HD-DVD: It’s all over except for the funeral
Recent rumours about Toshiba’s imminent exodus from the HD-DVD hardware and software business seem to have been correct.
Recent rumours about Toshiba’s imminent exodus from the HD-DVD hardware and software business seem to have been correct.
According to EngadgetHD, quoting an article from Reuters, insiders at Toshiba have confirmed that the company intends to formally announce their withdrawal from the HD format war. This news paves the way for Sony’s Blu-ray format to become the standard in what has been a long battle between the two rival factions.
While consumers are the ultimate winners here, many of them have already jumped on the HD-DVD bandwagon and are now faced the question of what to do about their recent investment.
As we recently reported, Amazon.com is offering 150 of their HD-DVD titles at 50% off, which means that if hardware prices take an equally steep dive in price, folks who don’t mind shelling out a few hundred dollars could easily build a decent HD system and library, assuming of course they don’t mind the idea of dwindling title selection in the coming months and years. After all, most HD-DVD players are also excellent standard DVD upconverters which means if you were considering buying a regular up-converting player, a few bucks more for an HD-DVD player may make sense.
On the other hand, now that Blu-ray has emerged victorious, would this be only slightly better than buying a Betamax player?
Let us know what you think – especially if you have already bought an HD-DVD system.
The sooner this format war is completly over the better. As for all the Sony bashers it takes 2 to fight. When DVD came out there was no format war, you just went out and purchased a DVD player and purchased or rented DVD's. If the major players in this battle had any forsight they would have settled on one format before starting compatablily issues which only pissed of the consumers who were just looking for a true high def picture. When I purchased my current DVD player I paid $350 + tax, now I can buy one for $100 with the same features and picture, so the prices will come down as more units are sold! As for those who invested in HD-DVD you must have realized you were gambling on who would win and you lost. You don't really think Toshiba is going to send you a cheque do you?
That's my Opinion!
Still sitting on the fence!
I hate to tell you PS3 people but the so called Blueray player built into the PS3 is a stripped down one. In order for Sony to put one in they had to strip it of all the extras. An average Blueray player is around 600 Canadian. A PS3 is around 300. You do the math,
Lawrence: Correction. When DVD started, their was also Divx players(not the codec). It was a rentable DVD model and you had to plug the player to a phone line. The war lasted less than year. This one lasted way too long but I got myself a PS3 to protect my fence ;)
Drecoil: Where do you buy a new PS3 for $300. The back of a truck don't count. ;)
The lowest is still $400 for the 40GB model. I paid $300 because I price matched the Dell promo of $370 at FS and used my gift certificate I got during the holidays and birthdays. :D
If Blu-Ray prices soar, watch it turn into the next laser disc. Most people will just skip this one.
As far as i know, the bluray lense inside the playstation 3 is basically plastic instead of glass as used on the standalone players, thus PS3's bluray will wear out sooner or later. (that's what best buy, futureshop and even walmart employees told me)
Hi Hate to tell you hd owners you just wasted your money on a old news format.One thing more ps3 is better then that bug filled xbox 360 Longlive Bluray,
Just to add to all the content posted here by you guys…
Sony's Blu-Ray DVD technology goes far beyond the standard applications of Regular, Up-converted and HD Content.
Anyone who has actually played back a Blu-Ray DVD will notice some functions not available on regular DVD's (even HD-DVD does not include some of these)
Functions such as Floating Menus, Protected Encryption Transfer (PETS) and some functions exclusively for use by Service Providers (Movie Studios) these are AACS Type-II/III and MMC Type-II
Though they are still in beta, but will be out soon.
Toshiba's HD-DVD supports only AACS Type-I and MMC Type-I and no PETS.
What does this mean, now even companies such as Block-Buster and NetFlix can re-distribute Blu-Ray Discs (with movies customized by them, in partnership with the BDA, of course)
Think of this – a Spiderman 3 Movie Disc which shows you content from Block-Buster on the disc itself!
This opens up an entirely new market and industry… Customized Data Replication and Re-Distribution.
Even Medical Companies are exploring the possibility of using Blu-Ray Discs for Providing Customized Medical Training for Associates. Google It!
That's Revolution, not evolution…
Drecoil…thank you for extolling your ignorance…well lets put that one down with the one about plastic lenses too….
The PS3 is not stripped down. Is it missing the odd small feature? Yes. It does not have built in component video outputs (you need to buy the cable) and it does not have the build in decoder for multichannel sound (but then neither do the others).
What it is is much faster. What it also has is a much different business model. Standalone players must make all their profit on the player alone. The PS3 is an avenue to sell content. To that end, it can be sold on razor thin margins…well perhaps even at a loss initially. Funny enough, because it may be used as a blueray player more than a game machine initially, it may screw up the economics as the profit on a $70 game are better than on a movie.
