Is Sony Ready To Pull The Plug On Blu-ray?

**Sonnie** · **11-15-07, 10:41 PM**

Sony’s CEO, Howard Stringer, has set off a lot of AV and movie industry speculation that the electronics super power and movie studio may be working to either become format “neutral” or might be working back channels to negotiate a deal to merge the Blu-ray format with the competing HD DVD format. These comments about the two formats being in a “stalemate” come as HD DVD has picked up significant momentum through its retail partners who a little more than a week ago were able to drop the price of HD DVD players to $99. Sony’s least expensive and most effective Blu-ray player is their Playstation 3 game console, which starts at $399.

More ammunition to the potential end of the format war is that both sides have backed away from their vast promotional campaign in print, on television and on the Internet at the least likely of times. With pre-Black-Friday sales sparking the sale of 90,000 HD DVD players clearly there are a lot of mainstream consumers sitting on the sidelines waiting to buy players yet both the HD DVD consortium and the Blu-ray Association seem to be watching how this fight progresses with a little conservatism as the all-important holiday season approaches.

A Sony format consultant, since the advent of the Compact Disc, suggests the idea that Sony might pull the plug on Blu-ray is “not going to happen” and notes that Blu-ray is not only supported by many of the top studios, it is also the backbone of Sony’s flagship game console. Video gaming leads to the main reason why Sony doesn’t need to admit defeat. Playstation coexists with Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in a booming HD-driven gaming market. With Blu-ray powering Playstation 3 and studios like Disney and Fox as well as Sony Pictures cranking out 1080p movies for the format – why can’t consumers buy both players and both disc formats?

Imagine if Sony did pull the plug on Blu-ray – which they won't anytime soon – what type of message would Sony be sending to mainstream movie-buying consumers who have avoided both HD disc formats because of fears of a VHS versus Beta repeat that could result in them owning the wrong player and thousands of dollars in discs that are useless?

With the impressive volume of HDTVs being sold each month paired with the millions of legacy HDTVs currently installed in the marketplace – there is no reason to believe Sony or the HD DVD camp will be giving in anytime soon. If a deal was to happen where the formats would have been merged – it would have happened before either of the two competing formats launched. Warner recently announced that their attempt at software convergence of the formats with their TotalHD disc is postponed indefinitely. The only hope now for merging would be a takeover by combo-format players. For now, expect both to have a strong holiday selling season and grow as Playstation and Xbox did in years past.

Source: AVRev News

**jerome** · **11-16-07, 01:01 AM**

I don't believe a second that Sony is going to pull the plug on Blue-ray. That just doesn't make any sense ...

Sony sells plenty of PS3, new Blue-ray players are coming and BD disks sales are higher than expected.
Why would they want to give up now ????

**Sonnie** · **11-16-07, 01:02 AM**

Yeah... it was meant to be a rhetorical question...

**jerome** · **11-16-07, 01:17 AM**

Sorry, didn't get it before now. Not very awake today

**Captain Crunch** · **11-16-07, 12:40 PM**

Yea Sony isn't going any where. There not going to tuck tail and run. They have enough sales that they believe they can will so they will be here for the long hall.
Plus they (don't know when to give up any way)
Remember beta, mini disc etc.
I just wish they would stop trying to do (there) own thing and just go with the flow.......
Sony is just too big and hard headed for there own good. Always trying to do there own thing and not what's best for the consumer.
For that reason alone I refuse to by Sony unless I just don't have a choice.
There products are OK it's they way they run there business in relation to there customers I don't like.

Ok I'm getting off my soap box now!

**Sonnie** · **11-16-07, 05:26 PM**

If you read all of what Stringer stated... it is apparent he does not want another SACD or Beta-max situation. His tone about the entire war has changed drastically and is nowhere even close to what it was in the beginning. It will be interesting to see what develops over the next few months.

**ACGREEN** · **11-19-07, 09:23 PM**

What HD player is $99? I have to say that will probably help the most as I imagine most poeple are like me and want to hold off until all of the surround formats are available and players are offered in a jukebox format. Except, I will by a $99 player today and support that format.

