Toshiba Deploys New HD DVD Marketing campaign

It ain't over yet

U said it, aint over...

with movies like BEE MOVIE, BEOWULF, HELLBOY 2, CLOVERFIELD just to name a few and bargain price cuts, HD DVD will rule...

I think Tosh may be mad because of WB's backstabbing and instead of bowing gracefully will go out Spartan-like.
Be pretty funny to see Toshiba flip this back their way...might even make Michael Bay cry.

I love Toshiba. I have a xbox 360 add on HD DVD drive but sometimes its buggy. Probably will pick one of these drives up since they are higher quality. I will not buy Blu Ray unless HD DVD totaly loses. Cannot help but be anti Sony with all the arrogant quotes they have made about their technologies even though they charge the most and have all kinds of hardware issues in their products. I really don't understand why consumers support a company that doesn't cater to affordability. Maybe because the consumers that have bought thus far are rich.

Well, maybe Warner will see the light and back off their decision, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Hopefully Invasion and Jessie James will make it to HD DVD before March but I don't think there is any chance of seeing 10000BC on HD DVD. 10000BC is one movie which may come back to haunt Warner. They are going to lose a lot of HD DVD sales on that one.

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[Post edited by StevePro on Jan 14, 2008]

Steve: Actually, I think the decision overall will hurt WB, not because they made a decision, but because it came right after they lied and misled their customers. I've seen several WB movies advertised the past few days that I thought hey I'd like to see that, then I see the WB logo and decide not to go see it. I've begun boycotting them, and am about to order another 15 movies from amazon on HD DVD to bring my collection above 60 movies.

A lot of HD and Bluray early supporters were movie buffs, I think its bad to mislead them and piss them off....

dguisinger said,

Quote:
Steve: Actually, I think the decision overall will hurt WB, not because they made a decision, but because it came right after they lied and misled their customers. I've seen several WB movies advertised the past few days that I thought hey I'd like to see that, then I see the WB logo and decide not to go see it. I've begun boycotting them, and am about to order another 15 movies from amazon on HD DVD to bring my collection above 60 movies.

A lot of HD and Bluray early supporters were movie buffs, I think its bad to mislead them and piss them off....

I really don't think Warner actually cares if early HDDVD adaptors boycott their movies. The HD market as a whole represent a small percentage of the home video market. With that said Warner Bro. considers early HDDVD as collateral damage, because they know that at least 30% of early HDDVD adopters will buy a Blu ray player when they go Blu ray exclusive. Coupled with the fact that a good percentage of HDDVD owners also own Blu ray, and the ones sitting on the fence are well informed about this format war will now jump of the fence into the Blu ray yard.

Studio support is a must. Paramount and Universal do not release as much as Warner alone. And with Disney, Lion's Gate, Fox, MGM, and New Line in the Blu ray camp, sales reps will not likely recommend HDDVD to any person that's not informed. With all of that said that represents alot of money generated from Blu ray versus HDDVD. 50% of the stand alone player maket share is nice and that's only because hardly no one makes HDDVD players but Toshiba vs. a vast number of Blu ray manufactures (seems more are joining everyday). Blu ray leads in software sales across every HD region in the world. The PS3 plain and simple is the reason for Blu ray success. Yes, it is a video game system but one hell of a Blu ray player and can upconvert DVDs as good as any HDDVD player.

Alot of people don't like SONY but make no mistake about it they marketed Blu ray until they were dry in the mouth so much so that they neglected the PS3 as a video game system. HDDVD marketing is too late. What pisses me of is that Toshiba wants to drag this out for (and this word has been used past legal limits) CONSUMERS.

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[Post edited by tony1569 on Jan 14, 2008]

In my opinion, this is a good announcement. As the prices of the HD player keep on going lower and lower the HD players will become more affordable to the average consumer and the HD Format will have a chance to move from the niche market to the mainstream market where the sales volumes can produce economies of scale. Hopefully, the Blue ray camp will follow by lowering their prices too.

its over and out for Hd dvd, warner is producing exclusive for blu ray!
is dominating
the future is blu
red lose
end of story
peace

What is funny is how all the Blu Ray hipe has kinda gone ASTA LA VISTA BABY!!!! I am truely convinced that HD DVD will make a comeback, and shock the New Format World. You know what guys, this is FUN once again, thank God I am involved in this War I AM LOVIN IT!!!!

