Digibitalbits picks a winner

[CochiseGuy]

Bill Hunt - Poster Boy for Integrity

While not a regular reader of The Digital Bits, I occasionally scan through it to see if he has something so ridiculous to say it is funny. Kinda like how I scan the National Inquirer & other gossip rags at the grocery check-out lane.

Well, I know for a long time that he has designated Blu-ray as the "winner" in this format war, reasoning that for High Def optical discs to be successful there has to be only one format. And since Blu-ray temporarily* has more studio & CE company support , it is conveniently the "logical" choice. (*"Temporarily, as in demonstrated with the Paramounts/DW announcement, things can change at a moment's notice).

I know he has written & preached volume on the subject, but figured I'd find some choice quotes just after the Paramount/DW announcement of dropping BD support. From his Aug. 20 My Two cents -

You know, here at The Bits, we've been operating over the last couple of years with one guiding principal, and that is this: We believe this format war is a TERRIBLE thing for consumers and for this industry. And we believe that if it continues much longer, consumers will turn away from high-def discs in droves.

and

We chose Blu-ray Disc recently because we believed, and we continue to believe, that of the two formats, Blu-ray Disc was the only one that really stood any chance of outright winning this format war. And that's really the only reason for our decision. If the shoes were reversed, and HD-DVD had the same advantages of support Blu-ray had, we've be arguing in favor of HD-DVD. But all of our years of experience covering this business tell us that offering a single format is the ONLY way high-def discs will ever stand a chance of competing with DVD in the minds and hearts of the vast majority of consumers. The ONLY way.

Well, in last Friday's My Two Cents, Mr. Hunt is now singing a little different tune -

Finally, Home Media has piece on a recent study by The NPD Group that offers something of a red flag for proponents of both high-def formats: According to their study, 73% of consumers with high-def displays who responded to their survey were satisfied with standard DVD and saw no need to upgrade to either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. This suggests the truth of something we've been arguing all along: The massive success of DVD is going to prove the biggest obstacle to the adoption of high-def discs, not competition between the two high-def formats themselves.

Poor Bill has caught some flak lately for his blatantly false charges the it was Microsoft money that "bought" Paramount/Dreamworks. And while he rarely posts outside the safety of his My Two Cents Soapbox, he recently posted an exchange at HomeTheaterForum, were he was harshly criticized for his blatant pro-BD bias.

Well, it seems to have had an effect - Bill Hunt is now "born again". After all this time of preaching go Blu-ray only for the sanctity of only one format for the future of mankind . . . er, I mean the future of High Def . . . he has now seen the enemy - and it turns out competing high-def formats isn't the enemy after all - it is DVD!

I hereby nominate Mr Bill Hunt to replace Director Michael Bay as the new Poster Boy for Integrity.

 

[JohnC]

Well, it seems to have had an effect - Bill Hunt is now "born again". After all this time of preaching go Blu-ray only for the sanctity of only one format for the future of mankind . . . er, I mean the future of High Def . . . he has now seen the enemy - and it turns out competing high-def formats isn't the enemy after all - it is DVD!
:

I agree. DVD was a tremendous improvement over VHS in many ways and I was a early adaptor of DVD. However, HD or Blu-ray DVDs are only a moderate improvement over DVD in video quality. To obtain the improvement in audio quality you have to spend $400+ to obtain a HDMI audio capable receiver. I do not see the average person spending more than about $200 on a new HD player. The HD DVD players are approaching this range, but the Blu-ray players are still very pricey. With the recent price increase on the PS3 back up to $599, the large increase in 360 sales, and the reasonably priced 3rd generation HD DVD players becoming available, it appears that momentum is swinging toward the HD DVD camp and it certainly does not appear that either format is going away soon.

I did take advantage of a special to obtain a 60 GB PS3 for $350 for use as a Blu-ray player, media server, and game player so I am not a PS3 basher.

 

[navychop]

"it appears that momentum is swinging toward the HD DVD camp "

Watch the 4th quarter.

 

[GaryPen]

Bingo.

 

[diogen]

...it appears that momentum is swinging toward the HD DVD camp and it certainly does not appear that either format is going away soon.

I thought this happened about two years ago, when I started this thread
http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=597036

As you can see reading through it, there is hardly a single argument offered by the BD fans today that hasn't been brought up at that time...

Diogen.

 

[teamerickson]

In yesterday's (9-24-07) post, MR. Hunt rambles on how he hates those HDDVD/DVD combos. At first I aggreed but then last night while watching Alpha Dog I need to use that combo. I rented it from Netflix and it looked like someone went at it with sandpaper. After a few times of struggling with the stutters, I finaly watched the DVD side. Not the perfect solution, but it allowed me to finish the movie.