What (allegedly) went down

[allargon]

Sound Advice: Blu-ray wins in format war, but at what cost?

Sound Advice: Blu-ray wins in format war, but at what cost?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
By Don Lindich

In the past I have strongly recommended the HD DVD format as the best choice for consumers. Surprising developments this month led Warner Bros. to drop support for the format, which likely will lead to a Blu-ray victory in the format war. I started receiving inside information about a week before it happened and will recount the story here.

Warner Bros. publishes on both HD DVD and Blu-ray and found the "format war" was not only slowing the adoption of high-definition discs, but also hurting their regular DVD sales -- clearly an untenable situation for them. They wanted to bring the format war to a quick close by picking a side.

If they chose HD DVD, studio support would be roughly equal but would likely go HD DVD's way eventually, as Warner is the biggest producer of high-definition discs. If they chose Blu-ray, studio support for Blu-ray would be lopsided and the war would end more quickly.

When rumors started flying publicly, I e-mailed Jim Noonan, a Warner Bros. vice president, who immediately replied that they had not decided to change their policy. A WB executive in New Zealand issued an even stronger public statement denying imminent changes.

Obviously, they had decided to change -- they just didn't know the direction. Given their long partnership, Warner gave Toshiba an opportunity to lure a Blu-ray studio to HD DVD, in which case they would go HD DVD exclusive and give HD DVD a clear studio advantage. A deal was nearly secured with Fox, which had been having trouble with Blu-ray disc production due to the lack of manufacturing infrastructure. At the 11th hour, Fox went to Sony with its concerns and received a reported $120 million payout to stay with Blu-ray.

With no studio joining them on the HD DVD side, Warner's hand was forced and it went with Blu-ray, receiving a reported $500 million for doing so.

Obviously I am saddened by the implications for my readers, the industry and consumers, but still believe I recommended the better, more solid format, which was much more affordable, as well.

I was at their booth at the Consumer Electronics Show and regretted I could not find a single stand-alone player worthy of recommendation -- and if HD DVD goes away, the cost of entry to high-definition movies will be doubled. It's sad for the consumer, really.

My mind and my heart were in agreement that HD DVD was the way to go. To not recommend HD DVD would not be true to my own convictions, and it would be unfair of me to not recognize Toshiba's accomplishment in bringing an affordable, fully developed product to market.

Many in the industry agreed with me, and no one in the media expected Warner to pull the plug so quickly when HD DVD stand-alones were selling so well this holiday season. As for my future course, I will recommend the Playstation 3 to people who want Blu-ray until fully specified Blu-ray Profile 2.0 players are available and their performance matches the PS3.

Q: Do you recommend any HDTV calibration discs to fine tune a plasma 1080p HDTV connected to Comcast HDTV cable? If you do, which discs do you recommend?
DAVE DUZMAL
San Jose, Calif.


A: Digital Video Essentials is considered the best. Please be aware that modern TVs allow you to have different picture settings for each input, to allow for differences between components, so adjust the settings on each input for best results.
Don Lindich is a national columnist and creator of the "Digital Made Easy" book series. Send him your questions and read past columns at Don Lindich’s Sound Advice BlogGreat advice and great deals on great audio/video/photography gear! ™ -.
First published on January 12, 2008 at 12:00 am

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I do find it amusing that "Digital Video Essentials" has been out on HD-DVD for nearly a year but has been delayed on the not quite ready for primetime, buggy niche format several times.

 

[vurbano]

Its all about payoffs.

 

[JamesJ]

yup, HD DVD Should know they tried their hand at it, and will now be missing 150 million plus the format war...great point, but it still dosent work for you.

 

[vurbano]

yup, HD DVD Should know they tried their hand at it, and will now be missing 150 million plus the format war...great point, but it still dosent work for you.

The point is its all about who pays the biggest bribe. Certainly its not about which player or format offers the best features at the best prices. Lousy point and it doesnt work for you.

