What's the purpose of the dual format discs?

I think some people like the option of watching it on their HT setup, and then letting the kids or whoever watch it in the car, or in the bedroom.

Thread #81837418374891 on combos, but the short version is:

1) HD DVDs don't play on my laptop, or my kid's portable player, or my kid's DVD player in his room, or my car's built-in DVD player. Better to buy the combo (for $5 more) than a $30 HD DVD and a $15 SD DVD.

I also don't believe it's "most" as I believe a non-combo HD DVD is more prevalent than the combos are, but I don't have numbers handy.

As stated earlier, there are about 81837418374891 other threads about this same subject. Here's a nice search for threads with "combo" in the title:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/searc...archid=8315322

I think most people out there have one HD player and not 4, so if they have a DVD player in the car, or in the kid's room, they can just buy one disc and use it anywhere in their house. I think I am one of the few people that actually bought a combo disc before I had an HD player (Superman Returns), for a future upgrade, although I am sure I am in a very small minority.

Either way, it's a good concept, if they could keep them the same price as standard DVD's, or at the very least, normal HD-DVD's. But having them 5-10 dollars more expensive than normal HD-DVD's makes a whole lotta no sense.

And this is the reason I think the Combo format is a good idea and the first to go combo on all their titles may have an advantage. I don't have an HD DVD player on my family room HDTV, nor on my Standard Def TV upstairs. Nor is the portable DVD player in my car HD DVD compatible. Take Shrek the 3rd. I didn't buy it for two reasons.

1) It is HD DVD and not combo, so after the family watches it once in the theater, it would be viewed on non HD equipment the rest of the time. Not a combo, so $30 is a LOT of money for one viewing.

2) I don't want to waste my money any longer on SD DVDs, so I thought $15 was too expensive for the SD DVD only as I knew I'd want to rent the HD DVD version just to check it out.

3) I know I said two reasons, but I didn't really care for the movie so that was another factor.

I REALLY like the combo format - I wish all HD-DVD titles were released this way. And I haven't had a single problem with any of them on any of my SD players or my A2.

I rented The Bourne Ultimatum combo from NetFlix this weekend.

As most know, it's a combo disc (which worked flawlessly).

My wife fell asleep 5 minutes into it on Friday night.

Sunday, while I was engrossed in football on my HT, she went in the bedroom and watched the SD side on out regular SD player and enjoyed it. (She couldn't care less about HD)

Being from NetFlix, the combo version didn't cost me a red cent extra.

I call that a win/win.

Needless to say, I'm now a combo fan.

One thing that isn't mentioned is lending a movie out as well. New movies tend to get lent out the most and not everyone one you know tends to have an HD player its nice to be able to lend it to them and when they ask about the other side you may find someone who wants to upgrade and even if they don't right away they might started buying combo's as a way to get a head start while they wait to get a player.

I used to buy DVD-As before I got a DVD-A player because it also was compatible via DD/DTS. I see combo HD DVDs as the same kind of thing.

+1


There are a few available in both formats. I like that idea.

I am another who is a fan of the combos.

I have 1 hd dvd player and 2 laptops, 1 desktop, and another TV with a DVD player on it...oh yeah and a 3 y.o son.

My HD DVD player shares my HDTV with Cable(sports), my XBox and PS3. If there were no combos, I would be pushed off the HDTV since my son would not be able to watch any of his shows which I went HD DVD on.

I actually wished the Harry Potter box set was combo. I have the first 4 movies on SD and would have like to be able to "pass them on" to relatives..but now I have to keep them..and decide if I want to buy an SD copy of 5.


One area that I think they could have ROCKED would have been rental. Could you imagine if EVERY disk from a particular studio would be combo(and there were no issues, etc)? That is if they did not EVER produce an SD version of it? The wait time for even the most popular title would be no longer for HD DVD fans than it would be for SD users!!!

I have no idea what the ratio of SD- HD copies of movies is at rental nowadays, but it definately is highly sku'd towards SD.

I like combos for two reasons:

1. like so many others, multiple SD players, only one HD player. I didn't buy Polar Express from the Amazon BOGO for this reason. My daughter will watch it but try explaining to a youngin that it wont work in the portable.

2. If HD-DVD ever failed as a format I still have an SD version. I wont have to worry about what to do when the HD-DVD player dies.

I keep finding myself not buying disks at all, HD or SD. If a movie is available in HD I will not buy the SD version. I'm reluctant to buy an HD-DVD only version incase the format fails... at least until CES. I'm less concerned about combos because it's still SD playable but most the movies I want to buy now are not available in combos.

Combo discs are one of those things where if all HD DVD's were combo's I wouldn't support the HD DVD format at all.

Love the idea; hate the prices.

"Love the idea; hate the prices." +1

+2

...Angelo

What's the purpose of the dual format discs?
==============
That's easy................Profit !

John

Well, prices in general have steered me away from buying any HD DVDs. I got my 360 add-on in June and I just bought my first HD DVDs in the Best Buy Buy 1 Get 1 sale. Renting from Netflix is just so much more convenient and less expensive, especially for movies that I am most likely only going to watch once.

But I think they need to do dual releases, with combos and non-combos available. What I did is just burn a copy of the DVD side to use everywhere else and keep the actual HD DVD in my theater room. So if my family or anybody wants to borrow it, I can just hand them the burned DVD and keep my HD disc safe.

i have to agree - i havent had any issues with them on my a3 - and i love that i can bring some of the dvds to my friends' or family members' places (who dont have an hd-dvd player)

lol - i definitely wish they were all released as combo dvds - then, i wouldnt mind double-dipping and selling off my sd collection

I agree with you. The only purpose of dual format discs is to rip off the gullible public. I happen to own a number of standard definition DVDs so why would I want to spend more money for a dual format disc?

Not this will ever happen, but...

I'm waiting for a studio to take a chance and release a title ONLY on HD DVD/DVD combo. Of course, there'd need to be a few things to happen for this to work:
1) Have the combo disc be similarly priced to the standard DVD
2) Have the profit margin between selling a standard DVD be similar to the profit margin of selling an HD DVD (sales price - (cost of authoring + manufacturing))

This would get HD DVDs into peoples' hands, and would be a real winning strategy for Toshiba. I just don't think a studio would take that chance, but I'd like to see it

There is a place for combo disc, if the price is right. I was at my girlfriends house the other day and I had Shrek 3 in the car. I figured that it was combo but it wasn't. In a situation like this, the combo would have been handy.