LOL - Toshiba's last ditch effort to save their dead format. So funny.

If Toshiba had any class, they would congratulate Blu-ray, and start supporting the format that has superior specifications, support, and sales.

But instead, Toshiba is liquidating the remaining of their obsolete players.

Blu-ray has won, if you think differently you are simply living in denial.

funstuff,

Do we really need this kind of childish harassment from you? Even when your side is ahead, you can't stop rubbing it in? Most of us are adults here. We don't need the grief.

John

It seems the blue ray fanboys make statements as arrogant as sony's. match made in heaven.

Quote:
might even make Michael Bay cry.

I would love that

Come on Toshiba, do it for me, I have a 360 add on and over 10 movies, you guys owe me!!!

I want a HDXA2, but not at $600 bucks. If I can grab one at let's say around $300. I'll be purple.

I don't think this is anything to get all that excited about, since it's a totally expected move that both Sony and Warner more than likely calculated into their decision. It's really the only move Toshiba had left. I'm not ready to call the format war "over," but the sales numbers will have to be pretty impressive to actually raise any eyebrows and make this look like anything more than a fire sale.

I never will expect HDDVD to win the HD competition, but I support HDDVD because they'll force the Bluray camp to make their players & movies more affordable.

Tony wrote:

Quote:
I want a HDXA2, but not at $600 bucks. If I can grab one at let's say around $300. I'll be purple

Tony I almost scored an HD XA2 for "asking" $400 on craigslist with 4 HD DVD movies. So close but I'll keep checking craigslist and ebay.

I forgot to mention this was only 2 days ago. Apparently the seller changed his mind.

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[Post edited by Falcon01 on Jan 14, 2008]

To all of you HD-DVD fans out there I feel your pain. I've owned several HD-DVD players and Blu-ray players for more than 1 1/2 years now. I've always purchased movies on HD-DVD when given an option. I feel that the players worked much better with fewer issues or gliches when playing a disc. I own more than 200 HD movies with about a 65/35 split in favor of HD-DVD. The picture and sound are awesome on both formats. That being said the end is here. Blu-ray has all the momentum and I don't see HD-DVD hanging on for that much longer. All of the people sitting on the fence are starting to buy Blu-ray. The sooner this format war is over the better it will be for everyone wanting films in HD. We all just need to get along, play nice and enjoy our HD movies, no matter the format.

Sony and Blu-Ray winning "the war" is not good for the consumer, and anyone who thinks so is incredibly naive. Sony winning outright means higher prices, and less urgency in fixing all of their hardware and software issues, because, if you don't like it, so what? What are you going to do about it? What everyone's goal should be is for both formats to co-exist, much like X-box, PS, and Wii do now. If all or most studios were format-neutral, people could choose their format based on the company they trust, and maybe based on the gaming system they own. I am an HD DVD supporter, and would love to see a comeback, but in the end, I would just love to see everything available to everyone who wants it.

If Toshiba wants to win the war all it would have to do is have the largest Chinese electronics manufacturer produce its entry level HDDVD player (A2) and tie its retail price to Sonys upconverting DVD player. Game over.

Quote:
Sony and Blu-Ray winning "the war" is not good for the consumer, and anyone who thinks so is incredibly naive. Sony winning outright means higher prices, and less urgency in fixing all of their hardware and software issues, because, if you don't like it, so what? What are you going to do about it? What everyone's goal should be is for both formats to co-exist, much like X-box, PS, and Wii do now. If all or most studios were format-neutral, people could choose their format based on the company they trust, and maybe based on the gaming system they own. I am an HD DVD supporter, and would love to see a comeback, but in the end, I would just love to see everything available to everyone who wants it.

I totally agree with what is being said here. I also would love to see both formats continue, and all studios release all their movies on both formats. Competition is always a good thing. I wonder how the sales would go between blu ray and hd dvd if that were the case.

wkomar,

Competition is a good thing, but indecision can be costly ... and in the end, counterproductive. This confusion is what has held back Hi Def from reaching it's full potential. Warner Bros. realized this, and that's one of the reasons why they went Blu-ray exclusive.

