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Expect DVD Chip Price Wars

Posted by timothy on from the we-join-this-war-already-in-progress dept.

prostoalex writes "With more companies developing the chips for DVD players the price wars might ensue. According to this DigiTimes report, 'Boosted by rising shipments, the higher price of DVD player single-chips is likely to push up the average chip price to US$9.56 in the fourth quarter from US$8.58 in the first half. However, the increasing number of chip suppliers also implies that a new price war may soon develop'. The predictions of DVD chips sales slowing down add to the expectations for price wars."

4 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This is good right by SnAzBaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No matter how cheap a $10 chip gets, it's not going to change the price for the consumer significantly - it's only $10...

  2. Re:Is this a big deal for us? by robbyjo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, it matters. It may create a domino effect to other DVD parts as well, thus creating a cheaper system in overall. It happens in all electronic products throughout history. It always starts with a measly drop of a key component.

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  3. Everybody who wants a DVD player now has one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It had to happen eventually, the industry needs to get over it.

    I don't have one because:

    * Region coding - I object to it on principle, but there is also lack of information - for example, both Europe and Japan are region 2, but if I buy an NTSC disc from Japan, would it play on a European player? Also, does buying a code-free DVD player break the law where I live? I don't know, therefore I won't buy one

    * Already have a laserdisc player - and a *lot* of laserdiscs. Sorry, but I'm not about to switch formats to gain, at most, a slight improvement. We're not talking HDTV here, we're talking primarily YUV component colourspace instead of PAL encoded composite colourspace.

    * MPEG artifacts - analogue artifacts like dot crawl don't bother me much at all - they look natural now. Blocky digital artifacts bother me a lot, they jump out and scream, 'hello I am a compression artifact' at me, (not really, but you see what I mean).

    * Sillyness - 'must watch' chapters on DVD, no, sorry, I'm not going to pay for that, forget it. 10 second copyright notice is possibly tollerable, but not adverts - no way.

    * VHS is a lot better than it used to be - sorry, but it's true, in the early 80s, VHS was a terrible format, but modern machines are better than my 1970s U-Matic decks. It's not as good as laser, or DVD, but frankly, I don't cry my eyes out because I have to watch something on VHS.

    * Watching fewer films now anyway - this is actually a major reason for not buying DVD. I am getting seriously bored of watching rubbish. The last film I saw at the cinema was Deep Impact - nothing has appealed to me since.

    * Compressed audio - there was NO excuse for compressing the audio on DVD. I hate compressed audio, and don't want it. I want uncompressed, 2 or more channels of 48 Kbps 16-bit PCM, or nothing. It's bad enough that the cinemas are using these stupid compressed soundsystems, but don't let it invade the consumer market. Oh, you have. Another reason why I don't have a DVD player.

    So, to sum up, I don't have a DVD player, and I don't want one.

    1. Re:Everybody who wants a DVD player now has one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
      but if I buy an NTSC disc from Japan, would it play on a European player

      Of course, it will. European TVs, VCRs and DVD players will quite happily play NTSC media. Region coding is obsolete. Over here in Denmark you can buy region-free players and region 1 discs everywhere.

      MPEG artifacts - analogue artifacts like dot crawl don't bother me much at all

      Like there are bad videos and films, there are badly compressed DVDs, too. Incidentally, the thing that really struck me when I first saw a DVD movie (on a 100 Hz Sony trinitron tube) was how flawless and sharp the picture was. It was unreal.

      Compressed audio - there was NO excuse for compressing the audio on DVD

      Unless you're running a high-end home theatre sound system, you cannot hear a difference between a compressed, Dolby Digital sound and an uncompressed stream.

      Furthermore, by compressing the audio track you get nice things like multiple language support. I like to watch movies in English but also I like to brush up my German and French by watching the movie with a foreign language soundtrack.

      Also commentary tracks (director, actors/actresses, producers,...) are a major reason for why I keep buying movies and TV series on DVD.