AfterDawn: Tech news

HD DVD standalone sales hit new milestone

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2007 6:23 User comments (34)

HD DVD standalone sales hit new milestone According to an article in Home Media Magazine, HD DVD standalone sales will hit the 500,000 mark in the next few weeks and currently sits at about 430,000.
The news comes after reports that over 100,000 standalones were sold just last week after the widely hyped price drops of a couple Toshiba players.

Hitting the 500,000 unit mark would seem to cement HD DVD's lead in the standalone player sales but the Blu-ray camp will quickly mention that the PlayStation 3 has sold over 2 million units in the US since its launch.

Should be interesting to see the end of year stats for standalone sales and disc sales.

Source:
HD Digest

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34 user comments

111.11.2007 11:58
nobrainer
Inactive

didn't and sony say the ps3 is about GAMES?

sony = anti consumer company that wants to lock down content as much as possible so you have to purchase multiple licences for every user and consider interoperability of media we own, stealing!

blu-ray BD+ spdc drm as the most anti consumer DRM ever and im appalled how they want us all to bend over and lube up, as does hdcp hdmi as it is breaking hardware for the media companies lock down, on our content.

The MPAA, RIAA and AACS LA are here purely to lock the media we own up with 1001 restrictions, and at the for front of all of these anti consumer companies, and making and employing more intrusive DRM than any other major company, is sony for this anti consumer fact i hope hd-dvd prevails!


when did sony ever create an industry standard? BetaMax vs VHS, MemoryStick vs. SD, Atrac3 vs. mp3, MicroMV vs. MiniDV, SACD vs. DVD Audio, Minidisc, UMD, naming FireWire "iLink", rootkits, and all the other Sony blunders. Isn't it obvious Sony never learns?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Nov 2007 @ 1:29

211.11.2007 12:10

Ya will be interesting...are those toshibas even 1080p, I highly doubt they are but if they are that was a good deal. I dont see a lot of people buying many hd-dvds if there budget is for a $100 player but who really knows if the movies are good enough I guess people will buy them.

Sales will eventually tell if the ps3 numbers actually make a difference if the hd-dvd standalone is selling so well then obviously according to them they should have a significant larger number of software sold. if they dont have massive numbers at the $100 price point honestly what card do they have left to play if this doesnt work out...

311.11.2007 12:12

Costumers will choose HD DVD for different reasons. One of them is why u give ur money to sony and the same money they used them to make copy protection !

411.11.2007 12:58

Just to clarify things for people....UMD was never meant to be a standard for anything except the PSP. You do not see home UMD players or portable UMD players. They just added movie playback for your enjoyment. Also, Betamax was and is the industry standard in television. Your local news channel probably still uses betamax to record their reports when they go on scene. They use the more advanced recorders at the studio.

With that said.....Sony has made a good deal of bad choices. Only time will tell if they will lower their stand-alone units to a reasonable price. $250 would be reasonable. Toshiba is killing them with the $100 price point on the HD-DVD players and will put them in the ground. Even if they are only 1080i. The A30 and A35 are 1080p and are $350 About the same as blu-ray players. That leads me to say the consumer, for the most part, needs to be educated on the HD issue as a whole. 1080i vs 1080p....HDTV manufacturers...HDMI HDCP

511.11.2007 13:19

HI GUYS I'M BACK! (after my ban) sry if i offended anyone!

Originally posted by peakskilz:
Also, Betamax was and is the industry standard in television. Your local news channel probably still uses betamax to record their reports when they go on scene. They use the more advanced recorders at the studio.


What you have just said is a load of rubbish! With portable HHD and DVD discs available, i'm sure they still don't use Betamax! I'm sure ur a sony fb anyway!

Besides! the HD DVD addons for the 360 aren't includes in teh sales either! so like YEAH! Besides the ps3 is 'ment' to be a games console!

611.11.2007 13:46
evz
Inactive

Originally posted by mattkind:
Costumers will choose HD DVD for different reasons. One of them is why u give ur money to sony and the same money they used them to make copy protection !
I would like to see anyone give me an example of someone who bought an hd dvd player for a reason other than the price. That's the reason I bought one it was only $100 bucks. But I also have a Blu-ray player. I anyone alive walks into a retail store and sees two players side by side. A blu and an hd for the same price. I guarantee they will buy the blu-ray. And Sony is just one of the companies in the BDA mostly all the companies that were part of the dvd forum moved on to make it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Forum

711.11.2007 13:56

Who said anything about the 360 HD-DVD addon? Nobody said anything about those units. As for my comment on betamax....I work in the news industry. Just like any military..older standards are kept until it is forced out by neccessity. You see clips of news media sliding in "TAPES" not CDs or DVDs.

