Audioholics: Ten reasons why high-def DVD formats have already failed
by Matt Burns 
posted Jun 23rd 2006 at 10:19AM
A few days ago we brought you "Ten reasons you NEED to be an early adopter of a high-def movie format" and then today "Ten reasons why high-def DVD formats have already failed." Audioholics has a great listing of why HD DVD and Blu-ray have already failed and it has nothing to do with what kind you are buying. Oh no. Like number one: Nobody likes false starts. Well put and very accurate. All of the topics are great but we like number eight the best. "Enthusiasts Are Getting Tired (and Smarter)" Seriously, it truly does not pay to be on the forefront of current technology. How many times have you gotten burned on purchasing a first generation product, only to have the format not supported within a year or two. (Personally - SACD) Educated people can and will wait to see how this thing fans out, or rather, just wait for a combo player.
This is seriously a very good read that you really should check out.
Filed under: Programming, DIY, Industry, Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James @ Jun 23rd 2006 10:36AM
Sitting and waiting till it shakes out is part of the problem. If everyone waits, there are no sales and the studios don't care about releasing titles.
Oh well.
Jim @ Jun 23rd 2006 11:21AM
It would not be a problem if they didn't release 2 formats! You cannot put any of this on the consumer at all. We cannot go around throwing our money away, and alot of money, $999+ for a player to me is insane.
A good upscaling DVD player is enough for most people like my parents (and they have a 50" Sony SXRD), just as CD-quality music is for most of us. Either drop one of these formats (dropping the more expensive Blu-Ray seems like the better choice at this time) or just make AFFORDABLE hybrid players. If the industry does not do one of the above, both formats will go the way of SACD and DVD-Audio, neither really catching on and being mostly ignored by the general public.
Tush @ Jun 23rd 2006 12:40PM
Burned by laserdisc? Wasn't laserdisc the videophile's choice of medium for a long time? I mean, VHS quality was crap compared to laserdisc...
But I do agree with most of the arguments. I've had an older rear-projection HDTV for years now, but didn't get HD satellite until a couple months ago. It was finally affordable for me. I think the adoption rate will increase in the coming years as details like resolution and distribution are ironed out.
Mike S @ Jun 23rd 2006 1:20PM
The main thing is that HD-DVD and blu-ray lack the "WOW" factor and convenience. Going from VHS to DVD was a huge leap in quality and ease of use. Same thing from LP to CD. Now, mp3 is popular for it's portability and NO DRM. DRM is killing new formats by being to restrictive. In the old days, just output the LP to cassette. Now.....????
Adam Jones @ Jun 23rd 2006 1:29PM
I agree with Mike S. that the DRM is killing new formats. I don't buy new songs off iTunes or Napster. Not because I can download them for free (I stopped doing that a few years back), but because I don't understand the copyright protection well enough to know if the song I pay $1 for will play on my iPod or if I can copy it to CD and take it home to my PC there. I am sure there are more people like myself that would spend the money if I knew the song was going to play whereever I want to use it.
Ben Drawbaugh @ Jun 23rd 2006 1:52PM
It isn't DRM that is killing them and Sound quality isn't the only thing that made CD's popular.
AACS is less restrictive than CSS yet DVDs became very popular long before CSS was ever cracked.
MP3 has worse sound quality than CDs yet iPods are more popular. LP were replaced with cassettes not CDs and some people still use LPs because of the ability to mix the records at clubs and parties. (Usability not quality)
The real problem with Hi-Def dvd standards is that they don't offer anything more than DVD other than quality and a cool menu. There are no more convenient than DVDs and offer only a few more features.
They will not become more popular than DVD until they are the same price which we all know is a long time and by then downloadable content will be easier/cheaper.
That being said I don't want to have to wait 2-5 years to watch HD movies, I want to watch them NOW!
