Will you spend less money on HD material now that the format war appears to be nearing an end?

I admit I was caught up in the furor and excitement of this format war. Due to sites like AVS and others, I found myself buying discs I never would have purchased before for a variety of reasons. From BOGOs to Buy Days, I dumped over $1200 on movies -- 70 percent of which I never would have bought otherwise. A lot of it was due to price, but it was also due to the excitement of this war.

Now the war appears to have a clear winner, and the excitement is gone. What next?

As for myself, a blu-ray supporter, I imagine I will sell off at least half or more of my collection, and only purchase those special movies I absolutely must have -- hot new releases, or the occasional catalogue title I love. I was buying 5 to 10 discs per month. I imagine I'll be lucky to buy one a month now.

Does anyone else see themselves doing the same? Some of you own Blu-ray. Others own HD-DVD. Your answers will vary.

Please try to look past any disgruntled feelings you may have about the Warner switch.

I'm going to spend less on HD now that I've bought a new house and furniture...

If you are one of the diehards who would cut your nose off to spite your face, then one presupposes you would rather not buy any HDM now and let it die entirely and punish yourself with poor resolution of DVD or downloadable movies which are full of artifacts and laced with DRM the likes of which none of us can possibly imagine today.

The rest of us will continue to buy movies as we always have, only now we only have to worry about one format.

I'm HD DVD and will probably go purple by Christmas since I expect an affordable $250 1.1 player by then...or I'll cave and buy a PS3 by then for about the same price.

I don't plan on spending much more per month though than I am now. I mostly rent with the occassional buy (I only about 10 HD DVDs).

I agree. I think when the dust settles, there will be more apathy towards purchasing in favor of renting. I doubt we will we will see anymore "buy days" promoted on some internet sites and people being liberal with their purchases "just to support the team". I doubt any of that will do any good against what some people think is now the war with SD DVD.

there is no option for I own HD DVD, wont go blu, and will spend less.

I just dont hav $300-400 to spend on a new player, and the wife would not approve of it any way, so there is no real way to get into BD. So, with Warner out of the picture, there will be fewer discs to buy.

I would assume this is probably the position of most HD DVD owners.

faceless,

If you are one of the diehards who would cut your nose off to spite your face

wow, what a myopic view. Like I said, if someone just spent $200 for a HD DVD player, what makes you think they are going to rush out and plunk down an additional $300-400 for a BD player. It isnt going to happen all that often, and it has nothing to do with being a diehard, but simple economics.

There is no choice for "I own both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD?" The world really seems red and blue since Friday.

Realistically I will stop buying all forms of HD media on disc. I tried out HD DVD, like it, but it looks like it has lost out... Yet though I enjoyed it, it was never truly successful like DVD was - this goes for both HD DVD and BD. Even my friends who had a PS3 didn't even know WTF Blu-Ray was or what they had in their house. I would show people HD DVD combo discs and not a one of them had ever seen it before or understood that it could work in their DVD player.

Going forward, re-investing a bunch of money in BD just seems a waste when it will be inevitably replaced by HD downloads and mass acceptance looks slim. Heck, the box for HD downloads is already here (http://www.vudu.com), its just a matter of time before the price goes down and wives around the country unite to get rid of that DVD box clutter! :p And if its not that box, it will be one by Microsoft, Apple, Tivo, or any of the other countless vendors that are looking to cash in on the inevitable.

Maybe I will re-evaluate my stance a couple of years down the road, but for now I will enjoy my combined 1500 movie HD DVD/DVD collection, invest in a TivoHD for future content sometime down the road, and save up for a house. The wallet for HDM is officially closed for the forseeable future from this AVS member. It was a fun ride while it lasted, but now my priorities are back in line where they should be. :)

Makes no point buying a movie on DVD when I can get it with superior picture and sound on Blu-Ray.

I'll be spending more on HDM if anything.

I own blu and will probably just keep spending the same.

Going forward, re-investing a bunch of money in BD just seems a waste when it will be inevitably replaced by HD downloads and mass acceptance looks slim. Heck, the box for HD downloads is already here (http://www.vudu.com), its just a matter of time before the price goes down and wives around the country unite to get rid of that DVD box clutter! :p And if its not that box, it will be one by Microsoft, Apple, Tivo, or any of the other countless vendors that are looking to cash in on the inevitable.
Read the horrible truth about VUDU. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijMwDFj1953OI7MQaNAObEMMbbNQD8TLB8F80)

Funny that HD-DVD supporters are going to now wait years for a format with so many flaws. VUDU can store 25 high-definition titles, takes four hours to stream an HD movie before it can start playing, and charges as much for a movie as retail physical media costs.

