Industry Insiders Master Q&A thread IV: ONLY Questions to Insiders

[Richard Paul]

For any insider was the HD DVD PRG involved with any of the negotiations with Fox/Warner or was it just Toshiba?

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

I don't know how much they were offered, but the contract is signed and done.

Just curious but have you heard anything about the length of the contract that Warner made? Also in regards to Paramount any chance that they could go back to being neutral in 2008 or will that not be legally possible for them until 2009?

[Dahlsim]

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

Michael,

For starters, this is only my opinion. I have sent emails to Paramount and Universal, but with CES next week I doubt I will hear back in a timely manner. Anyway, I personally think we will see these studio's become neutral at some point and eventually phase out HD DVD over the coming years. In fact, we may only see day and date releases and not a lot of catalog titles.

Anyone who bought into either format should have realized that it was a risk of early adoption. There are still about 400 titles available on HD DVD and the players are all good upconverting players, so there is use to them.

What do you think is implied by both Warner and FOX coming so close to choosing hd dvd over blu-ray even so late in game, even after the holiday numbers were in?

In the pros and cons of each format, what concerns could have had them leaning that way? Clearly it was not a slam dunk for either side with the decisions being so fluid. Do you think those concerns are necessarily alleviated now or simply mitigated by 'incentives'?

[Meatpopsicle]

Amir, I am an HD DVD supporter with no intention of ever investing into blu ray.

With that said, I now intend to spend a lot more money renting HD movies off of Live. What are the chances we can soon purchase them?

Surely this thing has to be coming on Live, to compete with Vudu and other upcoming competition.

[John Haghighi]

Are there any Studios publishing on Blu-ray format that will/could use HDi? Since Warner uses HDi on some their HD DVD titles, can we expect they will use them on Blu-ray, or will they be forced to use java under the BD-Live profile?

Is HDi on Blu-ray pretty much a no go because of the lack of mandatory hardware support?

[Andy_K]

Everybody talks as though the only way to play BD is with a standalone player or PS3, but what about computers?

What I'm wondering from the insiders is: Assuming for the moment that HD DVD will everntually fold; assuming that nobody is going to give free BD exchanges for our HD DVDs (I mean, give me a break!); doesn't it make sense that optical computer drives that can play (and/or record) HD DVD format will eventually be cheap and standard? In the past, these drives have supported a variety of legacy formats, including those that never were all that common (DVD-RAM?). Is there some technical (or licensing) reason this isn't possible? It certainly would unruffle the feathers of some people who worry about the eventual obsolescence of their HD DVD discs.

[jmpage2]

A big thanks to the Dave/Amir/Talk for how this was handled. Obviously there is a lot of sour grapes here as will always be the case when money is involved. I've seen people nearly come to blows over $20 lost and wagered in a neighborhood poker game, so some will react this way to the news.

The good thing about money is that you can always make more and the important thing now is to support HDM (if you can) so that we don't see the opportunity to own the movies we love on physical media of some sort in the best presentation possible disappear. All that long term hard feelings are going to do is stifle adoption and turn HDM into a niche format, and if that happens, all real movie lovers lose. The BD Blu Bloods get their day in the sun (similar to how many rejoiced when Paramount went HD exclusive) and now it's time to move along.

Talk, you've repeatedly mentioned 2.0 BD Live functionality update to the PS3. Is this a confirmation because last I heard it had not yet been confirmed by Sony. You've also mentioned software for 2008 that will have 2.0 features. Can you provide any information on what some of these first titles might be?

Amir,

You seriously should write a book about all of this. There are many avenues that can be explored here.

[RobertR1]

Dave,

About the Toshiba 2 hour press conference. I'm going to assume that was with the intention of having Warner and Fox on board so they can really milk it. Is that so? Also, Toshiba's press release states they were rather suprised yet Amir mentioned they (atleast MS) knew about it in advance.

If so, why have a 2 hour press release scheduled if you knew what was coming down the pipe?

[jdc115]

Amrim,

you mentioned that you were aware of the announcement before it happened but it also been stated that at least up to the night before that Warner and Fox were both considering to go HD-DVD. Is it safe to say that you knew of the decision less then 24 hours before hand or was this finalized longer back then rumored?

