What Does It Mean? Sony Give Up Br

thuchien

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21706778/

Sony CEO sees ‘stalemate’ in disc fight
Winner of Blu-ray, HD DVD format battle ‘matter of prestige’

NEW YORK - The head of Sony Corp., Howard Stringer, said Thursday that the Blu-ray disc format the company has developed as the successor to the DVD is in a "stalemate" with the competing HD DVD format, chiefly backed by Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

(MSNBC.com is a Microsoft - NBC-Universal joint venture.)

"It's a difficult fight," said Stringer, speaking at the 92nd Street Y cultural center in Manhattan.

Toshiba has been selling its players for as low as $200 heading into the holiday season, while Blu-ray players cost more than twice as much.

The HD DVD camp also scored a significant win in August, when it induced Paramount Pictures to drop most of its support for Blu-ray and put out high-definition movies exclusively on HD DVD.

"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides," Stringer said.

At the same time, he played down the importance of the battle, saying it was mostly a matter of prestige whose format wins out in the end.

"It doesn't mean as much as all that," Stringer said. He added that he believed there was an opportunity of uniting the two camps under one format before he became CEO, and he wishes he could travel back in time to make that happen.

Stringer was more upbeat about the PlayStation 3, the game console that has so far had disappointing sales compared to the rival Nintendo Wii.

The CEO said the console is the best-selling console in Europe after a price cut three weeks ago. In the U.S., a recent price cut has doubled sales.

"We are coming back up again," Stringer said. The company aims to sell 10 million PS3s by the end of its fiscal year in March. Nintendo has already sold 13.2 million Wiis.

danger boy

interesting article.... Sony isn't throwing in the towel yet on Blu Ray of course.. but sounds like their CEO has a crystal ball and can see what lies ahead for Blu Ray if consumers tend to go on the cheap and buy into HD DVD over Blu Ray

I don't care which format wins... as I'm waiting for a good player to go under the $200 which has analog outs. The two Toshibas are under that price.. but they don't offer analog outputs.

jakelm

Besides a few movies, what does BR have to offer in quality compared to HD? So why not shop price? The XA1 I have, I would put up against any BR player. With all the HDMI AVR's out there, 5.1 analog will soon leave our needs quickly, so thats not an issue. So why not by the $150 HD player instead of the $400 BR? No reason not to.

engtaz

Beta VS VHS. That was the rule then.
Funny thing is, At 1 time Sony owned VHS and Beta but sold VHS to JVC because the thought Beta was the way to go.

engtaz

danger boy

consumers will ALWAYS go for price over quality.. always.. that is the law of nature.. you can't change it.. if Blu ray drops it's prices to $199, they will sell a helluva lot of players.. but Sony doesn't seem to want to do that quite yet. but if they want to survive, they may have to. Basically,it would be a stripped down version of their current player(s)

jakelm

engtaz wrote: »

Beta VS VHS. That was the rule then.
Funny thing is, At 1 time Sony owned VHS and Beta but sold VHS to JVC because the thought Beta was the way to go.

engtaz

Actually I found Beta to have a better PQ than VHS. So IMO this is more like VHS VS VHS.... being BR and HD are basicly the same quality.

jakelm

danger boy wrote: »

consumers will ALWAYS go for price over quality.. always.. that is the law of nature.. you can't change it.. if Blu ray drops it's prices to $199, they will sell a helluva lot of players.. but Sony doesn't seem to want to do that quite yet. but if they want to survive, they may have to. Basically,it would be a stripped down version of their current player(s)

By the time Sony realizes this, everyone will have HD Toshiba's in their homes.

disneyjoe7

I think consumers are tried of these product wars, where one may have the old something years from now. Which is collecting dust as the data / movie is 5 - 20 years out of date also.

Happy the CEO of Sony not happy with BR, they F%cked up when they decided to go their own route again. IMHO

steveinaz

Sony is like the brat-child that holds it breath until its face turns blue---who cares? You gotta breath sooner or later right? In the words of Dr. Phil, "how's that approach workin for ya Sony? Can you say "betamax."

Niether format will see a solitary cent out of me until a winner emerges. I'm tired of being a guinea pig for coporate America, with real-time (and my money) R&D. Note the "redbook" CD player below....

Sony/Toshiba better get a clue on this one. This won't be like SACD/DVD-A. LOTS of people watch movies, video has far more market penetration than high-end audio. There will be a winner in this shoot-out, mark my words. I really don't care which one it is, I don't advocate one over the other. I am excited about the technology, but I'm not playing the silly reindeer games.

jakelm

steveinaz wrote: »

Sony is like the brat-child that holds it breath until its face turns blue---who cares? You gotta breath sooner or later right? In the words of Dr. Phil, "how's that approach workin for ya Sony? Can you say "betamax."

