HD DVD & Blu-ray

[Kailuaboy]

Deal or no deal? HD DVD player cracks $200 barrier

David Carnoy
Oct 29 2007

I know that no one's going to be terribly shocked by this, but I thought I'd point it out, just in case you missed it. Engadget HD, after another stroll through AVS Forum's message boards, is reporting on how Circuit City, Wal-Mart Stores, and Amazon.com have reduced the price of Toshiba's HD-A2 HD DVD player to $198 (Amazon's deal includes free shipping).

This kind of price drop on standalone HD DVD players has been widely expected, and we think you may see $180 by Black Friday. Of course, if you're an Xbox 360 owner, you can pick up the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player for $180 right now. But we're talking standalone player here, and the HD-A2's as cheap as you get.

Other bloggers have pointed out that Toshiba's entry-level model only does 720p/1080i, not 1080p. But that's not really the end of the world, since it's really hard to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p/1080i, anyway, especially if your TV doesn't do 1080p (insert wink).

The big question is whether $200 (or $180, for that matter) is the magic price point that's going to make HD DVD players fly off the shelves this holiday season and leave Blu-ray Disc backers wondering how they squandered the big lead. Or can Sony hold its own with its $400 PlayStation 3 and watch as the price for HD DVD players erodes further? Who's holding out for $100? $79? $49? Free?

[Kailuaboy]

Does Blu-ray Profile 1.1 make past players obsolete?

Matthew Moskovciak
Oct 31 2007

Today is the official end of the "grace period" for Blu-ray manufacturers, which means that all Blu-ray players released from now on must comply with Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (also known as Final Standard Profile and BD-Video Profile 1.1). Of course, that doesn't mean that Profile 1.0 Blu-ray players still can't be sold, and if you walk into your local electronics store over the next few months, you're likely to see both Profile 1.0 and Profile 1.1 Blu-ray players on the shelf. So what's the big difference between Profile 1.0 and Profile 1.1?

Profile 1.0 vs. Profile 1.1

There are several different hardware requirements (see the chart below), but it basically boils down to picture-in-picture functionality. All Blu-ray players up until this point have been Profile 1.0 and have lacked the secondary video and audio decoders necessary to play a smaller video in the corner while also playing the main high-def movie in the background. With the notable exception of the Sony PlayStation 3, Profile 1.0 players cannot be upgraded via firmware to become Profile 1.1 players.

Because Profile 1.0 players lacked this functionality, movie studios have understandably not included picture-in-picture functionality on any current Blu-ray disc. Fox has announced that it will release its first Profile 1.1-enabled disc, Sunshine, in the first quarter of 2008. And as more Profile 1.1 players become available, we expect more Profile 1.1 discs to be released.


HD DVD's advantage

As Blu-ray continues to get its act together on hardware requirements, there's no denying that HD DVD has had it right from the start. The HD DVD specification has required every player--from the very first HD-A1--to include secondary audio and video decoders, 128MB of local storage, and an Ethernet jack. Because movie studios know that special features will be accessible on every HD DVD player, several movies, such as 300 and Blood Diamond, already have picture-in-picture and Internet-enabled functionality. Of course, HD DVD's superior hardware requirements are just one factor out of many in its fight against Blu-ray--but in this brutal high-def format war, every little bit helps.

[Kailuaboy]

HD DVD players hit $99 at Wal-Mart, Best Buy

Matthew Moskovciak
Nov 1 2007

Earlier this week it was big news that HD DVD broke the $200 price barrier. Well, in the same week it looks like HD DVD has broken the $100 price barrier as well. As previously reported, Wal-Mart is running a "Secret In-Store Specials" sale this Friday and one of the heavily discounted items is the Toshiba HD-A2 selling for $98.87. Of course, this isn't a true price drop, as the sale is only good as long quantities last and the Toshiba HD-A2 won't be available at all Wal-Mart locations. On the other hand, it is representative of HD DVD's significant advantage in hardware pricing -- the least expensive Blu-ray player is the $400 PlayStation 3, which also hits stores tomorrow.

The $99 price tag is sweet, but the deal is even better than that. Toshiba continues to give away five free movies to anyone that buys an HD DVD player--all you need to do is fill out this form (PDF link) and mail it in. If you're not thrilled about Toshiba's selection of free movies (we're not either), Wal-Mart is also running on a sale on HD DVD movies tomorrow, priced at $14.96 each. That's a pretty significant discount, as most of the HD DVDs we saw at Amazon were priced from $20 to $30.

