Warner Brothers has delayed the launch of the Total HD (THD) disc format until early 2008. The new disc format, which was to include both Blu-ray and HD DVD versions of a movie title ,was originally slated for he second half of this year. According to Steve Nickerson, Warner senior VP of marketing management, the company plans on releasing 10 to 20 titles in the new format. Nickerson is also quoted as saing “There is no expiration date on the viability of this concept, so we’re not in a rush to do it, We’ll do it when it makes sense and when it’s right.” Total HD discs work by having HD DVD and Blu-ray on opposite sides of a disc.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Total HD, Warner Brothers, Delayed

Could there be inexpensive Chinese manufactured HD DVD players available in the near future? That’s the hope of the HD DVD Promotional Group as a steering committee of the DVD Forum has approved the final draft of a memorandum with the leading Chinese developer of optical discs. This could very well lead to creation of a Chinese HD DVD format which would translate fairly inexpensive Chinese manufactured HD DVD players. Keep in mind of course that a Chinese HD DVD format would differ somewhat with the global HD DVD format but one would assume .. or presume that Chinese based HD DVD players would be compatible with the general HD DVD spec if all goes well. Again - this could very well lead to inexpensive HD DVD players flooding not only the Chinese market but potentially the global market.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Chinese HD DVD,

Toshiba is delivering on its’ promise to include HD DVD in future generations of notebooks with the introduction of the new Qosmio F45-AV412 A/V notebook. This 15.4 inch multimedia system is loaded with an HD DVD drive, 720p compatible display, and Dolby Home Theater technology. Want the HD picture on a larger screen? No problem - simply connect the HDMI output to an HDTV set and you’re ready to go. Specs to the Qosmio F45-AV412 include the following:

• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100  running at 1.8 GHz
• 2 GB of RAM with a max of 4GB of RAM
• 250GB SATA HDD
• HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti drive
• 15.4 inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite display with 1280 x 800 native resolution
• Mobile Intel GMA X3100 GPU
• Two integrated Harman Kardon stereo speakers with subwoofer
• Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN
• Integrated webcam and microphone
• Fingerprint reader
• HDMI output
• S/P DIF output

The new Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV412 has a starting price of $1649 but there’s also a 50 dollar rebate at this point - bringing the price down to $1599. You can check out the Toshiba website for additional information on this model.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Toshiba, Qosmio, F45-AV412, HD DVD laptop

Now here’s an interesting thought. Even if the HD DVD format should falter in the U.S., there’s a good possibility that it will succeed in other parts of the world - in particular in the U.K. and Europe. How could this happen? It again boils down to movie studios - this time the big ones vs. small ones. While large Hollywood studios are the primary source for movies in the U.S. (and also for the most part the primary backers of Blu-ray), the same can’t be said of Europe where approximately 50 percent of movies are actually produced by smaller studios independent of Hollywood. These same independent studios actually prefer HD DVD since the format has lower production costs which will result in higher profit margins. Yes it comes down to dollars and cents.  Obviously the folks behind HD DVD realize this and as such are keeping Europe in their crosshairs. Meanwhile, Blu-ray has largely ignored Europe and continues to work on the U.S. audience.

Another piece of interesting news comes from Microsoft. The Xbox 360 HD DVD player is apparently the most successful Xbox 360 accessory ever - selling more than 155,000 units in the U.S. alone. Good job Microsoft! You can read my original review of the Xbox 360 HD DVD player over at Krunker.com.

One final interesting if not somewhat flawed statistic. The very same article from CNET claims that consumers who purchased HD DVD players are buying more content than folks who purchased Blu-ray players. The ratio is something on the order of 4 to 1 - HD DVD to Blu-ray. 

The basic problem I have with this statistic is not knowing whether the numbers counted the HD DVD player promotions that are normally found with each new player sold. If you’ve been following the HD DVD player market, you’ll know that Toshiba often allows you to get up to five free HD DVD titles for every HD DVD player purchased. Does the study count these five titles per HD DVD player purchase? If so, then the study would be flawed - especially since the Blu-ray camp doesn’t offer the same type of promotions. It’s still relatively good news to HD DVD but let’s not celebrate the format too much shall we?

[Check it out]

No Tags

Those of you interested in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format wars will be interested in reading this article over at BusinessWeek.com. It’s entitled “In DVD War, Body Blows for Toshiba” and it’s a good analysis into the current state affairs for Toshiba and the HD DVD format. The article claims that while HD DVD and Toshiba has suffered some blows in recent months, the company and the format is certainly not down for the count - at least not yet. There are still several factors that can help the HD DVD format rise from its current condition to effectively battle against Blu-ray. Since BusinessWeek articles sometimes disappear after some time, I’ll try and summarize the basic points in the article here.

