PRINTThe death of HD DVD
HD DVD crumples under Blu-ray’s pressure
Courtesy of Techiteasy.com
March 27, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Sony finally got its revenge more than 20 years after losing the original consumer video format war between its Betamax format and JVC’s VHS. This time around, Sony’s Blu-ray format was able to seal the deal and force its competitor, Toshiba’s HD DVD, to concede.
The big announcement from Toshiba came Feb. 18 following statements from movie studios and electronic retailers that they would no longer carry HD DVDs. HD DVD-player owners have limited options, and none are ideal. If you jumped on the high-def DVD bandwagon and picked the losing side, you can sell your HD DVD equipment and movies at a large markdown to try and recoup some of the money lost in the format war gamble.
Another option is to keep the equipment and swipe up as many HD DVD movies as you can. These DVD prices have dropped significantly following the big news. Or, if you feel jaded enough, you could use your player as an expensive paperweight.
The players aren’t completely worthless. Zach Honig, who purchased an HD DVD player last November for $100, doesn’t have buyer’s remorse.“I don’t get disappointed at things I’m expecting,” Honig says about his lack of surprise following the Feb. 18 announcement. “I’m not a huge movie buff. I really just needed a DVD player, and this sort of fit the bill.”
Honig believes he got a good deal because they still play regular DVDs, and most HD DVD players also upgrade standard DVDs’ images to near-high-definition resolutions, which improves picture quality. Buying a dual format player that plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs is another option, which might be worthwhile if you have an extensive HD DVD collection and want to enjoy new releases on high-def Blu-ray.
“It would be unrealistic for Toshiba to take players back,” says Paul Erickson, director of DVD and HD Market Research for Display Search, a company specializing in electronic display technology. “It would be nice but not expected.” He says that the only breaks would be from individual stores. For example, Circuit City is extending its return period for customers who bought HD DVD players from its stores for 90 days after March 6.
“We decided that this was an unusual event, and we wanted to be customer-focused,” says Jim Babb, a spokesperson from Circuit City. “Now that the marketplace has spoken, we feel this gives customers more confidence.”
Lynn Pralle, a home theater consultant at The Entertainer, an electronics store in Jefferson City, says customers who bought HD DVD players weren’t completely informed. Pralle has been following the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray since the beginning. He and many other high-def experts feel that Blu-ray’s better picture and audio quality, movie-studio backing and user interface made it tough for HD DVD to compete.
The incorporation of a Blu-ray player into the Playstation 3, which critics initially viewed as poorly conceived and costly, was a major advantage for Sony, both Erickson and Pralle say. Erickson thinks that this might be the primary factor that pushed Sony’s Blu-ray out in front because it brought so many consumers into the high-def market. Ironically enough, the Playstation 3 is one of the cheapest Blu-ray players on the market.
So what is the best option for victims of the DVD wars? Unfortunately, there isn’t much to do except research future purchases more carefully. “It’s not an Everyman’s market yet,” Erickson says.
Fortunately, the competition between the two ended before the market really began to take off, which effectively minimized consumer casualties.
