Retailers Press For Unified HD DVD Format

datemenatalie writes "While the war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray continues over who will be the direct successor to DVD, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) has issued a strong statement to Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry regarding the looming HD format war. The statement, which supports a single high-definition disc format, also offers advice on dimensions, packaging, features and even how marketing materials should be designed. The statement argues, "two formats, each capable of storing high definition movies on DVD, are planned for release into the market. Retailers uniformly agree that the concurrent distribution of more than one format is likely unsustainable, and that the launch of a single format is preferable to a format war which could confuse the public and lead to reluctance to embrace either format." This comes just weeks after early indications that HD-DVD will only allow playback of full 1080 resolution video signals through HDMI connectors, leaving consumers with older HDTVs (pre-HDMI) out of luck."

Comments

Size

[tor528]

They're going to be the same size as current DVDs and CDs... Haven't they figured out how annoying those dimensions are? Just barely too big to fit in a pocket.

Re:Size

[Anonymous Coward]

they fit just fine inside my pocket, little man

Dear MPAA, Manufacturers, distributors & pr0nz

[tod_miller]

My name is, erm, Paul Preamble, and I would like to point out that if you release HD-DVD formats, then it will take oh so much longer for me to re-encode them to xvid so it will fit onto a cheapo CD, and be more easily attainable through P2P applications.

So I urge you, as a consumer, please keep your bit rates low, and consider us warez geezerz.

Otherwise I will just have to draw upon the dark powers of bittorrent, that evil protocol, and distribute gigs of high resolution video to all my l33t friends on the w3b, you know, d4rkh0rz, m@niac, l0tt0rz and b4dger. (their real handles have been changed to protect the innocent)

Kindly,

Tod^H^H^H Paul

[X] Post Anonymously

Re:war: what's it good for?

[alive75]

Well, maybe a format war is a more interesting ideia the just choosing.

Imagine the Blu-Ray frying up HD DVD with those blue laser rays :D

The winner

[Profcrab]

Victory will go to the format that allows end users to make use of the features they have on the existing HD equipment that they have already purchased. Basically, we will have to see who caves in to the demands of the market first. However, if they attempt to go full speed ahead with both formats, it is very likely that neither of them will make a significant gain and DVD, the existing and convenient technology, will continue to be the mainstream. While there were several benifits of DVD over VHS, it may be difficult to get consumers to see the benifit of the additional HD features if they cant use them without investing in newer HD equipment. Hollywood's quest for the perfect copy-protection technology may be undermined by existance of an entrenched format that has good quality, features, and flexability that, while inferior, is very convenient.

Re:Why worry about it

[Nuttles1]

people with expensive atrack players probably were not very satisfied when they lost the market war. In the end, better technology wins. Trying to make everyone happy doesn't work, there are going to be losers. That is life. if your mamma didn't teach you that, that isn't my problem. So march your butt up stares and ask her to teach you the basics of life

ROFL!!!

[FunWithHeadlines]

"Consumers are not stupid."

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Oh, brother, I can barely catch my breath. Have you ever wandered through a Best Buy or Circuit City?

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Re:ROFL!!!

[wildsurf]

"Consumers are not stupid."

"Think of how stupid the average consumer is, and realize that half of them are stupider than that!" (apologies to George Carlin.)

Meanwhile, on the technical side, my vote would be for the highest-quality, most forward-looking technology, so it has the largest chance to convert people from DVDs. The current DVD technology is to my mind the video equivalent of CD-quality; in other words, "good enough" for most people. Who cares if it takes a few more cents per disc to manufacture, the cost can be trivially passed on to consumers, but the quality difference between DVD and the new format (and of course, reviews in the press emphasizing the difference) is what will get people to upgrade.

Blu-Ray would be my choice at this point.

Re:Why worry about it

[Nuttles1]

you ignorant communist. Go ahead and move to a country where decisions are made for you. See what happens. Oh, you are setting yourself up fine for that, replying as an anonymous coward. Those kind of people work really well as communists!

Re:Why worry about it

[rbarreira]

Maybe you can do the same and ask her for a trip to the pharmacy or psychologist...

Re:Only Marginally Good News

[Jherek Carnelian]

As a result, anything short of fearing for safety, isn't sufficient to maintain a boycott.

That's easy then - just tell everyone that, "If you buy HD-BLU-DVDs then the terrorists have won!"

Re:The question and answer is:

[Aeron65432]

Only on /. would that get modded "insightful."