another nail in sony's PS3 coffin

theNEOone

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Apr 22, 2001
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http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/5647/53/

Universal Studios boss deals Blu-ray death blow
By Stan Beer
Sunday, 17 September 2006
In what could be a telling moment in the high definition format war, a high level executive from a major movie studio has publicly come out in favour of the HD DVD format, developed by Toshiba and backed by Microsoft.

Comments supporting HD DVD last week by Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, at the electronics design show CEDIA EXPO 2006, have dealt a serious a blow to the Blue-ray camp, led by Sony.

?The reviews are in and HD DVD is hands down the leader in picture quality, audio experiences and interactive capabilities that have never been seen before,? said Kornblau.

?Look at the blogs, look at the reviews by the early adopters and even look at the mainstream media ? HD DVD has maintained its first-to-market advantage and delivered on the promises of providing the best high definition image and sound quality at the best value for consumers today. Take today?s announcement of new players from Toshiba, new PC hardware from Niveus and new titles like ?The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,? and add the hardware and movies that are coming this Fall and you can see why HD DVD is poised for a strong holiday.?

According to the the North American HD DVD Promotion Group, with more than 60 of the latest titles available from major studios, HD DVD offers the most titles of any high definition format, with nearly 150 titles expected by the end of 2006.

Originally, nearly all the major studios lined up behind the Blu-ray format.

However, HD DVD now has the backing of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment, HBO, New Line Home Entertainment and The Weinstein Company.

Meanwhile, the higher priced Blu-ray format, which was later to market, received a serious set-back two weeks ago. Sony announced that the production of its PlayStation 3 games console, which will offer a way for consumers to get a lower priced Blu-ray player, has been delayed by four months.


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fatpat268

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Jan 14, 2006
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man, there was a time when I used to like sony...but they're making WAAAY too many mistakes lately
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
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I don't undersdand why content producers would adopt one format over the other. Why limit your audience base with only one format when you can put out dvds in both?
 

UncleWai

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Oct 23, 2001
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fixed cost perhaps? If you print the medias in another format, you need new machines, new people, new licensing crap, etc.
 

theNEOone

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Apr 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: UncleWai
fixed cost perhaps? If you print the medias in another format, you need new machines, new people, new licensing crap, etc.
exactly. there's also the desire to keep the market simple-stupid for consumers. think of all the confusion create by HD, ED, plasma, LCD, DLP....standardizing is good for the consumers and in return, good for companies.


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Ika

Lifer
Mar 22, 2006
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wow, I recall when Blu-Ray had all the strong studios backing it.
 

ChaoZ

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Apr 5, 2000
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That article is biased like crazy. Universal has always supported HD-DVD.
 

Glavinsolo

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Sep 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: preslove
I don't undersdand why content producers would adopt one format over the other. Why limit your audience base with only one format when you can put out dvds in both?

Cost, Look at Sony's track record.
Betamax
Mini-compact disc
PSP movies
Memory Stick
Blu-Ray

 

LikeLinus

Lifer
Jul 25, 2001
11,518
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Originally posted by: preslove
I don't undersdand why content producers would adopt one format over the other. Why limit your audience base with only one format when you can put out dvds in both?

No kidding. I mean why on earth couldn't studios encode a movie for two different formats. Why couldn't media duplicaiton shops carry two different manufacturing processes and have to duplicate the disc two different ways. Not to mention the people need to create versions of the artwork. Not to mention that the company has to pay for the use of the codec/DRM and the production tools in association to creating those formats.

It's not like it wouldn't take double time, effort, equipment and money to produce two different format versions.

I don't undestand it either!
 

Reckoner

Lifer
Jun 11, 2004
10,851
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I have a Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player. I love it. Why buy a thousand dollar POS Blu Ray player when you can get better picture quality at a fraction of the cost?
 

Sphexi

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Feb 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: MX2times
Why does this all keep reminding me of Betamax

Because it's exactly the same. Superior technology to the VHS standard, but Sony refused to license it out to other manufacturers, and priced it way too high, and killed it. Blu-Ray is just too expensive, too hard to manufacture quickly and easily, and apparantly doesn't have the same quality as HD-DVD, despite having more capacity.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
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Originally posted by: LikeLinus
Originally posted by: preslove
I don't undersdand why content producers would adopt one format over the other. Why limit your audience base with only one format when you can put out dvds in both?

No kidding. I mean why on earth couldn't studios encode a movie for two different formats. Why couldn't media duplicaiton shops carry two different manufacturing processes and have to duplicate the disc two different ways. Not to mention the people need to create versions of the artwork. Not to mention that the company has to pay for the use of the codec/DRM and the production tools in association to creating those formats.

It's not like it wouldn't take double time, effort, equipment and money to produce two different format versions.

I don't undestand it either!
Also it increases the space required in shops by 50% (DVD + HD-DVD + BluRay).
If people only produce for two formats, it's better for the shops.
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
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I have always been betting that HD-DVD would be the winner. If I had an HDTV I would buy an HD-DVD player.
 

tboo

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Jun 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: ChaoZ
That article is biased like crazy. Universal has always supported HD-DVD.

I believe Universal was in both camps originally.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Originally posted by: dugweb
did the PS3 get delayed?

Yep, now it's a March 07 release

Where did you see this? If you're just throwing it out there that's fine but I'm tired of looking for info on something that you may have made up. :p


 

swtethan

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Aug 5, 2005
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Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Originally posted by: dugweb
did the PS3 get delayed?

Yep, now it's a March 07 release

Where did you see this? If you're just throwing it out there that's fine but I'm tired of looking for info on something that you may have made up. :p

Sony has announced that the launch date for PAL regions, including Australia, will be March next year. The original release date was to be this November 17th, the same date that the PlayStation 3 will be launching in North America.



doesnt affect the US

 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: swtethan
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Originally posted by: dugweb
did the PS3 get delayed?

Yep, now it's a March 07 release

Where did you see this? If you're just throwing it out there that's fine but I'm tired of looking for info on something that you may have made up. :p

Sony has announced that the launch date for PAL regions, including Australia, will be March next year. The original release date was to be this November 17th, the same date that the PlayStation 3 will be launching in North America.



doesnt affect the US

Hah damnit. I just wasted 5 minutes of my life trying to research a launch delay. :p