HD Format Wars - Blu-ray Disc Wins

[Bobby H]

Kind of a long post.

Millions of home theater fans have been "sitting on the fence" for the past 2 years waiting for a winner to emerge in the bitter format war between Toshiba's HD-DVD format and Sony's Blu-ray Disc.

This week, and particularly today, the winner has been decided: Blu-ray Disc.

It is now only a matter of time (maybe as little as a few days or no longer than a few weeks) before Toshiba, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures bail out of support for HD-DVD and announce plans of going "blu."

Early this morning one of the electronics buyer executives at Wal-Mart posted a statement in her company 'blog saying HD-DVD players and movies would be gone from all Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores by June. News of this traveled the web and quickly reached home theater enthusiast sites.

By noon, Wal-Mart executives were issuing official press releases and statements to news agencies confirming the intention to phase HD-DVD out of their stores.

This news follows the 2 major developments from Monday on this subject:

1. Netflix announced they were buying no more HD-DVD movies for customers to rent. When the existing HD-DVD titles are worn out, Blu-ray Disc will be the only high-def option left.

2. Best Buy, the world's largest electronics retailer, announced that starting in March they will push Blu-ray Disc as the "preferred format" for customers. They'll still stock some HD-DVD players and movies, but the clear emphasis will be on promoting BD movies and players.

On Thursday, the Hollywood Reporter cited reliable inside sources claiming Toshiba is about to "pull the plug" on HD-DVD. Publicly Toshiba denies those rumors.

Overall sales of HD-DVD movies and players have been lagging Blu-ray Disc by 2:1 margins early in 2007 and 3:1 margins later in that year. Now the difference is running as much as 85% BD to 15% HD.

Sony's Playstation 3 has turned out to be the deciding factor in the format war, disproving the notion some marketing people had that gamers don't buy movies.

It can be argued Warner Bros. is the main reason why HD-DVD was plunged into a final, fatal downward spiral. Just prior to the opening of the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, Warner Bros. announced that by the end of May they would end their support of HD-DVD. Warner Bros. is currently the world's number 1 movie studio in terms of sales.

Warner Bros. not only had been releasing movies in both Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD formats, but also tried other efforts at getting customers to adopt high definition movies. WB experimented with DVD/HD-DVD combo discs and even launched their own "Total-HD" format, which bonded HD-DVD and Blu-Ray data sides together. They abandoned both efforts due to replication problems.

Warner Bros. also found the act of trying to make everyone happy by supporting multiple formats did nothing to solve mainstream customer confusion and did nothing to bring the format war to any conclusion. So they picked a side: Blu-ray Disc.

Retailers are taking increasingly active moves in getting the format war finished off ASAP. They don't want the HD-DVD versus Blu-ray Disc drama extending well into summer and possibly affecting the fall/holiday sales season. They believe that with only Blu-ray Disc hardware and software (movies) on the shelves customers will be more likely to upgrade from standard DVD.

By this fall, there should be a much wider variety of Blu-ray Disc players from which to choose. Prices should be better (cheaper).

Currently, if someone is interested in buying a Blu-ray Disc player, the safest bet is getting a Playstation 3. Its firmware can be updated via WiFi or its LAN connection or even by using flash card slots in the more expensive versions.

[Martin]

the only thing i'd add is that i'd hold out until a bd 2.0 player is available (which should be sometime this summer)... all of the standalone blu-ray players on the market today are obsolete out-of-the-box. the only exception to that is the playstation 3, which can be upgraded once a firmware update becomes available. -M

[Bobby H]

Well, "obsolete" kind of depends on what you want out of the format. Most people just want to watch the movies and that's it. Any Blu-ray Disc player will do that job.

The Panasonic DMP-BD30 was the first "standalone" BD player compliant with the "BD Profile 1.1" format, which enables a number of BD Java functions like picture in picture video commentaries, etc.

The most current firmware update of Playstation 3 brings all of those machines up to BD Profile 1.1 function.

