• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Wal-Mart to Exclusively Support Blu-ray

malware

New Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
5,422 (0.77/day)
Location
Bulgaria
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 VID: 1.2125
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P rev.2.0
Cooling Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Noctua NF-S12 Fan
Memory 4x1 GB PQI DDR2 PC2-6400
Video Card(s) Colorful iGame Radeon HD 4890 1 GB GDDR5
Storage 2x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 32 MB RAID0
Display(s) BenQ G2400W 24-inch WideScreen LCD
Case Cooler Master COSMOS RC-1000 (sold), Cooler Master HAF-932 (delivered)
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic + Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX
Power Supply Chieftec CFT-1000G-DF 1kW
Software Laptop: Lenovo 3000 N200 C2DT2310/3GB/120GB/GF7300/15.4"/Razer
Online giant Wal-Mart is taking the steps of many other big players, by confirming that in the beginning of June the world's largest retailer will only stock Blu-ray players and movies. Over the next few months, Wal-Mart will phase out all HD-DVD products and reorganize their stores to focus exclusively on Blu-ray. Gary Severson, senior vice president, Home Entertainment, Wal-Mart, U.S. commented, "We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases. With the customers best interest in all we do, we wanted to share our decision and timeline with them as soon as possible, knowing it will help simplify their purchase decision, increase selection, and increase adoption long term. We anticipate enhancing our selection with continued great values in hi-definition Blu-ray products, so our customers can further enhance their entertainment experience at home." The win of Blu-ray over HD-DVD becomes a step closer to undeniable, with Netflix and retailer Best Buy already commited to Blu-Ray. Now Wal-Mart and soon Toshiba if all reports become true.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

Namslas90

New Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
4,846 (0.75/day)
Location
Earth
I have a feeling these decisions are going to bite these retailers in the arse. In my area the only people that can realy afford video media are in the same income bracket that can afford Blu-Ray. For the most part 70% of the population in my area is not buying video media at this time due to the crapped out economy. Once the economy recovers these people will not want to upgrade to Blu-Ray(due to cost), but will not be able to get the media they want in retail stores, so they will purchase it online. Media producers are also going to loose as they are no longer planning on producing the media in the cheaper format. It will take years (and that means years of loss of sales) before the price is reduced and the sales of Blu-Ray stabalize to match that of previouse sales years of media. Some say that this is normal when technology changes, but this time around it will take longer than previously.
 

Jimmy 2004

New Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
5,458 (0.78/day)
Location
England
System Name Jimmy 2004's PC
Processor S754 AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2640MHz
Motherboard ASUS K8N
Cooling AC Freezer 64 Pro + Zalman VF1000 + 5x120mm Antec TriCool Case Fans
Memory 1GB Kingston PC3200 (2x512MB)
Video Card(s) Saphire 256MB X800 GTO @ 450MHz/560MHz (Core/Memory)
Storage 500GB Western Digital SATA II + 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax SATA
Display(s) Digimate 17" TFT (1280x1024)
Case Antec P182
Audio Device(s) Audigy 4 + Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 Speakers
Power Supply Corsair HX520W
Software Windows XP Home
Looks like HD DVD truly is dead now. Big movie companies are starting to exclusively back it, and now it has possibly the largest retailer in the world on its side.
 
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
5,401 (0.88/day)
Location
Tennessee
System Name AM5
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling EK AIO Basic 360
Memory Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s) AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case Fractal Define R7
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular
In my area it's very different, the majority of people with HDTVs that I've met all seem to be having Blu-Ray, and most of them never realized there was another format untill you tell them. Many people, of all different income brackets, have HD technology in their houses. Prices haven't increased on media technology, it's been the same as always.

Anyhow, that should be all from HD-DVD. Toshibia will be dropping HD-DVD support soon, sources say:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d?pn=2

It will take years (and that means years of loss of sales) before the price is reduced and the sales of Blu-Ray stabalize to match that of previouse sales years of media. Some say that this is normal when technology changes, but this time around it will take longer than previously.

