Adult Film Industry Chooses HD-DVD

[schmosef]

I guess that's it then. The format war is over.

[Apulo]

That's what the press makes of it, comparing it to the Betamax/VHS war.

They do forget however that these days people get a lot of their porn over the internet, so the impact is much less than in the videocassette format war. Sony hasn't responded to the allegations that they don't want porn on BD yet, so this may be just a malcontented director who couldn't get his discs pressed quickly enough. Remember, it's just one person's word at this moment.

Also, the large majority of entertainment companies (non-porn) are behind BD exclusively, which was not the case when Betamax lost the war.

And finally, Warner is adding a lot more confusion to the market with their THD format.

So I predict the war's not yet over by a long shot, the fun's not over yet

[schmosef]

I have to say that I'm very surprised that neither Doc, Jerry, nor Brian have anything to say on this issue.

[Dr Mordrid]

That market is cost driven, period. It was also very influential in the VHS win over Beta and stands to do the same in the HD DVD/BR war.

Why is porn so influential? Because it's bigger than Hollywood; $12 billion vs. $9 billion last year. Smaller companies, but lots of them and a large number of productions.

If porn really is going HD DVD then this is bad news for BD, but this isn't clear yet. Cost is a major factor and is given as a reason for going HD DVD not only by Digital Playground but by two of the industries biggest players, Vivid & Wicked, as well as Club Jenna (Jenna Jameson's company).

Another problem they report is a reluctance by BR mastering houses to take their jobs. Many of these companies think Sony is behind this, and if true it shows that Sony learned nothing from the VHS/Beta war and is likely doomed to repeat history.

[Apulo]

Actually, Sony has released a press statement they're not behind this and don't mind the adult industry's products on BD. In fact there's already porn on BD in Japan.

It looks like the original news was just a rant by a company that probably didn't get the price or timetable they wanted for their BD reproduction.

With the PS3 selling a million BD drives into the USA market alone in the past few months, I doubt that this predominantly male market is going to be ignored by the porn industry.

Apulo

[mmp121]

Seems like even the adult film industry is not sure which to pick just like everyone here is saying...

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5686

[Dr Mordrid]

Actually, Sony has released a press statement they're not behind this and don't mind the adult industry's products on BD. In fact there's already porn on BD in Japan.

It looks like the original news was just a rant by a company that probably didn't get the price or timetable they wanted for their BD reproduction.

Actually more than just Digital Playground has had problems with their jobs and with the porn & Hentai market in Japan ignoring it would be suicidal

As far as Sony pressers go I have as much faith in them as I do Vladimir Putin's