A decision by US retail giant Best Buy has swung the HD-DVD format war – which pits the Xbox 360 against the PS3 – further in favour of Blu-ray. In yet another blow to the HD-DVD camp, Best Buy has opted to support Blu-ray over the flagging Microsoft-backed format.
While the company isn't going quite so far as to stop stocking HD-DVD products, the company's president and COO, Brian Dunn, has said† that it will “shine a spotlight” on Blu-ray products.
“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way”, said Dunn. “We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format. Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them.”
So, Best Buy is not backing Blu-ray because it is increasingly becoming the preferred format for movie studios such as the recently defected Warner Bros? You've got to admire that kind of consumer-focussed altruism...
“Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices”, Dunn added. “Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.”
The HD-DVD format also took a hit yesterday, when online US rental company Netflix said that it would back Blu-ray. An announcement from the company told us, “Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that as of now it will purchase only Blu-ray discs and will phase out by roughly year's end the alternative high-def format, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba.”
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, said that the format war is making life difficult for the consumer. "The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," he said. "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."
In other words – Netflix is seeing other industry movers heading in the direction of Blu-ray and wants to be on that bandwagon.
Things are looking increasingly bad for HD-DVD. Best Buy's decision mirrors that of UK retailer Woolworths, which decided in January that it would no longer support the format.
It's even got to the point where Microsoft has said that it could consider offering Blu-ray support for the Xbox 360.
†Source: Twice
While the company isn't going quite so far as to stop stocking HD-DVD products, the company's president and COO, Brian Dunn, has said† that it will “shine a spotlight” on Blu-ray products.
“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way”, said Dunn. “We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format. Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them.”
So, Best Buy is not backing Blu-ray because it is increasingly becoming the preferred format for movie studios such as the recently defected Warner Bros? You've got to admire that kind of consumer-focussed altruism...
“Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices”, Dunn added. “Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.”
The HD-DVD format also took a hit yesterday, when online US rental company Netflix said that it would back Blu-ray. An announcement from the company told us, “Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that as of now it will purchase only Blu-ray discs and will phase out by roughly year's end the alternative high-def format, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba.”
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, said that the format war is making life difficult for the consumer. "The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," he said. "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."
In other words – Netflix is seeing other industry movers heading in the direction of Blu-ray and wants to be on that bandwagon.
Things are looking increasingly bad for HD-DVD. Best Buy's decision mirrors that of UK retailer Woolworths, which decided in January that it would no longer support the format.
It's even got to the point where Microsoft has said that it could consider offering Blu-ray support for the Xbox 360.
†Source: Twice
Read More Like This
Comments
deleted 12 Feb 2008 13:41
1/7
I walked in to my local Tesco’s yesterday and saw a High Definition Showcase Stand
They had 3 x Sony 42” 1080p HDTVS in a line with a couple of sofas in front,
Connected to the First was a HDMI Up scaling DVD player. £69.97
Connected to the Second was Toshiba HD – DVD Player. £119.97 (+ 5 Free Movies)
Connected to the Third Was a Sony Blu-Ray Player. £249.97 (+ 1Free Movie)
All of them were reduced in price or Rolled back as they stated.
And each of the Players had their propriety copy of Happy Feet on (although I’m sure 300 would make for better comparison, I’m sure parents didn’t want their kids seeing the violence)
The Upscale DVD Looked Pretty Poor in comparison but as it was CGI Movie it still looked quite good,
as for the HD Formats I really couldnt see any difference, to be really picky the HD DVD look slightly more vibrant (but this could just be the TV`s weren’t set up correctly).