It's also funny that, even after years of MP3 players, BT, iTunes, etc., physical media still owns 90% of the music market and nearly 100% of the video market.

Face it, physical media is here to stay.

"I own Blu-ray and will spend more"

No reason not to.

I am currently HD-DVD but will go purple. I will continue to purchase HD-DVD. For BR I will be extremely selective - I will only purchase "must have" titles, preferably used, otherwise I will just rent or borrow from friends or wait for HBO/Showtime-HD.

Read the horrible truth about VUDU. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijMwDFj1953OI7MQaNAObEMMbbNQD8TLB8F80)

Funny that HD-DVD supporters are going to now wait years for a format with so many flaws. VUDU can store 25 high-definition titles, takes four hours to stream an HD movie before it can start playing, and charges as much for a movie as retail physical media costs.

It's a start. If you read the review you linked, it was mostly positive with the exception of the DRM restrictions. The movie industry is going to have to go through the same phases the music industry did.

Vudu has actually got raving good reviews on every aspect of the service from most sources with the exception of DRM restrictions. That will change in time.

I could equally link a BD+ PDF to "read the horrible truth about BD+ Advanced Countermeasure," but it is counterproductive. The movie industry is apparently not ready to part with intrusive DRM as we can see, but they will learn in time.

It's also funny that, even after years of MP3 players, BT, iTunes, etc., physical media still owns 90% of the music market and nearly 100% of the video market.

Face it, physical media is here to stay.

The only reason downloadable music was slow to start was because of the music industry's ridiculous DRM insistance. With AMAZON.COM's DRM-free MP3 store looking to be a winner, I believe the era of the downloadable music will begin shortly.

Again, I can't speak for other users but I have a massive movie collection. If "Content is King," then I own the keys to the kingdom. Waiting a few years for the next best thing isn't going to kill me since I have so much content at my fingertips to enjoy. I can't speak for all members of course, some may want to jump into BD. But for me at this point, I can't justify the cost logically... Especially I know when there are no BD profile 2.0 players, and no BD profile 2.0 software (or 1.1 for that matter) to go with them - meaning that if you buy into BD now you are going to pay a premium yet will have to double dip on both hardware AND software to get the full experience down the road. No thanks, does not make sense in my case.

There is no choice for "I own both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD?" The world really seems red and blue since Friday.

Definitely. Instead of being about wanting as much HD content as possible, this (as could be predicted) has continued to be a pissing match, between the "We told ya so" in blue, and the "We'll never support the BDA" from the reds.

It's like watching a couple of 3rd graders argue.

BTW - SU fan here. ;)

It's a start.
Sorry, I don't know anyone who prefers waiting 4 hours to watch an HD movie on their VUDU with lower quality video/audio and no special features for the same price as a retail disc with higher quality video/audio and special features. And their VUDU HD movie collection is limited to a whopping 25 titles before they have to start deleting (and re-downloading).

If the only flaw you read in the review was DRM, I suggest you read again.

There are lots of tech-savvy people on this forum, but spending too much time on here makes one believe the demographics of the market are similar. The truth is far from that. A majority of the market has trouble programming the clock on their VCR. They want something as simple as sticking the disc in the tray and hitting "play".

I only got 12 blu-ray titles so far so yes I'll be spending more.

Will likely be spending more...now I don't have to hesitate (and I'm an HD-DVD owner at the moment).

The only issue that could end up causing me to buy less is when Blu Ray (hopefully) becomes widely available to rent a good range of titles. Then I won't have to buy every title just to see it, as I do now.

Sorry, I don't know anyone who prefers waiting 4 hours to watch an HD movie on their VUDU with lower quality video/audio and no special features for the same price as a retail disc with higher quality video/audio and special features.

HDM discs are priced $25-$35 in the store. Vudu is $20-$25. Seems that is $5-$10 cheaper to me, not the same price.


