I think the price difference between most Blu-ray and HD DVDs and super cheap, bargain basement SD DVD is one of the biggest impediment for high-def format. This perhaps next to high player prices will continue to hamper high-def format being embraced by the general public. This weeks CC weekly flier shows dozens of catalog titles being sold for $3.99.

Friday Night Lights
Spider-Man
Ali
Ultimate Avengers: The Movie
Black Hawk Down
SAW II
Carlito’s Way
XXX
Jet Li: The One
S.W.A.T.
You Got Served
The Professional
Trading Places
Carlito’s Way: Rise To Power
Once Upon A Time In Mexico
Double Jeopardy
The Chronicles Of Riddick
Don’t Say A word
Enemy At The Gates
Ultimate Dirty Dancing
Harlem Nights
Primal Fear
High Crimes
Phone Booth
Stuck On You
The Forgotten
The Saint (Val Kilmer)
Wayne’s World
Good Burger (6669 Take Note!)
The Order
Sniper 3
Van Wilder (Non-Boobie Edition)
Contract Killer
Cruel Intentions
The Devil’s Rejects
Congo
The Punisher
Open Water
The Banger Sisters
Man Of The House
First Blood
Young Guns
Beverly Hill’s Cop: Special Collector’s Edition
King Of New York: Special Edition
A Knight’s Tale
Crash
Rundown
Bad Boys: Special Edition
Jurassic Park
Mr. Deeds (Adam Sandler)

Many of these titles are currently or soon to be out on high-def formats at several times the cost. I don't think the studios can play it both ways, pricing SD DVDs under $5 and then at the same time try to sell the same catalog titles on HD DVD or Blu-ray for $20-$30.

they are dumping them because HD will be expanding

What would be the best upscaler for these titles?

The biggest impediment to high def formats is the format war. Everything else is a distant second.

they are dumping them because HD will be expanding

Not necessarily CC dumping them, but the studio's trying to clean out their SD inventory because they plan on creating Blu-ray and HD DVD versions in the future.

CC and BB could help the hi-def formats out a lot by pricing them in the $19.99 to $24.99 but they are trying to make a profit on such media since they're still niche formats at this point. Hopefully by the fall and into Christmas they reach the drop another $5 compared to what I listed.

Then Amazon.com wouldn't be the best deal around.

I wouldn't say they are clearing out inventory, thats stretching it a bit.

More precisely they are maximizing profits, by getting every last drop of mass market sales from these catalog titles before the format dies (It will take many years but lets hope it happens :) ) and they are released in HD for everyone to double dip :D

This is one of the big clearance-sale times of the year. Places reduce inventory to make room for the coming years releases. Even places like Criterion and Kino are doing it, and they don't even sell HD.

All of those titles are pressed in mass quantities, and demand for them falls drastically after the first few months.

The fact is that neither HD format has not been adopted in numbers that HD DVD and BD they project to the studios by this time. My guess is they aren't making any sweeping decisions about blunting the format that continues to pay in order to stimulate the one which isn't.

Most of those movies I wouldn't pay $3.99 for. The couple I would buy I'd pay the extra for high def.

This has been going on well before HD DVD and BR. Let's be a little more realistic in our thinking, shall we?

And to consumers, price is King. Outside of these forums, the masses will take a $9.99 SD DVD version of a movie over the $29.99+ Hi Def version.

Most of those movies I wouldn't pay $3.99 for.

Right you are, the only one I have on DVD is The Devil's Rejects (which isn't for everyone), the rest you can have.

I have all of five HD-DVDs with three more I'll probably pick up, if I were a BD guy there are maybe four I truly want.

I'd rather buy a DVD of a film I really want, than an HD of something I "wouldn't mind".

This is why Netflix is so popular with the HD crowd. I used to buy a lot of titles, but with HD I usually only rent. If I discover a good title I often wait for Netflix to sell the used version on DVD for $5.99. I really like the HD DVD version of Bone Collector, so on that one I will exercise patience and wait for the price of the HD to come down. On the other hand, I purchased Swordfish and feel like it is probably not much better than the DVD version.

this is why new releases are important.

Cheap DVD and player prices coupled with the fact that most people think DVDs are HD already is a deadly combo for HD discs.

