[official] Next Generation HD Format General Discussion

[shockz]

Do you have any questions about next generation formats/sources such as xStreamHD, Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD???

Well here's the place to ask!

You can also post interesting articles about what they think or even you think might happen with the upcoming formats.

This thread will be strictly moderated... any rule breakage including flames and trolling will be dealt with warns and restrictions

[Boz]

Retail Remains Unchanged Post Format War

Ken Cranes offered the HD-A3 with 1080i resolution for $148 and the HD-A30 with 1080p resolution for $198. Both models included the seven free movies.

Steve Caldero, SVP and COO of Hawthorne, Calif.-based Cranes, said the slashed HD DVD prices did not reflect a decision by the company to abandon HD DVD.

?No, we?re not discontinuing HD DVD,? Caldero said.

He said Warner?s decision still left retailers with the responsibility to sell both formats, since Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks still release exclusively in HD DVD.

?It hasn?t been the best situation from day one,? Caldero said.

He said Toshiba?s players have been Internet-connected from the beginning, compared to Blu-ray players.

?The new Web-enabled BD players haven?t even shipped yet,? he said.

Both Best Buy and Circuit City could be dropping their HD DVD prices shortly as Toshiba Corp. Jan. 14 announced it was cutting $150 and $200 from the retail prices of the HD-A3 and HD-A30, respectively.

Last week, Best Buy spokesperson Brian Lucas said the retailer would continue stocking HD DVD so long as studios release content in HD DVD and there is a market for the format.

?As far as we?re concerned there are still two formats and the format war is not really over,? Lucas said.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html...rticle_ID=11885

[Coldgunner]

of course they're gonna say that they'll continue stocking hd-dvd, otherwise no-one would bother with the players, even at their cheap price.

[draklin]

Retail Remains Unchanged Post Format War

Both Best Buy and Circuit City could be dropping their HD DVD prices shortly as Toshiba Corp. Jan. 14 announced it was cutting $150 and $200 from the retail prices of the HD-A3 and HD-A30, respectively.

That is a very big price cut. HD DVD has always been cheaper, but how did Toshiba suddenly find the ability to cut the price that much? Are they now losing money on every player in the hopes of getting so many players out there that the studios re-evaluate being blu-exclusive?

[Mathachew Veteran]

That is a very big price cut. HD DVD has always been cheaper, but how did Toshiba suddenly find the ability to cut the price that much? Are they now losing money on every player in the hopes of getting so many players out there that the studios re-evaluate being blu-exclusive?

The same way Apple found a way to cut prices on the iPhone two months after release. The same way PS3 development costs dropped 50%.

[Boz]

"Blu-ray execs say that the HD DVD format war is responsible for the rush to get Blu-ray out, and why it was shipped in what was basically an unfinished state. (Those Internet features in Profile 2.0 were used as one of Blu-ray's big selling points before it was ever released, remember?) BetaNews asked the developer of BD Live if they were worried about a backlash from early adopters. The response: "They knew what they were getting in to."

See, it's your fault, in the end. "

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/65080/cur...d-disc-features

[TruckWEB]

Those price cut are only for USA. Here, the A-3 is still $249 (on sale, reg price is $299) and the A-30 is $399 and we don't even have the A-35....

[Boz]

Article: Don't Underestimate The Power Of HD DVD

CES was unkind to HD DVD this year, but don't underestimate the power of the fledgling format. A couple days before the beginning of this month's Consumer Electronics Show, Warner Home Video announced it decided to support Blu-ray exclusively and end its relationship with HD DVD. This gave a tremendous push to Blu-ray's existing lead and dominance with studio support.

"This was a big win for Sony and Blu-ray will certainly increase its share of the market," says Gloria Barczak, an electronics branding expert and marketing professor at Northeastern University.

However, don't forget that the format war is still in its infancy. Neither HD format is even two years old yet. Standard DVD sales still dwarf both high-def format sales combined. There is plenty of time before one of these formats will become the standard.

