Could Warner Bros. Abandon HD DVD in 2008?

[PRO-630HD]

The reason for the the size of dvd going from 5gb per side to 4.7gb was EFMPlus modulation! A method for recording data which made the disc more resiliant against scratches and fingerprints. In reality allowing Sony to save a little face and jump on board Super Density Disc.

Sony responsible for dual layering huh!!! Nice try!! Toshiba/Warner Super Density Discs initial specs were 18gb maximum capacity. Two layers on two sides. 5gb on a single layer and 9gb on a dual layer. Add another side and you double that. Sony/Phillips MMCD had a maximum capacity of 7.4 gb or 3.7gb per layer. It was never intended to be dual sided. If you remember when dvd's 1st came out the widescreen version was on one side while the full screen version was on the other. I am sure that is why Toshiba and Warner insisted it was there. DVD is essentially a tweaked version of Toshiba/Warners SDD with little from Sony/Phillips MMCD.

The DVD Forum would like to unify with the Blu-ray group if possible, but perhaps it looks like they don't want to unify," says Hideyuki Irie, director of the DVD Forum secretariat office.

[Dave Moritz]

"Toshiba about broke even with their first player and made money on the high end player. Since then manufacturing improved, parts were being mass produced and their were competitive outlets for some more parts. This made it possible to build the A2 at a much cheaper price point. When the A2 was being sold for $299 Toshiba was still making money if barely. The $98 sale was an obvious loss. However they had around 100,000 units that otherwise were just going to not be sold at all. So they got some money for them and increased the market size by 25% in one weekend. Not a bad move."





Toshiba is defiantly showing that they can offer lower priced HD-DVD players than the Blu-ray camp, at least for the time being. I do not doubt that HD-DVD is a good format as I do own an HD-A1. I however do not consider any of the HD-DVD player currently available to be high end. There are Blu-ray models that are closer to high end than anything Toshiba has kicked out so far. IMHO the HD-DVD players look like the low cost off brands that you would find at Wal-Mart or Circuit City. I am not referring to the video quality, but the look of the player that also gives it a poor fit and finish look. I would like to upgrade my HD-A1 that is temperamental and quirky even with firmware updates. I do not see any reason currently to do so as I am not willing to buy a second HD-DVD player only to have to buy a third because it will not bitstream or decode every audio format. It was rumored that high end company Meridian would make a HD-DVD player but I have not seen any news of such a player. I also do not see any other companies lining up to make HD-DVD stand alone players at this moment. Other than Onkyo which basically took a Toshiba player and did some tweaks and re badge it as there own. Onkyo also canceled there HD-DVD player because they where being undercut by Toshiba and they felt it was not worth releasing a re badged player under those circumstances.

Another reason I would like to have a really nice HD-DVD player is that the HD-A1 as many of you well know. Is only capable of 1080i output so I would love to upgrade it to a higher end model with HDMI 1.3 that can bitstream all three lossless formats to an external decoder in a receiver. I am considering buying some import HD-DVD's that have DTS-HD MA tracks since there are no region code restrictions for HD-DVD. And since there are numerous DTS-HD MA titles in Europe I feel it is important that any new HD-DVD player be able to send out the bitstream. Now can anyone here really tell me that they think any of the HD-DVD players are actually anything close to high end? Yes there is DD+ and Dolby True HD decoding in some of them and 1080p video in some of the models as well. But if you break down how they are designed, how they are put together, the quality of the parts and the over all look of the HD-DVD player. It is far from being high end and looks almost like a Oppo special even though it does produce a very good picture and can output some very good sound for the money. This is something that Toshiba need to work on besides offering low dollar players to get the average consumer to jump on board.

As far as my Sony BDP-S300 goes I have already chosen the Denon DVD-2500BT to replace it as an upgrade so I end up with a player that is more high end. I would like to have the HD-DVD equivalent to the Denon Blu-ray but I do not see it in the current HD-DVD hardware lineup.

