Tag Archive for 'hd'

07
May

HD-DVD is dead. Blu-ray might die with it.

By Joshua Nard 0 Comments
Categories: High Definition and New Media

After a tumultuous battle between two HD formats, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, the war was declared over in January this year when Sony’s payout to Time-Warner pictures shifted the balance of studio adoption into Blu-ray’s favor.  Toshiba, the major hardware supporter, announced they would stop production of HD-DVD players.  The consensus appeared to be in favor of a single format.  After stores have offered rebates on the return of HD-DVD players, Blu-ray sales numbers should reflect an increase.  This is not the case.  The problems is that manufacturers have actually raised the prices to double the cost of a mid-level Toshiba A-30 HD-DVD player over Christmas pricing.  In return, they have alienated consumers migrating to HD televisions and severely affected their chance  at global adoption.  This could have been easy swept up during the media attention in January/February by offering a reasonably priced alternative.  Unfortunately, Sony still has not learned their lesson from the Betamax wars of yesteryear that I recall in the early 80’s.  Just because you have either a superior format - in the case of the former Betamax, or a victorious format of Blu-ray, doesn’t mean you have won.  Victory is true market adoption by overwhelming market share.  Judging from the numbers, Blu-ray has a long way to go.  They are quickly losing the game with overpriced players.  Numbers show that the sale of HD-DVD players have actually increased while Blu-ray players have decreased.  The talk of a recession has not appeared to move the price down and consumers only get smarter with their money.  The clarity in the Blu-ray is outstanding on an HD television and would be a shame to see it disappear.

What will become the next format?  What ever fills the void within cost reach of the average consumer.  It’s too late to develop another removable media format.  Most likely it will be a media device such as the Apple TV or VUDU priced in the cusp of consumer adoption of under $250 dollars.  Rentals will once again become a dominate player when low price, usability and day and date availability is accessible to the average consumer.  These media players, if they move aggressively while Blu-ray becomes docile in pricing, will leave Sony with another Betamax format.

15
Apr

Will new media overtake broadcast?

By Joshua Nard 1 Comment
Categories: Broadcast, Internet and New Media

Yesterday at NAB 2008 in Las Vegas, Red announced their new 5K Epic and 3K Scarlet camera continuing to push the industry in a direction that is very exciting.  Although they are not taking pre-orders, with a delivery of early 2009, the rumor is the 3K Scarlet camera price is going to hover in the 3-4 thousand dollar range.  If you need a catch up:  That’s a rather inexpensive camera that hovers above the quality of an HD image and just below a Film 4K image.  Having seen the amazing 4K clarity of Peter Jackson’s Crossing the Line last year at NAB on a 4K projector, I can understand how film celluloid is going to be replaced.  Less people are going to the theater with their new HD home installations. You also have pro-sumer and professional content developers that will soon have the capacity to raise the quality of their production beyond HD for a reasonable price.  The question I raise is this:  Will HD broadcast networks and film studios be able to compete in a few years?  Today’s television SD and HD standards obviously are created to keep compliance with consumer products that have been established and maintained by the industry NTSC and FCC governing board.  Two things can happen in the next two years:  A inexpensive introduction of a 37″ or higher computer display that displays resolutions that exceed HD 1080p (the highest ATSC standard). The second is a higher efficient codec that can delivery lossless quality within manageable download times.  This is going to happen eventually.  The thought is that the film and television industry may not have an advantageous quality edge in the future.  Perhaps this is why organizations such as the MPAA as so freaked out.  If consumers in the future witness the ability to see films in 4K and the costs are affordable, the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” is going to take on a whole new meaning.  Story is still king and I am left baffled why people send me links to youtube such as a skateboarding dog.  As the dusto of what I describe as “internet awe” clears, decent content with well written subject matter are emerging.    The near future may be that your future movie trailer could be saying “coming soon to your 4K home theater” and possibly “starring Mr. and Mrs. Jones.”  With the ease of posting to a growing youtube community, will the dominate streaming video posters in the adoption of this not too future technology create a standard over the regulation of the networks and film industry?  Will the mass market create a better market?