I'm making sure there are multiple HDMI ports on HDTVs I'm considering so that it'll be easy to go format neutral just as soon as I recover from buying the TV enough to buy a Blu-ray player of some kind.
Most people run everything through their AVR so as long as your TV has 2 HDMI inputs you should be fine.
Considering how unsettled the whole HD picture is right now, it's more important to have an AVR with at least 3 HDMI inputs as a bare minimum, 4 would be much better.
Hrm... Appeared to be just ghosting. I ran my break-in dvd all night and I don't see it any more (I actually stopped seeing it after about 10 min). Maybe I can stick with plasma and I'll hold off on games and static content another 100 hours. However, THIS IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE!!!!
That's correct...it's not permanent. Mine does that after watching something with a lot of graphics in it, like ESPN or what not. It goes away pretty quickly.
It's "buy one, get one free" time again at Amazon, with the web merchant offering two separate deals on select Blu-ray discs from Disney and Sony.
Both promos were launched Sunday by the web merchant, and include a list of popular Blu-ray titles from both studios, totaling 100 in all.
Among the 72 discs being offered by Sony are such A-list Blu-ray titles as 'Casino Royale,' 'The Fifth Element (Remastered),' 'Hollow Man' and 'Black Hawk Down' (view complete list of Sony titles).
The list of 40 Disney titles includes such fan favorites as 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,' 'Apocalypto' and 'The Prestige' (view complete list of Disney titles).
Note that Amazon is offering these as two separate deals, so in order for either offer to kick in, you'll need to buy at least two titles from the same studio.
At press time there was no word on how long either deal would be offered by Amazon, though both are being billed as limited time offers. For a full list of eligible titles and more information, click the links to Amazon below.
Yeah... the burn-in is for the old school models, the newer plasma TV's do have image retention issue like the burn-in, but should go away after awhile. It's still like a burn-in but just not permanent like the older plasma.
Also, the motion smear/blur on LCD is almost not an issue with the newer models having 12 ms and lower latency.
I'm in the process of evaluating 120Hz/LED or CCF backlight in 50 to 60" size at the moment.... or the new MBP. It's a tough call. Anyway, the newer LCD TV's with gloss panels actually looked equal/better than the best plasmas, IMO. Only problem is I don't like the gloss due to reflections.
I haven't heard the greatest things about the 120Hz tvs. When I was viewing the sony (it was stand alone with spiderman 3 via hdmi), it looked fake to me. It didn't look as natural as the Pioneer Plasma that was next to it (granted it was playing something else when I saw it, but spiderman 3 is supposed to be a well mastered movie). This could all be personal preference.
Quote:
That's correct...it's not permanent. Mine does that after watching something with a lot of graphics in it, like ESPN or what not. It goes away pretty quickly.
I agree, and this below will make it even worse for HD DVD...
New Two-For-One Blu-ray Deals at Amazon
Anyone going Blu with this deal? Curious. How many are you guys buying?
I'm still debating. There isn't anything on that list that I'm dying to have. I was thinking Rescue Me 3 and maybe The Patriot. The rest are kinda meh to me. Those are the only Sony Titles.
I would go with The Brothers Grimm and Pirates Of the Caribbean if it didn't have framing issues. Otherwise I don't know what else I'd get that is Disney.
Well I took the plunge and ordered the 32" Westinghouse LCD. By the end of the week I should actually get to watch all of Transformers in HD. Then I'll turn on HDDVD in Netflix and be a happy camper.
Well I took the plunge and ordered the 32" Westinghouse LCD. By the end of the week I should actually get to watch all of Transformers in HD. Then I'll turn on HDDVD in Netflix and be a happy camper.
Nice...
My in law has that exact TV for the bedroom, I think. With some tweeking, the TV looked great. Just make sure to ouput 1080i for 1366x768 native panel for best result.
BTW, there were know CUE issues with earlier firmware version on the Gen-2 Players. I think firmware 2.0 and above fixes this.
Anyway, Transformers would be a fun presentaion in HD for all ages. Hope you have a decent audio setup to go along with your new tv.
