Blu-Ray Launch Expected Next Week

grammar fascist writes "According to a Reuters article, two Blu-ray players and 'various titles' are expected in stores next week, June 20th. From the article: 'Blu-ray, one of two much-hyped high-definition DVD formats, debuts next week, but the launch is expected to be muted amid device delays and consumer confusion, industry analysts said on Thursday.' On the 20th, Samsung, not Sony, is launching a set-top player (Sony's is due this fall), and Sony is launching a Blu-ray compatible VAIO PC. Sony's fall set-top player will probably cost $1500. No word on the cost of Samsung's player yet, but I wouldn't expect it to be cheap."

Any reviews out yet?

[Otis2222222]

The Toshiba HD-DVD player premiered to some pretty scating reviews, with issues like a terrible remote control, a 30 second bootup time, and terrible response time when you pressed play, fast forward, etc.. Not to mention the thing was a behemoth. What can we expect from Sony's offering? A side by side review of the two products (Sony, Toshiba) would be nice as well..

I don't care who wins

[the computer guy nex]

I just want someone to win fast.

Pure 1080i or 1080p content on a TV with the full 1080i/p resolution (Sony SXRD TVs and some of the new DLPs) is absolutely amazing.

Despite many claims on here, the jump from a normal DVD on a 1080p television to a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc is more significant than VHS to DVD. A full 1080p picture has around 10 times more pixels per square inch than a normal DVD (which is 480p).

Why *DVD will win

[njchick]

It seems to me that the "format war" Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD will remind the ATM vs Gigabit Ethernet as couple of years ago. People will stay with things they know (Ethernet, DVD) as long as they are seen as reliable (unlike e.g. floppies), and the technologies seeking to supplant (rather than upgrade) them will seek refuge in the server rooms next to SCSI and Fiber Channel.

BluRay Is Amazing

[Anonymous Coward]

I have been working on BD-J stuff for BluRay movies.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globally_Executable_M HP [wikipedia.org] for a quick overview

First of all, once you have gotten use to watching BluRay 1080p movies, anything less feels like an eyesore. You will probably be able to pickup a 1080p TV by the holidays this year for just under a grand. The TV manufactures all know that the market is about to be flooded with millions of cheap BluRay players, 499 component and 599 HDMI PS3s, and are all moving to put sets out that target that huge Playstation demographic.

Second, the Java layer, that Microsoft seems to hate so much, on BluRay discs is letting us do all sorts of very cool stuff far beyond the simple menu systems that current DVDs have.

Start watching for BluRay releases and make sure to check what cool additions the Java stuff we are doing are implemented on the new discs.

Re:BluRay Is Amazing

[Paul Bristow]

...and if you can't tell Java from a scripting language, you don't deserve to be posting on slashdot.

Think games for kids in HD that they actually want to play. Think of Movie extras that update over time. Think if being able to pull up the script during the directors cut, and jump around it, search it, or skip to the actors BIO. Think of direct links to fan-sites from the disk that work in your Blu-ray player. Think of having literally no limits on what a Blu-ray disk can do, as opposed to another poxy scripting language that will probably be full of security holes, while doing things that no-one in their right mind would want to.

You may argue that you want to watch the movie, and Blu-ray let's you do that. But people buy movies, and like to get more out of them than just the movie. Extras ARE interesting if you are a movie buff, or a Buffy fan, or whatever.