If no clear HD winner, Sony would let Blu-Ray co-exist with HD-DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Rachael B]

Ryan, I didn't say possibi;ity # 4 that I brought up was the most likely. It's not but it's within the realm of possibilities. As far as Sony and multi-layer discs go, the announced titles so far are S-L. If things really go badly, they might never get past S-L and MPEG 2 for movies?

I thought of a new possibility, numero cinco. Sony wins or leads the game console wars with Blu-way. Toshiba wins movie delivery war with HD-DVD. This one is not at all implausible.

I know how many companies are behind Sony but So-knee is percieved as the leader. They've been a lightning rod for love and hate for a long time. Things have swung farther to the dislike side than ever before it appears. I'd suggest that many Blu-ray suppourters are soft. They just want to make money and if the river changes course, they'll point their canoe that'a way.

6 months ago I thought Blu-way was a slam dunk. However, cracks in it's armor have appeared. If the other studios think they'll make more money with HD-DVD, Blu-ray might lose as a movie delivery system. That's why I see Fox and Disney as the all-important swing votes along with the public's reaction, of course.

Ultimately, I don't have strong feelings about who I want to win. I could like either system, proably? HD-DVD is leading with me for now but I'm soft and open minded.

 

[Ryan-G]

Ultimately, I'd rather BR win. It's more future proofed as I don't think HD-DVD will be able to handle 2k resolutions and BR should be able to, and BR has better potential for handling space issues both retail and at home.

But I'm not convinced it will now, Sony's made a critical error. Though I think it's because MS has forced their hand. Sony can't afford to wait to release PS3, but can't afford to release PS3 the way it was announced last week. Catch-22. The next 12 months will be interesting to say the least.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Sony, just today, stated that they may have severe supply problems for their Blu-ray decks for 2006:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...,_Says_Exec/71

Since recent consumer surveys of "Heavy DVD Purchasers with HD Displays" has indicated that only about 20% were likely to upgrade to a HD optical disc format this year, the news that Sony will not be able to meet even this meager demand point is rather shocking!

Here's the link to the survey:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12627855/

I still wish that the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps could have found some way to get together on a unified format last year. *Sigh*

 

[Lew Crippen]

I assume that you are intentionally using hyperbole to make a point Ryan, as the facts don’t exactly support your position.

Bankruptcy? Sony made a profit (net income) of over $1.5 billion on revenue of almost $67 B for their fiscal ending March 31 this year (I think that this is a preliminary number, not a final one). True enough both net income and revenue declined slightly from 2003 and 2004, but these are not numbers indicating impending doom.

…majority of their revenue stream has been from the PS(x) series for several years now …? Sony’s revenue from games for fiscal 2005 was just under ¥730 (B) or about $6.6 (B), a number far removed (about 10%) of their year’s revenue.

Overall the game segment sales dropped 6.5% from fiscal 2004 and operating income 36.1%--not good but that segment still had a decent operating margin—though it has declined sharply from 2003 and 2004. According to Sony their PS2 software sales hit a record high, but this was matched by a decrease in hardware sales.

On balance, it does not seem as though problems with either the PS2 or PS3 will plunge Sony into Bankruptcy.

I’m not sure where you got your figures, but they don’t seem accurate.

 

[Rachael B]

As far as Sony crash and burn theories go, here's something to consider, Sony is either the largest or one of the largest insurance companies in Japan. Sony has lost money in some quarters in the past five years. If it was fighting for survival, it could sell off the insurance business or Columbie Records or Columbia Pictures. They have quite a few survival mode options. They're so big that they proably have some other assets that I'm not aware of...?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Yeah, Sony is big and diverse enough that even the massive failure of a single product is hardly liable to put them out on the street.

 

[dany]

I'd like to thank Sony for screwing up High-Res and they are doing the same thing again with HD.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Quoi? I mean, I don't like DSD as an audio format, but SACD hybrids had a serious marketing advantage, and the DVD forum never exactly encouraged anybody to put out DVD-A discs, or to use the PCM capabilities of DVD-V. I can't see how Sony "screwed up" the high-resolution digital audio market, since the people who didn't by SACD or DVD-A — that is, most people — are the same people who cut back on buying CDs during the same time period. How is producing a higher-bandwidth, higher-capacity disc "screwing up"? I mean, most of the hardware and software companies are behind BD at this point, so it's not like it's Sony who's dividing the market — look to Toshiba for that.

 

[dany]

Sonys disc selection for SACD is so limited its funny. If one format was used,it would be going along much better then it is now which is standing next to the grave.

 

[John McAdams]

So, I guess Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung and the rest of the BD consortium are screwing up HD too?

You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Rachael B]

You should never make the statement you made about hi-rez on forums without crediting Warner Brudders for their part in that sad play. It took two to tango out of step. Besides, who wants to ignite DSD versus DVD-A again. I'm so sick of the fued between the two! I quess it's never gonna end....like the middle east....

 

[dany]

Anytime they want to fight it out instead of everybody being on the same format,its not good for us. I blame Sony for going offboard with the rest but thats just the way i see it.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Why don't you blame Toshiba for going offboard with HD-DVD. Blu-Ray was around 1st in Japan. If Toshiba didn't push HD-DVD we wouldn't have a format war. I think you have things backwards.

 

[Robert Harris]

I'm at a loss to understand what capacity has to do with the discussion.

Outside of its functionality toward the release of a season of television on fewer discs, it really doesn't come into play.

Why would one need more space than is available on HD?

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Well, what about Lawrence of Arabia? I don't think that will fit on one HD DVD. A fortiori Around the World in 80 Days. What about Ben-Hur, or the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions for a more recent example? Any film over 200 minutes will not fit on one HD DVD at a 20 Mbps combined audio and video bitrate. Sure, there aren't that many 200+ minute films, but some of them are rather "important" — and what are the bitrates on the current HD DVD releases? Additionally, bandwidth is a consideration when there are multiple angles, or multiple audio tracks, or high-resolution PCM or lossless audio — and Blu-Ray has more than HD DVD ; not to mention that those same features will use up capacity faster.

 

[Rachael B]

You best believe I'm P'ed at Sony too!-!-!-!-! ....but this is a subject for the Music section, not here. Oh! I'm P'ed at Warner too!

 

[dany]

How about this,a format war isnt good for us. That ok?

 

[Rachael B]

It's not much of an issue with me but it is with Dizz-ney. I read an interview with their head Ding-bat yesterday. It's apparent that he has vision of selling games or interactive content of some sort via BD movie players. DAFT!!!!

 

[ChristopherDAC]

But it's Toshiba which is the mover in the "format war", so why do you blame Sony? It's Toshiba which is going it alone, bringing out a format the rest of the industry has rejected. It's Toshiba which is bringing a second format to market, when you realise that a version of Blu-Ray has been on the market in Japan for something like two years. How is is Sony's fault that the Toshiba executives are bound and determined to push a technically inferior format in the hope of making a quick buck?

 

[Rachael B]

The flip side could be that Toshiba is bringing us HD at a lower cost, with less $ wasted on dracoian kopy-poofing, and that Sony is bound and determined to sell us technology beyond what's needed to just watch a bleeding film.

I may end up prefering BD??? I suspect, if I did, it will be for reasons other than the pic quality....like ergonomics. My mind is hardly made up about too much yet. I know, like the ole blues song sez, "you can't judge a book by looking only at the cover". All I've seen of BD is the cover.