[analogue SPRINKLES]

Sony offers fix for broken DVDs - Engadget

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts 

Mindless rambling is not helping anything, aristotles.

I would agree with you on that so why did you post? I saw absolutely nothing of value in your contribution.

[Adam Betts]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

I would agree with you on that so why did you post? I saw absolutely nothing of value in your contribution.

Be a man enough to shut up. Leave your typical SpyMac rambling to SpyMac forum, not here.

You're essentially repeating your comment in almost all of your posts but with different flavors. We get it you really want Blu-ray to win. Really.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Electronista | Pioneer launches sub-$300 Blu-Ray drive

[goMac]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Electronista | Pioneer launches sub-$300 Blu-Ray drive

Eug posted that on the last page.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts 

Be a man enough to shut up. Leave your typical SpyMac rambling to SpyMac forum, not here.

You're essentially repeating your comment in almost all of your posts but with different flavors. We get it you really want Blu-ray to win. Really.

NOW this thread feels like the console gaming thread!

Much better.

[Eug]

Blood Diamond is coming on both Blu-ray and HD DVD this summer.

Advantage Blu-ray: Street date June 5 (as opposed to July 2 for the HD DVD)

Advantage HD DVD: web-enabled extras, including allowing viewers to use their players to offer opinions in Warner's online polls, as well as view other special features such as maps of conflict pertaining to war-torn areas in Africa.

Furthermore, the HD DVD boasts an In-Movie Experience (IME) video commentary with additional behind-the-scenes and interview footage. And for the first time on 'Blood Diamond,' Warner will include the new Focus Points feature that takes the viewer to exciting in-depth featurettes and production diaries.

--

In the meantime, this Chinese article claims that Fu Yuan corporation has built a factory to manufacture blue-laser HD DVD components in a joint venture with TDK. It also says Fu Yuan will be making 2 million (!) for Wal-Mart: 福彥中科廠落成　藍光ＨＤ ＤＶＤ機芯正式誕生

[icruise]

In my experience, web-enabled extras are pretty much always a joke.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by icruise 

In my experience, web-enabled extras are pretty much always a joke.

Not to mention that movie wasn't so great and the DVD release was probably the worst quality DVD I have seen in the past 5 years.

[Eug]

I prefer to wait to pass judgement on it until it's actually out.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Eug 

In the meantime, this Chinese article claims that Fu Yuan corporation has built a factory to manufacture blue-laser HD DVD components in a joint venture with TDK. It also says Fu Yuan will be making 2 million (!) for Wal-Mart: 福彥中科廠落成　藍光ＨＤ ＤＶＤ機芯正式誕生

That Wal-Mart deal is a joint venture with Great Wall as well, and the player (scheduled for 2007) appears to have a $299 list price, and yep, it's supposed to be 2 million of them.

Here's the drive that forms the centre of it, at 50 bucks a pop:



EDIT:

It seems that people who are reading Chinese are saying the deal is for complete players, and the cost price is probably going to be $150 ($300 million divided by 2 million), which suggests to me that our predictions of $199 HD DVD players by Xmas may come true.

P.S. Engadget has picked this up.

[jokell82]

Here's an engadget writeup of that deal:
The Wal-Mart $299 HD DVD player on the way - Engadget

Should do quite a bit for HD-DVD adoption.

[Eug]

Hmm... We're getting mixed messages on the translation. The deal is for 2 million players yes, but we're not sure if it's for $300 million or if it's for $101 million. So, it's either $150 per player or $50 per player, depending on how people are reading the article. I'm guessing the former, but I'm not sure.

Either way, this is a humungous announcement for HD DVD.

[goMac]

The other translation issue is that no one is sure whether they mean HD-DVD or Bluray it seems. It would be awful surprising if there was going to be a $300 Bluray drive though.

[hmurchison2001]

Update: Pull back the reigns HD DVD fanboys, Akihabara now says that they've made a "huge mistake" with their translation: the original source called it "藍光 HD DVD and 藍光 means Blu-RAY." In other words, Blu-ray HD DVD. Huh? Word to the wise: since both formats use blue lasers, it's best to wait for an English press release before either camp celebrates.

