We were all just waiting for the announcement. And here it is, finally and inevitably. Blu-ray called, "red rover, red rover let Paramount come over," and Paramount went over. Now all six major studios are on board, and HD DVD is being fitted for its casket. Thank goodness. The format war is over! And no, I won't be telling anyone to go out and buy any HD DVD products this time around (although Roger Ebert mentioned the other day that this is a great time to buy VHS tapes, so he's apparently even more insane than I am). But I'm not just going to jump on the Blu-ray wagon just yet either (remember: I'm a cheap bastard). Who knows how soon the next format war will come about anyway? It's best to just sit around and read books. They'll never be obsolete. Oh wait, I forgot that I'm a movie blogger. Never mind. Buy movies! And buy them on Blu-ray!So, to recap: once upon a time there were two competing HD video formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray. Some of Hollywood and the electronics biz sided with one and some sided with the other. The war lasted years without much action. Then along came Warner Bros.' decision to go Blu-ray exclusive. And, though I don't know why the WB is such a powerful influence, in the subsequent couple months the other remaining studios followed suit. As did home entertainment retailers and rental companies like Netflix and Best Buy. Of course, this week's official announcement from Toshiba -- formerly one of HD DVD's most important supporters -- was the real last straw. The fact that then Universal and now Paramount made the switch were just aftereffects. It is interesting, though, that Paramount was the last one, considering we all thought they were caving back in January. Now all we have to see is if Blu-ray does in fact replace DVDs entirely in the next two years, as promised.
1. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23262620/
Ready to buy Blu-ray? Better hit pause button
Price expected to remain high for now, and you'll need to upgrade, too
By Suzanne Choney
MSNBC
updated 10:02 p.m. CT, Wed., Feb. 20, 2008
Suzanne Choney
The high-definition DVD format war may be over, but not the battle for eyeballs and dollars when it comes to viewing high-def movies.
With Toshiba’s announcement Tuesday that it’s abandoning the HD DVD format it helped create, leaving Sony’s Blu-ray the winner, consumers may feel they have no choice but to buy a Blu-ray player in order to enjoy movies in HD.
There are good reasons to wait. Among them are the cost of the players, which range between $400 and $500 and are expected to remain at that level in the months ahead, said Rob Enderle, president of The Enderle Group research firm.
Even at $400, that’s about twice the price most consumers are comfortable with — the “I-don’t-have-to-ask-my-wife’s-permission” number of around $200, said Enderle.
“Probably closer to the end of year, the holiday season, we’ll see some pricing come down,” said Steve Baker, vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group. “Right now, there’s not a lot of incentive to drive pricing down.”
You'll want to upgrade
But cost isn’t the only factor. If you bought a Blu-ray player last year, chances are you could wind up buying another one next year as well. That’s because most stand-alone Blu-ray players are essentially version 1.0 and not upgradeable.
And you will be wanting to upgrade, “otherwise you’ll have an obsolete product next year,” said Enderle.
“One of the differences between HD DVD and Blu-ray is that the HD platform was complete when it went to market, because you could connect it to the Internet for updates, patches or security fixes,” Enderle said. “Most Blu-ray players have no network connection, except (for those that are) on the PlayStation 3.”
Among the reasons for Blu-ray’s success is that Sony included it on its PS3 consoles, which have sold more than 10 million units since 2006.
That network connection is important because it allows not only for security updates, but added entertainment value, with downloads of special features and offers.
Some stand-alone Blu-ray players with Internet connections are out now, said Baker, but most will not be available until next year.
In order to push the product this year, he sees manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung and Panasonic moving to bundle the sale of their TV sets and Blu-ray players.
“Now that there is a single format, the question is, is that going to spur larger adoption of Blu-ray? It’s incumbent on consumers to make that call,” said Steve Koenig, senior analyst for the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group.
“And one thing most people don’t know is that this is a technology that harnesses 1080p resolution, he said. “Thirty-nine percent of households have TVs with HD, but a fraction of those have high-def sets capable of displaying 1080p resolution, which is the full-output capability of next-generation DVD.
“The number of households that can really take full advantage of next-generation DVD is still somewhat limited.”
The upconverting alternative
Upconverting DVD players, which cost around $100, also offer a good alternative for those who don’t want to make the Blu-ray jump but who want better picture quality. While not offering a true-HD experience, they do come pretty close “to near-high def quality,” said Baker.
And if you don’t want to deal with buying a player at all, downloading movies in HD is another option.
“The disc war is over, but there’s a bigger one coming — downloads,” said Enderle.
Cable and satellite providers continue to offer more HD movies on demand, while other companies are moving swiftly to get in on the action.
Earlier this month, TiVo and Amazon.com announced a service for TiVo subscribers to download TV shows and movies through Amazon.com.
Apple began offering HD movie rental downloads through its iTunes Store in January. Also last month, Netflix said that subscribers with unlimited rental plans can stream movies and TV episodes onto their home computers.
“There are a number of services where you can download and stream in high-def,” said Koenig of CEA.
“We saw a lot of this talked about at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. There are services, even satellite-based, which will deliver high-def content directly to the home. That is ostensibly a very viable solution.
“There’s going to be a lot of competition in this high-def movie content space. Blu-ray is not the only game in town for this type of content.”
Posted at 9:16PM on Feb 21st 2008 by Mack Swift