Both formats can coexist...

[tron3]

Originally Posted by richteer

Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD roughly 2:1; how much clearer lead does there need to be?!

According to Warner, more than 2 to 1 for them to decide one format over the other. 3:1, 4:1? Who knows what numbers they are thinking? Safe to assume it has to be sales numbers which consistently lead them to believe the market is moving to one side.

That is going to be hard without Paramount being neutral any more. That means certain HD titles are only on HD-DVD, thus motivating to buy in that format. If they sold both, we would get a clearer picture that blu-ray is certainly preferred. Right now, the water is muddied because of Paramount. Same could be said of Disney, but they rock. Blu-ray has everything going for it. Most Studio backing, best quality, and a beautiful blu case for display.

I still think they should backlight the blu-ray movies from underneath. That glowing row of blu movies will surely attract lookers and buyers.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by tron3

According to Warner, more than 2 to 1 for them to decide one format over the other. 3:1, 4:1? Who knows what numbers they are thinking? Safe to assume it has to be sales numbers which consistently lead them to believe the market is moving to one side.

That is going to be hard without Paramount being neutral any more. That means certain HD titles are only on HD-DVD, thus motivating to buy in that format. If they sold both, we would get a clearer picture that blu-ray is certainly preferred. Right now, the water is muddied because of Paramount. Same could be said of Disney, but they rock. Blu-ray has everything going for it. Most Studio backing, best quality, and a beautiful blu case for display.

I still think they should backlight the blu-ray movies from underneath. That glowing row of blu movies will surely attract lookers and buyers.

I'm with you on the backlight!! I hope warner is not dumping these movies on us ,just to go hd-dvd ex..

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by frank_t

The infrastructure can't actually handle it. It's one of the dirty little secret of cable operators. If everyone were to be downloading HD content round the clock, we'd overflow the pipe.

There is a LOT of 'dark fiber' laying around for major backbones. You can thank the subsequent rise and fall of the dot coms for it. In preparation for the digital millenium, companies invested and spent billions of dollars laying fiber by the pound. Then, the dot com bubble burst and the fiber was never lit up. It is lit up as needed, but many people say it will not even be partially used before 2025. The pipes for backbones domestically are fine, and has plenty of room for expansion.

The part of the infrastructure that is the most problematic is the end user. Nearly half the homes in the US do not have broadband (Which I might add negates the HD-DVD mandatory spec of Ethernet for half the population). Even with recent fiber being lit up for homes, we're light years away from say Japan or Hong Kong. While we get 15 or 30 mbps connections they have 100 or 200 for the same price that we pay for DSL.

SD VOD has already been around for a while in terms of cable companies. HD VOD is making it's appearance as well. That's all fine and well, but VOD did not take off as expected. VOD is viewed as a way to rent a movie, without having to drive down to Block Buster. Most people I know who have access to this, use it once, and don't bother using it again. Instead they buy the DVD's and up convert.

VOD will also be equivalent to rental, being charged per viewing. People will still want a way to just buy a movie without having to PPV. People also will still want a format that is the 'best' looking and viewing for our 4160p TV's. VOD is a failure from the start.

I will say this and go out on a limb. If BR and HD-DVD fail/draw, the next format we will be looking at will be flash based devices. TB storage with huge bandwidth will be available for the same price that we pay for our current mediums.

[micrococcus]

"There can be only 1!" -- Highlander

Screw HD-DVD (so hard to pronounce), Blu-Ray sounds much better!!!

[UlicBelouve]

I respect the idea as a pipe dream. Sure, it'd be nice if they both merged into one, with the grade-A titles going onto a Blu format, and the "movie of the week" going onto the lower-grade HD-DVD. Oh, and all the players can play both formats. No more single-format players.

But pipe dreams are often far from reality. Not going to happen, it will likely be a Blu world, just will take a little longer than we liked.

Won't coexist because the retailers won't put up with it, won't accept the devotion of space to two formats.

[GasCat]

This has been discussed again and again. How many threads are we going to have to go through saying the same thing? Why buy into an inferior technology?

HD-DVD gained 6 percentage points in the numbers last week. I would be willing to wager most of that was from Blu-Ray users who purchased HD-DVD movies. In the words of Juan-Pablo Montoya, "Helllllll no."

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by patrick99

The proposition that both formats can coexist is basically an HD DVD talking point...

Agreed!!

Pro-B

[gvortex7]

Originally Posted by skubrick

http://www.tvpredictions.com/studios091707.htm

How many people think both can survive for a long period? Say 5 - 7 years, until the next format comes along.

I can tell you one thing, there is no new format coming within 5 to 7 years.

