Whoever can bring the price of a decent player in at under $100, and which format decides to sell disks at under $20 street price for recently available movies will uptimately win the battle regardless of which format might be technically superior.
But so long as players remain at $300 or more and a typical movie costs $25 or $30 on the street neither format will win, and indeed both formats will remain esoteric items mostly owned by a limited number of videophiles.
Any wider adoption awaits lower prices. The basic problem is that for most consumers a $25 player and a 480p disk offers a quality viewing experience, and the rest of it is too expensive and just a marginal gain. Consumers might eventually shift in significant numbers for something incrementally better, but not at today's prices.
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Topic - format wars: I predict - DavidLD 06:40:30 08/21/07 (43)
- I predict TOshibas latest price drops will win the format war. HD will come out on top - Duilawyer 21:22:47 08/21/07 (33)
- My, aren't you fickle - Jack G 05:15:37 08/23/07 (1)
- Yeah, too many people overreacting to format war news. - oscar 06:18:21 08/23/07 (0)
- What price drops? - David Aiken 13:29:56 08/22/07 (7)
- RE: What price drops? - Jack G 05:09:05 08/23/07 (1)
- Wrong again - David Aiken 13:20:54 08/23/07 (0)
- There's all sorts of rumors flying around the price of HD DVD players will be under $200 by Xmas. - oscar 18:41:49 08/22/07 (2)
- "Even with $200/$300 players, the mass market might balk at $30 movies." - Not if they're like this: - Audiophilander 07:48:30 08/23/07 (1)
- RE: "Even with $200/$300 players, the mass market might balk at $30 movies." - Not if they're like this: - oscar 09:16:48 08/23/07 (0)
- $349 for the A20. nt - Duilawyer 18:31:50 08/22/07 (1)
- Hmmmmm… - David Aiken 00:39:34 08/23/07 (0)
- Sorry To Hear That About The 301 - Robertc88 07:34:41 08/22/07 (1)
- the Blu Ray works most of the time. - Duilawyer 07:44:09 08/22/07 (0)
- Junior doesn't want a Toshiba lemon under the Xmas tree...junior wants a PS3 nt - Jazz Inmate 22:00:33 08/21/07 (20)
- Perhaps, but Jr's parents don't want a game console in their living room (nt) - Jack G 04:51:05 08/22/07 (19)
- They probably want a media center that can support photos and music, as well as HD movies - Jazz Inmate 10:00:29 08/22/07 (9)
- RE: They probably want a media center that can support photos and music, as well as HD movies - GoingCoastal 18:31:00 08/22/07 (0)
- Wrong age group-still aimed at kids (nt) - Jack G 13:21:04 08/22/07 (1)
- not really NT - Jazz Inmate 13:43:47 08/22/07 (0)
- And don't look now, but Sony is adding a dual HDTV receiver to the PS3 - Jazz Inmate 13:12:14 08/22/07 (5)
- Looks like Sony is planning on HD downloads - Jack G 13:26:21 08/22/07 (4)
- you already can download HD content...Sony is planning on a media center - Jazz Inmate 13:42:29 08/22/07 (3)
- I'd Say The PS3 Is Grand Larceny Versus Other Current BD Players - Robertc88 05:55:24 08/23/07 (1)
- PS is a slot loader, which I'm not a big fan of. - oscar 10:40:20 08/23/07 (0)
- "PlayTV will be available in UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain early in 2008, with other PAL territories to - Jack G 14:03:30 08/22/07 (0)
- The Games Don't Need To Be The Priority - Robertc88 07:14:36 08/22/07 (6)
- What will entice the masses ... - Quadzilla 10:48:11 08/22/07 (0)
- I almost bought a PS3 with no intentional of playing games.... - oscar 07:43:08 08/22/07 (0)
- True, but... - Jack G 07:40:15 08/22/07 (3)
- Kids Will Be Hounding Parents - Robertc88 08:22:18 08/22/07 (2)
- RE: Kids Will Be Hounding Parents-for a Wii and an iPhone ;-) - 4season 13:13:22 08/22/07 (0)
- RE: Kids Will Be Hounding Parents - Jack G 08:50:47 08/22/07 (0)
- obviously the better argument! The idea that the game console will determine - Duilawyer 06:28:07 08/22/07 (1)
- It's a media center (photos, music) more than a game console NT - Jazz Inmate 09:59:28 08/22/07 (0)
- Premium product, premium margins - 4season 15:18:38 08/21/07 (0)
- It's the war I despise. - grantv 12:32:41 08/21/07 (3)
- RE: It's the war I despise. - Jazz Inmate 16:06:30 08/21/07 (2)
- Maybe.... - grantv 16:12:12 08/21/07 (1)
- I'm Hooked And Jealous! :) - Robertc88 06:35:12 08/22/07 (0)
- That's fine, the early adopters can pay that premium price. - oscar 08:28:57 08/21/07 (3)
- same for every new format - Jazz Inmate 10:49:31 08/21/07 (2)
- RE: same for every new format - Bubba 21:45:11 08/21/07 (1)
- I think Blu-ray is super cheap - Jazz Inmate 21:58:41 08/21/07 (0)