would the composition of the disks ever allow for a combo, with bd on one side, and hd on the other? I hate the standard combo (hd and sd), but this would be pretty money.

would the composition of the disks ever allow for a combo, with bd on one side, and hd on the other? I hate the standard combo (hd and sd), but this would be pretty money.

It's possible. In fact, I believe it's already been done as a prototype. But what's the point? This combination would simply increase cost for no real benefit.

Multi-Format Players make much more sense.

it would have more of a benefit than an hd-sd combo, imo. at least in my experience, if I buy an hd-dvd, I'll never want to watch it on sd. that's why I've spent so much money on HT. if the studios would drop the exclusivity and just make an hd-bd combo(at near the same price as the combo today), the consumer would be more likely to jump in.

I do agree with multiformat players, though.

it would have more of a benefit than an hd-sd combo, imo. at least in my experience, if I buy an hd-dvd, I'll never want to watch it on sd. that's why I've spent so much money on HT. if the studios would drop the exclusivity and just make an hd-bd combo(at near the same price as the combo today), the consumer would be more likely to jump in.

I do agree with multiformat players, though.

The HD/SD combo is a prime example of mind-numbing, stupidity in action.

The only time I'd see a combo disc helpful is if you had kids and a SD DVD player in the car...but at the prices they charge, probably cheaper to buy separate discs.

I think the overall plan is to discontinue SD DVDs and only offer combo SD/HD DVDs. The idea is to build the number of SD/HD videos that the average joe without an HD-DVD player has. This way an argument they can use for getting the average joe to buy an HD-DVD player would be, "Many of your movies already have the HD versions on them, you just need the player to take advantage of them."

Another reason for this is so that a larger number of people (anyone with a DVD player) will buy combo SD/HD-DVDs, bringing the popularity of HD-DVDs up and the cost per disk of HD-DVDs down to gain an advantage over Blu-ray.

would the composition of the disks ever allow for a combo, with bd on one side, and hd on the other? I hate the standard combo (hd and sd), but this would be pretty money.
Yes. For example, the Total Hi Def Disc announced at CES by Warner combines separate BD and HD DVD sides.

would the composition of the disks ever allow for a combo, with bd on one side, and hd on the other? I hate the standard combo (hd and sd), but this would be pretty money.


It's totally possible and as pointed out warner already announced it's total HD combo disk but it hasn't actually shipped any yet as far as I know. It's even theoretically possible to do Blu-Ray and standard DVD on one side and HD-DVD on the other.

HD/SD-Dvd combo disks to make some sense but not when they are charging a premium for it. DVD players are pretty cheap now a days and most people probably have a dvd player for almost every functional tv in the house. HD tv's and HD-DVD players are still much more pricey and I don't think most people are planning to have HD tv's and HD-DVD players in the kids room or in the car. If there's no added cost this is a nice bonus if you want to use it but for even a 5 buck premium a lot of people would just pick up both a HD-DVD and a DVD since it's not going to cost much more if any and provides even more flexibility.

HD combo disks make sense in a future where there is no winner and most stand alone players are now dual format players. As a neutral studio you can make one disk that can sell to anyone of the millions of legacy stand alone HD-DVD players and all the PS3 users. The longer the battle goes on the more likely Dual format players become the ultimate consumer solution. After that it's just up to the movie companies to decide if they want to limit themselves to a portion of the market or accept both formats and market to as many HD consumers as possible. In part I think things will depend on how well BD+ fairs. If it does well on protecting disks the studios may stay the way they are. If it gets bypassed as easily as ACSS did then I suspect everyone but sony will end up neutral producing combo disks.

It's totally possible and as pointed out warner already announced it's total HD combo disk but it hasn't actually shipped any yet as far as I know.
It has been delayed until at least Q1 2008.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6456115.html

The HD/SD combo is a prime example of mind-numbing, stupidity in action.

Unless of couse like virtually everyone, you have multiple SD players as well as an HD one, and you do not want to have to buy 2 discs.

Unless of couse like virtually everyone, you have multiple SD players as well as an HD one, and you do not want to have to buy 2 discs.