Nothing superior to Blu-ray at least.

[kaliraver]

This market will not last and will only make this market a niche market while the mass population in the world will still use DVD! HD-DVD has to go bye-bye between now and a year max to make this format the standard and set it up for mass adoption.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by kaliraver69

This market will not last and will only make this market a niche market while the mass population in the world will still use DVD! HD-DVD has to go bye-bye between now and a year max to make this format the standard and set it up for mass adoption.

Teasing thought... but I bet that the market WILL go to high def. Aside from Sony Trinitron, are they even still making CRT TV's anymore? As the general populance eases in to high def screens, sooner or later they will want to utilize its full potential.

Blu ray will win, especially with the recent news of European companies going Blu. Europe = Huge Market! Especially if you include Russia. I can't see Russia going HD DVD if the rest of Europe goes Blu.

Just hold tight, buy stocks in Blu-Ray companies, plan for your early retirement.

[sentience]

I just got a ps3 about a month ago and initially bought a few blu-ray movies to compare the difference between Blu-Ray and DVD - i didn't realize it would be that big of a leap, but obviously it was. The HD-DVD demo at the store (Fry's) looked marginally better than plain 'ol DVD and so I was a bit skeptical about HD media, but apparently Blu-Ray is far and away better in terms of picture and sound.

However, after watching the movies I had bought, I wanted to rent a DVD (thinking you couldn't rent Blu-Ray discs). One word for everyone: Blockbuster. No HD-DVD shelves, only Blu-Ray. I think that should be clear enough for everyone.

[Blu-dock Saint]

Originally Posted by gvortex7

I can tell you one thing, there is no new format coming within 5 to 7 years.

Nothing superior to Blu-ray at least.

Even if one did it would be so highly priced it wouldnt have a chance. Blu is going to be the way to go for quite some time to come in my eyes.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by sentience

I just got a ps3 about a month ago and initially bought a few blu-ray movies to compare the difference between Blu-Ray and DVD - i didn't realize it would be that big of a leap, but obviously it was. The HD-DVD demo at the store (Fry's) looked marginally better than plain 'ol DVD and so I was a bit skeptical about HD media, but apparently Blu-Ray is far and away better in terms of picture and sound.

....

Welcome to the board. Next time you see that display, see if they are running HDMI cable, or ask. Only 2 ways to get HD from blu-ray, HDMI and HD component output which your TV must support.

Other than that, you can enjoy a better 480i/p image because movies transfered to blu-ray generally are remastered, cleaned up, etc. A Christmas Story is one such example. The DVD is utter crap because of the transfer. But the blu-ray is magnificent.

P.S. Join the blu-bloods.

[Canada]

I have two initials for that statement b.s.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by Canada

I have two initials for that statement b.s.

Yup. It's becoming clear to me that the format war will not be won or lost in America. The battlefield is overseas. In the last couple days there has been good news about northern European companies going Blu. There will soon be a domino effect there.

HD DVD may try to retaliate by aggressively hitting India and China (and other Asian Countries). That is where the battlefield is now.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Kristin Simard

...

HD DVD may try to retaliate by aggressively hitting India and China (and other Asian Countries). That is where the battlefield is now.

So they try to win by hitting a country with as many poor as India? Please, those folks are so poor they can't afford dirt. Now Toshiba wants to ***** India? Shameful.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by patrick99

Probably reflects a stronger propaganda effort by the red side.

It's time to resurrect a slogan from the cold war period.

"I'd rather be dead than red".

[Rob71]

Has everyone forgotten about this article.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle2362436.ece


The increasingly dirty technology war being fought for dominance of “next generation” DVDs took another twist today when one of China’s largest film distribution groups said it would back Blu-Ray – the technology built by Sony and Philips.

China Film Group’s decision comes as the Blu-Ray Disc Association – a consortium of over 170 content and hardware producers – is reeling from the defection of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation two weeks ago.

China Film Group, in addition to producing movies like Kung Fu Hustle and a range of popular film and TV series for its domestic market plays a central role in the distribution of foreign films in China, acting as a de-facto regulator.

[TruBlu2]

1 format will survive and that format is Blu-ray.


Goodbye hddvd


Welcome to the World in Blu.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by tron3

So they try to win by hitting a country with as many poor as India? Please, those folks are so poor they can't afford dirt. Now Toshiba wants to ***** India? Shameful.

Exactly! India and China represent more a long-term market (with the growing upper-middle classes) than a current buyer market. But remember Bollywood!

No, I'm not too worried:

"Look India, China, SE Asia, cool new HD DVD!"
"Is that what you use in America and Europe?"
"Well, er..."