I don't own either format. But, I am curious what the effect would be if Warner went Blu-Ray or HD-DVD exclusive? Serious responses only please.

Neutral: The war carries on as it has and is driven by consumer purchasing/spending and less by studio/CE machinations.

HDDVD Exclusive: The war carries on, but HDDVD reaches parity in the short term and then the lead in the long term.

BluRay Exclusive: The format war is essentially over at that point. Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks exclusivity isn't enough to support HDDVD.

Neutral: The war carries on as it has and is driven by consumer purchasing/spending and less by studio/CE machinations.

HDDVD Exclusive: The war carries on, but HDDVD reaches parity in the short term and then the lead in the long term.

BluRay Exclusive: The format war is essentially over at that point. Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks exclusivity isn't enough to support HDDVD.

that sounds about right...but you never know with all these cheap players coming out how long HD DVD will be around. Anything can happen.

Neutral: The war carries on as it has and is driven by consumer purchasing/spending and less by studio/CE machinations.

HDDVD Exclusive: The war carries on, but HDDVD reaches parity in the short term and then the lead in the long term.

BluRay Exclusive: The format war is essentially over at that point. Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks exclusivity isn't enough to support HDDVD.

that sounds about right...but you never know with all these cheap players coming out how long HD DVD will be around. Anything can happen.

agree with Joseph's speculations. the cheap players, if they were going to do anything, would have done them already. it would however, come in play if Warner goes HD DVD, giving each side an equal number of major exclusive studios. Sony/Disney/Fox vs Uni/Para/Warner. honestly if they go HD DVD, i think both formats will go the way of SACD/DVDA as consumers simply will not be able to choose a side.

you'd essentially have to consider the price of a BD player PLUS the price of a HD DVD player as an entry price rather than just a cheap HD DVD player. dual format players prices still got a ways to go to be a viable solution to HDM.

agree with Joseph's speculations. the cheap players, if they were going to do anything, would have done them already. it would however, come in play if Warner goes HD DVD, giving each side an equal number of major exclusive studios. Sony/Disney/Fox vs Uni/Para/Warner. honestly if they go HD DVD, i think both formats will go the way of SACD/DVDA as consumers simply will not be able to choose a side.

you'd essentially have to consider the price of a BD player PLUS the price of a HD DVD player as an entry price rather than just a cheap HD DVD player. dual format players prices still got a ways to go to be a viable solution to HDM.

Plus the software. You cannot have entry into HDM without software. I tried, the screen stayed black for a long time...

Neutral: The war carries on as it has and is driven by consumer purchasing/spending and less by studio/CE machinations.

HDDVD Exclusive: The war carries on, but HDDVD reaches parity in the short term and then the lead in the long term.

BluRay Exclusive: The format war is essentially over at that point. Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks exclusivity isn't enough to support HDDVD.

If Warner goes exclusive, I think fanboys of the winning side will have a field day but long term, I don't see it having much effect.
HD-DVD will continue to sell quite well with the inexpensive players and Universal/Paramount might increase the number of mega-titles to offset the Warner move. Down the road, the studios will not be able to ignore both formats and all studios will go neutral....except Sony.
I just wish Blu-ray would sell an affordable player so I can go neutral.

louigi22: "I just wish Blu-ray would sell an affordable player so I can go neutral."

I think by Christmas you, just might have your wish.. Plus I bought a S-300 for $349, new.. Hardly that expensive depends on how you look at it, the first DVD player where very expensive, well the first 3 generations where now they are dirt cheap. BB had Samsung 1200 open boxes for $225, not bad.. I see a fire sale on the equipment time in the near future, the holiday season will open a lot of doors on both sides..

Neutral: The war carries on as it has and is driven by consumer purchasing/spending and less by studio/CE machinations.

HDDVD Exclusive: The war carries on, but HDDVD reaches parity in the short term and then the lead in the long term.

BluRay Exclusive: The format war is essentially over at that point. Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks exclusivity isn't enough to support HDDVD.

...yeah, I'll buy that.

There's another thing - Warner going HD-DVD exclusive (something I personally don't think they'll do) could result in even more CE pushing for combo players.

Frankly, at this stage, I'll don't think either format can do things the other can't on a fundamental level, and that a fully spec'd Profile 2.0 would in turn produce a very complimentary HD-DVD player platform.

This leaves out, once again, the one CE that'll (for all intents and purposes) =never= build a combo, namely Sony. With the PS3 continuing to be the vastly more numerous BD platform (whether it's primarily being used as such or not is moot), and it's not going to be a neutral player come hell or high water. With more PS3s out there than all standalone players in either format combined, hypothetically with them driving BD sales at around 2:1, the incentive remains to see HD-DVD peter out. That, along with Tosh's agressive pricing providing little incentive for other name-brand CE to jump in (except with rebadged units or combos), makes me fear for the future of that format.

Honestly, the only thing I want out of this whole affair is a rock solid player from both camps. My Panny has been a champion, but won't playback DTS-Lossless or do Profile 1.1/2.0. My A1 is a loveable tank, but is slow and flaky, yet still seemingly more reliable than many of the other offerings from tosh (there's no way I'm upgrading to a player that's going to HEX out on me... bah!)

So, here we are once again with idle speculation about the future of two formats that remain as niche as I expected them to. I'm just grabbing all that I can, while I can, before the studios give up and focus on more profitable things like on demand.

I'll continue to hoard my HDM discs, just as I hoard my DVD-A and SACDs, even though getting players for those formats seems to be a dying proposition as well. I hope we're seeing the begining of something great, but, alas, I still fear that we're just watching the long protracted sufferings of a still born High Def revolution...

I think the thing that would really end this war with both sides being happy (except maybe warner) would be the introduction of cheap and well engineered dual format players. I will be going neutral before the end of the year with the purchase of a PS3, but would much rather spend $400-$500 on a dual format player than $400 for a PS3 and the $300 I spent for my A20.

- Jon

If Warner goes exclusive, I think fanboys of the winning side will have a field day but long term, I don't see it having much effect.
HD-DVD will continue to sell quite well with the inexpensive players and Universal/Paramount might increase the number of mega-titles to offset the Warner move.

But that's the problem. HDDVD's best selling titles are from Warner. Transformers is the only exception, and a very recent one. Universal has nothing but catalog titles because they haven't had more than 1 blockbuster each year for the past several years. Paramount carries more weight, and that's the reason why they were paid to bolster the HDDVD camp. No shame in it, it was good business for Paramount/Dreamworks. Warner has been the saving grace of HD DVD, and I said this last year: Warner has been keeping HDDVD alive. Without Warner support, HD DVD would have died quickly, because it was Warner titles that were selling. Also remember that BluRay has done well with many Warner titles in absence.

I'm in... before this thread is locked!

Warner has released 81 titles on Blu-ray and 104 on HD DVD.

Warner going exclusive to either format would have HD or BR losing about 25-30% of its available titles.

Warner is definitely impressed with HD DVDs interactivity and web enabled features. Blu-ray is still lacking this technology. Its doubtfull that Warner will give up this upcoming interactive market place that will be opening up to the industry

Serious responses only please.

From Warner:
But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide — so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.

Silverberg went on to emphasize the Warner's strong Blu-ray sales, noting that the studio's Blu-ray release of '300' is the format's top selling disc. "We can definitely talk Blu-ray," said Silverberg. "We are committed to the format.

If Warner goes RED only, it will be a it will be a standoff and nobody wins. HD disc will continue to be a niche product. If Warner goes BLU only. Well, does there need to be any discussion?

WAAAAYYY too many other threads on this. No reason to start another one.

Closed.