News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Over the past few weeks, HD-DVD has been losing more and more ground in the high-definition format war with Blu-ray. Several major retailers have announced their decision to discontinue stocking HD-DVD titles, and there are rumors that Toshiba is thinking about conceding defeat. Looks like Blu-ray is going to emerge as the winner.
In an update to this post about the analog television coupons, there are some further details that could cause problems. Chief among them is that the coupons have a 90-day expiration, even though most converter boxes are not yet widely available. So the wise move would be to wait, but don’t wait too long, because the total number of available coupons is limited.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
Apparently it’s not a wise idea to be an early adopter with regards to the Blu-ray high-definition movie format. Due to competition from the HD-DVD format, the Blu-ray specification was released about a year early. Smart shoppers will wait until players are available that support “Profile 2.0” of the spec. There’s also an intermediate step called Profile 1.1 (current players, with the exception of the PS3, support Profile 1.0).
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
Update: Ars Technica has an article that explains more about the various specifications and the players that support them.
Last Friday, Warner Bros. announced that it would drop the HD-DVD format for movie releases after May 2008, and will exclusively use the Blu-ray format. This is a significant strike for HD-DVD, as only two of the eight major US studios are using it. In the days following the announcement, the internet has been full of speculation that HD-DVD has lost the format war.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Regular Chad’s News readers know that we’ve been covering the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray. LG Electronics has decided to make the point moot, by releasing a player that can handle both formats.
Link #1: http://us.lge.com/…
Link #2: http://us.lge.com/…
Toshiba has fired a salvo in the HD format war with an HD-DVD player that’s selling for $99, while Sony’s Blu-ray devices are going for hundreds more. Sony, however, is still getting a boost from the Blu-ray players embedded in its PS3 game consoles. Who’s going to win? Stay tuned for more updates.
Link: http://www.videobusiness.com/…
(via Engadget)
Being an early adopter for Sony’s high-definition Blu-ray technology may not be a wise choice. Some players are not able to handle the BD+ copy protection scheme (which is part of the standard but is only now being implemented).
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Here is a media server for the hard-core videophile. It can handle four simultaneous inputs and has 4 terabytes of storage. Sure beats the TiVo (although the media server isn’t really priced for the mass market).
Chad’s News has previously discussed the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war, but we thought it worth noting that Blu-Ray has recently received an unexpected vote of confidence. Thieves broke into a video store and stole the entire stock of Blu-Ray discs while ignoring the HD-DVD section.
Link: http://www.engadget.com/…
(via digg)
Blockbuster has taken a side in the high-definition DVD format war, opting to go exclusively with Blu-ray. This could be a big factor in deciding which format makes it in the long run.
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/…
(via Kim Komando)
For the discerning consumer, here’s a benchmark DVD that will show any weaknesses in that high-priced HDTV you’re thinking of purchasing.
Link: http://www.hqv.com/
(via Consumerist)
I’m all for à la carte cable television, where consumers get to choose (and pay for) only those channels they want to receive. I can understand why the cable companies are reluctant to provide this service, but I don’t see why the FCC has been dragging its heels. It really seems like a no-brainer.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