Now that I have a HDTV, I find myself wanting to send digital video to it :-D. I hope that AppleTV supports 1080p soon. I won't buy it until it does. I can see myself doing a majority of digital video over blu-ray / hd-dvd if I can get a good 1080p set up (video and hardware). After seeing my friend's setup... I feel blu-ray and hd-dvd are completely useless. He has all of his DVDs, HD TV streams, etc... cataloged on 2 terabytes. He accesses them all through remote interface through a mac mini. He doesn't have to change discs. Doesn't have to browse through cases (and store cases) of video. It's kinda neat. Then again, it is fun to show off a large library a physical presentation of movies. Is it worth it in the end? Sure you don't get extras, but personally I never watch extras.
I haven't heard the greatest things about the 120Hz tvs. When I was viewing the sony (it was stand alone with spiderman 3 via hdmi), it looked fake to me. It didn't look as natural as the Pioneer Plasma that was next to it (granted it was playing something else when I saw it, but spiderman 3 is supposed to be a well mastered movie). This could all be personal preference.
I am begining to learn that 120Hz LCD is not a true 120Hz. I'll have to do more homework on how it really works and how it deals with 1080p24 feeds.
I am looking into Toshiba or Samsung which does show noticeable improvement over the Sony XBR series in generating blacks & grey scale output. Sony seems to be showing brighter whites than blacker blacks compared to the other brands. From What I've seen, Toshiba LX177 & Samsung TNFXX71/81 seems to achieve blacks on par with plasma. I still have to do more homework to decide. At least, plasma screens still show more pop/richness at a glance, but this may have something to do with calibration of the displayed models.
Hm..... with gas price going up like crazy.... I may just hold onto my cash instead.
Now that I have a HDTV, I find myself wanting to send digital video to it :-D. I hope that AppleTV supports 1080p soon. I won't buy it until it does. I can see myself doing a majority of digital video over blu-ray / hd-dvd if I can get a good 1080p set up (video and hardware). After seeing my friend's setup... I feel blu-ray and hd-dvd are completely useless. He has all of his DVDs, HD TV streams, etc... cataloged on 2 terabytes. He accesses them all through remote interface through a mac mini. He doesn't have to change discs. Doesn't have to browse through cases (and store cases) of video. It's kinda neat. Then again, it is fun to show off a large library a physical presentation of movies. Is it worth it in the end? Sure you don't get extras, but personally I never watch extras.
you can still do that with HD-DVD library right now. The HDM source still look noticeably better than the upconverted SD-DVD source when using HTPC with 1080p display.
Now then... we wanted to say a few words about all the recent brouhaha over Sony CEO Howard Stringer's "stalemate" comment from last week with regard to Blu-ray and HD-DVD. I don't know how many e-mails I've gotten in the last few days on this, either from HD-DVD fans eager to gloat that Stinger was clearly conceding the format war, or Blu-ray fans wondering why Stringer was being so pessimistic. As it turns out, he wasn't. I've done a little digging over the weekend, and have managed to obtain a transcript of the actual interview. Remember how last week, during Blu-ray fest, Warner Home Video's Dan Silverberg's comments were taken out of context by supporters of both high-def camps to suggest that Warner was about to chose sides in the format war? Except that's not what he actually said or meant to imply? This is the same sort of thing... yet another case of much ado about nothing.
The deal is this: Howard Stringer was being interviewed by Business Week's Steven J. Adler about his career at the 92nd Street Y in NYC on Thursday. He was asked a few questions about Blu-ray Disc and the format war, and he spoke about it for maybe 5 minutes out of a 90 minute interview. Here's the actual text of the relevant portion of the interview:
---begin excerpt---
Adler: Of course, one of the big fights right now is Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD for the high definition video market. I mean, the first and most obvious question is: Shouldn't there just be one format? Why should people have to choose between the two? And is there any possibility that we'll be heading there?
Stringer: I should point out that that is not part of the software battle. I mean, that's actually in some ways sort of anachronistic. We're fighting over a packaged goods hardware that will not go on forever, from a classic sense. We have a more expensive version, as Sony tends to, and Toshiba has a cheaper version, which seems to keep getting cheaper. I believe it has slowed down the progress of high definition packaged goods. Oddly, the studios kind of liked it for a while. They were able to leverage one of us against each other. But in the end, it's counterproductive. We have a sort of stalemate at the moment. As you know, they had fewer studios, but then they paid a lot of money for Paramount. So we have four studios and they have two or three studios. It's a difficult... it's a difficult fight. There was a chance to integrate it before I became CEO. This is something I inherited. And I don't know what broke down. I wish I could go back there, because I heard it was all about saving face and losing face, and all the rest of it. But it's not a battle about the digital future. That's what's so strange about it. If it doesn't work out, that doesn't say very much about where we're all going. It's just... it's a scorecard: one-nothing or something. But it doesn't mean as much as all that. PlayStation 3 will still go on playing games. It would have to have a different disk drive. And that's about it really.
