Toshiba: HD DVD "Has Not Lost"

Sun Jan 6, 2008 9:16PM EST

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Execs for HD DVD backer Toshiba insist the embattled HD disc format, which suffered a brutal blow at the hand of the Blu-ray camp on Friday, isn't dead yet.

Speaking here at CES, Toshiba exec Akiyo Ozaka said that HD DVD "had not lost," despite the announcement Friday that Warner Brothers, the last neutral studio in the HD format war, was dropping its HD DVD support and going exclusively with Blu-ray—a move that leaves HD DVD with support from only two movie studios, versus five for the Blu-ray camp. Toshiba is one of the biggest backers of HD DVD, along with Microsoft and Universal.

Ozaka went on to say that Toshiba was "very disappointed with Warner Brothers' announcement," as "sales of HD DVD were very good last year, especially in October to December" (according to Reuters).

Brave words, indeed, but as Reuters points out, Ozaka didn't reveal HD DVD's game plan for countering the latest blow from Blu-ray—and indeed, the abrupt cancellation of HD DVD's lavish CES press conference (which had been slated for tonight) suggests that the HD DVD camp is still reeling from the news.

The latest twist of the Blu-ray/HD DVD saga is the talk of the town here in Vegas, and I've been seeing a lot of fist-pumping by Blu-ray fans today. But while I wouldn't declare the HD format war to be over quite yet, these are certainly dark days for the HD DVD camp.

Related:
Toshiba says HD DVD "has not lost" despite Warner move [Reuters]
Why We Did It: Warner Explains Its Move to Blu-ray (Interview) [Yahoo! Tech]

Comments on Toshiba: HD DVD "Has Not Lost"

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  • 1 Posted by trieung@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    hopefully this will help to "determine" the future format for all consumers. Had Warner went HD DVD exclusive, it would have just dragged on this war that much further

  • 2 Posted by vprgts on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wonder how Paramount feels about their HD DVD exclusivity deal now. Had they gone Blu-ray, I would say the war was practically over, but HD DVD still has a strong supporter. Besides, this won't really take effect until later this year.

  • 3 Posted by richardmazariegos2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    Then again it all comes down to the numebers, Playstation 3 alone sold over 1.3 million consoles just for the holidays, and thats not even counting all the standalone blu-ray playes, against 1.2 from toshibas hd-dvd, then again it shows the growth of blu-ray playesr in american homes, i guess is just matter of time before one of the other 2 studios left in toshiba to leave before this war ends.

  • 4 Posted by garrisonsurg on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    Pack the bags, raise the white flag...HD-DVD is defeated.

  • 5 Posted by allspark@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    this format war should be illegal, it only hurts the consumer, not helps. no exclusiveness should be allowed it is only a ploy by these corporations to win over each other, while the consumer loses. what if i needed two different cd players to play music in my car. where is congress, or somebody in power to protect me the consumer from these companies taking advantage.

  • 6 Posted by chasmpictures on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah, next come the class action lawsuits. Anyone wonder why this "announcement" by Warner came after Christmas? Consumers have been duped by behind the scene corporate shena----- ns. "Well, if you want to watch "Transformers", you have to have this player, but "Pirates of the Caribbean" is only available for this other player." The previous poster is correct in that the simple fact is that content, or who is paying whom for exclusive rights to content, is the deciding factor of this "war." Paramount accepted $150 million from Toshiba to be HD-DVD only. But at least they didn't take the money, hide it and then try to tell consumers they were doing them a favor. "It all comes down to numbers." Yeah, it sure does, Blu-Ray players cost 200% as much and deliver about 20% more potential video performance. Which when viewed side by side, provides a neglibly perceptible benefit. Sony created a technologically superior format, but was late in delivering, then: 1)Sold it to the public initally at a loss in order to get it established (PS3). 2)Released it before it was ready with inferior title encoding (MPEG-2) with only one layer. 3)Paid off major resellers to prominately display it. 4)Convinced other companies to only support their format. Why such drastic measures if you really have a truly better product? Sony knows that patents pay handsomely as does Toshiba and every other manufacturer currently producing players (nearly all the companies currently involved hold patents on one side or the other, LG has patents for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD). Don't kid yourself, it's not about image quality or disc space. This is a battle of patent domination and in the long run forcing consumers (and other manufacturers) to pay fees for the winning format. P.S. Warner holds a patent for Blu-Ray. Oops, was that left off the press release for going Blu-Ray only.

  • 7 Posted by jjfowler69 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    how can we trust sony! DO YOU REMEMBER BATAMAX AND UMD VIDEO

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