HD-DVD In Trouble As Blu-ray Gains Momentum

[BJ_M]

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that HD-DVD’s pre-Christmas release might not make as big of a splash as once thought. The high-definition disc format backed by Toshiba suffered a loss of support from 20th Century Fox last week and The Reporter is suggesting that the other two Hollywood studios now backing HD-DVD are getting wedding day jitters.

HD-DVD has some distinct advantages, including a superior name. Everyone in the world knows what a DVD is. They also know what HDTV is. The marriage of the two is a natural. One thing that consumers find unnatural and even repulsive is the idea of a format war and it seems Hollywood studio execs have learned their lessons from the Beta-VHS and SACD-DVD-Audio battles. In the SACD-DVD-Audio battle, consumers and entertainment executives learned it is possible for all parties involved to lose. Consumers hold the power and they want one HDTV disc format and they will spend for it.

The process of getting a movie from its archive to a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc isn’t rocket science. Movies are normally stored on D-5 master tapes and require a relatively simple down-conversion to get to an accepted HDTV format like 720p or 1080i. The audio for most movies made after 1990 or movies that have been released on DVD is mixed for 5.1 home theater systems. Mixing and audio mastering houses can fine-tune soundtracks for movies in surround in a matter of weeks. All of this adds up to a likely pre-holiday launch for one or both formats.

Now is the time the Blu-ray camp needs to make friends and influence people at Toshiba and the HD-DVD group. Months ago, there were talks to merge the two formats. Because the next generation Playstation is based on Blu-ray, that format folding was unlikely. Now they have the momentum. Perhaps for a taste of the royalty stream, Toshiba and friends will join forces with Sony and the Blu-ray camp. It is what consumers want and they have their Platinum cards cocked and loaded to pump more money into the system than the studios have ever seen before.

Source:
The Hollywood Reporter

[somebodeez]

...they have their Platinum cards cocked and loaded to pump more money into the system than the studios have ever seen before.

Not this gal - not just yet anyway.
If Blu Ray still has plans of locking me out of my player & if HD-DVD decides to do the same, it will be never.

[gadgetguy]

I have to wonder what consumers they've actually talked to...

[paulw]

I would suspect that the BluRay consortium have convince 20th Fox that they have better copy protection than the HD-DVD group. If the only reason that Hollywood goes with one flavor over another is because of copy protection over format quality then all is lost regarding better quality of movie presentation.. I don't care one way or the other as to which way it goes I woun't be buying into it. I'm quite happy with the current DVD technology that we have..

[MOVIEGEEK]

Blu-Ray is better,HD-DVD is better.
Blah...Blah...Blah
This sounds like another Onion story.

[Bob W]

I thought the HD-DVD format or players would be backwards compatible with standard DVDs. If so then I may have an interest. Also I suspect the HD-DVDs will be cheaper since they use technology similar to what is used to make DVDs.

[yoda313]

In the SACD-DVD-Audio battle, consumers and entertainment executives learned it is possible for all parties involved to lose

Well its not a total loss because you can still get a concert dvd in 5.1 surround that can totally rock. While I've never had the privilege of listening to an "enhanced audio" dvd I imagine they are nice. BUT they weren't nice enough for me to buy a more expensive dvd player.

I thought the HD-DVD format or players would be backwards compatible with standard DVDs. If so then I may have an interest.

BOTH hd and bluray will play current dvds. They are the same physical size and both have mpeg decoders so they can easily play dvds.

[MikieV]

Also I suspect the HD-DVDs will be cheaper since they use technology similar to what is used to make DVDs.

Deja Vu!

Reminds me of the 80's, when I was investing in LaserDisc, and I couldn't talk people out of buying RCA's CED players/discs.

Tragical History Tour: http://www.cedmagic.com/selectavision.html

Back then, the record companies were pushing the CED discs as cheaper, because the vinyl, single-groove discs could be manufactured on existing presses used for LPs. They were able to get a piece of the video-disc market by leveraging existing manufacturing equip.

No one wants to pay more than necessary for discs, but I think studio support will be more important than price.

Beta-VHS war lasted for so long, because the same movies could be found on both formats, and the quality difference wasn't big enough for most people to notice. That, and the war ran long enough that both formats were able to adopt each-others "unique" features i.e. Beta would keep the tape against the heads for visible ffwd/rew, while VHS pulled the tape into the cassette for ffwd/rew. VHS initially claimed less tape/head wear - but then bowed to demand for visible search, and hatred of the inability to find an exact spot on a tape - due to the un-threading/threading of the tape during each fwd/rev.

If HD-DVD can't keep the studios without a vested-interest (Like Warner's stake in "DVD" royalties) in their camp, then their lower-price will only keep people buying until they realize the selection of content is limited.

It doesn't suprise me that some studios were initially atracted to lower-priced discs, but are now attracted by supposedly stronger copy-protection - which is probably their "Holy Grail".