Toshiba Surrenders In Next-Gen DVD Battle

The high-definition video disc format war is over. And to the victors --
Blu-ray Disc and its main backer, Sony (NYSE:SNE) -- go the spoils.

Toshiba folded its rival format, HD DVD, on Tuesday, ending a 20-month
battle to determine the high-def successor to today's standard-definition
DVD.

Winners include the consortium of consumer electronics firms backing Blu-ray
Disc, which was led by Sony SNE and included Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG)
PHG and Matsushita Electric Industrial MC, best known for its Panasonic
(NYSE:MC) brand.

Other winners include the major movie studios, which can unite around one
format to drive growth in the home entertainment business to make up for
sagging DVD sales. Retailers such as Best Buy BBY also stand to benefit as
HDTV owners try to get sharp HD video and surround sound on their sets.

Losers include HD DVD backers Toshiba and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) MSFT,
which together dumped millions of dollars into making and promoting
now-obsolete hardware. Toshiba built standalone HD DVD players and drives
for notebook computers. Microsoft sold an HD DVD accessory for its Xbox 360
game console.

With the format war history, some analysts expect a burst of sales of
Blu-ray Disc players because of pent-up demand. "There are people who have
been waiting for prerecorded (HD) content for awhile and have sat out
because of the format war," said Josh Martin, a Yankee Group analyst. "We'll
see a short-term pop from people who have been waiting on the sidelines."

Blu-ray Disc players could be big sellers this holiday season, he says.

Tech enthusiasts will buy Blu-ray machines now, but not the mainstream
public, says Danielle Levitas, an analyst with IDC.

With players costing $400 and movie discs going for $30, Blu-ray is still a
little pricey for the mass market, she says.

"I don't expect people to go out in droves in light of this news," Levitas
said. She expects Blu-ray Disc players to be a bigger deal at Christmas 2009
rather than this year. That's when the major consumer electronics vendors
will be making lower-priced devices.

The timing is right for a winning high-def disc format because of the
growing number of HDTV households.

Of U.S. households, 39% have high-definition televisions. Less than 10% have
the highest quality HDTVs, capable of displaying video in 1080p resolution
(1,080 lines of vertical resolution, noninterlaced), which Blu-ray can, says
Steve Koenig, an analyst with the Consumer Electronics Association.

The percentage of digital TVs sold with 1080p resolution is expected to jump
from 21% last year to 39% this year and 54% in 2009, he says.

Toshiba, which began selling HD DVD players in March 2006, has sold 1
million worldwide, including peripherals for Xbox 360 consoles. About
600,000 HD DVD players were sold in North America.

By comparison, 6.3 million Blu-ray Disc players have been sold worldwide,
including 4.1 million in the U.S. Those figures include Sony's PlayStation 3
video game console, which has an integrated Blu-ray Disc drive.

Toshiba on Tuesday said it would no longer develop, make or market HD DVD
players and recorders. Toshiba aims to clear out its remaining inventory by
the end of March.

"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," Atsutoshi Nishida, chief executive of Toshiba,
said in a statement.

The turning point 14 the format war came Jan. 4 when Time Warner's
(NYSE:TWX) TWX Warner Bros. studio decided to back Blu-ray Disc exclusively.
That gave Blu-ray the support of a clear majority of the major Hollywood
studios, including Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) (NYSE:DCQ) DIS Sony and News
Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) NWS 20th Century Fox.

In recent weeks, support for Blu-ray Disc grew even stronger. Online movie
rental company Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) NFLX and Best Buy announced plans to
phase out HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray on Feb. 11. Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT)
WMT on Friday revealed similar plans.

Blu-ray's biggest rival is likely to be digital downloads. Analysts say that
technology could take years to develop.

"There isn't enough bandwidth on the Internet to deliver even a fraction of
the HD DVD and Blu-ray movies that are out there," said Richard Doherty, an
analyst at the Envisioneering Group.