**Sonnie** · **11-19-07, 11:56 PM**

Wal-Mart has been selling the Toshiba A2's at $99, but I imagine they are all sold out now.

**Captain Crunch** · **11-20-07, 01:09 PM**

Yea it was a one day sale at walmart, but CC and BB were price matching.
I'm sure we will have some interesting things happen come black Friday.
Sears is doing the A30 for 170 I believe for black Friday.

**tonyvdb** · **11-20-07, 04:47 PM**

I was just in Walmart today and they have a much larger selection of Blu_ray DVDs than HD DVDs The Blu_ray display is also much nicer to look at as they have Two 32" Plasma displays mounted right into the display case showing the quality difference between standard and HD.
Sony (Blu_ray) wont go down without a fight thats for sure.

**FlashJim** · **11-21-07, 08:28 AM**

Quote:

tonyvdb wrote:

I was just in Walmart today and they have a much larger selection of Blu_ray DVDs than HD DVDs The Blu_ray display is also much nicer to look at as they have Two 32" Plasma displays mounted right into the display case showing the quality difference between standard and HD.
Sony (Blu_ray) wont go down without a fight thats for sure.

You do realize that Sony pays for that display, right?

**Sonnie** · **11-21-07, 08:44 AM**

As well as customers in Wal-Mart are mostly concerned with the price. There can be all kinds of nice displays, but when that customer sees the $99 HD-DVD player and the Blu-ray player is $499... it's a no-brainer. They are simply thinking... "Hmmm... the HD-DVD player is going to look like the Blu-ray image there, but I'll save a bunch of money."

In essence, Sony is promoting "High Definition"... which in the case of Wal-Mart is helping HD-DVD sale more since is cost so much less.

I can just hear it now... a customer asked about Blu-ray and the Wal-Mart, Best-Buy, Circuit City clerk/salesperson/whoever, tells the customer... "It's high definition DVD and you can get it for 99 bucks right here." Then they point to an HD-DVD player.

**E-A-G-L-E-S** · **11-21-07, 10:22 AM**

Quote:

tonyvdb wrote:

I was just in Walmart today and they have a much larger selection of Blu_ray DVDs than HD DVDs The Blu_ray display is also much nicer to look at as they have Two 32" Plasma displays mounted right into the display case showing the quality difference between standard and HD.
Sony (Blu_ray) wont go down without a fight thats for sure.

Yup, both sides have thrown big checks around to help their cause. Sony to walmart, CC and BB are a few and Toshiba to Paramount was huge.

**trust7** · **12-22-07, 06:04 PM**

I own a PS3 and I think blu-ray is the nuts, much better than HD DVD heh.

**John Simpson** · **12-23-07, 04:53 PM**

It's interesting to watch the take-up of HD discs in Australia -- many of the major hire stores are only stocking Blu-Ray, and our biggest HD-selling store ("JB Hi-Fi") has three times as many Blu-Ray titles, compared to HD-DVD.

Judging by that, I'd say Blu-Ray is easily winning here in Australia. I can't tell you why that is, as the XBox360 is certainly the most popular games machine (and presumably most owners have the HD-DVD player).

My guess is that BOTH formats are here to stay, but will be superceded in the near future by a non-disc solution (ie: crystal or solid-state media).

Like I read somewhere, there's good and bad from this: we can't get some movies on our chosen format, but there's also competitive pressure for manufacturers from two simultaneous consumer streams.

I reckon the "Beta vs VHS war" is over, and both sides went home due to rain.

**Wayde** · **12-24-07, 09:28 PM**

you can never tell what's going to happen. For the right deal... Sony could thow in their hand and get behind a unified format or even HD DVD. If HD DVD goes with some kind of royalties to Sony, what's the difference to them?

Company pride perhaps, and Sony has a lot of it.

But if HD DVD is willing to go bargain basement price AND pay out to Sony some kind of royalty. Sony may decide it doesn't want to try to compete with it. Far better to take money and be part owner of the new, single format. Who knows, it might have been an option all along.

