How many nails left in the coffin

JimBRICK

looks like hd is poo poo

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

Serendipity

Interesting. I always liked competition, as it is good for the consumer. Looks like they are giving up a bit too soon, IMO.

obieone

white flag after 1 month? oh well. I thought they'd stick it out longer than that.

dkg999

I think you'll see some competition among hardware manufacturers with new BD players, however it remains to be seen if the price of the movies will come down.

dorokusai

Awesome.

Jstas

appadv wrote: »

Looks like they are giving up a bit too soon, IMO.

Too soon? You been reading the news? They've lost something like 75% of their previous market backing and BlueRay is getting ready to release a next generation of the technology with which HD-DVD can't compete. They are hemorrhaging money because of it and they can't get anyone to buy into it. It's done. Toshiba should get out now while they still have the shirt on their backs.

I'm glad to see that this didn't turn into another VHS vs. Betamax deal where we get stuck with the crap while the good stuff falls by the wayside.

Ron-P

I just hope we see some great HD-DVD sales come with this death. I could use another machine and some more software along with that.

I just went though my 300+ SD-DVD collection and have pulled 100 out that will be going up for sale shortly. My goal is to be done with SD-DVD in a year or so.

danger boy

i'm just glad I never jumped on the bandwagon a year or so ago and pair upwards of $1000 for a HD DVD player

I'd be hella pissed.. but the $125 i spent on one.. two weeks ago, i'm not pissed about. it's an ok player and it can always remain and play standard def DVD's

daboyz

Anybody want an HD-A2?

Ron-P

How much daboyz? I'm looking for a second player.

i'm just glad I never jumped on the bandwagon a year or so ago and pair upwards of $1000 for a HD DVD player

I'd be hella pissed.. but the $125 i spent on one.. two weeks ago, i'm not pissed about. it's an ok player and it can always remain and play standard def DVD's

Why would you be "hella pissed"? Buying in at that time you know the risks and that years later prices would fall. Heck, I spent $500 on my A1 the day they streeted nearly 2 years ago. Of course I knew they'd be hundreds less years later but I didn't care, still don't, been enjoying HD-DVD for those two years now.

danger boy

Ron-P wrote: »

How much daboyz? I'm looking for a second player.



Why would you be "hella pissed"? Buying in at that time you know the risks and that years later prices would fall. Heck, I spent $500 on my A1 the day they streeted nearly 2 years ago. Of course I knew they'd be hundreds less years later but I didn't care, still don't, been enjoying HD-DVD for those two years now.

no one could have predicted a year ago that HD DVD was going to lose the Hi Def battle... just saying... sometimes being on the cutting edge of technology has it's price.. i'm lucky in that i'm near the bottom of old technolgy.. and it's hella cheap

WilliamM2

They've lost something like 75% of their previous market backing and BlueRay is getting ready to release a next generation of the technology with which HD-DVD can't compete.

What new technology does BluRay have that HD DVD can't compete with?

I still think both formats will fail.

JimBRICK

I'll get an HD player when they hit 69.95 cause they are really good upscalers

cheddar

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I still think both formats will fail.

I would have thought it a possibility if hd-dvd could have hung in there as a spoiler. But they are collapsing pretty fast even at retailers who haven't gone exclusive for blu-ray. And BestBuy and Walmart are about as good as it gets for selling through to the average consumer.

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6532944.html

HD downloads, even for the videophile crowd who knows about them, will offer a trade-off in compression artifacts/quality for any convenience in online viewing you gain. And HD downloads are just too far off to have an impact before blu-ray gains a foothold. They are only a fraction of combined hi-def disk sales at this point (which have been small so far due to fence sitters and the war) and certainly won't surpass them by next Christmas. If blu-ray is the only format standing by then, I would expect them to have a healthy sales season. Seems like a pretty natural combined-sell to now have blu-ray players going out the door with a lot of hdtv purchases.

Ron-P

I still think both formats will fail.

I don't. People want their hi-def. Everyday more and more HDTV's are selling and people are adding their HD channel line-up. Hi-def DVD is just the next step. With one format gone Blu-ray can now run free and as player and software prices fall she'll grow faster.

obieone

I'm glad I didn't get sucked into this stuff. I'm gonna build an HTPC w/ a combo BRD/HDDVD-rom drive.($300).
I do feel bad for the HD crew. I remember the **** fits people who bought Betamax had.

Serendipity

Ron-P wrote: »

I don't. People want their hi-def. Everyday more and more HDTV's are selling and people are adding their HD channel line-up. Hi-def DVD is just the next step. With one format gone Blu-ray can now run free and as player and software prices fall she'll grow faster.

I agree, at my local Best Buy I saw many people buying Blu-ray players along with new HDTVs....in fact I think they were giving away a free Sony blu-ray player with select HDTV purchases.

WilliamM2

My point was that if you take HD DVD and BluRay sales together, they are still less than 5% of video disc sales after 2 years on the market. Hardly mainstream.

I've had many people over and have shown them the difference between DVD and HD DVD. Some see a huge difference in video quality, some don't seem to see it at all. They all make comments that the difference isn't worth the money. Your average joe does not care. They love their $40 DVD player, and $1 and $2 disc rentals.

Face

R.I.P. friend.

Rivrrat

WilliamM2 wrote: »

My point was that if you take HD DVD and BluRay sales together, they are still less than 5% of video disc sales after 2 years on the market. Hardly mainstream.

