[Model Citizen]

Will Paramount’s switch to Blu-ray spell the beginning of the end for HD DVD?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3155910.ece

[wilko]

Originally Posted by Model Citizen

Will Paramount’s switch to Blu-ray spell the beginning of the end for HD DVD?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3155910.ece

Just to be 100% clear, Paramount have denied rumours that they are switching.

But Warner's switch makes it look inevitable that Blu-ray are the favourite.

My opinion is that it will be another 12 months before we know for sure. Universal still have a binding exclusivity contract with HD-DVD until 2009 I believe, so we will still see HD-DVD content for a long while yet. And anything can happen in that time - all it takes is for one big studio to side with HD-DVD (which in my opinion is the far better technology) and it's wide open again.

[Model Citizen]

Originally Posted by wilko

And anything can happen in that time

Especially if the retailers start lowering the prices to clear stock...it could even do a complete U turn as HD DVD becomes cheaper. Just a thought.

[wilko]

Indeed.

And in the USA, $99 HD-DVD players are a regular special offer. If they start banging out HD-DVD players in the UK at £50 a pop, then the tide will soon turn.

Remember, the cost price of an HD-DVD player is vastly cheaper than the cost price of a blu-ray player. And also bear in mind that Sony are ALREADY struggling with supply of the blue laser diodes - how will they cope if demand for blu-ray standalones increases?

So yes, it looks bleak but behind the scenes there are still reasons for optimism.

[Model Citizen]

Rumors just won't stop about the future of HD DVD, and while we try not to post all of them, some seem too believable to pass up. Our friend Bill Hunt, at the Digital Bits, -- still waiting on those permalinks, Bill -- is reporting that his "second to none" sources informed him that both Universal and Paramount are in the process of going blu. But don't bother asking 'em, because the same contracts that prevent them from switching now, prevent them from confirming the rumor. In addition, Bills sources tell him that while Paramount could make an announcement any day now, Universal's won't come until February -- at the earliest -- because "their contract period with the HD-DVD camp expires at the end of January."

quoted from
http://ces.engadget.com/2008/01/09/s...oth-going-blu/

[michael blunty]

I think it looks likely that 'blu-ray has won' but that really doesn't mean much to the average consumer.

Neither formats are popular in the least - it's taken nearly 10 years for people to fully immerse themselves into DVD.

Dvd is still very relevant - and the fact that you can get most new films less than £6 within a few months, some down to £3 in a year - means people will still buy them and buy them and buy them.

The future is definitely gonna be with streaming, renting and multimedia PC's IMO.

I don't regret for a second buying into HD-DVD - nothing changes the fact that as of this current time - they are as good as you are going to get picture and sound wise - there is still new films coming out - and my bought dvds are not going anywhere.

I just wish there would never have been 2 seperate disc formats - i'm sure the manufacturers wish that too.

[manxmike]

I was an early adopter of CD-i (I REALLY hated video), VCD and then DVD, paying through the nose in each case for both hardware and software. I was more than happy to spend the cash to do my bit in bringing in a better format and assist in the demise of VHS.

I deliberately kept out of this dumb format war between BD and HD-DVD until Warner's decision. There was no way I was going to support two formats.

Now I'm going to start buying BD as enthusiastically as I did when DVD first came along. Got nothing against HD-DVD, it's just the way the cookie crumbled.

[Sciolist]

You've all missed the most crucial factor.

I bought a PS3. I tried to prevent this information from entering the public domain but it looks like it must have been leaked.

My apologies to HD-DVD users, but it wasn't deliberate.

[Elvira]

Do Blue-Ray players play standard DVD's?

[homerpovey]

Originally Posted by Elvira

Do Blue-Ray players play standard DVD's?

Yep and they upscale the piccy to ...same as HD-DVD players