Warner Bros goes Blu-Ray exclusive

[scttgrd]

I guess my concern is them having a hand in it. It also does not hurt that blu-ray cost more for the player. Both formats have their pros and cons and if blu-ray does indeed win then we shall see how it shakes out.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

200 movies? Seriously?

Even if you bought $5000 worth of HD-DVDs, they won't suddenly become useless, so you won't need to buy them over again. At the very worst, you'd need to buy a Blu-Ray player to watch any new movies that come out, so you're out the cost of the player (which will be $200 soon).

Not a huge loss.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

200 movies? Seriously?

Even if you bought $5000 worth of HD-DVDs, they won't suddenly become useless, so you won't need to buy them over again. At the very worst, you'd need to buy a Blu-Ray player to watch any new movies that come out, so you're out the cost of the player (which will be $200 soon).

Not a huge loss.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't they required to release all movies in both formats overseas? So even if/when HD-DVD finally dies, won't you still be able to get movies in the format (albeit at a few dollars more per disc) up until that point?

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: little elvis
Disclaimer: I do own a PS3, however, I didn't buy it for the games or blu-ray, but to hack around with Linux on (not happy with Sony's backpedaling on Linux support, especially with the latest firmware).

Toshiba only spent 3 minutes on HD-DVD during it's CES presentation, and canceled the Q&A portion.

What's really telling, that even with the price drop on HD-DVD players, Toshiba was only able to capture ~49% of the market for standalone players, just under 1 million units (as per their CES slide). Note, Toshiba does not include PS3's in it's market share calculations.

HD-DVD may not be dead, but it is certainly on life-support.

I just wish someone would pull the plug already. God damn I want HDDVD to fail. Just to see the XBOX360 users cry. 😀

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

Then they were foolish for making such an investment. They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

 

[vrbaba]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

200 movies? Seriously?

Even if you bought $5000 worth of HD-DVDs, they won't suddenly become useless, so you won't need to buy them over again. At the very worst, you'd need to buy a Blu-Ray player to watch any new movies that come out, so you're out the cost of the player (which will be $200 soon).

Not a huge loss.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't they required to release all movies in both formats overseas? So even if/when HD-DVD finally dies, won't you still be able to get movies in the format (albeit at a few dollars more per disc) up until that point?

Interesting...

HD-DVDs are region-free, so it doesnt matter if the disc is european or american or chinese as long as original audio in english is still there.

But where does it say they are required to release in both formats overseas? It would make going BR exclusive not that significant for Hd-dvd player owners.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

Then they were foolish for making such an investment. They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

Good things come to those who wait. 😀

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: vrbaba

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Why is everyone so defensive about certain formats? It's not like one format is significantly better than the other. Why is it so important that Blu-Ray or HD-DVD "wins"?

because some people have invested some serious $$$ on the format they thought would win. You would be a little ticked if you spend $400-500 on player and bought 100-200 movies at an average of $25 a pop and found out that WB chose the other format.

200 movies? Seriously?

Even if you bought $5000 worth of HD-DVDs, they won't suddenly become useless, so you won't need to buy them over again. At the very worst, you'd need to buy a Blu-Ray player to watch any new movies that come out, so you're out the cost of the player (which will be $200 soon).

Not a huge loss.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't they required to release all movies in both formats overseas? So even if/when HD-DVD finally dies, won't you still be able to get movies in the format (albeit at a few dollars more per disc) up until that point?

Interesting...

HD-DVDs are region-free, so it doesnt matter if the disc is european or american or chinese as long as original audio in english is still there.

But where does it say they are required to release in both formats overseas? It would make going BR exclusive not that significant for Hd-dvd player owners.

I don't know if they're required but I know you can get BR exclusives on HD-DVD. I know Wallstreet Journal had an article on it.

EDIT: Here it is:

http://online.wsj.com/article/...tml?mod=googlenews_wsj

Looks like it's all in the distribution:

The loophole lies in distribution. Studios often farm out DVD sales in other countries to a patchwork of companies with expertise in those markets. Those partner companies sometimes have arrangements to use a high-definition format different from that of the U.S. studio.

Often, a studio co-produces movies with a partner that retains rights for distribution in certain parts of the world. Take the Sharon Stone classic "Basic Instinct." One of Sony TriStar's co-producers was the French company Canal Plus, an HD DVD backer. Buy a French version of the DVD, turn off the dubbing, et voilà -- an HD DVD version of a movie that is available only on Blu-ray in this country.