 

[mike123abc]

Of course no one ever confirms or denys payments. But, the payment are not really cash, they are guarantees on prices for replication (so if Sony gets the BD replication costs down faster the "payout" is less) and marketing support (i.e. buy a BD player and play great movies like X). They are pretty intangible. Direct cash would show up on a balance sheet and be too easy to see.

 

[bsk116]

Sound Advice: Blu-ray wins in format war, but at what cost?

Sound Advice: Blu-ray wins in format war, but at what cost?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
By Don Lindich

In the past I have strongly recommended the HD DVD format as the best choice for consumers. Surprising developments this month led Warner Bros. to drop support for the format, which likely will lead to a Blu-ray victory in the format war. I started receiving inside information about a week before it happened and will recount the story here.

Warner Bros. publishes on both HD DVD and Blu-ray and found the "format war" was not only slowing the adoption of high-definition discs, but also hurting their regular DVD sales -- clearly an untenable situation for them. They wanted to bring the format war to a quick close by picking a side.

If they chose HD DVD, studio support would be roughly equal but would likely go HD DVD's way eventually, as Warner is the biggest producer of high-definition discs. If they chose Blu-ray, studio support for Blu-ray would be lopsided and the war would end more quickly.

When rumors started flying publicly, I e-mailed Jim Noonan, a Warner Bros. vice president, who immediately replied that they had not decided to change their policy. A WB executive in New Zealand issued an even stronger public statement denying imminent changes.

Obviously, they had decided to change -- they just didn't know the direction. Given their long partnership, Warner gave Toshiba an opportunity to lure a Blu-ray studio to HD DVD, in which case they would go HD DVD exclusive and give HD DVD a clear studio advantage. A deal was nearly secured with Fox, which had been having trouble with Blu-ray disc production due to the lack of manufacturing infrastructure. At the 11th hour, Fox went to Sony with its concerns and received a reported $120 million payout to stay with Blu-ray.

With no studio joining them on the HD DVD side, Warner's hand was forced and it went with Blu-ray, receiving a reported $500 million for doing so.

Obviously I am saddened by the implications for my readers, the industry and consumers, but still believe I recommended the better, more solid format, which was much more affordable, as well.

I was at their booth at the Consumer Electronics Show and regretted I could not find a single stand-alone player worthy of recommendation -- and if HD DVD goes away, the cost of entry to high-definition movies will be doubled. It's sad for the consumer, really.

My mind and my heart were in agreement that HD DVD was the way to go. To not recommend HD DVD would not be true to my own convictions, and it would be unfair of me to not recognize Toshiba's accomplishment in bringing an affordable, fully developed product to market.

Many in the industry agreed with me, and no one in the media expected Warner to pull the plug so quickly when HD DVD stand-alones were selling so well this holiday season. As for my future course, I will recommend the Playstation 3 to people who want Blu-ray until fully specified Blu-ray Profile 2.0 players are available and their performance matches the PS3.

Q: Do you recommend any HDTV calibration discs to fine tune a plasma 1080p HDTV connected to Comcast HDTV cable? If you do, which discs do you recommend?
DAVE DUZMAL
San Jose, Calif.


A: Digital Video Essentials is considered the best. Please be aware that modern TVs allow you to have different picture settings for each input, to allow for differences between components, so adjust the settings on each input for best results.
Don Lindich is a national columnist and creator of the "Digital Made Easy" book series. Send him your questions and read past columns at Don Lindich’s Sound Advice BlogGreat advice and great deals on great audio/video/photography gear! ™ -.
First published on January 12, 2008 at 12:00 am

================================================

I do find it amusing that "Digital Video Essentials" has been out on HD-DVD for nearly a year but has been delayed on the not quite ready for primetime, buggy niche format several times.

allegedly definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta

 

[JamesJ]

The point is its all about who pays the biggest bribe. Certainly its not about which player or format offers the best features at the best prices. Lousy point and it doesnt work for you.

not to be childish but my point was HD DVD is now missing 150 million, plus They are no longer in the format war.....yep works for me.

 

[r.jones1116]

not to be childish but my point was HD DVD is now missing 150 million, plus They are no longer in the format war.....yep works for me.