In my opinion this is a misconception. Studios like Lionsgate are getting sales revenues that are seven times higher than the same time last year.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=959
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
239 (0.04/day)
I wonder if Sony will sell the license to use Blu-ray on the Microsoft XBox 360?

Joe
 

Hawk1

New Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
1,248 (0.20/day)
Location
The Big Smoke, Canada
Processor E6600@3.6Ghz (8x450)
Motherboard Commando
Cooling TRUE
Memory 2GB Ballistix Tracers @900 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s) ATI X1950XTX w/TR HR-03
Storage 2 x WD250GB (RAID0) 1x WD150GB Raptor 1x500GB external
Display(s) Dell 24" Ultrasharp
Case TT Armour
Audio Device(s) Xfi xtreme Gamer (X-230s/HD595s)
Power Supply TT 750W modular
Software xp pro SP2/Vista Ultimate 32
I wonder if Sony will sell the license to use Blu-ray on the Microsoft XBox 360?

Joe

Good question. I think if MS abandons the format, they will have to take a bath on it and have to do without HD on the xbox. LOL I wonder if they could sue Sony if they refuse to license it to them for being monopolistic with the technology (that would be the pot and kettle:laugh:)
 

DaMulta

My stars went supernova
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
16,168 (2.51/day)
Location
Oklahoma T-Town
System Name Work in progress
Processor AMD 955---4Ghz
Motherboard MSi GD70
Cooling OcZ Phase/water
Memory Crucial2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-16000
Video Card(s) CrossfireX 2 X HD 4890 1GB OCed to 1000Mhz
Storage SSD 64GB
Display(s) Envision 24'' 1920x1200
Case Using the desk ATM
Audio Device(s) Sucky onboard for now :(
Power Supply 1000W TruePower Quattro
I think that the company's that sell this stuff want one brand so people start buying it. That's the only reason for them to all go to blue ray in my eyes.

There is no way in hell that I would buy a BR player as of now. The first ones don't even work anymore with today's disc. Why should I take a risk that it could happen again?

Hd-DVD was the way to go in my eyes. Upconvetivng CHEAPER, who cares if you put the extra stuff on an extra disc?


+++ we all know how walmart works, if you don't give them a good deal the next year they drop selling your stuff. They did it to rubber made so why wouldn't they do it to this?
 
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
5,401 (0.88/day)
Location
Tennessee
System Name AM5
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling EK AIO Basic 360
Memory Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s) AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case Fractal Define R7
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular
Good question. I think if MS abandons the format, they will have to take a bath on it and have to do without HD on the xbox. LOL I wonder if they could sue Sony if they refuse to license it to them for being monopolistic with the technology (that would be the pot and kettle:laugh:)

I don't think Sony would have any reason not to liscence a standalone Blu-Ray player to MS.
 

Hawk1

New Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
1,248 (0.20/day)
Location
The Big Smoke, Canada
Processor E6600@3.6Ghz (8x450)
Motherboard Commando
Cooling TRUE
Memory 2GB Ballistix Tracers @900 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s) ATI X1950XTX w/TR HR-03
Storage 2 x WD250GB (RAID0) 1x WD150GB Raptor 1x500GB external
Display(s) Dell 24" Ultrasharp
Case TT Armour
Audio Device(s) Xfi xtreme Gamer (X-230s/HD595s)
Power Supply TT 750W modular
Software xp pro SP2/Vista Ultimate 32
I don't think Sony would have any reason not to liscence a standalone Blu-Ray player to MS.