Blu-ray having won this war is very good for the consumer. We are ending up with the superior format, in storage capacity, bit rate, and scratch resistance. As the remaining 2 studios go Blu-ray consumers will finally be able to get all of their titles on 1 format and then we'll all be able to enjoy the best movies (best being whatever is your favorite) on the best Hi Def format.

Quote:
Blu-ray having won this war is very good for the consumer. We are ending up with the superior format, in storage capacity, bit rate, and scratch resistance. As the remaining 2 studios go Blu-ray consumers will finally be able to get all of their titles on 1 format and then we'll all be able to enjoy the best movies (best being whatever is your favorite) on the best Hi Def format.

First of all bluray hasn't won jack.

Second, the only reason Warner Bros went bluray exclusive is because they got paid $500 million, it's hard for any studio to pass up that kind of offer.

Bluray is NOT the superior format as it's still far from complete. All you have to do is read about the mess with waiting for a bluray player that has profile 2.0 to match all these features already offered by HD DVD since day 1. Remember bluray players that are profile 1.0 (first generation) are not upgradeable to profile 1.1 or 2.0, and the current 1.1 players are not upgradeable to profile 2.0 with the exception of maybe the PS3.

Storage capacity is a joke because HD DVD has been able to fit 1080P/24 video with HD audio on every disk PLUS interactive features that work on EVERY player. The bit rate argument is mush since bluray is now matching the picture quality of HD DVD's since they started using better codecs.

Scratch resistance we all know bluray uses protective coating out of necessity because the laser runs much closer to the surface than HD DVD, thus HD DVD does not need the protective layer.

As far as Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks and other studios, they have all clearly stated that they will continue releasing on HD DVD.

funstuff = bluray fanboy extreme.

Falcon01,

You are simply telling lies at this point. It is well documented that no money was exchanged in order for Warner Bros. to go Blu. It just took some common sense. Google it if you need.

Still making the same old arguments are you? Blu-ray already has the feature set that most people care about, and the little misc. bits are just around the corner. Firmware upgrades make them a since.

The Blu-ray spec is simply superior to HD DVD. There have been countless documented cases on numerous boards about HD DVDs getting scratched easily - it's a fact, they have less protection. You can't win the size argument so you'll say it doesn't matter ... nice try.

As for the last remaining 2 studios ... LOL - umm didn't Warner say something similar before they dropped the BOMB on Toshiba. DOH!

If you can't read between the lines of Universal NOT renewing their exclusive deal with Toshiba then you don't understand what's going on here.

funstuff, you are so hard times.

It as actually well documented that Warner took $500 million. Google it yourself.

Quote:
Blu-ray already has the feature set that most people care about, and the little misc. bits are just around the corner.

Whats the feature most people care about? Backward incompatibility? Theres news of bluray players finally having web ability (profile 2.0), ummmm when are they coming out? Can you post some links as to exact release dates? We're talking about possibly summer 2008, 2 years after HD DVD had all those features included in it's spec. Talk about a little late to the party huh.

Quote:
You can't win the size argument

The DVD consortium just approved a 51 GB disk. Get over it.

Clearly you are still trying to mislead people the way the bluray camp has and it needs to stop.

Since Warner had a contract with HD DVD, they had the best of worlds... collecting money from both sides to form a contract to release on both formats. I wouldn't be surprised if BDA offered Warner a load of money, and I wouldn't be surprised if the HD DVD guys weren't doing the same. They should have grabbed both IMO. 1 Billion is way better than 500 million.

I really wanted HD DVD to win this format war. I think HD DVD is the better product. However, with the announcement by Warner Brothers, I hope that HD DVD will bow out of the race as soon as possible. When I was reading this new marketing campaign story, the only thing I could think about is........Sounds great but what good is all that if I can't get half the movies I want to watch on it? If Toshiba and HD DVD want to get me (an HD DVD supporter) off the fence and buy one of their players, than they need to first win the support of the movie studios. As much as I hate to say it, I hope Blu-ray/Sony can go in for the final kill so I can go out and get a Blu-ray player and finally start watching movies in HD!

Quote:
so I can go out and get a Blu-ray player and finally start watching movies in HD!

I'm curious. What's stopping you now?

I will admit that the blu ray technology has the potential to go further, BUT the fact that Sony are the ones driving it is where the real issue lies.

A wise man in a public urinal once told me, "Its not the size that counts, its how you use it."

