Which way do you guys (and other porno makers) think the industry will go with respect to High Def DVD -> HDDVD or Blu-Ray? The porn industry had a large say in settling the VHS vs Betamax war. People are saying the porn industry won't have as much say as back then, but I think you guys(the porn industry in general) will have a large say in which standard gets picked. Just curious as to what you guys think?

If memory serves me correctly HDVD is cheaper, but Blu-Ray has more capacity. Saw an article on Foxnews.com that said Digital Payground is going with Blu-Ray.

Personally I'm not too sure if High-Definition DVD is a great idea or not. Do I really need to see the zits on some porn chicks ass as she's being bent over?

I read something that said Microsoft may be the one with the most say on the direction Hi Def DVD goes. I could see that in some respects being able to choose which drives to support with the OS. When Beta and VHS came out people didn't have the access to porn in the home like they do now. People will be less willing to jump into a new media this time, if they can get their smut fix through other means.

Historically Microsoft has had little to no success in influencing standards others are interested in (nobody trusts them). They'll probably have no success on this unless they are willing to spend substantial cash subsidizing one or the other format in the PC market. The drivers Microsoft includes in Windows are typically written by outside vendors (even the ones that say “Microsoft”) and all the hardware manufacturers will have their own drivers – this is likely a wash.

There's little point in either format for porn unless you're willing to release in a high definition format, and that's a ways off for cost reasons. Some companies proudly say “Shot on Hi-Def” but that's not at all the same as releasing the footage high-def. The costs are likely very high, involving everything from the cost of the camera, extra makeup time, better lighting (HD cameras need more light), better sets, editing station costs , all the way to replication costs. I see no chance of porn studios being able to recover the cost of building out an HD infrastructure through higher prices.

(is there any realistic estimate of the number of units porn sells to consumers as opposed to sold for rental?)

I haven't followed this one closely. I think HD-DVD has a lead of six months to a year getting to market, meaning it has a lead to becoming economically viable for consumers as production ramps up and costs come down. But that doesn't mean there will be content due the Hollywood's traditional reluctance to face the future.

It's possible the issue will be decided in the PC market if Hollywood doesn't release content. If Microsoft is willing to subsidize one format enough to get Dell to place big orders then that might drive the cost of that format low enough to decide the issue in the consumer market too – consumers won't spend hundreds of dollars more for Hollywood's format, if Hollywood is releasing stuff in dribbles.

If Hollywood wants to back on format or the other successfully they'll need to subsidize a broad range content releases early to give consumers a reason to pick one over the other. And I don't mean Porky's 7 either: they need to beat up Spielberg and Lucas (Cameron has been consumer-friendly in the past and won't be a problem here, but I don't think he owns his content).

I think Microsoft and others in the PC industry prefer Blu-ray for higher capacity.

This is the story I read. Dell seems to backing the Blue-Ray though.

Quote:

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Several industry sources last week told EE Times that Microsoft is muscling into the optical-disk fray by leveraging its operating-system clout to bundle HD-DVD within Vista, the company's next-generation OS. There is also talk that the software giant may be planning to offer cash incentives — in the form "coupons" — to system vendors or retailers if they agree to support HD-DVD. Such coupons would provide "credits" or "memos" for each PC that is sold with HD-DVD inside.

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Link

This is a killer from your article:

Quote:

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Asked whether Microsoft is now doing just that, Weber said that in the end, "It's about money and the cost to the PC industry." Whereas the overall Blu-ray royalty structure adds up to $30 per PC drive, she said, everything a PC vendor needs to support HD-DVD "comes free, shipped and integrated with Vista — Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation operating system."

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$30! What are they thinking? The hardware won't even cost that much in volume. That prices them completely out of the market. That would turn into a ~ $150 cost adder.

(Dell won't stick Blu-Ray if the $30 is even close to correct).