Thanks

[rwestley]

Amirm, Thanks for all you insights and information over the years. Hope you continue posting and let in on what you are doing in your new job. I have several questions.
1 What impact do you think this will have on VC1's future. Do you feel that more
Blu-Ray companies will now support it.
2. What impact if any do you see on the prices of players and disks?
3. Do you think that we have seen the end of special sales and BOGO offers?

I also hope that you do get to write your book. It could be an amazing story from the inside and give us great insight into negotiations that took place and the money that was spent since day one.

On a final note: Thanks again for all you posts and please don't leave us. It is most important high quality HD media into peoples homes as fast as possible.

[Maxpower1987]

Hi guys, I have been given special dispensation from work to make this post.

I would like to thank Amir and Dave for being gracious in defeat and not riling up HD DVD supporters and instead urging them to get behind the new standard for distribution of HD on optical disc, Blu-ray.

Special thanks go to Talkstr8t who has been handling Blu-ray insider duties all alone on AVS for the past couple of weeks.

[Roger Dressler]

Originally Posted by ADBNZ

I have a question that might best be answered by Roger Dressler, but any other input is welcome.

As I understand it, Blu-ray players that don't natively support Dolby TrueHD will instead output or decode a parallel (whether publicised or concealed) Dolby Digital soundtrack if/when the TrueHD soundtrack is selected.

My question regards players that do include TrueHD decoding but cannot bitstream it to an external TrueHD decoder, such as the Panasonic DMP-BD10/A or Sony BDP-S1. If these or other similar players are set to output TrueHD via bitstream (which they cannot do) is the Dolby Digital soundtrack coming from the player the separate, parallel Dolby Digital soundtrack, or is it generated from the TrueHD soundtrack using the players' TrueHD decoders. I suppose they could do either, but is one method recommended by Dolby over the other, and are there any guidelines about how hardware manufacturers should perform this function when this choice of soundtracks arises? Thanks!

Adam

The Dolby Digital output is directly from the disc. The only time I'd expect the player to encode a DD output would be when audio mixing is happening, and then it would also have to be a player with a DD encoder included. That is an optional feature.

[JackBee]

Class act, max.

[markrubin]

Good morning

I see some old, familiar faces here: welcome back

Please remember this Insider's thread has special rules: if you would like to be listed as an Insider, please PM me

Thanks

[PFC5]

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

Talk,

I would like to thank you personally for publicly stating that what I have been saying for the past 4 months has been the truth. You are the first "insider" to acknowledge on the Blu-ray side to admit that everything wasn't rosy on the replication side.

Thanks again.

David

I for one am glad that you have now been vindicated David. It is a shame that MANY people attacked you for just passing along inside info that was germane to the format war.

It really is a shame that I will not be enjoying HD media much now going forward, but I now have $1,000.00 more per year to spend elsewhere.

I own a PS3 60GB model, but it is getting impossible to keep it in the main viewing room any longer. The kids and their freinds are playing COD4 so much my wife said on Friday afternoon that it has to go to my son's bedroom. I cannot buy another PS3 to get a future complete (via updates) BD player because the other kinds would just want to play on that one also. This was the nightmare scenario I was afraid of.

Now I will be forced to wait 2+ years to get a brand name profile 2.0 compliant SAL BD player and by then it will be possibly half way through the remaining life cycle of the BD format.

This decision was premature IMO, and the remaining good to be gained from competing formats (i.e. 2.0 BD players at a reasonable price) will not happen for a long time. I know it will probably take twice as long or more to get a 2.0 BD player at around a $200.00 price now so I am back to just renting movies again. I stopped buying most SD DVDs a year in advance of the HD formats and now I won't waste my money and HDM doesn't get money agrand per year in movie purchases. I bet Warner will love a lot of people doing what I will be doing huh?

To the BD insiders:

When could I reasonable expect to be able to buy a profile 2.0 STAND ALONE BD player for $200.00? I also assume that the BOGOF BD movies half just ended there life cycle too. Is this a correct assumption?

Thanks for any answers that come.

