Format War's Over, Now What?

**Elven6** · February 21st, 2008, 00:59

I wrote a article about alternatives to the current format, mainly Digital Distribution. I explain what the best codecs are and where they are available, and also what programs can be used to convert your collection to the format. I also clear up some myths about Digital Distribution, and point people in the right direction. Mainly, consoles are leading the way with Digital Video Distribution, the Xbox 360 using WMV HD, and the PS3 using DivX HD.

The article is pretty long so it would be useless to try and post it here, since it would take up a majority of the front page.

So heres the article:

The Article!

If you have a DIGG account then please DIGG the article, it helps bring traffic to the site, and DCEMU (According to Feedburner) since I link to it in the side bar.

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**Anger** · February 21st, 2008, 02:11

now what?
ill tell you. the bd consortium now starts to increase the price because its now the only format if you want high def. this also corresponds with a large drop in sales as consumers wont be buying there $#@! at stupid money prices.
hd losing the war is the worst thing that could have happened. itd have been the same if hd won the war - the only option for consumers was a stalemate where the prices are kept low by competition.
this cant happen now so expect the prices to rise for all things blu ray and expect the sales to drop for all things blu ray - mark my words. also expect a stupidly priced blu ray addon for the 360 soon.

**Elven6** · February 21st, 2008, 02:17

This piece was mainly targeted to those who wanted to get into Digital Downloads, I just needed a snappy title.

**DCergo** · February 21st, 2008, 05:53

Originally Posted by Anger

now what?
ill tell you. the bd consortium now starts to increase the price because its now the only format if you want high def. this also corresponds with a large drop in sales as consumers wont be buying there $#@! at stupid money prices.
hd losing the war is the worst thing that could have happened. itd have been the same if hd won the war - the only option for consumers was a stalemate where the prices are kept low by competition.
this cant happen now so expect the prices to rise for all things blu ray and expect the sales to drop for all things blu ray - mark my words. also expect a stupidly priced blu ray addon for the 360 soon.

:rofl:

Economy 101: Economies of scale.

The BDA has a dozen competing CE manufacturers, unlike the Toshiba monopoly. With HDDVD out of the way, consumer confidence increases, sales increase, prices go down.

If sales increased dramatically for both Blu-ray movies and standalones in January when Warner announced exclusivity, what do you think happens now that Walmart/Sam's Club, BestBuy, Circuit City, Netflix went Blu exclusive? What do you think happens now that Toshiba themselves threw in the towel? Only a complete nutter thinks that sales tank and prices skyrocket from here.

the only option for consumers was a stalemate where the prices are kept low by competition.

I gotta laugh at rants like this. Uh, no. Toshiba kept the price low by subsidizing their players so much, that not a single other manufacturer wanted to enter the market with them (Onkyo and Venturer were rebadged Toshiba units), because there was no profit. This is not a sound or sustainable business model. It's only good for the short term and ONLY when adoption increases quickly and content sales are there. As it turns out, HD DVD standalone and movie sales were lagging behind Blu-ray by the end of 2007. In fact, BD movies outsold HD movies every single week in 2007 in the US at a ratio of 2:1, bringing in $67 million more than HD could muster (for Warner Brothers alone!), the best HD could do in the US. In Europe it was 3:1, in Japan, 9:1, in Australia 20:1.

Where you even alive to remember what DVD players cost back in 1997 ? It took a year for costs to even come down to $500. 2+ years to get one for $300. In context and accounting for inflation, a BD player for $350 to $400 right now is an excellent deal. BD sales are on par with DVD sales in the same timeframe. You're not gonna stop Hollywood and major retailers from the inevitable transition to Hi-def with sour grapes and bitter tears.

this cant happen now so expect the prices to rise for all things blu ray and expect the sales to drop for all things blu ray - mark my words.

LOL. "mark my words" ! That's great

OK, Dr. Evil, I'm marking them, so I can laugh again later.

