Toshiba quits HD DVD business

Tribune-Star ^ | Feb. 19,2008 | By Yuri Kageyama

[Military family member]

TOKYO — Toshiba's decision to no longer develop, make or market high-definition HD DVD players and recorders will mean consumers can start feeling more confident about buying the victorious rival technology — a Blu-ray disc player.

Analysts say competition is expected to heat up among the manufacturers of Blu-ray players and recorders, which include Japanese makers Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sharp Corp. as well as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

In making the announcement, Toshiba Corp. President Atsutoshi Nishida said he wanted to avoid confusion among consumers.

[Hawthorn]

> My wife and I got a DVD recorder/player a few months ago (it’s yet to be actually USED even once) so what does this mean for us? Should we dump it? <

Exactly the same question here!

My unit is a Panasonic. Anybody know what format they’ve been using?

[listenhillary]

90,000 some standard definition DVD movies are available now. Very few Blu-ray movies available yet.

If your DVD player is functional, sit tight. If you don’t yet have HD tv, don’t worry about upgrading your DVD player/ recorder.

[Hawthorn]

> If you don’t yet have HD tv, don’t worry about upgrading your DVD player/ recorder. <

I’ve got 720p. But my aging eyes can’t really tell the difference from the NTSC 525-line, studio-quality analog images I get from my two-meter BUD!

[swain_forkbeard]

You seem to know what you’re talking about. So spec 2.0 compliance, in player and disc, will do you for a while?

You know there will be spec mods. But will backwards compatibility be maintained? People don’t like getting burned.

[rb22982]

I’d say it won mainly to PS3 having a Blu-Ray on board. Stand alone units HD-DVD has sold far more since launch than Blu-Ray but PS3s sales dwarf all of the rest combined at 10 million worldwide.

[Spunky]

Thanks for the information.

[Spunky]

Thanks for the information.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list..

HDTV pings

[cll]

“I’ve got 720p. But my aging eyes can’t really tell the difference from the NTSC 525-line, studio-quality analog images I get from my two-meter BUD!”

Hey, speak English!

[July 4th]

I was considering a PS3, pretty much just for the Blu-Ray drive, but Blu-Ray ROM drives for the PC are under $200 now, and that’s a much cheaper option - even if you have to upgrade your video card for HDCP. (and assuming your PC is fast enough to handle the format in the first place.) Point being, Blu-Ray is no longer an early adopter technology. Time to dive in!

[reagan_fanatic]

Bush’s Fault.

[Jorge]

I was waiting for the issue to be cleared up. I did not want to make the betamax mistake.

Same here. Investing in a format that becomes obselete can be a costly mistake.

[Nowhere Man]

Nope, don’t have a high def TV so no problem for me.

Same here, still using a 1982 Zenith from when it was new. Come to think of it, I even hooked up the Playstation to my 1964 Sony B&W TV as well. B-) The game looks like old B&W movies. B-D

[mbraynard]

Yikes. I’d think paramedics would want something like that handy.

[mbraynard]

Beta was not technically superior to VHS. Technical superiority includes ‘length of recording.’

[mbraynard]

well, you’ve got ane excellent DVD upscalar there.

[mbraynard]

A moment enjoyed is not wasted.

[mbraynard]

Well, his body is probably cold by now so no need to speak ill of him anymore

[SunkenCiv]

Too bad I gave up cable and going to the movies.

[rbosque]

Great. I’m still waiting for the prices to come down.