 

[jpeyton]

Importing HD-DVDs is expensive.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

I never understood buying Movies in the first place.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Importing HD-DVDs is expensive.

Absolutely. I'm just saying it may be a way for people to extend the life of their players. If they only buy a movie every couple of months, it may not be worth it to pony up the cash to go BR.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: CorCentral
For over 8 million PS3's out there, you would think the Smurfs could snuff more than a 2 to 1 ratio win........ Even 3 to 1 looks bad when you have that many Blu players out there!!

Maybe you can use some common sense to realize not everyone who purchased a PS3 will connect it to a high def TV or use as a blu ray player.

that is like asking why only 350k people out of out 14M XBOX360 owners use an add-on drive to watch HD DVD's...

why are you worrying how bad BD sales ratios look when the outlook for HD DVD looks far worse...

Right, but when I point out that PS3 is the reason Blu-Ray has more 'players' installed even if it is an unrealistic number I am told this is a lie. I'd love to see the attachment ratio per player for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD including ALL PS3s sold. I just don't see how Blu-Ray can keep up if you include all PS3s as both players AND in terms of attach rate calculations.

Why does that even matter? Sony took a huge loss in sales because they wanted to get a Blu-Ray player into every home w/ the PS3 (loss in sales because of the large price tag).

It seems no matter what perspective you look through, the PS3 is always the bad guy. Nintendo/Microsoft fanboys criticize it for being a Blu-Ray player, HD-DVD fanboys criticize it for being a game console. It's BOTH, asshats. Who gives a damn if it was a big reason for Blu-Ray's success? The fact is that Blu-Ray looks like it's going to win, and it doesn't matter what the reasons are.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: CorCentral
For over 8 million PS3's out there, you would think the Smurfs could snuff more than a 2 to 1 ratio win........ Even 3 to 1 looks bad when you have that many Blu players out there!!

Maybe you can use some common sense to realize not everyone who purchased a PS3 will connect it to a high def TV or use as a blu ray player.

that is like asking why only 350k people out of out 14M XBOX360 owners use an add-on drive to watch HD DVD's...

why are you worrying how bad BD sales ratios look when the outlook for HD DVD looks far worse...

Right, but when I point out that PS3 is the reason Blu-Ray has more 'players' installed even if it is an unrealistic number I am told this is a lie. I'd love to see the attachment ratio per player for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD including ALL PS3s sold. I just don't see how Blu-Ray can keep up if you include all PS3s as both players AND in terms of attach rate calculations.

Why does that even matter? Sony took a huge loss in sales because they wanted to get a Blu-Ray player into every home w/ the PS3 (loss in sales because of the large price tag).

Well, it only 'matters' in terms of the conversation. Supposedly Warner says 'the customer' prefers Blu-Ray. Really? Is this based purely on sales or on attach rates? There is a huge difference between the two.

At this point it doesn't even matter. HD-DVD is pretty much dead so now we're left with one choice. The real question now is, will Blu-Ray catch fire like DVD or be looked upon historically as the victor of a niche product vs. niche product war that really amounted to not meaning that much after all.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

I never understood buying Movies in the first place.

DVD sales are a $40 billion dollar industry worldwide; definitely not small potatoes.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

I never understood buying Movies in the first place.

it's the idea of having an entire library you can call up on demand. Until video streaming works in the way where you get the same 25Mbits rate VC-1 coupled with 4.0Mbit Dolby TrueHD... then I don't want to rely on a digital on-demand rental service, and since the broadband hookups in the USA are not capable of providing that kind of content in an on-demand streaming service: nothing could play in real-time on a 5.0mbit connection at home. And if someone comes over, I want to be able to have a title at my place they will watch, but if it's not a title I'll watch, I won't own it and that about settles it. 😛 Owning titles has its place, it's nice to be able to re-watch a movie whenever you want, or dig up the extras if that fancies you.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: CorCentral
For over 8 million PS3's out there, you would think the Smurfs could snuff more than a 2 to 1 ratio win........ Even 3 to 1 looks bad when you have that many Blu players out there!!

Maybe you can use some common sense to realize not everyone who purchased a PS3 will connect it to a high def TV or use as a blu ray player.

that is like asking why only 350k people out of out 14M XBOX360 owners use an add-on drive to watch HD DVD's...

why are you worrying how bad BD sales ratios look when the outlook for HD DVD looks far worse...