Not to be outdone, it also looks as if Best Buy is selling the Toshiba HD-A2 for $99 as well. You can't order from Best Buy online, but it seems like if you get to your local Best Buy before they run out of stock, you can nab an HD-A2 for $99.

It remains to be seen whether these rock-bottom prices are the result of retailers blowing out extra inventory or a sign of continually falling prices for HD DVD. Technically, the HD-A2 has already been replaced by the new Toshiba HD-A3 which still costs $250 at Best Buy (and isn't sold at Wal-Mart). Either way, this is a great deal for high-def movie fans who can get their hands on one of these $99 players.

[Kailuaboy]

Toshiba cuts HD DVD player prices

Jan 14 2008
Erica Ogg

Toshiba may have taken a huge hit recently, but the HD DVD supporter is striking back.

Barely a week after Warner Bros. announced it would no longer put out movies on the HD DVD format, of which Toshiba is a primary supporter, the company announced it is lowering the prices on all three models of next-generation DVD players.

The entry-level model, the HD-A3, now goes for $149.99, the HD-A30 for $199.99, and the HD-A35 for $299.99. That's about $150 to $200 worth of discounts on all models.

The new pricing from Toshiba is well-timed, according to Paul Erickson, director of DVD and HD market research for The NPD Group. Holiday promotional pricing is essentially over for all the major manufacturers of rival disc format Blu-ray, as well as other HD DVD makers.

"For them to drop MSRPs now couldn't come at a better time," he said. "It was a gap Blu-ray was able to close down upon during holiday sales."

In the battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray, HD DVD's primary advantage from the very beginning had been cheaper prices on players. But Blu-ray has responded, lowering its prices and offering popular promotions, like Wal-Mart's giveaway of 10 Blu-ray titles with the purchase of a Sony PlayStation 3 this past holiday. But preferences over one format or the other aside, price is and probably always will be the determining factor in sales.

"The larger challenge for both camps is twofold: getting the hardware into people's homes. Toshiba did very well selling $99 and $199 players (during the holidays), but that didn't necessarily translate into a big jump in movie (sales)," said Erickson. "Unless there are serious promotions going on...people aren't going out and buying in explosive numbers on the Blu-ray side either."

"Even if we promote a single format...people are still not going to pay three to four times as much for a player, they're not going to pay double the price for movies," Erickson said, "just because they're accustomed to much cheaper pricing on standard-def DVD."

[xer 21]

and Bu ray is still expensive as hell.

[The808Chef]

I'm still holding out on the HD/BD combo unit. I'm reading LG has one for $799. I can wait.

[ubercow]

Funny vid I saw yesterday.



Link

I don't think the battle's over like this video and some media outlets are now portraying, but still worth the watch.

[Kailuaboy]

5 reasons you shouldn't buy a Blu-ray player--yet

Feb 5 2008
John P. Falcone

With HD DVD looking more and more like it's on the ropes, it would seem like the ideal time to commit to Blu-ray--right? Not so fast. There are at least five reasons to stick with your good old-fashioned DVD player--at least for the next few months. (And, as always, there are some key caveats and insider secrets for those who can't resist pullling the trigger as soon as possible.)

1. Nearly all current Blu-ray players are obsolete: The Blu-ray standard is still evolving. Most models currently available use the original Profile 1.0 standard, while some newer models use Profile 1.1 (which adds the ability to show picture-in-picture commentaries). Later this year, the first Profile 2.0 players--which add the ability to deliver online special features (BD Live)--will become available. Ironically, both of these are designed to bring the Blu-ray standard in line with HD DVD players, which have long been able to deliver these features.

A couple of the most recent Blu-ray players (the combo players from Samsung and LG) can be updated from Profile 1.0 to 1.1 with a downloadable firmware update. But the PlayStation 3 is, supposedly, the only existing Blu-ray player that will be fully upgradeable to Profile 2.0. So if you don't want your Blu-ray player to be obsolete, the PS3 is your only choice until 2.0 models--such as the Panasonic DMP-BD50--hit later this year.

Caveat: Does anybody really watch those PiP-enabled commentaries? Or want updated trailers downloaded from the Web? Beyond the hardcore cinephiles, I think the answer is a big "no." In other words, if you're among the vast majority who only wants to watch the movie, you're not really gaining anything with a 1.1. or 2.0 player. Those older Blu-ray players should play everything else on the disc (the non-playable features are just grayed out on the menu). With the older players hitting the discount racks to make way for newer models, getting a Profile 1.0 player is a nice way to score a Blu-ray player on the cheap ($300 or less).

