Paramount and Dreamworks going HD DVD exclusive

[Ji@nBing]

^ Good point. Hell, people think that their current cable package will give them HD. Little do they know they need to add it on for $xx per month for what, 15-20 channels? Before they figure that one out, you see them return to the retail store and complain that the quality of the TV sucks when they're the ones that don't have an HD package. So now this $xxx purchase has suddenly become more expensive when they have to pay a monthly fee for HD channels and the HD receiver.

Lets face it, most people are clueless nowadays when it comes to technology.

Yep. I work at Costco and you wouldn't beleive the ammount of HDTV's that come back from stupid buyers complaining about poor picture. The good thing is that the staff gets to buy them at discount :D. One guy just picked up a Sharp Aquos that sells for 3k for only $1500. Nothing at all wrong with it. The lady just tried to use it on regular cable and wasn't happy with the picture. I know where I'll be getting my HDTV when I finally decide to pick one up :p.

[Ayepecks]

But, I thought I purchased an HDTV so everything it plays is HD right? Why do I need to buy this HD or Blue disc thingy and buy new DVDs? What, you are telling me I have to buy this to enjoy HD on my HDTV? That is crap! I just spent $XXXX dollars on this and its not even HD! What a rip off! Forget this...greedy corporations.....

****This was brought to you by an uneducated movie lover at Best Buy************

Of course some customers are going to think that. Heck, some customers don't even know that the cable output you have can impact the quality of how something looks. Point being?

There will always be people like that, with or without leaps in technology.

GOJI_GKing2000: No, it doesn't guarantee mass adoption. Your point?

As I'm sure you've read, we've went through this before. Beta-Max, Laserdisc... of course there will be technologies that are not adopted.

I don't understand why you're even asking "what's the purpose?" when you know the answer yourself. Why don't you just ask "why does technology advance"?

An HD format video player will eventually become a mass market commodity one way or another. I promise this. Whether it's anything we have right now we don't know... but it will happen.

[goji]

GOJI_GKing2000: No, it doesn't guarantee mass adoption. Your point?

As I'm sure you've read, we've went through this before. Beta-Max, Laserdisc... of course there will be technologies that are not adopted.

I don't understand why you're even asking "what's the purpose?" when you know the answer yourself. Why don't you just ask "why does technology advance"?

An HD format video player will eventually become a mass market commodity one way or another. I promise this. Whether it's anything we have right now we don't know... but it will happen.

Point being that just because someone purchases and HDTV does not guarantee they will purchase an HD disc player. If they did, HD disc sales would have been out the roof. False assumption on your behalf.

You and everyone else should be asking why these new formats exist and why you should adopt them. Someone please give me a reasonable excuse? This isn't about the progress of technology where the jump from VHS to DVD was felt, but more of a lateral shift. Contest this all you want, and then consult any major research done on the subjects adoption rate and you will see how unloved HD-DVD and Blu-Ray really are; only by the enthusiasts not the mainstream market.

I would love to see an actual SWAT analysis done on this subject to see which audiences are being targeted the most and why. No amount of blind product support will keep a product alive, there has to be market adoption and a reason for such adoption. To date I have yet to see one and no one on this board or anywhere else has yet to state one.

So I ask again: What is the purpose of this newer medium when there is one in mass circulation that already appeases the masses and which in the recent years has made DVD a staple of the living room?

[TDQuiksilver]

Hm.. I have a HDTV and don't pay for the service, but still get the HD channels..

I love integrated tuners. :)

[libertas83]

You and everyone else should be asking why these new formats exist and why you should adopt them. Someone please give me a reasonable excuse? This isn't about the progress of technology where the jump from VHS to DVD was felt, but more of a lateral shift...

....So I ask again: What is the purpose of this newer medium when there is one in mass circulation that already appeases the masses and which in the recent years has made DVD a staple of the living room?

First, have you ever view HD content? Now, do you want the purpose for consumers, the market, or the businesses? Each of course are going to be different so you can spin a debate in many directions.

For consumers, it is to give you a better experience in video and sound with more interactive features. Basically, it raises the quality bar to something really good instead of mediocre. VHS was crap, DVD was mediocre, and HD is much better. Most people who actually view the movies in HD notice the difference right away. Most of my friends are busines people and not techies so they do not care about the little things that I do, but they all agreed and said, "wow, that looks really good", when I show them a clip of an HD trailer or sampe movies that I have. BTW, those clips are not at the same quality level of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray so that tells me they will really notice it when they watch an HD Movie.

[Ayepecks]

Point being that just because someone purchases and HDTV does not guarantee they will purchase an HD disc player. If they did, HD disc sales would have been out the roof. False assumption on your behalf.

You and everyone else should be asking why these new formats exist and why you should adopt them. Someone please give me a reasonable excuse? This isn't about the progress of technology where the jump from VHS to DVD was felt, but more of a lateral shift. Contest this all you want, and then consult any major research done on the subjects adoption rate and you will see how unloved HD-DVD and Blu-Ray really are; only by the enthusiasts not the mainstream market.

