Posted by Lloyd Parsons on 08/20/07 22:12

In article <feednUI8n7gwkFfbnZ2dnUVZ_oOnnZ2d@comcast.com>,
Derek Janssen <ejanss@nospam.comcast.net> wrote:

> Lloyd Parsons wrote:
>
> > What this really means is that the 'format war' for the 2% market share
> > that these two formats have will be in full swing for the holidays.
> > Personally I hope it keeps going. This war is the only thing that got
> > prices down to their current levels.
>
> Thing is, this isn't a sudden "swing" or "turning of the battle"--
> They'd already lost hearts and minds with the public, as most video and
> mainstream outlets had already given HD up for dead after Blockbuster,
> and were on the CES '08 Deathwatch.
>
> It was a bribe, the majority of fans will see it as a bribe, and
> "sellout" is what most of the core-tech press will end up playing as Who
> Paid Who And Why in the headlines...
> Only the utterly dopiest media-analyst zombie would be gullible enough
> to believe press statements of "We chose the format", or be blinded by
> title-association to print "Will Transformers and Shrek win the war?"
> spins as if they believed them themselves.
>
> Still comes down to the fact that media analysts aren't the ones
> actually BUYING the darn things--
> And those with a thousand or so worth of home theater purchses at stake
> aren't as name/title starry-eyed when they have to put a thousand bucks
> or so of total home-theater purchase decisions at stake.
>
> Derek Janssen
> ejanss@comcast.net

Sure it was a bribe, but so what? Sony and the BDA have been playing
that particular game for quite awhile now.

Here's part of a post I made at avsforum that pretty much sums up what I
think about the future of hi def dvds :

> If either side 'wins' today, we as consumers lose. Prices stay up, quality of
> releases won't be as good as they could be, and availability of titles could
> be in jeapordy because the price of the players is still too darn high to get
> big sales.
>
> I'm firmly convinced that Hi Def DVDs are a niche market and will remain so
> for quite some time. So now is the time for a dual-format, affordable player
> to step up to the market. That would help grow the niche to a bigger niche
> and all the studios can just keep on 'supporting' whichever format blows
> their collective skirts up!

And I'm with you on the decision that needs to be made to really
consider hi def dvds an option for your home theater. I just went
through a major upgrade at home, here is what I ended up buying over a
very short period of time:

Toshiba HDA2 HDDVD player
Sony BDP-S300 Blu Ray player
Harman Kardon AVR247 Receiver
Yamaha RX-V661 Receiver
(6) Cerwin Vega bookshelf speakers
(1) Cerwin Vega Center speaker
Velodyne VRP-1200 Subwoofer

All to enjoy HD to the fullest.

But let's face it, average joe isn't going to do that. And with his
smallish tv and HTIB (at best), he won't see enough difference to buy
either format.

About the 2 receivers....

Well, with my keen procrastination skills I didn't get around to
returning one of them in time. But now I have the 'Procrastinators
Delight' sound system! :-)

BD and HDDVD via HDMI to the Yamaha as pre processor. Out of that via 8
channel analog to the HK.

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