And their VUDU HD movie collection is limited to a whopping 25 titles before they have to start deleting (and re-downloading).

eSata external drive will be the eventual answer to this, just like it was to Tivo.

If the only flaw you read in the review was DRM, I suggest you read again.

I've read a ton of reviews on Vudu. I almost bought one for my parents for XMAS but it was just a tad out of my pricerange (got TivoHD for them instead). Most reviews are glowingly positive. Apparently it kicks some major butt, just a bit too pricey and a bit too DRM-limited right now. That easily can change over time, though.

I'm not going to buy into Vudu in its current form, but the point is that the writing is already on the wall where things are going - and it doesnt appear to be in the direction of optical disc.


So, as a result, I may snag a TivoHD but more importantly I'll save my money for more important things and enjoy my current movie collection which puts Blockbuster to shame in many ways ;)

Being retired I had hoped HD DVD would be the last format I ever bought. I will continue to buy HD DVDs as long as they are available. I probably will not buy a Blu Ray player. If HD DVDs stop being sold I will just download an HD movie every once and awhile.

Will you spend less money on HD material now that the format war appears to be nearing an end?I will probably buy more Blu-ray movies since I am now more confident of Blu-ray's long term future. Before Warner's decision there was always a small risk that this format war would drag down both HD formats.


Now the war appears to have a clear winner, and the excitement is gone. What next?Well some posters will keep on fighting until either Paramount or Universal support Blu-ray but after that happens hopefully it will become more peaceful on the forum.

Apparently it kicks some major butt, just a bit too pricey and a bit too DRM-limited right now. That easily can change over time, though.
Paying an extra $5-$10 for the benefit of having an actual physical disc with better audio/video, special features, etc., is a no-brainer. And this doesn't take into account promos/sales, which put many HDM titles in the $15-$20 range.

Price and DRM are controlled by studios, not VUDU. VUDU's hands are tied. If the studios want VUDU to succeed, they will change pricing and DRM requirements. If the studios want Blu-Ray to succeed (all signs point to that being the case), they won't be making life easy for VUDU customers anytime soon.

Now that the format war is closer than ever to an end, I think I will be reducing my purchases of Paramount/Dreamworks and Universal titles. I see no reason to further my investment into HD DVD.

I sincerely hope everyone who wants a HDM format to succeed does the same. Send Paramount and Universal a message and they will switch.

You guys who are unhappy that there is no dual-format option.

You own blu-ray. You own HD-DVD.

You can answer anything you want, and I don't think it will matter a lot.

If you are one of the diehards who would cut your nose off to spite your face, then one presupposes you would rather not buy any HDM now and let it die entirely and punish yourself with poor resolution of DVD or downloadable movies which are full of artifacts and laced with DRM the likes of which none of us can possibly imagine today.

One may assume this is the case, but for me it's purely economics. I love HDM, but it took an affordable player to get me in the game (just happened to be HD-DVD was cheaper). Then I mainly just rented since disc prices are still too high compared to DVD. Blu players are still too expensive, and the media and hardware prices probably won't drop anytime soon, since the competetion is gone.

Luckily there are a good number of HD PPVs available, and darn good DVD upconverters to keep me tied over until Blu becomes more affordable. It irks me that I've had a taste of HD and am now priced out of the market. It's not that I can't afford it. It's just not worth the extra cost when DVD is good enough (and HD-DVD was cheap enough for a renter like me anyway).

I could suck it up and throw more money at Sony for the sake of keeping HDM alive, but they need to meet consumers half way and cut prices. Seems like by keeping prices high, they (Sony) are the ones cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Will you spend less money on HD material now that the format war appears to be nearing an end?

I admit I was caught up in the furor and excitement of this format war. Due to sites like AVS and others, I found myself buying discs I never would have purchased before for a variety of reasons. From BOGOs to Buy Days, I dumped over $1200 on movies -- 70 percent of which I never would have bought otherwise. A lot of it was due to price, but it was also due to the excitement of this war.

Now the war appears to have a clear winner, and the excitement is gone. What next?

As for myself, a blu-ray supporter, I imagine I will sell off at least half or more of my collection, and only purchase those special movies I absolutely must have -- hot new releases, or the occasional catalogue title I love. I was buying 5 to 10 discs per month. I imagine I'll be lucky to buy one a month now.

Does anyone else see themselves doing the same? Some of you own Blu-ray. Others own HD-DVD. Your answers will vary.