I would love to see an actual SWAT analysis done on this subject to see which audiences are being targeted the most and why. No amount of blind product support will keep a product alive, there has to be market adoption and a reason for such adoption. To date I have yet to see one and no one on this board or anywhere else has yet to state one.

So I ask again: What is the purpose of this newer medium when there is one in mass circulation that already appeases the masses and which in the recent years has made DVD a staple of the living room?

I really don't mean to sound rude, but let me be the bearer of bad news: well, duh!

Of course it doesn't guarantee HD disc player sales. TV sales don't guarantee DVD player sales, either. I don't see your point at all.

Adoption takes time. You're just not thinking with your head right now. Think about things you've seen happen in your life. Think about Windows operating systems that get released and how, after a while, the adoption rate is massive, yet at the beginning it is never all that high. It's the same with almost any sort of technology.

Why should I be asking why these technologies exist? THIS IS TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT! Why did DVDs replace VHS? Why did CDs replace floppies and cassettes? They all represented better quality, more content, and, yes, increased copyright protection. It's nothing new.

Betamax and VHS didn't have massive adoption rates at the beginning, either. Neither did DVD or Laserdisc. Heck, I can still remember to this day one of my friends telling me DVDs were a fad... that sure turned out to be true, didn't it?

You keep fighting the fact that this is technology. I do not understand why this is a hard concept to grasp for you. This isn't any sort of lateral movement, I hate to break it to you. HD format discs have more quality enhancement over DVD than DVD had over VHS, and you classify that as a non-lateral advancement and DVD-to-HD as a lateral advancement? Are you serious?

It's beyond me what and why you're even arguing here, to be quite honest with you.

[TruckWEB]

Well, the CEDIA EXPO 2007 is almost over. What big news did we get? (Overall, even if from diffrent source than the Expo) :

HD-DVD :

- Q4, 125 new titles including big block busters.

- Star Trek the original serie, season 1, remastered on HD-DVD

- Transformers

- Toshiba is to include HD-DVD into all new laptop.

- The same news about the 3 new Toshiba HD-DVD player

- Venturer HD DVD player for $149 in store for Holiday shopping

- LG will release a new version of the Dual Format player, that support everything, for $999! :blink:

Blu-Ray :

- ASUS will make Blu-Ray PC drive

- ACER will include Blu-Ray drive in selected PC/Laptop

- Sharp is making a Blu-Ray player

- Sony showed 2 new player (over priced I say)

- LG will release a new version of the Dual Format player, that support everything, for $999! :blink:

- Die Hard 4, PG13

- Sony invite Toshiba/MS to switch camp to Blu-Ray.. :rolleyes:

- Sony say it's okay for consumers to pay more for Blu-Ray player to help Sony profits.

That's about it? Nothing else I'm missing?

So, do we fell like something in this Expo will end this war? I don't know....

[Boz]

Well, the CEDIA EXPO 2007 is almost over. What big news did we get?

HD-DVD :

- Q4, 125 new titles including big block busters.

- Star Trek the original serie, season 1, remastered on HD-DVD

- Transformers

- Toshiba is to include HD-DVD into all new laptop.

- The same news about the 3 new Toshiba HD-DVD player

- LG will release a new version of the Dual Format player, that support everything, for $999! :blink:

Blu-Ray :

- ASUS will make Blu-Ray PC drive

- ACER will include Blu-Ray drive in selected PC/Laptop

- Sharp is making a Blu-Ray player

- Sony showed 2 new player (over priced I say)

- LG will release a new version of the Dual Format player, that support everything, for $999! :blink:

- Die Hard 4, PG13

- Sony invite Toshiba/MS to switch camp to Blu-Ray.. :rolleyes:

- Sony say it's okay for consumers to pay more for Blu-Ray player to help Sony profits.

That's about it? Nothing else I'm missing?

So, do we fell like something in this Expo will end this war? I don't know....

Btw, CEDIA lasts for 5 days, and it only opened up yesterday, so it's not over yet. Anyways, you missed a couple of things for HD DVD.

- Confimed that another Chinese manufacturer will come out with cheap HD DVD player. Company name is Shinco.

- Integra and Onkyo showcased their new HD DVD players, with Integra being the super high-end model of any HD DVD player on the market (MSRP $1000).

- All new HD DVD players will come with 300 HD DVD and Bourne HD DVD in the box

- With any purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player and Start Trek Season 1 (that btw looks unbelievable) you get a super geeky phaser remote

- LG came out with second generation combo player but this one includes full HD DVD specs and has the proper HD DVD logo

- DynamicHD showcased with a lot of BD exclusive titles coming to HD DVD with insane interactivity - Terminator 2 showcased

- Acer also joins HD DVD Group officially as a member

for BD:

- None of the players showcased are Profile 1.1 (including $700 that new Sony and tomorrow's Pioneer) except $2000 Denon which is coming this Fall. The delay was for European model.

- None of the players is below $500, most are actually more expensive prices go from $600-$2000. Meaning, no budget player.

[bobbytomorow]

by the time this format war is over digital distribution will be the way to go anyway. in fact i would say it is the way to go right now even, i download everything, movies, games, music, software etc...physical media ftl

[BGM]

hmm.. might have to get a HD-DVD player soon as well as the Blu-Ray

dammit :|