Adler: So when a consumer now has to choose between the two, if they want to get into the high definition video, Wal-Mart was selling the Toshiba HD-DVD for $99 last Friday for a couple of days. Usually, it's been $199 there. I think your list price is $499 for Blu-ray. That's an enormously big difference, particularly in a slowing economy. Can you play that game with the difference being that great?
Stringer: Well... we've been selling them as fast as we're making them because the brand -- first of all, we're not the only ones selling them at that price. So is Panasonic, so is Samsung, so is Sharp. And one of the reasons it's more expensive is because it does more. The bandwidth is greater. If you just want a two hour movie, the Toshiba version is a high definition picture. But we thought that to drive high definition into the customer's imagination, you should future-proof the disks so that you could have director's cuts, which are fairly obvious. We have six to seven hours of bandwidth available. You can have interactivity in three dimensions. We would be prepared to allow the package goods to survive much longer by making it much more innovative. But that does make the player more expensive. Now, they all come down. The race is to bring costs down. It always is in consumer electronics. So it isn't going to stay at $499.
Adler: But are you surprised by how little Toshiba can sell its unit for?
Stringer: No, because -- look, I can sell it for a dollar. I'd lose a lot of money, but if you want to go that route, it's a tough competition, and it seems to be about a lot of things, including face. So if you want to cut the price down and engage us in a price war, that's a different system. We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while until Paramount changed sides.
Adler: Microsoft seems to have an interesting role in this. They're selling add-on HD-DVD drives for the -- they're taking HD-DVD to the Xbox, and Xbox competes strongly with you. Is Microsoft kind of working in cahoots or in alliance with Toshiba on HD-DVD? Is that a competitive challenge to you?
Stringer: Only the spirits know. [laughs] Yeah... you never know with Microsoft do you? You never know. Xbox versus PS3 is sort of a subplot. What Microsoft's role is in that? I don't know. We're still selling software at a faster level than Toshiba. Obviously, we care about the software side more than the Toshiba does. It doesn't have a studio. It doesn't own a studio. So it's in our interest to -- actually the most significant thing in some ways about Blu-ray, going back to Microsoft... the Blu-ray Disc has a very high security level, which Fox in particular, but also other studios, was most excited about -- wanted to have some protection from instant ripping. So the specs that went into the Blu-ray, which were done in conjunction with many studios, had this security level. That is probably not in Microsoft's interests. The Toshiba disk is certainly far easier to rip. Whether you like that or don't like that depends on your consumer enthusiasm.
---end of excerpt---
That was the extent of it. Naturally, the one comment out of the entire 90 minutes (or even this small portion) that the AP ran with is the stalemate bit. Since then, we've seen commentary from people who weren't there proclaiming what a striking admission it is. Some have even gone so far as to claim that Stringer declared Blu-ray a failure and that Sony is about to give up the battle. All of which mischaracterizes what he actually said and meant.
Hey... this kind of thing happens, especially when people let their passions over this stuff get the better of them. We've even occasionally made the mistake of jumping to conclusions in the past. But here are the facts: Sony and the rest of the BD camp's commitment to Blu-ray Disc hasn't wavered in the slightest, and from everything they've ever told me both on and off the record, that isn't likely to change anytime soon. And while we're at it, Warner supports BOTH HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and from everything they've ever told me both on and off the record, that isn't likely to change anytime soon either. So everybody can relax and take a deep breath. If you're a Blu-ray fan, enjoy all the great Blu-ray titles coming out now. If you're an HD-DVD fan, same thing.
It's just another day in this silly format war, which at this point has been taken to unfortunate extremes by some online. As we said last week, it's worth keeping in mind that no kittens will be harmed in this thing, whatever the outcome.
So for all your postulating HD DVD fans, you've wasted your time and energy...but you're entertaining to say the least.
Market research firm Forrester Research recently revised its stance on the Blu-ray versus HD DVD deadlock, saying that it was sure to continue well into 2009, if not longer. As a consumer, that news is just plain dreadful, and for a manufacturer with hands in the game, probably even worse. A large majority of consumers are still hesitant to buy players for either format. And with customers not spending money, neither camp will come out on top.
