Last-Minute Delays Looming for HD-DVD Launch?

An anonymous reader writes: "No official comment from Toshiba or Warner, but both Best Buy and Amazon revised ship dates for initial HD-DVD hardware and software on Friday, suggesting that high-def DVD enthusiasts chomping at the bit for next Tuesday's arrival of the first HD-DVD players and discs may have to wait a few days more."

Revised Shipping Dates

Should have went with Fed Ex over straight parcel package!

Snooze

I'm sure the alpha-geeks will be camping around the block to be the first ones in line at midnight to get this fine technology!

late

longer delay wont matter to me I dont want it with DRM Crap

Someone has to say it:

Universal's "launch" title for HD-DVD is 'Serenity'. Mind you, I like Firefly and all that, but have I missed something? Is Serenity selling DVDs like hotcakes? Or is this Universal's way of announcing mediocre 'wait-and-see' interest in HD-DVD as part of the current format wars?

Then again, I might consider an HD-DVD player to watch Serenity. If, of course, I could afford a TV that would play it back.

Re:Someone has to say it:

Is Serenity selling DVDs like hotcakes?

It sold solidly in DVD upon release (extremely well in comparison to its box office) , and is popular with an audience that is relatively high on early adopters. It's a reasonable choice for an early HD-DVD release.

Will we ever be able to fit a large HDD on a disc?

On a slightly different topic, I wonder when, if ever, we will see storage alternatives you can actually use to make a full backup of a modern hard drive. I don't know about others here, but HD-DVD wouldn't even cut it for my laptop's comparatively small drive (by today's standards), let alone the 300-500 GB drives making their way into everyone's computers nowadays.

I guess it's always been like this, thinking back to the floppy, CD, DVD, etc. Anyway. Not to say that HD-DVD won't help, but I guess the question is if discs are even the right medium for data backup. It would definitely be one of the most attractive, if it had the capacity. Anyway..

Re:Will we ever be able to fit a large HDD on a di

Hard disks, unlike removable discs, have the advantage of being able to have the relation of the heads and media very, very precisely engineered, which means data can be laid more densely on the media. So unless there's a major breakthrough on optical density that has no magnetic denisty equivalent, fixed-media disk systems should always be able to handle more data than removable-media.

As a result, the right medium for backup, assuming a willingness to make the investment, is and always has been tape. Because it packs much more surface area into a single reasonably-dimensioned package than can be done with a removable disc, it will always be better at holding bulk data.

No Delay, Get them Today!

Actually, there are reports and pictures that people have already gotten a hold of HD-DVD players and discs ahead of the actual release date from their local Best Buy.

See this page for more detalis/pics:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=66 7248&page=1&pp=30 [avsforum.com]

Doom9 Comment

I thought this comment posted on Doom9 was interesting about HD-DVD:

HD DVD was launched early. Yesterday, the first HD DVD players were being sold in Japan and a reader managed to grab one and two discs, and he was not pleased. I haven't managed to get any details yet as to which codec was used and if the disc was single layer or double layer, but 1080i content encoded with MPEG-2 to a single layer HD DVD would indeed be a disaster.. two times the space for 4 times the amount of pixels - you do the math.

ast-Minute Delays = Years for geeks like me

I use Linux. I use it to enjoy all the video I watch. I don't own a TV - nor do I want one.

It took ages before a geek named Jon made it possible for me to enjoy DVD discs on my entertainment system (not that it really matters since I playd DVD's on it like five times ever - I get most media from the Internet).

So. HD-DVD is delayed a week or month. So what? I'd be amazed if I'm able to play those on my GNU Linux before 2008 - if ever - regardless of a short delay..

(it should also be noted that I don't notice any difference between divx and DVD anyway, and prefer divx - so I don't really see the point of HD-DVD.. except. Oh way! DRM! The MS & MPAA sponsored "NO PLAYING DVDS FOR YOU LINUX GEEKS"-technology!)

Something I've thought about in the format wars..

People are going to want to buy an HD-DVD player for their HD-TV, there are no Blue-Ray TVs to go with the Blueray players. I wonder how much of an effect that issue alone will have on the zombie masses?

Ummmm

I already watch HD content on my computer for free. Why would I want to buy a player when I can just hook my computer up to my tv and play the discs from there?

Missing the boat

My impression is that most people are fairly happy with current TV resolutions. They may not be great, but they are adequate, and in some ways it may be a mistake to go with higher resolutions. The future seems to be pathed not in more pixels, but in pixels that can go on a variety of devices. By this I mean people are more and more interested in watching TV or obtaining media from the Internet. To me, the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray debate has been almost comical, since companies are fighting over control of the next generation of a dying technology, meanwhile Apple and others are working towards creating systems that have equal or even less resolution that todays media, but is far more portable and that you can obtain without leaving your room. Download media from the net onto your computer. Take it with you on your video iPod or other similar device and watch it while you are waiting to see your doctor. Or if you are staying home, watch it on your TV in your living room as it is streamed over your house's wireless connection. This is where the future is at, not on a overly DRMed disk.