Nothing compared to the Billion plus Sony is missing.

 

[vurbano]

not to be childish but my point was HD DVD is now missing 150 million, plus They are no longer in the format war.....yep works for me.

good for you

 

[vurbano]

Nothing compared to the Billion plus Sony is missing.

Bingo.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Why you guys continue to argue of who lost what(they do not care, you should not) and who paid what(they both have done it) is beyond me.

 

[vurbano]

Why you guys continue to argue of who lost what(they do not care, you should not) and who paid what(they both have done it) is beyond me.

Didnt you just discuss it with me 2 seconds ago in another thread Mr hypocrite?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Um, you stated they lost billions, I said I knew 800 mill and then a 3-4 mil number, so yes it was over a bil. Was not an argument, and was not a debate. Maybe you should look up the definition of hypocrite and debate?

As far as this post goes, its just like every other one where people have a one sided view of losses and payouts.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

How comes info (if true) like this doesnt make it to main stream media outlets....

There should be outrage over this sort of thing, shouldn't there?

 

[nonrev]

Maybe you should look up the definition of hypocrite and debate?

Your full of little comments like this. Once again I stress you mostly offer nothing to this forum.

Actually the person I was referring to actually never adds to any thread. I add about 75% of the time, the rest of the time I fit right on line with you and him.

I once again challange your 75% claim!!

 

[gchasse]

How comes info (if true) like this doesnt make it to main stream media outlets....

There should be outrage over this sort of thing, shouldn't there?

It is business. This is the way it goes. Toshiba would have done the same thing had they had the chance.

This is very good insight on what happened.

I think that if this had not happened, Toshiba might have won in the end, because it was apparent that the HD DVD sales of its units were really picking up steam.

 

[FlyingJ]

The object was to win the war. One side did whatever needed to be done and won. The outrage is ridiculous. Whine all you will. The object for us, the consumer was to (at least in my case), try to figure out who was going to win. You can't look at "specs" and who has better what as the only prompt in a decision. You have to look at the powers that be, and many other aspects. There are little companies all over that make as good or better cookies than Keebler. You putting your money on them to take Keeblers shelf space at the Piggly Wiggly? Don't cause no matter how good their cookie is, no matter how good those specs look and how low the price, they will probably get squashed. Point is, you have to see the whole picture and the HD DVD group, for whatever reasons didn't and lost. Someone had to.

 

[nonrev]

FlyingJ the only flaw in your post is that WB actually did pick HD DVD. The "HD DVD group" saw the 'whole' picture, put forth the best product and WB did indeed select them, but sometimes in business companies get backstabed

 

[FlyingJ]

FlyingJ the only flaw in your post is that WB actually did pick HD DVD. The "HD DVD group" saw the 'whole' picture, put forth the best product and WB did indeed select them, but sometimes in business companies get backstabed

Hey nonrev when I said the HD DVD group, I meant those of us that decided to go that way, the consumers.

 

[mdwatt]

Regardless of which side you're on, or how you feel about Blu Ray or HD DVD, this is wrong on so many levels. Sony has basically paid to have a monopoly on the HD media market. Shame on Sony for doing it, and shame on the studios for taking Sony's "blood money". Neither Sony nor the studios care about you the consumer. All they care about is the almighty dollar. Businesses are in place to make a buck, I understand that. But when you have to put the screws to your customers to do it, then that's wrong...period. They're screwing themselves too and don't even realize it. Since they've basically cornered the market, I wouldn't be surprised to see prices on BD players to go up real soon. The players aren't even CLOSE to affordable now, let alone in the future. With the economy in it's current condition, people can't afford to go out and plop down a bunch of money to upgrade their home theatres. Who do they think are going to buy these over-priced and under-functioning devices? I don't have and don't want a PS3, I HATE console games. PC gaming has superior graphics and control. Always has and always will have. I can't afford to pay 500 bucks or more for a BD player, nor will I ever pay that much for a state-of-the-art P.O.S., even IF I had the money. It's extortion, plain and simple.