As for me being a "fanboy"..I do not see where you got that from. I just stated facts and suggested the consumer as a whole should be more educated on the High Definition issue as a whole. I mean...Vizio is the HDTV leader in small and medium sized HDTVs. Why...cause they are cheap. Same for the A2 and A3. I even mentioned that Toshiba has the upper hand. If I were a fanboy, I would totally deny that fact or skew the data, would I not?

811.11.2007 14:05

Quote:
Originally posted by mattkind:
Costumers will choose HD DVD for different reasons. One of them is why u give ur money to sony and the same money they used them to make copy protection !
I would like to see anyone give me an example of someone who bought an hd dvd player for a reason other than the price. That's the reason I bought one it was only $100 bucks. But I also have a Blu-ray player. I anyone alive walks into a retail store and sees two players side by side. A blu and an hd for the same price. I guarantee they will buy the blu-ray. And Sony is just one of the companies in the BDA mostly all the companies that were part of the dvd forum moved on to make it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Forum


Yes...sony did help pioneer DVDs as a standard too. What I have been looking at lately is that there are several HD-DVD standalone players, but they are all produced by Toshiba. Samsung has dual players, but I have not seen any HD-DVD only. Interesting....On the PC side it is a different story though.

911.11.2007 14:38

BetaMax vs VHS:price v cost,beta loses

MemoryStick vs. SD:price v cost,MemoryStick loses

MicroMV vs. MiniDV:price v cost,MicroMV loses
Minidisc:failed the consumer market because of price but DJs ands sound people still use them,so tis not quite failed.



UMD
this is a tricky one they amide the format to sell movies on the PSP but the fools priced the discs at half or more of DVDs, price V cost it failed, this has always astounded me they could launch normal UDM movies with DVDs for free and then put out the extended releases and extras for 15-20 a pop since they did not innovate pricing they failed them selfs hard on this.

If they kept it cheap and simple they could have made it into a mini player market on UDM alone but they refused to inovate price and take risk up front and thus they failed, BR might be heading for the same fate.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Nov 2007 @ 2:40

1011.11.2007 16:09

Originally posted by peakskilz:
Also, Betamax was and is the industry standard in television. Your local news channel probably still uses betamax to record their reports when they go on scene.

Just to REALLY clarify things, you are wrong. Betamax is dead. BetaCAM is the professional format. But we are talking mass-merch stuff, NOT pro gear. I own Sony pro video gear, and it works great for that. But consumer-friendly products are not Sony's specialty. (since the walkman, anyway)
As for 1080i and 1080p, there's virtually NO difference when sent to a TV that does the inverse-telecine on the signal properly. In other words, less than 10% of HDTVs in homes now are 1080p capable, and those units will play a 1080i HD-DVD signal as 1080p... since all of the information in a 1080p stream IS ALREADY IN a 1080i stream. So the people that want to act like the A2 is CRAP because it is 1080i are just being rediculous.

Oh, and the A3 (1080p) is selling for $199 at a few places, which is much lower than Sony's lowest BR player at about $370 street.

1111.11.2007 16:16

Quote:
Yes...sony did help pioneer DVDs as a standard too. What I have been looking at lately is that there are several HD-DVD standalone players, but they are all produced by Toshiba. Samsung has dual players, but I have not seen any HD-DVD only. Interesting....On the PC side it is a different story though.

Sony didn't get on board with the current "DVD" until AFTER they dropped their own design. (sound familiar?) So it's quite a stretch to say they helped "pioneer" it.

And Toshiba is the sole major manufacturer of HD-DVD stand alones right now, and that's a good thing for at least this reason... They can set whatever the prices needs to be. For ex: Sony can't cut the cost of it's stand alone BR players, because the other manufacturers would be forced to follow, or (most likely) stop production of current models and wait to see how things shake out. Not a good situation for BR right now, anyway.

1211.11.2007 21:03

Quote:
when did sony ever create an industry standard? BetaMax vs VHS, MemoryStick vs. SD, Atrac3 vs. mp3, MicroMV vs. MiniDV, SACD vs. DVD Audio, Minidisc, UMD, naming FireWire "iLink", rootkits, and all the other Sony blunders. Isn't it obvious Sony never learns?

Excellent summation...makes the saying "more money than brains" so much clearer.

