EggXpert

Walmart has made the switch to blu-ray and as such...the fat lady sung, and hd-dvd's coffin is sealed.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10716

...and rumor has it that toshiba is going to drop hd-dvd too...

 

that's too bad.  i don't understand why studios can't release titles on both HD-DVD and blu ray.  let the people choose which medium they want to use. 

mikeduffy13:

that's too bad.  i don't understand why studios can't release titles on both HD-DVD and blu ray.  let the people choose which medium they want to use. 

Because, it's wasted resources and money.  It's hard enough to come up with a technology where the regular consumer sees a benefit to migrating to the new technology vice staying put.  Anytime there has been dual competing formats, no one wins.  There are too many people who still remember the whole VHS vs Betamax war.  Since then, there has been a few format wars waged.  None of which came out favorably for both sides (DCC vs MiniDisc and SACD vs DVD-A.)  When there has been universal support for a format, the migration and transition has always been smooth.  Vinyl to cassette.  Cassette/Vinyl to CD.  VHS/Betamax to DVD.  Concerning the last two optical technologies, CD and DVD has been out for a long time.  Both formats have been extremely successful.  Both formats will still enjoy market share and further life despite the recent advances in available technology.  History has shown when anyone advances an agenda solely for their own self interest whether it be greed or market control they are apt to fail.

There is one problem to the "next-gen" format I still see. Increased prices. I couldn't believe that the technology costs this much, and regardless of who wins (even though blu-ray is now pretty self-evident) the increased cost factor I believe is going to be a huge thorn in the new dvd's sides. I remember when DVD's were priced somewhere around $10-15 for new titles. Now, we are looking at $15-20. No problem there, understandable increase (supply/demand). However, I find it extremely difficult to believe people to switch out all their hard-earned money on DVD's that are now 30$ starting price (roughly). My point is I feel like prices from "original" DVD's to blu-ray has been extremely inflated. Congratulations to the formattee. I personally won't be breaking any time soon to be purchasing a blu-ray player (unless it's a PS3, which sadly enough is the best value for a blu-ray player) as they themselves seem to be for the extremely wealthy and enthusiast (not to mention having a tv that will actually justify the ridiculous costs of blu-ray). To me, the price point is way too high, and for blu-ray to really take out everything, it will need to lower its price point to maximize profits if you ask me.

 

This was just my opinion of course, but yes, HD-DVD is signed, sealed, delivered d-e-d.

 

[Edit] What I mean by wealthy and enthusiast is those willing to build/rebuild an extensive library right off the bat of this being the dominant technology. Further, one could only hope that eventually prices will actually reduce and be manageable for more people to go and buy more of this format. I would think that to be a smart move on the formattee's part.

Yes, the average price of DVD is more than $ 30.00, However, the function of them are more than before, if you do not have a DVD burner or DVD rom when you build your computer, you must have some trouble in the future, if you think the price of DVD is too high, you could choose some cheap one, as i know, some unfamous brand is not too bad, although the price of it's products are low, the quality is good, you could have a look on their website.

ya....It seems that XBOX360 will choose blu-ray driver instead of HD-DVD in future.

no idea if it is true or not... anyways, i  prefer to blu-ray

 

mikeduffy13:

that's too bad.  i don't understand why studios can't release titles on both HD-DVD and blu ray.  let the people choose which medium they want to use. 

the short answer is they can. But they don't. the discovery Channels planet earth special was released in both HD DVD and Blu Ray.

i feel bad for the people that went out and bought hd dvd and as many movies as they could for it to only find out it was a complete waste of hard earned cash.

 

sorry if this is old.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LB2e7pfZmGA

now i see it time to start buying blu-ray movies for my PS3. i didn't before for price and the possibility of it becoming obsolete down the line.

i, like many others, were baffled that microsoft didn't integrate HDDVD into the xbox 360 elite, and again with the premium when HDMI was addded. that would've driven this war out much longer.

Well that 'war' is coming to an end. Don't know why they all picked Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.

Actually, the war is now just beginning.  Someone on the Meridian Forums astutely brought this up.  The real war now begins:  Blu Ray vs. SD DVD.  We'll see what happens if consumers have been confused enough and still leary due to all the turmoil in the HD format war where most will still sit on the side lines.  For those that say it won't happen, I can point to the fact that HD products have been out for a while and adoption has been slow and lukewarm at best. This is assuming the industry/manufacturers don't conspire to force SD DVDs into obsolesence.

Makes me feel so good knowing I spent $400 on the Toshiba HD-A20 last year!