WTF. Confusion like this should not happen. Man I'm longing for a return to the days when people verified facts before posting information. How do you confuse HD DVD with Blu-ray unless you're the sloppiest of news organizations. I've seen this sloppyness proliferate. People calling upscaling DVD players HD DVD and other mishaps. "Please us the proper terminology sir"

[exca1ibur]

First, people need to stop calling it Bluray DVD. Confusion #1 there for people too. Leave it as Blu-ray and HD-DVD. There is no way to get that confused. Everyone is so lazy these days with acronyms you need a cipher to read a thread or an article.

[Eug]

OK, it'd be nice if there a proper English article somewhere on this.

However, apparently a few Chinese speakers were asked, and a few interesting points came up:

1) Technically, "HD DVD" in Chinese is simply "HD DVD" (the English letters). "Blue light HD DVD" translated is "blue-laser HD DVD".
2) Technically, "Blu-ray" in Chinese is simply "Blu-ray" (the English letters.) However, a few reporters have used the term "blue light" as a short form for "Blu-ray", but not with "HD DVD" after it. OTOH, the term "blue light" alone can refer to either Blu-ray or HD DVD, depending on the context.
3) The article goes on to talk about HD DVD's advantage of shared replication lines with DVD. This is not an option with Blu-ray because the replication lines are totally separate.

[hmurchison2001]

Great poing Eug. That clears up everything right there.

2 million players is an awful lot to sell. They must really be preparing for players in the $199 to sell well. I think that consumer acceptance will spike once we hit these price ranges. I believe that 2008, will truly be the year that this format takes off.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

I prefer to wait to pass judgement on it until it's actually out.

I was talking about the DVD though. The picture was horrid and the story won't be much better on HD.

Anyway, for web extra's, out of the 400 DVD's I have not one of them had anything but laughable web extras. I'd pay for them to take that crap out.

[Eug]

According to these AVS posts:

1) It's definitely HD DVD.
2) TDK is supplying the laser assembly.
3) Fuh Yuan is making the drive.
4) BroadCom is supplying the System-On-Chip.
5) Mass production begins in August, with initial shipments in 2007.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Eug 

According to these AVS posts:

1) It's definitely HD DVD.
2) TDK is supplying the laser assembly.
3) Fuh Yuan is making the drive.
4) BroadCom is supplying the System-On-Chip.
5) Mass production begins in August, with initial shipments in 2007.

Walmart selling HD-DVD players will be huge. I doubt the drives will be super quality stuff, but tons of people just go pick up whatever Walmart sells. Sounds like they plan to ship in time for Christmas too, which will be huge.

[Eug]

Yes, Wal-Mart sells a ton of stuff, but Wal-Mart already sells HD DVD players. The important point here though is the potential for sub $200 players, likely only on the HD DVD side for some time. With current HD DVD players, sales are good, but not outstanding. With players under $200 at a big retailer like Wal-Mart, sales could be outstanding.

P.S. Wal-Mart sells 40% of all DVDs sold in the US.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts 

Be a man enough to shut up. Leave your typical SpyMac rambling to SpyMac forum, not here.

You're essentially repeating your comment in almost all of your posts but with different flavors. We get it you really want Blu-ray to win. Really.

Be a man and take this crap to a PM or be a man a shut the hell up. There is no need for personal attacks here.

I don't even know who you are. Are you some cyberstalker? Get lost.

Yeah, I want bluray to win because so far there is zero consumer video support for HD-DVD on mac hardware. I cannot buy and install a HD-DVD burner for my mac but there are several blu-ray burners. I also have a vested interest because I chose to buy a blu-ray PS3 rather than a dual format player or HD-DVD player after doing research and comparing prices. I'm not about to go out and spend even more money on a dual format or HDDVD player after buying 12 blu-ray titles so far.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

Yeah, I want bluray to win because so far there is zero consumer video support for HD-DVD on mac hardware. I cannot buy and install a HD-DVD burner for my mac but there are several blu-ray burners. I also have a vested interest because I chose to buy a blu-ray PS3 rather than a dual format player or HD-DVD player after doing research and comparing prices. I'm not about to go out and spend even more money on a dual format or HDDVD player after buying 12 blu-ray titles so far.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Studio_Pro

"In April 2005, Apple updated DVD Studio Pro to support authoring HD content. DVD Studio Pro 4 allows for the burning of HD DVD content to both standard DVD's and HD DVD media (even though no burners are available)."

Once a burner is available, Apple is all ready to go.

[jokell82]

He doesn't count that software, though, because it doesn't fit with his theories.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

He doesn't count that software, though, because it doesn't fit with his theories.

