Media Wonk

You know, maybe there's truth in what he says. While it's nice to have a BluRay player, maybe we're all going to tire of the constant upgrading our home entertainment player and repurchasing the same content over and over again. I mean aren't there talks of now something like SuperHD that will be sweeping our wallets in the next few years? Besides, let's go green and abandon the plastic wrap and cases the BD's come in and join the download initative that Apple and Amazon are marketing. It's mostly a rental scheme, but with the constant upgrade trends, aren't we really just renting the content afterall? Besides this, before the DVD revolution took place, I heard promises that the DVD will be the format that will last forever. I have vhs tapes that have lasted longer because of the annoying issue of slight scratches to the DVD causing skips or unplayable content. How much worse will this be with Blueray or any other cd based format?

He sounds like such a poor looser. Does anyone take this seriously? Do they really think their DVD will look as good as a Blu-ray? As a professional Imaging Technician, I can say confidently that it is IMPOSSIBLE. The image on a DVD can be interpolated using the most advanced techniques but it will never look as good, as sharp, or as vibrant as a Blu-ray. Not to mention the uncompressed 7.1 surround sound and interactive capabilities. Blu-ray is far beyond standard DVD and his statement only go to show how disappointed and pathetic he is.

So, if their "upconverting" DVD players will look as good as HD DVD, did HD DVD look that bad, and why did Toshiba make an HD-DVD player if it looked no better than their "upconverting" DVD tech? I have had a Sony Blu-ray player since December of 2006, and I have seen many "upconverting" DVD players, and nothing compared to Blu-ray. "Upconveting" DVD's look worse in many cases as it only aplies the limitations of standard def DVD's. I'm glad HD-DVD is dead, and I will not buy anything from Toshiba. Mr. Nishida's idea of quality apparently rhymes with his last name.

While much of this may be true, the tone and attitude of this response is off-putting. To act like they really knew all along that next gen DVD's are a stop gap measure and that they were just kidding about pushing their format anyway is ridiculous. Yes, next gen 2K systems (BluRay) will probably only be around for the next 5-7 years. Sony has 4k systems in the beta stages and 16k is foreseeable (though highly impractical) in the near future. I'd even bet that Toshiba cut a deal with Sony because you'll probably start to see some HD-DVD features incorporated in BluRay soon. To suggest that upconverting standard def DVD is the same experience as watching BluRay (or HD-DVD) is like saying watching a DVD was just like watching a really good VHS tape. Come on. And the potential that streaming hi-def material will be a good way to leap frog over these hi-def machines sounds good, but the hi-def machines are here now and broadband capable of streaming hi-def into homes everywhere is either a more expensive alternative (if available), or simply doesn't exist at all. BluRay machines will become very affordable in the near future, making it a very accessible, very enjoyable experience which is available now. The consumer who is capable of watching DVD's from a computer hooked up to a big screen TV is a far smaller group than the consumer who can buy a BluRay player and take it home and hook it up to that big screen. This myopic attitude may continue to reduce their strategic business units even further. Just ask GM, Ford, or Chrysler how this attitude worked out for them...

Aside from the fact that this is exactly what you would expect him to say, he is right, more or less.

Toshiba are full of delusional idiots if they think consumers cannot see a difference between 480I (and it is 480I, not P... the DVD spec does not allow true progressive video) and 1080P. 480I upsampled is not 1080P. It is 480I with all the artefacts and defects we assumed were just part of life with home video blown up to two and a quarter times the size. Toshiba are just exhibiting a case of sour grapes that they bet on a partnership with Microsoft and lost to almost the entire rest of the industry. Downloads are a decade away from feasibility at best, and that is to say nothing about them becoming acceptable in market terms. And to think I almost felt sorry for Toshiba upon hearing that they had partnered with Microsoft in this mess. Now, they could go bankrupt and I would laugh at them.

By the way, atldsl, the home entertainment industry is not the same as the computer industry. The home entertainment industry can survive without forcing customers into a cycle of perpetual upgrading, unlike Microsoft. It took more than half a century after introduction for televisions to become progressive, which is the real selling point of HD. Those of us who understand the reality of the industry would like you to remember: before it has a workable business model, it is nothing more than a pipe dream. The SuperHD you speak of will float around electronics shows or more likely rumour/disinformation mills for a while, then be forgotten about. Stop eating Microsoft's brand of FUD.