Right, but when I point out that PS3 is the reason Blu-Ray has more 'players' installed even if it is an unrealistic number I am told this is a lie. I'd love to see the attachment ratio per player for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD including ALL PS3s sold. I just don't see how Blu-Ray can keep up if you include all PS3s as both players AND in terms of attach rate calculations.

Why does that even matter? Sony took a huge loss in sales because they wanted to get a Blu-Ray player into every home w/ the PS3 (loss in sales because of the large price tag).

Well, it only 'matters' in terms of the conversation. Supposedly Warner says 'the customer' prefers Blu-Ray. Really? Is this based purely on sales or on attach rates? There is a huge difference between the two.

At this point it doesn't even matter. HD-DVD is pretty much dead so now we're left with one choice. The real question now is, will Blu-Ray catch fire like DVD or be looked upon historically as the victor of a niche product vs. niche product war that really amounted to not meaning that much after all.

you can't really determine the attach rate for BD. Nobody knows the numbers of actual BD software buyers. Most PS3 owners probably only own the freebie that came with the console, or maybe the ones they got for free recently for even buying the console. But those get counted in online polls that make up those attach rate stats. So.. it's tough. Some people deliberally buy the PS3 for BDs too, so they would count, as should the people who bought them for gaming but are loving the BD playback capability and buy movies too... those guys should count for attach rate, but not all PS3s. And such, no attach rate figure is ever going to be anywhere near accurate for the BD side of the fence.

 

[vrbaba]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

I never understood buying Movies in the first place.

Not with DVDs until a year or so ago. But ever since DVDs and even HD-DVDs costing about 10 bucks a piece, it makes no sense in renting one for 4-5 bucks.

and its the idea of having the best available quality for playing back your favorites after months/years.

 

[Nebor]

Glad I picked Blu-ray as the winner a couple months back.

Anyone know why Microsoft is dragging their feet on letting you play Blu-ray (AND HD-DVD) from within Vista Media Center?

 

[Modelworks]

Will be interesting if sony wins the format war.
In a way they kind of deserve it after the whole beta vhs thing.
Myself , I haven't bought a hd player yet. I have hd channels on satellite though , and for now that will do until the format wars subside.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: vrbaba

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
They should have just gotten a Netflix membership and rented their HD-DVD movies.

I never understood buying Movies in the first place.

Not with DVDs until a year or so ago. But ever since DVDs and even HD-DVDs costing about 10 bucks a piece, it makes no sense in renting one for 4-5 bucks.

That's why you rent them from Netflix for a fraction of the cost.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

WTF are you even doing in this thread, Red Dawn? You need Computer Geeks to even turn on your computer and now you want us to believe you've put any more thought into the Hi Def war than unwrapping the PS3 you guys won from a sweepstakes?

By the way, how do you look in Celtics green?

 

[conehead433]

I'm in no hurry to get a Blu-Ray player. All of the players with the exception of the PS3 seem to have problems playing some BR discs, or the players need to have the firmware updated every time a new disc comes out. Screw that crap. My HD DVD player works great and now maybe I'll be able to add to my collection on the cheap.

 

[imported_Imp]

Just got a PS3, but aside from the free BDs that came with the system, I don't plan on getting any. I really want to, but my monitor's HDCP input is being used and we don't have a high-def TV yet. Also, the $10-$15 premium over regular DVDs is a bit discouraging. ~There's a few examples of problems faced by some PS3 owners.

 

[Matt2]

I'm a long time HD-DVD owner that recently bought a PS3 as a gift to myself.

Getting the PS3 made me realize just how stupid this war is/was. Blu-Ray looks no better than HD-DVD. In fact, Transformers and The Kingdom look better than 18 out of 20 BD movies I've watched. All it comes down to is popularity and the deep-pockets of both Sony and Toshiba.

Either way, I own both so it makes no difference to me. I just wish there would have been some kind of collaboration on the new HD format between Toshiba and Sony.

Now that there is an end in sight to this war, Blu-Ray companies need to work on doing a better job of transferring older movies to HD. Anyone seen Total Recall on Blu-Ray? Might as well have re-released it on VHS.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I just hope the HD-DVD group decides to prolong the war. Looking at the movies to be released in 2008, even without Warner they could still take the lead with even a small move like dropping the MSRP of the players to $100 permanently or making movies match SD prices.