...also, take note of how Sharp is now once again the leader for LCD TVs. You know a point to those waiving the price, price, price rules all pom-poms about Vizio the quarter before.
Comments
I'm making sure there are multiple HDMI ports on HDTVs I'm considering so that it'll be easy to go format neutral just as soon as I recover from buying the TV enough to buy a Blu-ray player of some kind.
Most people run everything through their AVR so as long as your TV has 2 HDMI inputs you should be fine.
Considering how unsettled the whole HD picture is right now, it's more important to have an AVR with at least 3 HDMI inputs as a bare minimum, 4 would be much better.
Hrm... Appeared to be just ghosting. I ran my break-in dvd all night and I don't see it any more (I actually stopped seeing it after about 10 min). Maybe I can stick with plasma and I'll hold off on games and static content another 100 hours. However, THIS IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE!!!!
That's correct...it's not permanent. Mine does that after watching something with a lot of graphics in it, like ESPN or what not. It goes away pretty quickly.
]Nielsen/VideoScan Numbers ending November 4th
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...1107/index.php
WE: BD-71% HDD-29% YTD: BD-64% HDD-36% SI: BD-61% HDD-39%
Hmm, and with Spidey and Cars and Ratatouille, these numbers wont go up? Stalemate?
It's not a stalemate. It's HD-DVD getting its ass kicked around and the companies behind it refusing to throw in the towel.
It's not a stalemate. It's HD-DVD getting its ass kicked around and the companies behind it refusing to throw in the towel.
I agree, and this below will make it even worse for HD DVD...
New Two-For-One Blu-ray Deals at Amazon
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news...at_Amazon/1163
It's "buy one, get one free" time again at Amazon, with the web merchant offering two separate deals on select Blu-ray discs from Disney and Sony.
Both promos were launched Sunday by the web merchant, and include a list of popular Blu-ray titles from both studios, totaling 100 in all.
Among the 72 discs being offered by Sony are such A-list Blu-ray titles as 'Casino Royale,' 'The Fifth Element (Remastered),' 'Hollow Man' and 'Black Hawk Down' (view complete list of Sony titles).
The list of 40 Disney titles includes such fan favorites as 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,' 'Apocalypto' and 'The Prestige' (view complete list of Disney titles).
Note that Amazon is offering these as two separate deals, so in order for either offer to kick in, you'll need to buy at least two titles from the same studio.
At press time there was no word on how long either deal would be offered by Amazon, though both are being billed as limited time offers. For a full list of eligible titles and more information, click the links to Amazon below.
50 First Dates - $ 19.95
A Few Good Men - $ 19.95
A Knight's Tale - $ 19.95
Arlington Road - $ 19.95
Big Fish - $ 19.95
Black Hawk Down - $ 19.95
Closer - $ 19.95
Cruel Intentions - $ 19.95
Curse of the Golden Flower - $ 19.95
Donnie Brasco (Extended Cut) - $ 19.95
Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within - $ 19.95
Flatliners - $ 19.95
Hellboy - $ 19.95
Hitch - $ 19.95
Hollow Man (Director's Cut) - $ 19.95
Hostel (Director's Cut) - $ 19.95
House of Flying Daggers - $ 19.95
Identity - $ 19.95
Immortal Beloved - $ 19.95
Into the Blue - $ 19.95
Kung Fu Hustle - $ 19.95
Layer Cake - $ 19.95
Memento - $ 19.95
Memoirs of a Geisha - $ 19.95
Resident Evil - Apocalypse - $ 19.95
Revenge (Unrated Director's Cut) - $ 19.95
S.W.A.T. - $ 19.95
Secret Window - $ 19.95
Seven Years in Tibet - $ 19.95
Stealth - $ 19.95
Tears of the Sun - $ 19.95
The Big Hit - $ 19.95
The Fifth Element (Remastered) - $ 19.95
The Patriot (Extended Cut) - $ 19.95
The Replacement Killers (Extended Cut) - $ 19.95
The Tailor of Panama - $ 19.95
Vertical Limit - $ 19.95
Warriors of Heaven & Earth - $ 19.95
Wild Things (Unrated Edition) - $ 19.95
XXX - $ 19.95
All the King's Men - $ 26.95
Are We Done Yet? - $ 26.95
Basic Instinct 2 - $ 26.95
Benchwarmers - $ 26.95
Blood & Chocolate - $ 26.95
Casino Royale - $ 26.95
Catch and Release - $ 26.95
Click - $ 26.95
Ghost Rider (Extended Cut) - $ 26.95
Gridiron Gang - $ 26.95
Little Man - $ 26.95
Monster House - $ 26.95
Open Season - $ 26.95
Perfect Stranger - $ 26.95
Premonition - $ 26.95
RV - $ 26.95
Rocky Balboa - $ 26.95
Running With Scissors - $ 26.95
Silent Hill - $ 26.95
Stomp the Yard - $ 26.95
Stranger Than Fiction - $ 26.95
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - $ 26.95
The Covenant - $ 26.95
The Holiday (2006) - $ 26.95
The Lives of Others - $ 26.95
The Messengers - $ 26.95
The Pursuit of Happyness - $ 26.95
Ultraviolet - $ 26.95
Underworld - Evolution - $ 26.95
Vacancy - $ 26.95
Volver - $ 26.95
Rescue Me - The Complete Third Season - $ 54.95
Anyone going Blu with this deal? Curious. How many are you guys buying?
