eWeek: "Blu-ray Burning Its High-def DVD Rival"

[jmcc]

From eWeek.com:

Blu-ray Burning Its High-def DVD Rival
By Thomas K. Arnold, Reuters
April 23, 2007

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter)—Of the high-definition discs bought by consumers in the first quarter, 70 percent were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 30 percent were HD DVD, according to sales figures provided by trade publication Home Media Magazine.
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Blu-ray took the lead in February, and its percentage of total sales accelerated to the point where it accounted for nearly three out of every four high-definition discs sold in March.

What's more, when given the choice, consumers are going with Blu-ray. Warner Home Video released "The Departed" the same day, February 13, in both formats. Between then and March 31, consumers bought 53,640 copies of the film on Blu-ray Disc and 31,590 on HD DVD, according to Home Media's market research, based on studio estimates and Nielsen VideoScan point-of-sale data.

Research also shows that eight of the 10 top-selling high-definition titles in the first quarter were on Blu-ray Disc. At the top of the list was "Casino Royale," which sold through to consumers an estimated 59,680 units in the period. The Blu-ray Disc edition of "Departed" finished second, while the HD DVD version of that Oscar-winning film placed third.

From January 1-March 31, consumers bought almost 1.2 million high-definition discs—832,530 Blu-ray units and 359,300 HD DVDs—according to Home Media Magazine. In March, consumers bought 335,980 Blu-ray Discs and 119,570 HD DVDs.

Since the high-def format's inception—HD DVD launched in April 2006, while Blu-ray got rolling two months later—more than 2.14 million discs have been purchased by consumers: 1.2 million Blu-ray Discs and about 937,500 HD DVDs.

Observers aren't surprised by the disparity, noting that Blu-ray Disc enjoys the support of five of the six major studios, while HD DVD is supported by three of them. Three studios—Sony, Disney and Fox—are exclusively in the Blu-ray camp, as is mini-major Lionsgate. Paramount and Warner support both formats. Universal is the only major studio to release titles only in the HD DVD format, which backers claim is easier and cheaper to produce.

[st39.6]

hell yeah, finally some good news!!
Man I desperately need to get the money for PS3 !!

[Kn'thrak]

Isn't this because there are more movies on BR than HDVD? & movie players too?
I've personally heard bad things about BR with their java systems is crappy & the HDVD having much better writing in its code thus allowing a better menu system

[j7wild]

well as a Retailer I have no idea what I sell more of: Blu-Ray or HD DVD...



I should check my POS records and see just for fun...

[chizzace]

Man I desperately need to get the money for PS3 !!

Dude, I was totally thinking the same thing.

[jmcc]

Isn't this because there are more movies on BR than HDVD? & movie players too?
I've personally heard bad things about BR with their java systems is crappy & the HDVD having much better writing in its code thus allowing a better menu system

Any internet links to follow that Kn'thrak?

[st39.6]

I think you´re wrong. BD doesnt support Java yet, there are no problems. Or it supports only some lower versions, however it was said, that Sony works on improvements.

"Isn't this because there are more movies on BR than HDVD? & movie players too?"
- isnt that what its all about from the beginning?

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

Java software support

At the 2005 JavaOne trade show, it was announced that Sun Microsystems' Java cross-platform software environment would be included in all Blu-ray Disc players as a mandatory part of the standard. Java will be used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray Discs, as opposed to the method used on DVD video discs, which uses pre-rendered MPEG segments and selectable subtitle pictures, which is considerably more primitive and less seamless. Java creator James Gosling, at the conference, suggested that the inclusion of a Java Virtual Machine as well as network connectivity in BD devices will allow updates to Blu-ray Discs via the Internet, adding content such as additional subtitle languages and promotional features that are not included on the disc at pressing time. This Java Version will be called BD-J and will be a subset of the Globally Executable MHP (GEM) standard. GEM is the world-wide version of the Multimedia Home Platform standard.

[j7wild]

I will be damn; I checked our POS Inventory today for the last 6 months and we do sell more Blu-Ray Hardware and Software than HD DVD Hardware and Software!!

According to the computer it's almost a 3 to 1 Ratio!!



As a matter of fact, we even stock more Blu-Ray Titles than HD DVD Titles because the HD DVD Titles are not moving much.

[jmcc]

Well, tell me if you find something wrong with Java because I have Sun Microsystems at the same level as Apple. I am not saying they can't be wrong or that they are perfect, but they are very good.

For example, I am waiting for a good release of their OpenSolaris OS to try it on my PC and to use it frequently. I suspect it will be a good OS and I will use it with GNU/Linux.

Edit: Well Airbus is also very good and see all the problems they are having with the A380...