Please try to look past any disgruntled feelings you may have about the Warner switch.

Hi,

I share most of your observations from the HD DVD perspective. Up until now it seems that my buying habits were faster than when I was buying standard DVDs.

I expect to see a continuation of the deals on HD DVDs. The deals may actually be superior to the BOGOs. If so, I plan to continue my accelerated buying habits of HD DVDs until the supply dries up. I have no intention of selling any of my HD DVDs.

This is not meant as a slam on Blu-ray, but so far I have not run across any "must have" Blu-ray exclusive titles. So until that happens, and as long as I'm buying HD DVDs, I doubt that initially I'll be buying a Blu-ray player any time soon.

Eventually, I'll no doubt buy a Blu-ray player when a reasonably priced, standalone profile 2.0 player is released.

Over the long haul I figure that I will be buying at about the same rate, unless there were to be a major influx of classic titles from Blu-ray exclusive studios. If that were to happen, while HD DVD titles were still on sale, I would probably buy a blu-ray player and actually increase my buying as I purchased from all studios.

Larry

How about adding another option: "have been waiting for a winner and will now buy a player and HD media".

I've owned a HD tv for 4-5 years but have been satisfied with DVD and Comcast HD.

How about adding another option: "have been waiting for a winner and will now buy a player and HD media".

I've owned a HD tv for 4-5 years but have been satisfied with DVD and Comcast HD.

Was thinking of doing that, but that almost deserves its own poll.

I imagine a lot of fence-sitters may now consider buying into blu-ray.

I own both formats (making me purple, I suppose), and I will continue to follow my same old policy. I will ALWAYS buy the Blu-Ray edition of a film over the DVD if it is made available to me, and I will ONLY buy exclusive new release HD-DVDs if they are in the combo format.

I will also continue to spend entirely too much money on home video entertainment. At least I can sleep easier at night now knowing for certain that I made the right choice in prioritizing Blu.

I am just curious how some of you budget your money on HDM? Some of you seem obsessed? I myself will take some time off and will later purchase HD DVD's when there are real good deals. As for going Blu, I will never go there...

only reason i voted spending less is i am sure the days of the BOGO are gone with competion removed. If prices are reasonable, i will continue replacing my 1500 DVDs with the BD or HD counterparts.

I own both and will spend less.

a) because I've been spending too much
b) because I'm afraid we've seen the end of the BOGO's (well we may have a few until May)

How about adding another option: "have been waiting for a winner and will now buy a player and HD media".

Exactly. How about the poll option for "Now I can finally start investing in and enjoying HDM."

I think you will see a huge drop off in HD disc sales, on both sides if eventually the "war" appears over. Just like people rarely put bumper stickers on their cars after their preferred candidate has won an election, once the outcome is sealed, there is less motivation to "make a difference."

Personally, I was an HD DVD owner and supporter, and was close to buying a blu-ray player to go "purple", but now I'm so soured on the whole debacle, that I'll probably just wait a year or two for the dust to settle. If a fully featured blu-ray player comes out for $150, and a better title selection becomes available, only then can I see myself going with blu-ray.

I think Blu-Ray will end up being a niche format like laserdisc that Sony will end up throwing away billions of dollars on, never overtaking standard DVD. I see no way Sony will ever recoup their investment from Blu-Ray.

Option A - return the whole recently purchased HD-DVD debacle back to Amazon.
Option B - keep the HD-A30, pick up a few more bargain priced HD-DVD releases and focus entertainment on rented standard def releases viewed upconverted.
Option C - can't think of one I am interested in . . .

I own both and will now buy nothing until 100% of the studio's are releasing in one or both formats. Not that it makes much difference anyways, I bought very little to begin with. There's very few movies that I'd watch more than once every few years.

How about I am BD exclusive and I stopped buying months ago in favor of renting option? Even if it means a title in only DVD, I watched it upscaled on my PS3. Actually I buy these damn things by default anyway for my kids birthday, christmas, etc. so I lied, but there is no 'I am BD exclusive and I won't buy more or less, but remain the same option'.

I think Blu-Ray will end up being a niche format like laserdisc that Sony will end up throwing away billions of dollars on, never overtaking standard DVD. I see no way Sony will ever recoup their investment from Blu-Ray.
The Blu-Ray Disc Association is made up of more than just Sony, and all those companies will make sure Blu-Ray succeeds, with lower player and media prices and increased market adoption as the successor to DVD.