[jsb_hburg]

Thanks to the BD insiders that have participated here such as, including but limited to, Penton, Max and Talk. I hope one or all of you will remain to answer Blu-ray questions in the future.

[Maxpower1987]

Originally Posted by jsb_hburg

Thanks to the BD insiders that have participated here such as, including but limited to, Penton, Max and Talk. I hope one or all of you will remain to answer Blu-ray questions in the future.

It is under discussion as to whether I can post on AVS, the decision doesn't rest with me, it rests with my company's legal department who have not been too impressed with my conduct online as of late.

I will try my best though.

[aaronwt]

So when can we realistically expect BD releases to be up to the same functionality as the HD DVD releases were? Or will this recent Warner decision actually slow down the process?

[FrancescoP]

Amir, being HD DVD discs just software, can we load them on our Windows Home Server? Isn't this what managed copy was all about?

This way, even if the physical format dies and the players break down, we still be able to playback them forever.

Thank you.

[mproper]

Can a BD insider give a status on a SA 2.0 player, and when we can expect one for a reasonable cost (say, $250-$300 or so)?

My big hesitation with BD has always been the profiles. I was afraid HD DVD might die off before 1.1 was in place (and thus would be abandoned to avoid the whole profile mess) and now I have the same concerns regarding 2.0. I'm happy with BD having more storage/bandwidth, but I also want it to have the same functionality that HD DVD has had from the start.

Or are my fears unfounded? And yes, I know the PS3 is rumored to be updated, but would prefer the SA.

[BenDover]

Originally Posted by Roger Dressler

The Dolby Digital output is directly from the disc. The only time I'd expect the player to encode a DD output would be when audio mixing is happening, and then it would also have to be a player with a DD encoder included. That is an optional feature.

Roger,

do you have information/insight you can share re the samsung bd-up5000 as it pertains to its capability of internally decoding and/or bitstreaming *multi-channel* dd-thd?

[markrubin]

I would like to take this opportunity to invite any Insiders back to AVS in light of recent events: this would be a good time to all get back together

Thanks

[gljvd]

To HD DVD insiders :

I guess this means that the xbox 360 ultimate wont be announced at ces ?

[Reylas]

I have a question for the insiders. First a disclaimer, I am format neutral. I just want to enjoy movies. But I did *lean* towards HDDVD, but for one reason only, and that is the basis of my question.

I leaned HDDVD because of combo disks. I know that many people did not like them, but they served a purpose and now I want to know the BDA's plans (or any insider with knowledge) on addressing that purpose. You see, I have a vehicle with a built in DVD player for the kids. Plus, my family has in total, 4 vehicles with built in players. Those cannot be changed. I bought blu when a movie that *I* wanted to see came out on blu, but anything that the family may want to watch, I bought combo whenever possible. If the movie was blu only and for the kids (Disney) I bought DVD.

In order to replace my buying of DVD's, I have to have a solution that allows me to play in both. I will not double-dip on general titles as it does not make sense to me. I think with the millions of vehicles on the road with DVD players that cannot be changed overnight, this will be a problem for HDM now.

If HDM is going to replace DVD, then this problem has to be addressed. In spite of all the flaws on both sides, Combos addressed this problem for me. Now even less movies will be available as combos and since the BDA is in the drivers seat, what are your plans to help people like me?

Again, not trying to pick a side or be bitter, I just want to know how this will be addressed. I really believe it is a problem that must be solved.

Thanks,
MarkS.

[oztech]

so when are there going to be bd players with dts-master

[Dave Vaughn]

Originally Posted by Richard Paul

For any insider was the HD DVD PRG involved with any of the negotiations with Fox/Warner or was it just Toshiba?


Just curious but have you heard anything about the length of the contract that Warner made? Also in regards to Paramount any chance that they could go back to being neutral in 2008 or will that not be legally possible for them until 2009?

Originally Posted by Dahlsim

What do you think is implied by both Warner and FOX coming so close to choosing hd dvd over blu-ray even so late in game, even after the holiday numbers were in?

In the pros and cons of each format, what concerns could have had them leaning that way? Clearly it was not a slam dunk for either side with the decisions being so fluid. Do you think those concerns are necessarily alleviated now or simply mitigated by 'incentives'?

