Tag: HD-DVD

If you ended up on the losing side of the great HD media wars, then you may have a few obsolete HD-DVD titles sitting on your shelf as a depressing reminder of the perils of being an early adopter. If some of those happen to be Warner Bros. titles, though, you are in luck. For $4.95 per title (up to 25 for a $6.95 shipping fee), you can rip out the cover art of your HD-DVD and turn it in for a ...

Just when you thought the format wars were over, along comes an upstart called New Medium Enterprises (NME) with its Versatile Multilayer Disc, or VMD. VMDs were originally set to debut in 2006, but for currently unknown reasons are only now making their debut. The discs and players are much cheaper to produce than either Blu-ray or HD-DVD because it uses the same red lasers that standard DVD ...

Yesterday was a bad day for HD DVD. We've already declared HD DVD dead in the water, but not everyone has come around just yet. Yesterday both Best Buy and Netflix helped bury the Toshiba-backed HD DVD coalition. Netflix announced that it would begin exclusively carrying Blu-Ray discs, and Best Buy will continue to carry HD DVDs and HD DVD players, but will "recommend" BluRay to customers. The HD ...

It appears that the high-definition disc format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is nearing the mop-up stages, as Blu-Ray sales have accounted for 93% of the market share for set-top players since the second week of January. Coming on the heels of Warner's announcement to support Blu-ray rather than its rival, HD-DVD, these figured indicate that HD-DVD could be in its death throes. Interestingly, ...

Wondering whether to go with Blu-ray or HD-DVD? The decision is pretty clear, if the lightning fast drama and events over the past few days at CES are any indication. First, last Friday, Warner Bros. announced it was switching its exclusive deal for next-gen disc availability of its movies (everything from 'The Matrix' to 'Lord of the RIngs') from HD-DVD to Blu-ray. This was enough to get the ...

The Beta vs. VHS battle was long enough ago that many purchasers of a high-definition video player don't remember the trials and tribulations of early adopters back in the 80's. Neither, apparently, do executives from Sony and Toshiba, who, despite numerous meetings, failed to come up with a shared format they could all agree upon. Now the formats from the two companies are locked in a life and ...

In the war of Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD, each of the opposing camps seems to think that having an exclusivity deal is a powerful weapon. It started in June, with Blockbuster making a big deal about going exclusive for Blu-ray in its brick-and-mortar stores (despite still offering both formats in its Netflix-like online rental service). Most recently, it was Paramount going exclusive to HD-DVD, meaning ...

No that photo is not doctored. The Toshiba HD-A2 that we reported just a few short days ago had dropped to $200 is being marked down even further at select Wal-Mart stores. Check here to see if the sale is coming to a store near you. The sale is this Friday (tomorrow) only. Price-wise, Blu-ray's back is against the wall at this point. The fight for HD supremacy is far from over, but with the ...

While next-gen disc format Blu-ray languishes in the overpriced gadget ghetto, competing format HD-DVD and the players that play it are breaking free by dropping in price to a popular holiday gift level. ar. Hot on the heels of the release of the Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player, retailers across the country are dropping the price of the previous-generation HD-A2 below the all important $200 ...

In the battle of the video game consoles there's also been a second battle playing out in the background: Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD, which are the competing next-gen, high-def disc formats. Sony's Blu-ray is supported by the company's own PlayStation 3, which can play Blu-ray movies right out of the box. Microsoft's Xbox 360, meanwhile, supports the HD-DVD camp, but makes it optional, so you have to ...

When the CD was invented (25 years ago), it was sold as a replacement for audio cassettes and records not only because of its higher quality audio, but also because of its longevity. Unlike a cassette or LP, they told us, there's nothing that rubs against the CD as it plays, meaning -- in theory -- it could last forever. Turns out that's not so true. Web designer Dan Koster has discovered that 15% ...

The high definition disc format war wages on. Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD trading blows yet again by trading regular press releases tauting the domination of their respective format. Last month Sony was on the receiving end with stats showing that HD-DVD sales were gaining momentum faster than Blu-ray, but now it's Sony's turn to gloat, with the company's format racking up twice the sales ...

Seems last week's buzz about Target dropping the HD-DVD format from their stores was, well, a little less than factually based, and we confess we were caught up in the spin as well. An AP report talking about Target promoting Blu-ray in stores was misinterpreted to mean that the company was going to exclusively sell Blu-ray in stores. As it turns out that's not the case -- Target will continue ...

If you're already an Xbox 360 owner, the cheapest way to dive in to the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD battle has always been to pick up the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360. Now, Microsoft has made it even cheaper, cutting the price by $20 to $179, and even more enciting, including the drive as part of Toshiba's five free movie deal. You can pick five films of your choice out of a selection of 15 that are, ...

Samsung has announced the introduction of three new high-definition disc players, including one that will play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs. The format war for who will conquer DVD is still raging on, leaving many of you wondering which is the format to support, lest you get stuck with a modern equivalent of Sony Betamax. The BD-UP5000 Duo HD makes the decision a little easier with its ...