You guys who are unhappy that there is no dual-format option.

You own blu-ray. You own HD-DVD.

You can answer anything you want, and I don't think it will matter a lot.

That's silly. Why would I bother to vote if I can only choose an option that does not apply to me? And if it doesn't matter, why bother to do this poll in the first place?

Oh, and can I have the last five minutes of my life back, please? :rolleyes:

Hmm...Warner should know that I won't be purchasing any BR discs anytime soon, whereas I might have bought some of their HDDVDs. As posted on other threads, I made my choice in mid-2006 and have enjoyed being able to watch HD movies. But no way can I justify investing in another format any time soon.

I had to make a not-entirely-correct choice as my situation wasn't represented. I actually was ALREADY purple and will buy less.
Unfortunately, most of the polls on these forums, while well intentioned, leave out some portion of the AVS "family."
Not to pick on the OP of this poll. It's a good one.
But I'm tired of often having to pick something that doesn't truthfully represent where I stand or abstain from the poll at all.
Thanks, and didn't mean to rant!

I'm leaving the HDM market, so I voted accordingly. For the foreseeable future I'll be consuming my HD either OTA or OnDemand.

i will be buying a blu-ray and getting the movies i want that i will watch more than once
the rest will be rented.

I only own about 30 BDs. I'm about to sell the 12 HD DVDs I own. I've stuck mostly to renting for the last year - in part because of the format war uncertainty. However, I will buy BDs (that I'll rewatch) with complete confidence now.

One may assume this is the case, but for me it's purely economics. I love HDM, but it took an affordable player to get me in the game (just happened to be HD-DVD was cheaper). Then I mainly just rented since disc prices are still too high compared to DVD. Blu players are still too expensive, and the media and hardware prices probably won't drop anytime soon, since the competetion is gone.

Luckily there are a good number of HD PPVs available, and darn good DVD upconverters to keep me tied over until Blu becomes more affordable. It irks me that I've had a taste of HD and am now priced out of the market. It's not that I can't afford it. It's just not worth the extra cost when DVD is good enough (and HD-DVD was cheap enough for a renter like me anyway).

I could suck it up and throw more money at Sony for the sake of keeping HDM alive, but they need to meet consumers half way and cut prices. Seems like by keeping prices high, they (Sony) are the ones cutting off their nose to spite their face.

If you don't like Sony, then don't buy Sony, get one of the many other manufacturers players that play Blu-Ray.

Samsung
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
LG
Sharp

or the soon to be released
Mitsubishi
Funai
Loewe
Denon
Daewoo

or wait another 9 months and get a new Toshiba BD player :)

high def media is already a bust, consolidating in to one format isn't going to change it. They have shown time and again that the bulk of releases will be of poor quality, minimal time and effort, possibly buggy, and not worth normal peoples time.

The "resolution" of this war is just going to make things worse quality-wise (and probably price-wise).

high def media is already a bust, consolidating in to one format isn't going to change it. They have shown time and again that the bulk of releases will be of poor quality, minimal time and effort, possibly buggy, and not worth normal peoples time.

The "resolution" of this war is just going to make things worse quality-wise (and probably price-wise).

someone forgot to tell the people that swarm around the hdm isle at the best
buy store i go to.

If you don't like Sony, then don't buy Sony, get one of the many other manufacturers players that play Blu-Ray.

Samsung
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
LG
Sharp

or the soon to be released
Mitsubishi
Funai
Loewe
Denon
Daewoo

or wait another 9 months and get a new Toshiba BD player :)

This is getting off topic so this is the one and only reply I'll make. Blu-ray = Sony. There are no two ways about it. If someone supports BD in any way, shape or form they are supporting Sony - if not directly, then indirectly. Sony, the same company that brought consumers rootkits and ARccOS (http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2007/04/some_sony_dvds_.html)

Where is the category for I am purple and have a ton of both already and see no reason not to continue to buy HD media of both types. I really like HD movies and documentaries. Prefer HD DVD but went purple to get the ones not on HD DVD. With the folks whose players died on Friday and whose media somehow became unusable, I will be picking up even more HD DVD players (XA2) and HD DVD media.