I don't know the particulars of the contract. As for Paramount, I'm sure we will hear more in the next 7-10 days about which direction they will go.

And you are right...it wasn't a slam dunk. For people celebrating for Blu-ray, it could just as easily have gone the other way...yes it was that close. There was an agreement in principle between Toshiba, Fox and Warner, but FOX pulled out at the 11th hour and went to Sony with their intentions. To Sony's credit, the did whatever it took to get Fox and Warner (although Warner is denying any type of incentives...if you believe this, I have a bridge for sale if anyone is interested). For the record, I think "incentives" are perfectly acceptable and a part of doing business.

Let's look at this from a business perspective. Is Toshiba harmed by losing HD DVD? Yes, but not to the degree that Sony would be if Blu-ray died. Sony has literally bet the farm on Blu-ray with the PS3. The PS3 isn't considered a successful game machine (yet), and if Sony lost Fox and Warner after the Paramount defection, that would have been the end of Blu-ray and possibly the end of Sony as we know it.

In the end, the studios chose Blu-ray for their own reasons and they feel it is the best for their companies. As a fan of HDM, I'm fine with the decision and I support it. I have owned both and had good experiences on both.

[Dave Vaughn]

Originally Posted by Richard Paul

For any insider was the HD DVD PRG involved with any of the negotiations with Fox/Warner or was it just Toshiba?

Microsoft was not sitting at the table...it was only Toshiba.

[Dave Vaughn]

Originally Posted by RobertR1

Dave,

About the Toshiba 2 hour press conference. I'm going to assume that was with the intention of having Warner and Fox on board so they can really milk it. Is that so? Also, Toshiba's press release states they were rather suprised yet Amir mentioned they (atleast MS) knew about it in advance.

If so, why have a 2 hour press release scheduled if you knew what was coming down the pipe?

The press conference was canceled.

For Toshiba to say they didn't know, I think is very disingenuous. I knew last Friday that things fell apart...I didn't know if they were 100% gone, but I knew that Fox walked away from the table (this wasn't told to me directly, but could tell by the tone and some subtle hints that something went wrong.) I also knew that the 4th was Judgement Day and I told it to a number of people in PMs (Darin, Rob Tomlin, Merrick)...they can confirm this.

[MikeSp]

Originally Posted by oztech

so when are there going to be bd players with dts-master

AND why have receivers from $600+ been coming to market with the capability of decoding DTS HDMA while new high def players have not?

MikeSp

[olemantrouble]

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn

The press conference was canceled.

For Toshiba to say they didn't know, I think is very disingenuous. I knew last Friday that things fell apart...I didn't know if they were 100% gone, but I knew that Fox walked away from the table (this wasn't told to me directly, but could tell by the tone and some subtle hints that something went wrong.) I also knew that the 4th was Judgement Day and I told it to a number of people in PMs (Darin, Rob Tomlin, Merrick)...they can confirm this.

Any idea why Fox walked?

[amirm]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Hi guys, I have been given special dispensation from work to make this post.

Hi Max. Good to have you back.

I would like to thank Amir and Dave for being gracious in defeat and not riling up HD DVD supporters and instead urging them to get behind the new standard for distribution of HD on optical disc, Blu-ray.

My pleasure. Thank you and other BD fans for you kind and professional tone also. But a correction: I am not telling people to go buy BD products. Everyone has all the same information as the rest of us and can make their decision accordingly. I see many who are going to do what you say and buy a BD player. Others, as mentioned in this thread, are saying they will sit out optical. And some are back to upsampling DVD. The choice is in consumer's hand it seems .

For my own situation, I bought my fifth BD player, Panasonic BD-30 last week after discovering I couldn't get bitstream output in BD-10 even though it has such an option. This was for audio testing and not related to this news. But I am disappointed to have it be a 1.1 player and while we have a PS3 in our media room, it is for the kids to play content on it. I know many people have expressed concern to me in PM that even if they do move to BD, it would be on a BD 2.0 player, not 1.1 so that they have feature parity with their titles and players in HD DVD. And such is the case with me. So please pass on the message. Without a format war, we are back to merits of each equipment so that doesn't go away with this event .