Am I the only one..

... who doesn't care one bit about HD DVD/Blu Ray right now? I get the feeling they're launching this new format to a population that largely doesn't give a toss. Very few people outside the tech/geek groups know about this.

Look at HDTV. Very few rushed out to buy it. Most people just upgraded as their old TV died. Hell, there's still a majority of content not in hi-def.

Oh well, at least I get to analyze another major industry change as it unfolds. Always interesting :)

Very Clever

Considering that many geeks like me have been all over HD DVD and Blue Ray technology for a long time now, offering Serenity at launch is a very clever move indeed. If HD DVD provides as great of a picture as it is cracked up to, geeks will be buying up HD DVD and players and a copy of Serenity like hotcakes.

In fact, they oughta bundle some of these players with Serenity. How could a geek resist?

I 4 1 welcome our old-is-new-again DRM overlords!

<Dr. Evil>
Well no....not really.

There's enough problems with standard DVDs and the DRM scheme (with an e, not an a). Yet here people are, ready to rush headlong into FURTHER enshacklement in this new medium.

Wow. Higher resolution. Higher prices. Lower availability. Less rights to fair use.

Whee!

Color me unenthused.

(Translation: Fuck that noise!)

News item for the manufacturers

Hey guys, bad news.

Nobody's waiting. Nobody cares.

Get your shit together, come up with a single format that is backwards compatible, provides a clear benefit, and doesn't screw things up, and THEN people might raise an eyebrow.

DVDA

Needs to further comment.

HDTV

HDTV is absolutely amazing. It is so fun to watch a sports game and see every detail of the players in the game. Technology advances are getting awesome.

Technology Betting

What's the over/under on a later release being caused by looking for more (useless) ways to prevent DVD pirating?

AVSForum has posts and pics of purchased players

According to threads at AVSForum, HD-DVD players went on sale at Best Buy and the like, and some posters there have bought them and posted pics as proof. Doesn't sound like there's a delay to me.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=66 7248 [avsforum.com]

Not Interested

I love technology and all (this is Slashdot) but I, for one, am totally not interested in these newfangled media formats, and I'm yet to hear of anyone in my circles who is. The current DVD resolution works just fine, thanks, and I'd rather the folk pushing these new formats take their DRM-encumbered junk and shove it where the sun don't shine (and I'm not talking the inside of a disk drive here.)

I sincerely hope that most consumers think that this HD-DVD stuff is not worth dropping the cash, and stick with DVD (which has only been mainstream for a small number of years anyways.)

The Next Player...

The next video player I buy will be one that obeys *me* and not the *disc*. I am so sick and tired of seeing the little icon that means "no, you can't do that" when I'm playing DVDs on my current player. Never, ever, ever again will I buy a machine that disobeys me like that. If I want to skip the FBI warning, I had damn well better be able to do so. There is absolutely no reason I should not be able to skip to the middle of the movie as fast as I can turn the machine on and press the FF button. None whatsoever.

Champing at the bit not Chomping

I know it is incredibly common mis-usage at this point but the expression is 'champing at the bit' not chomping. Referece [langston.com]

Best Buy's availability

I can't say this is true for all Best Buy's, but I work in the warehouse at our local BB and we received ours today on a drop shipment in time for our Monday ad (we are closed Easter Sunday). All the stores in our district showed an "On Order" status which means it arrives usually by Fedex or UPS and not on our normal trucks, which makes it hard to put a finger on an instock date because we don't control the trucks they are coming in on. However, all of the stores in our district should have gotten them the same way we did today and I'm assuming it would be the same across the board.

Oh and we setup one of them in-store with Serenity and I must say it looks nice but I'm not totally blown away. The picture was still a little grainy in some of the scenes almost to the point where you were like "ok...", but some of the scenes looked amazing. So overall, I'd say it is an improvement over normal DVDs however, nothing next generation...yet. Once they start actually focusing on getting high quality movies to HD, it will be a lot better I'm sure. Also, it could have been the TV we had it on too. We wanted to put it on a Sony XBR but that was shot down by the higher ups =(

Hope this eases some tension.

Boycott

Don't buy that HD-DVD player without reading this page [fuckbluray.com] first!

Re:Chomping at the bits?

Isn't the same true of *all* new media formats? It's a chicken-and-the-egg problem.

Some don't make it (Beta, Laserdisc, anyone?), some do (CD, DVD, cassette tape, VHS). Nobody serious ever *ostensibly* releases a new format just for the sake of having a new format - there are always new purported gains with a new format, which are what generate the excitement.

But either way, *somebody* has to be a pioneer and stick their necks out in hopes of adoption by others. Otherwise nothing would ever improve.

Re:pricing

the best buy ad has the discs (only three listed) at $24.99 & the player at $499.99