PerryD

I admit that the HD-A3 price drop to $130 or so, makes it tempting to use as a upconverting player that plays HD-DVDs, but it does seem a little too late. I'll have to see if Amazon will do another 3 free movies instantly deal with this price, then I'll consider getting an extra unit.

Ocelot

hey, that's what made me pulled the trigger...

BuckNaked2k

I tend to agree with you. Everyone I know says "that's nice" when they see a movie in HD at my house with 5.1, etc. Then they go home and play rented DVDs in that little drawer that comes out of the bottom of their TV set! "How cool is that!", they say, "all in one!"

I know the argument: HD is coming, 2/17/2009! For most, this is meaningless. It may require a new box from their cable or satellite company. I've had several friends and co-workers ask me about this. My answer sent them away relieved that they would not have to buy anything, or do anything to maintain the status quo.

nmr1723

This is a nice little marketing strategy, but one that ultimately makes me worry about HD Media. Many people think they currently have HD players... when in fact they only have cheap "upconverting" players. I think the marketing and selling of these "upconverting" players are really hurting HDM...especially when they say "output to near high definition picture quality". It just seems to me that they are saying HD is great...but SD is almost just as good with "upconversion". I think most of us can contend that SD DVD is not even close to HD Media. Yes, some HD titles are mediocre...but the difference with most titles is pretty striking for both PQ & AQ.

Also, it seems redundant to me. Most of our displays have decent scalers already and upconversion may not even make a difference.

kvrdave

I agree. It made me think that Toshiba's announcement is more about making sure that no one wins if they can't win. Perhaps the strategy is to make it so bad and confuse consumers enough that Sony has to pay them off to play ball.

GreenMonkey

Yes, it will. I think honestly HD-DVD with its combo discs, consistent standards and lower prices had a better chance of being less niche. But no matter what, they've always been headed to nicheville. I'm amazed at all the people that think otherwise. I generally just figure they're out of touch with the more financially-squeezed section of America.

Most people say "wow that looks awesome". And continue watching SD DVDs on their SDTVs. Or at best, SD DVDs on their sub-37" HDTVs at 10ft+ where even I am hard-pressed to care about the difference.

kvrdave

I don't think the cost is a big deal. If we were currently using VHS and the prices for BD came out, people would flock to buy them. It is a cost compared to upgrade that is the problem. Most typical people will upgrade if there is no difference in cost (when they need a new player), but won't see the reason to pay more for either format over what they have, imo.

It is similar to the cost of really great speakers. When you get to the upper end stuff, you pay 5x the price for 2% better speakers. For most people it doesn't matter enough.

juanmgonzalez

It was also on Amazon

RoboDad

I know you didn't mean it this way, but this does come across as somewhat elitist. Most people, when they see (and hear) a great commercial theater setup, generally say "wow that looks (and sounds) awesome". I know I do. But that doesn't mean that I want to buy a 35mm (or 4k digital) projector and a 100 ft screen, and build an auditorium large enough to handle it.

Similarly, for many people, even though they can see the difference in how good your HT looks, it isn't as high a priority for them as it is for you (or me ). Virtually every time we have guests over to watch a movie (and our house is by far the preferred movie viewing location in our neighborhood), we get "wow" comments, even from people who have been there a dozen or more times.

An entire generation or more of TV viewers never watched anything on screens larger than 25", and most did watch from distances of at least 10 ft. That didn't really impede their ability to enjoy what they watched.

But, with all that said, public perception is changing. Most of the people I know are upgrading to HDTVs (it started last year, but it's really starting to pick up steam this year), and the overwhelming size of choice is 42". So as 42" becomes the common denominator, more people will be able to see the difference in their homes, and (I believe) they will be thinking more about these new fangled high definition discs over the course of the next year or two.

DVD Polizei

What's helping the HDTV buying, are the grandpas and grandmas being told their current televisions will be obsolete in 2009.

True_Story1011

Ruth and I sit about 8 1/2 feet away from the Television. Sometimes during some programs I'll scootch towards the lip of the sofa to watch certain sequences in movies... This would constitute a 6 1/2 foot distance.

namja

It is changing ... but at what pace? The sales projection for 2008 indicates that the majority of TV sales will still be 32"/37" and smaller. And that's not counting the millions of TVs already in people's homes where almost all of them are less than 40".

More on topic, I *sigh* at Toshiba's efforts. But maybe they are trying to get paid off by Sony (as kvrdave pointed out above).