Well, while it would provide them with quite a bit of revenue, which will keep their sharholders happy, they could really hurt MS and their xbox sales if they with held it (thereby boosting PS3 sales). So I guess Sony's number crunchers would have to see what their cost/beneit would be in either case.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
1,002 (0.16/day)
Processor i5-2500K @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Memory Corsair Vengeance 8GB
Video Card(s) Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Storage 250GB Samsung EVO; 1TB WD Black
Display(s) 22" ASUS
Power Supply Rosewill Hive-650
Software Windows 8 64-bit
i hoe they do, this is also very good for Blue Ray, looks like we were all right about the winner of the war, Sony most likly will sell it, it would be microsoft who says no to it if anyone
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2007
Messages
2,490 (0.40/day)
Location
Your house.
System Name Jupiter-2
Processor Intel i3-6100
Motherboard H170I-PLUS D3
Cooling Stock
Memory 8GB Mushkin DDR3L-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1050ti
Storage 512GB Corsair SSD
Display(s) BENQ 24in
Case Lian Li PC-Q01B Mini ITX
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair 450W
Mouse Logitech Trackball
Keyboard Custom bamboo job
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Finished Super PI on legendary mode in only 13 hours.
I have a feeling these decisions are going to bite these retailers in the arse. In my area the only people that can realy afford video media are in the same income bracket that can afford Blu-Ray. For the most part 70% of the population in my area is not buying video media at this time due to the crapped out economy. Once the economy recovers these people will not want to upgrade to Blu-Ray(due to cost), but will not be able to get the media they want in retail stores, so they will purchase it online. Media producers are also going to loose as they are no longer planning on producing the media in the cheaper format. It will take years (and that means years of loss of sales) before the price is reduced and the sales of Blu-Ray stabalize to match that of previouse sales years of media. Some say that this is normal when technology changes, but this time around it will take longer than previously.

Or people could, I don't know, keep using DVD's.

(This also makes me wonder why Wal-Mart spent all that time and money selling those kabillion or so cheap HD-DVD players a couple of months back...)
 
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
5,401 (0.88/day)
Location
Tennessee
System Name AM5
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling EK AIO Basic 360
Memory Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s) AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case Fractal Define R7
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular
Hehe, that's what I was about to say. Toshibia took a "last stand" type approach and tried to push 150$ HD-DVD players in various retailers...Guess it didn't work out.
 

HousERaT

New Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2005
Messages
108 (0.02/day)
Processor Q6700
Motherboard Asus Maximus Formula
Cooling Ultra Extreme 120
Memory Ballistix Tracer 8500
Video Card(s) HD 3870 Crossfire
Storage 74G Raptor
Display(s) A Sony big one
Case Kingwin SK523
Power Supply Corsair HX620
Software Yes :p
The fat lady is singing her a$$ off right now...... :D
 

jocksteeluk

New Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Messages
1,455 (0.22/day)
Location
The 13th room on the 13th floor of the 13th buildi
Processor custom dupont risk chip cpu prototype
Motherboard custom ibm x5 solid state carbon mainboard
Cooling industrial technologies prototype dupont custom heat transfer unit
Memory 6x 2gig prototype ecc hnc ddr4
Video Card(s) prototype low energy version nvidia 9 series unnumberd card
Storage 1tb solid state hdd
Display(s) 44 inch samsung plasma screen tv/monitor
Case custom ibm mobile home server case
Audio Device(s) custom Yamaha sound processing processor in spm format
Power Supply 1200watt deli cord custom made dupont type psu
Software sun unix/windows type v
$40 for blu-ray films coming to a store near you soon.
 

