HD DVD officially dead. Universal and Paramount going Blu.
02-19-08 | 02:12 AM
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HD DVD officially dead. Universal and Paramount going Blu.
02-19-08 | 02:43 AM
#9
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That's a shame. They definitely had the better system out of the gate and better prices to boot. I really wish they would have prevailed.
Oh well, back to SD until I can get a Blu-ray player and 10 movies for under $300.
Oh well, back to SD until I can get a Blu-ray player and 10 movies for under $300.
02-19-08 | 02:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Peep
Bill Hunt, right again.
He knew his stuff and he called it right. I have him to thank for setting my mind at ease enough to jump in on bluray even before the format war was over. Since that time I have enjoyed many great bluray releases and I clearly made the right choice.
Anybody who complains about Bill Hunt's journalistic integrity is being silly. He isn't a journalist. He simply gives his opinion and thoughts about dvd and anything related to it. All he tried to do by staunchly supporting bluray was help dvd fans and consumers make an informed decision about their next steps into the high-def market.
02-19-08 | 03:04 AM
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Engadget has a transcript of the press conference up, and I just read something very interesting from the Q/A session at the end:
So, all of the reports of over a million HD DVD players were apparently fairly exaggerated, unless I am missing something significant. And half the players sold in the US were XBox 360 add-ons.
Q: How many HD DVD players and recorders, exactly, did you sell?
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 730,000 units worldwide.
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 730,000 units worldwide.
02-19-08 | 03:14 AM
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Originally Posted by RoboDad
Engadget has a transcript of the press conference up, and I just read something very interesting from the Q/A session at the end:
So, all of the reports of over a million HD DVD players were apparently fairly exaggerated, unless I am missing something significant. And half the players sold in the US were XBox 360 add-ons.
So, all of the reports of over a million HD DVD players were apparently fairly exaggerated, unless I am missing something significant. And half the players sold in the US were XBox 360 add-ons.
This is actually from the horse's mouth (TOSHIBA) I am assuming???? Paging all the HD-DVD supporting FUD spreading fanboys...SPIN THIS !!!!...now is your time to shine...
02-19-08 | 03:15 AM
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From: Blu-ray.com
Originally Posted by RoboDad
Engadget has a transcript of the press conference up, and I just read something very interesting from the Q/A session.
Could you please paste and post the entire script here, if it isn't too much of a hassle. I keep trying to get to the site but I can't. Not sure if too many people are reading or what but I can not access it.
Thanks.
Pro-B
02-19-08 | 03:17 AM
#15
DVD Talk God
I guess I will start preparing to buy a Blue Ray Player once I finally upgrade to an HDTV. Glad I didn't get caught up in this HD DVD/Blue Ray hype.
02-19-08 | 03:18 AM
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From: A far green country
Here you go:
This is what is up right now. I don't know if there will be more.
5:00PM - Right on time, Toshiba's president, Nishida-san, takes the podium. He is talking about how great and advanced HD DVD was. WAS. He is also speaking about how Toshiba shared a good partnership with Warner. "There was a difficult decision. Multiple standards have a huge impact on consumers."
5:15 - Now he's just reading from the release, more or less. They're on to bigger and better things: two new NAND factories in Japan, one will be jointly-operated with SanDisk.
5:21 - Q&A time!
Three part Q: what was the cause of HD DVD's failure? What is Toshiba doing with its Aomori HD DVD factory? And what about the timing of the announcement?
A: From an objective, fair point of view, we were clearly in a good place until last December and January. So we were very, very surprised by Warner's announcement. As for the Aomori factory, nothing is final at this moment.
Q: Any plans to adopt Blu-ray?
A: No plans at all, not at this moment.
More after the break.
Q: Are there no plans for next gen optical disc at all?
A: We don't have any plans to announce at this time.
Q: Is there any risk of a class action lawsuit against Toshiba for the format war?
A: [For early adopters] there will be always be a risk in buying, that is how it works in the US. We are just hardware maker, so our legal risk is relatively low, we believe.
Q: What is the next-gen NAND flash memory you'll be producing? What does that mean, exactly?
A: 3D NAND is a possible candidate, but just one of them. To avoid any confusion, we cannot say which next-gen memory technology Toshiba will choose to pursue. Nothing is final.
Nishida-san's now answering why the construction will take such long time on the new factory, explaining about how its construction will make it virtually earthquake-proof.
Q: How about the process size of new factory? Is that 32nm?
A: I can't answer that. [laughs]
Q: How many HD DVD players and recorders, exactly, did you sell?
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 730,000 units worldwide.
With regard to future media availability, should disc companies will cease production (oh they will!) Toshiba will buy enough discs for current Japanese HD DVD recorder users and resell them online. Now Nishida is talking about how upconverted DVD still looks great.
5:15 - Now he's just reading from the release, more or less. They're on to bigger and better things: two new NAND factories in Japan, one will be jointly-operated with SanDisk.
5:21 - Q&A time!