The Panasonic DMP-BD50 player is scheduled to be the first BD Profile 2.0 rated player on the market. It's supposed to arrive in stores in May or June. The Playstation 3 will probably be firmware updated to BD Profile 2.0 function around that time as well.

The Profile 2.0 format won't get used on any Blu-ray Disc releases until this fall when Disney's Platinum Edition version of Sleeping Beauty is released. The movie disc will feature a BD Live Java-based game that requires some Profile 2.0 functions.

My feeling is that the pace of development and improvement on the Blu-ray Disc format will quicken dramatically once Toshiba officially ends their support of HD-DVD or when the only studios supporting HD-DVD (Paramount/Dreamworks and Universal) announce their own Blu-ray Disc release plans.

Paramount had previously been releasing movies on Blu-ray Disc format, but went HD-DVD exclusive last fall due to a $150 million payment from Toshiba (and possibly Microsoft). Paramount had certain escape clauses in their contract, such as if Warner Bros. ended their support for HD-DVD.

Universal Pictures' contract with HD-DVD is expired, but Universal continued releasing some movies on the format. However, their release of American Gangster could be one of the last of their HD-DVD releases. They have suspended some other upcoming HD-DVD releases.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Damnit.

I hate Sony.

[kevinpate]

Wonder if some Sony execs are high nodding each other and muttering payback's a Beta.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

lol....Nice.



Sony is so anti-consumer it's unreal. The rootkit debacle was the ultimate F.U. to people...STILL...People buy their stuff. They don't even make very many decent products...It's 90% crap.


/bitter

[Midtowner]

lol....Nice.



Sony is so anti-consumer it's unreal. The rootkit debacle was the ultimate F.U. to people...STILL...People buy their stuff. They don't even make very many decent products...It's 90% crap.


/bitter

I haven't bought Sony anything since that happened. I'm very anti-Sony since that happened. Unfortunately, most consumers are too clueless to understand how the decisions they make at the cash register can come back and bite them in the ass for many years to come.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Everything they put out or manufacture has built-in software/hardware that throttles consumers into buying more Sony.

I'll cross my fingers for solid-state to kick BluRay's ass in a year. Downloads are the wave of the future anyway

[Bobby H]

There are some bright sides to this situation.

First, the better format won.

Dislike of Sony is irrelevant. Blu-ray Disc is the better format regardless. Blu-ray Disc has a lot more data capacity and can run audio and video at much higher bandwidths. Nearly any BD movie will have uncompressed LPCM surround or next generation "lossless" formats like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD. Most HD-DVD releases don't have the room or bandwidth available to support such things.

HD-DVD was thrown together using existing laser and disc replication technology. Development for Blu-ray started earlier and had more ambitious plans, which unfortunately have taken more time to complete. BD Java is an entire programming environment. The "HDi" technology on HD-DVD is merely an Internet Explorer browser extension.

There's a lot of companies making Blu-ray Disc products other than Sony. Panasonic has a very good model available now and an even better one coming out in a couple of months. Toshiba was the only company making HD-DVD players (others like Onkyo, RCA and Venterer were merely selling re-branded Toshiba players).

Nevertheless, Sony's Playstation 3 is still currently the safest bet on most future proof Blu-ray Disc player.

Want to talk about a bad product? Why not bring up X-Box 360?

I know a lot of people who have X-Box 360 consoles. Every one of them has had serious problems with the 360 that required sending the console to Microsoft for repair. Some have done so numerous times. The "red ring of death" error is quite common. PS3 doesn't have those problems. Likewise, many of those 360 owners are buying PS3 consoles or at least saving up to do so.

On the topic of digital downloads, they will be no threat to Blu-ray Disc any time soon. The HD downloads Apple is offering for rent are very inferior to Blu-ray Disc in terms of audio and video quality. The overwhelming majority of Internet users do not have connection speeds remotely fast enough to make HD quality downloads practical at all. It's going to be several years or more before online movie rentals pose a truly credible threat in the marketplace.

