Toshiba delays HD DVD, again - Blu-ray Forum

thunderhawk · 03-27-2006, 07:37 PM

Toshiba delays HD DVD, again

Toshiba USA has said it will be delaying the launch of the first HD DVD players until April - a month later than planned. The official reason given is that it wants to synchronise the debut of the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 players with the release of a number of movie titles.

At January's Consumer Electronics Show Toshiba said it would launch HD DVD in March. The new machines, to be priced at $500 and $800 respectively, will be much cheaper than the $1,000 starting price for the rival Blu-Ray format.

Originally, the HD DVD format was due to be launched in the fourth quarter of last year.

Toshiba is not giving a precise date for the launch of the HD DVD players. On 18 April, however, Time Warner's Warner Home Video unit will release the first three titles using the HD DVD format, including Million Dollar Baby and The Last Samurai, with another seventeen or so released over the following weeks.

The rival Blu-Ray format from Sony is also having its problems. Although Sony is remaining publicly confident that it will ship Blu-Ray players this summer, delays in production have already hit the much anticipated Playstation 3 games console.

Confidence in Sony's ability to deliver took a major knock when the company had to announce that the Playstation 3 was delayed until November following disagreements over the DRM (digital rights management), which is important for controlling access to content, such as games and movies.

While Intel and Microsoft are among the backers of Toshiba's HD DVD format, Apple backs the rival Blu-ray offering from Sony.

By Steve Malone @ PC Pro
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/85524/to...dvd-again.html

zombie · 03-27-2006, 09:05 PM

Yeah, this news is about a week old but I didn't find another thread here so I guess it may be new info to some here.

It's interesting how the headstart that HD DVD always touted is merely a month now.

GTP · 04-02-2006, 02:52 PM

I find that the closer we get to launch, the more that is missing from the players.
Mr Fujii said yesterday that there are no plans to make the first...or any Toshiba player 1080p....like has been suggested at other forums.
He said "we may consider 1080p for hd dvd in the future".
Also...it turns out that the Toshiba players are going to some how down convert DTS-HD to some more normal version of DTS...other than lossless as they have been advertised.....which makes sense because DTS is a digital codec, and over analog...its not DTS at all.

This could be a moot point because I doubt we will se many...if any DTS -HD encoded movies for a while anyway.
Anyone thinking they can upgrade one of these players with HDMI 1.3...or 2.0 as it may end up being called....better think again.

The bundled movies that come with the player in Japan are both single layer 15gb without any of the interactivity thats been talked about.

Its starting to become obvious that with hd dvd....you pay for what you get.

03-27-2006, 07:37 PM	#1
thunderhawk Moderator Member since:Jul 2004 Location:Belgium	Toshiba delays HD DVD, again Toshiba delays HD DVD, again Toshiba USA has said it will be delaying the launch of the first HD DVD players until April - a month later than planned. The official reason given is that it wants to synchronise the debut of the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 players with the release of a number of movie titles. At January's Consumer Electronics Show Toshiba said it would launch HD DVD in March. The new machines, to be priced at $500 and $800 respectively, will be much cheaper than the $1,000 starting price for the rival Blu-Ray format. Originally, the HD DVD format was due to be launched in the fourth quarter of last year. Toshiba is not giving a precise date for the launch of the HD DVD players. On 18 April, however, Time Warner's Warner Home Video unit will release the first three titles using the HD DVD format, including Million Dollar Baby and The Last Samurai, with another seventeen or so released over the following weeks. The rival Blu-Ray format from Sony is also having its problems. Although Sony is remaining publicly confident that it will ship Blu-Ray players this summer, delays in production have already hit the much anticipated Playstation 3 games console. Confidence in Sony's ability to deliver took a major knock when the company had to announce that the Playstation 3 was delayed until November following disagreements over the DRM (digital rights management), which is important for controlling access to content, such as games and movies. While Intel and Microsoft are among the backers of Toshiba's HD DVD format, Apple backs the rival Blu-ray offering from Sony. By Steve Malone @ PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/85524/to...dvd-again.html

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03-27-2006, 09:05 PM	#2
zombie Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:May 2004 Trading Score:866	Yeah, this news is about a week old but I didn't find another thread here so I guess it may be new info to some here. It's interesting how the headstart that HD DVD always touted is merely a month now.

04-02-2006, 02:52 PM	#3
GTP Expert Member Member since:Jan 2006 Trading Score:1	I find that the closer we get to launch, the more that is missing from the players. Mr Fujii said yesterday that there are no plans to make the first...or any Toshiba player 1080p....like has been suggested at other forums. He said "we may consider 1080p for hd dvd in the future". Also...it turns out that the Toshiba players are going to some how down convert DTS-HD to some more normal version of DTS...other than lossless as they have been advertised.....which makes sense because DTS is a digital codec, and over analog...its not DTS at all. This could be a moot point because I doubt we will se many...if any DTS -HD encoded movies for a while anyway. Anyone thinking they can upgrade one of these players with HDMI 1.3...or 2.0 as it may end up being called....better think again. The bundled movies that come with the player in Japan are both single layer 15gb without any of the interactivity thats been talked about. Its starting to become obvious that with hd dvd....you pay for what you get.

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