Run into some old friends from another group or board? Want to do a little schmoozing, talk over old times? Or just some off topic stuff, then this is the place.
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) may not have officially given up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, but the word on the street on Sunday was that rival Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research)(SNE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray had won the war.
"Blu-ray won. It's fantastic and I trust Sony," said one customer, William, browsing the DVD player aisles at the Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) store on New York's Fifth Avenue.
"Blu-rays are flying off the shelves, but we have to order if you want HD," said Tania Bonetti, who works in the home theater section of the store, where DVD players cost from $399 to almost $1,000.
Just a warning as these HD DVD players will likely be sold very cheap now but will be worthless. Personally, I wouldn't buy either at these prices but if you know someone shopping, make sure they get a Blu-Ray player.
I'm avoiding buying any of it until it's really clear. One is going to be the Beta of this generation. The guy quoted doesn't know his history all that well, Sony has lost quite a few of these battles before.
glg wrote:I'm avoiding buying any of it until it's really clear. One is going to be the Beta of this generation. The guy quoted doesn't know his history all that well, Sony has lost quite a few of these battles before.
well it seems pretty clear now.. hd-dvd only has paramount and universal as their major studios and even toshiba is planning to pull out on it.
If the Xbox 360 had a built in HD DVD player, tables may have been turned. Toshiba should have given HD DVD drives to Microsoft for cost of manufacture.
P.S. As far as trusting Sony ... who are we kidding. They killled the cash cow of Everquest by raising the monthly fees time and time again and charging new game prices for content upgrades.
If the Xbox 360 had a built in HD DVD player, tables may have been turned. Toshiba should have given HD DVD drives to Microsoft for cost of manufacture.
P.S. As far as trusting Sony ... who are we kidding. They killled the cash cow of Everquest by raising the monthly fees time and time again and charging new game prices for content upgrades.
PS3 was huge, but the nail in the coffin was the movie companies virtually all siding with Blu Ray (which very well could have been because of PS3's success.) There was whispers that porn would put HD-DVD over the top (like it did to VHS), but when normal movies all side with one technology its going to come out on top.
I'm personally waiting a little while, but may bite the bullet and buy a blu-ray that has its own sound processor in it (because my receiver isn't TrueHD.) Will put me back 500 bucks, so it may be a little while, maybe I'll spend my refund that comes in May on it?
I think you guys are overestimating "HD's" effect on movies.
When it comes to a DVD vs. Blu Ray I can't seem to tell a significant difference.
People already have DVD collections and I can't see most people replacing them for a technology that doesn't change enough to matter, as hard as they try, I just can't see blu-ray winning this battle.
If DVD's get replaced it'll be with hard drives and you'll be downloading movies instead of buying them (Or buying them on memory sticks). I can't see another DVD-like system replacing DVD.
*Edit
The only exception to my comment is if companies stop releasing movies on DVDs.
Cliff wrote:I think you guys are overestimating "HD's" effect on movies.
When it comes to a DVD vs. Blu Ray I can't seem to tell a significant difference.
People already have DVD collections and I can't see most people replacing them for a technology that doesn't change enough to matter, as hard as they try, I just can't see blu-ray winning this battle.
If DVD's get replaced it'll be with hard drives and you'll be downloading movies instead of buying them (Or buying them on memory sticks). I can't see another DVD-like system replacing DVD.
*Edit
The only exception to my comment is if companies stop releasing movies on DVDs.
I'll agree that there isn't that much of a difference but I wouldn't say that it's not a significant difference.
If the price of BR discs come down to a smaller difference between it and DVDs then people would move to the newer format. I know if the difference was less than 30% between the DVD and BR versions I'd go BR every time..
digital downloads for HD content probably isn't going to be feasible for many years... an HD movie is about what? 30 GB or so? i'd say the average person might wait 10-15 minutes for a download... and i'm sure the internet infrastructure couldn't handle that kind of load for a long long time.
jackal wrote:Does anyone have a Blue ray or HD disc player?
I am wondering if they are really worth the money or not?
Only if you have a high def TV. And once the price on Blue Ray players and discs drop drastically, there'll probably not be any regular DVDs. Kinda like there's no pre-recorded VHS tapes now. But you'll still be able to watch them on your Blue Ray machine.
But this format war is all but over. The fat lady's warmin' up and she'll be singin' her aria in a month or two, I think.
It will be interesting to see how prices move in the next year. We're about a year away from analog disappearing and as with all technology, prices will decline with time but with Sony now having a monopoly on HD movies, I wonder how much of a decline that'll be.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) surrendered in the high-definition home movie war on Tuesday, giving up on its HD DVD format after losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research).
The decision by the electronics maker ends the battle with a consortium led by Sony over who would set the standard for the next generation of discs, a fight that confused shoppers and stalled a move to the new technology in the $24 billion home DVD market...
Toshiba, which had hoped HD DVD would drive growth in its consumer electronics business, said it would aim to end its HD DVD business by the end of next month.
Now all we have to do is wait for the prices to drop. And they will, eventually.