Blu-ray = Sony.
False, considering that there are many patent holders in the Blu-Ray disc association, and many consumer electronics companies with players.

p0temkin,

False, considering that there are many patent holders in the Blu-Ray disc association, and many consumer electronics companies with players.

If I remember correctly, Sony sells somewhere between 90-95% of all BD players, and you mean to say that Sony isnt the face of Blu-Ray? The only hardware BD commericals that one sees on TV are Sony.

Although it may be technically true that Sony isnt BD, any more than it was technically true that Toshiba wasnt HD DVD, for all intents and purposes, Sony is BD.

False, considering that there are many patent holders in the Blu-Ray disc association, and many consumer electronics companies with players.

We all know what the Blu-ray marketing bulletins say, but lets not be disingenuous. If Sony closed it's doors tomorrow, would Blu-ray be around on Tuesday?

Sure, Sony is not alone, but they are the financial backbone, a major holder of the IP, have the production lines and own a major film studio.

Emphasis added by me.

Chevy Chase, Maryland USA - 21 February 2007) - MPEG LA announced today that the fourth meeting of essential Blu-ray Disc™ patent owners, currently consisting of 18 companies, was held in New York on February 6-7 for the purpose of creating a joint license providing fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory access to essential patents, as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses. Significant progress has been made in identifying licensing terms for Blu-ray Disc™ products such as players, recorders, drives, software, recordable discs and prerecorded discs. Participating companies include CyberLink Corporation; Dell Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Company; Hitachi Ltd.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; LG Electronics Inc.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic); Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Pioneer Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sonic Solutions; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.; and Warner Home Video Inc

We all know what the Blu-ray marketing bulletins say, but lets not be disingenuous. If Sony closed it's doors tomorrow, would Blu-ray be around on Tuesday?
And if Toshiba closed its doors? Talk about double standards.

I own both formats. Will stop buying bd and just rent them. I will only buy Universal and Paramount titles from now on. I will rent the rest from both sides. This is bad timing on Warners part. I am going on a warner and bd buying strike until hd dvd is officially not being supported any longer.

p0temkin,

If I remember correctly, Sony sells somewhere between 90-95% of all BD players, and you mean to say that Sony isnt the face of Blu-Ray?Try about 60%. And from Toshiba info!!

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/01/p1070010_small.jpg

Emphasis added by me.
And I could post a list of Toshiba's HD DVD partners that has about as much relevance.
And if Toshiba closed its doors? Talk about double standards.

Did I claim Toshiba wasn't the heart, soul and financials behind HD DVD? Of course they are, but last I checked, I didn't make the statement they weren't.

For there to be a double standard, a standard would need to have been set. :)

This is getting off topic so this is the one and only reply I'll make. Blu-ray = Sony. There are no two ways about it. If someone supports BD in any way, shape or form they are supporting Sony - if not directly, then indirectly. Sony, the same company that brought consumers rootkits and ARccOS (http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2007/04/some_sony_dvds_.html)

This is the same reason ill just go back to my upconverter and on demand hd. I will never put a dime into their pocket after Sony and the RIAA's antics over the past 2 years.

I am going to be buying much more now that I dont have to worry about blu ray kicking the bucket.

And I could post a list of Toshiba's HD DVD partners that has about as much relevanceI will do it for you.


(Chevy Chase, Maryland USA – 4 October 2007) – MPEG LA announced today that the first meeting of essential HD DVD patent owners, currently consisting of 16 companies, was held in Los Angeles on September 11 for the purpose of creating a joint license providing fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory access to essential patents, as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses. Initial participating companies include LG Electronics Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; NEC Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.; Sonic Solutions; Thomson Licensing; Toshiba Corporation; Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.(JVC); and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

only reason i voted spending less is i am sure the days of the BOGO are gone with competion removed.

Does anybody have a shred of proof that the BOGOs had *anything* to do with the format war? They seemed to me to be mostly studio specific, and the studios are still in competition no matter if there is one format or twenty formats for them to compete on.

I am format-neutral, and how much I spend in the future depends on the quantity and quality of new releases, and especially their prices. If sales (especially BOGO sales) become rare, then I will buy less.

