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]
Comments on Sony CEO: Blu-ray/HD DVD War a "Stalemate"
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2 Posted by kola10002000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:53PM EDT Report Abuse
The cost of the disk for either one will keep most of us from switching over.
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3 Posted by bullygrrl2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:15PM EDT Report Abuse
It is unfortunate but it seems cheap prices often attract consumers rather than quality product. BD on a 1080p screen is an outstanding technology, There is no better picture available. HDDvd is okay, but visibly inferior. I will continue to tout BD to my friends in the market to upgrade, but the "walmarters" of the world always have their influence. Fortunately with the PS3 price drop, maybe some people will get into the BD format. We have really enjoyed the convenience of gaming and superb movie playback in the all in 1 system. Too bad XBox doesn't offer the same level of functionality for its supporters!
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4 Posted by gregorylopez4881 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13PM EDT Report Abuse
Totally agree with kola. The price of the disks alone will keep me and my freinds from ugrading anytime soon. My progressive DVD player on my HD LCD is good enough. Let the battle continue!
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5 Posted by m_cottor on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:32PM EDT Report Abuse
Any format that requires a connection to the internet to play a legally purchased movie is doomed. Especially if such a disc cannot be viewed for a week or whenever new decription is available.
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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.
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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...)
1 Posted by adstekservices on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:46PM EDT Report Abuse
Obviously, the HD format wars are not over. Has anyone mentioned Pioneer's Ultra-Violet Laser format that has a touted capability of 500 gigabytes? Maybe we should take a good look at the low-end HD Red Laser format soon to be in the marketplace. It's getting all to comfusing for me. I think I'll stick to my plain old DVDs for now. Buying new media everytime there is an incremental upgrade is really cost prohibitive.