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Blockbuster backs Blu-ray - HD DVD on the ropes?
iTWire ^ | Monday, 18 June 2007 | Adam Turner

Posted on 06/17/2007 10:29:06 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

In another blow to HD DVD, the giant Blockbuster video rental chain has thrown its weight behind Blu-ray in the fight to see which format is the high definition successor to the humble DVD.

After renting Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year, Blockbuster has decide to stock only Blu-ray in its other 1250 US stores. Customers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time, reports Associated Press via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The release of Sony's Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3 games console was also a factor in the decision, said Blockbuster senior vice president of merchandising Matthew Smith. Smith's comments comes after Microsoft conceded that the Xbox 360 games console may eventually support Blu-ray.

While Blockbuster is following market trends, its backing of Blu-ray as the format winner is possible a self-fulfilling prophesy - with other retailers likely to follow Blockbuster's lead. Blu-ray also has some heavy-hitting backers in Australia, with entertainment retail chain JB Hi-Fi declaring it will only stock Blu-ray.

It's true that Blu-ray players are more expensive than their HD DVD counterparts, but at this point I don't think price is a factor. Early adopters aren't too concerned about price tags. In 12 months time when prices fall and the tag becomes important, it will probably already be too late for HD DVD.    

Things are staring to look grim for HD DVD, but the format war could drag on due to the release of dual format Blu-ray/HD DVD players from the likes of Samsung and LG. While this is might seem to be a good thing, it's just going to delay mass adoption of one format and thus stop hardware and movie prices falling. Blu-ray v HD DVD is a battle to the death, and the sooner one dies the better off consumers will be.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: blockbuster; bluray; boycottviacom; cbs; hddvd; highdefinition; hitech; media; technology; viacom
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To: bmwcyle

Yeah right.. blu-ray sells 2 to 1 with movies. Blockbuster picked Blu-ray because it was renting them 70% to 30%.

Online polls are worthless! Like getting your political opinions from digg.com or cnn.com polls.

In most cases, they go for the underdog or just plain dumb choice.


61 posted on 06/18/2007 6:27:14 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

HD-DVD was DEAD and should have stayed Dead.... MS threw some weight behind it at the last minute to revive it in an attempt to harm Sony due to their rivalry in the video game console market and the fact that Sony was making sure Blu-Ray came with every PS3.

The sooner HD-DVD dies, the better off we will all be. Its a horrible kludge. Those “cheap” hd-dvd players don’t even do true 1080p... it was DOA and should have stayed there.


62 posted on 06/18/2007 6:27:44 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Mark was here
HDMI is a great interface... and although the MPAA wanted it for copy protection, it has done absolutely nothing to stop piracy of either new format. It does not perform it’s intended role. If you want to pirate (I do not) then you can still copy the content. 2008 will see Mandatory Copy enabled on BD. You will then be able to copy the movie to a server and Sony has announced lower rez versions to be included for Ipods etc.

LLS

63 posted on 06/18/2007 6:29:46 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (Support America, Kill terrorists, Destroy dims!)
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To: HamiltonJay

100% correct. It’s always been the lesser of the 2 techs, and is hardly any cheaper at all.

I do believe the format war helped reduce prices a lot. By the end of the year Blu-ray players will be 300 or so. That’s a big drop in 1 1/2 years from $1000+.

But it’s time for Toshiba to bail out and help the HD market.


64 posted on 06/18/2007 6:30:59 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Mr. Jeeves
Universal will come around. HDDVD is already dead... it’s just still walking. Toshiba is now GIVING AWAY players for FREE with purchase of selected TV’s. When a company slashes prices and gives away their hardware... the signs are easily read for those with open eyes.

LLS

65 posted on 06/18/2007 6:32:07 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (Support America, Kill terrorists, Destroy dims!)
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To: LibLieSlayer

From my understanding, everything will play on HDMI, DRM or not. DRM stuff just won’t play on non-HDMI connections eventually.

So it really doesn’t matter that much. All the hacks get around that if people really have to do it.


66 posted on 06/18/2007 6:32:29 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Tolsti

I part of the growing number who never uses Blockbuster or Netfix.


67 posted on 06/18/2007 6:32:54 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Satan is working both sides of the street in World Socialism and World Courts.)
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To: bmwcyle

I use Netflix and it’s great. $22 a month for basically all the HD movies I can watch.


68 posted on 06/18/2007 6:34:50 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Does anyone shop at Blockbuster?


69 posted on 06/18/2007 6:35:40 AM PDT by Silly (http://www.paulklenk.us)
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To: cbkaty

Sony has already effectively won the format war, just people aren’t recognizing it yet.

They have the overwelming number of studios onboard as blu-ray or exclusive blu ray.. Want a Disney DVD is High Def? Guess what, only exists in Blu Ray.. same with many other movie houses.

