Don't buy that Playstation!

noxibox said:
You're talking about people who will pay hundreds of Pounds for "special" power and audio cables. The fact that the PS3 is a game console is going to make them suspicious. Maybe its game hardware creates discontinuities in the space-time continuum producing distortions only audiofools can see.
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Well the magazines in which these people seek reviews realise it's a much better media player than game console.
 
Fudzy said:
Its marginally cheaper. Overall I agree, the Xbox360 is the better gaming console. I just wish MS would drive the HD / HT market here a bit more...infact at all.
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Why would they? HD content is available to be downloaded from LIVE in the US & EU. Such a requirement doesnt require your unit to even had a HD-DVD drive.

Besides, HD gaming has been shown that graphics are not a necessity to make fun games. Take a peek at how well the underestimated Wii is doing worldwide.
 
useless said:
Why would they? HD content is available to be downloaded from LIVE in the US & EU. Such a requirement doesnt require your unit to even had a HD-DVD drive.

Besides, HD gaming has been shown that graphics are not a necessity to make fun games. Take a peek at how well the underestimated Wii is doing worldwide.
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Is downloading a 10/20/30gb HD movie viable even in countries where you aren't severely capped?
 
Fudzy said:
Is downloading a 10/20/30gb HD movie viable even in countries where you aren't severely capped?
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Yeah it seems to be extremely popular. All you do is that the download at night and watch it in the morning.

I have also heard rumours that it also basically streams the movie so you can start watching before it finishes downloading. Add in to that the fact that their lines are slightly faster than 384kb ;) and it makes it very usable.
 
Cancel last question, I just checked the Microsoft Marketplace. Its a good idea, but a) we won't see that here for a long time :( and b) i like owning a physical copy of the movie.
 
Fudzy said:
Cancel last question, I just checked the Microsoft Marketplace. Its a good idea, but a) we won't see that here for a long time :( and b) i like owning a physical copy of the movie.
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a) You never know the rumour is that M$ will partner with Telkom IPTV and we may get it next year....

b) I like the idea of renting the movies through the Xbox. I am with you with owning the physical copies if I actually buy the movie.
 
Well renting would only work if you could stream it smoothly off the net. Can you imagine?

"Honey, you feel like renting a movie tonight?"

"Sure"

"Great, we'll watch it tomorrow morning."
 
Fudzy said:
Is downloading a 10/20/30gb HD movie viable even in countries where you aren't severely capped?
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Do you think MS wouldnt have given people this feature ( US & EU ) if it wasnt viable? Even Sony is enabling PS3 owners in Korea to download movies in a similar fashion. Any broadband running @ 24mbs can easily download or stream HD content.
 
Fudzy said:
Well renting would only work if you could stream it smoothly off the net. Can you imagine?

"Honey, you feel like renting a movie tonight?"

"Sure"

"Great, we'll watch it tomorrow morning."
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Think of it this way...
Johnny(8) - "Dad I'm having a sleep over on Saturday can we get some movies?"

Dad - "Sure just download some from Live.."

Johnny - "Cool I'm going to download all the horror films"

Luckily the Xbox 360 has built in parental controls and little Johnny never manages to watch them ;)
 
Just as a point of interest - the HD movies on Live are all in the region of around 4-5Gb (They're 720p), the premise that HD movies "need" Blu-ray or HD-DVD is a fallacy, you can do 3 hours of good quality 1080p in around 9Gigs - enough to fit on a standard DVD, The SD ones obviously are a lot less. And while the movies are rental, all the TV shows are bought. So apparently on a typical US line of 4-8Mbps, the movies download at "near" streaming speed. Recommendation is to start the download around 1/2 an hour before you want to start watching. On an ADSL 2+ or Fttx line you could theoretically download the next movie while your watching the first.

In terms of popularity just consider - XBLVM is the second biggest distributor of online digital content currently (#1 in HD downloads). Number one is iTunes.
 
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BR have the advantage of sporting uncompressed PCM movie tracks which according to audiophiles are of higher quality. That alone can make or break a movie. Visual quality wise the HD-DVD wins due to a newer coded that it uses while the BR is simply MPEG-4 uncompressed format (ie. and old codec).

In general movies released in the EU require more space due to language requirements other than just english. So the requirement of BR or HD-DVDs a necessity for the mainstream market who purchased their movies in physical format and not downloadable content.
 
GavinMannion said:
Seriously we can fit a HD movie on DVD?

You got a link?
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I found this one for you:

http://www.manifest-tech.com/media_dvd/dvd_hd_dvd.htm

. . . . Microsoft has been evolving such an interface for WMV HD DVDs, as demonstrated by the "Coral Reef Adventure" IMAX DVD. . .

One disc contains a "regular" DVD with the 47-minute movie in standard definition, stored in both full-frame 4x3 and widescreen 16x9 formats in 7 GB (on a dual-layer disc). The second disc then has two more copies of the film, in high definition, stored in about half the space: 720p in 2.1 GB (around 6.4 Mbps) and 1080p in 2.7 GB (8.4 Mbps).
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So a typical 2.5 hour movie is 8.6Gb.

basically if you use sucky compression it takes up more space. - So the early BR movies - the ones that had to be pressed in mpeg2, were about 25Gb.
 
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If I remember correctly HD-DVD uses an improved codec that requires half the space that would be required on DVD. If that is correct then an SD movie would need no more than about 4Gb and a 720p movie should fit on a dual layer DVD.

That alone can make or break a movie.
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Doubtful for most people. Cinemas are most likely going to be showing the movie using one of the standard compressed formats. PCM does sound somewhat better than DTS which generally sounds somewhat better than AC3, but not enough to make a huge difference in the movie experience.
 
I'm impressed with the compression of the WMV-HD, I assume with that second disc of Coral Reef (the WMV-HD one) it will play automatically in the Xbox? And install the DRM that does update checks?

These discs do use the Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to protect the content from being copied. The studios have typically provided a free license for playback, but required that it be updated through an Internet connection approximately weekly.
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GavinMannion said:
Seriously we can fit a HD movie on DVD?

You got a link?
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A bit off topic, but popular torrent sites also have these BluRay and HDDVD rips now that will fit on a dvd. Some of them ripped to wmv so that you can play them directly on your 360. 720p normally takes up one dvd and 1080 on a dual-layer.
 
Fudzy said:
I'm impressed with the compression of the WMV-HD, I assume with that second disc of Coral Reef (the WMV-HD one) it will play automatically in the Xbox? And install the DRM that does update checks?
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Can't say for sure, but the spring dashboard update included support for playforsure (wmv) DRM, so I would presume yes. (btw DRM doesn't necessarily install anything it's a case of the file being created a certain way and the player complying. The Sony "DRM" debacle, was because CD's are unsigned/unencrypted so they installed addition software as an intervention.)

Consider that it - "VC-1" as it's known, is the preferred codec at the moment for both HD DVD and Blu Ray, yup, it's pretty good. ;)
 
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