No Truce In HD Format War

[HardOCP News]

This Houston Chronicle article pretty much sums up the whole stand-off in the HD format war. The good news is that dual format discs may save the day. The bad news is that we even have to consider that route in the first place.

Analysts and executives thought that by this year's show, there would be a clear winner, especially after Sony in November released its Playstation 3 video game console, which comes standard with a Blu-ray disc drive. Instead, both sides have hunkered down for what could be a long fight and some are even conceding that both formats may be here to stay.

 

[Silentbob343]

Stand off? Haven't you read HD DVD got porn and the PS3 is a failure so Sony is going under.

 

[horseflesh]

Dual-format disks aren't going to end the war. As long as each side has exclusive content, the war is on. The only thing that might really help is an affordable dual-format player.

The dual-format player announced at CES is a false hope though, as it is expensive, and doesn't fully support HD-DVD's fancy interactive features.

Unfortunately I think we are in for a long fight.

 

[nilepez]

But some observers say announcements like those from LG and Warner Bros., aren't necessarily helpful.

"Consumers are aware there are two formats and they think 'VHS versus Betamax," said Phillip Swann, president of the technology-oriented Web site TVpredictions.com.

The competing videocassette technologies squared off in the 1980s with consumers eventually picking VHS as the winner.

"Consequently one of the formats has to go away, either via the marketplace or a negotiated truce."

That is 100% correct. Just look at the travesty of the DVD Burners. Everyone would have DVD burners today if it weren't for the stupid DVD-R vs DVD+R wars. As it stands, people see 2 formats and despite hte fact that any drive can record on either disc and play back either disk, nobody buys them

 

[LynxFX]

At least there wasn't any wishywashy support with Blu-ray as there was with HD DVD this CES. Every Studio that has been an exclusive Blu-ray supporter showed even more support this week with the announcements of many titles and more to come. Every Studio that was neutral, yet some seemed to favor HD DVD a bit more, have come out as being 100% neutral with day and date releases on both formats. The one lone Studio in the HD DVD camp didn't even announce a single new title. That doesn't exactly look good.

And no, porn is not going to win this format war. The internet and DVD won that long ago and will remain that way for quite sometime. HD Porn will be a smaller niche than HD movies are now.

 

[Xerodeluxe]

And no, porn is not going to win this format war. The internet and DVD won that long ago and will remain that way for quite sometime. HD Porn will be a smaller niche than HD movies are now.

Who buys pron anyways? *dodgy*

 

[pettybone]

I don't see HD DVD winning this one. Once Sony gets over them selves and lowers the price on the players the war will be over. For the most part who ever gets the prices lower the quickest has the most chance of winning. Porn won't be factor this round. Most people are getting it online and who wants an extreamly clear shot of some of those girls. I would stick with plain old dvd.

 

[nilepez]

I don't see HD DVD winning this one. Once Sony gets over them selves and lowers the price on the players the war will be over. For the most part who ever gets the prices lower the quickest has the most chance of winning. Porn won't be factor this round. Most people are getting it online and who wants an extreamly clear shot of some of those girls. I would stick with plain old dvd.

I think the war is over. Dual format will win, just like DVD-R/+R. After that, which disk dominates will likely be based on how much it costs to make the disks vs the amount they can store.

On the computer side, I'm 99.99% sure that BD will eventually win. We just want the most storage, and it seems pretty clear that BD is going to win that fight.

 

[Jiffylush]

I think the war is over. Dual format will win, just like DVD-R/+R. After that, which disk dominates will likely be based on how much it costs to make the disks vs the amount they can store.

On the computer side, I'm 99.99% sure that BD will eventually win. We just want the most storage, and it seems pretty clear that BD is going to win that fight.

On the data side BD wins right now, you can buy BD burners and media from Newegg today. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=blu-ray+burner&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

 

[LonerVamp]

This was a no-brainer from the start, no matter what companies were behind it.

Ask any consumer in Best Buy which is better: HD-DVD or Blu-ray? Guess which they will pick?

Everyone knows what HD means these days...
Everyone knows what DVD means...
Everyone knows what HD-DVD means...

Few people understand what purpose Blu-ray has...

That's really it, game over.

 

[LynxFX]

People didn't seem to have a problem with the names VHS, DVD, CD, MP3, iAnything. Get the branding out there, and the public will pick up on it.

HD can mean all sorts of things and lately it seems to be doing just that, HD-Radio? Sure, how about radio that at least equals the quality of CD's from the 80's?

HD = High Definition
HD = High Density
HD = Hard Drvie (as in the DVD recorders with hard drives)
HD = Heavy Duty
HD = Hilary Duff

It can be anything.

By the way, Best Buy is about as pro Blu-ray as you can get for a retailer. Just search on the web for all the conspiracy theories on what they do with HD DVD. So if you ask a consumer at Best Buy they will probably say "I don't know, but what is that huge Blu-ray stand playing that great looking movie all about?"

 

[Caffeinated]

I think the war is over. Dual format will win, just like DVD-R/+R. After that, which disk dominates will likely be based on how much it costs to make the disks vs the amount they can store.

On the computer side, I'm 99.99% sure that BD will eventually win. We just want the most storage, and it seems pretty clear that BD is going to win that fight.

LG Super Multi FTW

I don't care which side wins, as long as I have a drive that can utilize both Hasn't the public gotten sufficiently burned by this proprietary format marketing crap enough by now? I'm not going to cheer either side on as they attempt to collectively bend us all over. Screw that - I want a combo drive.