1311.11.2007 21:09

Quote:
Quote:
when did sony ever create an industry standard? BetaMax vs VHS, MemoryStick vs. SD, Atrac3 vs. mp3, MicroMV vs. MiniDV, SACD vs. DVD Audio, Minidisc, UMD, naming FireWire "iLink", rootkits, and all the other Sony blunders. Isn't it obvious Sony never learns?

Excellent summation...makes the saying "more money than brains" so much clearer.
Sony is to cheap to set a world wide consumer format, they have put to many eggs in one basket with the PS3 and even BR, hopefully after this is over sony will be smaller and smarter from this mess.

1411.11.2007 23:06

Quote:
Originally posted by mattkind:
Costumers will choose HD DVD for different reasons. One of them is why u give ur money to sony and the same money they used them to make copy protection !
I would like to see anyone give me an example of someone who bought an hd dvd player for a reason other than the price. That's the reason I bought one it was only $100 bucks. But I also have a Blu-ray player. I anyone alive walks into a retail store and sees two players side by side. A blu and an hd for the same price. I guarantee they will buy the blu-ray. And Sony is just one of the companies in the BDA mostly all the companies that were part of the dvd forum moved on to make it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Forum


I've supported HD DVD from the beginning. Some of my favorite movies have the better audio that Bluray just carelessly left out.

For someone like myself, I'll end up getting both anyways. Especially with all the exclusive titles.

Although Sony has upped their game, I still need to have my original titles in the best audio possible. No matter how bad I resent Superman Returns.

1511.11.2007 23:58

Quote:
BetaCAM is the professional format. But we are talking mass-merch stuff, NOT pro gear. I own Sony pro video gear, and it works great for that. But consumer-friendly products are not Sony's specialty. (since the walkman, anyway)
As for 1080i and 1080p, there's virtually NO difference when sent to a TV that does the inverse-telecine on the signal properly. In other words, less than 10% of HDTVs in homes now are 1080p capable, and those units will play a 1080i HD-DVD signal as 1080p... since all of the information in a 1080p stream IS ALREADY IN a 1080i stream. So the people that want to act like the A2 is CRAP because it is 1080i are just being rediculous.

Oh, and the A3 (1080p) is selling for $199 at a few places, which is much lower than Sony's lowest BR player at about $370 street.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882116118 for the specs on A3...

I never said the a2 and a3 were crap. I just pointed out, without saying, that toshiba is the only stand-alone manufacturer of HD-DVD players so they are in control. Just like you pointed out, they can set whatever price....exactly.

I said the public needs to be more educated because...I have read some post were people think 1080i is better because it has twice the frame rate as 1080p...but they fail to realize that 1080i is interlaced....shows odd lines and then even lines separately which means they need double the frame rate than 1080p which shows the whole picture at once. You and I know the difference between the two, but the majority does not. People also need to know the affects a TV may have on the process as well. A 1080p tv will convert 1080i information to 1080p and visa versa.

1612.11.2007 00:33
vinny13
Inactive

I've always wondered... I have a 1080i HDTV but because it was like the 1st HDTV ever it has no HDMI. Could the component in display up to 1080i or what? I believe that my TV has 2 component inputs and 4 video inputs and some S-Videos somewhere here and there and some outputs that I don't recall...

1712.11.2007 01:19

I think consumers do need to be educated. 1080i and 1080p hmmm well I heard 1080p is better so I'll go get that player..... First to fully enjoy the quality of 1080p one needs a 1080p TV, not the entry level TV or even the mid-level, I've seen the quality of all the new TV's on LCD and Plasma, my 1080i rear projection Hitachi looks much better.

And because it's only 1080i thats the player I'm stuck with. All I hear coming out of sony is 1080p now what good is that to me buying something I'm not ready for yet, and I'm sure there is many others out there in the same boat. I also don't have HDMI so maybe I'll just stick with my DVD player.

In regards to the new stations using Betamax, that 30+year old technology, no one in their right minds would use crap technology like that anymore.

Sony is greedy. like all other businesses out there. Them Sony fanboys should be happy there are companies like Toshiba and Microsoft, that is way the PS3 and the Blu-Ray drives are lower in price, if it weren't for competition Sony would **** us all.

1812.11.2007 02:45

Originally posted by peakskilz:
I mean...Vizio is the HDTV leader in small and medium sized HDTVs. Why...cause they are cheap.
Well, I think it's a little more than that. When I bought my Vizio 9 months ago, my 42" was $1100, which is not exactly cheap for ANY TV, but maybe at the time, that size of HDTV. Anyways, my point for quoting you is this: people will seek out quality even when something is cheap. I could've easily picked up any other cheaply built HDTV like Westinghouse, Sanyo, or any of the crap that is private label (Best Buy's Insignia for example) but the fact is, Vizio puts out TV's that offer all of the features and quality of the "big boys".

