HD DVD Press Conference.

[JBlacklow]

DVD Times liveblog is up now too:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=65757

No big differences, but tons more detail of exactly how deep MS and Toshiba were talking out of their asses. Their bit about Poland sounds as desperate as Bush's.

[dialog_gvf]

15:19: A pot shot at Blu-ray. "BD is more suitable at encoding high def movies... they're offering 50gb max". He says that many BD discs are in fact 25gb and that hard drive capacity (1tb-2tb) dwarfs any optical disc anyway, so it's more suitable for recording.

Excuse me, how many people with a BD recorder that plays BD movies will then buy an HD DVD player?

Thank Mr. Fuji for selling Blu-ray. That's wierd.

Gary

[Spankey]

I loved this..

They've got the VP of marketing for Paramount. Wonder if he'll take questions on rumoured sweeteners...

They did it because of it was the best value, and after a year of evaluation using both.

He's left the stage. That was quick. Clearly he's not taking questions!

Ha ha..Run away from the truth. They know the guns are out for Paramount!

[tvted]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Like HD DVD-R/RW burners for March 2006?
Like those 600 HD DVD for the end of 2007 (notice, it is now 400)?
Like the Broadcom/Microsoft Chinese players for June?
Like 2.5 million, no 1.8 million, no 1.2 million, no 600K players for 2007?

This would mean that there would be no reality disconnect and that arguments would be based on facts rather than the moral outrage that their chosen format is not doing as well as a first launch would imply or that they could wrench themselves from their acolyte worship of certain industry individuals and by extension the companies they are attached to.

I am at an age where I wish things would move more slowly, but I confess to being somewhat eager to see the post-Christmas data after all the new titles and products have been introduced.

ted

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Superman

Which is exactly why Disney refused to comment when asked about getting "sweeteners".

Why the double-standard here, fellas?

Just to piss you off.

[scott1256ca]

If there is any "big" news coming in the next while, expect it at Cedia, not IFA. Few will argue that HD DVD is primarily concentrating on the US. Given that, it would make sense to wait another week if there are going to be any big announcements.

Given what I have read lately, I think the big defection of a manufacturer, if it happens at all, is going to be HP going HD DVD exclusive and stepping down from the BDA. That is just speculation on my part.

[Blu-Light]

Originally Posted by Superman

I emailed Venturer the other day. The MSRP is $199. I'm sure the street price will be less.

Hi troll.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Superman

Guess that makes you a troll, then, huh?

Yup.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Superman

I emailed Venturer the other day. The MSRP is $199. I'm sure the street price will be less.

Assuming the PS/3 is at all successful this Xmas, they need to sell about 1 million HD DVD players just to keep up.

That's not going to happen. Not without Disney, Fox/MGM, and Sony support.

Clearly their new strategy is to hang on this year, and to stick a drive in every laptop and hope that turns things around next year.

Gary

[Blu-Light]

Originally Posted by Superman

Guess that makes you a troll, then, huh?

Face it your format of choice Hd-DUD is dying a slow and painful death. DEAL WITH IT.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Superman

Huh?

Here is the email I received:



Here is the press releas that came out later:

Source

When you read, you move your lips, don't you.

Whoopie. More cheap @#$% hardware for HD-DVD.

[mattym]

i forgot, im in europe, where we get shafted. Nice to see the hddvd offer the movie promotion in europe though, thats something the bda should do. Cheap people like free stuff!

[scott1256ca]

Why the double-standard here, fellas?

As has been pointed out before, there is a world of difference between "incentives" to get someone to support your format, and "incentives" to get someone to drop support of a competing product. Even that is different again from offering "incentives" to not support a competing product in the first place, which is all you could claim for Disney and Fox.

If you have a new product, and your potential customers are afraid to jump in because of high initial startup costs, low initial consumption, production learning curve etc. it is quite common to offer help or training or some free services, or offer to cap costs for some trial period.

It is also quite common, if you are going to subsidize a company, that you get some kind of initial exclusivity. Why should my company subsidize yours so that you can use our competitors product? It is a little different if my company asks yours to stop supporting your existing customers (as in Paramount no longer supporting BD owners, who may have counted on having their titles become available), as opposed to not supporting them in the first place (as in Universal remaining HD DVD exclusive).

If you have some information that Disney or Fox was paid to NOT support HD DVD, please post it. It would make for interesting discussion.

This is also different from sponsorship as in "Coke is the exclusive soft drink of the Uruguayan National Hockey Team".

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Superman

Which is exactly why Disney refused to comment when asked about getting "sweeteners".

Why the double-standard here, fellas?

Did someone drop HD DVD support that I don't know about? THAT does makes it different.

But, for what its worth, I don't expect Paramount to violate NDA just because people really, really want to know.

Gary

[darkprime]

If I am hearing things right, come Christmas time, the Ventuur player will be around $200 while the Toshiba at $300 PLUS 5 free movies. It sounded like today that Toshiba is going to continue giving free movies ONLY with its players. If that's the case, those $200 players may not sell well at all.

[mngmikes]

i though the BDA yesterday said that Studio canal was exclusive to bluray... now this thing is saying they are not...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by mngmikes

i though the BDA yesterday said that Studio canal was exclusive to bluray... now this thing is saying they are not...

Studio Canal was exclusive to HD DVD. Now they are not.

[scott1256ca]

i though the BDA yesterday said that Studio canal was exclusive to bluray... now this thing is saying they are not...

No, Studio Canal has only release on HD DVD to this point in time. They have some BD entries listed now, which would mean they are not HD DVD exclusive. I don't think anyone said they were going BD exclusive.

[jamclaur]

Any udates?

[jamclaur]

We got moved.