. The first title recently is Hollywoodland which I plan on purchasing soon. Anyways, we didn't have HD DVD sales numbers back then. Of course, how lovely of Sony to finally release Blu-Ray figures covering the two month period after the release of their console. Of couse these figures are going to be flattering, but they won't last. IMO we won't ever have a winner to this format war, Blu-Ray and HD DVD will probably both last longer than Betamax did, but not necessarily in their current state. Once consumer adoption grows, I see alot of people getting upset when they realize that X title isn't on X format, and that kicking up some dust, probably leading to most studios releasing titles on both formats, whereas only some studios are currently doing that. I like HD DVD because of several factors:

1) I was able to get a HD DVD player for $200. You could also argue $500 dollars if you count the price of a 360 Core as a base.

2) I like the extra features like IME.

3) It's hard to explain, I just like the way it *feels* when compared to Blu-Ray. Maybe it has somethign to do with the responsiveness of the discs, it's hard to say.

4) Even though both formats are technically identical, for some unknown reasons, transfers of the same movie tend to look slightly better on HD DVD over Blu-Ray. Check out hidefdigest.com for comparisons that support this.

5) A much higher percentage of HD DVD's use next-gen codecs, usually VC-1, compared to the large number of early Blu-Ray discs that used MPEG-1. The importance of this difference is debatable given the extra space on Blu-Ray discs for higher bitrates, but I don't care to get into it.

-Muffin

[James]

Well according to that Blu-Ray is winning already. And just look at those figures for Japan! And that doesn't include Paystation 3 sales - That's a real shocker!
Funny, while we were talking about this, HD DVD suddenly catched up:
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/
Blu-Ray is still in the lead, but no more "outselling 1:3".

An interesting read is this article:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/feature_microsofthddvdinterview.html

Although I am really no Microsoft fanboy, I agree with Microsoft's Amir Majidimehr argumentation.

Data storage is an other issue, but IMHO optical discs are really not suitable for backup purposes anyway, only for short term storage (transport data from A to B).

[Ajax]

Regardless of where the two stand at the moment the one and only deciding factor in this battle is witch is more cost effective and witch is easier to use...

And this is Just for Sony USE THE Blu-Ray for PS3 games...
its the only smart move...

For those of us in the open source department its going to be which is easier to rip and encode from. Whether using Anydvd HD or some other pirate software that comes out in the next 6 months...

Second if the open source community doesn't figure out a EVOB codec That can be used to decode to different formats, (ie Divx Xvid X.264 exct...) and put it into a GUI that normals like general public can use to encode to different formats. Then its uphill battle that I see no resolve...

As it sits the have been not one encoder that I have found that can encode HD or Blu_ray DVD material... If anybody has any projects that Handel this problem I face then I would be glad to hear of them...

[simple]

im not going to comment too much on this thread as i need to start reading it from the begining:agree: but i found this today regarding the size of hd dvd it may be of interest then maybe not http://www.trustedreviews.com/storage/news/2007/01/11/Toshiba-Announces-51GB-HD-DVD/p1 well time to start to read 17 pages:doh:

[simple]

the outselling of each format , i would imagine far more hd hardware as been sold, and with the porn industry almost fully backing hd dvd this alone is a massive chunk of the market we are talking BIG millions of pounds/dollars, did beta max do porn???

history repeats sony will do ok with the ps3 , but the hd vs blu ray I already know the winner hd dvd for me,

imagine writing a game for the ps3 to its full capacity / capabilitys it would take years im sure the xbox720hd would be out about the same time:D

[James]

In other countries, no one cares. :D The PS3 is available in my area just sitting on shelves unsold.
Then it's time for you to make some money:

http://www.dailytech.com/Sonys+Tretton+If+You+Can+Find+a+PS3+Ill+Give+You+1 200+Bucks+Gor+it/article6050c.htm

Sony's Tretton: "If You Can Find a PS3... I'll Give You 1,200 Bucks For it"

:D

[SamuriHL]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070210.jpg

:) And it's not a whole lot different in my area. If I wanted one, it wouldn't take me long to find one. Pretty pathetic. Now, a Wii, otoh...I have people asking me about that thing every day. Hell, I just happened to find 2 Wiimotes on the shelves Friday night and grabbed them cause I've been looking for them for so long! :)

[James]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070210.jpg

LOL!!!!
:D

[SamuriHL]

LOL!!!!
:D

I thought you'd like that. :)

[DetroitBaseball]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070210.jpg

:) And it's not a whole lot different in my area. If I wanted one, it wouldn't take me long to find one. Pretty pathetic. Now, a Wii, otoh...I have people asking me about that thing every day. Hell, I just happened to find 2 Wiimotes on the shelves Friday night and grabbed them cause I've been looking for them for so long! :)
I've been looking for Wii accessories too, everything is sold out.

[SamuriHL]

I've been looking for Wii accessories too, everything is sold out.

When I saw the last 2 Wiimotes I about passed out. EVERYONE comes over to play the Wii and having 4 Wiimotes now will make that a much more fun experience. :) But, yes, it's VERY difficult to find accessories, let alone the Wii. The PS3, otoh, what a joke. :D

[DetroitBaseball]

When I saw the last 2 Wiimotes I about passed out. EVERYONE comes over to play the Wii and having 4 Wiimotes now will make that a much more fun experience. :) But, yes, it's VERY difficult to find accessories, let alone the Wii. The PS3, otoh, what a joke. :D
I still only have the one that came with my Wii, I want to get atleast 1 more so that I can play multiplayer games with someone else.

[SamuriHL]

I still only have the one that came with my Wii, I want to get atleast 1 more so that I can play multiplayer games with someone else.

If you can find Wii Play it should come with a Wiimote. It should be coming out tomorrow I think.

[DetroitBaseball]

If you can find Wii Play it should come with a Wiimote. It should be coming out tomorrow I think.
I already pre-ordered one of those last month. I'm awaiting its release.

[guile]

An interesting read is this article:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/feature_microsofthddvdinterview.html

Although I am really no Microsoft fanboy, I agree with Microsoft's Amir Majidimehr argumentation.

Good read, I agree. Ahhh...good ol Amir. You gotta love this quote.

"If you look at Windows, why do consumers buy it? Because of compatibility. It is a platform that has everything in it."

This is why I truly hate Microsoft. What do they program these guys with this stuff?

While I truly hate both Microsoft AND Sony, I truly hope HD-DVD prevails. It is a MUCH better product hands down. It don't look to hopefull but still too early to tell.

[gkougkoulias]

I agree with the Danish boy !!!

[Ajax]

ugh I think the Wii is a Fat Americans excuse to stay indoors and get even whiter and fatter...
Damn MCDonalds children...

I at leased go jogging an entire 15 miles at 5 am and go jogging 7 miles at sun down and go to bed at 10:30 pm

I weigh in at 165 pounds stand 6' 2" 7.9% body fat...

(by the way power bars are the devil...)

Another excuse to stay indoors especially when you @ss drags on the ground behind you...

[blueray]

http://www.bluerayhollywood.com/

[mukooh]

what hp has in mind....

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-59063.html