[Bobby H]

There's more news taking place today.

Toshiba has halted HD-DVD player production and any further development of the format. The company is expected to close HD-DVD production factories in Aomori Prefecture in Japan.

News of the production halt was leaked to the Japanese TV network NHK. The story has been picked up internationally by Reuters. Toshiba is expected to make an official announcement about ending HD-DVD development early next week, possibly Monday.

According to The Digital Bits website (The Digital Bits - Celebrating Film in the Digital Age) retailers are now seeing certain Paramount Pictures titles previously available only on HD-DVD coming up as "on order" or "available for pre-order" in their computer inventory systems. These titles include Blades of Glory and Transformers. Other previous Blu-ray Disc releases from Paramount may be coming out of storage and going back onto store shelves.

[BailJumper]

That settles it - I was looking for an excuse to buy a PS3. The pawn shop by me has two that look brand new for a little over $100 cheaper than new. For the money I want a player that also plays games.

[dismayed]

It's hard to argue that one format was truly superior to the other when both support the same video codecs, audio codecs, screen resolutions, and so on. Blu-Ray definitely has the edge on capacity (50 GB vs. 30 GB as well as unproven theoretical limits) and encryption/protection. Things I liked about HD DVD were the consortiums rejection of DVD Region Encoding, which unfortunatey Sony has decided to perpetuate with Blu-Ray, and the fact that HD DVD was basically an extension of the DVD standard, meaning production lines would not have to be completely retooled to produce the new discs. Long-term I think this would have had the best cost implications and we would have seen DVD/HD DVD combo discs produced eventually that would have been playable in either DVD or HD DVD players. Another thing I am not wild about with Blu-Ray is its use of Java and the requirement that all Blu-Ray players implement the JVM. I think long-term we would have seen WinCE on HD DVD players and some unique interoperability features between PCs and set top boxes.

The thing that really bothers me is Sony's constant push for proprietary closed-box standards. It's been seen for years with their branded computers, home entertainment systems, and other consumer electronics. After years of open standards I fear that the future may be dominated by companies like Apple and Sony that wish to lock everyone else out.

[Bobby H]

It is easy to argue Blu-ray being superior to HD-DVD.

Not only do you have the 50GB versus 30GB advantage on dual layer disc capacity. Blu-ray also has a huge advantage in audio-video bandwidth. Blu-ray Disc supports AV bit rates up to 54 million bits per second. HD-DVD maxes out at only 36 million bits per second. Giant difference. Enough of a difference that the vast majority of Blu-ray movies feature things like uncompressed Linear PCM 5.1/7.1 surround tracks or lossless next gen formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Hardly any HD-DVD movies have such audio; they typically have only regular Dolby Digital or DD Plus.

In short, Blu-ray has more capacity and bandwidth available on the disc to make movies look better and sound better.

The regional coding schemes are in Blu-ray because the Hollywood movie studios want them there. Studios like Fox wanted other anti-piracy efforts made as well. Blu-ray's security is a lot better than the simple AACS system in HD-DVD that has already been cracked numerous times.

The Blu-ray Disc format is also very wrongfully mischaracterized as being Sony's thing alone. That's not true. Several CE companies have equal footing in the Blu-ray consortium. Mastu****a has just as much involvement in Blu-ray as Sony. Their Panasonic Blu-ray players are among the "best of breed" in current standalone models. Sony is putting much of its resources behind Playstation3.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

It's hard to argue that one format was truly superior to the other when both support the same video codecs, audio codecs, screen resolutions, and so on. Blu-Ray definitely has the edge on capacity (50 GB vs. 30 GB as well as unproven theoretical limits) and encryption/protection. Things I liked about HD DVD were the consortiums rejection of DVD Region Encoding, which unfortunatey Sony has decided to perpetuate with Blu-Ray, and the fact that HD DVD was basically an extension of the DVD standard, meaning production lines would not have to be completely retooled to produce the new discs. Long-term I think this would have had the best cost implications and we would have seen DVD/HD DVD combo discs produced eventually that would have been playable in either DVD or HD DVD players. Another thing I am not wild about with Blu-Ray is its use of Java and the requirement that all Blu-Ray players implement the JVM. I think long-term we would have seen WinCE on HD DVD players and some unique interoperability features between PCs and set top boxes.

