Video Asylum

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Jack G

In Reply to: RE: Breaking News: Sony CEO Declares format war a "stalemate" posted by racerguy on November 09, 2007 at 08:17:08

This is coming from someone who had already declared victory 2 or 3 times this year. They must really be scared. Its all Paramount's fault!
I guess between Transformers and the A2 sale, Stringer has had the wind knocked out of his sails.
I'm really surprised he said that.
Jack

Edits: 11/09/07

Follow Ups:

Sony Standalone Will Be $399 - Robertc88 12:24:28 11/09/07 (0)
Forget where I saw it but I assume it is because there is a PS3 now for that price. Not sure how many of those units are still floating around out there.
Another blink. - Audiophilander 11:14:49 11/09/07 (6)
I suspect that this won't officially be over until the price of dual format players is the same range as the under $100 loss-leader HD-DVD players (not beyond the realm of possibility within a year or so). At that point it won't matter much which software folks buy and the format war will become a meaningless exercise. Initially I did not want to see any format war because I thought it would negatively impact player sales and release of titles. In fact, some studios have resisted releasing double inventory items as no one wants to be seen as the bad guy to potential customers as a result of depriving them of favorite titles on their format of choice, but not as many as expected.
OTOH, as unit prices have come down on players and as discounts have been applied to titles of both formats they've become more competitive with standard definition releases price-wise; m'thinks it makes high resolution video more attractive to the average consumer. It seems to me like the competition hasn't hurt the high definition marketplace too much and my gut feeling is that as analog TVs are replaced by HD digital sets (as mandated) high definition formats will not remain niche products for long. As I see it, standard definition and up-conversion will still have their place and be satisfactory for some things, but those films made in HD or mastered to HD resolution will eventually catch on with the general public.
Just my opinion; what do you think?
Cheers,
AuPh

Edits: 11/09/07 11/09/07
- RE: Another blink. - Jack G 06:27:58 11/11/07 (5)
  The format war has been very good to the consumer. I wished there were more dual players, but I'm not convinced they'll be all that popular, or cheap.
  I'm still not convinced the masses will care enough about HD, even after the change over in 2009. They'll see upconverted SD and think that its good enough.
  Jack
  - Especially as.... - JMCIII 14:46:00 11/14/07 (0)
    .... most people aren't buying the "big" HD-TV's wherein the differences are more readily seen.
    John Crossett
    ___
    It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
  - "I'm still not convinced the masses will care enough about HD..." - You may be right. - Audiophilander 10:40:56 11/11/07 (3)
    Hardware prices and the price of the discs themselves are definitely an issue. Fortunately, backwards compatibility isn't a factor with the players, but as Harmonia lamented in the thread below the lack of flexibility to play discs from other regions (regardless of how those regions are broken down and coded) is just one more factor to take into consideration. Also, as you accurately pointed out, up-converted standard definition isn't bad; it may be good enough for the average consumer.
    
    AuPh
    - Some content providers ARE enforcing Blu-ray region restrictions (nt) - racerguy 11:20:26 11/11/07 (2)
      .
      - That isn't going to endear the format to some film enthusiasts who shop for quality foreign fare. - Audiophilander 12:41:01 11/11/07 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Some content providers ARE enforcing Blu-ray region restrictions (nt) posted by racerguy on November 11, 2007 at 11:20:26
        
        This is one of those issues that can, especially in the short term, turn into a major speed-bump in the push to promote acceptance of high definition formats, IMO. The problem is in understanding the audience. Early adopters aren't merely techno-geeks hungry to possess the latest whiz-bang toy, they're also film enthusiasts who are mavericks when it comes to accepting unnecessarily imposed restrictions that limit their entertainment choices.
        Studio paranoia over piracy combined with a desire to micromanage world-wide video distribution have long been a stumbling block to the adoption of new technologies; lets hope that sanity prevails so that either or both HD formats can gain a solid market foothold in the window of opportunity provided.
        AuPh
        
        Edits: 11/11/07
        
        RE: - Jack G 15:26:59 11/11/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: That isn't going to endear the format to some film enthusiasts who shop for quality foreign fare. posted by Audiophilander on November 11, 2007 at 12:41:01
        
        The whole reason some studios support BD, is specifically those issues you mention-piracy protection and region coding. We can only hope that these paranoid fits will be more trouble than they are worth, but I suspect that won't be the case.
        Jack

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