Electronics giant LG will continue to support the HD DVD format, keeping its combo format players on the market - so says Gizmodo. I am glad to see LG is not a pussy like Toshiba.

“LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HDDVD consumer.”

“With the recent announcement from Toshiba, Blu-Ray will now be the format that will pave the way for high definition movies, however this does not rule out HD DVD immediately as there are still a number of consumers who have chosen HD DVD and begun to build a HD DVD collection.”

“Overall LG is still excited about the future of this market, LG has always set out to lead high definition players and will continue to do so with more technology evolutions and hybrids which will launch in due course.”

This is welcome news and affirms that you should not sell your HD DVDs, and if you do, sell them to me: admin (at) ilovehddvd (dot) com. It also keeps the format in a medically induced coma. Without studio support, there will only be about 400 movies in HD DVD.

The catch will be to make this combo player affordable.

This should get slightly more interesting when China releases CH DVD … ilovechdvd.com anyone?

This is great news. CDRinfo.com is reporting that Hitachi Maxell, Mitsubishi Unveil the first HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-R DL media.

The HD DVD-R (15GB) discs feature a highly sensitive recording layer that allows burning at 2x, by applying the power that was previously used for burning at 1x. Mitsubishi claims it has managed to offer a playability of 100 million times.

The new HD DVD-R DL 30GB discs (1x) offer storage space for up to four hours of film material in HD quality. Their proven AZO recording layer technology ensures a high degree of laser sensitivity and error-free reading of the data. Mitsubishi also uses the DVD-R DL 2P manufacturing process in the production of the HD DVD-R DL. With this method, the two layers are produced one after the other on one side of the HD DVD. Precise stampers and precision molding equipment ensure perfectly flat HD DVDs that comply with all the standards for high recording quality.

The new HD DVD-R SL and HD DVD R DL conform to the “HD DVD-R Specification ver.1.1″ and “HD DVD-R for DL Specification ver.2.1″ respectively, as they are defined by the DVD Forum. Maxell’s HD DVD-RW offer the essential characteristics as they are defined in the HD DVD-RW “DVD “Specifications for High Density Re-recordable Disc Ver.1.1″.

Now … let’s see those burners I asked for last month!

linkage

Guess what I am going to be doing tonight … I’ll let you know what improvement this makes and hopefully it will speed up the boot times!

Yesterday was a tragic day for my beloved format. Best Buy announced that it would support Blu-ray as its preferred HD Movie technology and Netflix, the online DVD rental giant, announced that it would phase out its HD DVD rentals. If its any consolation, Netflix HD DVD and BD rentals represented a fraction on their rentals. So February 11, 2008 was a tough day for the format - where does this leave HD DVD owners. A close friend of mine and HD DVD owner decided yesterday to bail and buy a Samsung Blu-ray player. He does not know what format (update, it is a 2.0) and was unaware of the class action suit against Samsung for building defective Blu-ray players. He recently emailed me, I thought I would share his question and my response, because it is a question alot of bloggers and fanboyz are asking.

Friend: I will never understand why you are so loyal to a large corp just because you bought their product.

ILHDDVD: What do you mean?

Friend: oooh, blu-ray sucks … HD DVD is the only way to go …. blah blah blah …. fact - mainstream movies won’t be available on HDDVD in a few months.

ILHDDVD:  Ultimately, its a personal preference. And since you ask, I’ll give you mine

I think Blu-ray sucks because it is an overpriced incomplete format. I don’t want to spend money on a product that has a history of failure and will likely be obsolete and not able to take advantage of all features of future releases. Accordingly, if a movie that I really want to watch - like 3:10 to Yuma - is not available on HD DVD, I’ll watch it on VOD, PPV or download it through Xbox live. Alternatively, I’ll get the SD DVD and upconvert it. The point being that there are so many places to get movies from other than HD DVD or BD that I am comfortable with my abhorrance of BD, and the acceptance of HD DVD.

As I have watched countless HD DVDs and unconverted DVDs, one thing I have come to realize is that there are very few movies out there that really have the ability to look impressive enough in HD for me to want to get the HD DVD version and not upconvert. Nerd movies with lots of special effects, or Sci-fi movies can be impressive in HD. But there are instances, like with Dune, where the HD image blows ass. Most movies don’t need to be in HD, like Clockwork Orange, The Rundown, or Blades of Glory. I just don’t think the HD really adds anything to the movie that you would otherwise miss in an unconverted SD DVD. Sure it looks good, but there is not “WOW” factor. Movies like,  Transformers, however, and Miami Vice or Batman, I would not watch in any other format because the image is so impressive. Most movies look fine to me, and probably most consumers, in unconverted SD. caveat: obviously, if the HD DVD is the same price as a regular DVD, I’ll take the HD DVD. But as it is, Blu-ray discs are much more expensive than HD DVD discs and SD disc - by about $10 a disc (yes, the price fluxuates). One important thing, though, I really love the interactive menus and miss being able to access the menu and set bookmarks when I watch an SD DVD.

Also, BD is region coded, like DVD. BD also has an oppressive DRM scheme making copying the disc very very difficult. Someone will ultimately do it, but at that point, Sony is likely going to change their DRM scheme to address that crack. There has also been some discussion of Blu-rays use of Hard-coating - a technology used to protect the disc from scratches. See the Blu-ray media layer is closer to the surface of the disc which makes it more susceptible to scratches. Sony, TDK and I think 3M (but I could be wrong) have been developing a coating on an ongoing process to address this issue. Regardless of their work, BDs by their nature are more susceptible to damage than regular DVDs and HD DVD.

I like HD movies a lot, and I love my HD DVD player - I wish there were more titles available. But it comes down to value. I don’t think BD present a good enough value (unless you are a PS3 gamer) for the BD player or the BD movies to justify dealing with its short comings. HD DVD is complete and its price point and the price point of its movies are right where I want them to be. Do I think I own a paperweight? no. the HD DVD player can do so much more than play HD DVDs. It is our default DVD player. As far as studio support and titles available, if I want to watch a movie that is not in the HD DVD format, Ill VOD it, PPV it, buy it on Xbox Live or upconvert it - no need for me to get a BD player.

NPD sales for the week ending February 3 are in courtesy of Bill Hunt. Remember, these numers do not include Amazon.com sales where the A3 and A30 are some of the biggest selling electronics on all of Amazon.com - Blu-ray SAPs and the PS3 do not even crack the top 100. I am interested to see Toshiba’s numbers.

On to the numers ..

For the week ended February 3, 2008: HD DVD had 26% of the hardware marketshare to Blu-ray’s 74%:

This is an increase of 8% over prior week ended January 27.

So what conclusions can we draw?

1) the sale is working

2) the “war” as some affectionately call it, is not over.

What needs to be fleshed out is the effect of the PS3 on the market. I wonder how many PS3 owners actually use the PS3 to watch Blu-ray discs.

Images courtesy of Bill Hunt