Three part Q: what was the cause of HD DVD's failure? What is Toshiba doing with its Aomori HD DVD factory? And what about the timing of the announcement?
A: From an objective, fair point of view, we were clearly in a good place until last December and January. So we were very, very surprised by Warner's announcement. As for the Aomori factory, nothing is final at this moment.
Q: Any plans to adopt Blu-ray?
A: No plans at all, not at this moment.
More after the break.
Q: Are there no plans for next gen optical disc at all?
A: We don't have any plans to announce at this time.
Q: Is there any risk of a class action lawsuit against Toshiba for the format war?
A: [For early adopters] there will be always be a risk in buying, that is how it works in the US. We are just hardware maker, so our legal risk is relatively low, we believe.
Q: What is the next-gen NAND flash memory you'll be producing? What does that mean, exactly?
A: 3D NAND is a possible candidate, but just one of them. To avoid any confusion, we cannot say which next-gen memory technology Toshiba will choose to pursue. Nothing is final.
Nishida-san's now answering why the construction will take such long time on the new factory, explaining about how its construction will make it virtually earthquake-proof.
Q: How about the process size of new factory? Is that 32nm?
A: I can't answer that. [laughs]
Q: How many HD DVD players and recorders, exactly, did you sell?
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 730,000 units worldwide.
With regard to future media availability, should disc companies will cease production (oh they will!) Toshiba will buy enough discs for current Japanese HD DVD recorder users and resell them online. Now Nishida is talking about how upconverted DVD still looks great.
02-19-08 | 03:20 AM
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From: Blu-ray.com
Thank you so much.
edit: That's what I thought. The last paragraph pretty much confirms that if anything they will only cater to media storage demands.
Pro-B
edit: That's what I thought. The last paragraph pretty much confirms that if anything they will only cater to media storage demands.
Pro-B
Last edited by pro-bassoonist; 02-19-08 at 03:25 AM.
02-19-08 | 03:26 AM
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Q: How many HD DVD players and recorders, exactly, did you sell?
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives.
A: 600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives.
02-19-08 | 03:31 AM
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From: A far green country
Originally Posted by Hammer99
So 1/3 of all US HD DVD SA were sold during the WalMart A2 fire sale weekend?
02-19-08 | 03:31 AM
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From: Blu-ray.com
Originally Posted by Hammer99
So 1/3 of all US HD DVD SA were sold during the WalMart A2 fire sale weekend?
Pro-B
02-19-08 | 03:57 AM
#23
DVD Talk Hero
Some preemptive MOD NOTES:
(1) Please continue to discuss this in a civil manner. We really don't need any hootin' and hollerin' from the Blu-ray side, and we really don't need any bitter, defensive remark from the HD DVD side.
(2) While many may disagree as to whether this is good news or bad news for the consumers in the short run, I think we can all agree that this--having one HDM format--is a good news for the consumers in the long run. So let's try to focus on the positives of this news instead of all the negatives. We already had the negative discussion in the now-closed HD DVD is near death thread.
This can be a very emotional time for many of you. Some because of the excitement, some because of the disappointment, and some because ... you seem to be always emotional. If the past performance is any indication of future behavior, then I suspect that there will be a lot of mod actions needing to take place in the next few days. Please do your best to maintain your composure, and we won't have to be so involved as moderators. Thank you for your cooperation.
namja
Moderator, DVD Talk Forums
(1) Please continue to discuss this in a civil manner. We really don't need any hootin' and hollerin' from the Blu-ray side, and we really don't need any bitter, defensive remark from the HD DVD side.
(2) While many may disagree as to whether this is good news or bad news for the consumers in the short run, I think we can all agree that this--having one HDM format--is a good news for the consumers in the long run. So let's try to focus on the positives of this news instead of all the negatives. We already had the negative discussion in the now-closed HD DVD is near death thread.
This can be a very emotional time for many of you. Some because of the excitement, some because of the disappointment, and some because ... you seem to be always emotional. If the past performance is any indication of future behavior, then I suspect that there will be a lot of mod actions needing to take place in the next few days. Please do your best to maintain your composure, and we won't have to be so involved as moderators. Thank you for your cooperation.
namja
Moderator, DVD Talk Forums
02-19-08 | 04:03 AM
#24
Banned by request
Well, this is a sad day. Whether you were pro-Blu, pro-HD, purple, green, or rainbow colored, it's hard to deny that HD DVD was a solid technology (aside from those goddamned combos) that helped Blu-ray achieve the high performance standards it has reached today. I for one cannot wait to grab as many cheap discs as I can get my grubby hands on, and will probably get a 360 add-on and an XA2 for backup use.
Meanwhile, I sincerely hope that the studios outdo themselves trying to top DVD, with awesome A/V encodes and special features we haven't even thought of yet.
Meanwhile, I sincerely hope that the studios outdo themselves trying to top DVD, with awesome A/V encodes and special features we haven't even thought of yet.
02-19-08 | 04:49 AM
#25
DVD Talk Legend
too soon!