Also, keep in mind that more than 90% of all Blu-ray hardware sales come in the form of the Playstation 3. A video game console is a solid platform on which to launch a new format medium, but it's hardly enough to sustain the medium for years to come.

We're not exactly looking at new turf here. Sony has doled out countless formats, all of which were technologically superior and impressive on a specification sheet. However, the company has had a pathetic success rate with these formats. I'm talking about Betamax, which was actually better than VHS; the Digital Audio Tape and Minidisc were both the first to explore the field of recordable digital audio but both failed, and Sony's Hi8 video camcorder tape format also sunk.

And of course, looking at the Playstation 3 factor is a must when we are talking about Blu-ray. While it seems good to have such huge support from a device, it seems very difficult to swallow the idea that a game console can determine the result of an entire format war.

The Playstation 2 was considered one of the big pushes for DVD players, but today I'm sure very few people use their PS2 as their main DVD player.

HD DVD has many things going for it. The players are less bulky and less expensive. It is also not as costly for studios to publish their films on HD DVD. Blu-ray is the much more expensive format. Also, HD DVD has always run circles around Blu-ray with regard to bonus material. Over a dozen HD DVD titles now have special material that can be accessed directly through the player's Ethernet connection and downloaded to its internal hard drive.

There are far more Blu-ray titles without HD-exclusive features than is the case for HD DVD. The technology often is considered to be superior and cheaper on the HD DVD side, but Blu-ray just happens to have the PS3 factor. In my opinion, that is really the only thing it has on its side right now, and if that fizzles, we're looking at a completely new ball game.

"Certainly, having one format ends confusion for the consumer but they will still be unwilling to buy if they don't see value in what they're buying," said Barczak.

Think about it. The technology world is filled with powerful comeback stories. Look at Nintendo and its unabashed success with the Wii. Just a few years ago some critics were counting Nintendo out of the console race for good. Or look at Apple, the whole Intel/AMD scenario or HP in the PC arena.

Sure, HD DVD has a long way to go to re-establish itself, but the opportunity is still out there. Looking back at history, movie studios have jumped ship from formats, fads have died off with the snap of a finger, and there's always the chance for a unpredictable surprise that changes the game entirely. It's all happened before, and the fact that this format war is so highly publicized just makes every shift so crucial. It'll be at least another year before we know for sure who has the permanent upper hand.

The battle is still too close to call at this time. My advice: If you aren't part of the early-adopter crowd and you don't want to run the risk of investing into a failing format, remain patient. One year ago, this battle looked completely different and we would be surprised if the HD DVD camp would give up that easily.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/17/don..._to_hd_dvd_yet/

Pornographic Film Industry Still Firmly Behind HD DVD

Despite all the talk regarding Blu-ray Disc's momentum after Warner Bros. gave its support exclusively to the format, the high-definition format war is far from over. With the overall high-definition market barely a drop in the bucket when compared to DVD sales, there is still a lot of ground still to be claimed.

Analysts looked early to the adult industry as a strong decider of the format war. The adult industry is often credited with giving VHS its support, helping the format to edge out Betamax ? and some believe that history may repeat itself with the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc battle.

Digital Playground founder and director Joone originally backed HD DVD, but at this year's Adult Entertainment Expo he reportedly told German publication Heise Online that his company will be shifting its support to Blu-ray Disc by the end of the year. Joone also said that Blu-ray Disc movies were selling better than HD DVD, a fact that he attributes to the PlayStation 3.

When reached for comment regarding the report, Digital Playground media relations denied its validity, saying, "This is not accurate. We are currently supporting both formats, HD and Blu-ray."

http://www.dailytech.com/Pornographic+Film...rticle10369.htm

Dailytech received word from Digital Playground that the studio still supports both formats and also that other studio, Vivid, still intends to stay with HD-DVD

"Currently Blu-ray is very expensive to encode and replicate. It probably won't be embraced by the adult industry until the price is lowered," Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, told DailyTech. "We will continue to consider [blu-ray Disc] for some of our blockbuster titles and also continue to produce in HD DVD."

