Digital Trends: Optical HD Battle May Be Over: HD DVD Wins (1 Viewer)

[HiJon89]

I think a format war like this is just about the best thing that can happen for the consumer. As long as these two technologies are battling, they will constantly be pushing each other to push their technology to the max. I think that when one format rules the market, companies get complacent and stop improving, which is when the consumer truly loses.

 

[Peter Overduin]

It is indeed very likely that prices are kept down because of the copnflict in the market over high definition formats. I guess my feeling is that where we lose is in the area of software releases and when/if one format does die; wil be the equivalent of owning a laser disk player. It would seem likely that there would be a more aggressive release of A titles to promote hardware sales of a single hi-def format than in the current situation where sutdios seem to be hedging their bets.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I think that Digital Trends is ether biased or just premature in its opinion that the battle may be over and HD-DVD wins. I do not see this format war being over any time soon, at least not before Christmas 07'. And with HD-DVD basically only having one player available and Blu-ray with 3 and more on the way. And IMHO Blu-ray's title releases have improved and have some top notch titles with DTS-HD. One thing that bothers me is that HD-DVD's trailer on there titles brags about including up to 7.1 channels of lossless audio. Well to my knowledge there are not many lossless titles out for HD-DVD and I do not see that many coming out in the near future. Blu-ray on the other hand has a number of DTS-HD titles out now and a steady flow of future titles coming. At this rate there will be a larger movie library with lossless audio on Blu-ray. Especially if you consider the titles already available on Blu-ray with 5.1 PCM.

I own a Toshiba HD-A1 and I love how good the picture looks on my 50" HDTV. But I feel the Dolby True HD tracks could be better even though it is much better than the old Dolby Digital. And there ether needs to be more Dolby True HD titles or DTS-HD titles for me to consider them over Blu-ray titles. I am currently saving up for a Panasonic Blu-ray player and once I buy the player. I will most likely start purchasing about 80% of my HD titles on Blu-ray. Currently about 60% of my HD movies are Blu-ray vs HD-DVD. I buy HD-DVD if it has a Dolby True HD track over the Bluray that only provides a standard DD or DTS track. So audio can be a deciding factor when buying HD movies at least speaking for myself. And I will buy HD movies on HD-DVD when the Blu-ray version is unavailable as well. If the Blu-ray has an DTS-HD track and HD-DVD only has Dolby Digital Plus, well the Blu-ray will get my dollar every time.

Its a shame that there is a format war because both formats bring alot to the table. I have been very happy with my HD-A1 and I could not beat the performance for the money. Even after I buy my Blu-ray player I will continue to enjoy my HD-DVD's even if the format disappears. But for Sony this is there last chance to do something right. If I invest my money in Blu-ray and it tanks and fails. I will have no problem in supporting HD-DVD especially if DTS-HD titles become available. And I will most likely not support another Sony format unless it becomes established and widely accepted!

As far as prices go every format starts out being exspensive and the prices allways drop after the product has been out for awhile. And eventually ends up having really cheap players being sold at a retailer like Wal-mart.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I agree, it will probably be another year or two before a winner is declared. And even then the "loser" may stick around as a niche format.

 

[Cees Alons]

I think the war may be considered "over" (or about to be over) when one or more of the major players anounces to stop supporting a format they have been supporting for some time.


Cees

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I agree completely. If Disney or Fox decided to start making HD DVD discs, then that would not mean it's time to hold a funeral for Blu-Ray. However, If either of those two studios stopped making Blu-Ray discs then it might be time to start playing "Taps".

 

[Neil Joseph]

I wonder just how long the holdout studios will wait before comitting to one of the formats though... New Line and Dreamworks.

 

[Juan Books]

Both will probably fail. People are happy with DVDs.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I think that if New Line goes Bluray only and Universal ever switches to Bluray only it will a sure sign that the war is over.

 

[ppltd]

They will probably wait until they see enough of an installed base to make a profit on there more limited catalogia of titles. I believe we might see some announcements from these studios as to their direction during the upcoming CES show, but I tend to believe that it will probably be mid year before we see any major releases from them.