Hawk1

New Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
1,248 (0.20/day)
Location
The Big Smoke, Canada
Processor E6600@3.6Ghz (8x450)
Motherboard Commando
Cooling TRUE
Memory 2GB Ballistix Tracers @900 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s) ATI X1950XTX w/TR HR-03
Storage 2 x WD250GB (RAID0) 1x WD150GB Raptor 1x500GB external
Display(s) Dell 24" Ultrasharp
Case TT Armour
Audio Device(s) Xfi xtreme Gamer (X-230s/HD595s)
Power Supply TT 750W modular
Software xp pro SP2/Vista Ultimate 32

DaMulta

My stars went supernova
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
16,168 (2.51/day)
Location
Oklahoma T-Town
System Name Work in progress
Processor AMD 955---4Ghz
Motherboard MSi GD70
Cooling OcZ Phase/water
Memory Crucial2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-16000
Video Card(s) CrossfireX 2 X HD 4890 1GB OCed to 1000Mhz
Storage SSD 64GB
Display(s) Envision 24'' 1920x1200
Case Using the desk ATM
Audio Device(s) Sucky onboard for now :(
Power Supply 1000W TruePower Quattro
I will continue to buy DVDs that are easy to backup so the original stays in the case unscracted. DVD upconverting FTW
 

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
15,436 (2.43/day)
Location
Mid-Atlantic
System Name Desktop
Processor i5 13600KF
Motherboard AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling Noctua NH-U9S
Memory 4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s) Gigabye M32U
Case Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse MX Master 3s
Keyboard Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software The Matrix
the price will come down so calm down. im willing to bet that most of you werent around for the transition to VHS. they cost a small fortune and the players were crazy expensive. the same happened with the transition to dvd but the price wasnt as quite as high thanks to better technology so people adopted it faster than VHS. now we have the HD format. the same thing is happening. the price will come down, especially now that companies are satisfied with the blu-ray choice. that means more players and more producers of blu-ray discs. but if you want to keep buying dvds go ahead, but to me that is just a waste of money since a blu-ray looks 100 times better and only costs twice as much.
 

JacKz5o

New Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
477 (0.08/day)
Location
New Jersey
Processor Intel Q6600 @ 3.2GHz
Motherboard XFX nForce 780i
Cooling Ultra 120 eXtreme (lapped)
Memory 4GB G.Skill PC2-8000 PQ
Video Card(s) eVGA GeForce 9800GTX
Storage 640GB + 250GB + 2x500GB (external)
Display(s) Samsung 216BW 21.6"
Case CoolerMaster Cosmos S
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W Silencer
Software Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
Whatever Wal-Mart chooses will always win. Looks like the beginning of the end for HD-DVD.
 

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
15,436 (2.43/day)
Location
Mid-Atlantic
System Name Desktop
Processor i5 13600KF
Motherboard AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling Noctua NH-U9S
Memory 4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s) Gigabye M32U
Case Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse MX Master 3s
Keyboard Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software The Matrix
Whatever Wal-Mart chooses will always win. Looks like the beginning of the end for HD-DVD.

the beginning of the end was when warner bros decided to go blu-ray exclusive
 

wazzledoozle

New Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2004
Messages
5,358 (0.75/day)
Location
Seattle
Processor X2 3800+ @ 2.3 GHz
Motherboard DFI Lanparty SLI-DR
Cooling Zalman CNPS 9500 LED
Memory 2x1 Gb OCZ Plat. @ 3-3-2-8-1t 460 MHz
Video Card(s) HIS IceQ 4670 512Mb
Storage 640Gb & 160Gb western digital sata drives
Display(s) Hanns G 19" widescreen LCD w/ DVI 5ms
Case Thermaltake Soprano
Audio Device(s) Audigy 2 softmod@Audigy 4, Logitech X-530 5:1
Power Supply Coolermaster eXtreme Power Plus 500w
Software XP Pro
Blu Ray/HD-DVD really doesn't matter. By the time it reaches the price level that DVD was at, streaming video will have replaced all physical media.

Just look at what cable companies are doing with "On Demand" services. You can order and instantly watch 720p movies from your tv remote, never leaving your couch. Americans love anything that can save even a wee bit of time, and the savings of on-demand services are immense.

It's cheaper for the movie studios as well. No more physical media to mass produce, distribute, and produce players for. All they need is bandwidth and a set-top box.

The next generation of consoles probably won't even have disc drives.
 
