HD-DVD officially dead (finally!)

[FM-77]

A couple of months ago, someone here argued with me that HD-DVD was going to be the winning format... whoever that was, they were wrong.

Now it has finally happened! HD-DVD is now officially dead and buried.

Toshiba just bailed. It's over.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/dailynews7.html

Japan's electronics giant Toshiba Corporation will withdraw from high-definition DVD production.

Sources say Toshiba plans to stop producing HD-DVD players and recorders at its plant in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, and further development of the products.

The plan will probably be officially decided at the company's board of directors extraordinary meeting early this week.

Toshiba is expected to continue to sell HD-DVD products for a while, and announce support measures for users as soon as the decision is officially made.

Toshiba has been struggling with its version of DVD format, called HD-DVD, in a fierce battle with the Blu-ray format backed by Sony, Panasonic, and Hitachi.

The wide adoption of the Blu-ray format by US movie studios and retailers apparently prompted Toshiba to decide to withdraw from the HD-DVD business.

Electronics firms expect the end of the high-definition DVD race to boost sales of the products.

[Keranu]

Bah I could care less "who" wins as I don't plan on purchasing either format.

[FM-77]

Bah I could care less "who" wins as I don't plan on purchasing either format.

Hell yeah. While I did find this "war" interesting, I have no intention of ever getting either format. I don't even have a DVD player or a VCR, simply because I don't have any DVD movies or whatnot. I think it's crap. I download everything I want to watch (which isn't much).

[Black Tiger]

Isn't this just another "inside source" rumour?

I read about it the other day, but haven't seen any "official" reports yet.

[nodtveidt]

Wait for an official statement from Toshiba themselves before believing this kind of unofficial report. If said official report never comes, don't be surprised. Besides, the real-world statistics are in direct conflict with what this unofficial report states.

[Joe Redifer]

Bah I could care less "who" wins as I don't plan on purchasing either format.

Yeah, high definition is just a stupid fad and will go away.  People hate clarity!  They want dogshit!

[Keranu]

Bah I could care less "who" wins as I don't plan on purchasing either format.

Yeah, high definition is just a stupid fad and will go away.  People hate clarity!  They want dogshit!

The problem isn't the picture quality, but the movie quality .

[Joe Redifer]

Ha!  True enough.

[Dark Fact]

I believe the final nail in the coffin was Wal-Mart's support for the Blu-Ray format.  When you get a retail giant like Wal-Mart choosing your competition over your own product, you're pretty much f*cked.  Here is the news article that states more about the current situation:

BLU-RAY PRIME CHOICE FOR WALLY WORLD!

[SNKNostalgia]

I still go by my old wait for it tactic when DVD came out. Remember when Divx disc and DVD came out around the same time? Of course every one knew DVD would win it. It is funny how the first DVD players from like 96-98 won't play most DVDs due to no dual layer support and not to mention they usually ran like shit anyways. My first DVD player was July 98 in my PC with a Hitachi GD-2000 drive and a shitty decoder card. It ran a lot better when I bought a ATI Rage Pro 32MB with built in decoder. My first actual DVD player was a Sony DVD player from 2000 which just dies a year ago with the lens crapping out. It ran everything fine until it died.

I am probably not going to buy a BR player until the beginning of 09 or so. Three years is usually enough time to sort things out with software and hardware issues. It might as well be a PS3 since it can do more things as well as SACD and has upgradeable firmware unlike standalone players. I guess we will see soon enough.

[turbokon]

I was one of those unfortunate soul that pick up a HD dvd during the holiday season because it was cheap compared to the bu-ray.  I paid $168 bundled with two movies.  I mainly used it as a up-converted dvd player.  RIP HD-DVD

[nat]

Does the PS3 with it's Bluray player also play old-school DVDs (and upscale them)? The PS3 has been looking more and more attractive to me lately.

[Necromancer]

It's just a matter of time before Toshiba officially announces the death of HD-DVD.  More and more companies are abandoning the format (including Best Buy, Netflix, Warner Bros., Paramount, and New Line), so there's not much reason for them to keep dumping money into a sinking ship.  Bring on the cheap, multi-format players!

Does the PS3 with it's Bluray player also play old-school DVDs (and upscale them)?

Yes, though not as well as a quality stand alone player.

[Joe Redifer]

The PS3 is supposedly one of the best upscaling DVD players EVAR when hooked up with HDMI (no player is allowed to upscale over component).  But it still looks like a DVD.  It can't add detail that's not there.  It will not look like HD source material.  Just don't go expecting the world like a lot of people do when they hear "upscaling DVDs to HDTV resolution".  You must be smarter than that.

The PS3 rules.  Buy one now.  It's probably the best current Blu-Ray player on the market.

[nat]

Thanks. I have a pretty good idea what to expect from upscaled DVD. My current DVD player (hooked up to my HD LCD) is a crusty pile of 7-year-old elephant shit and it gives the second-best-looking video on my HD out of any of the devices hooked up. If I could get even that level of video from my cable TV box and VCR I'd be the happiest pig in shit you'd ever met. All that said, I can see what needs to be improved in the legacy DVD picture to get it to make the grade and I have no doubt upscaling will take care of that. I'm no fool-- I don't expect 1080p HD magically generated from a stinky old DVD.

The PS3 rules.  Buy one now.  It's probably the best current Blu-Ray player on the market.

It's looking more and more like that's gonna happen real quick like. I still don't really have any interest in anything I've seen for the PS3 (the Wii is doing a good job scratching my next-generation itch) but that doesn't mean there won't be something for me in the future. And there's nothing better than a console and movie player all-in-one.