Yeah... the burn-in is for the old school models, the newer plasma TV's do have image retention issue like the burn-in, but should go away after awhile. It's still like a burn-in but just not permanent like the older plasma.
Also, the motion smear/blur on LCD is almost not an issue with the newer models having 12 ms and lower latency.
I'm in the process of evaluating 120Hz/LED or CCF backlight in 50 to 60" size at the moment.... or the new MBP. It's a tough call. Anyway, the newer LCD TV's with gloss panels actually looked equal/better than the best plasmas, IMO. Only problem is I don't like the gloss due to reflections.
I haven't heard the greatest things about the 120Hz tvs. When I was viewing the sony (it was stand alone with spiderman 3 via hdmi), it looked fake to me. It didn't look as natural as the Pioneer Plasma that was next to it (granted it was playing something else when I saw it, but spiderman 3 is supposed to be a well mastered movie). This could all be personal preference.
That's correct...it's not permanent. Mine does that after watching something with a lot of graphics in it, like ESPN or what not. It goes away pretty quickly.
It still makes me nervous
I agree, and this below will make it even worse for HD DVD...
New Two-For-One Blu-ray Deals at Amazon
Anyone going Blu with this deal? Curious. How many are you guys buying?
I'm still debating. There isn't anything on that list that I'm dying to have. I was thinking Rescue Me 3 and maybe The Patriot. The rest are kinda meh to me. Those are the only Sony Titles.
I would go with The Brothers Grimm and Pirates Of the Caribbean if it didn't have framing issues. Otherwise I don't know what else I'd get that is Disney.
Anyone going Blu with this deal? Curious. How many are you guys buying?
Not really interested in buying a $400+ player that may or may not be upgradable when Blu-Ray finally finishes their format. Sorry.
That shows what i'm talking about
Well I took the plunge and ordered the 32" Westinghouse LCD. By the end of the week I should actually get to watch all of Transformers in HD. Then I'll turn on HDDVD in Netflix and be a happy camper.
Nice...
My in law has that exact TV for the bedroom, I think. With some tweeking, the TV looked great. Just make sure to ouput 1080i for 1366x768 native panel for best result.
BTW, there were know CUE issues with earlier firmware version on the Gen-2 Players. I think firmware 2.0 and above fixes this.
Anyway, Transformers would be a fun presentaion in HD for all ages. Hope you have a decent audio setup to go along with your new tv.
I haven't heard the greatest things about the 120Hz tvs. When I was viewing the sony (it was stand alone with spiderman 3 via hdmi), it looked fake to me. It didn't look as natural as the Pioneer Plasma that was next to it (granted it was playing something else when I saw it, but spiderman 3 is supposed to be a well mastered movie). This could all be personal preference.
I am begining to learn that 120Hz LCD is not a true 120Hz. I'll have to do more homework on how it really works and how it deals with 1080p24 feeds.
I am looking into Toshiba or Samsung which does show noticeable improvement over the Sony XBR series in generating blacks & grey scale output. Sony seems to be showing brighter whites than blacker blacks compared to the other brands. From What I've seen, Toshiba LX177 & Samsung TNFXX71/81 seems to achieve blacks on par with plasma. I still have to do more homework to decide. At least, plasma screens still show more pop/richness at a glance, but this may have something to do with calibration of the displayed models.