Now no where did the displays have anything to support which format would be a best choice, they were letting you decide simply off the picture quality,
now this is where I thought it was stupid,
as I was watching a bloke in checked blue shirt asked if I needed any help, playing along I ask which he thought was the best buy, to which (and remember this was yesterday) his reply, "if I was you I would go for HD DVD as its got the most movies out at the moment and has a picture as good and Blu Ray and is cheaper", I then asked what about the future, to which this dumbass replied "well I heard that Sony is dropping Blu Ray! And going to start supporting HD DVD"!!, now I bit my tongue and left,(im sure his name tag said SS4), but I knew better as for anyone who doesn’t,
1) The price is more attractive,
2) You get free movies with it
3) Unless your well educated, sales assistants are going to tell you any bollox they see fit
The consumer is going to be more confused (and pissed) before they get what they want, although a single standard will be great, the stores need to completely stop supporting one format or another as otherwise it’s just the quiet before the storm. at least that or educate staff to know whats what, but i doubt Tesco wanted that as they just want to shift their units ASAP.
They had 3 x Sony 42” 1080p HDTVS in a line with a couple of sofas in front,
Connected to the First was a HDMI Up scaling DVD player. £69.97
Connected to the Second was Toshiba HD – DVD Player. £119.97 (+ 5 Free Movies)
Connected to the Third Was a Sony Blu-Ray Player. £249.97 (+ 1Free Movie)
All of them were reduced in price or Rolled back as they stated.
And each of the Players had their propriety copy of Happy Feet on (although I’m sure 300 would make for better comparison, I’m sure parents didn’t want their kids seeing the violence)
The Upscale DVD Looked Pretty Poor in comparison but as it was CGI Movie it still looked quite good,
as for the HD Formats I really couldnt see any difference, to be really picky the HD DVD look slightly more vibrant (but this could just be the TV`s weren’t set up correctly).
Now no where did the displays have anything to support which format would be a best choice, they were letting you decide simply off the picture quality,
now this is where I thought it was stupid,
as I was watching a bloke in checked blue shirt asked if I needed any help, playing along I ask which he thought was the best buy, to which (and remember this was yesterday) his reply, "if I was you I would go for HD DVD as its got the most movies out at the moment and has a picture as good and Blu Ray and is cheaper", I then asked what about the future, to which this dumbass replied "well I heard that Sony is dropping Blu Ray! And going to start supporting HD DVD"!!, now I bit my tongue and left,(im sure his name tag said SS4), but I knew better as for anyone who doesn’t,
1) The price is more attractive,
2) You get free movies with it
3) Unless your well educated, sales assistants are going to tell you any bollox they see fit
The consumer is going to be more confused (and pissed) before they get what they want, although a single standard will be great, the stores need to completely stop supporting one format or another as otherwise it’s just the quiet before the storm. at least that or educate staff to know whats what, but i doubt Tesco wanted that as they just want to shift their units ASAP.
daz 12 Feb 2008 14:17
2/7
not to pick spot's but isn't it "the Calm before the storm"?
anyway your right sale's assistants don't know jack s**t about the stuff they're peddeling. Chances are it was just the TV's, they just plug 'em in turn 'em on and leave 'em at that. I don't shop at Tesco's so i don't know but in Curry's(and I think Comet aswell) the remote is out for you to play with, so some HD-DVD fanboy could have messed with it.
You should have said something when he said "Sony's dropping Blu-Ray", because to me it sounds like he doesn't know a fanboy when he hears one.
Me personally i've never seen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray play side by side on model for model, setting for setting identical set's so I don't really know which is true and true the better disc, and chances even if someone own's both a HD-DVD player and Blu-Ray player no one is going to buy the same movie twice.
anyway your right sale's assistants don't know jack s**t about the stuff they're peddeling. Chances are it was just the TV's, they just plug 'em in turn 'em on and leave 'em at that. I don't shop at Tesco's so i don't know but in Curry's(and I think Comet aswell) the remote is out for you to play with, so some HD-DVD fanboy could have messed with it.
You should have said something when he said "Sony's dropping Blu-Ray", because to me it sounds like he doesn't know a fanboy when he hears one.
