Sony CEO: Blu-ray/HD DVD War a "Stalemate"
Fri Nov 9, 2007 1:46PM EST
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Blu-ray proponents had declared victory in the format war back in January, but here's Sony CEO and Blu-ray-backer Sir Howard Stringer, declaring that the battle has reached a "stalemate."
Interesting...as Engadget points out, Sir Howard's words represent quite a reversal from January, when the Blu-ray camp jumped the gun and declared victory in the fight. But a lot has happened since then: prices for HD DVD players have been steadily dropping, Paramount and DreamWorks abruptly dropped support for Blu-ray back in August, and a $99 HD DVD player shook the market and sold more than 90,000 units in one weekend. Meanwhile, Sony's been trying to keep the high ground, with company execs recently declaring that Sony Blu-ray players probably wouldn't drop below $399 (perhaps so they won't cannibalize PlayStation 3 sales, or so the theory goes). Well, that's one strategy, but something tells me that consumers will pick $99 over $399 any day of the week.
Related:
Sony CEO sees 'stalemate' in disc fight [AP, via Yahoo! News]
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7 Posted by icysapphire64 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse
I think part of the problem is many people are just not interested in HD-DVD/Blu-ray right now.
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8 Posted by reebs07 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
@bullygrrl i like blu-ray more also but the picture for HD DVD is exactly the same quality of blu-ray on a 1080p monitor. i just like blu-ray more bacause of the extra disc space, other than that the 2 formats are almost identical. i'm not gonna pay 200-300 dollars more for something that will look the same. that said though i would buy a ps3 for 400 bucks since it will also play blu-ray movies.
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9 Posted by digitalcablesource on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:43PM EDT Report Abuse
Why does there have to even be a war? Why not make players that will play BOTH formats? LG did.
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10 Posted by jesusc_rey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:33PM EDT Report Abuse
Blu-Ray is the future! Sooner or later we're going to have to switch. Even if HD DVD wins for now. Blu-Ray will come back when you people have no more space left! I own a PS3. And being able to play HD games and HD movies on the same system is absolutely marvelous. I love my HDTV and my PS3. All I need now is a sound system. Maybe I'll get a HD Projector, too. Of course if you're just interested in movies, stick to normal DVDs. Then just wait until someone wins. Someone has to win. I hope Blu-Ray does. =) (It will sooner or later... Sooner or later...)
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11 Posted by tankdoc68 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:55PM EDT Report Abuse
Why would I go out and buy a Blu-Ray when I can't even watch the 400 dvd's I already own on it?
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12 Posted by justingerber01 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse
Blu-Ray is a far superior format. HD is a take on the standard DVD format, while Blu-Ray has taken technology to an entire new level. Case and point: HD is still linear programming. I.E. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3.......then Step 3, Step 2, Step 1. This is the way that standard DVD currently works. Blu-Ray on the other hand is Java Script based programming. (The wave of the future.) Java is widely used currently. This is what Apple uses. Java acts as A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and has the ability to think for itself during user input commands. Blu-Ray also the ability to connect online offering users the ability to download extra items, register for sweepstakes and be given updates in the future. (These are all features that are currently being used and explored in the authoring world. (Authoring is the process that puts the actual content onto the disc itself, this means the creative design of the menus as well. You know the animated menus at the beginning of the disc? Imagine being able to buy any product that you see in a movie directly from your DVD set-top player......Blu-Ray has that ability. This is something that is coming in the near future. Also, imagine being able to buy Spider Man 3 on a BD disc and from your set-top player being able to buy SP1 and SP2 from your remote. That disc then contains all 3 SP movies. HD cannot do this). From an authoring viewpoint the Blu-Ray technology is far superior and has a lot more to eventually offer the end user. The Blu-Ray format from a technology standpoint far exceeds that of HD. When you are talking about picture quality there is a complete difference. If you are comparing the picture quality between the formats on a middle of the road LCD/Plasma that you bought at Costco you are right there will be little or no difference, however if you are using a high level monitor (i.e. Pioneer Elite Kuro Plasma) there is a TOTAL difference that cannot be argued. There is no doubt that Blu-Ray is more expensive than HD. For your average user/consumer getting ready to upgrade immediately, HD might just be a better choice. However, with that said........HD in the long haul will be put to rest by the technological superiority of Blu-Ray. Assuming that Sony Corp. can get their act together and position themselves in the market appropriately Blu-Ray should win the format war. Sony needs to learn from their past mistakes and push Blu-Ray in the market ASAP. Unlike the way that they positioned Beta in the 80's/90's and MD in the 90's (Both were superior technologies to their competition i.e VHS and CD) They need to get on the ball and really push Blu-Ray in the marketplace. Once again, Sony has the upper hand when it comes to technology, but only time will tell if Sony Corp. has the ability to appropriately market their product. Also, when it comes to Blu-Ray players they are backwards compatible.....(Meaning they do play standard DVD's and do scale the picture up.)
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6 Posted by visland@swbell.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:36PM EDT Report Abuse
Anyone who purchased a BR Player already will need to buy a new one (if you didn't purchase a PS3). HD-DVD players now compete with high end DVD players and no longer with BR players...the price of $99 while a sale now, will be the regular price in the near future. I can go down to Walmart and they have HD-DVD Dual Format movies for $15 already - better than buying a Blu-Ray movie for my Blu-Ray player and then having to buy a regular DVD for my other players. If you have multiple TV's in the house, being able to buy 3 HD-DVD players for the price of a single BR player is a better bet, espcially since they can play all of the other DVD formats as well. Prices are coming down. There is absolutely no difference in picture quality. For movies, you cannot tell the difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in picture quality. If and when an affordable BD Live standalone player comes out that will work with my universal remotes, I will buy one...until then, the current line-up of BR Players (and soon to ship Profile 1.1 players) will be obsolete within the next 1-2 years (with the exception of the PS3 - but the PS3 has yet to even support BR Profile 1.1). I own and have watched 300 in DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray (I own all three). Blu-Ray and HD-DVD were nearly identical except the HD-DVD version had advanced features such as web content and PIP (even though it supposedly had less space on the disc). The upscaled DVD version to 1080P was grainy compared to the HD versions. Even if no format wins, enjoy the movies...the living room has never been able to compete with Movie Theatres till now(people complain about a HD disc price but will pay $7 for popcorn and $4 for a drink at the movies). And hopefully soon, we all won't need to be rich to enjoy the home theatre experience.