A NEW HOPE for unification (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Dave,

A good read, thanks.

I still own the Sony 7000 DVD player. You all remember
it as being the very first available back in 1997. The thing
is huge and superior in build quality to anything that came
afterwards.

 

[Chris S]

When I originally saw this I had assumed this was an old story that Reuters was just getting around to writing up. I'd be surprised if Toshiba is able to make much headway with Sony (and other CE manufacturers) at this point. Could HD on optical disk really survive a THIRD unified format??

 

[Austan]

The Sony 7000 DVD player was the bench mark for all non-progressive scan DVD players and I still own one too!!! And if I remember correctly, it costed $1000 back then. If you take that into account, then a $1000 Blu-Ray player in todays money isnt bad but the $500 HD-A1 is a steal!!!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

And here is the ultimate problem....

I don't mind, as an early adopter, paying $1K for the
first player that plays High Definition.

If that Blu-Ray were the only format in town, I could
justify the price. I'd own one right now.

But dual formats?

Now it's no longer a $1K decision but a $1500 one in order
to have machinery that supports BOTH formats.

I'm sort of amazed by the people shelling out $1K for Blu-Ray
when it seems to be vastly overpriced; when you have a studio
like Sony who is not putting a lot of effort into PQ on some of
their titles; and you have a studio like Fox sitting on the sidelines
waiting for the format to get its act together.

At least it seems Toshiba, to an extent, did things right. They
priced their players within reason. The quality of their releases
aren't being reported as spotty. Their problem? I think Toshiba
is having a real struggle financially keeping up with this format war.

If there is going to be a format war here, I'll gladly support both
if it's within affordability. Blu-Ray just isn't making that possible
right now.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Even if HD formats only reach the level of popularity of Laserdisc, it would work for me.

So what if most people did not have laserdisc? That didn't stop the format from having all the hit films from all the studios? As long as the films are there ... I am there and enjoying it every step of the way.

Regards

 

[Austan]

Toshiba has the advantage in that they are the only manufacturer of HD DVD players. Because of that, they can extensively subsidize it. Blu-Ray on the other hand is being manufactured by multiple companies. Sony can not subsidize those other manufactures to the same extent as Toshiba can subsidize their own players and format.

It's a double edge sword for Toshiba. On one hand they have a $500 player on the market, on the other hand they will under cut any other HD DVD player thus making it non-profitable for other companies to join them.

I agree that the HD-A1 is an awesome value but there are drawbacks to it. It's does not output 1080p and it does not have the new HDMI 1.3 specs. No big deal for current equipment, but down the line its already "outdated". As much as I love the Sony 7000 DVD, its being used as a CD player instead of a DVD player because it lacks progressive scan.

On the same note, the Samsung BD-P1000 is about the right price for a "not heavy subsidized" Blu-Ray player. The HDMI outputs seem to be bad but Component outputs seem to be good. Down side is that upscaled SD DVD cannot be outputted thru component cables.

 

[EricRWem]

I won't accept statements like these until they are verified by an objective, credible, PROFESSIONAL resource.

 

[Dave Mack]

Well, this had been posted on AVS and those guys are brutal. (Look what happened to that fake T2 BD review!) I think it this were false than those guys would be ALL over it. Why don't you take it upon yourself to see if it's false?

 

[Grant H]

Is anyone else scratching their head over the matter that a format unification and a combo player are not at all the same thing?

A lot of different things are being said. A combo player doesn't suggest a unified format at all; it suggests an effort for two formats to peacefully coexist.

A unified format post-launch could actually suggest a new format that couldn't be played on any current HD-DVD player or BD player. Why screw half the early adopters when you could screw them all?

Maybe they want to unify the format and create a combo player that will play HD-DVD, BD, and the new UNI-BD-HD-DVD.

Or imagine going back to the drawing boards to create a unified format that is backwards compatible with both BD and HD-DVD. Nobody would ever get anything that way. Was hard enough to get what they came up with.

Unless Toshiba's unification suggestion is really a suggestion that one party or the other bow out gracefully. Most have interpreted the releases as Toshiba worrying they will lose, but maybe it's the opposite and they think they've already won and are suggesting BD step down.

The only convenient unification I could see at this point would be if one format was chosen and the name changed to reflect the unification.

