Hybrid disc players to end DVD war unlikely

John A 0 Tallied Votes 418 Views Share

In response to this article, claiming that the DVD format war may soon be over, I highly doubt it. In the article:

The high-definition DVD format war, which has slowed consumer acceptance of the new players, may soon be over.

They go on further to state that hybrid players coming from Warner Brothers and LG will bridge the gap between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Well, it's just not going to happen. There's several reasons.

First of all, what is one of the most determining factors of a format war? In other words, what is it that makes it a war? Well, I'd say probaby the biggest determining factor is price. If price wasn't an issue, people would probably buy both a Blu-ray and an HD DVD player. Well, guess what. They're not at all cheap. The thing about hybrid players is that if they're going to play both formats, their prices are going to be really high. And in a few years, the less popular brand won't even be needed in your player. You've just wasted a whole bunch of money on a format that you don't even end up playing.

Secondly, I think that Blu-ray is going to win. Definitely not right away, but eventually. Here's why: I can think of 3 major computer manufacturers backing Blu-ray: Microsoft, Apple and Dell. These represent a HUGE amount of the computer market, and with the speed of advancement in the computer industry, consumers want all the storage they can get. Toshiba, sure they're a fairly large force computer industry, but it's unlikely that they can compete against Microsoft, Apple and Dell. Also, although prices of Blu-ray players are way too high right now, analysts predict that prices will drop significantly in the next few years.

Thirdly, a lot of people aren't even aware of the new formats out there. A few are still getting used to DVDs. Now there's 2 new formats out there. So although the chances of an uneducated person buying a Blu-ray or HD DVD player are low, just think what the chances are of them buying a hybrid plyayer promising to play 2 formats they've never even heard of. The chances of a purchase are slim to none.

And lastly, there will simply not be enough players to end a format war such as this. All the major brands such as Sony, Toshiba, Dell, Apple and Microsoft have taken their side. Some, such as Sony, have invested a lot of money in the format they're backing. So if there's a couple of smaller-brand manufacturers making some hybrid players, how is it going to become popular? Almost every popular device bought and owned in the American household has been cloned, which is needed usually.

So although a hybrid player sounds like a great idea, it's unlikely it can compete against even the losing format in this war as there will simply be not enough manufacturers to make them, keeping the price steep on these players. Look back on the format war between Betamax and VHS. Even though it would have been theroretically possible, I sure can't remember any hybrid players back then.

trueorfalse9 0 Newbie Poster

Tipard DVD Ripper Pack is actually the combination of Tipard DVD Ripper and Tipard Video Converter. With the DVD rip software and video converter, you can convert DVD and any video to all the video and audio formats for all the portable players.

[img]http://www.tipard.com/image/sceenshot/suite-tools/dvd-ripper-pack.jpg[/img]

Input Formats: DVD, IFO folder and MPG, MPEG, MPEG2, VOB, MP4, M4V, RM, RMVB, WMV, ASF, TS, MKV, AVI, 3GP, FLV, MPV, MOD, TOD, MP3, MP2, AAC, AC3, WAV, MID, MIDI, WMA, M4A, RA, RAM ..
Output Formats: MP4, H.264, AVI, MP3, WMV, WMA, FLV, MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 3GP, 3GPP, VOB, DivX, Mov, RM, RMVB, M4A, AAC, WAV, OGG, RA.

Key Functions:
1. Set the video effects, audio track and subtitle
This pack allows you to adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation of video and volume of the audio by drag and click the adjustment bar. It also allows you to choose the audio track and subtitle to fit for your needs.

2. Cut any episodes from your DVD or video
Click “Trim” to capture any time-length video clips. You can set the “Start Time” and “End Time” to set the time of the clip or you can directly drag the slide bar to the accurate position.

3. Crop the video play region
By using the “Crop” function to crop off the black edges around video and adjust the video play region. It allows you to set the Crop Mode and Zoom Mode to exactly fit for your player.

4. Capture your favorite pictures and merge your wanted contents into one file
This Ripper Pack provides you to capture your favorite pictures when you preview DVD or video. You can join your DVD chapters or video pieces into one file for you to enjoy successively.

For Mac users, Tipard Studio also has the all-in-one tool: DVD Ripper Pack for Mac. It has the same functions with the Windows version.

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