• While Blu-ray appears to be winning, don’t count Toshiba and HD DVD out yet
• In response to Blu-ray’s initial dominance, Toshiba lowered prices for HD DVD players
• However, Blockbuster recently decided to stock Blu-ray discs over HD DVD discs although they have not officially declared a winner as of yet
• HD DVD is still a strong player in the online rental market with both Netflix and Blockbuster Online carrying the format
• While Blu-ray titles have outsold HD DVD titles 2 to 1 since January, there is still no clear winner since sales are overall very sluggish
• Sales of Toshiba HD DVD players have risen since the price cuts in May while Blu-ray player sales are still sluggish
• Toshiba is encouraging the Chinese government to adopt HD DVD for internal use with two large Chinese DVD manufacturers committing to do so.
• If the Chinese enter on the side of HD DVD, component prices could fall rapidly which could result in cheaper prices - but this could also hurt Toshiba should Chinese HD DVD players make it to the US
• Hollywood backing of HD DVD is still critical since the majority of the studios still back Blu-ray. However high definition content has not been very compelling thus far
• The computer market for HD DVD and Blu-ray is still a non-factor - at least until prices come down for drives and media.

The final paragraph to the article is probably the most important advice that HD DVD and Blu-ray could heed. “The solution [to the war], is for each side to call a truce and revive talks that failed two years ago to marry the two formats”. Let’s hope they do so soon before both formats become irrelevant as some have predicted.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HD DVD, Blu-ray, Toshiba

Dan Costa over at GearLog.com published an interesting editorial on Thursday entitled “No One’s Winning the High-Def Format War”. His arguments are straightforward actually. While the high definition format wars continue, the consumers ultimately will not care in the end because they will have chosen the format of choice - and that’s to download HD content over some pipeline (probably the Internet).

Costa bolsters his argument by using the music industry as an example. Until MP3 files and digital music players became popular, people were stuck to CDs. Yet when given the choice of quality CDs vs. downloadable digital tracks, the consumers chose to download content instead. Look at the results now - CD sales are down and digital music stores are on the rise.

He applies the same notion to movies. Optical discs are a thing of the past Costa argues. The way to distribute going forward is via the Internet with many companies and products already trying out various services to see if this is viable. Now granted - there are many more obstacles in the way when it comes to movies. You need more storage and download times take a good deal longer than say downloading music. However as download speeds improve and as storage costs plummet, the optical disc - whether Blu-ray or HD DVD - will become obsolete in favor of a new video distribution method over the Internet.

It’s definitely an interesting argument although I do think there’s a place for either Blu-ray or HD DVD in the high definition arena. There will be consumers who will want downloadable high definition content, and there’ll be folks who want to own something on a disc format. Ultimately the key to all of this IMHO will be cost. If Blu-ray or HD DVD players lower in cost dramatically - say to something like DVD players, then I think you’ll see rapid adoption for either format. If products come out that make downloadable HD content affordable and easy to use, then I’m sure you’ll see that market expand rapidly also.

[Check it out]

No Tags

Did you get yourself a new HDTV or Blu-ray/HD DVD player? Not sure if your components are living up to the manufacturer’s claims? Well now you can get check things out yourself by getting the Silicon Optix HD HQV Benchmark disc. The test disc is available in both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats and provides an objective way for users to evaluate the picture quality of high definition products.

Jordan Du Val, VP of Marketing for Silicon Optix, says the following about the new HD HQV Benchmark:

“For the first time, consumers will be able to test the high-definition performance of their products to make sure they live up to the manufacturers’ claims”

The benchmark begins with a quick introduction, an overview of the tests, and an explanation into how to use the included scorecard to assess the product like a professional would. The benchmark comes with tests for noise, video resolution loss, “jaggies”, and film resolution loss - all recorded in 1080i video. The resolution test is used to determine whether your player or display properly deinterlaces 1080i input which is the most common video format used today on cable and broadcast HD programming.

You can order either the Blu-ray version of the HD DVD version on the HQV website here for $20 dollars. I think I’ll pick up both versions for my own testing needs. You can also pick up the standard definition version of the benchmark in DVD format for $20 dollars. Silicon Optix also sells bundles but the bundles are sold out right now.

[Check it out]

No Tags

Folks in France will be happy to hear that Toshiba is now selling their inexpensive HD-EP10 HD DVD player there. Introduced at CeBIT earlier this year, the HD-EP10 is designed to be an inexpensive version of the HD-XE1. The player is capable of outputting 1080p video and supports the latest Dolby TrueHD and DST HD formats but it doesn’t come with analog 5.1 audio outputs. Of course - who really cares about those outputs if you already have a receiver that’s capable of decoding those audio formats right?

[Check it out (translation provided by Kontrib)]

No Tags