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January 31, 2008 |

DVD software authoring firm drops HD DVD support in HD DVD vs Blu-ray war

By Sean P. Aune





DVD encoding firm drops HD DVD support in HD DVD vs Blu-ray war It looks like even if HD DVD was to continue for much longer, there may start being a lack of companies to even make the discs.

Sonic Solutions, a company specializing in creating the software for digital media distribution, has announced that they are dropping their support of HD DVD authoring tools.  Instead, they will be focusing their efforts in preparing for the release of BD-Live, the online portion of the Blu-ray profile 2.0, amongst other new projects.

Rolf Hartley, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic’s Professional Products Group, seemed very excited about the change.  “With a focus on Blu-ray Disc, we’re able to meet this demand with new technologies and applications that leverage the growing-capabilities of the robust BD format to deliver dynamic entertainment experiences that consumers not only want, but have also come to expect from today’s connected-content platforms.”

HD DVD authors who use Scenarist, their high definition authoring tool, will be offered a trade-in plan to change over to the Blu-ray version of the system.  Customers who don’t choose to switch over will not be totally left out in the cold.  They will continue to release software updates as needed for their SonicCare program customers, as is pursuant to their standard practices.

With the departure of studios, retailers, and now quite possibly duplication houses, things are looking bleaker by the minute, not the day, for the HD DVD camp.

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    6 Responses to “DVD software authoring firm drops HD DVD support in HD DVD vs Blu-ray war”

    1. DaveBG:

      BS

      Either a competitor will step in and replace Sonic Solutions or Microsoft will.

      With both high def fromats having well under 1% of the annual movie disc market these sweeping claims are just ridiculous.

      It’s far too early to be making that sort of prediction.

      (I wonder if they got an ‘inducement’ - that seems the the Blu-ray side operates?)

    2. DaveBG:

      BTW Microsoft already produce some authoring tools.

    3. DaveBG:

      Ha ha

      Turns out the story is another bit of planted Blu-ray garbage.

      From another site -

      Sonic spokesperson Chris Taylor said that the decision is only specific to its professional authoring suite. Other divisions, such as its Roxio consumer arm and ATG licensing group would remain format neutral. Even within the professional division, HD DVD would still live on through its CineVision authoring application.

    4. lol:

      lmao!!! you guys microsoft is even considering blu-ray!!!

      you guys are just angry for buying so many hd dvd movies!!! =D

    5. DaveBG:

      How does that work lol?

      By any sane reckoning I have spent far less (and got a far higher spec) on my HD DVD stuff than I could have had buying anything Blu-ray.

      Try informing yourself & thinking rationally instead of like a colorblind fanboy troll next time.

    6. Dan:

      The author is extremely biased towards Blu-ray, just check out his other articles…

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