Hm..... with gas price going up like crazy.... I may just hold onto my cash instead.
Now that I have a HDTV, I find myself wanting to send digital video to it :-D. I hope that AppleTV supports 1080p soon. I won't buy it until it does. I can see myself doing a majority of digital video over blu-ray / hd-dvd if I can get a good 1080p set up (video and hardware). After seeing my friend's setup... I feel blu-ray and hd-dvd are completely useless. He has all of his DVDs, HD TV streams, etc... cataloged on 2 terabytes. He accesses them all through remote interface through a mac mini. He doesn't have to change discs. Doesn't have to browse through cases (and store cases) of video. It's kinda neat. Then again, it is fun to show off a large library a physical presentation of movies. Is it worth it in the end? Sure you don't get extras, but personally I never watch extras.
you can still do that with HD-DVD library right now. The HDM source still look noticeably better than the upconverted SD-DVD source when using HTPC with 1080p display.
http://www.digitalbits.com/#mytwocents
Now then... we wanted to say a few words about all the recent brouhaha over Sony CEO Howard Stringer's "stalemate" comment from last week with regard to Blu-ray and HD-DVD. I don't know how many e-mails I've gotten in the last few days on this, either from HD-DVD fans eager to gloat that Stinger was clearly conceding the format war, or Blu-ray fans wondering why Stringer was being so pessimistic. As it turns out, he wasn't. I've done a little digging over the weekend, and have managed to obtain a transcript of the actual interview. Remember how last week, during Blu-ray fest, Warner Home Video's Dan Silverberg's comments were taken out of context by supporters of both high-def camps to suggest that Warner was about to chose sides in the format war? Except that's not what he actually said or meant to imply? This is the same sort of thing... yet another case of much ado about nothing.
The deal is this: Howard Stringer was being interviewed by Business Week's Steven J. Adler about his career at the 92nd Street Y in NYC on Thursday. He was asked a few questions about Blu-ray Disc and the format war, and he spoke about it for maybe 5 minutes out of a 90 minute interview. Here's the actual text of the relevant portion of the interview:
---begin excerpt---
Adler: Of course, one of the big fights right now is Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD for the high definition video market. I mean, the first and most obvious question is: Shouldn't there just be one format? Why should people have to choose between the two? And is there any possibility that we'll be heading there?
Stringer: I should point out that that is not part of the software battle. I mean, that's actually in some ways sort of anachronistic. We're fighting over a packaged goods hardware that will not go on forever, from a classic sense. We have a more expensive version, as Sony tends to, and Toshiba has a cheaper version, which seems to keep getting cheaper. I believe it has slowed down the progress of high definition packaged goods. Oddly, the studios kind of liked it for a while. They were able to leverage one of us against each other. But in the end, it's counterproductive. We have a sort of stalemate at the moment. As you know, they had fewer studios, but then they paid a lot of money for Paramount. So we have four studios and they have two or three studios. It's a difficult... it's a difficult fight. There was a chance to integrate it before I became CEO. This is something I inherited. And I don't know what broke down. I wish I could go back there, because I heard it was all about saving face and losing face, and all the rest of it. But it's not a battle about the digital future. That's what's so strange about it. If it doesn't work out, that doesn't say very much about where we're all going. It's just... it's a scorecard: one-nothing or something. But it doesn't mean as much as all that. PlayStation 3 will still go on playing games. It would have to have a different disk drive. And that's about it really.
Adler: So when a consumer now has to choose between the two, if they want to get into the high definition video, Wal-Mart was selling the Toshiba HD-DVD for $99 last Friday for a couple of days. Usually, it's been $199 there. I think your list price is $499 for Blu-ray. That's an enormously big difference, particularly in a slowing economy. Can you play that game with the difference being that great?
Stringer: Well... we've been selling them as fast as we're making them because the brand -- first of all, we're not the only ones selling them at that price. So is Panasonic, so is Samsung, so is Sharp. And one of the reasons it's more expensive is because it does more. The bandwidth is greater. If you just want a two hour movie, the Toshiba version is a high definition picture. But we thought that to drive high definition into the customer's imagination, you should future-proof the disks so that you could have director's cuts, which are fairly obvious. We have six to seven hours of bandwidth available. You can have interactivity in three dimensions. We would be prepared to allow the package goods to survive much longer by making it much more innovative. But that does make the player more expensive. Now, they all come down. The race is to bring costs down. It always is in consumer electronics. So it isn't going to stay at $499.
