Fra arkivet: HD-format krigen er over, HD DVD tapte

På midten av 2000-tallet var det klar for en formatkrig for videofilm. Den sto mellom Blu-ray og HD DVD. Det var spesielt på nyåret i 2008 at man så at denne formatkrigen begynte å gå mot slutten. Og 19. februar 2008 annonserte Toshiba som var en av pådriverne bak formatet, at de ville slutte å produsere HD DVD-spillere. Med det var i praksis HD DVD-formatet dødt og Blu-ray gikk seirende ut av denne formatkrigen.

Under et par innlegg som jeg skrev i 2008 og publiserte på technofranki.blogspot.com og opprinnelig på engelsk.

HD-formatkrigen er over

Opprinnelig publisert 19. februar 2008

Her er noen sitater og linker som omhandler HD-formatkrigen mellom Blu-ray og HD DVD. Toshiba annonserte tidligere i dag at de vil avslutte produksjonen av HD DVD.

Jeg har både HD DVD-spilleren til Xbox 360 og en PS3, så jeg er sikret. Jeg har alltid ment at HD DVD var det beste format til tross for at det hadde 20 GB mindre lagringsplass. Blu-ray kunne være (og er) litt forvirrende for de ikke-tekniske. Dette finnes nemlig i tre forskjellige maskinvare profiler. De som var først ute, må kjøpe nye spillere for å få alle funksjonene til Blu-ray. Det er kun Sony sin PlayStation 3 som kan bli oppgradert til den seneste profilen.

I have both the HD DVD player add-on to the Xbox 360 and a PS3 so I will be covered. I alway thought HD DVD was the better format except for 20GB less i storage. Blu-ray had (have) one confusing bit for no-techies, there are different hardware profiles, three in fact. And early addopters have to buy a new player to get all the features. Only Sony’s Playstation 3 can be upgraded to the latest profile.

Jeg kommer nok til å begynne å kjøpe Blu-ray filmer snart, men satser også på at HD DVD-filmer kommer på tilbud.

The Blu-ray Disc Association comment on the end of the format war (Blu-ray.com):

“We in the Blu-ray Disc Association are very happy that this long format war is officially over. Now the task ahead for our member companies is to promote the Blu-ray Disc format as the best way to bring premier quality high definition content into consumers’ lives.”

—

Sony U.S. shares rise on PS3, Blu-ray optimism (Reuters.com):

Sony U.S. shares rose to a session high of $47.07 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange before easing to $46.30, up $1.52, or 3.4 percent from the Friday close. On Monday, markets were closed due to the U.S. President’s Day holiday.

Toshiba surrendered in the next-generation home movie war on Tuesday, after losing the support of key movie studios and retailers — most recently, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Toshiba said it will aim to end its HD DVD business by the end of next month.

The Blu-ray win means consumers no longer have to choose between rival, incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax, Sony’s videotape format that lost out to VHS in the 1980s.

—

Universal Studios Goes Blu (Highdefdigest.com):

“The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate. While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray.”

HD DVD er tapte

Opprinnelig publisert 19. februar 2008

Formatkrigen er over. Toshiba annonserte tidligere i dag at de vil stoppe produksjonen av HD DVD-spillere.

Dette er pressemeldingen til Toshiba pressrelease:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses
Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

Tokyo—Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. “While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.