It still shocks that my same set now runs $900 and every Sunday ad still touts Samsung, Sony, Phillips and others charging nearly double for the same thing, which is still a few hundred more than what I paid 9 months ago.

Vizio has hit a niche and is starting to show up in stores like Circuit City and Wal-Mart (which they have been in sister store Sam's Club for a long time now.) Olevia is another brand on the rise. With HD players selling more through the holidays and College Bowl and Super Bowl games in January, people will need to purchase a TV to watch all this HD content on. I think these companies need to wake up and follow Vizio's lead!

1912.11.2007 04:55
nobrainer
Inactive

Originally posted by vinny13:
I've always wondered... I have a 1080i HDTV but because it was like the 1st HDTV ever it has no HDMI. Could the component in display up to 1080i or what? I believe that my TV has 2 component inputs and 4 video inputs and some S-Videos somewhere here and there and some outputs that I don't recall...
component and dvi both support hd signals but the MPAA block them if its not a HDCP compliant connection, more than likely your tv is not MPAA crippled enough with HDCP and you will not get a picture or sound. Most older equipment and some still in the shops will not fully support HDCP DRM that sony and co have forced on us all, but the get to sell more bravia's this way!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Nov 2007 @ 5:01

2012.11.2007 08:58

Quote:
I have read some post were people think 1080i is better because it has twice the frame rate as 1080p...

Fair enough. It would be nice to have a link to a post detailing that for folks, so we can point them to it. I'll look around...

2112.11.2007 09:32

Quote:
component and dvi both support hd signals but the MPAA block them if its not a HDCP compliant connection...
Which is interesting, because that's what I've always thought too, but my HD Cable Box only has DVI and component, no HDMI. I use a DVI to HDMI cable to hookup to my lovely Vizio (read above :P) and each time I power on the cable, it does a check for what I believe is HDCP. I believe if my TV were not HDCP compliant, then the DVI/HDMI hookup would not show the true HD resolution, and possibly morph the image, which is what happens if I were to use component cables in place of the DVI. Any thoughts?

2212.11.2007 09:37

Quote:
Quote:
component and dvi both support hd signals but the MPAA block them if its not a HDCP compliant connection...
Which is interesting, because that's what I've always thought too, but my HD Cable Box only has DVI and component, no HDMI. I use a DVI to HDMI cable to hookup to my lovely Vizio (read above :P) and each time I power on the cable, it does a check for what I believe is HDCP. I believe if my TV were not HDCP compliant, then the DVI/HDMI hookup would not show the true HD resolution, and possibly morph the image, which is what happens if I were to use component cables in place of the DVI. Any thoughts?
As far as I know DVI is HDMI,I mean the feed is the same just a different "plug".

HDMI is a combination of DVI and audio feeds, I would think the output for DVI and HDMI would be the same simply because making it 2 wholly different things would be costly and wasteful.

2312.11.2007 10:03
vinny13
Inactive

Originally posted by nobrainer:


component and dvi both support hd signals but the MPAA block them if its not a HDCP compliant connection, more than likely your tv is not MPAA crippled enough with HDCP and you will not get a picture or sound. Most older equipment and some still in the shops will not fully support HDCP DRM that sony and co have forced on us all, but the get to sell more bravia's this way!
I might get a Bravia :)

(Or a Sharp)

2412.11.2007 10:12

Quote:
As far as I know DVI is HDMI,I mean the feed is the same just a different "plug"...
Precisely what I was implying. Always so insightful Zippy! :P

2512.11.2007 10:16

Quote:
Quote:
As far as I know DVI is HDMI,I mean the feed is the same just a different "plug"...
Precisely what I was implying. Always so insightful Zippy! :P

Only when I put 2 brain cells together and rub...then of course a fire goes forth and wrecks my brain....so I try to get the thinking to a minuim P

2612.11.2007 13:13
REAM
Inactive

Originally posted by nobrainer:
didn't and sony say the ps3 is about GAMES?

sony = anti consumer company that wants to lock down content as much as possible so you have to purchase multiple licences for every user and consider interoperability of media we own, stealing!

blu-ray BD+ spdc drm as the most anti consumer DRM ever and im appalled how they want us all to bend over and lube up, as does hdcp hdmi as it is breaking hardware for the media companies lock down, on our content.

