Still No Winner in Sight for High-Def DVD?
Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:09PM EDT
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While Blu-ray discs and devices continue to outsell HD DVD equipment, there's still no end in sight for the high-definition DVD wars, according to a couple of experts in the industry. The upshot for you: Expect both devices to be on sale this holiday season and for the foreseeable future thereafter. For what it's worth, I wouldn't expect a victor to emerge until holiday 2008, or even later.
The latest pronouncements come from industry analysis firm Screen Digest and even the Blu-ray Disc Association. Even the BDA says that despite sustained sales above those of the competition, the war against HD DVD has yet to be won.
It may not be winnable at all: Recent news has shown both high-def formats struggling in America, with studios criticized for choosing one camp exclusively over another in the ongoing war.
Especially curious is the possibility that once the war is over, the U.S. could end up with a different standard than Asia (leaning toward Blu-ray). If Europe sides with latecomer HD VMD, all three main media regions could standardize on different formats, a potential nightmare for distributors and content creators.
Sorry high-def folks, but I'm still not jumping in to this market to replace my (many) DVD players... Get ready for another chilly holiday season, unless someone manages to hustle out a $99 high-def player.
Comments on Still No Winner in Sight for High-Def DVD?
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2 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse
The $99 player is the VMD players coming out in a few days here in the US - format number 3.
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3 Posted by chaos_fire_dragon89 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:21PM EDT Report Abuse
good luck getting that too far after all the disappointment we've dealt with from HD media so far.
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4 Posted by ssnick35 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:38PM EDT Report Abuse
This high def battle is getting old... Until players, gaming consoles and high definition TVs come down in price, no one is ever going to care for either or any format. Now, High Def TV, thats a different story.
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5 Posted by mark_butler@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:08PM EDT Report Abuse
Quite frankly, with the quality of the uprezzing dvd players now, it will be some time before I am interested in hd. The "format wars" don't worry me as much, if I selected one of the players I could watch a subset of movies that come out for it and the rest would have to be normal dvds. For me the big problem is just how difficult this stuff is, have you tried deciphering: EDTV, HDTV, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, LCD, DLP, Plasma, LCD Projection, Composite, Component, VGA, DVI, HDMI, HDCP, Stereo, Dolby formats, DTS formats, SDDS, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, Upscaling DVD, S-Video, HDMI-Video only connections, DVI-HDMI limited connection cabling, optical audio connections and SPDIF (all of which are mentioned in the 18 pages of "quick" setup for my TV) Not to mention the problems of some signals requiring your tv to be set to "Zoom" and some to be set to "pillarbox" or you get that "fat person" look. And of course the problem of sound, trying to get surround sound to work when the manual has lines like "set the down-mix mode to V.SURR" and page after page of "if you have this kind of connection try this" and zero feedback that you have got it right or whats not connected correctly. There is another factor. In addition to the complexity, cost and uncertainty. There is the worry about DRM problems. That my player can be blacklisted without warning and will no longer play any movies I legally purchase because someone somewhere broke a code, tells me to wait.
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6 Posted by boyzfootball4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:12PM EDT Report Abuse
HD is the greatest thing since sliced bread, just kidding, but HD is awesome... just too expensive
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7 Posted by daughtry on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:37PM EDT Report Abuse
The format war will be a moot point with dual format players. They should be ready by the 2008 Christmas season. These players will be highly integrated, which means the price will start to drop.
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8 Posted by ericjbieschke on Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:22PM EDT Report Abuse
I have a hang over - who gives a poop? :P
1 Posted by somebodys_here on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:32PM EDT Report Abuse
$99 is great but not happening any time soon. $200-$300 is the best you'll find anywhere I've seen so far.