[mcullinan]

I for one will be sitting out until one of these technologies is mainstreamed. The tiny sections of the new formats at the video store is quite comical and I would think they would be much farther along if they decided on one route. I am also waiting on HIdef TV for the same reason. How long until one of the formats goes away?
Mike

[fiveoclockfriday]

I understand on the HD movie formats, I think many of us are the same way. Also the fact that just like crappy remasters for music, a crappy remaster for some old movies just makes for a lousy HD disc.

I have to ask though, why are you waiting on HD tv? There's not competing formats the same way there is Blu-Ray vs HDDVD. I suppose you could argue that 1080i vs 720p are different formats, but any display that displays one is compatible with the other. I'm not a huge tv watcher, but watching HD programs in HD is just simply astounding.

We've seen what a format war (among other things) have done to SACD and DVDA -- marginalized, niche players at best. HD movies have much more $$ and a more easily discernible upgrade (to the average joe whose system is nowhere near realizing the full potential of CD or LP). Blu Ray seems to be rocketing up as PS3s sell, so we'll see where it goes in another 6 months.

There is also a universal player out now, but it has some issues with features of HDDVD. Cheaper models of this may help some, but dueling formats is good for nobody.

[mcullinan]

Even the high definition tvs are evolving. Right now we have a 200lb 32 inch Wega(3:4 standard)! Nice and um back breaking. It took three of us to maneuver this thing up a flight of stairs in an apartment. So now I guess its 1080p and the latest update will be a refresh rate that is double of what it is now. And then pricing to come down on that technology. Did they have so many upgrades going on during a regular tvs lifespan?

Also it looks like Christmas will be the 42 inch or 50 inch flat screen Plasma, LCD... idk whatever is the best cost vs performance.
Mike

[Ears]

I for one will be sitting out until one of these technologies is mainstreamed. The tiny sections of the new formats at the video store is quite comical and I would think they would be much farther along if they decided on one route. I am also waiting on HIdef TV for the same reason. How long until one of the formats goes away?
Mike

With Blockbuster going Blu-ray only in their stores, todays Target is going to sell Blu-ray players only in store news , and yesterdays Denon to make two new Blu-ray only players news....its only a matter of time.

[Ears]

They can't give away hd dvd 
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/25/thieves-choose-blu-ray-over-hd-dvd-in-mass-disc-heist/

[mcullinan]

that might be the deciding factor right there. One for the history books LOL

[gitarretyp]

They can't give away hd dvd 
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/25/thieves-choose-blu-ray-over-hd-dvd-in-mass-disc-heist/

I think that has more to do with the thieves likely owning (or having stolen) a ps3.

[SET Man]

They can't give away hd dvd 
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/25/thieves-choose-blu-ray-over-hd-dvd-in-mass-disc-heist/

Hey!

  Now that is funny!

  I think they know what they are going after, and what sell and don't.

  So, look like the battle between Blu-Ray vs HD DVD  had been decided by thieves!

  BTW... isn't the Blu-Ray have a better spec when is come to bit-rate and capacity?

Take care,
Buddy

[Ears]

They can't give away hd dvd 
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/25/thieves-choose-blu-ray-over-hd-dvd-in-mass-disc-heist/

Hey!

  Now that is funny!

  I think they know what they are going after, and what sell and don't.

  So, look like the battle between Blu-Ray vs HD DVD  had been decided by thieves!

  BTW... isn't the Blu-Ray have a better spec when is come to bit-rate and capacity?

Take care,
Buddy

Yes BD has 50gb compared to 30gb on hd dvd.
BD has more room for higher bit - rate video as well as HD audio.
BD also has more bandwidth for audio/video.

[tex-amp]

Having two competing formats has given us much better players. I think HD DVD was originally going to be 720p and Blu-ray was original using MPEG2 hence the need for the huge disc storage to deliver PQ using MPEG2. I think we need two formats for at least another year to fuel the price war to get player price down to mass adoption level.

As for the criminals that might be a bad omen as they aren't known for smarts.

