HD-DVD time to wave the flag?

Johnnytoxic · 19 Jun 2007 at 09:50

The blockbuster announcement to me was the fatal blow. Its squeemish watching a hd-dvd representitive try and defend it in an interview I saw.

How much longer can they hold on?? On other forums the hd-dvd squaddies seem to have lowered as every site I knew used to be biased to hd-dvd.

Format war finally ending, ah well it was fun while it lasted.

Raider · 19 Jun 2007 at 10:00

Considering the no. of people renting films in-store is falling rapidly, and the fact that Blockbuster will still offer both formats for renting online, I don't see it as being such a big deal.

However, there's no doubt that it's bad PR for the HD-DVD camp. Personally I no longer care, if one can win outright in the short term then it'll be great. But I suspect we'll still be debating who's winning this time next year

FrankJH · 19 Jun 2007 at 11:48

This is only the start of the battle - and imo this decision by Blockbuster wont make much difference.

HD-DVD seem to do a whole batch of releases and then stay quiet for months, where as Blu-ray appear to have a constant trickle of releases. I prefer the latter, but its a personal view and some might prefer to plan their purchases knowing more releases wont be coming for a while

I would love a decent stand alone combo unit but looks like we will be waiting a while as the initial combo drives arent particularly good for either format

Johnnytoxic · 19 Jun 2007 at 12:15

Combo anything is a horrible idea. There needs to be one format and one standard.

El_Watcher · 19 Jun 2007 at 12:36

johnnyfive said:
The blockbuster announcement to me was the fatal blow. Its squeemish watching a hd-dvd representitive try and defend it in an interview I saw.

How much longer can they hold on?? On other forums the hd-dvd squaddies seem to have lowered as every site I knew used to be biased to hd-dvd.

Format war finally ending, ah well it was fun while it lasted.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
==============================================
FANBOI ALERT, FANBOI ALERT, FANBOI ALERT, FANBOI ALERT
==============================================

The war is not over and will not be until either Toshiba/Universal, or Sony throw in the towel.
Every time there is some small insignificant news, someone jumps on it and shouts "The War is Over". It was the same when there was news of Chinese players, then rumours of Disney going neutral, Best-Buy siding with BluRay. None of these have massively affected the war, and neither will this. With other online rental companies doing both, and fewer people renting in-store, this will not affect the fact that BluRay players are still too expensive (PS3 is not cheap as you buy the console for £400, the remote for £20-25, an HDMI cable for £10-15). Even the top of the range HD-DVD player is the same price and with that you get analogue audio outputs which mean you don't have to upgrade your receiver like you would with PS3.

The only major change in the war will be if the Chinese HD-DVD players come out at <£150, or BluRay can produce a player at <£250. Until then the battle will continue.

squiffy · 19 Jun 2007 at 12:39

There should only be one format, there shouldn't be "studio players" What next you need a MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony DVD players?

-Ad- · 19 Jun 2007 at 13:54

Im still with the blu ray camp, very unlikely HD-DVD will 'win' any format war. The HD-DVD fanboys should just give up now and let the format die.

cokecan · 19 Jun 2007 at 15:01

Im still with the HD-DVD camp, very unlikely Blu Ray will 'win' any format war. The Blu Ray fanboys should just give up now and let the format die.

lol sorry, just wanted to make sure there was an equal ammount of fan boy-ism in the thread

But in all seriousness, i doubt the fact blockbuster are only going to be renting blu ray films will really affect the war that much, i mean the majority ofpeople who have taken up either of the new formats will more than likely do most of their renting through online services

I'd like to see hd-dvd come out on top but at the end of the day, high def is high def

as long as i can watch it ill be happy

oxygene · 19 Jun 2007 at 15:18

I still see very little advantage for HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. Blue ray disks are cheeper, higher capacity, and can support 1080i If I remember corrently. the only small plus on the side of HD-DVD is the players are a bit cheeper.

Alex_L · 19 Jun 2007 at 15:34

oxygene said:
I still see very little advantage for HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. Blue ray disks are cheeper, higher capacity, and can support 1080i If I remember corrently. the only small plus on the side of HD-DVD is the players are a bit cheeper.

