Two dual-format studios will drop BluRay: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/415707

Getting new recorders in the current environment is bad enough, having the dueling HD format soap play out doesn't make things easier either!

Maybe the best thing that can happen from a recording perspective is either 1) agreement between the two formats or 2) one of them gets a quick and clear victory

I prefer #1 but given the stubborness that led to our current situation, #2 is probably the more realistic. I don't care which one wins out, as long as it is quick and overwhelming enough :)

That way the electronic makers can just make one format HD recorder and not worry about which one will survive and things like that.

Since the HD format is backwards compatible with current DVDs and BluRay is not, I would bet on HD. Lots of people are fine with something that will play both, even if they do not realize that more can be fit on BluRay.

Since the HD format is backwards compatible with current DVDs and BluRay is not, I would bet on HD. Lots of people are fine with something that will play both, even if they do not realize that more can be fit on BluRay.

That is old (and quite frankly) incorrect thinking. BluRay players have been able to play DVDs pretty much since they been available. During BluRay development, BD players didn't have DVD compatibility, but luckily the smart people in charge realized that HD-DVD would gain a huge advantage. So the BD people quickly "added" the required lasers to play DVDs.

So really, DVD playback is a moot point in factoring BluRay vs. HD-DVD decision.

Not only are HD-DVD players cheaper than blu-ray, the upconversion circuitry in the Toshiba HD-DVD player is ranked very highly and on par with Oppo and Denon. That means, these are upconverting players that actually do a better job of upconverting SD DVDs than the scaler built into one's flatpanel display. The price of the Toshiba HD-DVD player is less than $100 more than the Oppo DV-981. Buying a Toshiba HD-DVD player would be a good deal for playing both SD and HD-DVDs if it were not for the fact that half the titles of interest will never be available on that format.

Wonderful, so now only Time-Warner is left to issue releases in both formats. As soon as they drop down to one format, the industry might as well kiss goodbye any hope of hi-def DVD taking hold in any format. The only solution will be dual format players -- talk about an expensive toy that will be a hard sell.

This stupidity does not look like it is going to be over anytime soon. Both sides are dug in and the longer it goes on the greater the chance that a split market will become the accepted norm.

[QUOTE=Kelson;11369438
This stupidity does not look like it is going to be over anytime soon. Both sides are dug in and the longer it goes on the greater the chance that a split market will become the accepted norm.[/QUOTE]

Well said. The longer the HD disc formats duel it out, the more time the HD-download market gets to pull its crap together.

In two years time, both HD-DVD and BluRay may end up like the LaserDisc ... with HD downloads being the preferred method of delivery. Downloadable media has one huge advantage over physical media. Flexibility. For example, if a new video resolution became the "standard", you could have compatible downloads as soon as someone re-encodes the movie. With physical discs, you would be stuck with the original specs.

The big losers in this scenario would be the hardware OEMs. The movie studios will get their money either way. Guys like Sony and Toshiba have so much invested in their hardware and will fight like heck to keep it. If they don't wise up, someone else (Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google ...) will be sneaking in the side door.

It's gonna be very interesting for the next couple of years.

ft

Two dual-format studios will drop BluRay: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/415707

The competition between Blu-ray and HD DVD has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

"Confused" customers? We aren't confused, we're pissed off that these companies can't get their act together. We aren't confused, we know perfectly that if we jump in now half of us are likely to get left owning a bunch of expensive titles with no long-term support. We're not confused, we're smart enough to know better... :mad:

"Confused" customers? We aren't confused, we're pissed off that these companies can't get their act together. We aren't confused, we know perfectly that if we jump in now half of us are likely to get left owning a bunch of expensive titles with no long-term support. We're not confused, we're smart enough to know better... :mad:

LOL. Maybe they were referring only to the subgroup of consumers that are "confused", not implying that all consumers are confused on this issue :) Or perhaps they should have talked about the mythical average consumer who just wants to get a shiny silver disc and play a high def movie on his/hers brand new $XXX HDTV they bought from the HSN special :)

Kelson/ftaok -

I couldn't agree with both of you more. More evidence that content provider execs making decisions are essentially greedy morons who are doomed to eventually reap what they've sown (which is essentially...nothing).

Kelson/ftaok -

I couldn't agree with both of you more. More evidence that content provider execs making decisions are essentially greedy morons who are doomed to eventually reap what they've sown (which is essentially...nothing).

Unlike other industries that can ignore or walk all over the consumer, the entertainment industry needs the consumer because they are the ones who buy their products. Every time they do something stupid or irrational (crazy DRM schemes) they lose more and frustrate even more people. YouTube is one example where they could lose a chunk of their future audience that prefers to watch people clowning in front of camcorders instead of buying the latest formulaic movie or tv show :)