[tex-amp]

With Blockbuster going Blu-ray only in their stores, todays Target is going to sell Blu-ray players only in store news , and yesterdays Denon to make two new Blu-ray only players news....its only a matter of time.

The Blockbuster exclusive is only for the US coporate owned store which is around 1400 of the 5000 US BBs.  Blockbuster on-line will continue to carry HD DVD.

Target is just an endcap buy by Sony that the Sony PR machine spun into something more. The X-box add-on for HD DVD is and will still be available in Target.

[Ears]

With Blockbuster going Blu-ray only in their stores, todays Target is going to sell Blu-ray players only in store news , and yesterdays Denon to make two new Blu-ray only players news....its only a matter of time.

The Blockbuster exclusive is only for the US coporate owned store which is around 1400 of the 5000 US BBs.  Blockbuster on-line will continue to carry HD DVD.

Target is just an endcap buy by Sony that the Sony PR machine spun into something more. The X-box add-on for HD DVD is and will still be available in Target.

Actually, Target in fact will sell only Blu ray players in its stores and thats all that the many holiday shoppers will see....so this is bigger than your stating and nobbody gives any respect to a game machine add on that doesn't and never will playback HD audio or 1080p....and is attatched to a defective game system to boot.

Blockbuster has at least 1450 stores with 170 BD's "to start with" and online renters can return their BD's in store for new ones...so this is very big seeings how dvd was not even in major rental stores a year after its release.

Two U.K  retail stores have also said no to hd dvd this week and will stock only BD.
With 74% of the software sales this past week for BD in the U.S...its no wonder stores are starting to go with the format that has sold more titles for 10 months straight.

[Ears]

Having two competing formats has given us much better players. I think HD DVD was originally going to be 720p and Blu-ray was original using MPEG2 hence the need for the huge disc storage to deliver PQ using MPEG2. I think we need two formats for at least another year to fuel the price war to get player price down to mass adoption level.

As for the criminals that might be a bad omen as they aren't known for smarts.

Any free publicity is good publicity, and two formats is a bad thing because one of these formats which is far more likely to be BD, has to stand alone before the masses jump in no matter what the cost of the players.

First and foremost, the masses want one format then content, then cheap players, because what good is a cheap player with one major exclusive studio?

[Ears]

Also hd dvd had announced several Spielburg titles for their format a few months back and had to recant and make a public apology to Spielburg.
Now the first Spielburg title has been announced officially as "Close Encounters" that will be a BD only title.

As the next few months pass, we will be seeing more and more positive BD announcements as hd dvd takes more and more flesh wounds. 

[Philistine]

Is Sony's Blu-ray Disc technology set to suffer the same fate as Betamax VCRs?

Quite possibly, judging by the news from International Herald Tribune that Toshiba - Sony's deadly rival in the high-definition disc-player war - is licensing its HD DVD techology to Chinese manufacturers for low-cost production.

Although the parallels between the Betamax vs VHS war aren't precise, it's worth remembering that it was JVC's decision to widely license VHS that ended up being the deciding factor.

The one certain result of Toshiba's licensing decision is that set-top HD DVD players will be available at massively lower prices than Blu-ray players.

Confirming that prices of HD DVD are going to become very affordable, the AV Science Forum is reporting that Chinese manufacturer Fuh Yuan has signed a deal to make two million HD DVD players for the giant supermarket chain Walmart (owner of ASDA in the UK).

If HD DVD is pitched at affordable prices and Blu-ray stays out of reach of the masses, then the Toshiba system looks certain to grab the lion's share of the worldwide market for hi-def players and win the current formats war.

About the only thing that might keep Blu-ray Disc in with a shout is if it, too, gets licensed to the Chinese - and at an affordable rate.

If that doesn't happen, Blu-ray Disc might stagger on for few years but looks sure to eventually go to the wall as Betamax did.


The above article tells me the format war is far from over.
At the same time neither format has a compelling offering in terms of titles available, even if you combine the outputs of both camps it doesn't rock my boat.  I'll just sit on the fence and watch it out.

