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[sonycowboy]

http://www.betanews.com/article/Toshiba_May_Delay_HDDVD_Until_2006/1125587154

By Nate Mook, BetaNews
September 1, 2005, 11:05 AM

Toshiba said Thursday it was considering pushing back the launch of its next-generation HD-DVD players until 2006 - losing its first-mover advantage and the holiday season sales rush. HD-DVD was expected to get a head start on rival format Blu-ray, which Sony is set to debut early next year.

The news follows an end to negotiations over a unified high-definition DVD format. Toshiba said it had ended the talks in order to begin work on meeting its self-imposed year-end deadline for shipping HD-DVD players. Now the company admits it is reconsidering its options.

"We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch," a Toshiba spokesperson told Reuters.

"We originally aimed for the year-end launch in the United States. But we have not really decided on that." The format's launch in Japan could also be delayed until next year, the spokesperson said.

The news could be seen as positive for the Blu-ray camp, which was faced with introducing its format months after HD-DVD had appeared on store shelves. But it's still not clear if consumers will even be interested in the technology advancements high-definition DVD brings to the table.

The confusion between competing formats could also delay adoption, and Toshiba president Tadashi Okamura acknowledged, "We may actually have a situation where merchandise from both sides is put on store shelves. But the market would not allow that situation to last very long."

 

[DarienA]

This is such a joke now....

 

[VictimOfGrief]

HD-DVD is DEAD.

 

[vatstep]

DOA

 

[Ponn]

It's like the kid that is losing the game but won't give it up and go home and ends up ruining it for everyone.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Kill it. I've never really cared which format we got as long as it was one format. HD-DVD has turned from a solid contender into a real joke. Kill it now, and do the world a favor. We don't need a goddamn format war. Rename Blu-Ray to Blu-DVD so that it has automatic brand recognition.

 

[sly]

*Jumps for joy*

 

[maximum360]

Since it's been pushed back they may now have six movies ready instead of five. :lol

Toshiba is stretching itself thing. They want their hands in everything. They should have made a deal to get a piece of the pie, albeit a smaller piece. It sure beats taking home the crumbs though.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Well there you go! HD-DVD is officially dead! :lol :lol

 

[xexex]

R.I.P. AOD aka HD-DVD :lol

 

[GDJustin]

HD-DVD is being delayed until 2006, whether there has been a formal announcement or not. They haven't even started writing software algorithms for the players yet.

 

[psycho_snake]

This is stupid. When 2006 comes round they will probably delay it again. Why are Toshiba still hanging on to this?

 

[sonycowboy]

HD-DVD is being delayed until 2006, whether there has been a formal announcement or not. They haven't even started writing software algorithms for the players yet.

Worse than that. AACS hasn't been finalized yet. So you've got the players that need the security coding and potentially hardware decoding, as well as the replication systems that need to encode the actual movies themselves.

It was supposed to be done in August, but it's running late (way late as it was supposed to be finalized last year)

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Well, I guess that's it for HD-DVD.

 

[DarienA]

This new announcement gives them more time to figure out a way to bow out of this gracefully.

 

[racerx77]

I will be sitting this battle out until there is a victor- which at this point is looking more and more like it will be blue-ray. Not that it matters to me either way, as long as there is one format.
Glad to finally be a member here.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Just shit can it for crying out loud Toshiba.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Just shit can it for crying out loud Toshiba.

I think the biggest holdout is Warner Bros. which has not put it's support behind Blu-ray but HD-DVD. They are like the biggest movie studio.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Fuck them for not working harder for unification. BD was the better format. Unification would have given both them and Sony a good chance at making money off this. Now, both are probably gonna struggle, with HD-DVD being the first to fall IMO. Fucking pride. FUCK pride. PEACE.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

I think the biggest holdout is Warner Bros. which has not put it's support behind Blu-ray but HD-DVD. They are like the biggest movie studio.

Yeah, I'm like beermonkey@tehbias in the respect that I want only one format. I don't want to relive the whole Beta-Max, VHS bullshit all over again.

Beta-Max was technically better, but VHS won out. Sony developed Beta-Max - it's their turn to win. They lost back then. (j/k though, I want the best tech to win actually)

Also, I think Blue-Ray is the better tech anyway.

Who developed VHS anyway? Was that Toshiba?

[edit] It appears it was JVC that developed VHS.