A standalone player may sell 500K units (at least initially). The first PS3 variant sold millions, the second variant will sell millions more, and the total sales will eventually be in the 10's of millions… we are talking huge economies of scale and hence lower manufacturing costs eventually.
You are right, when someone who understands the math does the math, it makes complete sense.
Do you have a PS3? I do… and a standalone (which I no longer use) and even an HD-DVD (for rental movies)…. I have never felt the PS3 was lacking in features.
The lens is a non-moving part and while the laser is blue, the plastic is not going to yellow or age appreciably… it will last far longer than the laser.
I find it appauling that people are whining and complaining about a format becoming standardized. If you look at communications history, this type of technology battle is standard fare. From the earliest phonographs to grammarphones, to 72's 33s 45s, 8-track to 16-track (standard cassette), Laserdisc (also chosen as the standard for the porn industry back in the 70's), to DVD. The fact of the matter is that technology changes, and as things change people are left waiting for the "standard" to be determined. VHS beat out betamax for the sole reason that JVC licensed other comapnies to produce VHS players, Sony did not do that with BETA, and yet Beta is a better format, and still is the "Standard" for television production. As for people demanding Toshiba reimburse them for hopping on a bandwagon, you made a choice, turned out to be the wrong one. That isn't Toshiba's fault. The fact that there now is a standardized format, and the fact that Sony has been marketing a Blu-ray system for less than $300 for a few years now (PS3), you can bet that rather than lose again due to poor licensing policies, they will start the licensing machine rolling, and more and more cheap players will come out. So ultimatly the patient consumer will win.
Still sitting on the fence for this, especially the BluRay profile scaling problem broke out, after seeing a regular DVD on a computer versus a home player I decide any of these is worthy only when you've got complete HD system to go with it.
Techie: Well said.
Some of the comments left here are by pretty sore losers. Specially the one asking for Toshiba to refund him his money. Give me a break. You made your choice, now live with it. Serves you right for being cheap.
DVD Man, your grammar really sucks, but maybe I should congratulate you for being able to write a whole paragraph. "no good for nothing"?? Meaning that its good for something? Yeah, its good for demonstrating that you are what you buy…cheap crap!!
Blu-ray was the best from the start, despite for David saying it was "crippled". Wow, interactive content on HD DVD…it was just implemented to make-up for its shortcomings and entertain feeble-minded fools who buy cheap crap.
HD DVD, may you burn in hell and never return. This time, the better format won.
Techie, the Beta used in Television production is quite a bit different in many ways than the original Beta. Additions for component video, etc. were far beyond the original Beta for consumer….and today, we are onto new things, with digital now the standard.
Dace: easy does it… no need for personal attacks.
Who says the customer comes out the winner of the war Blu-Ray VS HD DVD?Let me tell you something:Sony is the worst company when it comes to being in favor of the customers. I remember buying a mini disk player from Sony only to realise I could not add more than 3 songs at a time and I could not transfer music from the disks to other devices.
For myself…I hope Sony goes out of business…and fast.
Customers…beleive me…Once Sony has the monopoly…We gonna pay …BIG buks for their products.
Hey Sony lost the Beta Vs VHS war and we the consumers wound up with the poorer system VHS – this time round the better system has won out (Blue Ray)
Pretty disapointing how many people blame Microslop for HD-DVD's failure… at launch the 360 was how much? $500'ish. Tack on another $200 for a HD-DVD drive and their next gen console released at christmas would have run into the $700+ range. Add a second joystick, a wireless network adapter and a game and you would have clocked an even $1000.00. It wasnt feasible. It was Sony's $650 entry level price tag on the 60 gig ps3's at launch that kept sales back in the beginning.
The end result is that the better format won. We live in a day and age where the consumer decides which products to support. Same was true of Microsoft windows vs. Linux and OS2. We the people made the decision, the sales #'s show that blu ray despite being more expensive sold more movies than HD-DVD month after month.
Sorry to all those who got suckered into buying a HD-DVD unit, you just didnt have enough like minded people supporting your choice as a consumer.
Personally, I have been hoping that HD DVD would win this generation. I'm kinda tired of Sony always coming up with their own media formats (UMD, Memory Stick, MiniDisk…)
In the end, this hasn't really affected me yet due to my lack of an HD capable tv. I probably won't pick one up still for a bit, so I've got time to see what appens when teh dust settles.
How sson people forget what SONY tried to do with their music disks and I am sure it wont be long before they try the same thing with Blu Ray
Long live the DVD,
That is my vote, either that or Microsoft will come out with its own version, because they will never put a competiors product in one of there products.
I can't believe people would still choose a slower method and less advanced, while still being more expensive, while going into a 'Bagel' -> watch west wing and you will understand that, or the 'R-word'.
Alas the Human mind always boggles me.
Anyways Long live the DVD, for the next 2-3 years, and guess what Blueray will be a thing of the past.