HD DVD camp finally attacks Blu-ray over propaganda war

Adam Turner
Tuesday, 20 March 2007 03:49

Opinion and Analysis

The gloves are off at CeBIT in the high definition format war, with Toshiba attacking as "propaganda" the Blu-ray Disc Association's claims the HD DVD format is failing.

Last Thursday Blu-ray Disc Association chairman Frank Simonis said that Blu-ray discs were now out-selling HD DVDs by 3:1 in the US - a claim disputed by Deputy General manager of HD DVD at Toshiba, Olivier Van Wynendaele. He said the Blu-ray camp's "propaganda" relied on Blu-ray vouchers given away with Sony's PlayStation 3 games console to fudge the numbers, reports Tech.co.uk.

Sony's ploy of giving away Casino Royale on Blu-ray to boost takeup numbers is an obvious one, but it's about time Toshiba came out and told it how it is. Sony wrote the book when it comes to dirty tricks, plus it has no intention of losing another format war after the VHS versus Betamax debacle. If HD DVD stands any chance of survival, it has to take the front foot in the propaganda war.

Wynendaele insists Toshiba had sold 200,000 HD DVD players in the US, compared to just 30,000 true Blu-ray players. The two million PS3 sales should not be counted because there was no guarantee people were using them as Blu-ray players. As for Sony's plans to release cheaper Blu-ray players at the end of the year, Toshiba will undercut this further to regain HD DVD's price advantage. By then it could be too late if Toshiba doesn't stand up for itself now.

Wynendaele goes on to say what everyone but the Blu-ray camp acknowledges - with high def player sales accounting for less than 1 per cent of regular DVD player sales in the US, neither format can claim victory yet.

It seems Blu-ray's constant trash talking of HD DVD has finally hit a nerve. It's about time Toshiba and HD DVD took on Sony's propaganda machine at its own game. Sony has the arrogance to continually declare the format war is over before it even started, and the only reason why people such as myself have started to go along with Sony's "HD DVD is dead" mantra is because HD DVD seems prepared to sit back and take it.

We're only days away from the PlayStation 3's release in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. If HD DVD doesn't start a little trash talking of its own, the Blu-ray-enabled PS3 could be the knock out punch in this format war.