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Warner to go Blu-ray Exclusive [Confirmed] - Page 142  

post #4231 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sketcha View Post

That's pretty interesting. I can see some logic in it too. It just never dawned on me that SD sales could be hurt as well, but... makes sense.

Many of us slowed or stopped our DVD purchases completely when the HDM were getting close to rolling out. The last time I purchased any significant amount of DVDs was in December of 2005. I harldly bought anything in 2006 and received one title as a gift on Christmas 06.

I bought DVDs at a fast pace since the beginning of the format. Some have a lot more than me, but I know a lot of people who just slowed downed or quit completely. Their reason: Why buy this now when HD DVD or BD is going to be better? I'll just wait.

Enter the format war. Here is where the studios and the CE industry screwed up. Instead of getting together and settling their differences to enter the market with a unified format like Sony and Toshiba did back when DVD was formed, both sides refused to back down. All sides were to blame, neither was more looking out for our interests over theirs. They knew HD media had the potential to be long term standard and growth potential was huge.

The problem is that due to their arogance, that some consumers made the wrong choice and are now stuck with players that will be lucky to get content in another year or so. I was going to go HD DVD on more than occassion but I just thought it was too big of a risk (players were between $400 and $600). I truly feel sorry for those that made that kind of committment.

In December of 2006 I found a PS3 and it was $600 at the time, but I figured if BD failed I still had a console that Sony was going to support for a few years and I could sell it without it being a total loss. It just made more sense and at the time the only last holdout was Universal.

I don't think that at that time any of us thought in the end it would be Warner Bros making the swing vote in the format war. My how things changed in that one year.

It's time to put the war behind us and move on. The real enemies are DVD and HD-Lite downloads. If you truly want quality you need a physical medium and there are just too many obstacles for downloading.

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post #4232 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone read the latest from thedigitalbits.com ? Geez, if this is true, things are ending in quite a hurry. Thank Goodnes!

Quote:


Well... we've had SOME confirmation this morning of the details of the Financial Times story from last night. While the studio isn't yet commenting, reliable industry sources are telling us that Paramount is indeed preparing to end their HD-DVD support and announce a return to the Blu-ray fold. Details are currently being finalized, and an announcement is expected as soon as they're complete. Paramount's first new Blu-rays will almost certainly include many of those titles that were cancelled last year, but that were already packaged and ready for shipping, so you could see them in stores very quickly once the studio announces.

Meanwhile, sources are telling us that Universal has also been talking with the BDA, and is looking to follow Paramount and Warner's lead as soon as possible.

On a related note, Times Online in the U.K. is now reporting that as many as 20 additional firms currently backing HD-DVD are also considering defection in the wake of Warner's Friday announcement, including Fujitsu, Lenovo, Kenwood and Pony Canyon (which is a major Japanese film and music studio).

What's more, word is starting to circulate at CES that major big box retailers will begin winding down in-store support for HD-DVD as soon as these studios go public with their decisions. We're told that the industry's major retail partners are already pressuring Paramount, DreamWorks and Universal to go Blu following Warner's decision.

Rumors are also beginning to circulate here that Apple's Steve Jobs may announce the addition of Blu-ray Disc drives to their Mac desktop lineup at next week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

We would caution you to keep in mind that all of this should be considered unofficial until the studios make their actual announcements. Things are moving very fast, and the situation is highly fluid. Still, it really looks like this is the end for HD-DVD, and the end of the format war overall. We'll keep you up to date with new developments as they break.

Stay tuned...
post #4233 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

wasnt vhs and betamax battling for 13 years r something like that?

Beta had a much larger install base than either BD or HD DVD do at this time.
post #4234 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigW View Post

Beta had a much larger install base than either BD or HD DVD do at this time.

i see. well then it's better to end this sooner because i dont want to wait 13 years so i could just sit back and enjoy more HD movies be it whatever format theyre out on.
post #4235 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:54pm
When can we expect to see catalog Warner titles in BD?
post #4236 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

well first of all the war is far from over. i think blu rays war has just begun. taking on the SD format wont be easy. SD has alot of things going for that you average consumer likes,
1. inexpensive there are $20 and $30 players out.
2.decent upconversion.
3.huge selection of titles out right now.
4.everythings going digital in 09 but that wont mean joe shmoe will go and buy a blu ray player.
5.consumers need reasons as to why they should take their SD movies throw them away and buy the same titles on blu ray. and i think this will be the hardest and most expensive for sony and the BDA to do (advertising and such).

but this is just my opinion and i dont feel like pissing anyone off. hd dvd would have faced the same hurdles as blu ray will now. except that hd dvd was a bit cheaper more complete (compared to the new versions of blu players 1.1 and so on). the less confusion consumers have to face the better, but either way i think consumers will be confused about something at one point or another.