Both formats support 1080p, which is even better than 1080i

Looking at where I buy my BR/HD-dvds from the prices are very similar.

Blockbusters announcement I can't see meaning much at all, as I imagine the number of rentals of either format is miniscule compared to dvd. Plus both camps have too much invested to let either format die a quick death. I think both will be around for a while yet.

Chris1712 · 19 Jun 2007 at 16:17

oxygene said:
I still see very little advantage for HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. Blue ray disks are cheeper, higher capacity, and can support 1080i If I remember corrently. the only small plus on the side of HD-DVD is the players are a bit cheeper.

They both support 1080p mate, and HD-DVD is the cheaper (so we've been told) format. This is due not only to disc prices being less, but mainly that current dvd factories do not need to change (all) equipment to press them.

I think HD-DVD is the right format, but that it will not win.
+Cheaper to produce (and therefore sell, once the manuf stop being selfish greeds!)
+The name is right, its just HD-DVD. Common are just coming to grips with HD tv's, tell them you can get high definition dvd's to et voila.

BUT, they have not advertised/pushed HD-DVD nearly enough. I have not seen one HD-DVD advert, or seen any promos on tv where you can win players etc. Just last week on Radio 1 there was a competition to win a Bluray player and 5 films, and when they were talking about it the hosts said "wtf is Bluray?" "Its basically High Definition DVD, i guess you could call it HD-DVD lol".

This proves to me that HD-DVD is the better name, but nobody knows about it! SORT IT OUT TOSH!

Johnnytoxic · 19 Jun 2007 at 16:26

Chris1712 said:
They both support 1080p mate, and HD-DVD is the cheaper (so we've been told) format. This is due not only to disc prices being less, but mainly that current dvd factories do not need to change (all) equipment to press them.

I think HD-DVD is the right format, but that it will not win.
+Cheaper to produce (and therefore sell, once the manuf stop being selfish greeds!)
+The name is right, its just HD-DVD. Common are just coming to grips with HD tv's, tell them you can get high definition dvd's to et voila.

BUT, they have not advertised/pushed HD-DVD nearly enough. I have not seen one HD-DVD advert, or seen any promos on tv where you can win players etc. Just last week on Radio 1 there was a competition to win a Bluray player and 5 films, and when they were talking about it the hosts said "wtf is Bluray?" "Its basically High Definition DVD, i guess you could call it HD-DVD lol".

This proves to me that HD-DVD is the better name, but nobody knows about it! SORT IT OUT TOSH!

I hate the hd-dvd name, such a mouthful at 5 syllables. Blu-ray, Blu-disc rolls off the tongue much easier to me.

Also disc prices are a joke with hd-dvd. Should be cheaper but are not with a single layer BD25 costing less than a dual layer HDDVD. Not to mention the combos discs they put out which make them more expensive than BD50s

Raider · 19 Jun 2007 at 16:54

I have no idea where you're looking for your pricing. But from where I shop (MT or DVDWolrdUSA), dual format discs are the same price. The only difference is when they are combos, in which case they're around £1-£2 more. But they're the exception...

El_Watcher · 19 Jun 2007 at 17:27

Raider said:
I have no idea where you're looking for your pricing. But from where I shop (MT or DVDWolrdUSA), dual format discs are the same price. The only difference is when they are combos, in which case they're around £1-£2 more. But they're the exception...

He's looking up his own backside because that is generally where fanbois have their head 90% of the time.

As for the name, Blu-ray could be misread as Blurry, which isn't great but HD-DVD gets mixed up with all of the DVD players that upconvert to HD resolution. I don't believe either name is perfect, one is more recognisable, and the other is easier to understand what it is. I don't believe this will be a contributing factor to the war either.

As for resolutions and things, at the moment this will not help. Most people that have bought an HDTV within the last year and a half, will have got a 720P version. Thus any player that does more will be useless. Plus the ability to do more than that is again pointless to most people because there is not a vast difference between 720P and 1080P at screen sizes less than 50". How many people do you think there are in the UK with a TV greater than 50"? Probably less than 2% (estimate not taken from any figures)?

How many people have switched over to SkyHD/CableHD? Again probably in single figures of those with Sky/Cable.