Having said that the HD DVD technology can still go much further than what it is at today. So there's still plenty of room to grow before it hits it's potential limits and we are forced to utilise newer technologies.

Sony used to be great, I absolutely loved Sony hardware. But then they started going cheap nasty and making their crap as cheaply as possible to make as much profit as they could (I dunno why, was there a new Sony CEO in the last 10 years or so??). Sony no longer means quality, which is sad, but there it is. It will be the exact same for blu ray should Sony no longer have any competition.

For the record, I would like to note that I am primarily a gamer that just happens to love movies and technology, so consequently I own both a PS3 and an XBOX 360 add-on along with the HD-A2.
I own movies in both formats and would like to reply to one of Mr. funstuff72's comments above.
Please note that my response also contains some sarcasm.

Funstuff72

Quote:
The Blu-ray spec is simply superior to HD DVD. There have been countless documented cases on numerous boards about HD DVDs getting scratched easily - it's a fact, they have less protection.

I suppose if the problem of easily scratched HD DVDs became really huge, that it would be absolutely impossible, nay, inconceivable that Toshiba could employ the same coating made by TDK:
Durabis. Similarly, I suppose, it would also be inconceivable that Toshiba could use the coating
developed by Verbatim for BD rewritables: ScratchGuard.

Thank you and please note the above use of the word "nay". It's really difficult to work that one into conversations these days, but I keep trying.

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[Post edited by gmelgartex on Jan 14, 2008]

Nay is a good word.

My goat used to say "Nay" all the time. Then somebody got my goat, and it was nay goat anymore.

And "it ain't over til it's over." --Yogi Berra

John

Quote:
Sony and Blu-Ray winning "the war" is not good for the consumer, and anyone who thinks so is incredibly naive. Sony winning outright means higher prices, and less urgency in fixing all of their hardware and software issues, because, if you don't like it, so what? What are you going to do about it? What everyone's goal should be is for both formats to co-exist, much like X-box, PS, and Wii do now.

I seriously will just never understand this thinking. The home video industry and the gaming industry are simply not the same thing. People don't want opposing formats. They want to be able to go to the store, buy a movie, and watch it anywhere they feel like. Gamers don't care about multiple formats because the gaming community is used to it. Movie watchers are not. They're used to DVD and VHS before it. Where everyone is on the same format page. Isn't over two years of a format war long enough to drive down prices (down from a few thousand to a couple hundred for a player)? Prices are lower now online for HDM than they are for standard DVD in some cases! And speaking of SD DVD, that's a unified format. Have we seen player and software prices go through the roof since all the studios agreed to release on it? No, quite the contrary. One format means a clear choice which equates to more sales which equates to more money for the studios selling in bulk at lower prices. How people can look at the evolution of standard DVD and STILL think the HDM format war is a GOOD thing and that everything's just going to skyrocket and go to hell with Sony in charge if we settle on one format doesn't remember recent history very well. And they don't remember the death of high-resolution audio, either. It can and will happen to high-definition film as well if this doesn't stop. And it's been long enough.

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[Post edited by CroweDawg1121 on Jan 15, 2008]

Crowedog you're forgetting that originally Sony, Fox and Disney we're not supporting DVD. Why? Cause they were supporting another format called DIVX. Here were are again and the DVD consortium has approved HD DVD as the next generation format but Sony is not having it. Why? Because they want a bigger slice of the pie, as in royalties and whatever else they can make money on. That has been the biggest problem with everyone, myself included. I personally would love a working unified format but not if it's controlled by Sony.

Why be afraid of good old Free Market competition. I guess we are buying more and more that monopolies are good for the consumers. One big company with a lot of power being better than many smaller companies. I am for making money, and a good return on investment but the best way to control higher than normal amounts of corporate profit is through competition. Companies want to maximize profit and competition help keep profits in check, creates efficiencies and increases productivity. It also provides choice for the benefit of consumers.
At this point, It looks like an uphill battle for the HD DVD camp, but if both formats are able to make it to the mainstream market, there will be enough profits here and in the global market for both camps.

Perfectblue I agree but bluray won't have it. They don't want two formats. They want to control all of it and that's the problem.