 

[sonycowboy]

Fuck them for not working harder for unification. BD was the better format. Unification would have given both them and Sony a good chance at making money off this. Now, both are probably gonna struggle, with HD-DVD being the first to fall IMO. Fucking pride. FUCK pride. PEACE.

I don't see any reason for unification from Sony's side. Blu-Ray obviously has the monster hand here. HD-DVD has it's partners reeling, while Sony keeps adding. And the PS3 is the ace in the hole in terms of user adoption.

And unification is really the wrong terminology now. It's about splitting the licensing fee pot at this point. If Sony lets Toshiba, NEC, and Warner in, that's quite a bit of revenue which they have to share with even more partners.

There was a retail survey recently asking about retailers which format they planned on (at this early juncture) supporting. When putting one against the other, Blu-Ray won 10-1. And this wasn't a Blu-Ray survey. This was a video dealers assocation survey.

 

[psycho_snake]

I think the biggest holdout is Warner Bros. which has not put it's support behind Blu-ray but HD-DVD. They are like the biggest movie studio.

thats probably true, but why have warner bros decided to still support HD-DVD when they can see that no one else seems interested.

 

[sonycowboy]

thats probably true, but why have warner bros decided to still support HD-DVD when they can see that no one else seems interested.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Guy LeDouche]

I think the biggest holdout is Warner Bros. which has not put it's support behind Blu-ray but HD-DVD. They are like the biggest movie studio.

MGM is, which Sony Pictures recently purchased. MGM alone has rights to something like 40% of all US movies ever made.

WB is big, but they'll come around.

 

[racerx77]

Why can't companies look at what worked before (DVD) and just do it again (one format)?
Granted the adoption rate will be slower since there aren't nearly as many HDTVs out there, but has history ever shown that competing formats actually work? (Besides game systems )

 

[Stinkles]

Why can't companies look at what worked before (DVD) and just do it again (one format)?
Granted the adoption rate will be slower since there aren't nearly as many HDTVs out there, but has history ever shown that competing formats actually work? (Besides game systems )

Blame entertainment lawyers.

Examples - HDTV resolutions should have been available to the public in the early eighties. All theaters should be 70mm. HDMI is not for you, it's for them. Sony should be the number one MP3 player.

Entertainment Lawyers are stupid evil fucks.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Blame entertainment lawyers.

Examples - HDTV resolutions should have been available to the public in the early eighties

How do you figure? We didn't have the bandwidth, the storage capacity or anything else that is required in order to support those level of resolutions. Hell, in the 80's VGA was still the hot item.

 

[Stinkles]

Yes we did. Lots of analog methods were or could have been capacious enough and the resolutions were "invented" in the Seventies.

It wouldn't have been digital.

HDTV history

 

[Mooreberg]

The irony is that Toshiba is contributing to the development of cell, which is going into PS3, which is the hardware that will push BRD as a new medium.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Yes we did. Lots of analog methods were or could have been capacious enough and the resolutions were "invented" in the Seventies.

It wouldn't have been digital.

HDTV history

Somehow Stinkles, even if that is true - I don't think it would have been likely to be cost feasible for 99.9% of the market.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Analog 1080i HDTV has been around in Japan for a long time. Haven't you guys heard of Hi-Vision? They even have analog Hi-Vision laserdisc, and analog W-VHS.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Analog 1080i HDTV has been around in Japan for a long time. Haven't you guys heard of Hi-Vision? They even have analog Hi-Vision laserdisc, and analog W-VHS.

Since when?

The 80s?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Analog 1080i HDTV has been around in Japan for a long time. Haven't you guys heard of Hi-Vision? They even have analog Hi-Vision laserdisc, and analog W-VHS.

Sounds pretty cheesy to me.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Since when?

The 80s?

Yeah, 1985. 1080i twenty years ago.

That's why we have 1080i as one of our high-def standards.

I've seen some stunning old analog MUSE 1080i broadcast on the InHD channel. Great stuff.

 

[Stinkles]

Somehow Stinkles, even if that is true - I don't think it would have been likely to be cost feasible for 99.9% of the market.

Of course not! I am just calling entertainment lawyers cocksuckers. Can't we agree on that?

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Of course not! I am just calling entertainment lawyers cocksuckers. Can't we agree on that?

Agreed.

I don't have much respect for most lawyers in general. They usually are underhanded from my experience.

 

[mckmas8808]

Kill it Toshiba just kill it now!!!

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I think Toshiba is more concerned about Kamikazing Blu-Ray than they are establishing HD-DVD as a viable format. The writing is on the wall for it now