The real reason behind the blue laser delays

[Denvers Dawgs]

The real reason behind the blue laser delays
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13259

[MOVIEGEEK]

"Having said that, the discs will be anywhere from 25-30 dollars each and the studios intend to "phase out" the standard DVD by the holiday season of 2008! This is a major drawback to negotiations."

Well I won't be phasing out my current DVD collection so I guess they lost a customer.

[Bob W]

"Having said that, the discs will be anywhere from 25-30 dollars each and the studios intend to "phase out" the standard DVD by the holiday season of 2008! This is a major drawback to negotiations."

Well I won't be phasing out my current DVD collection so I guess they lost a customer.

The first three HD-DVD titles are available for pre-order from Amazon or Target for $22 and one for $20. The players will start selling around the 14th and the movies titles can be had on the 18th. The Toshiba player is available for pre-order on several sites including BestBuy at $500 but I see eCost.com has it listed at $400.

[yoda313]

the studios intend to "phase out" the standard DVD by the holiday season of 2008!

Yeah right why phase out a sure money maker and bank on a technology thats untested in the real world yet? And how many people are going to plunk down $1000 or even $500 for a high def dvd player when so many people (myself included) don't even have a high def tv yet? Heck how many people have 5.1 surround sound?? That's half the benefit of dvd and so many people don't have a full media center.

I can't imagine them dropping dvd anytime soon. Its so popular now they don't have to do anything and they make money. It would be the most idiotic move ever to dump the most successful home entermanment media ever.

[Bob W]

I could see them dropping DVD's but only long after the format war between HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray is over and some time after the analog hole is plugged. Maybe like in ten years or more.

[yoda313]

Thats what I mean is why would they rush to drop something so successful before a clear winner is even definite? I mean we don't even know if people will accept the drm clogged next gen discs.

The main one with an edge is BLURAY with sony support and the 800 pound gorilla Playstation 3 waiting in the wings. And the fact Sony is armwrestling as many studios it DOESN'T own to back its format.

[Bob W]

I bet the drm, ITC, audio watermark, and HDCP will be defeated by some twelve year old kid within a month aftter release of the players/media LOL.

[adam]

Well I'm sure the 2008 deadline is even more tentative than this idea of the hybrid disc. Either way it really makes alot of sense. After a couple years if HD still hasn't caught on enough they can just keep on releasing the hybrids and people will keep on buying it. Eventually a large portion of their collection will be HD proof now so that an HDTV will start looking like a much better investment. As far as I'm concerned the cost of the player is a non-issue. In two years they won't be any more expensive than current players are now.

I really think paying a few extra dollars now for our DVDs is worth it knowing that whenever you do upgrade to HD your current DVDs will be able to take advantage of it. No one wants to buy a red laser DVD now and then rebuy it again in HD in a few years. This way you get both.

This looks like terrible news for blu-ray though. Could kill them before they get out of the gate.

[Bob W]

To me it looks like with hybrid dvd/hd-dvd discs and Toshiba along with soon to be other manufactures making HD-DVD players at or below $300 before Christmas Sony and Blu-Ray are going to have a hard time even with the PS3. They may need to get the Blu-Ray players in line with the HD-DVD pricing and that is not going to be a profitable thing to do.

[MJPollard]

Given the date on that article, am I the only one who smells an April Fool's joke on the part of CDFreaks?

[Dv8ted2]

Given the date on that article, am I the only one who smells an April Fool's joke on the part of CDFreaks?

Nope. I was thinking the same thing.

[hudsonf]

If you read the whole thing at the end it say's that it was a April Fool's story.

[painkiller]

At the bottom:

Edit: Or maybe not, as this is our annual April Fools story! We hope you enjoyed it!

[festmaster]

At the bottom:

Edit: Or maybe not, as this is our annual April Fools story! We hope you enjoyed it!

The really foolish thing is that it mostly all seemed plausible (expect for phasing out DVDs by 2008)

[Bob W]

I believe a few weeks ago Warner Bros said they are going to be making some hybrid discs. I assume they mean one side is standard DVD the other HD-DVD.

[Faustus]

I now shall declare that I support neither format. May they both become the Laserdisc of their time.

[FulciLives]

I now shall declare that I support neither format. May they both become the Laserdisc of their time.

Hey now I was enjoying high end video via LaserDisc for a LONG time before DVD came along so watch what you say!

It may seem a failure now in hindsight but only for people that never had it. For those of us that had LaserDisc ... it was a life changing way of enjoying movies. Not only was the quality MUCH better but you got extras you didn't get with VHS and movies in OAR (widescreen) came about on LD long before it become popular on VHS.

The jump from VHS to LD was major as was of course the jump from VHS to DVD for those of you that skipped LD but the jump from LD to DVD was really minor. Yes DVD quality is better in most cases but LD really isn't that far behind quality level wise.

So what am I trying to say?

For those that went straight from VHS to DVD ... I pity you ... as I was enjoying a near DVD experience for almost 10 years prior thanks to LaserDisc

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Faustus]

Fulci, thats EXACTLY what I mean. I'm not saying its not going to be better. Laserdisc was much better indeed. I had one near the end before DVD came out. However it was a format doomed to enthusist.

I think HD / Blu Ray is far to soon, I forsee the same fate except for the fact that it sounds as if they are trying to force our hands. I wish them both failure except with enthusist and for eventual Data Backup.

[ROF]

At the bottom:

Edit: Or maybe not, as this is our annual April Fools story! We hope you enjoyed it!

The really foolish thing is that it mostly all seemed plausible (expect for phasing out DVDs by 2008)

That is my thought as well. Look at how long each form of popular media has continued to be supplied. April Fools Indeed!

[yoda313]

I forsee the same fate except for the fact that it sounds as if they are trying to force our hands

Well if it wasn't for the Playstation 3 incorporating bluray I'd peg the next gen format war to a slow, painful death. But look what the PS2 with dvd capability did for the dvd market. It helped skyrocket it to unprecedent levels.

That may help decide a winner. Or they may finally come to their senses and officially approve a dualformat hybrid player that will play both and make our lives much easier.

[MJPollard]

If you read the whole thing at the end it say's that it was a April Fool's story.

Indeed it does, but it didn't say that at first. Those cheeky guys must've added it towards the end of the day, after letting everyone get their juices boiling.

[verchad]

It sounds like I'll be stuck, like others, watching my library of "regular old" dvd movies for awhile. We do not have a monster sized tv because of space. Last fall, we got a new samsung crt 26" 16:9 HDTV to replace our 27" standard toshiba. We enjoyed the World Series, super bowl, and other things with OTA signals and love the way our "regular old" dvds look on the flat screen HDTV through component video from both my panasonic dmr-hs2 and my gateway connected dvd player. I don't need a better dvd picture. Heck, I was even able to record an HD pbs program with Eric Clapton by outputing the signal, from the tv rca composite out, to the Panasonic. The recording wasn't true HD, but looked darned good, remember garbage in garbage out, or in this case HD in, nice quality out.

[hudsonf]

If you read the whole thing at the end it say's that it was a April Fool's story.

Indeed it does, but it didn't say that at first. Those cheeky guys must've added it towards the end of the day, after letting everyone get their juices boiling.

My juices were starting to boil until I read what it said at the end.