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
5,401 (0.88/day)
Location
Tennessee
System Name AM5
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling EK AIO Basic 360
Memory Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s) AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s) Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case Fractal Define R7
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular
Blu Ray/HD-DVD really doesn't matter. By the time it reaches the price level that DVD was at, streaming video will have replaced all physical media.

Just look at what cable companies are doing with "On Demand" services. You can order and instantly watch 720p movies from your tv remove, never leaving your couch. Americans love anything that can save even a wee bit of time, and the savings of on-demand services are immense.

It's cheaper for the movie studios as well. No more physical media to mass produce, distribute, and produce players for. All they need is bandwidth and a set-top box.

On demand through cable isn't the way to go. It's far too expensive and not worth the money. Apple TV gives you the ability to buy movies and stream them. Furthermore you can watch HD movies in 1080p. All that and they have a greater library than the cable companies.

It's true that Digital Media is about to be Blu-Ray's main competitor, but I doubt that digital video media will have a very large market share anytime soon.
 

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
28,472 (4.25/day)
Location
Indiana, USA
Processor Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s) RTX 2070 Super
Storage 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s) Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software Windows 10 Pro x64
There is no way in hell that I would buy a BR player as of now. The first ones don't even work anymore with today's disc. Why should I take a risk that it could happen again?

I'm pretty sure they first gen players still work with todays discs, and still play the movies just fine, they just don't play all the extra features that he updated Blu-Ray specs allow.

$40 for blu-ray films coming to a store near you soon.

I doubt the price of Blu-Ray will go up once HD-DVD is off the market. It probably won't decrease as fast, but it won't go up. Right now, Blu-Ray still has to compete with regular DVDs, so the price needs to stay within reason for it to do that. People aren't going to pay twice the price just for HD, consumers simply aren't that confident in it and don't really care that much about the difference.

I will continue to buy DVDs that are easy to backup so the original stays in the case unscracted. DVD upconverting FTW

I agree to a point. DVD up converting doesn't come close to true HD, but personally I don't need true HD right now. I am perfectly happy watching the movie off a regular DVD.
 

wazzledoozle

New Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2004
Messages
5,358 (0.75/day)
Location
Seattle
Processor X2 3800+ @ 2.3 GHz
Motherboard DFI Lanparty SLI-DR
Cooling Zalman CNPS 9500 LED
Memory 2x1 Gb OCZ Plat. @ 3-3-2-8-1t 460 MHz
Video Card(s) HIS IceQ 4670 512Mb
Storage 640Gb & 160Gb western digital sata drives
Display(s) Hanns G 19" widescreen LCD w/ DVI 5ms
Case Thermaltake Soprano
Audio Device(s) Audigy 2 softmod@Audigy 4, Logitech X-530 5:1
Power Supply Coolermaster eXtreme Power Plus 500w
Software XP Pro
On demand through cable isn't the way to go. It's far too expensive and not worth the money. Apple TV gives you the ability to buy movies and stream them. Furthermore you can watch HD movies in 1080p. All that and they have a greater library than the cable companies.

It's true that Digital Media is about to be Blu-Ray's main competitor, but I doubt that digital video media will have a very large market share anytime soon.

Itune's 'HD' moves have been shown to be really shoddy quality. Because of the compression, they are about on-par with standard DVD quality. Typical Apple product there.

HD Cable is different. Everyone has cable already. The set-top box is free with the service (vs $300 for apple tv). Much better value overall, especially considering you get TV in hd as well.

Apple and Cable aren't going to be the people who really capitalize on streaming movies though. Microsoft will. They already have a set-top box, the 360, in millions of homes. All they need to do is provide the service (Which they already do to a certain degree).
 

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
28,472 (4.25/day)
Location
Indiana, USA
Processor Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s) RTX 2070 Super
Storage 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s) Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software Windows 10 Pro x64
I think digital downloads on demand are a long way off. It is convienient, but not currently practical for most consumers.
 
Top