Sure, but writing a driver for a HD-DVD burner isn't all that hard... It's not something easy. But it wouldn't be too hard for something with experience writing optical storage drivers.

The hard part is writing the software that encodes the HD DVD itself, but Apple's already done that.

[Eug]

That Wal-Mart player and its pricing has been confirmed by an outside retailer:

"I was told by someone in the know that the player will be on the shelf at $299 and frequently on sale for $199

I'm hoping to get a few thousand with my branding."

That makes perfect sense. A $299 MSRP will significantly undercut the Toshiba's $399 MSRP (and undercut Blu-ray players by even more), but the player cost to the dealer will be low enough that they can discount it by as much as $100 and still make money off of it, to compete with the dealers that sell the Toshiba at way below MSRP.

$199 Chinese HD DVD players in six months my friends, with Toshiba players going for $299 street at the same time.

[jokell82]

I may pick up one at that price. I was thinking of getting the 360 addon, but I'd much prefer a standalone unit.

[brassplayersrock²]

If it's any indication, I went into my local Newbury Comics today and went to the blu-ray/HD section, and most of the boxes were that redish color they use for the HD. I asked if the HDs are selling, and the guy is like, not really no, it's mostly the blu-ray disks. These HDs are still from the first or second batch that we got in, and we just can't seem to sell them.

Alex

and

Blu-ray burning its high-def DVD rival | Entertainment | Film | Reuters

[Eug]

Latest numbers:

Blu-ray first to hit 1 million discs sold.
Blu-ray sold 70% of discs in Q1 2007.
Total discs sold 2.14 million: ~1.2 million Blu-ray & 937500 HD DVD
Top seller is Casino Royale Blu-ray with 59680.

The numbers sound about right.

NXTbook flash detection page

EDIT: brass beat me to it, but the link I provided is a different one - online mag.

[olePigeon]

Maybe both formats will stay around and compete, giving us better prices.

[icruise]

I don't really think it works like that. When a title is released on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, it's done by the same company. Why would they want to compete with themselves?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

I don't really think it works like that. When a title is released on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, it's done by the same company. Why would they want to compete with themselves?

I presume he's talking about hardware.

[icruise]

The formats are already competing in that sense. But expensive hardware is really just a temporary anomaly.

[brassplayersrock²]

I own ONE blu-ray movie, and it was a gift. The movie is stealth. Great movie (Jessica Beal, bikini, waterfall) anyways it's just that I don't have a player yet.

not on any topic, just thought I'd share

Alex

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock 

I own ONE blu-ray movie, and it was a gift. The movie is stealth. Great movie (Jessica Beal, bikini, waterfall) anyways
Alex

Damn I just rented it on BR and it was definitely one of the worst movies in the last few years.

[brassplayersrock²]

you really like making people un-happy for what they like huh? :'( kidding =P

[Kenneth]

I like the movie, Stealth, although it doesn't get any high mark on Rotten Tomatoes and imdb.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock 

you really like making people un-happy for what they like huh? :'( kidding =P

To be fair, that movie was a piece of crap.

[brassplayersrock²]

read my quote in your post to my post

[Eug]

MSNBC: How Wal-Mart's TV prices crushed rivals

The carnage has one phrase written all over it — the "Wal-Mart effect." For many electronics competitors, the experience with flat panels has been a replay of what happened in other businesses over the past two decades as Wal-Mart's business stature grew dramatically. The Bentonville, Ark. juggernaut's entry into the grocery business in the late 1980s and its ability to offer deep discounts led to the bankrupting of dozens of regional supermarkets over the next 15 years, including Florida-based Winn-Dixie Stores, Eagle Foods from Illinois, and Penn Traffic in Pennsylvania.

[aristotles]

I'd like to make a quick comment about entertainment media like movies. Movies are a "visual" media which means they are supposed to be visually appealing entertaining. Stealth had a visually appealing actress (Jessica Biel), a lot of things blowing up, cool chase sequences in the air. Who cares if the plot was not advanced in every scene Movies are supposed to be escapism and provide you with a visceral thrill with a lot of action. If you want something with a plot, curl up with a book. If you want interesting dialogue and acting, go see a play or the opera.

