Blu-ray, HD DVD players to appear in panel discussion
by Steven Kim 
posted Sep 19th 2007 at 12:33PM
It looks like the Blu-ray / HD DVD format war isn't about to end soon. Worse still, it's hard to separate real information from rhetoric on the state of the battle. We're hoping that some things come to light on October 10 though, at a panel discussion on HD media formats at the DisplaySearch HDTV Conference. The session, titled "The Format War Is Over! No Wait, This Just In...", is the conference opener, so you know they've lined up a good panel. There are heavyweights representing both formats, and promised topics of discussion include some pretty pointed questions: "Is consumer adoption where the industry expected, and what will it take to motivate more to buy?"; "Will the Paramount defection prolong the format war?"; and "When will the collective power of the 190 Blu-ray Disc companies actually begin to demonstrate its clout?" We're pulling for the moderator to keep the panel honest and on-point. Any predictions on what will come out of the session?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave @ Sep 19th 2007 12:39PM
"Any predictions on what will come out of the session?"
FUD?
Sean @ Sep 19th 2007 12:41PM
Garbage will come out. I think both sides will tout how great they are while the consumer stands there going, "huh?".
-dad
h4ldol @ Sep 19th 2007 12:53PM
I hear the fanboys coming...
Chris @ Sep 19th 2007 12:55PM
All it will take to end this format war is to have one side get exclusives to Star Wars and LoTR and have them out by Christmas. Whichever side does that will win.
Franssu @ Sep 19th 2007 1:44PM
...and if Star Wars comes out one one format and LoTR on the other ?
Don't laugh, this could really happen.
Patrick @ Sep 19th 2007 3:06PM
Yep, that'd be enough to turn me to HD-DVD for good, even though I've been in the BRD camp since the beginning.
Kevin Murphy @ Sep 19th 2007 1:26PM
How about "How do various countries antitrust laws affect tying content to hardware? Is this pro-consumer?"
Franssu @ Sep 19th 2007 1:50PM
I have another question :
"How come electronic companies that are hundreds of times richer than Hollywood majors do the bidding of the latter ? Why don't they just buy them and tell them to shut the fuck up with all this DRM shit ?"
Raptor007 @ Sep 21st 2007 1:16PM
Dual-format players to the rescue!
Xyzzy @ Sep 19th 2007 2:02PM
"Any predictions on what will come out of the session?"
My guess? More rhetoric.
Chris Clark @ Sep 19th 2007 2:06PM
Umm, how can you motivate more people to buy? Uhhh, well you can start by having ONE FORMAT! Dolts...
dman @ Sep 19th 2007 2:32PM
Regardless of which format "wins" I'd like the big shots to explain how anyone will adopt even the winning format. It seems like the formats compete against themselves... I'm still not sure what the different versions of HDMI are or what all these new audio codecs add, or why I should care about a player that supports 1080i vs 1080p vs 1080p/60 and all the other 500 or so standards out there now. I'd like them to explain how they intend to let the consumer know which HD DVD/BluRay player is the one to buy. I remember buying a TV and the only question I had to ask was "is it cable ready?" now if I want to buy an HD DVD or BluRay player, I have about a hundred questions I need to ask...
Xyzzy @ Sep 19th 2007 2:40PM
@dman: "I remember buying a TV and the only question I had to ask was "is it cable ready?" now if I want to buy an HD DVD or BluRay player, I have about a hundred questions I need to ask..."
That's not specific to the HD DVD/BD players anymore though. You can't just ask that for TVs, receivers, DVD players, etc anymore - you need more information unfortunately. Things are better, but more complex than they used to be.
JeffDM @ Sep 19th 2007 3:37PM
I think all the existing players are very quiet except for the fact that they blow hot air. Now, if there are _people_ talking at this panel, then they will blow hot air at a much higher sound level.
Chris @ Sep 19th 2007 4:43PM
It doesn't matter how they spin it, for this will be a spin session.
I'm the consumer, I make smart buys. I wont buy single format HiDef players. Simple as that.
I've had tens of people ask me and I tell them that they have to wait. Its just not worth buying one over the other.
Leonardo DiCrapio @ Sep 19th 2007 5:00PM
"And the meek shall inherit the Earth..."
That's with these two formats are doing -- completely underwhelming the public. I will stick with my Oppo upscaling DVD player that I got about six months ago. Quality looks fine to me -- heck, even my old non-progressive scan DVD player looked pretty good on my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV!