How many more polls are people going to start? :eek:

I own both formats, so I didn't participate in this grossly flawed poll. I'll still buy titles I want to see on both, but I suspect that I'll be spending less simply because I don't like very many of the titles announced.
Jack

Come on people, where's the "purple" options, or the option for "Blu-ray owner, my spending won't change".

More for me. Bluray isn't dying off.

If you are one of the diehards who would cut your nose off to spite your face,
No diehard but I'll not be buying many new releases @ a MSRP of $39.99 - that's a joke.

I will continue to buy HD-DVDs if the quality is good and the content is something I want. I have rack space for only one optical media player and it currently is HD-DVD. Unless I was to purchase a dual format HD plus SD player, nothing is going to remove my HD-DVD players from their racks. I've authored over 250+ HD-DVD discs and bought more than 120+ catalog titles. I've got 5 HD-DVD players so I am set for the long haul.

i will be buying less hdm even though i have a bd player.

the only way i got my friends and family interested in hdm at all was because of combo/twin discs.

they will all go back to buying dvd now because you cannot play bd in other dvd players or loan bd to other people who have no bd player. the only way they will switch to hdm now is if studios stop making dvd.

we have a huge pool of dvd with friends and family that have varying tastes and exchange movies. dvd works for them. access to content is more important than pq/aq.

i am the only one in the group that was impressed enough with hdm to buy both formats.

it is just too much of a pain in the butt to be the only one with a player that can play a new movie. if i get a new bd disc i like i can't really share the experience with anybody else because i can't loan them the disc so they can watch it too.

everybody but me is going back to buying dvd.

i will only be buying bd when they have bogo sales or some big titles i want bad. (same as my previous bd purchases)

otherwise, for tv series, most catalog titles, and kids movies i am sticking with dvd due to lower cost and convenience.

imo the warner decision has pretty much killed hdm. the formats will linger on like laser disc for a while and eventually be killed off by downloads and vod.

imo exclusive studios destroyed hdm (both bd and hd dvd) and all the studios should have been neutral from the start so that there could have been some real consumer choice. everybody i know feels the same way.... consumers are being forced to buy one product over the other by the studios. since dvd is still available they will stick with that until studios stop making the discs.

I hope to greatly expand my HD DVD collection while spending less. =)

You forgot an option. Own HD-DVD and plan on purchasing more then last year (60+). I have my reasons to never purchase BD (for myself, I am afraid that due to the HP HD set I got my mother I must get her a BD\HD unit in the future). For that reason I will continue to purchase HD-DVDs as much as I can to make sure my library is as big as it can be till the last HD-DVD is pressed. At that point I will wait till the next format. Unlike HD\DVD format switch, this war did teach me one lesson, I will be unlikely to replace my HD's with what ever the replacements are. I fully expect myself to be watching these discs I own and will purchase for 10-15 years.

I hope to greatly expand my HD DVD collection while spending less. =)

i will keep buying hd dvd and bd for myself but not gifts.

also, i had been avoiding buying movies from fox/sony/disney as gifts in the hopes that someday they would be available on hd dvd.

now i will just get people the movies they want to see on dvd.

once they have the movie on dvd they won't buy the bd version.

Hard for me to spend less since I have spent $0 so far (so I couln't vote in the poll). The choice for me is DF player or Blu-Ray. I was leaning to DF after the Paramount move (which occured just before I was about to buy a BD player) but the WB move has me rethinking. Why spend the extra money if HD-DVD is about to dissappear.

I am now waiting to see what Universal do.

That's silly. Why would I bother to vote if I can only choose an option that does not apply to me? And if it doesn't matter, why bother to do this poll in the first place?

Oh, and can I have the last five minutes of my life back, please? :rolleyes:


http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3230995.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=9724400E855F9263B82A6110088B1E74A55A1E4F32AD3138

Still undecided what I will do. I have to see what Universal & Paramount do in the near future. To go neutral I would want a fully functual dual format player with BD profile 2.0 at at reasonable price. I don't think we'll see that anytime soon.

I own both, but my spending on HDM will probably go down for the time being as I stop buying HDDVD over time.

As a HD-A2 owner, I'll probably spend about the same. That is, only for those titles that I truly want to own.

I subscribe to Netflix and have been very very happy with the HD DVD and SD rental experience.

Except for those titles that I KNOW in advance I'll want to own, I rent.

If the title I want to own is on HD DVD, I buy it.

If it is not, I buy and enjoy the SD version.

