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Toshiba Introduces U.S. First HD DVD Players
Roy R writes "Toshiba America Consumer Products unveiled today the market launch details for its line-up of the first High Definition DVD players for the U.S. market. The new HD DVD players, models HD-XA1 and HD-A1, will take advantage of the superior capabilities of the HD DVD format.
The players will output copy-protected HD content through the HDMI interface in the native format of the HD DVD disc content of either 720p or 1080i."
Back in '97 the cheapest DVD player was over $1000. This isn't like consoles where they sell the hardware at a loss.
But by all means wait until they hit a price you're prepared to pay. Here in the UK my first DVD player was £500. My supermarket now sells players with more functionality for £20.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
If both fail I can assure you it won't be because of DRM. The average Joe doesn't care about DRM. If they hook up their new-fangled HD-DVD player to some old TV that doesn't support the right HDMI copy-protection scheme, and it doesn't work, they will just scratch their heads, blame the generic "technology", and return the player perhaps.
If both fail, it will simply be because the average Joe will only see a slight incremental improvement over current DVDs. Remember, average Joe thinks that watching a DVD on his new HDTV is "high-definition". I'm serious. There have been polls done, and most people think it's HD. Given that current DVDs are good enough, there is not a significant reason to buy the new HD-DVD. The improvement from VHS to DVD was a huge leap; form factor, no rewinding, no degrading, better detail in the image, better sound. From DVD to HD-DVD I'm afraid the improvement is just not noticeable to the "consumer". Just look at the new CD and audio DVD formats; sure, they have superior sound quality, but they are just a niche market for the few audiophiles that can appreciate that improvement.
--- witty signature
This is stupid. The only reason that DVD players caught on is because you could hook them up to any old TV. There's still a lot of DVD players hooked up to the old coaxial or RCA (component) sockets. Not a lot of people have the component hook ups. And even a lot of people who have them don't end up using them. If they limit HD DVD players to only hook up to the brand new shiny TVs, then nobody is going to buy the player. I'm sure there's a lot of people who will want to buy these, but if it means buying a new TV on top of that, you will see that it will only fill a niche market.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
So now I gotta buy all new DVDs? ;-(
Also one word: porn.