**Anger** · February 21st, 2008, 06:03

my apologies. i needed to get that off my chest. im against digital downloads because of the drm and because they can basically withdraw your right to use them after a period of time. yes they are convienient but isnt there other like me who likes to actually have something when they buy something? i would agree to digital downloads but i would have a few requirements before i would even consider using them - first, no drm, of any kind, the freedom to do what we want with our own digital downloads. second, no limit to the amount of times downloadable, and no limits to the size either. thirdly - and most importantly, a price reduction to compensate for the cost of the broadband required to actually download the file/s. true the cost of broadband is falling but i look at it like this - why should we pay once for downloading the thing (and as many times as need be) and still have to foot the bill when the isp complains about the amount of files being downloaded. most countries isp's have a fair use cluase which in basic terms means that they can dictate to you how much you can download and when, and also what they can about stopping you from downloading as well.
in short - digital downloads is a good idea but not practical - dvd quality is 8 gig per film - and if you compress it more why pay the same amount for a highly compressed version of the film? on top of that i want something to own - not some piece of code that can be lost/damaged/removed/restricted/etc. without my knowledge or consent.

one other thing - i dont feel the need to quote figures when im proving someone wrong when its my opinion and not fact thats being stated.
my opinion in that rant was that because hd lost the prices will go up because of greedy corps and because of the total lack of competition. how can one manufacturer of blu ray produce a better blu ray system than another blu ray manufacturer when they both have to conform to the same standard?
and one last thing - dvd sales are on par perhaps but consider this - dvd had 0 competition so the blu ray prices are already inflated going by my reconing - so they may go up more now to an even more infated rate until the economies of scale kick in. but in the next few months i fully expect the prices to go up before they start to come down.
the only reason hd sales were lagging by the end of 2007 is because the war was over by then - they just didnt know it. i cant remember the news post i read that said 1 companies decision was the straw that broke the camels back AND that it could have went either way. had it went the other way blu ray would be the one fighting to survive - it would still be fighting at this stage for one reason and one reason alone - sony.

this is my opinion - if im wrong who cares? if im right would anyone care? probably not, so why get all antsy about my opinion?

**pibs** · February 21st, 2008, 07:31

I have the blu-ray feature on the ps3 but have never bought or rented a BR movie since i have PPV-HD and i find it more convenient since i could record the movie on my dvr and watch it later for less than the price of a rental

Yeah theres the fact i miss out on special features but im not to fond of them lol

Thats my alternative to all these format wars and I seem to enjoy the simplicity of it.

Edit: I have actually tried the 360 marketplace hd movies but id use it as a last resort kind of thing

**Echizen** · February 21st, 2008, 12:38

hmmm... well... we have DVD... It is only one format and I can get a new movie for ~12€ already ( a bit older movies about 5€ to 8€). It will take time to flood the market with the masses of HiDef but sooner or later movies on HD will be cheap enough. (Turning point maybe) When prices for Blu-ray burners & discs will drop, the original disc has to do it, too... sooner or later XD

That's what I think

Originally Posted by Anger

now what?
ill tell you. the bd consortium now starts to increase the price because its now the only format if you want high def. this also corresponds with a large drop in sales as consumers wont be buying there $#@! at stupid money prices.
hd losing the war is the worst thing that could have happened. itd have been the same if hd won the war - the only option for consumers was a stalemate where the prices are kept low by competition.
this cant happen now so expect the prices to rise for all things blu ray and expect the sales to drop for all things blu ray - mark my words. also expect a stupidly priced blu ray addon for the 360 soon.

**Baboon** · February 21st, 2008, 16:25

"Format War's Over, Now What?"

er? ...I'll stick with my regular DVD's like 99% of the worlds population. lol

Like most people I really couldn't care less about bluray or hddvd. DVD's do a perfectly good job and seeing as my plasma tv isn't HD then it really does make no difference at all. lol

**Anger** · February 21st, 2008, 22:27

Originally Posted by Echizen

hmmm... well... we have DVD... It is only one format and I can get a new movie for ~12€ already ( a bit older movies about 5€ to 8€). It will take time to flood the market with the masses of HiDef but sooner or later movies on HD will be cheap enough. (Turning point maybe) When prices for Blu-ray burners & discs will drop, the original disc has to do it, too... sooner or later XD

That's what I think

yep i fully agree with you on that.

Originally Posted by Baboon

"Format War's Over, Now What?"

er? ...I'll stick with my regular DVD's like 99% of the worlds population. lol

Like most people I really couldn't care less about bluray or hddvd. DVD's do a perfectly good job and seeing as my plasma tv isn't HD then it really does make no difference at all. lol

and agin i agree - they are trying to force new tech on us when its not really needed. sure if you want high def and have the cash splash out but atm its not worth it - theres only a handfull of hd channels atm (at least here) and i only know one person who actually has a hd tv. the funniest thing of all tho is most of the pc's crappy tft screens on sale today are capable of displaying hd films anyway so its pointless. itll be a long time before i even consider going hd, as you said - dvd is perfectly good enough for you, and also for me.