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Sony delays some Blu-ray titles, removes others (1 Viewer)

Jesse Blacklow

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I love how you use a supposition on MSRP for one model to compare to "average" across several. Of course, that lets me use the rumor that there will be 9+ Blu-ray models out, some priced to compete with the HDA1, while there will still only be two HD DVD models (3 if you count the RCA rebadge). Of course, if I wanted to go purely on fact, it still comes down to $499 vs $999, which you can continue to harp on.
 

Edwin-S

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Then I guess they're due for a winner and maybe Blu-ray is going to be the one. Unlike a lot of other Sony formats, this one is being supported by the majority of heavy hitters in the CE industry. More power to you, if you want to believe that HD DVD is going to prevail once Toshiba's lone player is surrounded by a sea of Blu-ray players from a variety of major manufacturers. The initial price of Blu-ray is a concern, but perception of longevity is half the battle. What does it say about the viability of a format if 6 manufacturers are providing machines for one format as compared to one manufacturer for the other format? I think it spells doom for the lone wolf because consumers are going to gain the perception that the Blu-ray format is here for the long haul, regardless of the initial cost.

SONY formats failed because they were always trying to market their formats as a lone wolf. SONY always tried to market their stuff with the intention of "cornering the market", so they were always refusing to license their tech to other competitors. This Blu-ray format seems like a marked change in strategy for SONY. This time they actively sought out a coalition of other manufacturers. For once they have gotten it right. Blu-ray may force HD DVD right off the shelf since there is going to be a large number of Blu-ray manufacturers vying for limited shelf space.
 

Kelly Grannell

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I really hope BD will win... especially because I'm super ticked off not being able to find an HD DVD machine in Canada (yes I can, but the stores tend to sell it far above MSRP and I refuse to pay an HD DVD machine close to a BD player price)
 

Kelly Grannell

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the only thing I'm concerned is that my favourite movies are mostly from Universal and Disney. Both studios don't plan to release their titles on both format, only one or the other. I might end up having to buy two different formats.

If that is the case (and there is no universal player out there), I will not support either format.
 

Edwin-S

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I believe this "format exclusivity" is going to be temporary, rather than permanent. The only unknown factor is the amount of time it will take for exclusivity to be abandoned, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will be abandoned. In business, GREED trumps LOYALTY every time. Studios will always attempt to maximize profit. IMO, if these both of these formats coexist and limp along, ala laserdisc, then I feel that exclusivity will be dropped in short order because studios are going to want to maximize their profits from the niche market that develops. If Blu-ray dominates then UNIVERSAL will quickly announce support, because they are not about to give up potential profits due to some misguided sense of loyalty. Conversely, the same situation will occur if HD DVD dominates: except it would be Disney, Fox ,etal., that would be jumping off the Blu-ray ship. In Capitalism, GOD is spelt GREED, and the acolytes worship it above everything else.
 

Ryan-G

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Actually, in essence, it was.

Sony's Trinitron was superior to all other offerings for many years, the last CRT Monitor regarded as the "Monitor to own" was a KDS based upon Sony's Trinitron, superior color and image quality. This was essentially the last of the CRT technologies developed as more and more R&D went into LCD.

Unfortunately, KDS was selling their Trinitron CRT at ~$400-500, several hundred dollars cheaper than Sony's taking alot of Sony's sales. Sony cancelled their contract as soon as they could, rather than price drop, because for some odd reason Sony always wants to charge an extra couple hundred for their name.

Worse, KDS was attempting to woo the hardcore Gamer Enthusiast market with their Trinitron offering and offered it with extremely aggressive timings for a 19" monitor at the time, up to 120khz at 1024x768, and scrimped on the magnetic shielding. Leaving these things extremely susceptible to overheating burnout and making them vulnerable to a center channel speaker placed nearby. The KDS monitors had an above normal failure rate, personally I went through 3 of them and my neighbor went through 2. My first one was shot out of the box, the second died to a center channel place 8" away, and the third finally overheated. My neighbors died to overheating and the magnetic field from a poorly shielded power line running through his wall.

Anyways, Sony's Trinitron was a format of sorts, far superior to the CRT technology for monitors at the time.
 

Lew Crippen

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I wonder if Sony is delaying software releases in order to reduce the urge to purchase a Samsung player? I’ll bet those titles will hit the market when Sony has some hardware to sell.
 

Max Leung

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Wow! The KDS monitor actually killed people...that is one deadly monitor!

I think the "Sony backed format failing" argument should have read as "Sony proprietary format failing" - what consumer media format that is proprietary to Sony didn't fail? Only thing I can think of is Minidisc in Europe...
 

Jerome Grate

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That would be so contradictive on Sony's part and probably would single handedly shoot them and the format in the foot. Samsung has already shipped their players and for once Sony should get a clue and release this software to give BD a real good chance in this war. You can have dozens of players from the various manufacturers but with out BD DVDs to play, all you got is $1000.00 upscaling DVD player via HDMI.
 

Dan Hitchman

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Sony, at least, made the smart move to include other manufacturers this time around.

What will kill Blu-Ray, I think, is if Sony churns out more mediocre quality transfers like The Fifth Element and House of Flying Daggers. If Sony as a studio doesn't care about pushing the A/V envelope, it will be up to powerhouse players like Fox and Disney to show them how it's done.

Blu-Ray 50 GB discs coupled with high resolution 24 bit lossless audio and the tweaked advanced video codecs at transparent bitrates would put the nail in HD-DVD's coffin.

Who'll be the first with the biggest cahones (sp) to do it?
 

Lew Crippen

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Aside from the fact that I don’t think that any single entity can shoot Bu-Ray in the foot, Sony is not only trying to make Blu-Ray successful, but to increase their market share and profits.

While these two things are not exclusive, they are also not exactly the same. Sony qua corporation is trying to do both things.
 

Pete T C

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I think its more likely the case that some diehard Playstation fans are taking the videogame console war to home theater boards - thinking that Blu-Ray has to win for PS3 to win, or at least getting home theater users to buy PS3 will make it more successful. Sad, but likely true.

After all, in terms of the actual Blu-Ray format, there isn't much incentive for a home theater user to spend twice as much money for a Blu-Ray player over HD-DVD right now, especially when the first gen BD players don't do any of the nextgen audio formats and the Blu-Ray software hasnt moved to VC-1 or H.264 yet.
 

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