No, I am not forgetting DivX. DivX was indeed instrumental in getting DVD pricing down at the onset. My point is that now that DVD IS the standard, it hasn't cause prices to skyrocket. Demand for product and consumer certainty have allowed for lower pirced hardware and software alike. I simply don't know why so many see Sony as the bad guys here when they're only trying to push their own format. Toshiba's doing the exact same thing - and, rightfully, should be. But Universal and Paramount should at least attempt to appear as though they give a crap about the people buying their products and at least go neutral. We can all talk circles around this forever, but the fact is that neither of these formats have any chance of surviving if customer confusion is allowed to continue indefinitely. Just compare where HDM is as compared to SDM if you doubt that for one second. The average buyer just doesn't want to get involved in this format war crap or risk wasting their money on something potentially obsolete in a few months. Blu-ray has the clear and decisive advantage here at this stage in the game and find it shameful that this war should be perpetuated by companies that put the success of one format or another ahead of HDM as a whole. If you want to talk about Sony wanting a bigger slice of the pie, then how about talking about Toshiba prolonging a virtually foregone conclusion simply to make a few more short-term dollars at the potential expense of both hi-def formats. Neither company is above this, people. Sony's not Satan in all this.

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[Post edited by CroweDawg1121 on Jan 15, 2008]

If Sony wins I hope Toshiba sells the factorys they have building the Sony PS3 chips to some horrible company that goes bankrupt. Down with arrogance!

Quote:
My goat used to say "Nay" all the time. Then somebody got my goat, and it was nay goat anymore.

And "it ain't over til it's over." --Yogi Berra

John

loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
guys, on my way to pick up a ps3! nooooooooooooooooo or maybe nayyyyyyy?

Quote:
My point is that now that DVD IS the standard, it hasn't cause prices to skyrocket.

Thats because DVD is handled by the DVD Consortium as a whole. If Sony had succeeded with it's support of DIVX things would be different but thankfully DVD won and Sony never really got control of it.

Again if bluray wins, make no mistake that Sony is the principle backer. Don't expect the pricing structure of bluray to follow that of DVD. Sony will squeeze every penny they can get.

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[Post edited by Falcon01 on Jan 15, 2008]

Falcon01,

You are simply telling lies at this point to support your losing format.

Show me 1 credible news source that says Warner took money to go Blu-ray exclusive. You can't so it will be fun to see you try.

Blu-ray movies will be able to play on all Blu-ray players, sure some features might not work on some of the older players but people don't care about that. Like I said, people just want to watch their movies. The extra features are a distant second.

As for the 51 GB discs, you are funny. Where are those? Where are the movies on them. HA - it's a little thing called vaporware that if ever sees the light of day it will be too little too late. And talk about an incomplete format ... it has been 2 years that HD DVD has had an inferior size per layer format ... and guess what ... it's still is true now ... the HD DVD spec simply does not match the size spec of Blu-ray no matter how many layers.

If anyone is misleading people it is you, trolling these forums and telling lies about bribes that never took place. Paramount took a bribe to go HD DVD back in summer of 2007, Warner Bros. DID NOT take a bribe to go Blu-ray exclusive at the start of 2008. I know it's hard to accept that a big company might make a business move based on logic and reasoning rather then on money, but all reputable news sources tell this to be the fact in this case.

I bought an HD DVD player shortly before the Warner Brothers announcement. Sure it may not be great for HD DVD customers, but hey it could be alot worse. After all Warner just pissed off over 1 million HD DVD owners with their announcement: http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/...

I encourage all HD DVD supporters to come visit this site : http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=45867

and join our cause to help save HD DVD. If the HD DVD supporters stand closer united it allows their voice to be heard more, than if they each went their own way.

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[Post edited by effmaster on Jan 15, 2008]

Funstuff wrote:

Quote:
Show me 1 credible news source that says Warner took money to go Blu-ray exclusive. You can't so it will be fun to see you try.

Here ya go...

Quote:
According to a trusted source that was close to the negotiations, Warner and FOX were working on a deal to go Exclusive to HD DVD as recent as last week. Our source tells us that Warner was only willing to go to HD DVD if FOX would go with them. Their thinking was if they just went to HD DVD by themselves, it would not end the format war. Early this week FOX was paid an undisclosed amount to remain exclusive to Blu-ray. With the FOX deal falling through, Warner had no choice but to accept the BDA’s $500 Million offer to go Blu-ray exclusive.

http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2008/01/04/warner-swayed-by-500-million-from-the-bda

Funstuff wrote:

Quote:
sure some features might not work on some of the older players but people don't care about that.