Although the Blu-ray Disc Association lloosened its restrictions on the production of adult content, film producers like Steven Hirsch had to find his own facilities to press movies on that particular format. ?Sony is not giving any assistance in the authoring or replication of adult content on Blu-ray,? said the Vivid Entertainment co-chairman in a previous interviewlloosened its restrictions on the production of adult content, film producers like Steven Hirsch had to find his own facilities to press movies on that particular format. ?Sony is not giving any assistance in the authoring or replication of adult content on Blu-ray,? said the Vivid Entertainment co-chairman in a previous interview.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Boz

[ctebah]

i was under the impression that no adult movies were on blu-ray. good to see that adult industry is making a shift in supporting blu-ray as well as hd-dvd.

[Boz]

BBC says it will still support both high-def formats

Games and Entertainment By Mark Raby Thursday, January 17, 2008 13:19

London (England) - In a time where every HD DVD supporter seems to be expected to comment on recent events, BBC Home Video has said it will continue to release titles on both formats.

A BBC spokesperson said that it is not ready to make a call on the high-def war, and "will evaluate the marketplace before committing to one format," in an interview with online portal TV Shows On DVD.

A few days before this big CES show in Las Vegas, Warner Home Video announced it was dropping HD DVD support, creating mass chaos in the format war. Since then, all HD DVD supporters have been questioned about their stance. Even staunch format loyalist Universal was rumored to be changing sides to Blu-ray. BBC is even more germane to this issue because it is distributed by Warner. Other Warner subsidiaries New Line and HBO have followed the studio to Blu-ray exclusivity.

BBC's major release, the Planet Earth box set, is one of the all-time top-selling HD DVD titles, and in its first few weeks of being available on both formats, the HD DVD version actually outsold its Blu-ray counterpart.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35662/98/

[ctebah]

Blu-ray Dominates Disc Sales Chart Post-Warner Announcement

The Blu-ray camp took a decisive lead in disc sales for the week ending January 13th, the first full week following Warner's announcement that it would abandon its HD DVD support.

Though Blu-ray has outsold HD DVD in overall disc sales by a factor of nearly 2:1 since the start of 2007, last week saw the largest gulf between the two rival formats yet, with Blu-ray commanding an 85% share of all high-def discs sold.

Home Media Magazine is reporting that of the top ten high-def discs sold on either format, not a single HD DVD disc made the list, with the top-selling HD DVD disc ('The Kingdom') moving only one tenth as many units as the best selling Blu-ray title, '3:10 to Yuma.'

While it's too soon to tell whether Warner's announcement had a direct effect on Blu-ray's stronger-than-ever disc sales lead, HD DVD had been holding steady with a relatively strong 39% share of high-def disc sales in the last weeks of the 2007 holiday shopping season.

Highdefdigest

[DrunkenMaster]

It would be nice to see, and probably speed up the adoption rate, if we saw either HD DVD or Blu-Ray release cheaper computer media for burning discs. I think its around $20 for a 25 GB disc which is absurd - or whatever its at right now. If you could buy a cake of 50 for $100 or so, I'm sure many individuals and companies would be buying the new gen formats for backup purposes. DVDs just don't offer enough space anymore and I'm leery of keeping everything on an HDD without a different backup medium as well.

[ctebah]

Well guys, Dave Vaughn has spoken and typically he has been reliable when it comes to industry decisions and he now has reason to believe that Paramount will be forced to drop HD-DVD once Best Buy fades out support for HD-DVD.

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

IMO, their [Paramount] ultimate decision to go back to Blu-ray is going to be forced upon them by Best Buy, who will eventually drop support for HD DVD. In fact, I will be surprised if we still see a HD DVD software presence in their retail channel after Q2'08.

Source: Highdefdigest

Source: AVS Forum

This insider is saying that bestbuy will drop hd-dvd eventually and that will force paramount to go blu-ray. at my local bestbuy they lowered the "maximum stock" numbers for most of the hd-dvd titles and some of them are turning .95 price point in the warehouse, meaning they might go clearance.