GreenMonkey

Agreed. I'm just saying, most folks think it's cool, but they aren't interested in investing themselves. At best they are buying 42" HDTVs if they even have HD. The average is indeed more like 32" or 37".

Toshiba is pricing their HD-DVD units against upscaling DVD players. About the last move left to them. Honestly the A3 at $125 is a great buy compared to other name-brand upscaling DVD players. Dunno if it will do them any good, though. Would have been a great move last quarter.

Ocelot

Er, HD is already here... it's the analog signal that's gonna be replaced by the digital signal by 2/17/2009. So, for people got those old TVs run on analog signal, they need to get a new TV or a switch box that convert the signal, which they can get for free. However, it's not like they don't have to anything, they probably don't need to pay anything new, but still need to do something.

cardaway

There will always be a large percentage of the population that consider watching a movie in the theater a unique experience. To them, no home theater will ever be good enough. No matter the quality, it's still a TV, not a theater.

They are the people that will always be happy with simple TV and audio setups. While they may say "wow" at your home theater, they go back to theirs and accept tiny displays and weak sound. When they really want to be "wowed" again they will visit their friends or go to the movies.

Given that, there will always be a market for theaters and less than home theater quality equipment and software.

RoboDad

I think that those projections may be a bit misleading though. If I pick up an additional TV for the bedroom, since the prices on 32-37" sets are so good, I will be contributing to those numbers, but that doesn't mean that I don't also already own a larger, more "HD-worthy" set. My only point is that the sales figures for those smaller sets may not be indicative of primary HDTV purchases.

Back on topic, I hesitate to respond to Toshiba's announcement, since I have already been unfairly branded once as an HD DVD basher. All I will say is that I am very disappointed. Either it is a fire sale (which seems somewhat likely, but not necessarily the most likely scenario), or they are showing that they have no interest in actually helping HDM move closer to the mainstream, but would rather force things back to a stalemate, thus killing both formats. As someone else said, it feels to me as if Toshiba is thinking "if we can't win, let's make sure no one does."

And, if they do accomplish the goal of restoring a stalemate (based on studio allegiances and sales figures) by the end of the year, then I'll just bail on both formats. It isn't worth my time and money to help these two fight their silly little war.

But for now, they have only made my allegiance more clear. I will not buy another HD DVD (or Toshiba) product of any kind.

cardaway

I'll be doing the same thing (buying a <42" set for the bedroom), maybe as soon as this weekend. The sales numbers are not misleading from a size standpoint. The sales figures are what they are.

What I think is misleading is saying that the smaller sizes represent people that don't care about HD quality picture. In the case of the 30" range HD sets I believe a large portion of the recent sales are simply being installed in places that cannot accept anything bigger.

Kal-El

What movie is that incredibly hilarious youtube video adapted from?

I'm actually someone who hasn't made the HD leap yet although the wife and I were leaning more towards the HD-DVD side of the fence. But I told her after I read about the WB announcement that we may have to go with Blu-Ray now.

TGM

"Downfall". Fantastic german WWII movie.

RoboDad

Yeah, that's basically what I was trying to say.

People buying 32-27" sets doesn't indicate that those people don't care about HD, or that they don't already own (or intend to purchase) a larger set for a location that can accommodate it.

The way I see it, looking back on TV set sizes of the past (from, say, 15-20 years ago), today's 32-37" sets are analogous to the old 19-21" CRT sets, and the 42" variety are going into places where people would have had a 30-34" CRT set (which was a very commonly owned size, even 5 years ago).

MikeShaynePI

Hail Mary.

Incomplete pass.

Josh Z

What do you care whether HDM remains a niche or becomes mainstream? If the movies keep coming, what does it matter to you, personally?

I don't understand this logic at all. If there isn't a "winner" in this competition, you're going to give up on High Definition entirely and go back to DVD? Why? What do you gain by that? It makes no sense.

Mr. Cinema

The Digital Bits reports that their sources told them it appears Toshiba has gotten Universal and Paramount to delay any Blu-ray announcements until late March/early April. Perhaps Toshiba is using this period of time to sell as much of their inventory as they can. Universal couldn't produce BDs overnight as it does take time to work out all of the deals with the BDA, so this extra couple of months is no big deal.

kvrdave

Here is the one reason I care. HDM stays niche = $35/disc. HDM goes mainstream = $15/disc.

Just like the laserdisc.

Mr. Cinema

Which is a better scenario for HDM to have more movies released: being a niche or mainstream format?

If it stays a niche format and player sales aren't as high due to that, would the studios be in a hurry to release all of their classic titles?