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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:36 am Post subject: End of format war is imminent |
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Warner just dropped HD-DVD in favor of a Blu-ray Disc-only policy.
See coverage by Reuters and AP
According to the article:
Pali Capital analyst Rich Greenfield said in a Web posting Friday that he expects the HD DVD format to "die a quick death, versus a prolonged format war."
[...]
One alarming trend Warner keyed on was that consumers didn't appear motivated by price reductions on high-definition disc players.
"When we saw that was not impacting sales in the level that it should have, and the consumer research that we did indicated that the consumers were holding back from buying either one of the two formats ... we thought it was the right time to act," Tsujihara said, noting that even sales of standard DVDs were affected because consumers appeared unsure over which format to go with.
The same probably goes for SACD and DVD-Audio: Consumers holding off because of confusion over battling formats and regular CD sales suffering in the meantime.
Now if only Warner would shift its policy on HD audio discs, sort of admit that DVD-Audio was a poor choice like HD-DVD and put all its weight behind SACD then we could suddenly face a very bright future for high-quality/surround music, and the whole industry would benefit. |
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buckshot
Joined: 01 Dec 2007 Posts: 32
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:20 am Post subject: |
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ding dong the witch is dead
which old witch
THE WICKED WITCH!!!!
its a good day tater |
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dvda-sacd
Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Spain
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject: Re: End of format was is imminent |
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If only Sony, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Denon and Marantz, would make every forthcoming BD player SACD compatible. They all manufactured DVD/SACD players. I hope Oppo can get into de BD camp with a truly universal BD/DVD/SACD/CD player soon.
Cheers! _________________ Poll: What is your favorite audio format? |
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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Jens
Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 99
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:09 am Post subject: |
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It's unbelievable and foolish but Toshiba apparently still isn't ready to swallow its pride and accept its loss. The company has bought a 30-second Super Bowl ad for $2.7M to push HD-DVD.
See http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/hey-hd-dvd-its.html |
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Brandon B
Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 392
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Wow. Japanese stockholders must be much lower key than Americans. You'd think there would be something said about chucking good money after bad like that.
BB |
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Jens
Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 99
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Superman
Joined: 17 Jan 2008 Posts: 19 Location: Metropolis
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:23 am Post subject: |
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The format war is over as of Feb. 15, 2008. This week Wal-Mart, Netflix, and Best Buy all announced they will drop HD DVD. Blu-ray has won and it is a virtual certainty that by June all major studios will be producing Blu-rays. Toshiba is expected to officially announce they'll be dropping HD DVD support in March. This is a major coup for the PS3 which has been the format's main vanguard since it was launched. |
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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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It's official, finally:
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Toshiba to exit HD DVD, end format war-NHK
Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:50am EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is planning to stop production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format for high-definition video, allowing the competing Blu-Ray camp a free run, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.
Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business, Japan's NHK said on its website.
No one at Toshiba could be reached for comment.
The format war between the Toshiba-backed HD DVD and Sony Corp's Blu-Ray, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has slowed the development of what is expected to be a multibillion dollar high-definition DVD industry.
Toshiba was dealt a blow on Friday when Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would abandon the HD DVD format, becoming the latest in a series of top retailers and movie studios to rally behind Blu-ray technology for high definition DVDs.
Toshiba plans to continue selling HD DVD equipment at stores for the time being but will not put resources into developing new devices, NHK said.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne, editing by Mike Peacock)
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http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1627196120080216 |
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dieroboter
Joined: 06 Dec 2007 Posts: 47
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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Now it's really the final.
Quote: | Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses
19 February, 2008
Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content
TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
(...) |
Read the full press release HERE |
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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Jens
Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 99
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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Roberto
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Suffolk, UK
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The Seventh Taylor
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:56 am Post subject: Re: End of format was is imminent |
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dvda-sacd wrote: | If only Sony, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Denon and Marantz, would make every forthcoming BD player SACD compatible. They all manufactured DVD/SACD players. I hope Oppo can get into de BD camp with a truly universal BD/DVD/SACD/CD player soon. |
It's looking ever more like it that Oppo may be the first indeed. Pioneer Europe just announced a range of four Home Cinema Systems, three of which offer BD/DVD/CD, the other DVD/SACD/CD. Apparently they continue to value SACD but still haven't managed to combine BD and SACD playback in a single drive.
See their press release at http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/content/press/news/lxHomeCinemaSystems.html. |
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