Xyzzy @ Sep 19th 2007 6:34PM
"I will stick with my Oppo upscaling DVD player that I got about six months ago"
How much did you pay for the player? At the current HD DVD prices (a couple of weeks ago you could get one for $200 with 8 free movies), it's a no brainer to buy one as an upconverter instead of an Oppo. And while upscaling looks ok, it really doesn't compare to HD (either format).
"heck, even my old non-progressive scan DVD player looked pretty good on my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV!"
Then you probably need a pair of glasses...
wysiwyg @ Sep 20th 2007 4:45PM
I was asked just today by someone who didn't know much about high def. "What kind of player do I need to get to play high definition dvds on my computer? I do have a dvi input on the monitor." I then asked "How much are you looking at spending? There are $50, $150-$200, or $450-500". The answer was "I don't want something that cheap, but I also don't want to spend $500 dollars on it. Maybe the $100-150 range." The final response was, you can wait till this holiday season and get an HD DVD player for $150-199 that can be used to upconvert your DVDs rather than a $100-$150 upconvert DVD player. Verdict: Sold on the HD DVD player.
I think in the end, price is really key to entering high def for some people at this point.
Smee @ Sep 19th 2007 7:09PM
If you buy a cheap HD DVD player you cant loose, even if BR wins long term, it is still one of the best upscaling DVD players around and it's cheap.I think we all have several DVD players, it's not much money to invest while the war rages on, it could be years before there is a clear winner.
dikturbo @ Sep 19th 2007 8:44PM
"Smee
If you buy a cheap HD DVD player you cant loose, even if BR wins long term, it is still one of the best upscaling DVD players around and it's cheap.I think we all have several DVD players, it's not much money to invest while the war rages on, it could be years before there is a clear winner."
The argument that I and many others have is not the initial cost of the players but the commitment to the discs themselves.
OK I break down and I choose a $200 CDN HDDVD. I then run out and buy 10 discs at $29.95CDN only to discover some months later that HDDVD has lost the war and I along with millions of others are left holding a pile of worthless discs. I refuse to enter this arena until a agreed format has been decided upon. I work to hard for my dough to piss it against the wall.
Xyzzy @ Sep 19th 2007 10:17PM
"and I along with millions of others are left holding a pile of worthless discs"
Why? If HD DVD stops producing disks, do the disks you already own stop playing? No, they don't. Lots of people still use VHS and Laserdisk. Heck, my parents still have an 8-Track player! They all play the media just fine.
And if you're really that worried, buy the HD DVD player ($200-$250) and rent HD DVDs instead of buying them. Your current DVD collection will look better and you can still watch HD DVDs.
But again, guess what happens if everyone buys HD DVD players because they're cheap? You'll guarantee that HD DVD will "win" the war.
Joseph R @ Sep 20th 2007 10:11PM
"I then run out and buy 10 discs at $29.95CDN only to discover some months later that HDDVD has lost the war and I along with millions of others are left holding a pile of worthless discs."
NO! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY THE DISCS - that's what RENTALS are for [$17 a month], from either Netflix or Blockbuster online, rent all the HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs you can watch for a low monthly fee.
Jim @ Sep 20th 2007 9:41AM
Agree with the earlier posts. The lowest cost Toshibas are pretty affordable upscaling DVD players that also happen to play HD DVDs.
I think a 3 disc Netflix subscription would make far more sense than buying most movies on HD DVD, regular DVD or Blu Ray. Let's be honest, most people watch a DVD that they purchase no more than 2 or 3 times. Some titles like Star Wars or LoTR might make sense to purchase, but most titles make more sense as rentals.
Given all that, I would get an HD DVD player in lieu of an upconverting regular DVD player. As for Blu Ray, I cannot see purchasing a stand alone player. If you are going to purchase a PS3 anyway, then add Blu Ray to your preferences for Netflix.
Unfortunately with the PS3 you need to get a preamp or receiver that will decode high quality, multi-channel surround sound over HDMI. Not many high end preamps support HDMI 1.3 yet. This was one reason why I bought a Toshiba HD-A1 with six channel analog audio outputs last year. The price then was $400. At today's ~$200 prices, you don't have too much to lose even if Blu Ray does win the format war.
Raydeen @ Sep 20th 2007 3:25AM
BD is going to say they won.
HD is going to say look at my cheap prices.
Both will say no one look at HD-VMD and hope that it goes away.