I've had many people over and have shown them the difference between DVD and HD DVD. Some see a huge difference in video quality, some don't seem to see it at all. They all make comments that the difference isn't worth the money. Your average joe does not care. They love their $40 DVD player, and $1 and $2 disc rentals.

Right now, I'd like to know what the percentage is of households that even have an hd capable tv.

WilliamM2

Rivrrat wrote: »

Right now, I'd like to know what the percentage is of households that even have an hd capable tv.

I can't find the article, but I have read it is about 36% of housholds that have an HDTV. The interesting thing noted in the article was that only about 18% of those owners pay for HDTV service. It seems most buy them for their size, not PQ.

My cable service offers several HD on demand, or pay per view channels,and of course in the future we will also have HD downloads. All options that are much cheaper than buying expensive players and discs. I think this is the main reason HD discs will remain a niche market.

danger boy

WilliamM2 wrote: »

My point was that if you take HD DVD and BluRay sales together, they are still less than 5% of video disc sales after 2 years on the market. Hardly mainstream.

I've had many people over and have shown them the difference between DVD and HD DVD. Some see a huge difference in video quality, some don't seem to see it at all. They all make comments that the difference isn't worth the money. Your average joe does not care. They love their $40 DVD player, and $1 and $2 disc rentals.

+++1

exactly right.. people didn't embrace SACD OR DVD-Audio.. why? They needed to go out and buy a whole new player for them. same thing is kind of happening to BR and HD DVD.

seriously, most people.. even me some times think that standard DVD's that have been around now for what 10 yrs, still look pretty dang good as long as your TV display is decent.

and there is where people are dropping their money on.. their TV's. not a high def player.

Blu Ray will win out, but will it actually capture the mass market or remain like SACD and be around, but not really a "must have".

Christmas 2008 this year will be a big boost for hi def players.. that's when the prices hit rock bottom and everyone will want one..

I'm still buying up HD DVD's for now.. since even if the format dies... there will still be plenty of cheap players to play them on.. or a combo player too.

Ron-P

WilliamM2 wrote: »

My point was that if you take HD DVD and BluRay sales together, they are still less than 5% of video disc sales after 2 years on the market. Hardly mainstream.

I've had many people over and have shown them the difference between DVD and HD DVD. Some see a huge difference in video quality, some don't seem to see it at all. They all make comments that the difference isn't worth the money. Your average joe does not care. They love their $40 DVD player, and $1 and $2 disc rentals.

How long has brodcast HD been available and in how many houses is it in? I'd like to see stats on that compared to HD-DVD / Blu.

There's no question it's going to be a slow grower, that's a given, but it won't die, especially now that we will only have one format.

.. people didn't embrace SACD OR DVD-Audio.. why? They needed to go out and buy a whole new player for them. same thing is kind of happening to BR and HD DVD.

You cannot comapre SCAD or DVD-Aduio to HD-DVD / Blu. Hi-def audio, that's for a very small niche of consumer. People want their music portable, not setting up expensive rooms just to listen to music. Hi-def video, that's very different and appeals to a much larger consumer group, much larger. SCAD and DVD-A never had a chance.

bobman1235

Based on some quick googling (and by no means are these numbers KNOWN to be accurate) :

- HDTV products first became available to consumers in America in 1998.
- As of Sept 22, 2005, 15% of American homes had an HDTV
- As of April 2007, 28% of American homes had an HDTV.

So... I'll say it took a while to catch on, and has certainly ramped up lately.

Ron-P

I bet we can follow those same numbers for Blu-ray. People bag on it and say it's not going to make it, it's been out for just over a year. HDTV has been out for nearly 10 years and only 28% of American homes have it, roughly.

Don't be so quick to judge the life of Blu-ray. It may even catch on faster then HDTV, 5% in a little of a year, not too bad.

cheddar

Ron-P wrote: »

People want their music portable, not setting up expensive rooms just to listen to music. Hi-def video, that's very different and appeals to a much larger consumer group, much larger. SCAD and DVD-A never had a chance.

Not only is the consumer group larger, but they're willing to spend more money...look at the shift towards HT even with polk's speaker line-up. There are a lot of two channel listeners, but my guess is that average money gravitates towards HT. And for a lot of enthusiasts, the blu-ray player will be the cheapest thing on the rack .

aaharvel

dorokusai wrote: »

Awesome.

damn right. The whole "not letting the consumer decide" bs is just that. The consumer did decide. Those that chose to back the wrong horse just need to get over it - that's life for the early adopter. The fat lady has sung. The format war has done nothing but confound and frustrate consumers and that proved increasingly costly for the consumer electronics industry - be it hardware manufacturers to studios to retail outlets. Mark is right. This IS awesome. Tommorow I will venture into the HD-Def disc world for the first time and I can't wait. That's my reward for playing the waiting game like millions of other consumers.

exalted512

anyone ever think that the reason blu ray/hd hasnt caught on is because people dont want to shell out $300+ for a player that might not even have discs made after a couple years?

I'm not sure how good of a comparison this is because i was very young when it happened, but the CD came out in 1987...i dont remember owning a CD until the mid 90s and up until a couple years ago, tape players were still the standard options on cars...
-Cody

Systems

exalted512 wrote: »

, but the CD came out in 1987..

you meant 1982.;)

Ron-P

I bet we see a surge in Blu sales now that it's a one HD format world.

dorokusai

I prefer your earlier pro-HD-DVD comments Ron Don't take that wrong as I'm just looking back at everyones history on the subject and I just fell into Blu-Ray by default.