**trust7** · **12-25-07, 01:20 AM**

It is interesting to note that in this particular case we are a globe of more educated consumers because of the internet and the proliferation of literature etc. Which suggests by its nature that Blu will win the "war" from the top level down. That however and by its converted equation does NOT mean lead by example. As we all are very familiar with Beta did not win neither did mini disc, BOTH of which were the superior technologies both of which LOST to the inferior technologies by a long long long shot. At this time however I feel that the overall increase in consumer knowledge will lead the larger, less loss, more featured blu-ray to win on that merit alone. honestly I own both players/formats I prefer blu and hope it wins. Honestly I would be lying if I did not however state that barring all the reasons it SHOULD win, I hope it does simply because Sony lost both of the last two, and in each of them Sony WAS the technology leader. Did you all know that Mini-Disc is/was essentially a 256K VERY VERY good quality vbr Mp3 for all intents and purposes and was crushed because of "sound quality" when Itunes today codes 95% of its mp3's at 128k and sells millions upon millions of tracks a month at .99c ?

heh and lol.

**conchyjoe7** · **12-26-07, 03:39 PM**

I have to smile at "trust7" and his assessment that because he owns a ps3 it is the better technology. I own one of those cheapo HD-DVD (HD-A2) players that WalMart blew out at $98.87. Guess what? I absolutely love it and think it's the biggest bang, best investment I ever made to any system I've ever owned for the money (and if you check in my bio you will see that I have some very serious cash in my system and most consider it exemplary). Like some others in this thread have said. Ummm, lemme see here...$499.00 for blue ray or $99.00 for hd-dvd...it's a no brainer and mine works perfectly! Not to mention I picked up about 2 dozen excellent discs during Christmas' BOGO sales. See "Polar Express" in hd-dvd and then talk to me about technology...better pic/sound/features etc! I have an aching suspicion at this point that "trust7" has found his/her way here after the almost riot incited comments on another internet A/V club that had to temporarily terminate services on that subject due to "all knowing" comments on both sides of this issue. You got a blue ray and think it's the nuts so to speak...fantastic. Got an hd-dvd and thinks it's awesome...fantastic. We all have the opportunity to put our proverbial money where ouir mouth is...we'll all have to see who's left standing when the dust clears.

I do admit that even though I own a number of Sony products, their little venture into "root kits" on CDs and now the further discovery that they are tampering in a very "root kittish" way with their fingerprint access controls on their laptops makes me want absolutely nothing to do with them. I have zero to hide, but I don't like it when the government does this sort of thing, and absolutely will not tolerate it from a consumer electronics behemoth.

Long live HD-DVD...

I love it, thank you very much Toshiba...

Cheers,
Konky.

**bobgpsr** · **12-26-07, 04:01 PM**

Quote:

trust7 wrote:

It is interesting to note that in this particular case we are a globe of more educated consumers because of the internet and the proliferation of literature etc. Which suggests by its nature that Blu will win the "war" from the top level down.

I take issue with this simplistic unequivocal statement. IMHO, as an engineer of 30+ years of experience, HD DVD has a "better" practical solution which uses software compression rather than brute force hardware solutions to give us high definition movie length video and audio. I like the minor tweak to existing technology of using violet laser wavelength but existing DVD 0.6 mm sandwiched media packaging (which is repairable).

The Blu-ray solution uses outside reflective layer for narrow 0.1 mm layer thick and increased numerical aperature (from 0.60 to 0.85) smaller spot focus was only because of the constraint to use existing old technology MPEG 2 video compression for a recordable video disc. It was not tailored for what can be done with new video/audio codecs on a video ROM implementation. Instead with its hard coat requirements it requires entirely new fab lines and will be very expensive to spool up for worldwide video disc consumption. And it is not repairable if damaged. Better hope that hard coat never gets scratched -- it does resist them better.

Once again, IMHO, Blue-ray is not a clear cut "better" solution. Do not think it is a good idea to try to speak for every "informed" person.

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