do major movie studios still view Blu-ray and SD DVD as competing formats?
(now that HD DVD is out of the competition)

Thanks! :)

do major movie studios still view Blu-ray and SD DVD as competing formats?
(now that HD DVD is out of the competition)

Thanks! :)

I don't think the studio's ever viewed them as competing formats. Why would they?

I agree with chucky08016.

Like VHS & DVD (until 2002-ish), the studios see them as "side-by-side" formats, at least for the next few years.

If they consider 99% to 1% a competition, then possibly.

If they consider 99% to 1% a competition, then possibly.

Lol. Yeah. It's like Beckham trying to compete against Federer. In Tennis :p

The same studios release their movies on both formats (DVD and Blu-ray) so all the chips are in their hands. They will decide how the two formats exist and whether there will be a changeover at some point in the future. I'd imagine they will force people in some way to buy Blu-ray at some point in the future.

I think they like Blu a lot because they can still sell DVDs (especially Disney) to the same customer (for car/kids room/computer/bedroom/etc). Better yet, they can sell someone who has a DVD a better copy of the movie. However, sales figures are not what studios would like at prices below what they would like to get. I think we will get a better glimpse into what studios are thinking later this year.

I think that sd and hd are indeed competing formats.

Imagine if BD had been around for years and stores were selling Close Encounters for the mid to high thirties, as they are now. Along comes this new-fangled, high-quality, $15 "sd" dvd, and the marketing ploy is: "if you sit ten or more feet from your under-60" display, you won't be able to tell the difference! Come on in and see for yourself if BD is worth over double the money." Into the store we'd go to see this cheaper alternative for ourselves, and in the back of stores there'd be this dedicated room, all set up with two 60", flat-panel screens - both showing the same movie simulatneously, but one sd and the other BD. We'd sit down on the comfortable sofa that is located about 10 feet from the screen. Sure enough, that sd dvd would look about as good as that expensive BD. Only if we got much closer to the displays could we see the difference. "Quite astounding", we'd likely say. "Now we can expand our movie libraries without breaking the bank".
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But the situation being what it is, if Sony's pockets are deep enough, maybe they can do to sd exactly what they did to HD-DVD.

They can start the money-snowball rolling down Moneybags Mountain by paying some "promotional considerations" to some loyal studios to entice them to release new, popular movies on BD only.:cool:

Or maybe, in order to tranquilize any further consumer anxiety or confusion, they can "convince" sd dvd makers to start decreasing the video quality of sd dvds so that BD looks relatively better, even at greater viewing distances. This strategy worked well on the sd/HDTV front, so maybe it'll be a winner with disks, as well.:cool:

Good luck, Sony!

I think they like Blu a lot because they can still sell DVDs (especially Disney) to the same customer (for car/kids room/computer/bedroom/etc). Better yet, they can sell someone who has a DVD a better copy of the movie. However, sales figures are not what studios would like at prices below what they would like to get. I think we will get a better glimpse into what studios are thinking later this year.

That's a good point and I don't think parents buy HDM for their kids when the price of SD is less and the improvement of animation in HD is negligible.

I think the biggest competition for now is getting on the production schedule for Blu-Ray as there is limited production ability.

Most J6P are happy to watch SD. I know I have 42" 1080P in a restaurant I own with both sd and hd channels. It's going to take a long time if ever to get them off their $5-$10 new DVD's at Best Buy.

It's going to take a long time if ever to get them off their $5-$10 new DVD's at Best Buy.

New release DVD's are only $5-$10 at Best Buy?

they're not competing formats but formats that are suceeding the other. the studios view this as another opportunity to sell libraries of the same films they sold in vhs, dvd, and now br formats. you don't think lucas, jackson, and speilberg aren't drooling at the opportunity to sell us the same repacked goods.

the only question is whether br gets enough market penetration to make it a viable long term format before other technologies usurp the consumer marketplace. less than 1% penetration is not cutting it.

Competing but either way they win, just a matter of how much revenue. Kind of like deciding between two different displays from the same manufacturer.

It's clearly a competition to the BDA, but I doubt the studios feel the same.