Blu-ray Wins: A Bittersweet Celebration

[pmalter0]

"akirby":

blah...blah...legal...blah...illegal...blah...

I give up...I'm going back to getting paid for giving legal advice...

Phil

[akirby]

I give up...I'm going back to getting paid for giving legal advice...

Phil

All attorneys are paid for legal advice. That doesn't mean they're right. For every attorney who would argue your case I could find one who would argue just the opposite. And in every court case with a verdict or judgement - one attorney wins and one loses.

But let's forget all that for a minute and let's say the courts agree with you. What is the remedy?

Force Toshiba to start making HD DVD players again?
Force all studios to start publishing HD DVD and BD?

Neither one of those scenarios are realistic.

[akirby]

Seems to me that there might be a condition that if they pub;lish BD discs, they can't release even ready-to-ship HD-DVDs.

But that doesn't explain how Warner and several European studios were able to publish in both formats at the same time.

I'm sure it had much more to do with financial reasons. If they sell HD DVDs then I assume they must pay royalties or licensing fees to Toshiba. They probably also don't want 2 versions of the movie in stores. Or maybe they just don't want their movie associated with a dead format.

The fact that some movies were published in both formats simultaneously and we have combo players from LG and Samsung suggest that BD exclusivity was not a requirement and studios and mfrs were free to do both if they so chose.

Of course some studios entered into exclusive agreements by choice - just like Taco Bell sells Pepsi and not Coke and McDonalds sells Coke but not Pepsi. But those are not illegal.

[film11]

This is different. Titles were announced, some manufactured, orders were taken...then all abruptly pulled when they announced BR. At the very least...false advertising. And,since none of the pulled titles (or any others) have been announced for BR, dual copies aren't the issue either.

At any rate, there's nothing the consumer can do, except perhaps vote with their wallets. Since I resent being coerced into buying an over-priced, under-performing item (particularly when other options are available and/or coming), I'm sure the BDA will not lose any sleep over losing my (and others) money. BR will almost certainly be little more than a niche product (and deservedly so).

[Richard]

particularly when other options are available and/or coming

HD DVD was the only equal delivery option so what are you talking about?

[Richard]

Phil,

Regardless of your flippant remarks and straw man tactics through out ( I thank you for bringing that phrase to our attention ) it would be great if you would actually educate.

[quote]From that article
True competition between the formats would be between the formats, not which movies are available on one or the other.

My response
I can agree with that last sentence. Now how in the world will that happen without government enforcement which the government can't legally do?

Your response
I guess if I simply say to you, as I did to akirby, that "you don't know what you're talking about," you won't accept that either, even though I have expertise in that field and you don't. So here goes: 15 USC

[film11]

HD DVD was the only equal delivery option so what are you talking about?

I didn't say "Equal delivery options". But since the majority of HD sets currently owned/sold are primarily 720p or 1080i, other HD deliveries (such as day-and-date OnDemand) are convenient, cheaper, and valid for most consumers. In fact, I've seen OnDemand presentations that looked better than the BR counterparts! Yes, I know it's probably due to transfer issues, long a BR problem since the very beginning. And it's not always the case, anyway. But far better than paying the $400 and up price (and those pricies are rising!) for even the non-2.0 BR players. They can keep 'em.

"In a recent interview with ABI Principal Analyst Steve Wilson, BetaNews found that he believed that the outcome of the format war wouldn't necessarily benefit the consumer. Besides being more expensive and less developed, some Blu-ray players have had quite the time performing as advertised. According to ABI, "it wasn't customers' likes or dislikes that powered the fatal blow in the format war, it was Warner Bros.' decision to switch allegiance to Blu-ray, along with subsequent moves to dump HD DVD by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Netflix and Blockbuster."

[Richard]

In fact, I've seen OnDemand presentations that looked better than the BR counterparts! Yes, I know it's probably due to transfer issues, long a BR problem since the very beginning.

Are you referring to recent releases within the last 6 months or prior to that?

BTW, lest we forget, sacrificing audio bits to the point of starvation to help the video compression is common.

But far better than paying the $400 and up price (and those pricies are rising!) for even the non-2.0 BR players

It had already been stated by many that hardware prices were expected to rise initially regardless of who won because both camps were subsidizing the hardware but by Christmas 2008 expect similar pricing and then a slow downward spiral moving forward. It was suggested the freeby disc promotions may go altogether.

[akirby]

I don't know how many times we can say this before the HD DVD fanatics start believing it. Even if neither format had "won" player prices would have still gone back up because neither side could continue to give away players and movies and lose massive amounts of money. Cheap players were always a short term anomaly, paid for with marketing money.

I believe what happened is simple: Warner and the other studios decided they could not afford to continue the format war because of slow HD and BD disc sales and because of a drop in DVD sales, so they looked at both formats and decided BD was better - FOR THEM. I also think the proliferation of PS3s played a big role.

[fpnovak]

Dale,
You may have gotten lucky; but take it from someone who purchased Samsung's "Top-of-the-Line" Blu-ray player and Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A35. Toshiba losing is bitter medicine for all MARK MY WORDS!
Blu-ray has inferior software and now they have less motivation to improve upon it.
fpnovak