HD DVD about to fight back...

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

It's not incumbant upon anyone to prove that something unproven and undemonstrated does *not* exist. A white paper is a list of agreed upon specs. It is not a product in production.

It's incumbant upon a group claiming that something *does* exist and is ready for replication to provide accountability that it is.

This is the manner in which products have always been verified. HD DVD and BD zealotry, on either side, don't change this paradigm.

See my example about the "readiness" of 100GB BD replication.

So you're basically saying that it is ok for me to post:

BD 2.0 players may not work with all previous BD software.

[TheMoose]

I've always said that it will be better for HDM when there is a winner & only one format remains, to me it's just common sense, but some continue to say the war is good for everyone, I don't understand where that comes from.
I don't believe mass adoption will occur until there is a single format, the prolonged war can do nothing but harm HDM & push it closer to the slow death of SACD/DVD-A.

The big question in my mind is how long can or will hd-dvd hold out with only Paramount, Dreamworks & Universal?
If something isn't done soon can hd-dvd force them to stay until the bitter end?
I can't imagine the studio lawyers not having an escape clause that can be triggered at a certain point.

[Lotus]

Unless DaViD's sources were talking to CEOs then put little stock into his assessment.

As for Sony having two weeks to match stock offers, this is true. Will they? I don't think so, but maybe I'm wrong. I know they can't afford to right now.

[akbungle]

Originally Posted by Lotus

As for Sony having two weeks to match stock offers, this is true. Will they? I don't think so, but maybe I'm wrong. I know they can't afford to right now.

I think Sony would do whatever it takes and certainly has the resources and and has the necessity to do so(Sony has an awful lot riding on this).

[akbungle]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Unless DaViD's sources were talking to CEOs then put little stock into his assessment.

I doubt your sources that have pushed a studio going red were talking to CEOs either.

[PRO-630HD]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

At this point even if MS tried to buy a major studio and succeeded, it wouldn't mean the long-term success of HD DVD, just as Universal and Paramount holding out now haven't stopped thousands of HD DVD player returns at Best Buy and Amazon or kept HD DVD software sales from dropping to a stand-still. Even Universal and Paramount have plans to go blu, but right now are keeping a good face on for HD DVD to help Toshiba ease out of things and to keep consumer confidence going a little longer to help sell on HD DVD inventory. This spin that the hold-out is to give MS time to secure another studio is just another one of these false rumors set in motion by a party heavily entrenched in HD DVD's interests that would rather muddle the market and perpetuate HDM confusion than have the industry move smoothly towards a single HD format solution.

David you have some valid points. Now Universal could have ended this war before it ever started. They were the only hold out not supporting bluray. I am sure due to reasons dating back to all the lawsuits Sony filed against them in the 80's as I have posted here many times prior. If they can pick up another studio Paramount is not going to go crawling back to bluray. They outright dumped the format 6 months ago.

Let's put this into a little better perspective. The cheapest semi hddvd compliant bluray player being 1.1 is the Panasonic for $500 compared to $200 for the A30 which still outclasses it in features. Yes Toshiba is going after the dvd market. Something the BDA should be doing. When 1.0 players go up $100, BOGO's vanish and the player no longer comes with 5 free movies then they purchase a bluray player they are making sure bluray becomes the laserdisc of the 21st century. People are not waiting on the sidelines here, if so why is the growth curve ahead of dvd? The format war and aggresive competition which ALWAYS benefits the consumer brought prices down and increased the adoption rate.

In Warners current shape after reading the news for the past couple of days it is easy to see why they took the 500 million dollar payout. I am sure Sony's own Jeff Bewkes was part of it as well. After Warner, Fox and Paramount got paid off I am shocked the rest of the studios aren't threatening to jump the fence just for a payoff to stay were they are at. The sad thing is the consumer is not deciding the format war it clearly is the studios as Lotus has said.

I think we can all agree that Sony should have accepted HDi and the secondary audio and video encoders, ethernet port and 1gb storage offer Toshiba made them to end this before it started. BDJ has been problematic to say the least unlike HDi which has worked flawlessly from the beginning. The BDA obviously with 2.0 players realizes hddvd features are important. Toshiba offered them the same courtesy back in 95 by adding Sony's 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 or what is know known as dvd. It's a shame Sony would not return the favor as we all know if Bluray players launched 2.0 capable since day 1 and they damn well should have been for $1000-$1500 and used HDi technology which means VC1 would have replaced MPEG-2 it would have been a hit out the gate. BD-25's would have looked great with VC1 and wouldn't have chopped off all the extras.