Niether format will see a solitary cent out of me until a winner emerges. I'm tired of being a guinea pig for coporate America, with real-time (and my money) R&D.

For $98 to get HD movies (ummmm like Transformers....duuuhhhhh).. I'm a guinea pig....oink oink...:p

steveinaz

Oh I agree, I've almost "bit" a couple times as the HD movies look awesome; but I'm gonna stand my ground on this one---just out of sheer pig-headedness.

Jake, I'm not sure of your age, and wether you went thru the whole VHS thing, but I've already gone through the replacement of 400+ VHS movies when DVD's made their splash. Now I'm up to about 187 DVD titles--while this isn't large by any means, I'm not looking forward to replacing it. I'm sure this is the sentiment of alot of consumers, especially if you happen to pick the format that ends up sinking.

Ricardo

The way I see it there's far more than Sony vs. Toshiba here, with studios now backing one or the other....that's a tough call, to decide you will miss a good portion of the consumers by only getting your movies out in one format. Tough calls for sure, but I really don't get why studios are doing it. Way too risky IMO.

shack

I'm out....I'll just have to stand pat with letting my Denon DVD-1910 upconvert plain ole DVDs to 1080i since that is all my RPT will accept anyway.

jakelm

shack wrote: »

I'm out....I'll just have to stand pat with letting my Denon DVD-1910 upconvert plain ole DVDs to 1080i since that is all my RPT will accept anyway.

I had the same thing. 1910 with Mit, 1080i. Making the change to Oppo was great, but nothing yet compares to the XA1 1080i, even for SD upconvert.

disneyjoe7

Well that's just the problem IMHO... If upconvert players come within 90% of a HD DVD and you and play a $10 disk vs. $35 disk, just how are they trying to win over the consumer?

jakelm

steveinaz wrote: »

Oh I agree, I've almost "bit" a couple times as the HD movies look awesome; but I'm gonna stand my ground on this one---just out of sheer pig-headedness.

Jake, I'm not sure of your age, and wether you went thru the whole VHS thing, but I've already gone through the replacement of 400+ VHS movies when DVD's made their splash. Now I'm up to about 187 DVD titles--while this isn't large by any means, I'm not looking forward to replacing it. I'm sure this is the sentiment of alot of consumers, especially if you happen to pick the format that ends up sinking.

But you still have those VHS movies, I know I do, and I can watch them whenever I like, so it wasnt money wasted. The same with me backing HD. If in years to come, BR wins, I'll just buy a BR player and get the movies I dont already have in HD. I have wasted more than $100 on worse things. I say its a "win win" situation. My HD player will always be used, because I have movies to play it on, and it wont be worse quality than BR.

The thing is this war my last for generations. To be totally honest, I truely think HD will win out. VHS won because of pricing, DVD won because of quality. HD players have both, price and quality. How can they loose?

jakelm

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Well that's just the problem IMHO... If upconvert players come within 90% of a HD DVD and you and play a $10 disk vs. $35 disk, just how are they trying to win over the consumer?

But they dont Joe, HD disk offer 10 times the PQ and SQ and has features a SD/Upconvert player will never have.
And the disk are $24-$27 not $35. So for $10 more a disk, I find it well worth it.

disneyjoe7

Well for $98 bucks I was going to find this out myself.

So Screw Sony. Get the product out, make $ on the disk.

reeltrouble1

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Well that's just the problem IMHO... If upconvert players come within 90% of a HD DVD and you and play a $10 disk vs. $35 disk, just how are they trying to win over the consumer?

Yep, that early generation Tosh HD-DVD I picked up in the Flea Market makes my DVD's look great, of course they already sounds great. From what I read the suits have already starting gumming up these new formats for any kind of music. Its just not worth it for me to spend 30-35 for a movie disc when I can get it for 13-14 bucks, for others it is, so be it, heck I spent 40 bucks for a vinyl record and I know folks think that is a very nutty thing to do, and they are right.

RT1

F1nut

HD players have both, price and quality. How can they loose?

So does SACD, yet it's not main stream. You see the problem here is that DVD's were much better than VHS, the public could see that difference clearly. However, the difference between DVD and HD-DVD isn't as great, making it much harder for the public to justify spending MORE money for something they already have. That's how they will lose.

jakelm

F1nut wrote: »

So does SACD, yet it's not main stream. You see the problem here is that DVD's were much better than VHS, the public could see that difference clearly. However, the difference between DVD and HD-DVD isn't as great, making it much harder for the public to justify spending MORE money for something they already have. That's how they will lose.

I disagree, the public doesnt know their a$$ from a hole in the ground, yet they insist on 1080p tv's. All subscribing to as many HD channels as they can get and spending tousands of dollars or HT systems. The public is where aware of the quality of HD, whether it be cable/direct tv or DVD. Thats why HD dvd, be it BR or HD, will be "it" for a very very long time. Longer than DVD longer than cassette.