[Ears]

Is Sony's Blu-ray Disc technology set to suffer the same fate as Betamax VCRs?

Quite possibly, judging by the news from International Herald Tribune that Toshiba - Sony's deadly rival in the high-definition disc-player war - is licensing its HD DVD techology to Chinese manufacturers for low-cost production.

Although the parallels between the Betamax vs VHS war aren't precise, it's worth remembering that it was JVC's decision to widely license VHS that ended up being the deciding factor.

The one certain result of Toshiba's licensing decision is that set-top HD DVD players will be available at massively lower prices than Blu-ray players.

Confirming that prices of HD DVD are going to become very affordable, the AV Science Forum is reporting that Chinese manufacturer Fuh Yuan has signed a deal to make two million HD DVD players for the giant supermarket chain Walmart (owner of ASDA in the UK).

If HD DVD is pitched at affordable prices and Blu-ray stays out of reach of the masses, then the Toshiba system looks certain to grab the lion's share of the worldwide market for hi-def players and win the current formats war.

About the only thing that might keep Blu-ray Disc in with a shout is if it, too, gets licensed to the Chinese - and at an affordable rate.

If that doesn't happen, Blu-ray Disc might stagger on for few years but looks sure to eventually go to the wall as Betamax did.


The above article tells me the format war is far from over.
At the same time neither format has a compelling offering in terms of titles available, even if you combine the outputs of both camps it doesn't rock my boat.  I'll just sit on the fence and watch it out.

This is not anything but a rumour that was started at an A/V board and jumped on before any actual evidence or facts came out.

As a matter of fact...there is absolutely nothing but retractions and denials by the rumoured companies....which is a common trend when your the losing format I guess.
There is absolutely zero evidence of chinese hd dvd players and the ones that are going to be made are in fact not hd dvd compliant,or even close to hd dvd spec, and will only be made for the chinese market.

Now two manufactuers have actually officially announced cheap BD players made by Funai and Gowell  for the U.S. market as long as we are living in reality and not fantasy here.

[Philistine]

The various AV forums are full of bickering's, and almost religious like zeal, about which format will be the 'winner' and are the best venues for any individual pro-format lobbying.  After all the combined HD-DVD and Blu-Ray sales to date add up to less than the total sales of a single highly successfully DVD title, so the average consumer could care less about the success of one format or another.

Back to the thread: has greed fueled disdain over the two formats?  I consider the current format war to be insignificant to the average consumer who doesn't really care and is confused, and its the average consumer who'll make or break this.  The only disdain is coming from a small minority (of which I'm one) who have been exposed to the DVD-A and SACD debacle, and other format failures such as MiniDisc.  The introduction of CD and DVD formats has demonstrated how a single format can generate success, both camps decided to ignore this even when given the opportunity to agree on a single format.  In the meantime prices of both formats players are falling, which can only be good news. 
 

[tex-amp]

The introduction of CD and DVD formats has demonstrated how a single format can generate success, both camps decided to ignore this even when given the opportunity to agree on a single format.  In the meantime prices of both formats players are falling, which can only be good news. 
 

DVD beat out DivX but it happened so early on few remember.

I think that the stores are not doing a good job showcasing HDM.  I see endcaps from both formats with a 26 inch or smaller screen and the differences don't show that well.

Sony is beating the heck out of Toshiba on the PR front.

[Ears]

USA Today said today that the 300 release on both formats sold 250k its first week.
65% Blu ray and 35 % hd dvd and this doesn't include places like Amazon ect in the count.

This means that the BD of 300 has outsold Air Force 1, the best selling dvd of the first year which only sold  100k by over 66k.

Two things are clearer every day.
1 BD is obviously winning on every corner of the planet where these formats are available by selling more copies.
2 Blu ray, even with a so called war going on, is in major video stores sooner than dvd, and is already outpacing early dvd sales with the first of many blockbuster movies to come and many are going to be BD exclusive.

[tex-amp]

Ears- What's all the hubbub from the last few days about the present Blu-ray players not supporting profile 1.1 that becomes mandatory in November(?) about?