Now as far as the software side of the war goes it is possible that both sides could stalemate for year to come. Especially if enough dual format players are introduced and enough consumers actually buy them. To this day the audio/video world has not had the same track record that the game councils have enjoyed with multiple formats. Multiple game platforms have coexisted with no problem, but audio/video has always seemed to need a winner and looser as two competing formats have never coexisted yet! Now if two formats go on to coexist in the HD market I will be surprised. I do not think it is totally impossible but just not probable.

I am very interested in what WB does in 2008 as it could have a big impact on the format war if WB was to go Blu-ray exclusive. I own both players so for myself it does not matter to a point as I can buy any HD title and take it home and watch it. That does not mean I do not want to see the format war over and every title available on one format. I feel that Blu-ray is the better format and has more potential because of its better specifications. The truth is they both use the same video codex and same audio codex so they both look and sound the same. It is just how those technologies are implemented and what the differences are in format limitations. I just hope we do not have to have this format war go on to much longer where everyone has to keep picking and choosing what format they will invest in and limit the titles the can own because of it.

[PRO-630HD]

You do realize the Toshiba XA2 is the only stand alone HDM player to be Sound And Vision Certified and Recommended this year. 1080/24P, bitstreaming or internal decoding of all advanced codecs to include DTS-HD MA, Reon HQV processing, 2ndary audio and video encoders for PIP, ethernet port for web features and firmware downloads, built in memory. The Onkyo and Integra clones would be the same. Show me 1 bluray player that even comes close to these features. The new Panasonic is the closest you have and it won't even decode DD+, True HD or DTS-HD internally, no ethernet port either.

You need to research your topics better before posting. http://www.avmagazine.it/news/sorgen...naio_2678.html
Onkyo DV-HD805 returns in January

Gian Luca Di Felice Gian Luca Di Felice

"After having reported very few pieces available in the first HD DVD player Onkyo, the same distributor Italian Tecnofuturo notified us that the DV-HD805 will be available in stores at the beginning of the year" Tecnofuturo, Italian distributor of Onkyo products, has called us this morning to tell us that the Japanese brand has not stopped the production of reader HD DVD DV-HD805 and that starting from January / early February 2008, the reader will again be available in stores . The news had reported that there was the result of a misunderstanding linked to the first delivery extremely contingentata the player and now it remains to be understood if the reader will remain identical to the model Toshiba HD-XE1 or / and will be repositioning price after the Christmas holidays.

For more information: www.tecnofuturo.it

[JerryDelColliano]

Do you realize that AVRev.com didn't make the XA2 a Gear We Love Award Winner because sitting there for 1 to 2 minutes waiting for a disc to load is LAME.

Take it from me - I own the damn thing.

[kennyt]

Pro-630HD,

I for one could care less what S&V 'certifies' or 'recommends'.

I do own an XA2, and it's a great machine, but like Jerry says, it still isn't as slick as any SD DVD player out there. I fear we are still several generations, and maybe more than less as all companies on both sides of this 'war' are releasing players faster than even a source geek like me can keep up with!

I wish they'd just make a really good player with acceptable functionality in one or better yet both formats ASAP so we can stop with the prolonged load times (Surf's Up took almost three minutes on one of my Blu-ray players...)

[PRO-630HD]

Originally Posted by JerryDelColliano

Do you realize that AVRev.com didn't make the XA2 a Gear We Love Award Winner because sitting there for 1 to 2 minutes waiting for a disc to load is LAME.

Take it from me - I own the damn thing.

As do I. My dvd player is the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi. Although they are very close for SD playback and both have NSV the XA2 delivers one hell of a picture. With HD material no dvd player can ever come close to matching it.

My point is I have had it since Jan. and due to FW upgrades it does 1080p/24 and HBR audio to HDMI 1.3a receivers. Load up time for Transformers is 33 seconds. 55 seconds if the machine is turned off. Not too slow in reality. No they are not instantaneous like dvd players but I highly doubt they ever will be. With the extra processing you can access menu features while the movie plays. DVD players stop you cold interupt the film and go to the main menu.