Interesting that Blockbuster is using the same pricing scheme that Fox states undervalues their products. Unless of course we see a $3 option for new releases with shared revenue going to the studios as WB is now asking. We'll see if Blockbuster gets sued as well.

The reason why Fox & Co are complaining that the $1 overnight rental fee undervalues their products is because the studios want to push into digital rentals. And if you can rent an original uncompressed DVD including special features for a dollar then what do you think the corresponding digital rental cost be with compression, DRM, and no features?

It's a race to the bottom just like hardware has been for years only now it's catching up to software and the studios are not happy with that prospect.

In the current CRTC inquiries about network management methods, such as throttling P2P, Zip.ca told the panel that it costs several times more to stream a movie online than it does to send a DVD by mail. Zip.ca which is like Netflix in the US for Canada uses a P2P multicast protocol for streaming. If Netflix has made the same conclusion that may explain the additional charges for streamed content over the free mailed.

I've said it before, but until manufacturers begin offering an online rental feature that works in every region I'm not interested. I don't care if it's Netflix, Block Buster, Zip.ca, or whatever else comes down the road I just want it to work where I live. If it doesn't then you had better not charge me as a customer for a feature I cannot use.

NetFlix is worthless if you cannot use their services without a proxy. Does PSN work everywhere? If not it's worthless too.

If I want online movie rentals as a service then I'm going to purchase the product that supports it. However if that product doesn't come in a standard AV chassis to stack in my 19" rack without modification then I'll go without. Building the service into my television is acceptable provide the fibre optic out still provides DD or DTS and not simple two channel audio, as well as being wireless. Of course if I can't use the service because big media refuses to allow me to use it simply because of where I live it is again useless.

If it's a feature being used to increase MSRP rather than adding more value to an existing product in a market that can't use the feature then I call foul. Offer the product as NetFlix capable and allow me to purchase the feature as an after market product instead with a firmware update.

I don't think any manufacturer using Sharp panels will be overly concerned yet. They will begin planning stages for the big "what if?" to come, but for now I'm sure most of the manufacturers have plenty of stock on US soil either in warehouses or distributed to retailers. With the current economic climate I can't imagine retailers selling out before Thanks Giving, so there is still plenty of time for Sharp to either lift the ban or settle with Samsung.

Besides Sharp panels can still be distributed to Canada and Mexico for North America and as far as I know every where else around the globe.

The first thing I do when facing difficult financial times is cut my extra expenses. That means CDs, DVDs, eating out, and unfortunately even my gym membership. Considering the US has been facing economic downturn since 2007 and Canada seeing indications late 2008 is it no wonder that entertainment sales are down?

It's not the price of the disc that they need to lower. Optical discs are cheap compared to other memory storage technologies. It's the content they need to drop the price on. $24.99 CAD for a new release DVD or $32.99 CAD for BD? Too much. For all those out there hoping for alternatives to optical disc will see a much greater jump in price if the distributors need to provide that alternative. So seriously will you continue to pay the going rate for DVD or BD quality video and audio if you have to provide your own storage?

"what's worse is that starting in 2011, new Blu-ray players will only output SD via component, which for all intents and purposes makes component useless."

Does this mean BDPs won't upscale DVD content or play CDs over HDMI (or it's replacement)?

And it's not just custom installers and do-it-yourselfers that are affected either, it's every retail outlet using analog switching as well. If I were Wallmart, Best Buy, FutureShop, etc I would be pissed if I was told that I had to replace or compliment every installed analog switch with an HDMI switch in order to sell their product. That's an expense that had better be covered by the manufacturers because it's not feasible with today's economic climate.

I work Canadian retail AV. About three weeks ago we saw an increase in Toshiba LCDs by $100-150. A week ago an increase by Samsung. Panasonic is now on clearance and in a strange twist Sony package pricing is now better than Samsung's. It is true that clearance season usually begins early-mid March as new models are shipped in April for May. Except Sony which is usually shipped in June for July. However, there is actual market forces at hand beyond what has generally been listed here as gouging.

As 4lton mentioned the Japanese yen continues to rise and for us Canadians the Looney is falling. Second as many of you have probably read there was a shortage of LCD panels with renewed manufacturing in February. And all major manufacturers have announced reduced panel quantities in 2009 due to the expected lull in sales and LG announced that panel costs had hit its bottom in 2008. We are also seeing "green" technologies which may add increased cost to newer manufacturing processes. All of which makes panels more expensive.

2009 is truly going to be a difficult year. 2008 had a rough start because we did have parity to the USD which made it difficult to clear out 2007 models because the new models were more affordable than the displays. However, my employer's average TV retail price has less than 12 points of margin. I can't tell you how many sales were made cabat a loss relying on attachment sales to make the difference. I fully expect that consumers should seek the best price (I do), but this race to the bottom is ultimately going to destroy the market. And I haven't seen anything to replace it. So unless consumers are once again willing to pay a "premium" on consumer electronics to allow retailers (brick or ether) to continue to operate we will be seeing more cases like CC in the near future recession or otherwise.

There is rumour Sony intends to pull out of technology production. Whatever that means. What I do know is there was absolutely no reason for Sony to have nine (L, M, S, V, W, Z, XBR6, XBR7, & XBR8) models of LCD TVs in 2008. Hopefully in 2009 we will see an amalgamation of model lines resulting in less production, such as combining models L & M, S & V, and W & Z, and a greater focus on differentiating valued features. And maybe we will see this same logic applied across the entire spectrum of Sony products.