HD-DVD does have the more obvious name. Wouldn't it be something if we end up with the BluRay medium, but start calling it HD-DVD? If that's what might happen, maybe Toshiba is suggesting it now while BluRay is stumbling in an attempt to get a better price for the name. Act like they're doing BluRay a favor rather than begging down the road should the wind shift and BluRay prove superior.

Stranger things have happened. Look how how many DivX users there are today. Still can't believe the name of that bastard format was recycled.

A lot of conjecture I know, but that's all that can come of the info I've seen.

 

[Jeff(R)]

My post was originally in a separate new thread in another forum area. (I did not see this thread.) My post was then apparently combined into this thread by an administrator. (I did not post it here.)

Jeff

 

[Shawn Perron]

I posted this in another thread here.

Sony is really gambling on the PS3 being successful both as a game platform and as a way to get Blu-Ray movies into people's homes. Very shortly hardware has to begin flying off the assembly lines and software has to be pressed. At this point they can't compromise because they don't have the flexibility to any longer.

 

[Reed Grele]

Ron,

I wasn't going to buy a first generation "stealth PC" either. But I weakened, and am glad I did. Had it for about 3 weeks now. My only regret is that there are not more HD DVD titles available yet. But as others have already said, it's one of the best upconverting players around, and I use it all the time. Makes my older SD DVD titles really shine!

As for being a "stealth PC", after seeing the mind blowing picture quality of the many HD DVD's (both purchased, and rented) that I have watched on my 57" 16x9 Sony RPTV (which btw, has only component inputs) I wouldn't care if I cracked it open and discovered that it was being powered by a gerbil on a rotating treadmill!

Reed

 

[PeterTHX]

One reason for Blu-ray's $1000 list price is because they aren't selling it at a loss (maybe someone independent can confirm what I info I have)

Samsung is making money off the player. Reasonable to assume the others (bar the PlayStation 3 of course) will be as well.

Flash foward 5 years from now and people will be comparing the quality of their Toshiba Blu-ray deck to the others.

BTW: Ron isn't entirely right. The Sony 7000 build was great, but the 3000's (generation 1.5) build quality was just as good...mine is still going strong at my uncle's place.

 

[Jeff(R)]

http://gear.ign.com/articles/715/715613p1.html

 

[Cees Alons]

Understood!


Cees

 

[RobertR]

The article Jeff quoted is but one perspective on the Toshiba statement about unity. Here's another one:


More interesting comments here.

 

[Austan]

I'm so glad to hear that Sony's Ken Kutaragi was being terribly polite & restrained when he said the pricing of the PS3 is "probably too cheap". And I guess Sony's Phil Harrison was being restrained & polite when he said "The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC."

There are 2 sides to every QUOTE:

Toshiba sold out of every HD-DVD player it produced...

GO HD-DVD!!!
Toshiba only sold 7500 units.

GO BLU-RAY!!!

BTW: I think the PS3 is overpriced for a game console and one hell of a deal for a Blu-Ray player. I also wont be giving up my PC anytime soon.

 

[Kevin. W]

Toshiba won't back out of HD-DVD. Microsoft will be releasing a HD-DVD drive in the near future which will offer the installed base access to HD-DVD movies as well as another format for more complex games. Space limitations are also not as much as a concern as some make it out too be. A HD-DVD movie will fit easily on a 30G disc. A second disc can be added for extra features. Its the way it should have been from the start with SD-DVD
.

 

[Ryan-G]

This is true, but I really can't see a console add-on that adds no new game functionality selling all that well, especially since the installed base for HDTV's is only projected to be 20% of the American market by years end. I have no information on other markets, so can't theorize there.

As far as the space goes, they're already well north of 20 gigs on some titles, while using SD extras, so they're already consuming alot of space just with movies. What's going to happen to the 3 hour + movies? Titanic, King Kong, LoTR, Patriot, Braveheart, Pearl Harbor, etc. Sounds to me like there's a serious chance they'll have to split movies more frequently, not a selling point for me at all. But, I'm no expert, and I could be wrong.

 

[Cees Alons]

I don't know about these PC's. Are we really waiting for HR drives? According to USA-TODAY the new Sony VAIO Blu-ray certainly isn't a winner:

Sony Blu-ray Notebook Too Expensive And Has Maddening Glitches


The price would probably stabilize at a lower level over time (although $1300 extra is a lot). But I'm worried about those many glitches. It looks like the product itself isn't stable yet.


Cees