Is it time for Toshiba to admit defeat, or should Warner reverse its decision to go Blu-ray and possibly save HD DVD from an untimely demise?Two rival petitions are gathering momentum online, asking just those questions. Current leader is 'Save HD DVD' with more than 17,000 names; coming up behind is the 'Let HD DVD Die' petition with 6000+ signatures already.HD DVD fans started the ball rolling after Warner moved over to the Blu-ray camp. They're angry at its proclamation that we consumers had 'clearly' chosen Blu-ray.On the torch-holding, death-chanting other side, Blu-ray supporters are urging Toshiba to turn off HD DVD's life support machine (ie never-ending price cuts) and hoist the white flag.As to whether anyone will take notice remains to be seen but, judging by the numbers, there's support out there for HD DVD yet.
Bruno Mindhorn January 23, 2008 11:23
Keep HD-DVD alive i say! Studios can jump ship! What am i supposed to do with my HD-DVD player otherwise?! Rebadge it as an upscaling DVD player?!! Mrs Mindhorn would never put up with that, i'll never be allowed to buy any toys ever again!
leerichards January 23, 2008 12:07
Eh? Surely the decision is already made. Even discounting the PS3, Blu-ray is now outselling HD DVD on both the hardware and software fronts. Most recent US data showed that software sales were 85% - 15% in Blu-ray's favour (http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom012008/index.php). In Europe and Asia, Blu-ray has been consistently outselling HD DVD software for at least 12 months. Toshiba are simply (and very cynically) dumping their existing stock.
Bruno Mindhorn January 23, 2008 14:35
That may be, but talk in real numbers instead of percentages and it's obvious that Blu-ray is hardly success of the decade. It could still be turned round!
leerichards January 23, 2008 15:16
OK, how about this. In the US for week ending Jan 12th, sales of hardware (excluding PS3) - NPD DATA
Blu-ray Disc - 21,770 units
HD-DVD - 1,758 units
One can safely assume PS3 figures for the same period were in the tens of thousands. Even if only a tiny percentage use the device for movies, that's still a lot of Blu-ray players out there.
Obviously still small fry compared to regular DVD, but hopefully once one format emerges, sales through the rest of 2008 will increase considerably.
torrential January 23, 2008 17:54
to bruno, i live in the usa and i was just on blu-ray.com idon't know if you are familar with this site but on there they had a guy asking for help on this and other forums to help sway decisions. they are like a pack of wolves out for fresh meat. any way that is what this lee richards is doing. i saw him bragging about it on the web site. don't believe much of what this guy says. just try to get the facts and make up your own mind. yes the hardware didn't sell well that week because of the warner announcement but that is not a real accurate assessment of what it is going on. i think it's about a 60/40 split with bluray leading but it's much too early to call bluray a winner. well i just thought i should let you guys over there know what you are up against. beware of the wolves!!!
torrential January 23, 2008 18:01
to lee richards, shame on you for bragging on blu-ray.com about your post. people are here because they want an accurate assessment of what is going on.what you are doing is disgraceful and then you go back an brag to your buddies. i hope you sleep well tonite.
banksie1@googlemail.com January 23, 2008 19:12
Hail the blu
why bother with an inferior player. lets kill hd dvd in order to save the money going from the naive purchasers into the producers pocket.
leerichards January 23, 2008 19:27
Firstly torrential, no one is bragging about anything, grow up. It just irks me to see a company like Toshiba continually flogging a dead horse. It is inconceivable now that HD DVD has any long term future. The only possible outcome is that Blu-ray will win, or that Blu-ray will fail also. HD DVD shouldn't even be on anyones radar anymore. People are being duped into buying equipment which most technolgogy forecasters observe will be obsolete well before the end of this year. To anyone on the fence, take the time to read up on the facts, don't be suckered into buying something just because it's cheap.
torrential January 23, 2008 21:37
to lee richards, why is toshiba a dead horse? you know -up until the end of 2007 hd-dvd was gaining in momentum. with hd movies having so little market penetration so far what makes you think blu-ray is the only one to consider? is it because of the incomplete hardware standards? is it because of their cost effectiveness? they keep saying that blu-ray is the superior format and yet they are just now coming out with all of the features that hd-dvd has had with their first generation players. another thing i would think you would consider is region coding. bda is really pushing for this and i would think that this would concern you. with hd-dvd you can buy disks from all over without having to worry if it will play on your hd-dvd player. about the only advantage blu-ray has is storage on disks and now that hd-dvd is about to release on their 51 gig disks blu-ray will not have an advantage there either. in fact they'll have their new disk out before blu-ray players get their hardware profiles cleaned up!!!
adrnik January 30, 2008 21:30
Blue Ray was always going to win because it was backed by Sony and they own most of treh film companies anyway.
I bought a DVD HD recorder last year so I won't be changing over quite yet.
I'm still unsure whether Blueray can be multi regional. Can anyone tell me?