Toshiba to Give Up on HD DVD, End Format War *

[Rando]

Very interesting article ... Toshiba may be throwing in the towel soon?

From the Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d

[JohnG]

If true, then HD-DVD players will get real cheap. :D

[balzac]

Geez, I wonder if I'll ever get my firmware update discs in the mail from Toshiba! Or my 5 free rebate discs for that matter! :)

I'm still curious to see if all previous HD-DVD exclusives will be reissued in Blu-Ray format by all the various studios. Obviously, big blockbuster titles would get reissued. Recent reports I've read suggest Warner Bros. plans to get all of their current HD-DVD exclusives onto Blu-Ray, even supposed poor-selling back catalog titles like "Forbidden Planet" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" (I recently bought the HD-DVD of "Forbidden Planet" for fear that it would get glossed over in the first waves of Blu-Ray reissues).

People like to point out that HD-DVD players will not all of a sudden stop working if the format officially becomes completely defunct, and that is true. But the players will eventually sometimes break down and stop working in years to come, so eventually I'll want to replace some relatively obscure HD-DVD exclusive titles with Blu-Ray versions so the discs are more "future-proof".

[John Egan]

Geez, I wonder if I'll ever get my firmware update discs in the mail from Toshiba! Or my 5 free rebate discs for that matter! :)

I've been waiting a while for my 5 free discs so I called the hotline (1-800-405-7520) this morning and they are on the way but the customer service guy didn't sound very chipper. Then I read the news. I bought the HD player because it seemed like a good deal and I felt like having my Hi-Def bases covered but things are happening fast. I will have 17 HD discs, 10 free, the rest BOGO or half off. I'm playing my CDs and SDs on the Toshiba right now to give my BR player a break but it's not one of the cheapies so I have no reason to believe it won't outlast me. If it doesn't I'll see how far I can get them to fly.

[balzac]

I've been waiting a while for my 5 free discs so I called the hotline (1-800-405-7520) this morning and they are on the way but the customer service guy didn't sound very chipper. Then I read the news. I bought the HD player because it seemed like a good deal and I felt like having my Hi-Def bases covered but things are happening fast. I will have 17 HD discs, 10 free, the rest BOGO or half off. I'm playing my CDs and SDs on the Toshiba right now to give my BR player a break but it's not one of the cheapies so I have no reason to believe it won't outlast me. If it doesn't I'll see how far I can get them to fly.

Yeah, I bought into both formats (within weeks of each other in December) knowing that one would eventually be over (although I didn't think it would be so quick neccesarily). I haven't bought many discs in either format. But even among the HD-DVD discs I've bought (which number about 13 or so), most of them are HD-DVD exclusives at present anyway. The only film I actually paid full price for on HD-DVD that I could have got on Blu-Ray was "The Omega Man", which was just an impulse buy that happened in the gap between when I bought an HD-DVD player and decided to buy Blu-Ray as well.

The HD-DVD players are still good upconverting players (cheaper and better than some standard DVD upconverting players no doubt). My $150 Toshiba HD-A3 is as good, and to my eye, actually slightly better at upscaling/unconverting compared to my $300 Sony BDP-S300.

Through some X-Mas gift confusion, I ended up with a second HD-DVD player (an HD-A2), so I'm pretty safe even if some of my HD-DVD discs are never reissued in Blu-Ray and my HD-A3 goes south at some point.

[JohnG]

They won't be happy till I break down and by a Blu-ray player, then that'll go bust.

[bhazen]

Am I alone in thinking that plain old DVD is a good enough format? (I've seen DVDs played on friends' plasma home theatre setups, and they looked stunning.)

[Pickoid]

Am I alone in thinking that plain old DVD is a good enough format? (I've seen DVDs played on friends' plasma home theatre setups, and they looked stunning.)

I think you are pretty much alone. :wave:

[Dennis Metz]

I guess it had to happen.

[Chris Gerhard]

Am I alone in thinking that plain old DVD is a good enough format? (I've seen DVDs played on friends' plasma home theatre setups, and they looked stunning.)

You're not alone, I believe a significant market segment feels that way now and always will. I also believe that market isn't the only market that matters, there are many consumers that will want Blu-ray for the better video and audio quality once the format war is over and all companies support Blu-ray. I will predict that about half of US households with an HDTV will own Blu-ray by about 2011, of course all of them will own DVD. About 98% of the homes without an HDTV already own DVD. Blu-ray gets an awful lot of news coverage and frequent ads are seen. The US consumer is aware it is a newer and higher quality alternative to DVD, but otherwise hasn't decided much yet.

Chris

[JohnG]

Once most Americans own a HDTV and see HD for themselves in their home, they'll want more HD.

And if there is one format, then it will be easier for them to switch to Blu-ray and see how stunning HD movies on an HDTV look.

[Dave D]

I think you are pretty much alone. :wave:

No he's not. It's good enough for me.

[harmonica98]

I am still doubtful that either format will ever be more than niche. Most consumers do not care that much for quality, convenience is king, witness the success of MP3. For convenience, read VOD - within 5 years optical disc will be outmoded as a form of delivery.

