Yeah, it's pretty much over for Toshiba. They tried very hard to win the battle, but they lost.

They'll have a lot of explaining to do to people that invested in their format, and will essentially have to deal with no new content soon. People who got one for $125 have a nice cheap upconverting DVD player, but those that were early adopters spent $500 on the unit. And will probably never get access to more than the 125 titles released.

OTOH, will HD DVD only releases be rereleased in bluray?

What do you think? :)

I would say that the answer is "eventually". If Toshiba makes the death announcement, it shouldn't be too long. If Toshiba tries to hang on, your guess is as good as mine. The studios may need to be released from their agreements. Or not, I suppose, if they already have ways of getting out written in to their contracts.

-David

might be
 

One of the arrangements for Universal for example, was that IF someone like Toshiba dropped the format, their exclusivity arrangement would END. It looks like TRANSFORMERS might already be queued up for Blu-Ray release.

Now, I don't know if they have to give the money back to Microsoft or anything like that, but be sure they are going to be releasing in BR. I'm looking for blu-ray stamping companies to invest in.

And, done - Universal to produce now in Blu-ray

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_ID=12118

Countdown till the first class action suits against Toshiba?

It's hard to imagine a basis for such a suit, at least up until now. However, for Toshiba and the retailers that continue to sell HD-DVD players, I would think there's substantial risk unless every unit sold carries a written disclaimer that the format is, for all intents and purposes, obsolete.

You made smart move. Since Blue-ray is still evolving standard, those who buy before the standard is finalized will be irked as some features may be available...

http://dgiul.wordpress.com/2008/01/1...compatibility/

Is it really worth upgrading from SD DVD to Blu-ray? I downloaded sample Quicktime videos from Apple at 480p, 720p, and 1080p and played them all full screen on my laptop (1920x1200). There is a dramatic difference in reading small text, such as in the credits, if I'm close enough to the screen, but the rest of the movies where there is not that kind of detail I don't honestly see a difference even when I watch closely and certainly not watching from a distance.

The answer, I think, is, "it depends."

First, on a relatively small HDTV, you may not see as much of a difference. However, the larger the screen, the more dramatic the potential of high def. You're not going to see much difference on your laptop screen.

Next, I've seen a number of both BluRay and HD DVD disks (I have both players). As with standard DVDs, there are good transfers and bad transfers. I've seen some that seem little better than a standard DVD. On the other hand, I've seen some truly spectacular transfers -- Phantom and Planet Earth are two that come to mind. When I went out and bought our HDTV and BluRay player, the first thing I showed Mrs. PTravel was Phantom. She, who is practically a Luddite when it comes to technology, immediately was taken the image she saw. She said, "This is really worth it!" (My secret plan worked! ;)).

Standard definition digital video (in the U.S.) is 720 x 480 pixels, for a total of 345,600 pixels. 1080p high-def is 1920 x 1080 pixels, for a total of 2,073,600 pixels. There is simply no comparison when a properly-transcoded high-def source is displayed on a well-adjusted, large high-def TV.

I don't think the laptop size is the problem because I'm so close to the screen it's roughly approximate to viewing a 15 foot screen from a distance of 10 feet, and the screen has enough pixels to display the highest video resolution.

The extra pixels make a huge difference for still photography. Not doubt about it. But what I find intersting is that it's not so much of a difference for moving images. It seems rather subtle, and there is no "wow" effect for me moving up to the high definition.

All I can tell you is this: I have a 42" Toshiba Regza HDTV, and just bought another 37" Regza for the bedroom. The 42" Regza is a 1080p set, the smaller one a 720p.

The video source for our bigger Regza is a DirecTV HD DVR, as well as BluRay (1080p_ and HD-DVD (1080i) players, an HDV camcorder and my laptop.

The video source for the smaller Regza is a standard-definition DirectTivo, a standard-definition (not upconverting) DVD player and a pair of rabbit ears that let us receive high-def over-the-air broadcasts.

On both the larger 1080p set and the smaller 720p set, the difference between high-def and standard-def sources is very, very visible and not at all subtle. This is particularly true with respect to broadcast television and a well-transcoded BluRay disk.

I edit HDV on my laptop. When I'm viewing edited video on the laptop, I see a less dramatic difference between HDV (1440 x 1080i) and standard definition video (720 x 480i). However, the difference is obvious (and dramatic) when played on my HDTVs.

I'd suggest that you go to a good home theater store where the sets are properly adjusted and there is good high-def source available (not Circuit City or Best Buy, e.g.) and take a good look at HD. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I just noticed the price on that is only $1178 at Amazon. I'm fighting to keep my mouse away from the "Buy now with 1-click" button. :D

Ooooh . . . good deal! I paid $1450 for mine just a few months ago. You won't be sorry. :)

Bump... HD DVDs are selling here for $7-9 but I wonder what will happen when the few who have the machines have bought and there are stacks left over.

I can get the XBox 360 drive for $50 (but don't have an xbox)...
HD DVD players are all gone now, unless I'm extremely lucky or go eBaying.
Apparently the reports on Xbox sound output and upconverting to 1080p are mixed.

Tech adopters:
Is it worth the hassle to get a HD DVD if I can get the movies for nix, just to haave an upconvertng regular DVD player?

Thanks!