Warner Home Video Fallout Hits CES 2008

Others/Miscelleneous by Michael @ 2008-01-06

There has been a lot of discussion pointing towards a long-term HD DVD, Blu-ray war, but Time Warner may have prematurely ended the war. After the Warner announcement last week, in which the company announced it would end HD DVD support later this year, the North American HD DVD Promotion Group ended up canceling press conferences and meetings during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

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Warner Home Video Fallout Hits CES

Written By: Michael "Shogun" Hatamoto

There has been a lot of discussion pointing towards a long-term HD DVD, Blu-ray war, but Time Warner may have prematurely ended the war. After the Warner announcement last week, in which the company announced it would end HD DVD support later this year, the North American HD DVD Promotion Group ended up canceling press conferences and meetings during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Madshrimps (c)


Time Warner initially supported both Blu-ray and HD DVD, and apparently decided the smartest business strategy would be to switch to Blu-ray.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps," Time Warner said in a statement. ``We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability -- a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.


Madshrimps (c)


Analysts and consumers are interested to see what happens in the immediate future, as HD DVD technology is expected to have a sizable presence during the show this week.

Although the price war helped drive down player prices to a level where casual consumers could jump on the high-definition bandwagon, with Blu-ray seemingly in complete control, it is unknown what will happen now.

Madshrimps will post details from the show regarding the next-gen battle, but we imagine the HD DVD crowd will not hear too many cheerful details from the show.
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Comment from jmke @ 2008/01/15
The fallout of an apparent Blu-ray victory over HD DVD continued all week, even after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) ended on Thursday evening. Is the war for next-gen supremacy over? Can everyone look to go buy a Blu-ray player now?

http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=666
Comment from slugbug @ 2008/01/16
Toshiba countered by slashing prices of it's entire hd dvd player line by 50%. They may be trying to flood the market with hd dvd players.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/01/17
what good is a media player with no media to play on it?
Comment from Rutar @ 2008/01/17
Porn went to Blu-Ray only, it is over now.
Comment from Kougar @ 2008/01/17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutar View Post
Porn went to Blu-Ray only, it is over now.
That isn't what I am reading... http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10369

As long as it is still cheaper to produce HD-DVDs over Blu-ray discs, and people are buying them, then HD-DVD will be around for awhile to come even if they lost the war.
Comment from Shogun @ 2008/01/22
I think all this recent news will actually just further focus the average consumer to the pitfalls of both formats, and hopefully they select the format that fits their needs best.

Universal reps tell HD DVD supporters to not lose faith.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kougar View Post
As long as it is still cheaper to produce HD-DVDs over Blu-ray discs, and people are buying them, then HD-DVD will be around for awhile to come even if they lost the war.
But Blu-ray supporters argue it's useless to support a format that will ultimately die at some point in the future.
Comment from Kougar @ 2008/01/22
I'm not arguing, just stating that if people continue to buy HD-DVD then HD-DVD will continue to be sold for at least the next year if what Universal said holds true. Since they are cheaper to make than Blu-ray discs it increases the incentive for them to not switch if people are buying them...

If the super low HD_DVD player prices actually work and attract enough customers, it could very well prolong the war for a long while yet. : |
Comment from jmke @ 2008/01/22
I hope it ends quickly, it's no good for customers to have two incompatible technologies fighting for HD.
Comment from Kougar @ 2008/01/22
That is what I am saying... even though Blu-ray has pretty much won, unless something else drastic happens HD-DVD is going to linger around for awhile to come. I don't see it going anyhere soon...
Comment from Shogun @ 2008/01/22
As long as Blu-ray supporters are able to purchase the movies they want to see in Blu-ray, I am not entirely sure how much they'll care about how HD DVD is doing.

I was chatting with a friend this morning who is adamant all the pressure is on Blu-ray to deal HD DVD the killing blow as soon as possible. Wait. What? IMO HD DVD has to crawl out of the basement and become a contender, or it will die.
Comment from Kougar @ 2008/01/24
I would generally agree... the writing is on the wall for HD-DVD, but it could still linger around instead of dieing off anytime in the near future, unfortunately.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/01/24
PS30 60gb installed and configured, bought a few BR movies, waiting for them to arrive. Tested PS2 games I have (GT4 & Singstar) and it works as intended, so PS2 is out of the door, as soon as I've transferred my savegames

hooked up to HDMI 42" Panasonic Plasma, although I can run at 1080i, found results to be better at 720p. Now it's time to test that DVD upscaling hardware engine to see what it's worth, playing same movie on both XBOX1 hooked up to Component and PS3 through HDMI, both do upscaling, which one is better? I'll soon find out
Comment from Shogun @ 2008/01/25
Let us know how it goes!
Comment from jmke @ 2008/01/25
difference between DVD "normal" and fully upscaled to 720p is noticeable, it's for the better

 

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