Onkyo Ends HD DVD Production, Will Do Blu-ray

read this short article...

Onkyo, one of the few manufacturers of HD DVD products besides Toshiba, will end its development and production of the format, the company announced.
The company, which announced support for the format at CES 2007, says it has sold about 2000 players. Its decision came after Toshiba’s announcement to officially stop producing and marketing HD DVD.
Onkyo’s HD DVD players were manufactured with parts from Toshiba, making continued production more difficult.
Blu-ray is on tap, as Onkyo says that its R&D teams have a development program in place for the format.

It is now official; Toshiba Corp has discontinued support of HD DVD.

"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," commented Toshiba Corp boss, Atsutoshi Nishida.

"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."

Best Blu-ray players rated

Best Blu-ray players rated
With Toshiba conceding victory to their rival Blu-ray consortium in the High
Definition DVD format war now is a good time to invest in a Blu-ray player.

Here's a compilation of what we believe to be the Blu-ray players offering
the best combination of value and performance.

1. Pioneer BDP-LX70A (90%)

For: Superb HD 1080p pictures, supports HDMI 1.3 and can stream High
Definition sound.

Against: Expensive.

Summary: Pioneer's BDP-LX70 is currently the most sophisticated and
accomplished Blu-ray player, at a price.

2. Sony BDP-S300 (88%)

For: Excellent value along with 1080p playback and HDMI 1.3.

Against: No support for High Definition sound.

Summary: Sony's BDP-S300 is the first attempt to bring a stand alone blu-ray
player to the masses. The goal is largely achieved with excellent features
and performance for a reasonable price.

3. Sony PS3 (88%)

For: Excellent value for a combined blu-ray player and games console.

Against: Not the best High Definition picture.

Summary: Having had upscaling ability added through a firmware upgrade the
PS3 offers a compelling option.

4. Pioneer BDP-LX70 (87%)

For: Excellent pictures with 1080p playback.

Against: No DTS High Definition sound or HDMI v1.3.

Summary: Same excellent performance as the BDP-LX70A with fewer features.

5. Sony BDP-S500 (86%)

For: Excellent pictures with 1080p playback and HDMI 1.3 along with support
for High Definition sound.

Against: Almost twice the price of its S300 blu-ray sibling.

Summary: Sony's BDP-S500 is well specified and puts in a great all round
performance.

6. Sharp BD-HP20H (85%)

For: Excellent 1080p playback

Against: Poor standard DVD performance

Summary: Sharp's BD-HP20H is one of the best High Definition players, but
standard DVD performance is a disappointment.

7. Samsung BD-P1400 (85%)

For: Excellent features for the price including support for High Definition
sound.

Against: High Definition pictures are a little disappointing.

Summary: Samsung's BD-P1400 promised a high spec for a bargain price. It
largely delivers, but the most important component, HD pictures, are
slightly disappointing.

UPDATE:

Toshiba has issued an official statement on the matter, declaring that the company has made no such decision in regards to dropping HD DVD.

"The media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business.
Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment."

Bluray Format Wins

Toshiba to end HD DVD, format war? "Zion! The war is over!"
Well, we may not be residents of Zion, but one war has ended today: the format war. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Toshiba Corp is planning to end production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format, giving Blu-ray camp the official victory.
Sony is surely pleased with the victory of its Blu-ray format, after enduring the failures of such formats as Betamax and UMD over the past two decades.
Toshiba will sell their remaining stock of HD DVD products, but will not continue to produce new HD DVD players and discs, said NHK earlier today.
After such massive retailers as Wal-Mart and Best Buy going Blu, it seemed only a matter of time until Toshiba gave in. The only question that remains is how and when will Toshiba adopt the Blu-ray format into their line of products. Toshiba is expected to lose amounts of up to tens of billions of yen by ending production of HD DVD products.
Toshiba couldn't be reached for comment at the present time.