Adler: But are you surprised by how little Toshiba can sell its unit for?
Stringer: No, because -- look, I can sell it for a dollar. I'd lose a lot of money, but if you want to go that route, it's a tough competition, and it seems to be about a lot of things, including face. So if you want to cut the price down and engage us in a price war, that's a different system. We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while until Paramount changed sides.
Adler: Microsoft seems to have an interesting role in this. They're selling add-on HD-DVD drives for the -- they're taking HD-DVD to the Xbox, and Xbox competes strongly with you. Is Microsoft kind of working in cahoots or in alliance with Toshiba on HD-DVD? Is that a competitive challenge to you?
Stringer: Only the spirits know. [laughs] Yeah... you never know with Microsoft do you? You never know. Xbox versus PS3 is sort of a subplot. What Microsoft's role is in that? I don't know. We're still selling software at a faster level than Toshiba. Obviously, we care about the software side more than the Toshiba does. It doesn't have a studio. It doesn't own a studio. So it's in our interest to -- actually the most significant thing in some ways about Blu-ray, going back to Microsoft... the Blu-ray Disc has a very high security level, which Fox in particular, but also other studios, was most excited about -- wanted to have some protection from instant ripping. So the specs that went into the Blu-ray, which were done in conjunction with many studios, had this security level. That is probably not in Microsoft's interests. The Toshiba disk is certainly far easier to rip. Whether you like that or don't like that depends on your consumer enthusiasm.
---end of excerpt---
That was the extent of it. Naturally, the one comment out of the entire 90 minutes (or even this small portion) that the AP ran with is the stalemate bit. Since then, we've seen commentary from people who weren't there proclaiming what a striking admission it is. Some have even gone so far as to claim that Stringer declared Blu-ray a failure and that Sony is about to give up the battle. All of which mischaracterizes what he actually said and meant.
Hey... this kind of thing happens, especially when people let their passions over this stuff get the better of them. We've even occasionally made the mistake of jumping to conclusions in the past. But here are the facts: Sony and the rest of the BD camp's commitment to Blu-ray Disc hasn't wavered in the slightest, and from everything they've ever told me both on and off the record, that isn't likely to change anytime soon. And while we're at it, Warner supports BOTH HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and from everything they've ever told me both on and off the record, that isn't likely to change anytime soon either. So everybody can relax and take a deep breath. If you're a Blu-ray fan, enjoy all the great Blu-ray titles coming out now. If you're an HD-DVD fan, same thing.
It's just another day in this silly format war, which at this point has been taken to unfortunate extremes by some online. As we said last week, it's worth keeping in mind that no kittens will be harmed in this thing, whatever the outcome.
So for all your postulating HD DVD fans, you've wasted your time and energy...but you're entertaining to say the least.
Market research firm Forrester Research recently revised its stance on the Blu-ray versus HD DVD deadlock, saying that it was sure to continue well into 2009, if not longer. As a consumer, that news is just plain dreadful, and for a manufacturer with hands in the game, probably even worse. A large majority of consumers are still hesitant to buy players for either format. And with customers not spending money, neither camp will come out on top.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ormat-war.html
Guess Marz will get to start the 2009 thread for sure.
HD DVD nearing the half million mark in standalone player sales?
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/12...mark-in-sales/
AVS Forum reopens Blu-ray / HD DVD boards, new rules abound
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/12...-rules-abound/
FTA
the site does recommend finding a new home to vent your off-topic frustrations if you aren't down with the new regulations
guess they will be coming here?
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...p?startpage=16
...also, take note of how Sharp is now once again the leader for LCD TVs. You know a point to those waiving the price, price, price rules all pom-poms about Vizio the quarter before.
FTA
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ormat-war.html
Guess Marz will get to start the 2009 thread for sure.
Expect a booming combo-player market in 2008.
Guess Marz will get to start the 2009 thread for sure.
2009... argh. I'm so glad I decided to buy a cheap HDDVD player and quit waiting for a winner and start watching some HD movies.
Expect a booming combo-player market in 2008.
That's what i'm hoping for. Carousel please.