Audio Video News

HD DVD is here, sort of, and Blu-ray Disc is to follow early this summer. While there are a still a lot of ifs, ands, or buts that will only be answered once we've seen a good deal of hardware and software, now is as good a time as any to tell you what we know about the two formats so far.

Be sure to check <I>UAV's</I> <a href="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/features/060606nextgen/">Next–Gen release calendar</a> for these updates.

HD DVD has missed another deadline, this time the end-of-2005 launch date for Japan. HD DVD’s main developer, Toshiba, said the reason for the delay is that the standards for the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) copy protection scheme (used in both HD DVD and Blu-ray) are not finalized yet.

In a widely anticipated press conference today at Toshiba's corporate offices in Tokyo, Japan, the company finally announced its decision to pull the plug on HD DVD. According to a Reuters report, it will begin reducing shipments of players and recorders immediately, with the goal of shutting down the business by the end of next month.

The format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD has ended with an official statement admitting HD DVD's defeat.

Starting April 1st that shiny HD DVD player might look a little shinier still. $100 to $200 shinier, to be exact. On that date Toshiba is dropping the price of its entry level HD-A2 HD DVD player to just $399 and cutting the upscale HD-XA2 from $999 to $799. The 1080p-capable HD-A20, which is to be released this Summer, gets an in vitro price drop too, going from $599 to $499. On top of that, if you buy any of these players by July 31st you can still send in a form to receive <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/30807hddeals/">five free HD DVD movies</A>, according to TWICE.