[Boz]

Source: Highdefdigest

Source: AVS Forum

This insider is saying that bestbuy will drop hd-dvd eventually and that will force paramount to go blu-ray. at my local bestbuy they lowered the "maximum stock" numbers for most of the hd-dvd titles and some of them are turning .95 price point in the warehouse, meaning they might go clearance.

Dave is less then realiable.. he is speaking as his opinion not what he heard. there's a difference between the two.

[DrCheese]

To be fair, Boz is right this time. Its just that guys opinion. He is right tho that a major B & M store could help end this pretty quickly if they dropped HD-DVD.

[DrCheese]

Retailers adjust high-def space, Some lean toward Blu-ray after Warner move

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/ca6523987.html

Article mentions that some stores are starting to change the amount of HD-DVD's they order compared to BD.

It does mention that stores aren't going to pull HD-DVD completely yet as some customers still buy them and of course two studio's are still in the HD camp but they admit the writing may be on the wall.

[Gally]

I think this format war could be good thing, hopefully it'll knock down the prices of both, Are there any dvd players which play both HD and Blu-ray?

[DrCheese]

There's a few, I think both Samsung and LG make them. But generally if you want both formats its still much cheaper to buy separate players. You can also benefit more from free movie offers if you buy that way.

[soniqstylz]

HD-DVD players see "heavy returns" post-holiday shopping season -- Blu-ray players outsell HD-DVD players over holiday season w/o sales of PS3 counted.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/tec...ispatch--t.html

[Boz]

HD-DVD players see "heavy returns" post-holiday shopping season -- Blu-ray players outsell HD-DVD players over holiday season w/o sales of PS3 counted.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/tec...ispatch--t.html

Hm.. Let me think.. 1 month of winning and during holidays where most of the Blu-Ray players were given away for free with TV purchase. I guess this means that Blu-Ray outsold HD DVD for sure. :)

Take the anual sales, not for 1 month. Despite the fact that players were sold for $99, Blu-Ray ones were pretty much given away for free. Or people seem to forget?

Again, how can you taunt great sales when you give stuff away. I don't understand that at all. Plus, Samsung and LG dual players were counted in those numbers too. Add those 1 or 2% and Toshiba again had the majority of sales over ALL other CE manufacturers. Talk about the power of a good product.

[DrCheese]

I accidently posted this in BD discussion but it should be here...

Hardware Sales.

These charts do not include the PS3 or 360 add on unit

But the most interesting is the big change after the Warner announcement

[soniqstylz]

Did you know --

Toshiba currently leads the Blu-ray standalone market?

http://www.cclonline.com/news/newsArticle....amp;tid=cclnews

[draklin]

Did you know --

Toshiba currently leads the Blu-ray standalone market?

http://www.cclonline.com/news/newsArticle....amp;tid=cclnews

um, that article says that Sony is leading not Toshiba.

[TruckWEB]

Well, I now have both format, no more war for me. I got my PS3 last night, love it.

Like I said somewhere else, my Blu-Ray movie experience is so-so at best. It's like a DVD but in Hi-Def. Nothing fancy, no hot menu, no interactivity with the content of the disc while watching the movie. It does not feel "next-gen". Well, I hope that Profile 2.0 will solve this in the future. Right now, I still prefer HD-DVD, it feels more complete and new. The user experience is better.

In the end, I have it to be able to watch my movie in HD. So even if it's not as fancy/complete, Blu-Ray does the job well.

[kak]

Well, I now have both format, no more war for me. I got my PS3 last night, love it.

Like I said somewhere else, my Blu-Ray movie experience is so-so at best. It's like a DVD but in Hi-Def. Nothing fancy, no hot menu, no interactivity with the content of the disc while watching the movie. It does not feel "next-gen". Well, I hope that Profile 2.0 will solve this in the future. Right now, I still prefer HD-DVD, it feels more complete and new. The user experience is better.

In the end, I have it to be able to watch my movie in HD. So even if it's not as fancy/complete, Blu-Ray does the job well.

The menus have nothing to do with Profile 2.0 but rather studios not being comfortable with BD-J. The menus have been getting better as more titles are released. Look for Disney titles to get the best user experience thus far.