The MPAA, RIAA and AACS LA are here purely to lock the media we own up with 1001 restrictions, and at the for front of all of these anti consumer companies, and making and employing more intrusive DRM than any other major company, is sony for this anti consumer fact i hope hd-dvd prevails!


when did sony ever create an industry standard? BetaMax vs VHS, MemoryStick vs. SD, Atrac3 vs. mp3, MicroMV vs. MiniDV, SACD vs. DVD Audio, Minidisc, UMD, naming FireWire "iLink", rootkits, and all the other Sony blunders. Isn't it obvious Sony never learns?
ironically coming from the blantent biggest sony hater!

this is an article to praise HD-DVD, and you turn it into bashing sony. im sure your very very proud.

2716.11.2007 17:06

Originally posted by chubbyInc:
Sony is greedy. like all other businesses out there. Them Sony fanboys should be happy there are companies like Toshiba and Microsoft, that is way the PS3 and the Blu-Ray drives are lower in price, if it weren't for competition Sony would **** us all.
And all the Microsoft fanboys should be happy there is a Sony because Microsoft would be trying to steal all our money. That is why the government does whatever possible to keep monopolies from forming. I can almost guarantee that BR manufacturers have a cheaper version of a BR ready launch, but they are a business that wants to make money and was waiting for the right time to lower prices. With the recent price cut by the competition, they will cut there prices and there will be an article on this here website about the sudden surge of BR sales. And as much as the HDDVD backers want to deny it, there are lots of people who bought a PS3 because it was the cheapest BR player on the market at the time.

2816.11.2007 17:13

Quote:
Originally posted by chubbyInc:
Sony is greedy. like all other businesses out there. Them Sony fanboys should be happy there are companies like Toshiba and Microsoft, that is way the PS3 and the Blu-Ray drives are lower in price, if it weren't for competition Sony would **** us all.
And all the Microsoft fanboys should be happy there is a Sony because Microsoft would be trying to steal all our money. That is why the government does whatever possible to keep monopolies from forming. I can almost guarantee that BR manufacturers have a cheaper version of a BR ready launch, but they are a business that wants to make money and was waiting for the right time to lower prices. With the recent price cut by the competition, they will cut there prices and there will be an article on this here website about the sudden surge of BR sales. And as much as the HDDVD backers want to deny it, there are lots of people who bought a PS3 because it was the cheapest BR player on the market at the time.
Monopolies competing with each other is not "better" than one monopoly...

2916.11.2007 17:16

if they are competing for the same thing, they aren't a monopoly.

3017.11.2007 14:12

Quote:
What you have just said is a load of rubbish! With portable HHD and DVD discs available, i'm sure they still don't use Betamax!
Do you know that for sure? I have a cousin that worked for a TV station until recently, and they used Betamax tapes...

311.12.2007 21:38

it is good to see that hd dvd is winnig and after whatslysoft stated about hd dvd being the better of the two due to of it having no regional coding to deal with is very appealing.

321.12.2007 22:27

Originally posted by borhan9:
it is good to see that hd dvd is winnig and after whatslysoft stated about hd dvd being the better of the two due to of it having no regional coding to deal with is very appealing.
Uummmmm HDVD has regoin coding, they will be using the same setup BR is using.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/06/..._region_coding/


least last tiem I checked it was like the BR setup,they might have changed it now.

332.12.2007 10:14
hughjars
Inactive

Originally posted by zippyDSM:
HDVD has regoin coding
- They do have it in theory (for high def) but they have chosen not to use it.

There are no region coded HD DVD discs out now.

Where people sometimes get confused is that the SD DVD part of any combo disc is still region coded (thanks to DVD Forum rules) as is SD DVD playback on HD DVD hardware
(which all HD DVD players must be able to do - it is part of the spec as 'registered' with the DVD Forum).

IIRC there is a hack for some gen 1 & 2 HD DVD players (for SD DVD playback) but nothing yet for the new gen 3.

Originally posted by zippyDSM:
the will be using the same setup BR is using.
- Blu-ray has region coding on their high def discs.

It is true that some of their older catalogue titles go out as 'region 0' (and are not region coded).

There are no signs of any hacks for Blu-ray (they're having a big enough job trying to get around BD+).

But Blu-ray hardware (for those players which can play DVD too - SD DVD playback is not a mandatory part of the Blu-ray spec btw) is, like HD DVD hardware, region coded for SD DVD playback as well as high def playback.

(that's why importing high def titles is so much easier with HD DVD)
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Dec 2007 @ 10:18

342.12.2007 17:49

my comment i made about hd dvd not having regional coding comes from the anydvd beta release article that was posted earlier they stated that it did not have any coding not me. just claryfying.

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