So right now roughly 90% of BD only owners say they will spend more. Guess they really were worried about loosing the war before. Strange, they seemed so sure.

I would have to say none of the options fit me. I'll keep bying HD DVD as long as something new comes out that I want and I'll wait till HD downloads from Netflix or who ever gets them out first comes around and move onto that.

BR support of Region Coding is the killer for me and the fact that the only real BR player that does everything and has the proven ability to be updated to keep up with changes is the PS3 will keep me from moving over to BR.

I'm a recent A2 owner (sucker?) and have enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it for as long as it lasts (hopefully a decade or so?). I won't be buying any more RED titles since after this player craps out I'll be out of luck.

On the other hand, I won't be dropping any cash on a BR player until/unless BR becomes as ubiquitous as standard DVDs. This is not a slam on BR at all as I hope someday Hi- Def does win out over standard def. It's just that I, like many who have already posted, am reluctant to spend any more money on another format that may well go belly-up. All it would take is the next recession.

I really hope BR succeeds because I have enjoyed building a DVD library and wouldn't really want to download my movies-- I would prefer to own a hard copy, but I can't afford to be an early adopter any more. Best of luck (sincerely) to those of you who continue on.

I was going to purchase a PS3 for my kids but they were not interested. On a personal level the lack of ir control is the reason I did not purchase a PS3 for myself. I am going to wait until a version 2.0 SAL is available at a reasonable price (~$250). In the meantime I will spend less on HDM purchases. When I purchase BR I will mostly rent from Netflix.

The folks in red are spending less at Amazon:

http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/graphs/salesrank100-0-1-recent7.jpg

[brilliant retort omitted]

http://www.bruceleecentral.com/enterthedragonsmallwilliams.jpg

Man, you come right out of a comic book.

I am purple and will probably spend less (Warner titles) because even Warner has admitted the BDJ is problematic and will take time to get working. I mostly rent BD from Netflix and buy HD DVDs. BD's support for advanced features has been too spotty to support by buying, I see a lot of double dipping with FOX titles and even Sony titles.

The folks in red are spending less at Amazon:

http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/graphs/salesrank100-0-1-recent7.jpg

Becuase HD DVD doesn't have any/many new titles for sale in January.

Since my answer wasn't up there, I'm posting it here. I own HD DVD, and will NOT buy into Blu Ray. The BDA lost me as a customer a LONG time ago. I will continue to support HD DVD till the stern disapears beneath the surface, and will float in the HT sea with my HD DVD collection, my DVD collection, and my LD collection.

j

I'm purple and I'll probably only buy the sale stuff. I've gotten kinda spoiled with these b1g1 sales and any high def media over $15 seems too expensive. :)

Was just checking out the BD and HD DVD movies for sale on AV and noticed there are more BD threads then HD DVD threads with all the talk about selling off going on you would think there would be more HD DVD threads.I will just keep mine

There's no choice in the poll for me because I'm not really sure. I'm HD DVD, but not a big buyer of movies (about 12 in six months). Now that HD DVD looks possibly to be on the way out, I have to gauge how much I actually feel that I need HD media. It really wasn't a life changer or anything. Now do I invest in another format?

For me, part of the problem is that many of the movies I purchase are for the family, and they need to be able to watch on the portable, in the van, or on the computers. Can't do that with HD media, and I have frustrated them with my purchase of Shrek the Third and Stardust in HD. This is why combos are a great idea for certain titles.

Also, with all premium channels in HD on Comcast along with 91 HD movies On Demand (44 that are PPV), there's plenty of content available in HD without purchasing discs to sit on the shelf.

I'll probably go Blu at some time if it really looks like HD optical media is going to have a decent shelf life, but my HD DVD experience has really given me the opportunity to consider whether owning HD movies is necessary for me to enjoy content.

I will buy just as much as I do now wether it be HD-DVD or Blu-ray it doesn't matter to me. As long as HD-DVD is around I will buy them. Even after it is gone I will buy. Same with BD when BD gets replaced by the next format. I will still buy BD. Used if need be

I will buy just as much as I do now wether it be HD-DVD or Blu-ray it doesn't matter to me. As long as HD-DVD is around I will buy them. Even after it is gone I will buy. Same with BD when BD gets replaced by the next format. I will still buy BD. Used if need be

+1