HD DVD is Gone, But Has This Really Helped Blu-ray?

It has been more than two months since Toshiba officially announced the end of the high-definition DVD format war by halting production of HD DVD players. The Blu-ray camp sighed a big sigh of relief, and poised itself for an increase in sales. But has Blu-ray really benefitted from winning the format war?

According to a recent study by The NPD Group, it hasn't; or at least not yet. Sales of Blu-ray players actually dropped 40% from January to February in the U.S. From February to March, during the time when the "war" had officially been declared over, there was only a 2% increase in sales.

"That standalone Blu-ray players haven't picked up significantly from HD DVD's loss shows that few consumers were dissuaded primarily by the 'format war'," declared Ross Rubin, Director of Industry Analysis, NPD. "When we surveyed consumers late last year, on overwhelming number of them said they weren't investing in a next-generation player because their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive. It's clear from retail sales that those consumer sentiments are still holding true."

I've long said that, rather than focusing on becoming the winning format, both camps should have been more focused on convincing the customer that he needs to upgrade to an HD source, period. Either way, price will remain a factor with budget-conscious customer; not just of the Blu-ray hardware devices, but also software, which are often times almost double the price of a "regular" DVD movie. In fact, I think if the price of software were to drop down to become in line with standard DVDs, more people might be willing to fork over the extra dough for the player.

Interestingly, NPD notes that many consumers who are interested in a better viewing experience are quite content with upconverting DVD players. Sales of these such devices grew 5% during the first quarter of 2008 compared to 2007. Meanwhile, regular DVD player sales dropped a whopping 39%.

Nevertheless, it's only a matter of time before consumers finally pick up on high-definition DVD. Many are already enjoying HDTVs and high-definition TV viewing, so high-def DVD is naturally the next step in the equation. It's also important to note that this study only looked at standalone Blu-ray players: devices like the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console, which includes a built-in Blu-ray player, has been selling like hotcakes!

When it Comes to LCD, Thin is In

Now that it has conquered the dimension race with a whopping 108-inch model, the LCD category is focusing its efforts on another form of size: depth. And this time, it's a reduction in size, not an increase. Sharp has developed a 0.68 mm, wafer-thin 2.2" LCD that can be used in mobile devices, like cell phones, portable audio players, or digital cameras. To put this in perspective, a standard mobile phone's LCD is likely anywhere from 0.8-2.2 mm thick!

It's apparent that the fashion industry isn't the only one where "thin is in". Except with LCDs, the thinner they get, the better they can become. One obvious advantage of thinner TVs is space saving: Toshiba's new REGZA Super Narrow Bezel line of LCDs, for example, measure just 1" thin, which means a 40" model can easily fit into furniture made for a 37" one. This doesn't only save space; but you're now able to save money upgrading to a bigger TV without having to replace the furniture as well. Sharp Electronics has also reduced the depth of its latest D64U line of LCD TVs, making them 25% thinner than previous models. This not only results in a sleeker-looking product, but also makes them 20% lighter than previous-generation Sharp LCDs.

The way the flat-panel market is going, we might just end up in the future with TVs that look like projector screens: massive in size, and near paper-thin! What, then will happen to the projector market...

[Photo: Sharp's new 0.68mm thin LCD boasts 2,000:1 contrast, 176-degree viewing angle, 8 ms response time, and 240 x 320 pixel resolution (QVGA)].

Canon Postpones SED… Again

As reported on our sister news and information Website, Canon and Toshiba have postponed the launch of flat-panel SED TVs…again. This is, to my knowledge, the third delay thus far.

I’m starting to wonder if this technology really exists, or if it's just a figment of my imagination. Had it not been for the fact that the editors of our two publications both got a sneak peek at SED during the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show, I’d have stuck to my guns on the latter. For what it’s worth, they both described it as being “flat-out beautiful, with blacker blacks, great shadow detail, and more brilliant whites.” (Take into consideration, of course, that both plasma and LCD technology have improved tremendously over the past two years, so the differences might not be so pronounced today as they were back then).

Why the holdup? Canon cites prolonged litigation as one of the reasons. In January 2007, the firm that licensed SED technology to Canon (Nano-Proprietary Inc.) filed suit against the company, crying breach of contract, stating that Canon’s partnership with Toshiba was not part of the original agreement. As a result, Canon set forth to purchase all the outstanding share of SED Inc., and shifted around some employees to accommodate the change.

A second reason cited for the delay is “efforts to establish mass-production technology aimed at realizing further cost reductions.” Translation: the prices of flat-panel TVs are dropping so much, so fast, that now the company has to find a better, cheaper way to mass produce the sets.

Will we ever see this technology come to fruition? Who knows. But we’ve been on the edge of our seats for SED for so long, it would be nice to see something come of it.