LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Endgame
By Charles Van Horn -- Video Business,03/12/2008
MARCH 12 | Maybe I’ve been reading too much Stephen King but I think I know how this format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is really going to end.
You thought it was over? Well, for those of us who have long been involved in the media business, the story of this format war is worthy of the horror novelist who knows the true art of a scary ending.
Seen Carrie? Or maybe that great Kathy Bates chiller Misery? After two hours of gore and spine chilling terror, King leaves our hero victorious with his nemesis beaten to a bloody pulp or buried six-feet under. They catch their breath. They wipe the sweat from their brow. Then, without any warning and a sudden screech of violins, that dead enemy rises for one last fight. Carrie’s bloody hand reaches from the grave. Kathy Bates goes back at it for one more treacherous tussle.
And what does that have to do with Blu-ray and HD-DVD you might ask? The war isn’t over. Mark my words. Maybe the Blu-ray camp has won the battle but let’s not be lulled into complacency here. The war has only just begun.
That’s because this format war is one unlike any other we’ve experienced before. No wonder it was relatively short. The window of opportunity was narrowing fast and the fate of the DVD format—Hollywood’s cash cow no less—was at stake. And that’s something everyone—even Toshiba—has too much invested in to lose over a claim to the next windfall of media royalty payments.
Read the full article at ContentAgenda.com.
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| Submitted by: | Arnie Darrow (darrowah@aol.com) 3/17/2008 4:07:13 PM PT |
| Location: | Los Angeles |
| Occupation: | Customer Relations |
I recently purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD player, and have been extremely well rewarded by excellent picture and sound on HD-DVD discs, as well as upconverted standard dvd''s.
To add to my satisfaction, I only paid $200, and received 7 free HD-DVD discs to boot! "Boy", I thought at the time,"what a deal!".
Then, in early January, the hammer came down. I received the devastating news that Warner Home Video, the company with one of the best and most extensive film libraries in the world, was going to bail out of HD-DVD.
I immediately felt totally betrayed by a company I had come to love. After all, having Warners on board was one of the main reasons I chose to buy into HD-DVD in the first place!
Yes, I will keep my machine. I will buy any HD-DVD titles I can still find, and I will continue to enjoy the amazing HD quality of upconverted dvd''s from my extensive collection.
But I, for one, WILL NOT be in any rush to buy into Blu-Ray! The players, which range from $400 to $1000 are still way too expensive. Furthermore, there are still bugs in the format, including painfully long boot-up times, and the lack of ability to fully utilize the potential of the format. Blu-Ray players, if not obsolete, are at the very least incomplete.
To all the forces at work that got Warners to bail, I simply have to say: "Nice try!".
But as the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can''t make them drink"!
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