Yes, like everyone, I do. And if an HD version is available, then that's the only copy I need. I would have no reason nor desire to watch an SD version of ANY film or TV show that I have an HD copy of.

It has been delayed until at least Q1 2008.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6456115.html

unfortunately the comments in that article seem to indicate that it will be in addition to thier Blu-Ray and HD-DVD only versions of disks and not replacing them since it talks about an additional SKU and a group of them together. This makes me assume that there will be a pricing premium for the disk and likely a fairly sizable one. If there was no pricing premium or it was smaller they would just market instead of the individual skus much like some studios are doing with SD/HD-DVD combos. If I had to get we'd be looking at 40-50$ per movie cost which if thats the case I don't expect them to sell worth a damm.

unfortunately the comments in that article seem to indicate that it will be in addition to thier Blu-Ray and HD-DVD only versions of disks and not replacing them since it talks about an additional SKU and a group of them together. This makes me assume that there will be a pricing premium for the disk and likely a fairly sizable one. If there was no pricing premium or it was smaller they would just market instead of the individual skus much like some studios are doing with SD/HD-DVD combos. If I had to get we'd be looking at 40-50$ per movie cost which if thats the case I don't expect them to sell worth a damm.

Just like combo SD/HD discs, a dual HD disc is worthless as well. Again, as long as there are two HD formats, the real answer is dual-format PLAYERS. Multi-format discs simply mean that the consumer will continue to pay a premium over and over again. Whereas, a multi-format player means the consumer pays ONCE for the player, and then can buy multitudes of low-cost, single format discs, of whatever movie or TV show they prefer.

And if an HD version is available, then that's the only copy I need. I would have no reason nor desire to watch an SD version of ANY film or TV show that I have an HD copy of.

And if the only market that mattered was early adopters and high end users then you'd be right, combos would be useless.

Clearly some significant percentage of dvd buying people find the difference between hd and sd only a small value. Add to that the fact that as evidenced by sales some percentage of people find value in bedroom dvd players, car players, portable players and laptop players and you can clearly find some potential usefulness for an sd dvd copy to go with a high def copy.

The BD/HD hybrid on the other hand seems useful only for retailers and studios. Hard to see the point for a consumer.

And if the only market that mattered was early adopters and high end users then you'd be right, combos would be useless.

Clearly some significant percentage of dvd buying people find the difference between hd and sd only a small value. Add to that the fact that as evidenced by sales some percentage of people find value in bedroom dvd players, car players, portable players and laptop players and you can clearly find some potential usefulness for an sd dvd copy to go with a high def copy.

The BD/HD hybrid on the other hand seems useful only for retailers and studios. Hard to see the point for a consumer.

Evedently, the number of people who find that they need a SD copy of the same movie on their HD discs, are a very small minority. So why should the majority who buys an HD-DVD have to pay a premium so a small few can watch that title in their car or bedroom?

Evedently, the number of people who find that they need a SD copy of the same movie on their HD discs, are a very small minority. So why should the majority who buys an HD-DVD have to pay a premium so a small few can watch that title in their car or bedroom?

Once again, the issue is the price premium and who should pay it, not the combo itself as a product. Again accd to the insider they intend to release both combo and hd dvd version going forward, although the caveat is that supposedly they will release the combo earlier.

We've seen this already with a few movies like "Unleashed".

The only time I'd see a combo disc helpful is if you had kids and a SD DVD player in the car...but at the prices they charge, probably cheaper to buy separate discs.

That's exactly what the combo discs were intended for according to the little note inside each and every copy of Warner Bro's 300. Nonetheless, it's a gimmick set up to give people something they don't actually need.

Make the darn combo discs run properly at least.

I'd have no issues with combos if they weren't temperamental, but it seems they are so I do. It's the DVD-18 Russian Roulette all over again. I also worry about long term longevity with them, but then I also worry about "hardcoat" long term. Coatings have a knack for aging poorly and HD data-pits (especially BD) are so tiny, it won't take much to screw up a disk.