Everyone at my work just laughed at you. Thanks for the laugh

Funstuff wrote:

Quote:
As for the 51 GB discs, you are funny. Where are those? Where are the movies on them. HA - it's a little thing called vaporware that if ever sees the light of day it will be too little too late. And talk about an incomplete format ... it has been 2 years that HD DVD has had an inferior size per layer format

So the fact that HD DVD has fit 1080P/24 high definition movies with HD audio AND!! interactive features with web capabilities ALL ON A 30GB disk makes it inferior? Funstuff, you're losing it.

Funstuff wrote:

Quote:
I know it's hard to accept that a big company might make a business move based on logic and reasoning rather then on money

It's been clearly stated that Warner was going to go HD DVD exclsuvie BEFORE bluray paid them the $500 million.

I got you back Falc.

by the way, Im not the only one right? i mean, regardless of the account name, the posting style is the same.

Falcon01, you obviously don't understand what "credible" means.

Warner Bros. has officially on record as say there was no payoff. All of the reputable news sources have reported the same - THERE WAS NO PAYOFF.

Do you understand logic yourself? Do you? Can you see why Warner Bros. would go Blu-ray exclusive? Why they would choose to only produce discs on the format with the superior specs, support, and sales? Is this that hard for you to understand?

If you and your imaginary friends don't understand how people care more about being able to watch the movie they want then have some misc features then you have made everyone reading this thread laugh.

Do you understand what a spec is? Do you understand that the number 50 > 30? Please tell me you do.

Please stop telling lies, it just gives further evidence that HD DVD is failing, just like the current firesales to clear inventory before HD DVD runs up its white flag.

Please, could we stop calling other people liars, even though it seems a favorite term to denigrate an opponent. The official story from WB is that they took no money. At the same time, people within the WB organization say otherwise. An Insider at the AVS Industry Insider's thread reported WB's pay-off the day WB announced their switch, and the Insider's report has never been disputed. So, take your pick.

John

Let's not forget that Warner Bros said in December (?) that they were going to continue to support BOTH formats so their credibility is not exactly the greatest.

BTW thanks Kuco

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[Post edited by Falcon01 on Jan 15, 2008]

Unless Warner Bros. says otherwise, their official stance on this subject is that they took no payoffs.

Speculate all you want but this is the current state of facts, so pretending otherwise is indeed telling a lie. If you want to say you "think" they took a payoff then that is different. But please don't take unsubstantiated rumors as fact, or even worse, spread the falsities as fact.

Stop feeding a troll!

as kucoloco pointed out the list:

biblyboy
funstuff72
superdynamite
bublebathgirl

ALL TROLLS. All through the different threads, nothing but AGGRESSION from these posters. These are instigators that DOES NOT WANT DISCUSSION, but wants to let everyone know that their views, AND ONLY THEIR VIEWS, are the penultimate truth.

IGNORE THE TROLLS PLEASE, and you ignore their rants. It's hard to do, BUT IT'S AS EASY AS REPLYING TO ANOTHER POST.

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[Post edited by xplaytendo on Jan 15, 2008]

xplaytendo, well said.

Falcon1 and xplaynintendo please come join us at these two sites if we are to help try to save HD DVD:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=45867


and
http://www.hdnowonline.com/807_The_Time_Is_Now.html

Getting back on topic, if both formats co-exist, can't any consumer go in to the video store and pick up whatever they want? Saying there needs to be only one format is ludicrous. If I wanted to buy a movie, and it was available in SD, HD DVD and Blu, than I can get anything I want, with no hassle. To say that 2 formats "confuses" people is not giving the average consumer much credit. A Blu-Ray player plays Blu-Ray, and an HD DVD player plays HD DVD. For those who were confused, there you go.