DVD is a commodity now. Not much profit for the manufacturers. Software sales are stagnant, but they are still making a decent return. I think the big problem is that Hollywood got used to double digit growth in the home video industry and the fact is that kind of growth is not sustainable long term.

BD now does have some of the ability to make up for lost sales from consumers shifting away from the DVD market.
post #4237 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

i see. well then it's better to end this sooner because i dont want to wait 13 years so i could just sit back and enjoy more HD movies be it whatever format theyre out on.

Agreed!
post #4238 of 4258
1/8/08 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigW View Post

...It's time to put the war behind us and move on. The real enemies are DVD and HD-Lite downloads...

Well said Craig

Regards, Chuck
post #4239 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:00pm
I wonder if Warner took into account the sagging US economy, subprime mess, increased food prices, and high gas prices into account when they made their statement about reduced SD DVD sales (part of their decision to switch). It does not take a genius to look at the state of the economy and figure out that people simply do not have the free cash to spend on items like SD DVD's. While it is nice to own the DVD's if it comes down to buying gas or a DVD they can get VOD via cable. Or possibly instead of buying SD DVD's they were all buying Wii's and Guitar Hero III

I do think that this move will end the format war one way or another but if all the companies think that they will see a huge uptick in sales all of a sudden as we head into a possible recession they are smoking some pretty great weed.

Laters,
Jeff
post #4240 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eq_shadimar View Post

I wonder if Warner took into account the sagging US economy, subprime mess, increased food prices, and high gas prices into account when they made their statement about reduced SD DVD sales (part of their decision to switch). It does not take a genius to look at the state of the economy and figure out that people simply do not have the free cash to spend on items like SD DVD's. While it is nice to own the DVD's if it comes down to buying gas or a DVD they can get VOD via cable. Or possibly instead of buying SD DVD's they were all buying Wii's and Guitar Hero III

I do think that this move will end the format war one way or another but if all the companies think that they will see a huge uptick in sales all of a sudden as we head into a possible recession they are smoking some pretty great weed.

Laters,
Jeff

if the economy really influenced that much, how could the huge increase in flat panel 1080P tv sales be explained at the store i work at?
post #4241 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:07pm
I am sure there is a pretty good book that some insider could write on the latest format war. I am sure many of us would have liked to have the rooms tapped when HD DVD swayed Paramount, Toshiba sent execs to Warner, Stringer went to Bewkes, Nickerson left Warner Bros, etc. Hell I would still like to know what went on behind closed doors three years ago when it appeared HD DVD and BD could have unified into (insert your own character string).
post #4242 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigW View Post

Beta had a much larger install base than either BD or HD DVD do at this time.

beta was also used for editing.
post #4243 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by desmond212 View Post

beta was also used for editing.

Good point and betacam was commonly used in the Professional Video industry if I am not mistaken.
post #4244 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigW View Post

I am sure there is a pretty book that some insider could write on the latest format war. I am sure many of us would have liked to have the rooms tapped when HD DVD swayed Paramount, Toshiba sent execs to Warner, Stringer went to Bewkes, Nickerson left Warner Bros, etc. Hell I would still like to know what went on behind closed doors three years ago when it appeared HD DVD and BD could have unified into (insert your own character string).

lol

i would pay good money to watch this documentary on any HD format, as long as it's a non biased documentary.
post #4245 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

lol

i would pay good money to watch this documentary on any HD format, as long as it's a non biased documentary.

Agreed! There is no point for spin doctoring now. Ie. No need to see "Why We Fight: The Evils of HD DVD" produced by the BDA
post #4246 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

if the economy really influenced that much, how could the huge increase in flat panel 1080P tv sales be explained at the store i work at?

People tend to put a high dollar ticket item on a CC but "most" of the time items like SD DVD's are paid for in cash. More debit = higher monthly payments = less cash to spend etc. Really this is not a good sign.

From CNN:

Credit card debt spikes to six-month high
Total consumer borrowing shoots up to 7.4 percent in November as buyers rely on credit cards in the face of housing market collapse.

Full link http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/08/news...ion=2008010815

Laters,
Jeff
post #4247 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:17pm
Did you check if that story or similar variations of it seems to appear every year, right about now (a little bit after Christmas)?

Same thing with "unemployment". Same thing with "economy is diving".
post #4248 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mnc View Post

When can we expect to see catalog Warner titles in BD?

