Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD- Page 8

[Craig]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:10pm

More bad news for HD DVD

Netflix has just announced that it's no longer going to carry the format, opting instead to focus on Blu-ray Disc. From the press release: "With the industry now having picked a winner in the face-off between the two competing high-definition DVD formats, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today said that it will move toward stocking high-def DVDs exclusively in the Blu-ray format."

and

Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray as the Customer’s Digital Format Choice

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is taking a step forward in addressing consumer confusion about high-definition formats. Beginning in early March, the leading consumer electronics retailer will prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware and software products in its Best Buy retail and online channels in the United States.

“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We've listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format,” said Brian Dunn, Best Buy's president and chief operating officer. “Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them."

Dunn continued, “Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely-accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices. Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products."

“With the explosion of HDTVs, customers are hungry for quality, high definition content. We believe our move to feature Blu-ray should help consumers feel confident in their hi-def content choices,” said Mike Vitelli, Best Buy's senior vice president, Home Solutions. “Best Buy is excited by the next generation of digital products and we know our customers are too. We are excited about helping customers find the right mix of products and services to make the next generation of high definition entertainment technology come alive for them. We believe that Blu-ray is the right solution for consumers."

Best Buy currently carries a wide array of Blu-ray hardware and software products. The company noted that it will continue to carry an assortment of HD-DVD products for customers who desire to purchase these products.

Digital Bits states "So why a preference recommendation for Blu-ray rather than simply dropping HD-DVD? There's a couple reasons this makes sense. First, they've been selling HD-DVD players for a while, so they have an existing customer base for that format that they don't want to completely alienate. The more important reason though is that they have a long-standing business relationship with Toshiba that they want to preserve. Framing their preference this way (along with participating in the recent 50% off sales of HD-DVD players) helps Toshiba save face. However, given that Best Buy is arguably the leading retailer of consumer electronics equipment in North America, they don't make such format support decisions lightly. As such, this announcement tells you everything you need to know about the viability of HD-DVD going forward. Watch for Circuit City and other retailers to follow"

[tazber]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 1:41pm

Walmart goes blu and Toshiba to pull plug on HD-DVD soon.


Blu is the color of money

[Icehouse Life]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 4:37pm

If we haven't thought so now with all of the latest developments in Blu's favor, here it is...

HD-DVD IS OVA!!!!

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 4:53pm

"IT'S ALL OOOOOOOOOOOVAH!!!"





...and I love how she's wearin' Blu.

[Craig]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 4:57pm

And I am telling you.. you ARE going

Rumors are swirling about Toshiba having plans to start producing blu-ray players. If it's not in their plan yet - it should be....

[Craig]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 9:27pm

Bang!

HD DVD is dead

http://digitalbits.com/#mytwocents

[tazber]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 11:47am

Paramount, the last studio to support HD, switches to BD and the war is now officially over

What's done is done!

Updated On: 2/21/08 at 11:47 AM

[mateo]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 11:49am

So when will the prices come down?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 12:07pm

good question.

edit: found this
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/80109/with-hd-dvd-dead-will-blu-ray-prices-begin-to-fall

Updated On: 2/21/08 at 12:07 PM

[Craig]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 5:08pm

I think I tend to disagree thought.

I think prices will come down because they want to incentify people to buy buy buy now that the war is over. Keeping prices high on players and media will continue to keep people away. But price breaks, etc will put people over the fence who were waiting or who might not have thought about it before.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 5:19pm

I hope so. because I am aching to buy a ps3.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 5:37pm

I think it's going to be a lot about marketing experimentation.

The Home Entertainment industry has a bigger problem... hardware and software sales IN GENERAL are down. Rentals are still strong.

2007 was a stalled year, because of the format war.

If they really want to see a boom in sales again, the prices will need to fall, because buyers are now out of the habit of buying all their favorite discs. Many (like me) decided to wait to see if they should buy SD or HD, and if so, which HD?

We're out of practice, and the question of SD or HD, even with single formats, is still there. Most studios are "hoping" to release titles in both formats on the same day. That would be ideal. Otherwise an SD release one month, followed by a BD release 2-3 months later, or a year, or potentially not at all yet, will cause more confusion, and stop the buying again.

Lots to iron out. And a pattern and regular behavior needs to be established on the studio side, before they can expect consumers to understand, make choices, and buy discs again.

...and the clock is now ticking on buying discs. Downloadables are coming! I'm thinking (honestly) it's going to be closer to 10 years before a fully comparable, quality download will be available to BD at 1080p. But crappy ones are already here. And the issue of storage space, streaming and copying (and protecting) are all things that need to be solved first.

So there is a short window of opportunity for the "hard disc" collectors of the world to buy the best product out there now. And I believe the studios know this.

I think they'll start jumping on the BD bandwagon and putting a lot of product out there fast. And prices will need to be "appealing" in order for this high-def boom to really take off.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 10:16pm

And... SCENE!

Paramount went "Blu" today. That's everybody, folks!

Goodnight, and thank you.

[Craig]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 11:33am

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20080225/tc_infoworld/95524;_ylt=Aq7v1RzWQgq2MZXBzqm5LBcjtBAF

I have to believe that the online download services are pitching these stories to bolster their sales despite the factual information that most (if not all) of what's being download is NOT true HD.

It's a good tactic for them - but deceptive at the very least

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:59pm

I posted this on another thread, Craig, but it actually belongs here.

* * * * * *

Here's a good NY Times article showing why downloadables aren't so very great yet.

I still think they are the future, but right now they suck as far as quality, convenience and manageability.

Give it a decade. They'll iron out the kinks, plus they need to work on things like better compression results (which basically means inventing new codecs beyond MPEG-4), copy protection, storage space, convenience, streaming, etc.

Lots of hurdles to overcome before they replace hard-copy discs.
NY Times link

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 5:41pm

WTF!? I just discovered this info:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141800-pg,1/article.html

They stopped selling anything but the 40G! I want one that plays PS2.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 6:25pm

That's a weird memo. It says in the headline of the article that SONY is discontinuing the 80GB version, but then the article itself only says Best Buy is discontinuing its sales of that version.

Since I'm not a gamer it makes no difference to me, but if you already have PS2 games, you'd better hurry if you want the 80GB backwards-compatible model.

I have the 40 GB version, and I love it!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 6:27pm

The moral of the story never rush out & buy something new immediately lest you get stuck.

I now read that manufacturers are giving up on Plasma TV'S & LCD TV'S are the winners.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 6:29pm

Says who?

There's no format war among TV sets!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 6:35pm

If they atop making plasma you have to get LCD but I do see your point

The bottom line is if you bought an HD TV Player/recorder you are stuck as you bet on the wrong horse.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 8:20pm

But if you have a Plasma TV, you are not SOL. If you have an HD DVD player, you are.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 7:22pm

prices are going up on Blu-ray?
Odd

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:30pm

That's stupid. Because I've been aching to get all BluRayed up. But, I can be very patient and stubborn.

I'm already ticked at Sony for taking away the PS3 80G.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:34pm

i want a PS3 so bad... someone buy me one. :)

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/2/08 at 8:39pm

I'd be ok selling my PS2 games and getting the 40G if I knew they were gonna have a PS3 Star Wars Battlefront.

I hope they come out with a player that is backwards compatible. And I know there were some small differences between the 40G and the 80G. I would also think that one would want as much memory as possible.