HD DVD Fans Stage Buy-In

[Gregg Lengling]

Format Titles Surpassed Blu-ray-for a Day
Owners of Toshiba HD DVD players staged a group buy of popular home video titles this week in an effort to show support for the format. A group of AVS Forum members banded together to purchase a large number of HD DVD titles from Amazon.com on April 15-the one-year anniversary of the release of the first Toshiba HD DVD player.

http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=691

[smack]

If that is what HD-DVD has to do to surpass Blu-Ray and it only puts them on top for a day??


Congratulations to the Blu-ray camp.  The format war, while not officially ended, is in effect over.

Maybe, I'll go buy my first BD for my PS3 to celebrate the occasion...........that is while I'm waiting for some PS3 game titles to be released.

[gparris]

When the option for HD-DVD or Blu-ray is available, I usually go for the Blu-ray lately.
It's just because the HD-A1 I have doesn't operate as smoothly as my BD players do and if hidefdigest reviews the A & V to be of the same quality on both discs, I get the BD disc instead, but that's just me.

[Matt Heebner]

Disclaimer: I do own the XBOX 360 HD Add-on but I I have no loyalty to either format. I went with what was cheapest.

From what I read over at AVS and other forums, Walmart has put in orders for 2 million HD DVD core drives from a Chinese company Fuh Yuan, and are prepared to order even more.
According to the article, Walmart is getting these cores for $50 a piece which will probably translate into $100-$150 HD players.

If this all pans out...HD DVD will dominate the market place as average consumers wil be picking these up . Studios, as much as they will try and resist going HDDVD, will have no choice but to follow the money.


Just my opinion....it is usually whoever gets the players to cheapest  prices are the ones who will sell the most. The most players equals more software sales. If 35% of the public end up with $99 HD DVD players, that is a huge amount of software sales/rentals dollars that can not be denied.

[smack]

Cheap HD players may be the ticket, but they haven't been so far in this battle as HD -DVD has had the cheaper models up to this point.  They were also the first released so they had a head start as well.

2.  I don't know how many people who have nice HD displays are actually going to shop at Wal-mart for their players because they are cheaper.  Whatever the number turns out to be, I doubt it will come close to approaching 35% market penetration.

Like the HD price drop, Blu-Ray players will also become cheaper to match any cost advantage that HD-DVD may enjoy.

So in the end the players will cost the same, more studios will support BluRay, and it has more storage capabilities.  This doens't even take into consideration that HD-DVD is already losing the battle (even with the head start).

Sony may have lost the Beta / VHS war but I believe they have learned from that mistake.

It's just my opinion again, but I think it is over.  About 9 months to a year ago I would have said HD-DVD was in the driver seat but I just can't see it anymore.  There is still way to much $$$ in this battle for anyone to give up yet so it will still be a while for anything to be official.

[SRW1000]

Cheap HD players may be the ticket, but they haven't been so far in this battle as HD -DVD has had the cheaper models up to this point.  They were also the first released so they had a head start as well.

2.  I don't know how many people who have nice HD displays are actually going to shop at Wal-mart for their players because they are cheaper.  Whatever the number turns out to be, I doubt it will come close to approaching 35% market penetration.

Like the HD price drop, Blu-Ray players will also become cheaper to match any cost advantage that HD-DVD may enjoy.

So in the end the players will cost the same, more studios will support BluRay, and it has more storage capabilities.  This doens't even take into consideration that HD-DVD is already losing the battle (even with the head start).

Sony may have lost the Beta / VHS war but I believe they have learned from that mistake.

It's just my opinion again, but I think it is over.  About 9 months to a year ago I would have said HD-DVD was in the driver seat but I just can't see it anymore.  There is still way to much $$$ in this battle for anyone to give up yet so it will still be a while for anything to be official.

While HD DVD players have been cheaper, they haven't been cheap.  A high-def player under $200 reaches a whole new segment of the market, namely the people that are buying their HDTVs at Walmart.

From what I've read on the AVS Forum, Blu-Ray manufacturing costs are still higher than HD DVD, so the chances of seeing a comparably-priced Blu-Ray player are slim.  A $200 HD DVD player vs. a $400 Blu-Ray player is a big win for HD DVD.

As far a sales up to this point, HD DVD stand alone sales have surpassed Blu-Ray players (excluding PS3 sales).  Blu-Ray software sales have been higher than HD DVD, but neither format has sold enough copies of anything to be considered a success.

The battle is far from over.  The big question is whether or not the general public will care, of if DVD quality is good enough.

Scott

[sp44again]

I had an HD-A1 then an A2 and now a PS3. The PS3 is so nice. The A1 was slow and built like a tank, the A2 faster and cheap feeling, the PS3 fast and great quality. Not to mention plays my SACD's thru HDMI. The actual discs I can't tell the diff between the HD and BD in pic quality. I just think somebody other than Toshiba or Chow Yun Fat needs to produce HD-DVD players. I remember Funai being cheap but also garbage.

[Matt Heebner]

I just think somebody other than Toshiba or Chow Yun Fat needs to produce HD-DVD players

Oh man thats funny.....

Just so long as they are being produced with Mira Sorvino in skimpy clothes.......

[Bebop]

No $299 HD DVD player yet.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/26/fuh-yuan-retracts-299-wal-mart-hd-dvd-statement/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/26/hd-dvd-to-blu-ray-oh-yeah-well-weve-sold-a-lot-of-discs-too/

[CrashCamomilli]

This whole debate is pointless.  the fact of the matter is both HD and BR, are fighting over an ant hill, and trying to call it Mount Everest.