I'd say as early as 2006?
post #4249 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigW View Post

Good point and betacam was commonly used in the Professional Video industry if I am not mistaken.

yep. dominated it till before digital.
post #4250 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMe2 View Post

The fullscreen vs widescreen argument is actually a good one. How long ago did the first DVD with letterbox widescreen come out? How long ago before the first anamorphic one? And they still release fullscreen editions of movies too, though not always....

So no reason why studios couldn't release in HD DVD and Blu ray and let consumers pick their hardware. Only the hardware companies should care about the hardware... the movie studios should want everyone to buy their movies.

Imagine if the theater would only let you park in the lot to watch FOX movies if you drove in a GM and not a Ford... or Universal movies could only be seen if you drove up in a Ford instead of a GM.

To answer your first two questions... March 17, 1997 - As soon as WB launched their DVD's, such as Batman and other titles in their initial launch wave.

As for whe studios can't release on both HD DVD and Blu-ray, while the consumers pick their hardware...

Conusumer confusion and doubling their production costs. Why make discs for two formats when one, in this case HD DVD, is essentially only being built by 1 CE manufacturer? The answer can actually be that simple.

Ultimately, the studios and maunfacturers did not want to come to the market place with two formats. But Tosiba and Sony were both being stubborn and we ended up with this cluster f**k.

And regarding your final little tidbit... Could you imagine going to a theater chain such as AMC and only be allowed to see WB or Universal Product? Well it actually was set up that until about 1948... See this infamous 1948 Court Case that busted up the monopolies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...Pictures,_Inc.

fitprod
post #4251 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calamus View Post

And does it have all the extras (Directors Commentaries, Making Of, Deleted Scenes, PiP, Web Enabled Content, Lossless audio, DTS HD MA, 7.1 surround, etc) that so many have said so much about for so long in regards to what format gives you more?

Or now that it looks like there will be only one that just doesn't mater anymore
Go figure

I do agree that it will have an impact and I never expect BD to ever equal what DVD once was, just too many onther options out there...

I thought BD folk long said that those things didn't matter?
post #4252 of 4258
1/8/08 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HT Nut View Post

Would I recommend that someone jump into HD DVD? Sure if they can get an XA2 for cheap. Better than any upconverter and it will play a poopload of released titles for a long time.

Should they go Blu? Not until they can get a final profile player, or pick up one of the immature versions for next to nothing.

This is pretty much the definition of positive/negative spin. I'm glad that I'm not one of your uninformed friends/family.

Brandon
post #4253 of 4258
1/8/08 at 2:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bplewis24 View Post

This is pretty much the definition of positive/negative spin. I'm glad that I'm not one of your uninformed friends/family.

Brandon

i disagree. i don't think it's spinning to say the xa2 is a good, say, $75 dvd player. and you can rent hd dvds from netflix. i wouldn't suggest people START buying hd dvds now, but taking advantage of what's already out there has a value, and less than $75 seems reasonable.

on the bd side, i personally would only buy the ps3 at this point. so i could recommend that, but none of the other players out there now.

i guess what i'm hoping is that, not only will all the gloating/whining stop soon, but that we can lose the level of suspicion we seem to have developed with all the format cheerleading.
post #4254 of 4258
1/8/08 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Schauer View Post

How did you get two pandas?

Easy! Cheap Chinese Pandas.
post #4255 of 4258
1/8/08 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yampan View Post

Easy! Cheap Chinese Pandas.

Don't you mean Cheap EASY Chinese Pandas?
post #4256 of 4258
1/8/08 at 3:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robertw11 View Post

as long as there is 2 formats it's not over. and right now there is three. SD, HD and Blu.

wasnt vhs and betamax battling for 13 years r something like that?

Dude, buy vowel and some capital letters or something. I know iHD-DVD may be dead but let's keep literacy alive. You screwed up your use of tense big time.Try this:

As long as there are two formats it's not over. Right now there are three formats: SD, HD and Blu-ray.

Weren't VHS and Betamax battling for 13 years, or something like that?

Suggesting that Betamax is somehow relative to the current HD format war is, as said before, ridiculous.
post #4257 of 4258
1/8/08 at 3:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kheiden View Post

Dude, buy vowel and some capital letters or something. I know iHD-DVD may be dead but let's keep literacy alive. You screwed up your use of tense big time.Try this:

As long as there are two formats it's not over. Right now there are three formats: SD, HD and Blu-ray.

Weren't VHS and Betamax battling for 13 years, or something like that?

Suggesting that Betamax is somehow relative to the current HD format war is, as said before, ridiculous.

Dude, lighten up. This forum gets posters from around the world with many posters having limited English skills since it is their second or third language. So cut posters some slack.
post #4258 of 4258
1/8/08 at 3:30pm
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