Sony CEO Says HD Format War Is At 'Stalemate' >

	2007/11/09 12:32:00: Posted by DM
	Sir Howard Stringer, the Sony CEO, downplayed the HD video format war. Speaking in Manhattan, Stringer downplayed the importance of the battle, claiming that it was mostly just a matter of prestige who the winner was in the end. "We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides," he went on to say. Sounds like Sony may have been hurt by the Paramount switch more than they let on. >Link
	Labeled With  hddvd sony bluray Comments [13]  | Rate this article: -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  | Be the first to rate this article

Dedicated HD-DVD movie players outsell dedicated Blu-ray players.

And HD-DVD has the bragging rights of selling the most successful disc on either platform. The movie I am referring to is Transformers.

Plus, there are now $199 dedicated HD-DVD players in stores like Wal-Mart, which is only slightly more expensive than the Xbox 360 attachment to play HD-DVD movies...although, there are some excellent deals sometimes with the Xbox 360 attachment.

For example, a couple weeks ago Best Buy allowed you to get the $99 HD-DVD boxed set series of Heroes for FREE if you bought the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360



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But one thing is 100% clear:

If at ANY point it becomes a "dual-format" situation where players play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, then the HD-DVD format will end up being considered the "Winner." Here's why:

HD-DVD discs are significantly less expensive to produce than Blu-ray discs. It costs less to created a 30-GB HD-DVD than it does a 25GB Blu-ray...and it is VERY EXPENSIVE to creat a 50GB Blu-ray.

At this point in time, the overwhelming majority of Blu-ray discs are 25GB discs.



However, virtually every HD-DVD disc uses a 30GB format...and still costs less to produce.

Also, HD-DVD is a format that CURRENTLY uses the Hybrid "Combo-Format" where HD-DVD is on one side, and standard DVD is on the other. That is a HUGE factor that will ultimately make the HD-DVD format the winner in the end.

Sony claims that Blu-ray can "theoretically" have dual-format discs like that, but they are NOWHERE to be found...it is much too difficult and much to expensive to do such a thing on Blu-ray...that is why HD-DVD was "Officially" selected as the "Successor" to the DVD format by the DVD Forum.

Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD had a chance to be selected, but HD-DVD won because of factors like that, and because HD-DVD has much more strict Mandatory Requirements for each hardware unit, in order to make all HD-DVD systems universal in their standards.



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Ironically, the FACT is, if Sony would have used the HD-DVD format with the Playstation 3, the PS3 system would (1) Cost less (2) use 30GB discs instead of 25GB discs (3) have a faster data transfer rate for gaming--which means faster load times.

Sony's greed ended up costing them BIGTIME.

@Krogan I dont know what you wrote because I didn't bother to read it, but I see SOny trying brush off the competition as if its nothing, but the price drop and paramount switching side did affect them,... I won't bet getting either one,, well blu-ray because I plan on getting PS3 when they do the firmware upgrade that'll let me start and warm my car using my PSP and the cell.

mind him, he talks a lot of crap as always...

man he has no life...

eh krogan tell me why when i go to a shop and i see a blu ray disk 5-10euro cheaper than HD_DVD. it even includes special features etc etc

That's odd...

I typically find the HD version of movies to be cheaper than the BD version.

I prefer HD, anyways. Consistent with video and audio codecs, and I love the streamlined menus.

Check next moths sale numbers now that more BluRay must own exclusive titles are hitting the market. Hybrid discs are a waste. Once you have the movie in HD why would you want to play it in SD? Hybrid BluRay/HD-DVD players will be the eventual winner.

"...the Blu-ray release of 'Spider-Man 3' sold 130,000 copies the first six days at retail, 15,000 more copies than the Transformers HD DVD was reported to have sold its first week on store shelves." That's followed by the release of multiple Pixar movies this week ... also Blu-Ray only.

Woo Hoo. And how many PS3's were bundled with Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray??? Even better how much more did Spiderman 3 sell on DVD vs Blu-Ray??? The fact is neither HD-DVD or Blu-Ray are so much as a pimple on DVD's A$$ right now. DVD will be around for a long time. I dont think there will ever be a clear winner as long as the movie studios are divided. Plus HDTV's and Broadband internet arent even mainstream yet.

At least when upgrading from VHS to DVD you didnt need to buy a new TV. Even worse is all the people who have 720P/1080i HDTV's that wont get the only "True-HD" experience Sony says you get with 1080P.

I think its safe to say that by the time this all gets sorted out a newer/better technology will be available or else digitial distribution will have taken over.

I brought an hd-dvd player at walmart for $99. I needed an upconvert player for my dvd collection. The price and the fact that it also plays hd-dvd won me over. Having both dvd and hd-dvd on a single disc is a smart idea so people who buy dvds won't have to buy another disc when they upgrade. I don't care which format has more space or features. My wallet speaks for itself and as long as it plays better than dvd, I'm happy.

SupremeChaotic, cian's talking crap he's a sony fanboy at heart. i live in the same country as him and i've never seen a HD DVD more Expensive then a blu-ray movie.

amazing how poeple will bundle and give things for free and later count them as sold, and it happens with games too

lc204: i agree with you. hybrid discs are a good choice because maybe you're not ready to go "HD" yet but when you are then at least you don't have to buy some movies all over.

If you're not ready for HD yet... buy the cheaper regular DVD. By the time you are ready for HD... the HD version will be cheaper than it is now... and possibly re-mastered and updated again.