The biggest impediment to high def formats is the format war. Everything else is a distant second.
You're kidding right? The average person doesn't know anything about HD DVD or Blu-ray. They still think that a movie "on DVD and Blu-ray" means DVD and PSP. Same for HD DVD--the average person thinks that standard def DVDs ARE HD. Even people with some knowlege about HD think that upscaling players make all DVDs HD on their TVS. The general public doesn't know which studios support which format, and even if they decide to buy HD movies, it comes down to which format is cheaper. Sony did get a lot of Blu-ray players out with the PS3, but that makes the PS3 THE Blu-ray player, with very little interest in stand alone players. Just because a lot of us on this forum like high quality HD movies on our HDTVs doesn't mean that there is any interest by the general public. I work with a hundred people in the entertainment industry, and I am the only one with the ability to watch HD movies from a disk at home. If people in the industry care very little about these formats, then I'm sure the average person doesn't care at all. It will take years for HD disks to become the norm, unless combo DVD/HD DVDs become standard and replace the standard def DVDs, and it seems that there isn't enough replicating equipment to allow that to happen yet. Total HD disks with HD DVD/Blu-ray combos will be essentially the same as having one format, which would still be of very little interest to the general public for a long time.

The biggest impediment to high def formats is the format war. Everything else is a distant second.

No. Price is the biggest impediment (if you disallow lethargy).

Let us think about it. In the last two decades what are the most successful format changes ? What did that involve ?

LP/Cassette to CD. Analog camcoder to digital camcorder. Analog film to Digital cameras. VHS (analog !) to DVD. NTSC (analog !) to ATSC. CRT to Digital Displays. Analog cable to digital cable/satellite. VHS to DVR.

Every single one of them involved going from Analog to Digital. This meant ease of use and in some cases better quality too.

What exactly does going from DVD to BD/HDDVD involve ? I'll leave the rest to your imagination ...

If I discover a good title I often wait for Netflix to sell the used version on DVD for $5.99. .

As will I (usually from disk-go-round or Amazon). So much of what has been issued on HD have been cut-out bin eyesores for three years now.

I've never seen Swordfish so this isn't a quality statement, but there are six copies in every used and sale DVD bins, and it's a perennially sale-flier title. I actually start to resent titles that are always on sale and in my face when I'm hoping to find something that actually appeals to me.

The biggest impediment to high def formats is the format war. Everything else is a distant second.

No. Not the format war, but the political games of the BDA that is the real impediment. Everything else is a distant second!

No. Not the format war, but the political games of the BDA that is the real impediment. Everything else is a distant second!

What political games?

they are dumping them because HD will be expanding

But not quite the HD that all think (HiDef DVD). 2006 was the best year for sales of HDTV's. 2007 Will be even better . . .and 2008 the market will cater to all from Average Joe to the most critical HT owner.

They do the same thing in other areas like Food. Ever see a 3 for 1 sales at your local supermarket?

They are loss leaders . . . designed to get people in the store . . .and have a chance to sell them other items where the profit margin is much greater and there is high demand; HDTV's

If CC or BB sees that 1 out of 20 people who come into the store buy an HDTV, then increase traffic flow. Instead of getting 300 people to come in, get 1000 in and your chances of that big sale increase.

I am a salesman who deals with a lot of Average Joe's in my travels and I also ask them; "so when are you gettin BluRay Disc and only one out of about 50 said; "itsn't that the thing involved in that format war thing?"

You can look at the current war from two stanpoints;

The Macro Level - the big picture

The Micro Level - will it support TRUHD audio

As someone on another Forum wrote to me in a discussion we were having;

"If the TV manufacturers could have fire shoot out of the speakers to attract a buyer . . .they would!" :D

In a convoluted way, super-cheap DVD prices might be good for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD in that they set consumer expectations of how much they should pay for a DVD. When studios learn that consumers expect to pay less than $10 for a movie on DVD, and will wait for a "hot release" to reach that price before biting, they might be motivated to promote their $29 HD releases more to keep their revenues up. Increased visibility and mindshare are what these new formats need most.

It's the old quantity versus quality argument.Right now let's say on average BD/HDDVD movies are $25. $100 gets you 4 HD movies.On the other hand, a place like CC is selling some catalogue titles for 4 bucks.That same $100 gets you 25 movies,and the only thing you're losing is increased visual and audio clarity,which may not be a deal breaker for many people.Having quantity of content at reasonable prices is probably more important to J6P than quality at high prices,not to mention less content.