 

[ppltd]

You are probably right, but I doubt that will happen, at least any time soon. And the longer this war goes on, the more installed base we will see on both sides. This will make it harder for the studios to deliver to only one camp or the other.

 

[Edwin-S]

That isn't entirely true. Betamax had a large installed base but studios eventually stopped supporting the format. I can see the same thing happening to one of the two competing formats. Video formats that accomplish the same purpose never seem to coexist. One eventually loses. At least that appears to be the pattern when you look back at past format wars.

 

[ppltd]

It is hard to mix the two wars together. Beta had problems, expecially the limited length that would have forced many releases into multi tape sets. HD and BD do not have this problem. Additionally, if I recall correctly, there was a steep difference in hardware prices. Beta had little chance of winning in the consumer arena.

 

[Edwin-S]

I guess we will have to disagree. I think some comparisons can be made; however, my main observation is that past video format wars result in a single winner. Two competing formats do not go on to coexist peacefully. Eventually one format wins and the other fades into oblivion. I believe the main reason is due to studios being unwilling to dump resources into maintaining support for a format with declining market share.

 

[Dave Moritz]

If I remember correctly hardware for beta was exspensive and there was a smaller collection of titles as well. Studios over a short time backed off and it did not take VHS long to become the winner of that format war.


While the two format wars are not exactly the same they share some similarities. And IMHO the beta vs vhs war is relevent and can be compaired to the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray. Unlike the game platforms that have and can coexist peacfully. The home video market only has room for one format and it is basically impossible for for them to coxist. In the short term both HD-DVD and Blu-ray can both exist but I do not see studios backing both for any great length of time.

IMHO there are more movies coming out for Blu-ray and less movies coming out on HD-DVD. If this trend keeps up it will be a sign to me that HD-DVD may be going under. Especially with very little harware support compaired to Blu-ray. And another area that bothers me is that while HD-DVD likes to boast about lossless audio. There are not many titles that take advantage of lossless audio. Blu-ray however with Fox video help is providing a strong number of lossless DTS-HD audio tracks. IMHO HD-DVD needs to not only offer more lossless audio, they need to offer more players from different companies. I do not see HD-DVD remaining viable and sucsessful if they do not have a good selection of hardware, and a continuing supply of software.

I own a HD-DVD player and I have been very happy with its performance. How every because I feel that between what Blu-ray has to offer with hardware, software and the companies backing it. And with a lot more titles coming out with lossless audio on Blu-ray. For me it makes more sense to support Blu-ray over HD-DVD. If HD-DVD does manage to become the winner I have no problem buying that format and will most likely upgrade my current HD-A1 to a better player with 1080p video and HDMI 1.3. But IMHO this war will go on for at least another year, maybe two at the most.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Actually, VHS didn't overtake Beta in terms of hardware units sold until 1984. That's what the Wikipedia says, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[Wade Shapiro]

My family went with the Beta camp....my parents, my grandparents, my aunt and my uncle all had Betamax machines (all but one of which still work to this day! 2 Toshibas and 2 Sanyos, one additional Sanyo bit the dust). So, the fact that me and my parents decided on HD-DVD first could be a bad sign for the format LOL.

I can't stand Sony as a company because of their business practices as well as personal experience (problems with every Sony product I've ever owned and terrible customer service to back it up). I also believe HD-DVD to be the better format. That being said, I did snag a 20 gig PS3 over the holidays primarily to buy the BluRay specific titles. It did kill me to give any money to the "dark side," but what can I say I am a HD and techo-junkie

 

[Dave Moritz]

While I am not a big Sony fan ether as far as the company itself goes. We all know that Microsoft is the true dark side.

 

[SteveA]

"HD DVD Wins"
"Mission Accomplished"
"Dewey Defeats Truman"

See a pattern here?

 

[Dave Mack]

We LOVED our Betamax! Was a great unit!