Case in point:

The Borat DVD, sold more copies in its first week of sales, than ALL HD DVD and Blue Ray Disks have sold COMBINED, since High Definition players hit the market.

I can't remember, the last number I saw exactly, but current High Def DVD sales still only account for less than 1% of the total dvd Market.

I for one am disgusted with the whole thing and have decided not to buy either.  The fact is there are many HD owners that feel they still get a great picture out of their current DVD's.  My wife and I still buy 10+ DVD's a month, and have no plans to get a HD player any time soon.  

I won't argue that the picture quality's not better, it is.  BUT, is it that much better?  It really depends on the source material and the quality of your HDTV.  Both sides are making outrageous claims, and with tri-layer HD disks on the horizon, why waste money on current players?  

In addition, many PS3's are not hooked up to HDTV's, in fact of the ten people that I know who use PS3's only "Three" have an HDTV, why would they waste their money on a BR disk?  Just wanted to throw that fact out there also.  

Everyone talks as if all the PS3 owners are just sitting around waiting for HD content, and thats just not true.  Many people bought the system for the new games coming out, and yes, the picture is amazing even without an HDTV.  Movie grade animations, HD or not, are still better than anything else thats ever been on a console system.

[Matt Heebner]

I dont know about that....
I threw in the King Kong HDDVD for everyone at my house during a family event, and everyone, EVERYONE including the wives of my brother in laws was very impressed to the point of looking into players and 1080p displays.

I personally have stopped buying DVD's already  well over a year ago in anticipation of the HD optical disc introduction. It may be a small market now, but I will wager $100 that in five years....DVD's will start going the way of VHS.

[gparris]

Since we bought the Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player, that's all we use outside the PS3 for this format.
The quality of Blu-ray video is awesome as is the uncompressed audio using the 7.1 analogue outputs on the Panasonic BD player (or the HDMI on the PS3).

Anyway, BD equals the HD-DVD, IMHO, so the only time I get HD-DVDs is when it is a Universal-only title for HD viewing.

[SRW1000]

This whole debate is pointless.  the fact of the matter is both HD and BR, are fighting over an ant hill, and trying to call it Mount Everest.

Case in point:

The Borat DVD, sold more copies in its first week of sales, than ALL HD DVD and Blue Ray Disks have sold COMBINED, since High Definition players hit the market.

I can't remember, the last number I saw exactly, but current High Def DVD sales still only account for less than 1% of the total dvd Market.

I for one am disgusted with the whole thing and have decided not to buy either.  The fact is there are many HD owners that feel they still get a great picture out of their current DVD's.  My wife and I still buy 10+ DVD's a month, and have no plans to get a HD player any time soon.  

I won't argue that the picture quality's not better, it is.  BUT, is it that much better?  It really depends on the source material and the quality of your HDTV.  Both sides are making outrageous claims, and with tri-layer HD disks on the horizon, why waste money on current players?  

In addition, many PS3's are not hooked up to HDTV's, in fact of the ten people that I know who use PS3's only "Three" have an HDTV, why would they waste their money on a BR disk?  Just wanted to throw that fact out there also.  

Everyone talks as if all the PS3 owners are just sitting around waiting for HD content, and thats just not true.  Many people bought the system for the new games coming out, and yes, the picture is amazing even without an HDTV.  Movie grade animations, HD or not, are still better than anything else thats ever been on a console system.

This is less of a fight for today than it is a fight for the next 2-5 years.  

I recently purchased an HD DVD player for under $250.  Not only will it play HD DVDs, it's also a fantastic scaler.  I haven't bought any HD DVDs, and rarely buy DVDs anymore.  Since Netflix rents both for the same price, I've only spent a small premium for a top of the line scaler that will also play HD DVDs.

If HD DVD player prices drop below $200, the general public will be interested.  They'll want to buy or rent HD material to play on the ever-increasing numbers of HD sets that are out there.  If Walmart gets involved in this fight, I would imagine that will only accelerate the outcome.

Scott

[Andrew Grall]

I started into the world of the HD disc formats by purchasing the HD-DVD drive add-on for my 360 shortly after it was released using the $40 Circuit City coupon.  Initially, I was very impressed with the video quality, but extremely disappointed in the audio quality.  It seemed sub-par compared to even most of my regular DVDs.

Then, in early January, I purchased a PS3.  Once I experienced uncompressed audio through my hdmi Pioneer Elite receiver, there was no turning back.  Combine that with Blu-Ray only releases of movies like Pirates, Casino Royale, Spiderman movies, etc, and it didn't take me long to become a Blu-Ray convert.

[gparris]

I started into the world of the HD disc formats by purchasing the HD-DVD drive add-on for my 360 shortly after it was released using the $40 Circuit City coupon.  Initially, I was very impressed with the video quality, but extremely disappointed in the audio quality.  It seemed sub-par compared to even most of my regular DVDs.

Then, in early January, I purchased a PS3.  Once I experienced uncompressed audio through my hdmi Pioneer Elite receiver, there was no turning back.  Combine that with Blu-Ray only releases of movies like Pirates, Casino Royale, Spiderman movies, etc, and it didn't take me long to become a Blu-Ray convert.

Agreed, given that alone, I am trying to stay away from HD-DVD releases if at all possible.

If the rumor is true (only a rumor - see Engadgethd), Universal might be desiring to do BD discs, too:
I am certain that could be a possible start of the end of HD-DVD and of course, Toshiba asking for $$ from Universal in some contractual thing.:rolleyes: