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End of format war is imminent

 
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The Seventh Taylor



Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 401

PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:36 am    Post subject: End of format war is imminent Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:35 pm    Post subject: Re: End of format was is imminent Reply with quote

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!
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The Seventh Taylor



Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 401

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That would be great indeed. I'm actually hopeful, even though it may take a while.

In the meantime, here's another interesting article about the two quite closely related format wars:

http://www.devindra.org/tech/2008/01/09/the-forgotten-format-war-toshibas-dvd-audio-vs-sonys-super-audio-cd/
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Jens



Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More coverage about Toshiba's stubbornness here:

http://contentagenda.com/article/CA6528154.html?industryid=45175

Rather than Gladiator, Toshiba's foolhardiness brings to mind movie scenes like The Black Knight from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.

And then of course there's Der Untergang...
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Superman



Joined: 17 Jan 2008
Posts: 19
Location: Metropolis

PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's official, finally:

Quote:

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)


http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1627196120080216
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dieroboter



Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a good overview of 'the aftermath': http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/12764/blu-ray-trumps-hd-dvd-the-aftermath

and a brief history of HD-DVD from 2002 onwards: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/19/ft_hd_dvd_obit/
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Jens



Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apparently Dreamworks is still not ready to give up HD-DVD and switch to BD.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/27/dreamworks_paramount_and_tosh/

Perhaps they just didn't negotiate as good a deal (i.e. with an exit clause) as Paramount and Universal?
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The Seventh Taylor



Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 401

PostPosted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This article http://www.beststuff.com/categories/audiovideo/dvds/hd-dvd-and-the-world-keeps-spinning-on-its-axis.html doesn't contain any real news but a lot of interesting graphs, charts and statistics.
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Roberto



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 22
Location: Suffolk, UK

PostPosted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jens wrote:
Apparently Dreamworks is still not ready to give up HD-DVD and switch to BD.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/27/dreamworks_paramount_and_tosh/

Perhaps they just didn't negotiate as good a deal (i.e. with an exit clause) as Paramount and Universal?


Or perhaps Dreamworks like backing defunkt and dying formats. They were also one of the proponents of DIVX - Digital Video Express, the failed rival to DVD introduced by Circuit City in the States which bombed and cost CC, and others, millions of dollars. DIVX, not to be confused with the DivX codec, failed spectacularly and appeared on many "worst tecnology ever" lists in the US !
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The Seventh Taylor



Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 401

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:56 am    Post subject: Re: End of format was is imminent Reply with quote

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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