Me personally i've never seen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray play side by side on model for model, setting for setting identical set's so I don't really know which is true and true the better disc, and chances even if someone own's both a HD-DVD player and Blu-Ray player no one is going to buy the same movie twice.
more comments below our sponsor's message
tyrion 12 Feb 2008 14:46
3/7
haritori wrote:
but i doubt Tesco wanted that as they just want to shift their units ASAP.
That sounds more likely, but even then the bloke up front will have been told by his manager that "Sony is dropping Blu-ray" so the clueless salesperson can pass tht fact on to the clueless shoppers. This strategy has salemena being genuine in his approach and the stock shifting ans quickly as possible.
daz wrote:
Me personally i've never seen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray play side by side on model for model, setting for setting identical set's so I don't really know which is true and true the better disc
As far as visuals go, both formats support the same codecs and compression. Early Blu-ray discs didn't take advantage of the better codecs in the standard because the authoring software didn't support them from the start. However, anything released after about half way through last year should be able to look identical on the same TV hardware.
The extra storage space and higher bitrate of Blu-ray is usually used on better quality sound, as far as I'm aware, not better visuals. Given haritori's experience I'd have to say the TV sets or players themselves were tweaked to make HD-DVD look better. Or it could be that the HD-DVD player just has a better set of output electronics than the Blu-ray player it was up against.
Rutabaga 12 Feb 2008 15:13
4/7
SuperS**n's gonna go apoplectic. He/She must still be laying in his/her room speechless without even being able to summon the power to type. Poor guy/gal.
deleted 12 Feb 2008 15:17
5/7
daz wrote:
not to pick spot's but isn't it "the Calm before the storm"?
Yes, Yes it isI also forgot to point out on of the most important part (was rushing this post as this whoel bluray hd dvd bores me), that all of the connected devices were connected to hdmi, except for the blu ray which was connected via component, i noticed as i walked behind i could see the connectors to the tvs and the 3rd tv with bluray only had component plugged in!,
Could it be possible that they were using this as a way to shift HD DVD over bluray to get rid of stock, and by doing that, they could of had the Bluray performing at 720p and the HDMI at 1080p and by using the hdmi over the component it would account why i saw a better visual on the HD DVD. although not much difference still.
If so this is blantent mis-information not that i would blame tescos for such an appraoch but if the manager of said store was told to shift units ASAP he/she may make use of this misinformation tatics.
alexh2o 12 Feb 2008 18:49
6/7
Well considering both movie formats use the same video encoding, so have identical pictures, and the slightly improved sound on some BRs is only (debatably) needed when you have a £3000+ sound system... from a movie watching perspective its irrelevant which format wins.
Personally, I would have liked HD DVD to win solely because it has one less layer of DRM and is region free. (Anything with less DRM is the better format regardless in my mind!)
Hell either way I still don't care seeing as I have a PS3, XB360 HD drive and a Pioneer BR drive in my PC. Im sorted either way! Oh and thanks to my lovely copy of AnyDVD HD all the DRM and region locking is irrelevant ^_^
Personally, I would have liked HD DVD to win solely because it has one less layer of DRM and is region free. (Anything with less DRM is the better format regardless in my mind!)
Hell either way I still don't care seeing as I have a PS3, XB360 HD drive and a Pioneer BR drive in my PC. Im sorted either way! Oh and thanks to my lovely copy of AnyDVD HD all the DRM and region locking is irrelevant ^_^
p 12 Feb 2008 21:18
7/7
Could it be possible that they were using this as a way to shift HD DVD over bluray to get rid of stock, and by doing that, they could of had the Bluray performing at 720p and the HDMI at 1080p and by using the hdmi over the component it would account why i saw a better visual on the HD DVD. although not much difference still.
Regardless of whether it is running at 1080p or 720p I think HDMI can support a higher dynamic range than component, plus not having to go from digital to analogue and back can only help.
PS I was going to say more but got bored.
PPS A report by Barry Fox on the CES also made clear that HD-DVD was on the way out.
Sorry SS4, HD-DVD RIP pending.