[official] HD DVD Confirmed News

[Boz]

Uhh.... Source?

The Yahoo link does NOT confirm that.

I quote from that article (emphasis mine)

While I agree, they probably will exit the business, they havent confirmed they will yet. Who knows, they might make an annoucement saying they're releasing Blu-Ray drives... lol. (Hey, that'd be good)

From the Yahoo article:

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (6502.T) is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high-definition video, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp (6758.T), a company source said on Saturday.

The only thing more official is the actual press releases.. which is now certain to happen most likely next week.

[Tech Star]

Update: Along with an English translation of the NHK's article (Thanks sfditty!) comes additional confirmation from Reuters sources, it's a wrap. Toshiba is shutting down its DVD manufacturing facilities in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, while official word is expected "soon".

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/16/toshiba...hd-dvd-already/

Wow, bye HD-DVD.

[MGS4-SS]

So much for 100 million people watching the Super Bowl eh?

Oh well, goodbye HDDVD, we hardly knew ye.

[TruckWEB]

If this is true, that Toshiba is going to kill the HD-DVD, for one thing it's nice, because it means no more format war.

But, we must all admit, it's not the better format that is winning. At least, HD-DVD was specification complete from day 1. We still have to deal with Profiles with Blu-Ray. And with TL51 (still to come, nothing is out on TL51 disc), HD-DVD could hold the same amount of data than a 50Gb DL Blu-Ray.

In the end, it's still good for customers, even if Blu cost more to own, at least their is no guess work, it's going to be THE format to buy. Just like the transition from VHS to DVD.

Think of all the money lost, for Toshiba, for studios that put movies on HD-DVD, for all the medium production, ....

The worst part is yet to come for Toshiba.... Think of it, soon, they most probably going to sell Blu-Ray player!!! That's a SLAP on your face alright!

[AlphaPrime]

We didn't know what the yields were going to be like for the 51GB disc, plus BR would still have the bit-rate advantage.

I wonder when Toshiba will bring out a BR player, and at what cost. Obviously since they won't be fighting for their format anymore there would be no point to lose money on their players, so it'll probably cost a fair bit more than their HD-DVD players for a while.

Edited February 17, 2008 by AlphaPrime

[soniqstylz]

I'm willing to bet that Tosh will offer a dual-format player as well.

[theyarecomingforyou]

But, we must all admit, it's not the better format that is winning. At least, HD-DVD was specification complete from day 1.

HD-DVD the better format? Please - there's barely any difference between the two. That's like saying that Kingsmill is obviously the better type of bread over Hovis - they both do the same thing but in slightly different ways. HD-DVD had a complete specification but it was still a rushed format... rather than waiting for higher capacity they decided to push the format to beat Blu-ray. Blu-ray then fought back by releasing their format early and hence the mess with profiles.

I am still hoping we'll see Blu-ray discs with more than two layers in the future because one of the things that annoys me about TV shows is that you have lots of discs for them - I'd rather have two or three discs than seven or eight. If Blu-ray remains at only two layers, like DVD did, then it offers nothing above HD-DVD (providing three-layer discs became commonplace). I hoped Blu-ray would win because of the potential for higher storage (like the 200GB prototype disc). The only other plus point I've heard mentioned for HD-DVD is HDi but Microsoft said that they were happy to licence it to Blu-ray.

[Coldgunner]

HD-DVD the better format? Please - there's barely any difference between the two. That's like saying that Kingsmill is obviously the better type of bread over Hovis - they both do the same thing but in slightly different ways.

neither, warburtons ftw!!!

bring on the bread war

[ctebah]

HD-DVD the better format? Please - there's barely any difference between the two. That's like saying that Kingsmill is obviously the better type of bread over Hovis - they both do the same thing but in slightly different ways. HD-DVD had a complete specification but it was still a rushed format... rather than waiting for higher capacity they decided to push the format to beat Blu-ray. Blu-ray then fought back by releasing their format early and hence the mess with profiles.

I am still hoping we'll see Blu-ray discs with more than two layers in the future because one of the things that annoys me about TV shows is that you have lots of discs for them - I'd rather have two or three discs than seven or eight. If Blu-ray remains at only two layers, like DVD did, then it offers nothing above HD-DVD (providing three-layer discs became commonplace). I hoped Blu-ray would win because of the potential for higher storage (like the 200GB prototype disc). The only other plus point I've heard mentioned for HD-DVD is HDi but Microsoft said that they were happy to licence it to Blu-ray.

Even if both formats are replaced by downloadable content, there will still be a need for big optical discs to store those movies, and Hitachi plans to offer an 8-layer Blu-ray disc capable of storing 200GB of data. While this seems like a lot today, by the time it hits the market in 2009 it might not seem like much at the rate hard discs capacity is increasing.

this is from engadgethd...

[Bhav]

From the Yahoo article:

The only thing more official is the actual press releases.. which is now certain to happen most likely next week.

You do realise that the "company source" is the same source that Reuters used right? (Read the whole article) lol not that I'm trying to defend HD DVD..I'm just pointing out that the Yahoo article is no more confirmation than anything else.

Edited February 18, 2008 by Bhav

[DrCheese]

It's all over! Toshiba just confirmed they are ending production of HD-DVD

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/live-fr...rence-in-tokyo/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/officia...at-war-is-over/

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_02/pr1903.htm

[AlphaPrime]

And that's it for HD-DVD. Not to say I'm surprised, we all knew what the Warner announcement meant, well, most of us...

Time to close this thread?

[sundayx Veteran]

Just let it slowly die, like the players and discs out there.

[SnowRanger13]

Hopefully now we can see some of the HD-DVD exclusive videos come out on Blu-ray.

[DrCheese]

Well this should now mean that all studio's are released from any contract they have with the HD-DVD group. I'd expect a press release from paramount/universial fairly soon. As for Warner, this also means they no longer have to supply HD-DVD's until May so they may pull out as well, although if the disk's are pressed there is little point in not selling them.

[Bhav]

This news has made my day (and it's only 9.30am here!) lol...another fantastic reason to own a PS3 :) Now bring on the Bourne movies! :D

[MGS4-SS]

Quickly, point and laugh at the dead format. Ha Ha!

[Crazysah]

Sad that the better format is not winning. RIP HD DVD!

[Nightz]

universal is ready to jump ship...

At least one of the two studios exclusive to HD DVD is already gearing up to join the other team.

"While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray," said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def?s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html...rticle_id=12118

[SuperJediMedia]

SAD!

[kjordan2001]

Quickly, point and laugh at the dead format. Ha Ha!

Especially ironic since Fox has been with Bluray from day 1 ;)

[zeta_immersion]

all over now ... was bound to happen sooner or later ..... so .. now ... lets look forward to some other format wars coming up .... or any other wars .... xp -vista, obama -clinton , naked news channel - ammm (thaz a clear winner)

[DrCheese]

Paramount have now jumped ship as well.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...c969933f25fc601

[kak]

Now its just a waiting game to see when they start releasing (or re-releasing in Paramount's case) on Blu-Ray. It will be interesting to see if they just port the encodes over or redo some of the movies. I'd also like to see if new releases come BD-Live ready [since it is around the corner].

[AlphaPrime]

I hope they redo their encodes to optimize for BR's higher bitrate and storage space. They might just port the HD-DVD encodes over though.

Either way, it's nice to see all the major studios now on the one format.