Add the fact that in the last 9 months more than 3 million households got a Blu-Ray player with their PS3, plus sales of the dedicated Blu-Ray players, combined with exclusive content you have a clear winner.

HD-DVD was and should have stayed dead. Sony’s decision to make Blu Ray part of the PS3 has hurt the consoles overall adoption due to the price point it has put the system at, but it has helped Sony win a much more lucrative market in the DVD HiDef format war.

MS through some last minute weight behind HD-DVD to bring it back from the dead in hopes of harming Sony.. but at this point its pretty obvious that Sony clearly has the lead globally in the Format war.

All those guys talking about price and buying those “cheap” HD-DVD players that are coming out, well I hope you don’t have a 1080P TV.. because those cheap players can’t playback in that format.. best you are going to get is 720p. You want 1080P out of your HD-DVD player it costs the same as Blu-Ray which is required to support all formats out of the box.


70 posted on 06/18/2007 6:35:57 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: LibLieSlayer

Agreed, HD-DVD was dead, and MS’s last minute attempt to revive it was in vein.

PS3 having Blu Ray has hurt its console sales due to the added price, but clearly helped them win them the format war.

That and the fact they got the studios on board.


71 posted on 06/18/2007 6:37:59 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Myrddin

You don’t have long to wait - Sony’s first-to-market BluRay player, which premiered at $999, is now $799, and they’ve added a low-end unit that’s selling for $499 at Circuit City, which is the lowest price among the competing BluRay units.


72 posted on 06/18/2007 6:40:56 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: HamiltonJay

“That and the fact they got the studios on board.”

And now Blockbuster. Many people are saying that their local Best Buys and Frys are expanding their blu-ray sections, and hddvd is getting smaller and smaller.

In fact, at a Circuit City near me they have half an aisle on Blu-ray when they used to be equal. The hd dvd section is on the side of the aisle, about 15 movies.


73 posted on 06/18/2007 6:41:07 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Silly
Does anyone shop at Blockbuster?

I do. I get the mail service like Netflix, plus the convenience of returning the movie to the local store (only if I choose that), with the return being a coupon for a free rental.

74 posted on 06/18/2007 6:45:25 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Tolsti

Yep, in spite of what some fan boys say... and some Sony bashers think. The war is pretty much over... Sony clearly has won the battle, and the writing was on the wall a while ago.

PS3 just pushed it over the top. While you can argue 3 Million units in 7 months is disappointing for console sales.... 3 Million Blu Ray Players in 7 months is too much for Toshiba to overcome. And they were being beat even before the PS3 launched.

You can thank MS for prolonging this war needlessly.... HD-DVD was DOA less than a year ago in the states. Toshiba foolishly was conned by MS into keeping it alive.... and will take some heavy losses for it.


75 posted on 06/18/2007 6:48:44 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Tolsti

I don’t use any service.


76 posted on 06/18/2007 6:49:35 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Satan is working both sides of the street in World Socialism and World Courts.)
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To: HamiltonJay

The war was really over at CES in January. Toshiba, MS, and Universal had nothing.. While BD had a lot of announcements.

To me that was the real ‘end’ of the war as a real matter.


77 posted on 06/18/2007 6:50:32 AM PDT by Tolsti
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To: Carbonsteel

All Blu-Ray players will play standard format DVDs.


78 posted on 06/18/2007 6:52:48 AM PDT by GunRunner (Rudy 2008, because conservatives can't win.)
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To: Tolsti

Yep,

There was also a LOT of stuff behind the scenes for BD as well, that most consumers didn’t know and such. Bayer etc which provides the raw materials to make optical disks was vested in BD as well as other suppliers etc, and were expanding their investments there.

Long before the US public was really even paying attention the BD format had already shown it was well on the way to victory in Europe etc.

What happened in the US wasn’t even a format war, it was a last ditched effort to try to have one. Fortunately the US for the most part sat out this war, while it played out in Europe.

By the time anyone in the US was paying attention, BD was already clearly winning EURO and that was before the PS3 even was a factor.


79 posted on 06/18/2007 6:55:43 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: puroresu
I have a large DVD collection. I’m assuming (hoping?) that Blu-Ray players will be able to play them?

I know the first players were either HD-DVD or Blue-Ray only. It is because they both use the newer blue laser. Your current DVDs are read with a red laser. The two are not compatible.

They have brought out a second generation of players already which have both blue and red lasers so they can read both formats.

If you buy a used model or a demo or off eBay, something to check carefully on.

You can expect players introduced later this year to read both formats easily. I'd advise you to wait until at least fall. Or longer if you don't have a fairly new HD television or HD computer display.
80 posted on 06/18/2007 6:58:03 AM PDT by George W. Bush (Rudi & McVain: tough on terror, scared of Iowa)
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