No one will really see much point in going HD, until something is forced into peoples' vision that shows how good it can be.

Fr0dders · 19 Jun 2007 at 19:46

johnnyfive said:
The blockbuster announcement to me was the fatal blow. Its squeemish watching a hd-dvd representitive try and defend it in an interview I saw.

How much longer can they hold on?? On other forums the hd-dvd squaddies seem to have lowered as every site I knew used to be biased to hd-dvd.

Format war finally ending, ah well it was fun while it lasted.

you've missed something rather large (no pun intended)

sony wont allow porn onto bluray

so allready theres a couple of billion dollars worth of sales on HD DVD alone once the transition is made

tbh i dont think either format will die. Dual format players will be the way forward, much the same way as now every writer can write to both DVD+R and DVD-R just about.

one poor interview from a HD DVD advocate is hardly its death nell is it ?

Jokester · 19 Jun 2007 at 19:56

MrLOL said:
sony wont allow porn onto bluray

You already get it on BR.

Don't know how I know that

Jokester

Johnnytoxic · 19 Jun 2007 at 19:57

MrLOL said:
you've missed something rather large (no pun intended)

sony wont allow porn onto bluray

so allready theres a couple of billion dollars worth of sales on HD DVD alone once the transition is made

tbh i dont think either format will die. Dual format players will be the way forward, much the same way as now every writer can write to both DVD+R and DVD-R just about.

one poor interview from a HD DVD advocate is hardly its death nell is it ?

Porn now is not worth what it was in the 80s and the impact it made with VHS. With it readily available all over the internet and satellite/cable channels I don't think the blu-ray camp are to concerned this time.

atpbx · 19 Jun 2007 at 19:59

MrLOL said:
you've missed something rather large (no pun intended)

sony wont allow porn onto bluray

so allready theres a couple of billion dollars worth of sales on HD DVD alone once the transition is made

tbh i dont think either format will die. Dual format players will be the way forward, much the same way as now every writer can write to both DVD+R and DVD-R just about.

one poor interview from a HD DVD advocate is hardly its death nell is it ?

Thats been done to death, it makes no odds.

The internet renders Pornographic DVD's and magazines redundant, as do high capacity mobile phones, video playing mp3 players etc etc.

JAG1977 · 19 Jun 2007 at 20:12

IMO, this is the start of the end for HD-DVD, it's going to fall like a stack of cards from here on in.

Judging by the amount of traffic of AV forums, this Blockbuster announcement is a huge deal.

I sold my HD-DVD player before Christmas and bought a Blu-ray player, it's been a good decision.

With Chinese Blu-ray players now on the horizon and big Blu-ray studios preparing their Christmas releases, I don't see were HD-DVD can go.

Fr0dders · 19 Jun 2007 at 20:56

johnnyfive said:
Porn now is not worth what it was in the 80s and the impact it made with VHS. With it readily available all over the internet and satellite/cable channels I don't think the blu-ray camp are to concerned this time.

you're very much misguided

remember we arent the only DVD buying nation on earth. DVD rentals and DVD purchases of porn in the US is MASSIVE business

its not over here, heck hardcore porn only got legalised this decade. Before that it was all dodgy "personal imports" from europe. and even now the sale of 18R rated titles is somewhat limited to only pervy sex shops or the internet

in the states there are no such rules and you can buy them all over the place. The industry is worth billions of dollars

atpbx said:
Thats been done to death, it makes no odds.

The internet renders Pornographic DVD's and magazines redundant, as do high capacity mobile phones, video playing mp3 players etc etc.

again your thinking narrow minded here. We arent the only country buying this stuff. DVD Sales and rentals in america are worth billions. Remember the US has had high capacity broadband for longer than we have, and the industry is still worth billions over there.

Jokester said:
You already get it on BR.

Don't know how I know that

Jokester

just done a bit of googling, last time i looked at this sony was moving to block pornography being put onto blu-ray. Seems some distributors are still happy to do it though.

I've said it before and ive said it again. theres no way this format war will "end"

we WILL end up with a scenario like we have now with DVD+R and DVD-R. ITs only a matter of time before toshiba / sony realise this and back down and allow dual format players.