From my perspective, rather than both sides fighting and paying to get the upper hand, it would be much more beneficial to release on both formats, because it means your movies are available for anyone to purchase. The "confusing" 2 formats is not the reason people have not been jumping in with both feet. People are not jumping in for the same reason I didn't at first - I don't like not being able to get all the movies I want, and I wanted to wait until everything panned out. If all studios were format neutral, there would be nothing to hold anyone back. They can check them both out, and make a decision for themselves, not one that's being forced down their throats by Sony or Toshiba. Sony's track record with their early discs, greater potential or not, is why I won't buy Blu anytime soon. For me, it's HD DVD or DVD. For others, they may be quite pleased with Sony, and that's fine with me. I don't need everyone to agree with me. I just don't understand why everyone doesn't see that it is good for everyone to have 2 formats that release everything. It seems like common sense to me. Everybody wins - studios, retailers and consumers.

Falcon01 said -

Quote:
"That's because DVD is handled by the DVD Consortium as a whole. If Sony had succeeded with it's support of DIVX things would be different but thankfully DVD won and Sony never really got control of it."

Uh, Falcon, I believe you are re-writing history here (with the above). Sony supported "Open DVD" from the beginning of the format, not Divx, with several players and many DVD movies.

Circuit City's DIVX PPV-DVD (Digital Video Express) began in the Fall of 1998, with studio support primarily by Fox (Divx only), Disney (Divx & DVD support), Paramount (both), and Dreamworks (both). Fox and Disney were -the- major studios backing the format (especially Fox, who didn't have any DVD releases for awhile).

Sony backed DVD, and provided some of the best Anamorphic Widescreen releases, such as GODZILLA (Nov 1998 DVD release). Divx, by the way, released movies only in "Full-Frame" 4x3, and without the bonus content feature on standard DVDs, nor the DTS soundtracks included on many DVDs.

When Divx was discontinued at retail (June 1999), I went to a Circuit City store and purchased two movies at 99 cents each [discounted from the $4.49 retail price), as a "Collector's Item", and still have them to this day. The titles are: ALIEN RESURRECTION and PLANT OF THE APES (both by Fox), and since I never had a Divx-enabled DVD player [from Zenith etc], the only thing viewable is a screen stating that playback of the disc can only be seen on a Divx player, and a 1-800 phone number for more info.

Again, SONY did not support the Divx PPV-DVD format.

-Love Hendrix! (The Loverboy)
~ DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray/KURO Plasma owner ~

I see alot of people saying that competition is good and would be better than only one format. Is everyone forgetting that we had only one format for DVD and look how quickly those prices fell and that it was the most successful new electronics format ever! If every studio would produce both formats than both could live on but Sony will never produce HD-DVD's. Every other studio could go neutral but Sony owning Columbia will always be the hangup. I love HD-DVD and even prefer it over Blu-ray and I own both formats but I'm also trying to be realistic and not let my personal preference or emotions get the best of me.

RAMSFAN said -

Quote:
"If every studio would produce both formats than both could live on but Sony will never produce HD-DVD's."

Your entire comment was excellent, and the above quote recalls a scene from Brian DePalma's sexy BODY DOUBLE [1984, Sony/Columbia], where the main male character goes into an "all-night" X-rated video store to buy the film "Holly Does Hollywood" - as he's wanting to confirm the identity of the female lead (Melanie Griffith's character), that he's actually seen in person, across the way from a home where he's been housesitting.

When he asks the clerk if they had the film available, the clerk says something like, "Yeah, we have it. VHS, Beta, LaserDisc, 8mm, whatever you want."

Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where you can get the latest hit movie in the various home video formats (since most don't have available new hardware for viewing) --

VHS
Beta
LaserDisc
CED disc
8mm (videotape)
VCD
SuperVHS
D-VHS
UMD (for PSP)
DVD
HD-DVD
Blu-ray
...etc

-Love Hendrix! (The Loverboy)
~ DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray/KURO Plasma owner ~

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[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Jan 15, 2008]

Quote:
the only thing viewable is a screen stating that playback of the disc can only be seen on a Divx player, and a 1-800 phone number for more info.

What I'm dying to know is if you called that 1-800 number?

Skyhawk said -

Quote:

"What I'm dying to know is if you called that 1-800 number?"

Nah... By June 1999, I'd had my first DVD player for about 10 months ($399 Panasonic, model #A10 I think), and would never have supported Divx PPV-DVD. I just wanted a Divx disc or two as a reminder of it's history, which was doomed for failure against Open standard DVD.

-Love Hendrix! (The Loverboy)
~ DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray/KURO Plasma owner ~