In the graph above, the first week of this year was almost 49% HD DVD. I don't think Toshiba's about to throw in the towel.
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HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray Battle Over? Warner Switches to Blu-Ray
- Thread starter hvfsl
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I've never used BR so I can't comment from that perspective, but I find the HD menus "interesting". One of the selling points was a unified menu system, however it seems to only be partially unified.
All of my Universal movies have slide-in menus that come in from the left and cascade outwards. My Warner ones come in from the bottom and function more like tabs. I also have one movie from the Weinsteins and that uses a "classic" DVD-style system. It appears that the "unification" is per studio, rather than a feature of the format itself.
1. That was hardware sales in the US while disc sales were 80%+ for blu-rasy for both weeks in the US.
2. In New Zealand/Australia HD DVD was not even a contender from what I've been told.
I don't care about the menus. I don't even really care about extra/special features. I didn't care who wins. I just wanted a single format so I can get to doing what I enjoy doing, watching movies. I was on the sidelines and even stopped buying standard DVDs. Now I have two PS3s I use as BD players.
I really doubt HD DVD is going to get a chance because it has better menus. Most people aren't even going to consider that when they pick a player. The deciding factor will be the software. If all the movies are on BD, it doesn't really matter what HD DVD has to offer over BD.
HD DVD is merely gasping and wheezing for air at this point.
I really doubt HD DVD is going to get a chance because it has better menus. Most people aren't even going to consider that when they pick a player. The deciding factor will be the software. If all the movies are on BD, it doesn't really matter what HD DVD has to offer over BD.
HD DVD is merely gasping and wheezing for air at this point.
Indeed, I can't wait for an HD/BR DVD-compatible playback app. Apple promised one way back in April 2005 but have yet to deliver
I think you purposefully neglected a very important part of the graph. The first week was BEFORE Warner announced it is going Blu-Ray exclusive. Once they did, HD-DVD sales plummeted to only 7% of the total sales.
Toshiba will probably throw in the towel soon.
Well I hope Toshiba will build a good dual format player for a decent price. I know I would buy one. I have bought a few HD DVD's on eBay since the Warner announcement. I spent with shipping no more then $12-13 for great HD movies. I am sure they will only get cheaper so I will buy a dual format player just for the cheap HD media. $5 HD movies...here I come!
As far as your second point, I honestly do not think this will happen. There has never been anything done like that in the history of business. I sure wish some company would have let me trade in my VHS movies for DVD's when they came out.
Even if HD DVD movies stop being published at the end of the year there will still be a market for players, drives and dual format players into the future. I am sure recordable media will come to their line of computers as well. Toshiba isn't just going to stop everything some rainy day in June. Since they are the only company making them it will turn into a profitable little niche for them. There are a few million HD DVD's out there and people are going to keep playing them for years to come. I am not so worried about having the latest and greatest technology that I would throw away a 1080p HD DVD to re-buy the same title in a 1080p Blu-ray. Honestly why would you do this? Seems like a waste of money and resources.
Really? It seems to me that it was longer ago than that. Anyway, do we have any week 3 figures anywhere?
If the total number of HD-DVDs in circulation is low enough, it might just be worth it to the studios to offer discounts on a trade-in program. I agree they will not just swap an HD-DVD title for the Blu-Ray one for no charge other than shipping, but 25%/35%/50% off could get some serious interest and still make the studios money (since they'd do it directly).
Many people with HD-DVD players are not going to be amused to know they now have a dead-end product and now have to re-purchase their library on Blu-Ray to ensure forward compatibility. Those folks will eventually commit to Blu-Ray, just as all of us who owned Laser Disc players eventually committed to DVD, but it will take longer and with rentals, the conversion rate might be lower (I have a few score of Laser Discs I never converted to DVD because it's easier and cheaper to rent them the one time a year or so I have a desire to see them).
I've decided to stop buying HDs, but not because BR is "winning". I'm stopping due to convenience. Apple is moving glacially slow and I'm sick of rebooting into Windows every time I want to watch a movie. Leopard's DVD player does a much nicer job than Tiger's did, and plain old DVDs actually look nice again. I'm going back to regular DVDs for now, but if Apple ever bothers to put HD DVD support into DVD Player then I'll probably start buying them again.
Over a million HD DVD players have been sold in North America alone. That's a LOT of people that are going to be upset if the format goes nowhere. On the other hand, apart from the convenience issue I mentioned, I still believe I made the right choice: My HD DVD drive and all my movies still cost less than the cost of the BR player alone in NZ*.
