HD DVD Format War Over! Blu-Ray Wins. [Officially - press release inside]

Gopher_Greene said:
Plus I hope it's not over. Options are always good for the consumer. If Bluray becomes the one and only (like sony would have us believe) then they get expensive. On the other hand if there is competition prices stay lower. Besides there is still a divide in the blu ray camps. All the specs were never agreed to. So sony will pull there typical propritary stunt and isolate themselves from the larger market. And you'll end up with two flavors of blu ray. JM2C
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I might argue you grow a clue..

HD-DVD was dirt cheap because they Toshiba (and only Toshiba) was trying to compete with the multitude of companies manufacturing blu-ray players. Fire Sale and desparation come to mind.

Consumer choice isn't two competing formats with different movie studio support... that is a cluster ****. And just plain annoying.

The BDA is made up a large number of varying electronics companies, with Sony being the most visible flag waver.

Thinking that HD-DVD has a chance at this point.. or wanting it too is plain asinine.
 
Thinking that HD-DVD has a chance at this point.. or wanting it too is plain asinine.
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It's pretty unlikely, yes. Hypothetically though, Toshiba and HD DVD could stay in the game if Toshiba were to do something like release a cheap combo player very, very soon. If they were to offer a ~$200 combo player in the next month or two, HD DVD and Blu-ray could potentially co-exist for much longer, if not the duration of their lifespans. The HD DVD studios would have no reason to switch - and consumers would benefit from the player/disc pricing competition.

It's unlikely, but Toshiba will be trying to do something to allay this potentially huge monetary loss. Or maybe they'll give up entirely and HD DVD will just disappear instantly. Who knows.
 
I hate to see Sony monopolize any media format... I don't think I'll ever get over how they screwed us all over on the consumer mini-disc recorders... all because of their fears of bootlegging. (Sony = live shows and recorded music sales) Mini-disc was poised to bring quality location sound recording to the video market 10 years ago... but nope... better to neuter that baby.

I avoid Sony like the plague... whenever possible. Just look at Sony DVD burners for computers... the DRM is so ridiculous that you're more likely to produce coasters on anything then if you just get a Pioneer or Plextor or something.

Anytime Sony gets a monopoly on media... that's a bad day. You see yourself playing around with Blu-Ray content at some point? Good Luck.
 
I agree. Anytime Sony holds all the chips I get nervous.

But Sony has sold 1 million PS3. And Blue Ray is built in.
 
You guys really think Sony has a monopoly here!? I mean, just cuz they're the biggest BRD supporters doesn't necessarily mean it's their ship...eh?

Like, I don't think JVC had a stranglehold on consumers with VHS just cuz they invented/supported it.

IDK, I wouldn't put Sony's moral/self-defense issues in the mix on this argument. Making a DVD burner and marketing a format (alongside numerous other MFGs) are exclusively separate, IMHO.

FWIW, MiniDisc was a Sony product. BRD is a format, of which Sony is a member of the consortium.
 
I find it all pointless. As soon as BluRay becomes cheap enough that people can buy 3 for their home, they'll come out with the next technology.

They probably have the technology to do something that's 10 times better than BluRay, but they chose to just piss people off by holding it off and making it super expensive.

I say we just all revert back to BETA.
 
Jon Starr said:
I find it all pointless. As soon as BluRay becomes cheap enough that people can buy 3 for their home, they'll come out with the next technology.

They probably have the technology to do something that's 10 times better than BluRay, but they chose to just piss people off by holding it off and making it super expensive.

I say we just all revert back to BETA.
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You can already get HD movies and TV shows via Xbox Live. Streaming/downloading is the way to go. Pretty soon there won't be a need for a medium device like DVD.

Also, if you want to clear up storage space you can just delete it. Once you have purchased it once there is no need to pay for it again. They allow you to download it at will after the initial purchase.

It's just a matter of time before Microsoft fine tunes this idea and kicks into full gear.

Many people in the business (including famous/infamous Directors) have stated that this is what MS has planned all along.

Apple TV is another good sign of this.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Jon Starr said:
I say we just all revert back to BETA.
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I got the joke :happy:

That was pretty amazing back in the day... really Sony deserved to win then, based on the media... and I think they probably deserved to win now... back then I felt sorry for them, beta was the obvious choice but once I saw how Sony BMG works... I no longer root for them to win.

My point about Sony and mini-disc was that while Sony started it and set the pace everybody else followed suit and made sure you couldn't move digital files... but Sony gets the credit for initially controlling this... thereby making mini-disc recorders more like ipods with recording abilities, but negating what would have been a cool way to get location sound back then.

I just don't trust Sony leading the way for any storage and retrieval system... that was my point.
 
OK. So what? Seems to me it's only a problem if you have difficulty making choices. :)

I'll take more choices over fewer any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. (Sorry, Spielberg.)
 
It is good for the consumer that HD DVD is dead. Now the manufacturers can battle it out on the same format. The consumer wins twice in this instance. With one format, lots of manufacturers will clamor for the lowest pricepoint to satisfy the WalMart American, while cinephiles will certainly find premier brand models to suit their own needs.

Best is that there is little or no chance that a competing format will come along in the immediate future. The only remaining threat to Blu-Ray is HDOD services via fibre-cable and satellite. We should all hope it comes sooner than later.

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I don't mind blu-ray winning, but it'll take time for Paramount and Universal to get ramping up to get Trek and BSG on blu-ray. Probably at least a year.

HD-DVD did one good thing for the battle, it drove down prices much quicker. You can pick up a computer blu-ray player for about 200 bucks. For that price I'll have both HD-DVD to play battlestar and a player for everything else.
 
HD DVD is dead.... [Officially - press release inside]

HD DVD is dead.... [Officially - press release inside]

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.



Only a matter of time I guess but I was a HD DVD supporter. I got my player for 89.99 new and it worked with no flaws unlike some of the blu-rays. No way I'm buying a blu-ray player yet. I will wait until they are around 199.99.
 
Rest in Peace, HD DVD.

I'm not buying a blu-ray player yet either. Only just started doing any serious research and I guess the majority of current players won't be able to upgrade to the next rev of blu-ray, which is in the works? I'll have to look into it more, but it seems as if the BR standard is not established yet and there are a lot of machines that won't be able to play blu-ray 2.0, whatever that means. Any Blu-ray fans out there who can comment on the facts of this?
 
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Jared Meyer said:
Rest in Peace, HD DVD.

I'm not buying a blu-ray player yet either. Only just started doing any serious research and I guess the majority of current players won't be able to upgrade to the next rev of blu-ray, which is in the works? I'll have to look into it more, but it seems as if the BR standard is not established yet and there are a lot of machines that won't be able to play blu-ray 2.0, whatever that means. Any Blu-ray fans out there who can comment on the facts of this?
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To my knowledge the only players incapable of a firmware update to profile 2.0 are the over priced very first models to hit the market.

The PS3 still happens to be one of the best Blu-Ray players and is futureproof with its net connection and software updating.
 
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