While it may not have been the best movie ever, it was certainly a lot more entertaining than some movies that have received a lot of critical acclaim from artsy fartsy critics. I have seen several movies receive plenty of praise from so called experts but completely bomb at the box office. Apparently this was a box office bomb too but I did not leave the theatre cheated as I was not expecting anything other than a mindless action movie.

[brassplayersrock²]

I see an understatement of the year award coming your way

"Stealth had a visually appealing actress (Jessica Biel)"

[mitchell_pgh]

If Wal-Mart floods the market with cheap players, I think HD-DVD will win.

I assumed that Sony would have a good quality $450 stand alone option by now.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

If Wal-Mart floods the market with cheap players, I think HD-DVD will win.

I assumed that Sony would have a good quality $450 stand alone option by now.

True if it came out now but it isn't coming till end of 2007 or 2008 and by then BR will have cheap players also and an even bigger piece of the market.

[brassplayersrock²]

I believe the first to come out with a portable player will be the winner. IMHO

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

True if it came out now but it isn't coming till end of 2007 or 2008 and by then BR will have cheap players also and an even bigger piece of the market.

This player is rumoured (according to individuals in the industry) to be ~$299 MSRP, with a strong likelihood they'll be $199 on sale (which makes sense since the cost according to the article is $150 per player).

According to article, they'll be out in 2007. In fact, Toshiba and Microsoft had already announced other Chinese HD DVD players would be out in 2007.

I don't think we'll see any Blu-ray player street at below $300 any time in 2007. Even Blu-ray industry guys have said this.

Why?

Cuz, Blu-ray and HD DVD have fundamentally different attack schemes for this war.

1) Blu-ray: Flood the market with PS3s. Not all PS3ers buy a lot of movies, but put enough PS3s out there and it will be enough. Once Blu-ray dominates, standalones become more common and prices slowly decline over the years, while large consumer electronics companies make profits on players.

2) HD DVD: Price, price, price. Get the price on standalones as low as possible as soon as possible. Get the Chinese involved right from the start, so the magic $199 price point can be achieved by the second Xmas holidays.

In other words, Toshiba was wooing the Chinese a year ago, whereas Sony was locking them out intentionally.

Sony could have changed gears recently to get cheaper players out sooner rather than later, but at minimum there will still be a many month delay compared to the HD DVD side, and it's likely they'll still be more expensive due to the higher cost of parts and higher tolerances. What that means is that Blu-ray will miss the 2007 holiday window for low priced players, but HD DVD probably will not.

The only way these HD DVD players won't matter much is if Somehow Blu-ray can get cheap players in 2007, or else HD DVD runs into problems and can't get the cheap HD DVD players out until much later in 2008.

[Adam Betts]

Another article about Wal-mart and HD DVD

Wal-Mart Names HD DVD the Winner

Regardless of which format you're supporting, you'll have to admit that this will be a huge blow to Blu-ray. I'm sure Wal-mart will play dirty tactics such as raising prices on all things Blu-ray to discourage people from buying them and skewed the sales number of Blu-ray and HD DVD movies.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts 

Another article about Wal-mart and HD DVD

Wal-Mart Names HD DVD the Winner

That article simply references the AVS thread (indirectly).

Regardless of which format you're supporting, you'll have to admit that this will be a huge blow to Blu-ray. I'm sure Wal-mart will play dirty tactics such as raising prices on all things Blu-ray to discourage people from buying them and skewed the sales number of Blu-ray and HD DVD movies.

Why would they do that?

I don't think Wal-Mart really cares that much about the war per se. All it wants is to be able get people to buy their products. They will continue to sell the PS3 at reasonable prices, and will also continue to sell BDs for that PS3. They may even continue to sell other brands of BD players too if the price is right. If people are buying, they will be selling.

What they really want is inexpensive stuff though, to get people in the door. The HD DVD deal would provide them with that. Just imagine a Black Friday package deal for $799, including BOTH a 37" LCD HDTV and a HD DVD player. Some people might think that's crazy cheap, but it is more than doable methinks by fall 2007. Why? Wal-Mart already sells 37" HDTVs for $699, and I could see them dropping close to $100 six months from now. Package it up with a cheap HD DVD player and that $799 price point is achieved. $799 would be remarkable deal, and would get people in the door in droves. Even an $899 price point could accomplish the same.

[goMac]

I think we'll see them slowly make the Bluray section smaller and smaller, but not something as nefarious as raising prices on Bluray disks. That said, I don't see Walmart being very keen to put them on sale either.