2. Blu-ray is best on a big-screen TV: Can you see the difference between standard DVD and Blu-ray? Yes--but it may not be as noticeable as you would think. Like all high-definition material, Blu-ray discs look their most-impressive at bigger screen sizes, where DVD can sometimes start to look a bit soft. Put another way: if your TV is 37 inches or smaller, you probably won't be getting a huge advantage from Blu-ray.

Caveat: Eagle-eyed videophiles--or those who sit especially close to their 1080p TVs--may well see a difference. Rule of thumb: if HDTV programming looks noticeably better than DVD playback on your TV, then Blu-ray will be a worthwhile investment.

3. There are still very few movies available on Blu-ray: As of February 5, 2008, there are less than 450 current Blu-ray titles available in North America (not counting discontinued and adult titles). That stacks up well to HD DVD (around 400). But it's a drop in the bucket compared to standard DVD, which has at least 90,000 titles available (including TV shows).

Caveat: Sure, it's small now, but the number of Blu-ray titles is growing slowly but surely. In fact, Blu-ray and HD DVD adoption (combined) has actually outpaced that of the original DVD format, which took three or four years before it really went mainstream.

4. Blu-ray still has growing pains: How many times have you popped a brand new DVD into your player, only to be greeted with a message that you need to update the firmware to view the movie? Probably never, but Blu-ray early adopters have faced this message more than they would like to admit. (To be fair, HD DVD has had its share of disc compatibility issues as well.) To make matters worse, many early Blu-ray players can't update via Ethernet, so you'll need to burn a CD to update the player. If you're reading Crave, burning a disc probably isn't a problem--but there are many less-tech-savvy people that love DVDs, but have no idea what an ISO file is.

5. Prices have nowhere to go but down: Even without competition from HD DVD, Blu-ray prices seem to be on a one-way ticket downward. Older players can be purchases for about $300, so don't be surprised to see Black Friday 2008 specials at $249 or $199. Caveat: See item number 1: the cheaper players are likely to be older models that are effectively "obsolete."

So there you have it: there's absolutely no compelling reason to dive into Blu-ray, at least for the next few months. But as with all of the items above, the conclusion comes with a big caveat of its own: the Sony PlayStation 3. It's the only player that's futureproof, it doubles as a top-notch game machine and network digital media streamer, and it's readily available for $400. Oh--it also happens to be a great Blu-ray player, and it does a fine job of upconverting your standard DVDs to high-definition resolutions. As such, it remains the exception to the rule, and the only Blu-ray player that we can enthusiastically recommend for the time being.

[Waryor]

i've had hd-dvd player since it came out and have had a ps3 (for blu-ray) for over a year.

so i'm neutral on the format wars.

quality is the same for both. so i don't really care. i wish they had settled on one format before all of this. i hate it that one of my formats will soon be obsolete (probably hd-dvd)

you really do need both players, because there are good movies exclusive to one format.

[Poopsnorkeler]

You know, as an alternative you could always use a media center PC hooked up to your HDTV, download HD movies and play it from your media center PC...

[Kobayashi]

There are no winners in this war, only losers. The true winner of the future media of HD content is service providers such as Comcast, Dish and Directv. With the constant and steady increase in worldwide bandwith and breakthroughs in compression technology, the future of HD media is streamed over networks, not on a physical medium.

[Kobayashi]

You know, as an alternative you could always use a media center PC hooked up to your HDTV, download HD movies and play it from your media center PC...

Download, extract, convert... ehh way too much trouble.

[chawan_cut]

now that it seems that Blu-ray is winning the battle and the other movie companies are switching sides, hopefully the re-release some of their previous HD-DVD only movies on blu-ray. i wouldn't mind having the Matrix movies in HD.

[Poopsnorkeler]

You know, as an alternative you could always use a media center PC hooked up to your HDTV, download HD movies and play it from your media center PC...

Download, extract, convert... ehh way too much trouble.

Definitely, if you had to download, extract and convert that is a lot of trouble... especially the convert part. But... there are downloads where that is already done for you so you just need to download and extract. Not too much trouble...

[Waryor]

now that it seems that Blu-ray is winning the battle and the other movie companies are switching sides, hopefully the re-release some of their previous HD-DVD only movies on blu-ray. i wouldn't mind having the Matrix movies in HD.

like i said earlier, i got both, so i'm format neutral... however, i think you're right.

hd-dvd is hanging on by a thread right now.

netflix and best buy just announced they are going to support blu-ray.

netflix will no longer rent new hd-dvd movies, only blu-ray.

i feel bad for my friend, who just bought an hd-dvd player for christmas.

not looking good for hd-dvd