Mike S @ Jun 23rd 2006 2:51PM
Oh yeah, back in the 80's Cassette was King :) CD's became more popular than Cassette as prices fell on portable CD players (I paid $200 for a Magnavox protable CD player back in 1988)and car cd players.
We forgot about D-VHS pre-recoreded movies too. Lack of firewire outputs on TV's and STB's lowered their sales.
Terrence @ Jun 23rd 2006 6:54PM
Ben,
If you don't want to have to wait 2-5 years to watch HD movies, and want to watch them NOW!, then do so by buying one or both players (when available). Are you going to wait until they become ‘very popular’? Probably, or maybe not, your lose. Just like all the others on the sidelines waiting until the storm passes or until their favorite movie series comes on the format of choice (IMO, that’s a decent reason to wait, if there’s nothing of interest to watch).
'DVDs became very popular long before CSS was ever cracked.'
Define 'very popular long before'.
I would agree with :
'very popular before'
or
'popular long before'
but not
'very popular long before'
'MP3 has worse sound quality than CDs yet iPods are more popular. '
iPods are more popular than what, CDs? CD Players? I beg to differ. I do agree that MP3 quality music is more popular than CDs only because of the portability and ease of sharing, not because of iPods (iPods are just the latest carrying device of choice). iPods have sold some impressive numbers, but I've yet to see a car manufacturer sell you an iPod instead of a CD deck/changer.
If you're counting iTunes track sales, then you should multiply CD sales by 11 ( my avg. songs per CD) to compare Apples to Apples.
'The real problem with Hi-Def DVD standards is that they don't offer anything more than DVD other than quality and a cool menu. There are no more convenient than DVDs and offer only a few more features. '
Totally agree with from a whole consumer base point of view.
'They will not become more popular than DVD until they are the same price which we all know is a long time'
Again, define ‘long time’. I remember DVDs priced at $25+ for the longest (if you didn’t break the bank the first week they were out). Hell, when Musicland, Tower Records and the like were around this was definitely the norm in price. HD disc won’t have the volume of selection that DVD has. I don't see studios reproducing all the crap-tacular films on DVD today. This would be a bad thing.
There's definitely a market for HD movies (on disc), it's just too bad there are 2 formats out.
Ben Drawbaugh @ Jun 23rd 2006 7:23PM
Mike S,
I have a DVHS deck and I think the reason why they weren't as successfull as they could be is because it is 1 step forward (PQ) and 2 steps back(linear tape device).
Some DVHS decks had component outputs as well as 1394.
Terrance,
Good job calling out my generalities, you are right I was dancing around the specific. We seem to agree on most of the points. A lot of car steros these days have either ipod connections or hard drives for storing MP3s. The point is that quality isn't the only thing that makes a format great.
I will be buying a Blu-ray player very soon, probably when they are officially released in 2 days.
WiFiSpy @ Jun 24th 2006 1:02AM
Ben, I predict you will be returning it faster than you did with the HD-A1 ;)
Ben Drawbaugh @ Jun 24th 2006 8:26AM
Why wouldn't I take full advantage of the 30 days provided to me by the retailer?
GhostDoggy @ Jun 24th 2006 10:59AM
James, until the studios start releasing titles in much, much, much, much, much, larger quantities, do you really expect people to drop $500-$1300 for a new player for 3-5 titles the buyer 'might' be interested in?
High definition content is nice, but not if the subject matter doesn't interest me. Think of your most hated movies that you find completely worthless. Are you willing to spend $500-1300 on the player and $25-35 on that hated movie just in oder to 'not wait'?
TexRpb @ Jun 26th 2006 12:40PM
Arggggggh!!!! I am so sick of the 1080p talk! Movies are 24fps, so why do we care about 60fps video, the only difference between 1080i and 1080p?!?!
The formats are fine, both of them. I agree that Joe Consumer will not jump on the next gen DVD formats, largely because of cost of the players. The discs are not that much of a premium in price, which is impressive. Until the players come down to 150-200, perhaps years from now, we won't see anything close to mass acceptance.