Will the DVD standards war delay your 1080p purchase?

[Shane]

If there were multiple next generation DVD standards and a healthy amount of 1080p content became available on each, would you buy a 1080p TV at the same time or delay your purchase until there was a winner in the standards war?


(This question is among a batch of questions that were asked at the DisplaySearch HDTV Conference 2005. For more information, you can click the logo below.)

[lhbaumann]

I will wait for the dust to settle on the HD DVD formats before getting a HD DVD player but if I replace my primary big screen HDTV I will want the 1080P input capability for when I do get one (which will probably be within the lifetime of the TV).

[AVInsights]

Folks,
Give it a break....most people are just getting use to HDTV ; most people won't even get into DTV until February of 2009. So now your trying to force feed 1080p when there is NO content, a war between 2 formats and a big $$$$$ factor to boot. Caveat: SACD vs DVD-A, Beta vs VHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough is enough. Spend the money on R & D to get CRT back into the fold!

[Richard]

Spend the money on R & D to get CRT back into the fold!

The mass market has decided over 2 years ago... they don't want big huge heavy cabinets and the retailers paid dearly. We have a post around here about a huge advance in CRT that could plug and play into most manufacturers current chassis but it was few years too late to even be considered...

[HiTekRedNek]

I have compared the picture quality of the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies at my local Circuit City and I cannot see anything that would compel me to spend money to buy either. The up-conversion DVD recorder I purchased a few months ago, along with a HDMI cable, equals what I have seen. I feel like this is the way to go until the "BETA vs VHS" wars of the early 21st century is won.

[dcbeattie]

I think I will buy the Chinese EVD or maybe the VCDHD system, or PH-DVD, or Taiwan's FVD instead of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD..... Maybe I will just wait for the Lucent Tapestry holographic system as it will hold 300gb...

[Dave3putt]

I feel like this is the way to go until the "BETA vs VHS" wars of the early 21st century is won.

I'm not sure any war by either format will be won. I think both formats will be around for a long time, and that the only thing that will eventually supplant both formats will be on demand wireless streaming-if it can put out enough of a bitrate to be thoroughly impressive, in both video and audio. Several years down the road, I believe.

[videograbber]

There will be no "winner" in the next-gen DVD standards war. And I include the consumer in that matrix. Both of the combatants have too much invested to give up, and it will be a cold day in he!! before Sony would ever consider releasing their film catalog in Toshiba-HD format.

What will happen is that, eventually, universal players will emerge that handle both formats, and all the companies will get their cut of the royalty pie. Consumers won't care which format a disc is produced in, and if both are available for a film, will probably buy whichever is cheaper, unless there's something especially compelling about the alternative.

The only downside is that the consumer gets to pick up the tab for all this. First by buying into multiple separate players, then later paying again to upgrade to a combo-player to do both (which will cost more than an equivalent single-player would). All the old, single-format, players will be scrap, because no-one will want a unit that can't handle half of the movies out there. Too much of a hassle.

- Tim

[tnsprin]

Note that I would delay to update to a 1080P. Not because I am delaying on purchasing a Hidef DVD, but because I will not discard a set (1999) that is still working well. When that set begins to go I will look to upgrade to a 1080P set.

Note that as far as DVD players, I happen to have a PS3 and have bought 15 Blu-ray discs already. I am not happy that there is the HDDVD/BLU-RAY war going on, but I am very happy with the Hidef pictures that my PS3 and old 1080i CRT are displaying.

[jcrobso]

After going through the VHS/Beta war and the Video Disk war, I'm sitting this one OUT. It's Ludicrous that the two sides could not come up with ONE format!!!
The only thing that would change my mind is good HD-DVD/B-Ray combo player that cost $200. John