All over but the crying?

[Omniblast]

Re: All over but the crying?

What do I do with my $100 HD-DVD player now...

So... how much money would you donate to me to burn it i.e. set it on fire? >:D

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

Doubt it. They have problems fulfilling the five free Blu-Ray movies offer as it is.

i know it was brought up to them (some kind of exchange HD-DVD for BD's) and they alluded to the fact that they'd been thinking about it. I'm expecting something to happen, though. BD needs a lot of the HD-DVD enthusiasts to have a chance at making it.

edit: spelling

[jwalton]

Re: All over but the crying?

Doubt it. They have problems fulfilling the five free Blu-Ray movies offer as it is.

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

Over and done with.
Home Media Magazine - Bringing Digital Entertainment To You
Curious if Sony offers some exchange program or rebate system to woo people who bought HD-DVD players and discs.

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

BD 2.0 is supposed to be pretty sweet, too.
Also looking forward to BSG being on BD now.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: All over but the crying?

From a technical standpoint, HD-DVD was better at launch than Blu-ray Disc was, by a longshot. Clearly stated, Toshiba was far more ready to launch their platform than the BDA was, and that was evidenced by how advanced the spec became at one point. It was some time before the BD spec 1.1 caught up, but the BDA still had the advantage of superior studio support.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: All over but the crying?

I guess this thread is closed, then. Real shame nobody picked up on my RvB reference, though:

Not to mention that Toshiba's HHDDVVDD BVDs are certain to follow.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZqWv7kDRy8[/ame]

But, Red Ray will obviously beat that format as well.

[Raydeus]

Re: All over but the crying?

It took less time than expected. I'm glad it's over.

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

Keep in mind, technically Betamax was better. Atleast in terms of picture quality.
I think HD-DVD was originally a better format to computer applications, but they quickly lost that ground, too.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: All over but the crying?

HD-DVD sold worse than Betamax. They even lied about their sales numbers, claiming over 1,000,000 standalone unit sales...when 360 HD-DVD add-ons accounted for over 300,000 units in sales. Roughly 20,000 standalone units were sold in Japan, with about an even split in Europe and North America of around 350,000 units. But I doubt anything will ever be looked at with more disgust than Laserdisc.

The official word from Universal:

“While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

“The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear,” Kornblau said. ”Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for high-def's unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

That leaves Paramount/Dreamworks, who, as of today, is still announcing titles like Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood only for HD-DVD, but an announcement is expected either by the end of the day or by the end of the week. Warner Bros. remains committed to shipping their HD-DVD titles through May like previously announced. Universal has not stated when they will stop shipping titles on HD-DVD.

Nikkei News, who broke the news early yesterday, Japan time, has revealed that several Toshiba executives were actually discussing suing Warner Bros. for their "betrayal" of the format last month. They obviously decided not to, as going against Hollywood in such a manner would have meant an even more brutal death for their format.

Toshiba stocks actually rose as a result of the announcement. It seems they're not the only ones looking at this great event in a positive light. It's good for Toshiba, good for the BDA, good for the industry, and good for the consumer.

More industry comments:

"We in the Blu-ray Disc Association are very happy that this long format war is officially over. Now the task ahead for our member companies is to promote the Blu-ray Disc format as the best way to bring premier quality high-definition content into consumers’ lives."
- Andy Parsons, Blu-ray Disc Association U.S. Promotions Committee chairman and Pioneer Electronics senior VP

"Overwhelming support from all the relevant industries, including Hollywood studios, consumer electronics and IT companies, retailers and video rental stores, is clear proof that consumers have chosen Blu-ray as the next-generation optical disc format. We believe that a single format will benefit both consumers and the industry and will accelerate the expansion of the market."
- Sony

"Now that consumer confusion concerning dueling formats has ended, it is time for suppliers and retailers to redouble their efforts to bring home the message that Blu-ray discs deliver the finest viewing experience for the world's best entertainment. It is critically important for all content companies to deliver their best new releases and their rich catalog slates to the market in Blu-ray strategically. We believe there is pent up demand for high-definition optical discs in thousands of applications."
- Bo Andersen, Entertainment Merchants Association president

[Icemage]

Re: All over but the crying?

So, how will HDDVD be remembered?

like Beta? Laser disks? CD Video? Divx?

Better than DIVX, but not as fondly as Betamax.

The problem HD DVD has is that it just doesn't have enough presence to even become niche, and it doesn't do anything that Blu-ray can't do. Per the official statement, they have 730,000 total units on the market worldwide. It's just not enough of an install base for anyone to contemplate publishing on the format.


Icemage

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

Universal announced they're going BD.
/agree Pai, just got into Firefly/Serenity, want to see it in hi-def now.
Feba: I'm going with Divx

[Feba]

Re: All over but the crying?

So, how will HDDVD be remembered?

like Beta? Laser disks? CD Video? Divx?

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: All over but the crying?

The official press release:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses
19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content


TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.


HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.


"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."


Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.


Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.


Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

Hopefully announcements from Universal and Paramount will soon follow, once the US markets open up later today. I want to see my Serenity on BD by year's end!

[Caspian]

Re: All over but the crying?

Toshiba May Exit HD DVD Business, Handing Sony a Victory
Its done. Rumor is they'll announce in the next day or so that they're done with it all. I imagine at some point they'll start making BD players.