The question is not "do i want HD dvd?" ...the question is.... "do i want it for $100 or $400?"

The public knows.

venomclan

It seems that the HD camp is now making desperation moves. They paid $150 Million to get the exclusive rights, but these rights are for 18 months only, and do not include any Spielberg titles. With Indy 4 coming soon, that may be a big gamble.

If HD cannot pull ahead significantly in the 18 months, not other studio will give them exclusive rights, and that may break them. On the other hand, Sony has been run by a bunch of idiots latley. They are noy on their 4th PS3 console in less then 11 months. The new version is not backwards compatible at all. That killed it for me.

Christmas sales will be interesting.
Venom

izafar

There is a lot of talk about this both Blu-ray and HD-DVD fanboy websites, but I don't think sony is giving up Blu-ray. The reporter in that story didn't quote the whole sentence in which the word "stalemate" was used, he did quote some other full sentences which clearly shows Mr. Stringer knows where blu-ray stand:

A) "It's a difficult fight,"
"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides,"
C) "It doesn't mean as much as all that," (in reference to the importance to the format war)
D) "We are coming back up again," (referring to PS3 sales compared to the Nintendo Wii)

BTW: As much I have reasons to hate Sony, I have more of them to hate Microsoft, that's why so for I am on the blu side.:)

reeltrouble1

well, everbody has to hate something, but nobody hates Sara Lee......;)

maybe they are waiting for low cost universal players, still 30.00 bucks is just too rich for my blood for a movie disc.

RT1

izafar

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

well, everbody has to hate something, but nobody hates Sara Lee......;)

RT1

How can someone hate Sara Lee, its yummy

jakelm

Lets say the war never ends... Why not have both? $100 for HD player and in a year form now a $100 BR player. Watch what you can in HD and SD upconvert for now. And in a year or so from now, with an BR player buy the BR DVD you have in SD.

For some, HD is no big deal (non movie watchers), but for others I garrentee, we will have 2 players in our houses.

But I will say this (dont shoot me), but anyone who thinks there is no big difference between SD DVD and HD DVD either:

1. Doesnt own one to sit down and truely watch an entire HD movie
2. Needs to get their eyes checked
3. Watched the movie on a terrible tv
4. Doesnt care. Really are not big movie fans to begin with

Systems

Lets not forget that Sony isn’t even the biggest player in the BR consortium... they are actually #4. People keep directly tying BR and Sony together as in they are one to one. There’s lots of big players out there like Samsung. Sony is in the consortium and sells stand alone BR players along with picking the BR for the PS3.

Stand alone BR players are made by:

Sony
Sharp
Mitsubishi
Loewe
Samsung
Pioneer
Phillips
LG
Lite-On
JVC
Denon
Daewoo
Panasonic



Who developed Blu-ray?


The Blu-ray Disc format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, with more than 180 member companies from all over the world. The Board of Directors currently consists of:

Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment

jakelm

I think its funny... Not to nock a brand.. But I never thought I would have Toshiba or Samsung in my eletronics rack....lol...

Now Toshiba has the best HD player out there and Samsung has one of the best BR and TV's on the market.

izafar

jakelm wrote: »

But I will say this (dont shoot me), but anyone who thinks there is no big difference between SD DVD and HD DVD either:

1. Doesnt own one to sit down and truely watch an entire HD movie
2. Needs to get their eyes checked
3. Watched the movie on a terrible tv
4. Doesnt care. Really are not big movie fans to begin with

I totally agree. You can check the following link that did the comparison between SP3 DVD and Blu-ray:
http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=761

Ricardo

Silverti wrote: »

Lets not forget that Sony isn’t even the biggest player in the BR consortium... they are actually #4. People keep directly tying BR and Sony together as in they are one to one. There’s lots of big players out there like Samsung. Sony is in the consortium and sells stand alone BR players along with picking the BR for the PS3.

Stand alone BR players are made by:

Sony
Sharp
Mitsubishi
Loewe
Samsung
Pioneer
Phillips
LG
Lite-On
JVC
Denon
Daewoo
Panasonic



Who developed Blu-ray?


The Blu-ray Disc format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, with more than 180 member companies from all over the world. The Board of Directors currently consists of:

Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment

All I can say is, amazing how Toshiba and Microsoft (IMO) are beating all these giants....

izafar

jakelm wrote: »

Lets say the war never ends... Why not have both? $100 for HD player and in a year form now a $100 BR player. Watch what you can in HD and SD upconvert for now.

Actually the fear is that if the war doesn't end, both format will loose a slow death or will be slow to take off, that's is basically what is Microsoft's agenda, they want us to download the movies from XBox market place rather then buying on disks. Remember Bill Gates has said that days of packaged media are over.