New Technology TV

One of the things that's interesting about new technology is that even if a new technology is well developed, affordable, and appealing the supply problems that concern any kind of merchandising endeavor can interfere with sales. Supposedly that's exactly what's been happening with a lot of high definition DVD's that are coming on market. A movie studio will announce that one of its recent movies will available on Blu-ray or HD-DVD (or in the case of Paramount, both) along with standard definition DVD, all on the same date. This is all really good except that the production and distribution channels of standard definition DVD technology is much faster and more completely developed than the production and distribution channels for HD-DVD's and Blu-ray discs. The result of these discrepancies is that many video enthusiasts are likely to buy the movie that they want on standard definition DVD even if they have Blu-ray players or HD-DVD players, just because the standard definition DVD version is available and the high def version isn't.

This means that the new high def DVD formats aren't just competing against each other, but they're also competing against the older DVD format. Of course, it goes without saying that the older standard definition DVD format does serve as competition against HD-DVD and Blu-ray. After all, there are people who simply don't care about the difference between the quality of a high definition DVD and a standard definition DVD. There are also people who use DVD players with built in upconverters who are just fine with the resulting compromise between standard definition and HDTV. But in this case that competition is unnecessary. In this case, people who go to the store to buy a Blu-ray disc or an HD-DVD are walking out with the standard definition version, not because that's what they want, but because that's what's available.

This is obviously also hurting retailers who want to do a high volume of the high def DVD's. Of course they do lose profits from people who show up to buy a new movie title on a high def disc, but walk away without anything rather than even settling with the standard def version, and then never bother coming back even when the high def version comes into the store. Retailers are also losing money in the hidden way of attempting to make up for the delays in production by paying extra to have the high def DVD's rush delivered. This obviously cuts into profit and often times isn't good enough to get the products to the stores in a timely manner.

Another interesting thing that's hurting the sales and rentals of high definition DVD's is the unseasonably warm weather of the past few months. It seems that people are spending time outside instead of watching movies in high def at home. The increasing amounts of high definition channels available may also be decreasing the demand for high def DVD's in both formats. All of this demonstrates how even the best technology can be undermined by factors that are independent of the technology itself.