I would love to be proved wrong, but this is the way I see things going.

Tom

[street legal]

No he's not. It's good enough for me.

Same here. I have not yet, nor will I most likely ever, buy into HD-DVD or Blue Ray. I save my pickiness for my audio-only purchases. I am so sick of these format wars & I just won't buy into it. :mad:

[Oatsdad]

I agree that the HD formats have a long way to go to be anything more than niche markets. I've said it elsewhere, but the truth is that they're an incremental step above SD-DVD, not a quantum leap, and most viewers just won't see the need to "upgrade". It's not like it's an entire change in format ala the switch from VHS to DVD...

[John Moschella]

I agree that the HD formats have a long way to go to be anything more than niche markets. I've said it elsewhere, but the truth is that they're an incremental step above SD-DVD, not a quantum leap, and most viewers just won't see the need to "upgrade".

I completely agree and have thought all along that if it gets to "niche market" status I will be happy, vs. failure status. I also agree the video upgrade is incremental, however, the few BR discs that have 24 bit audio are a revelation.

[Pickoid]

Just curious, do all of you folks who think DVD is "good enough" have an HDTV? DVDs, even upconverted by a quality DVD player, are nowhere near as good as HD. I have neither HD-DVD or blu-ray, but as soon as blu-ray players get a bit more affordable, I can't wait to get one. I can't buy the argument that "people want convenience and don't care about quality." DVD is no more or less convenient than blu-ray. The format war is basically over, blu-ray has won, now bring on the cheap players and cheap titles.

In my circle of friends and coworkers, who could care less about quality sound, all are going nuts over HDTV and high-res video content. I think it's a pretty big deal to mainstream consumers.

[Chip Z]

Just curious, do all of you folks who think DVD is "good enough" have an HDTV? DVDs, even upconverted by a quality DVD player, are nowhere near as good as HD. I have neither HD-DVD or blu-ray, but as soon as blu-ray players get a bit more affordable, I can't wait to get one. I can't buy the argument that "people want convenience and don't care about quality." DVD is no more or less convenient than blu-ray. The format war is basically over, blu-ray has won, now bring on the cheap players and cheap titles.

In my circle of friends and coworkers, who could care less about quality sound, all are going nuts over HDTV and high-res video content. I think it's a pretty big deal to mainstream consumers.

I share your experience. I"m looking forward to being able to rent blu ray at the local video store and that is the only factor keeping me from already owning a ps3.

Generally, people are way more into video than sound in my experience.

[bhazen]

Just curious, do all of you folks who think DVD is "good enough" have an HDTV?

My particular DVD experience was with a huge plasma HDTV. Upconverted? I'm not sure what that is. All I know is, it was stunning; like seeing film in a theatre.

At home I have a 19" Sony Trinitron from 1994 or so. Lo-Def, but it refuses to die! DVD on it looks...okay.:D

[Todd Fredericks]

They won't be happy till I break down and by a Blu-ray player, then that'll go bust.


I sometimes feel that way too. I am planning on getting a Blu-ray player down the road but there is that feeling of what if that goes bust too!

Todd

[guidedbyvoices]

I had a 36" tube HDTV (4:3 ratio) for 5 years, and regular DVDs looked fantastic, and I was very happy both with HDTV broadcasts and watching normal DVDs.

Then I got a new LCD 46" widescreen, and watching DVDs on a brand new progressive scan DVD layer that upconverted to 1080p withh an HDMI, I couldn't quite get it to look like my HD channels looked with just component cables.

That's when I saw the difference between dvd quality and why BluRay is so desired.

I'm not saying that the picture was terrible, but it's just not as pristinely clear, and it's noticeable after you've watched lots of HD programming on TV. I'm no videophile, so I don't know the right words, but it seems ever so slightly, uh, the colors don't seem to prefectly blend like they should.

So I'm not ready to splurge on a Blu Ray yet, but I see the need for it.

The thing that annoys me about Blu Ray though is so few classic movies are in Blue Ray. Maybe when Hitchcock of The Third Man comes in BluRay I'll start to consider it!

[JohnG]

DVDs can look great on a HDTV, no doubt.

But once you see a HD-DVD or a Blu-ray disc on a HDTV, you'll be hooked.

[Jamie Tate]

Wal-Mart blogger claims retailer will ditch HD DVD

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/15/wal_mart_to_drop_hd_dvd/

[Todd Fredericks]

My main regret is that I wish I waited a little longer when I got my XA2 in November. I thought at the time there was a stalemate and the player fit the bill for me (especially with the Reon upconverting and price). I also felt there were more classic releases coming out on the HD-DVD front than Blu-ray. Warner's support for both camps was the final deciding factor and from all I read it seemed like they were going to stay that way for some time (thanks Warner Bros!!). If I was to have known the events to happen starting in Janaury then I would've gone with Blu-ray. Oh, well, eventually another DVD player to make it three (I have also have an Oppo for my other region DVD's).



Todd

[lasvidfil]

It's official: Wal-Mart is the latest one to bail:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Retailing/Wal-Mart/Wal-Mart_to_Go_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1469