Thread: It's official: The Format War is Over! Toshiba pulls the plug on HD DVD

Thank GOD this war is finally over. There should not have even been a war in my opinion. Deep down I had a feeling that Sony was going to win eventually. At least now I have more incentive to finally get a PS3.

Still.. as long as companies keep releasing stuff on DVD, I'm in no rush to bring Blu Ray into my home.

Kind of makes all of those "rumors of HD-DVD's death are premature" comments after the Warner announcement look like the real FUD, huh?

Nishida said last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable.
"That had tremendous impact," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."

Toshiba quits HD DVD business - Feb. 19, 2008

I shed a tear for this loss. Just one tear! Now I move on.

Using both I have to say, we see once again that money rules! This time Sony buys the trophy and regardless of bang for the buck ( as HD DVD has had more features than BluRay Disk from the start), it wasn't always so bug free.

Either way, what really counts is programming and now may we all move on to more BD programs and faster releases. Soon we all will be singing to the mantra SD DVD is dead as is VHS!

Originally Posted by vurbano

Sad. 2/19/08 HD DVD died and HDM in BD form is now on its path to DVHS status. Nothing but an obscure expensive niche product.

Vurbano,

The reason DVHS failed was because there was no content released for it, besides the incremental increase of PQ wasn't worth replacing VHS with DVHS for everybody except a very few.

True HD on Optical discs is Six times the resolution of DVD and about 8 times that of VHS, much more worth the change over to this new format.

Delude yourself all you want, you've been doing it for at least 6 months so it shouldn't be hard for you to twist this into something it is not.

Within the next 2 years 80 percent of the Video Market will likely be Blu-Ray, if not it will be close. Your disdain for Blu-Ray will not make any difference at all.

Your Predictions for the last 12 months about HD-DVD have been DEAD wrong, after each prediction you made went south you would predict another track because of "This or That" while your credibility kept taking hit after hit. At this point most in this forum realize your hatred for Sony and their technology has totally clouded your judgment, "The Sky is falling, the Sky is falling", or "Wolf, WOLF, WOLF", ok whatever you say, we'll collectively all be going now to enjoy all our current titles as well as all future releases in HD.

John

Originally Posted by JohnL

Within the next 2 years 80 percent of the Video Market will likely be Blu-Ray, if not it will be close.

I'm not defending Vurbano by any means, but dude - this is a little optimistic, don't you think?

Ok, I will wave the white flag of surrender. I will continue to enjoy my HD DVDs for the next several years, but am in no rush for a BD player until prices come down. Sadly, Toshiba's pulling the plug might slow that process down a bit.

And no, it isn't FUD, when it is coming from actual verified news sources. Soon this W-Z will go away.

Originally Posted by JohnL

Within the next 2 years 80 percent of the Video Market will likely be Blu-Ray............

Within the next 2 years BD may have 20 %

Originally Posted by JohnL

Within the next 2 years 80 percent of the Video Market will likely be Blu-Ray, if not it will be close. Your disdain for Blu-Ray will not make any difference at all.

I think all of us on these forums delude ourselves into thinking we are the norm for society. This is not the case.

If I walk up and down my neighborhood I'm sure I can still count the number of HDTV's on my fingers! On top of that, I know for a fact that a lot of those HDTV's are still only showing SD content. I cannot see 80% of the people getting an HDTV and actually going out and getting a BD player, when most don't even know they're not watching HD to begin with!

I honestly think BD still has the hardest road ahead of itself (if HD-DVD had won, I would still think the same for them, too). There is a small window of opportunity to try and grab consumers before the "next big thing" comes along (whatever that may be). During that time you have to inform a very ignorant public about what HD is and how it is used, as well as try and explain to them why they need a "new" home video format after they've put so much money into DVD.

Its time for a DVD vs BD war zone!