The thing that really bothers me is Sony's constant push for proprietary closed-box standards. It's been seen for years with their branded computers, home entertainment systems, and other consumer electronics. After years of open standards I fear that the future may be dominated by companies like Apple and Sony that wish to lock everyone else out.

For what it's worth...All of my HD-DVD's are "dual-format". I can stick them in my regular DVD player and watch them.

[Bobby H]

Today (or really around 5:00pm Tuesday, Tokyo Time, which was around 2:00am our time) Toshiba officially announced it will be closing its HD-DVD business. HD-DVD players and movies on retail store shelves will start disappearing and finish being removed by the end of March.

Toshiba will still honor HD-DVD product warranties and continue to offer customer service for such products.

Universal Pictures released a statement today saying the company is already working on some old catalog and new release titles for Blu-ray release. Universal's movies had always been exclusive to the HD-DVD platform.

Warner Bros. today stated they will stick to their current plan of releasing movies on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD until the end of May and starting in June release high definition movies in Blu-ray exclusively. Toshiba's announcement will not speed up that process.

Paramount/Dreamworks (the other remaining HD-DVD exclusive studio) has not made any public announcements since Toshiba held their news conference early Tuesday. Insiders say Paramount does have some new releases ready to be distributed in Blu-ray format. Many previous Paramount Blu-ray Discs may be in storage ready to go back out to retailers.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Sounds like I should buy a HD-DVD player for it's value as an antique someday.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Sounds like I should buy a HD-DVD player for it's value as an antique someday.

I'll auction mine off with my Betamax.

[CuatrodeMayo]

And Laserdiscs.

[FRISKY]

Why do you think the cost of DVD players will go down now that there isn't any competition? Wouldn’t lack of competition cause the price to go up?

[Bobby H]

The price of standard definition DVD players can't go much lower than they've already gone.

The price of Blu-ray Disc players will fall over the next few months and continue to fall in following years -just like what happened with DVD.

The first DVD players in 1997 were costing $700 and up. After a couple years 2nd and 3rd generation players were selling for $300-$400. By 2001, DVD players were selling for under $200.

There is no monopoly in the Blu-ray Disc format. Mastu****a (parent company of Panasonic) has put just as much R&D effort into Blu-ray as Sony. Samsung, Pioneer, Phillips, LG, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Funai, JVC, Denon and Daewoo are among the companies who have already brought Blu-ray Disc players to market. More companies are following. The competition between all those vendors will bring down player prices.

By comparison, Toshiba was the only electronics company to make HD-DVD standalone players. Units from RCA, Onkyo and Venturer were rebranded Toshiba HD-DVD players. The only exception to this was dual format Blu-ray/HD-DVD players from LG and Samsung. Toshiba was much closer to having a Beta-style closed platform with HD-DVD.

As Blu-ray Disc movies become more popular, the price of BD movies may decrease as well. High definition movie customers are currently paying a premium for movies in part to recoup the costs of new optical disc pressing plants.

Unfortunately for HD-DVD, movie studios didn't pass along the lower relative costs of replication to customers and instead charged prices similar to that of Blu-ray movies.

[jbrown84]

Do the Blu-Ray players play regular DVDs?

[Martin]

^^^
yes... and most, if not all, upscale the dvd's picture. -M

[jbrown84]

Do you mean to the extent that it looks bad?

[Martin]

nope... upscaling tries to improve image quality by resampling the picture at a higher resolution. -M

[metro]

Well, I'm just glad we finally have a winner emerge. Good thing I didn't buy that Toshiba HD DVD player a few weeks ago.... Looks like I'll hold out a few more months or so and get a PS3 or BluRay after they drop in price some.