The winner would be the first company to put out a region-free dual-format player

(Dun let them fool you. BD and HD-DVD are still region-protected).

But for a movie buff, this is definitely worth it IMO. And if you don't have an XBOX 360 yet, get one.

Blu-ray has more studio support
this is indeed true.

so hd-dvd won't have problem with 15GB storage since they using vc-1 and dolby digital. and i don't think sony would use vc-1 unless the existence of BD depends on it, coz they would have to pay to MS.

If you have personally experience it then u'll know why String is going crazy collecting BD/HD-DVDs. I have experienced it myself but only with BD right now. Imagine playing a super-farking-clear movie with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in ur own room

Hmm..why go for next-gen storage systems when DVD dual layer, dual sided is more than enough? Come to think of it, I never seen a dual layer dial sided DVD being used a lot.. Dual sided dual layer can go up to 19GB if I'm not mistaken.

Sigh, I wish there's only 1 format, like the DVD. No need to choose either HDDVD or BluRay.

Will probably choose the Toshiba HD-DVD one. Tunggu budget kuar, then order.

Going back to topic, there are already clamoring for more space from the HD-DVD camp, in anticipation of the LOTR Extended Edition movies. New Line is known for keeping the highest video quality with feature-packed release for the LOTR releases, but with only 30Gb storage capacity on the current HD-DVD disc, they may even have to split the movie disc and feature discs as how DVD release for these titles are treated. Meaning, no U-Control or In-Movie-Experience together with the movie, since the features and extras are separated onto another disc. If they do plan to combine the Extended movie and features together, video and audio bitrate will suffer, and we wont be seeing any inclusion of DTS HD Master Audio, or Dolby TrueHD lossless feed, and the video bitrate will suffer. Any video bitrate below 10Mbps, will not be a true indicator of what HD, that would be more towards a Superbit DVD release. As the day approaches towards the LOTR HD-DVD release, we shall know what compromises (if any) has been done to fit a 3hr++ movie onto 30Gb HD-DVD disc. Space is defitinely the problem here, and Blu-ray has that advantage with their already released BD50 50Gb Blu-ray titles, and studios in the Blu-ray camp are already starting to embrace the VC-1 video codec(as opposed to MPEG2 codec) to save more space for BR-J and Blu-Wizard( the U-Control and In-Movie-Experience version for Bluray)  features in their presentation.

Sony will win the war because they will sell XXX number of PS3? What talking you? First and foremost they are a gaming console and at the moment only a small percentage of PS3 owners buy BD movies so the number of PS3 sold shouldn't be use as an indication of how successful BD will be. What really counts is the number of medias that are being sold. Then again, there's quite a number of people on the AV forums buying the PS3 for the BD player

Thanks again for the lesson, and the condescending tone that comes free with it, G5sim.

The reason why i posted the LOTR dilemma was the policy New Line took with producing these titles. They spare no expense, and therefore went all out with including all the extras and infusing all the audio/video nicecities onto these titles. So taking that as the cue, you would think New Line would use higher video bitrate from the present bitrates encoded into current HD-DVD titles, which hovers around 11-16MBps. Increasing video bitrates means taking chunks away from total storage memory available, which is already precious commodity not readily available on a 30Gb HD-DVD compared to Bluray's 50Gb. I agree Bluray could be more prudent with adding lossy codecs to save space further , compared to the lossless PCMs, but if you have heard how the lossless audio sounds on a well-equipped HT setup, you will agree where that huge space went to, it went to an amazing audio experience. There arent any real-world Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio hardware decoders in commercially available AV receivers in the market at the moment, so coding it to that format only provides the advantage of saving space with compromises in audio quality, while waiting for real-world hardware decoders to come into the picture.

That's the issue i was raising, and not siding on any camp. New Line has shown more interest in the HD-DVD camp than Bluray, although they have not taking serious side on any particular camp. This provides ample opportunity for both camps to present their best way to fit the entire LOTR Extended titles into the best possible configuration that both sides have to offer. That is why i brought the issue up. I dont give a rat's arse which camp wins, i have both of em in my setup, and im impressed with both of em.

more than 1 mil ps3s?

aik..

There is nothing wrong with picking side, as long as one recognizes the merits of the other options available. What's sad is the overzealous attempts of the fanboyish few to glorify and idolize every little supposed advantages, while nitpicking the minute flaws and blowing it out of proportion.

Picking a side overzealously and prematurely  is like furiously zipping up your fly when you realise your penis is hanging outside its cage, and prematurely zipping your member into the zipper track. Yeouch!

Dont like the PS3? Hey its a free country , spew all you want. But gimme PS3 ANYTIME over that stagnating cesspool you call PC gaming.

Check, your move.

Why? LOTR of course! It is after all THE single most important factor in any purchase. The attraction of the ring is too strong. One rootkit to rule them all.

LOTR is one OF the most important release to watch out for, due to its unique nature, of length and content. Couple that with the studio that bar no expense on quality when it comes to these titles, that's why it is important. We can all be cynics, but it doesnt earn anyone any longer e-penises. 

And oh, i dont think you need to deal with rootkits on consumer players, those are specially made for you "PC people" . Consoles FTW anyone?

Simply put like this lah, those who love to speculate like aunties coming back from wet market after buying fish and vegetables, stay and the sideline and spectate. Those who wanna experience what already available, consider all your options. Nobody said being early adopters going to be cheap. There are those willing to take the plunge early, and there are those who b****es and moans and speculates while they wait for their "justification" price level. It's either you play it boringly safe, or live life on the edge. Nothing wrong with both of them.