* At the time I bought my HD DVD drive, PS3 was the only BR player available and it was still at $1199.
Like I said before, NFW. The studios have no real incentive to do this and they would not make money if they did it directly, as they don't have a direct to customer sales channel setup. It would cost them money to implement and manage this. In the big picture of things, it won't make much -- if any -- difference to their bottom line to have owners of HD-DVD software feeling left out in the cold. Most of them will get over it eventually and switch to whatever has software available.
These people all made their own bed. Taking sides in a war means you have to expect to either win or loose, and if you loose there should be no expectation to get concessions from the winner. I'm sorry for those who put their eggs in the HD-DVD basket, but all I can say is too bad.
I understood this and stood on the sidelines until I was fairly confident of the outcome. I bought two PS3s this month, but in the past two years I vastly reduced my DVD purchasing and did not purchase any HD software.
What is to say that in another 2 years a new better format will kill Blu-Ray. Technology is going to start moving fast now. Something better will take over and it will happen faster then ever before.
Once all the ISPs get bandwidth and performance issues ironed out, physical media will likely become obsolete altogether. Blu-ray is quite possibly the last physical media based system for movie distribution. I'd be surprised if it lasts as long as DVD has. If it does, it'll be a niche product like LaserDisk was.
I hope to never see a HD porn again
Have you ever seen PORN in HD?! It's kind of, well, gross. Some things are better left blurry.
I might add too that the VHS/BETA thing happened before the internets. I think the vast majority of folks have chosen the internet as their delivery channel for the stuff and are not as inclined to watch it on the tv like they were 20-some years ago. I don't think the porn industry has much sway in this debate.
Have you ever seen PORN in HD?! It's kind of, well, gross. Some things are better left blurry.
I might add too that the VHS/BETA thing happened before the internets. I think the vast majority of folks have chosen the internet as their delivery channel for the stuff and are not as inclined to watch it on the tv like they were 20-some years ago. I don't think the porn industry has much sway in this debate.
In general entertainment I have noticed that a lot of actors/actresses look a bit easier on the eyes in SD. Not there is anything wrong with freckles and wrinkles but it certainly changes your image of some them.
That said, I imagine videographers are still learning how to optimize shooting with an HD audience in mind. It reminds of the early days of film when it was quickly learned that the subject needed lots of very white makeup to look good on the big screen.
I agree completely. What was relevant 20 years ago when people didn't have teh internets, isn't relative now.
If I'd been looking for porn back then (let's imagine I'd have been older, 5 is a bit young to start watching really), I think I'd much rather have gone to a video store and picked up a VHS to watch at home, rather than sit in a theatre with a... let's leave that there.
That was a revolution in 'personal entertainment', but the following revolution has passed already - it's called the internet.
There's not going to be huge demand for media based pornography if you ask me - the internet has it's 'grasp' on that. It's already completely 'saturated', so there's no need for it any more.
Do you really believe that? Movie downloads are and will remain a niche market. Not everyone wants or needs internet access assuming it is even available in their area. People who "buy" movies to collect will want physical media. Families with small children will want physical media as it is a way to control the viewing habits of the young ones.
I find my PVR and pay per view to be enough of a hassle let alone having to manage downloads. What happens when you run out of space on your Apple TV? how is the average joe going to back up their purchases?
Really, you mean like how people who want to buy music want the physical media, so they mostly buy CDs?
To answer your question, yes I do believe it. Purchasing and downloading movies in HD will become no more big a deal as downloading songs from iTunes is today. Adding parental control (ratings, viewing periods and limits, etc) will be simply a matter of software on the viewing devices. Storage is getting so cheap and large that space will be a trivial problem & backups won't even be necessary if you can download your purchase again. You just aren't looking very far ahead.
There is a distinct difference between how people listen to music these days and how they watch movies. People want to be able carry their music with them and listen to songs over and over again.
Movies however, are usually enjoyed by people in a home theatre setting sitting on a couch with a large TV or projector screen in front. None of the portable devices on the market are suitable for long term viewing or shared viewing.
I don't see a lot regular people wiring up their living rooms, buying extra hard drives to backup purchases and manage the whole thing. It's too geeky for the average person.
How would you show off your collection to other people? Come on, the reality is that collections require something physical that you can touch. I don't see downloads being used for anything other than rentals and in a small niche market.