Toshiba Dealer Meeting, Bonita Springs, Florida
Today’s Cool Hardware
Today’s Cool Hardware
Toshiba HD-DVD. It’s here and it is spectacular. High definition DVD is living up to all its hype. I would definitely recommend a visit to one of our stores to see it for yourself, And the Toshiba player is a lot less expensive than we usually see first generation CE products upon their debut. At $500, it’s not that difficult of a proposition to be the first person on your block with this awesome new technology. Please be aware that, at this writing, only 4 movies are available, but Toshiba promises that many more are on the way.
Today’s Cool Software
“The Sopranos” in high definition on HBO-HD. Hey, it’s my blog, so I get to stick in plugs for all my favorite stuff, right? Anyway, I must say I anticipate each new episode of this series keenly anyway, but seeing it in high definition absolutely takes the cake. It’s worth subscribing to HBO just for this. Warning: some bad language, graphic depictions of violence and a bit of nudity. Definitely not for kids.
Toshiba Dealer Meeting, Bonita Springs, Florida
Greetings from not-so-sunny Bonita Springs, Florida. After Dave Glassman, our VP Merchandising, and I got off the plane and met our car, the driver cheerfully informed us that today was the start of their “rainy season.” Judging from the non-stop rain we experienced from the moment we got off the plane to the moment (less than 18 hours later) we boarded our return flight (after a 3 hour delay!), I think he called it correctly.
But, no matter. We didn’t go to Florida to enjoy the sun and surf. We are here as guests of Toshiba to learn their product plan for the next 12 months.
Not every one of our vendors presents their products at a dedicated event like this one, but many of the larger ones do. It’s a great way for us to learn what cool products and technologies will rule the roost for the coming year, and to plan accordingly. This is one of the critical tools we have to stay abreast of industry technological trends, to be sure we are on top of every cutting-edge technology we want to bring to our town.
Toshiba kicked off the event with a marketing presentation, and we learned some interesting statistics. For example, old-fashioned cathode-ray tube (CRT) TV’s (including high definition ones) declined in sales last year by a staggering 36%. The decline in 2006 is predicted to be even more precipitous, in the 50% plus neighborhood! At MyerEmco AudioVideo, we discontinued our last CRT products last year; but I am still surprised at how quickly they are going away everywhere. Toshiba actually remains a full-line CRT supplier, so they feel these reports of that category’s demise are exaggerated. We’ll see…
Flat panel TV’s continue to be the driving force for the entire home entertainment industry. They are growing at an incredibly rapid pace, and that pace is actually expected to accelerate over the next 3 years. One interesting development (that we have noticed as well) involves the cost difference between plasma and LCD panels. One knock on LCD panels has been that, inch for inch, these panels are typically 10-15% more expensive than plasma TV’s. Many folks have been willing to live with that difference for various reasons, and they have purchased LCD TV’s, but the cost difference has clearly held LCD back. Toshiba is “agnostic” on this issue. They make both plasma and LCD TV’s, and don’t tend to favor either format. But they do predict that the cost difference will disappear between plasma and LCD’s over time, as LCD sales increase (other than at the very largest screen sizes).
Just as we are, Toshiba is very bullish on the 1080p format. The HDTV standard requires a display resolution of either 1080i (I for interlaced-scanned) or 720p (P for progressively-scanned). I won’t go into a detailed explanation here of the difference between interlaced and progressive scanning (please join me for one of my Saturday afternoon seminars for more on this topic), but suffice it to say that interlaced scanning only shows half of the image at any given instant, hence the higher number needed for high definition. Progressive scanning displays the entire image at all times.Rather than 1080i, we are seeing 1080p display resolution in more and more high quality TVs, regardless of format. But remember that 1080p is actually double the resolution of the 1080i HDTV standard. Why would anyone need that? Well, you will benefit from 1080p resolution on your TV for 2 reasons:
- Both brand-new high definition DVD standards allow for 1080p resolution in those discs. HD DVD will be 1080i at its debut, but the format allows for future players to be 1080p. Blu-Ray (the competing high definition DVD format) will be 1080p at its outset. So, in order to display high definition DVD to its full resolution, you want 1080p.
- But we have also seen (and Toshiba takes this position) that non-1080p sources look significantly better on 1080p displays than they do on lower resolution displays. This means that even though high definition TV is not 1080p, high definition looks absolutely awesome on 1080p TVs. I have experienced this myself. The difference is real and it isn’t subtle, so I recommend checking these cool new TVs out for yourself.
By the way, Toshiba wins the award for the silliest presentation tactic. They showed us images of a woman in a swimsuit, lying at the foot of a Toshiba TV displaying a video image of the sun, attempting to get a suntan (!). Uh, the TV was so realistic, she thought that would work. Get it…?
Toshiba excels at making flat panel TV’s with built-in slot-loading DVD players, and they showed several. A great idea that is picking up steam, and Toshiba leads the field in this.
They also showed a beautiful 20” LCD TV finished in stainless steel. Perfect as a kitchen TV for folks with stainless steel appliances. Dave and I really liked that one.
Toshiba is also debuting a new high-end brand, “Regza” under which they will feature their finest products. More on that later as the products begin to hit the market.
Finally, the format war from the two new competing high definition DVD formats, HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Let me tell you, the war between these two formats features more mudslinging than the last Virginia gubernatorial race. It’s getting really ugly. Too bad. The last thing this industry needs is another format war. It is my personal opinion that a format war nearly destroyed the last new competing sound formats (DVD-Audio and SACD). You’d think we’d have learned something from that. We didn’t.
I get asked often which format will win, the Sony, Pioneer and Samsung backed Blu-Ray, or the Toshiba and Microsoft-backed HD DVD? Well, up until the Toshiba event, I would have told you that Blu-Ray has too many advantages over HD DVD for it not to win. After all, Blu-Ray is a true 1080p upon its debut and the studios that produced 90% of the movies released on DVD last year have backed Blu-Ray, though not necessarily exclusively. But Toshiba made some good points at this event. They claim lower manufacturing costs, which will presumably be passed on to the consumer. They claim a better compression format and the ability to go to 1080p when they decide. And they claim to have a better name (HD DVD), which is probably true!
I still feel Blu-Ray has the advantage, but perhaps not by as much as I first thought. And we know that the best format doesn’t always win in consumer electronics. This year, the products will be for early adapters and techno-geeks like me, anyway. But in 6 months, everyone will want one of these. Once you see high definition DVD, you definitely don’t want to go back. It is spectacular.
So I just have a fervent hope that someone wins this thing soon.