Ending the HDTV DVD War -- By Joseph Whip

It has been an amazing week in the world of High Definition media (HDM) on the Internet forums starting with the Paramount/Dreamworks HD-DVD exclusivity announcement. Fanboys or both red and blu persuasions have been working overdrive spinning the announcement this way and that, proclaiming that their side would be victorious. While some of the postings on sites have been amusing, some have been downright deceitful or libelous, uncalled for and beneath us as HT enthusiasts. To calls of payoffs, the Microsoft behind it all and wanting to rule the world, to Michael Bay being a savior to then being a villain to Steven Spielberg releasing only on BD and not HD, not ever and Sony being the root of all evil. People posting claiming big news which will end the war, only to disappear when nothing happens as they said it would. Ok, nevermind! All very sad really.

An example of how things can get out of hand is the announcement that Steve Nickerson a SVP at Warner Brothers was resigning. Given claims that WB was about to make some big announcement, the fanboys were all a twitter, claiming that this meant that WB was going BD exclusive as Mr. Nickerson was pro HD to no he was pro BD and this meant HD exclusivity. In reality, no one posting had a clue who Mr. Nickerson is and whether it meant anything. Maybe he just wanted to spend more time with his family? Guys, get a life! We will find out soon enough whether it means anything at all. Most likely, it does not.

The other main issue posted on the boards is how to end the war. Swanni has even chimed in on three ways that BD can win the war. Maybe so, but at this point, it seems to me that there is only one side that can end the war quickly, and that is HD not BD. The best that BD can hope is to win a war of attrition that will last a couple more years and hope to gain such an edge on software sales to force the hands of the HD exclusive or neutral studios to give up the ghost. On the other hand, HD has the combo and dual disc hand to play, one which BD has not. The combo disc is a flipper, having HD on one side and SD on the other. The dual disc does the same but does not require flipping the disc over. Some HD owners hate the idea of combos, mostly due to the added cost, making, in the case of WB, the BD discs being $5 cheaper than the combo, which in and of itself may explain some of the sales figures of 300 in favor of BD. I like them.

However, with Paramount now HD exclusive, it is possible that Universal, Paramount and Warners can get together and abandon DVD only releases for their films and release HD/DVD combos only. They would, of course, have to price them more like DVDs and give up their
insane HDM price points. I would suggest a $19.99 msrp. The almost immediate result will be sales of millions upon millions of HD DVD discs almost overnight. What will the Nielsen rankings look like then?

Consumers could buy the discs in confidence knowing that they will always have the DVD side. With numerous discs in the house, they would be more inclined to buy an HD player to take advantage of the much better picture and sound on the other side of the disc. With HD player approaching $199 and lower soon, HD players will reach the point of impulse buys, further fueling sales of the HD discs. The combos would also be travel friendly, as they will play on portable DVD player, laptops and car players as well. Combos are impossible for BD as the DVD Forum will not permit them. I just can't imagine families buying a BD for the house and a separate DVD of the same film for travel purposes. All of this, of course, hinges on the price of the discs. It would be impossible for Fox and Disney to resist entering such a market were it to come to pass. With Fox and Disney becoming neutral, the war would be as good as over.

I acknowledge that what I am proposing would be a bold move by the studios. However, if they want to end the war and do so quickly, it is the most logical alternative.

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