It's still a great player and upconverts beautifully. Guess I'll snag up the cheap HDDVD's and enjoy till I see the BR players come down in price...

daniel88c:

Well that 'war' is coming to an end. Don't know why they all picked Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.

 

People did not "pick" blu ray over HD DVD. the warner jump to blue ray left people with no other choice. This wasn't a true victory for blu ray, more like a win by default. This is in no way a claim that it would have turned out different had warner not dropped support for HD, just saying, this was not a true victory.  

this is really sad, sony should have to buy back all hd dvd players purchased because they're p*icks.....sorry i dislike sony but on a good note i guess bluray went the right way for them i'm just curous who they had to pay

cincyguy:

this is really sad, sony should have to buy back all hd dvd players purchased because they're p*icks.....sorry i dislike sony but on a good note i guess bluray went the right way for them i'm just curous who they had to pay

Try....how about most everyone.  No one is going to convince me that there wasn't a bunch of back door meetings to schmooze a bunch of high level execs.

mikeduffy13:

that's too bad.  i don't understand why studios can't release titles on both HD-DVD and blu ray. 

Because it would require twice the shelf space to store the same variety of movies..   

its not cost effective either, something that don't sell in two formats would cause companies to loose twice as much

Imagine having to release Gigli twice.. Oh the horror

I believe you mean, the horror of even buying it! Now twice!

zx10guy:

cincyguy:

this is really sad, sony should have to buy back all hd dvd players purchased because they're p*icks.....sorry i dislike sony but on a good note i guess bluray went the right way for them i'm just curous who they had to pay

Try....how about most everyone.  No one is going to convince me that there wasn't a bunch of back door meetings to schmooze a bunch of high level execs.

...ahha...you talk as if there weren't any back door deals from the hd-dvd camp. apparently the blu-ray dealers were better at "persuasion".

everyone should be happy that the high-def format war is over. now there isn't hesitation on whether the player we buy will be obsolete soon. on another note, it might take awhile before standard dvd dies out seeing how most people don't even have hdtvs yet.

cincy...why should sony have to buy back all the hd-dvd players? that's the price any early adopter pays: not knowing if their purchase is going to be phased out by a competitor's

ItchyPillow:

zx10guy:

cincyguy:

this is really sad, sony should have to buy back all hd dvd players purchased because they're p*icks.....sorry i dislike sony but on a good note i guess bluray went the right way for them i'm just curous who they had to pay

Try....how about most everyone.  No one is going to convince me that there wasn't a bunch of back door meetings to schmooze a bunch of high level execs.

...ahha...you talk as if there weren't any back door deals from the hd-dvd camp. apparently the blu-ray dealers were better at "persuasion".

everyone should be happy that the high-def format war is over. now there isn't hesitation on whether the player we buy will be obsolete soon. on another note, it might take awhile before standard dvd dies out seeing how most people don't even have hdtvs yet.

cincy...why should sony have to buy back all the hd-dvd players? that's the price any early adopter pays: not knowing if their purchase is going to be phased out by a competitor's

Well, one can argue and would have a good leg to stand on that Sony had deeper pockets.  HD DVD is a more open standard where it was a collaborative effort with other industry players.  Blu Ray was a sole Sony effort.  The same thing happened with SACD and DVD-A.  SACD was only possible if you bought the actual decoder chip from Sony.  That wasn't the case with DVD-A.  You only had to build to the defined specs.

And with SD DVD, it's not just the number of households not having HD capable TVs.  SD DVDs will have prolonged life due to the better upscaling technology now present in many low price point DVD players.  To many people upscaled SD DVD is good enough.  Especially when people can keep their existing library of DVDs or purchase the new releases for substantially less than the high def version.

FactorV:

 

mikeduffy13:

that's too bad.  i don't understand why studios can't release titles on both HD-DVD and blu ray.  let the people choose which medium they want to use. 

the short answer is they can. But they don't. the discovery Channels planet earth special was released in both HD DVD and Blu Ray.

This has nothing to do with the format war. But how is planet earth on blu ray.  I been wanting to purchase a blu ray movie for my PS3 and I enjoy viewing nature shows, but it cost about $60 to purchase one would like some input before I purchase it.

Well HD-DVD is all HD. Just the way it's put I guess.

zx10guy:

...Blu Ray was a sole Sony effort...

Not to be nit-picky, but that is wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association

Usually I hate citing wikipedia as a source...but it was the fastest way to get the list of companies associated with the production AND promotion of blu-ray.

People commonly associate blu-ray with sony probably because of the PS3 as well as the fact that they were the first to be out with a standalone blu-ray player.