Will HD VOD eclipse Blu-ray/HD DVD?
Posted on 04/02/08 14:37 by Tim Stork                             
Will HD VOD eclipse Blu-ray/HD DVD?

There has been a lot of news about Sony either winning or not winning during the first weeks of 2008. In the meanwhile web rumors indicate that people want HD downloads to take off soon, and that it doesn't matter if this will be on one's computer or HDTV.

The Economist even says that both formats are interim solutions and will be eclipsed by HD VOD. We can't argue that no one wants downloadable HD movies on their PC, but we can say that currently not everyone has the internet connectivity to handle something like that.

Do you think that HD VOD on your computer will eclips formats like HD DVD and Blu-ray?  

Reactions
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By EPiPHON3 (guest), Monday 04 February 2008 16:13
'Do you think that HD VOD on your computer will eclips formats like HD DVD and Blu-ray? ' Eventually. yes. Most people who are into HDM already have high speed internet and people seem to favor HDD storage these days over optical especially younger people. I like optical media/storage but I'm a dying breed. With all the bickering over current HDM formats I think MS/Apple just might get their VOD format after all. You people brought this on yourselves puke
By Ian@CDRLabs.com, Monday 04 February 2008 16:24
Ian@CDRLabs.comI have yet to subscribe to any of these HD VOD services, but from what I've read, the quality of the video isn't that great. Yeah, its in 720p or whatever but to get the file size down, they sacrifice bit rate.
By ron spencer, Monday 04 February 2008 16:28
hi speed is not fast enough for this....esp if you have a family with kids who use internet as well...fibre optic maybe, but as of now this is such a red herring LOL!!!
By NOTinterested (guest), Monday 04 February 2008 17:04
Of course we'll be doing this in the future, no question about that. Everyone else will, not me! These legal VOD services will have more DRM than a blu-ray disc so I'll NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER touch that. I can see it now (partially because I've experienced it): ---You just want to watch a movie, but first you have to download updates and reboot, then more updates, another reboot. If you're lucky the updates work without creating new problems. ---You pay for the same movie several times puke ---They can take away your favorite movie anytime they want (you don't own it you're just renting it forever). ---When you first got into VOD there weren't any logos, ads, popups, or banner ads, but they can add those later puke ---You can't skip ads, and there's more of them than before because they don't have to squeeze them into a time slot. ---The original theatrical version of your favorite movie isn't available (Star Wars) But they've got a dumb remake available. puke puke puke ---If it uses Windows Media you'll have to buy (oops license) a new version of Windows every few years just to continue watching the same movies you've been watching at the same quality level. New OS = new bugs and even though your hardware is newer and faster it'll run slower than your old computer. Over the years it'll get patched until it runs smooth then replaced when it finally actually works and the cycle of bugs repeats. ---Can't wait to buy a new HDTV when some smart 9 year old cracks HDCP and they release a new DRM for that (/sarcasm). I need an excuse to waste money. ---The 'net is down you can't watch anything. Since you have no recordings you're stuck. ---Did I mention THEY CAN TAKE AWAY YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE ANYTIME THEY WANT?!!!!!!!!!!! I'll find something else to do, just like when I dropped music out of my life. I used to listen to it 12 hours a day!
By buggsy (guest), Monday 04 February 2008 19:31
In response to NOTinterested: I already download movies from Amazon Unbox. So far I have not experienced any of the (potential) problems listed. Updating software is not torture. If you want to watch the same movie more than once or watch it repeatedly forever, buy the DVD. If you don't like the "dumb remake" of your movie that is available, buy the version that you want on DVD. If you're worried about them taking away your favorite movie anytime they want, buy the DVD. If you don't like DRM at all in any form, join the writer's strike and discourage everyone from releasing any material unless they do it for free.
By experiencedDRM (guest), Monday 04 February 2008 20:56
@buggsy: DVD will not be available forever. Eventually working players and media will become scarce and new movies won't be released on it. If you want to protect the movies you have now you'll need to break the DRM and transfer it to a new format. Same will happen to HD DVD and Blu-ray. Killing DRM is NOT about getting anything for free! We all chose to pay a lot of money back in the 80s for movies and music with no protection when we could just copy everything. The industry made billions. Killing DRM is about being able to use what you've legally paid for. I know it's a weird concept to some. DRM only punishes people who pay. Region codes are a great example. Buy the legal version in a foreign country, the studios, writer's, and other creators get money but the movie doesn't play Frown Unless you get a special region free player or crack your player or crack the DRM on the disc. Buy the pirated version from a street guy in a back alley it it'll just play. Just read this site for wonderful stories of DRM. As for updating software, you got lucky. This can sometimes be a mess, especially with antivirus, but I've seen it with drivers too. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=update+breaks&btnG=Google+Search
By Chuckwagon, Monday 04 February 2008 23:15
I can't say I'd be interested in HD-VOD. I already have the ability to pay-per-view HD, and never use it. I would rather have a disc or some physical media I can keep on hand. Thus the reason I have over 1000 dvds. I like being able to watch the shows I like whenver I feel like it. And I think most of the sheeple consumers feel better with something they can hold in their hands. I bet there will be a market for HD-VOD, but I don't think it will eliminate the market for physical media based sales. (What that media is will change I'm sure, but be it disc, of flash ram, or holo cube, or whatever, people will still want to have a physical product.) Smilie
By ivid, Tuesday 05 February 2008 01:48
NO ! I want to own the physical media (although I don't think I technically "own" my DVDs according to the MPAA...). I want to take it with me, lend it, play it on any player, be able resell it when I'm tired of it ... whatever. I can see it replacing rentals but not purchases. Movie and HD enthusiasts like to collect and own what we buy.
By SpeedyJDK (guest), Tuesday 05 February 2008 18:46
Always a good idea to have content AVAILABLE. But only if there is something you NEED to view. I still believe in my personal collection.
By Mike (guest), Saturday 09 February 2008 00:07
I dont think its about taking over optical media. I dont understand why everyone is making this into a one or the other issue. I for one dont think optical media will ever disappear as there will always be people out there that want something physical for thier purchase and they like the cover art and having a collection. On the other hand there is absolutely a market for VOD and it will become very signifcant in the future. So if you ask me the future is about both of these delivery methods as I dont think either one is going to disappear and I think both will be extremely suceessful. Who wins in the end? The consumer because you will be able to rent films and even buy them and have them stored on a home server and that will be great for the people that want such a system and at the same time you will still be able to go to Best Buy and buy the DVD which is great for the people that like that system. Its all about choice and in the end we are simply getting alot more choices on how to buy and view our home entertainment. The bottom line is both VOD and Optical Media will survive, the question is just how much market share will each one eventually end up settling into. Will VOD become bigger than optical or will optical remain the publics favorite way of viewing and renting movies at home. I dont know about you guys but I will use both, and already do. I absolutely love the new rental system AppleTV has for HiDef movies. Sure the selection is rather small but that will change with time. Overall things have never been so good on the home front and really enjoy both VOD and Optical discs and I see no need to get rid of either of them.
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