HD DVD Cancels CES Press Conference

[ron spencer]

I guess the Warner announcement has hit HD DVD camp hard:

http://wesleytech.com/ces-hd-dvd-event-canceled-due-to-warner-announcement/483/

Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group

“Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.”

this is a shame overall...not sure what they will do....speculation?

 

[Anthony1uk]

this is a shame overall...not sure what they will do....speculation?

As an off the wall idea.

We should, or at least some forum, should come up with a list of possible ways forward for Toshiba and the best ones emailled to them. (or possibly got to them via better means).

Blu-Ray have their own official forum that apparently Sony "listens" to. I would be surprised if Toshiba didn't do the same.

My first suggestion would be to concentrate on Niche titles.

This may sound absurd at first but Sony seems to now have the big blockbusters at hand.

The best way to combat it would be for HD-DVD supporting companies to release some good quality older classics such as

The Godfather
Vertigo
Rear Window

The Seventh Seal
Citizen Cane
David Lean and Orson Well's movies and such.


They can't win with summer blockbusters as they don't really have any. But I bet they have quite a few classics that could turn some heads if they came out remastered (i.e like the job Warners did on The Adventures of Robin Hood from the 30's and The Searchers from the 50's).

 

[Webslinger]

I think this is death to HD-DVD. When the contracts with Universal and Paramount run out, I'd be willing to bet they switch to Blu-ray.
70% of High Definition titles will be on Blu-ray as it stands already.

So, the question is when do I start ebaying my HD-DVD movies and standalone player?

Sigh, apparently the public is either uninformed or doesn't care about using a more restrictive format.

 

[iansilv]

I agree. Unfortunately, hddvd is now dead.

I have been a rabid supporter of it because of its less restrictive DRM, but now, the best we can hope for is that the format war ends quickly.

And Slysoft destroys BD+

 

[hddvdsupporter]

yes, warner killed hd-dvd..

congratulations to blu-ray, now we have region codes, bad picturequality and a hard copy mechanism..:clap:

 

[Pelvis Popcan]

I agree. Unfortunately, hddvd is now dead.

yes, warner killed hd-dvd..

Well, HD-DVD still has:

Exclusive:
- Universal Studios
- Focus Features (Universal)
- Rogue Pictures (Universal)
- Paramount Pictures
- Paramount Vantage (Paramount)
- Nickelodeon Movies (Paramount)
- MTV Films (Paramount)
- Dreamworks Pictures (Paramount)
- Dreamworks Animation (Paramount)
- Weinstein Company
- Dimension Films (Weinstein)

Blu-Ray & HD-DVD:
- New Line Cinema
- HBO
- First Look Studios
- Image Entertainment
- Discovery Channel (Image)
- Magnolia Pictures
- Brentwood Home Video
- Ryko
- Koch/Goldhil Entertainment

In addition to that, support for HD-DVD is still big in Europe, including:

- Medusa Home Entertainment
- Studio Canal
- Universum Films
- Kinowelt Home Entertainment
- DVD International
- Opus Arte
- MK2
- Momentum Pictures
- Twister Home Video

Then there's the adult DVD market, which also has some studios that are HD-DVD only:

- Wicked Pictures
- Pink Visual
- Bang Bros
- ClubJenna

Then finally there's the music studios:

- EMI (HD-DVD exclusive)
- Universal Music Group

So while they have lost a very big client, they still have quite a few left. I guess time will tell how much longer HD-DVD will last. The reality is, most consumers don't care one way or the other, they just want the format war to be over, regardless of the winner.

 

[Stormlord]

There is no such thing as "high def" being big in Europe, DVD sales VASTLY outnumber any High def salesfigures. Added to that: if one of both is Blu Ray is getting much better representation in stores/on the shelves & in terms of marketing.

 

[Datus]

dont forget laptop sales are 90% HDDVD...
I believe the pc market helps formats win too...

Warner still doing HDDVD till MAY08 so they may change again depends on toshibas next move....

come on HDDVD.... Funny I think Slysoft will have a big influance on who wins the overal format

 

[hddvdsupporter]

dont forget laptop sales are 90% HDDVD...
I believe the pc market helps formats win too...

Warner still doing HDDVD till MAY08 so they may change again depends on toshibas next move....

come on HDDVD.... Funny I think Slysoft will have a big influance on who wins the overal format

thats correct with the laptops, BUT:

would you buy NOW a new hd-dvd player if you know that there are 70% blu-ray movies and 30% hd-dvd movies ???
Warner is the "big player" and now i think it's almost over with the highdef-war..
:-(

 

[Datus]

Ok wondered where the 70/30 came from

Take a look at this link and i think you find theres more on HDDVD than you think.
http://www.blu-raystats.com/ 54%
http://www.hddvdstats.com/ 46%

Look at who is providing the discs, take sonys out and warner is proping it up.....
Im still thinking there may be a change of mind comming.

Also warner seem to have forgot the reasons why Paramount etc moved. Higher production costs, dedicated java experts required, non standard video conversion process, non standard disk o/s format etc.

Paramount seem to have put a lot of effort into HDDVD i think they should push blockbuster rentals to rent HDDVD this would be a great next move for them and toshiba.