Warner officially announces Total Hi Def hybrid disc

Warner Home Video's press conference concerning the Total Hi Def disc that has HD DVD and Blu-ray all on one disc is currently ongoing, and it stated that the discs are able to contain dual layers of both HD DVD and Blu-ray on one disc. The first Total Hi Def releases will hit in the second half of this year, but no specific titles have yet been announced. At the conference, Warner used a copy of Superman to show off how it worked in an HD DVD player, Blu-ray player, and the recently announced LG Super Multi player that plays either. Finally, Warner claims it will not cost "materially" more than a regular disc. At the conference, already an exec from Best Buy has come out in support of the format, but whether or not other studios would ever pick up on Total HD releases is still unknown, although Warner claims they would not have to pay any licensing fees to Warner for using it. For more information, check out our live coverage of the Warner Home Video press event.

[jason @ Jan 9th 2007 11:14PM]

ok this really make sense why cant all the companies just make one format for example one format for movie say blue ray since it holds more space and then HD DVD for storage. that way they can battle the piracy they all so claim hurting the industry . but why not just buy a combo player that plays both formats it dont make sense to have the same movie with the same quality on one disc. i think the dvd format and the HD format on one disk that they have out now is a good idea that way you dont have to buy movies twice.

[AKBlade13 @ Jan 10th 2007 4:45PM]

The reason why is mainly because both of them want to be the next big DVD medium.

To think they will both get destroyed by downloadable content.

AKBlade13

[ark_v2 @ Jan 10th 2007 8:50AM]

To all the companies into the HD media medium: Make hybrid players...not hybrid discs.

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Jan 10th 2007 12:29AM]

Wow, I really like this hybrid disc.
Seriously, who wouldn't?
Oh, that's right.
The fanatical proponents of both sides who are trying to push for some kind of monopoly on the market and leaving the people in a sad state of polarity.
Haha, what a bunch of jackasses they look like now.
Warner's got the people in mind. Bring on the hybrids!

[tekdroid @ Jan 10th 2007 1:05AM]

Warner's got the people in mind, how? The discs are more expensive to manufacture *and license* (both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD licensing fees paid on every disc). Costs transferred to Joe with every movie purchase. Two times the licensing paid on every disc.

This will fail. It's just a matter of *when*.

[SciBot @ Jan 10th 2007 12:59AM]

Heh, this is something I wasnt expecting... I find this whole thing a bit tiresome the second time round (DVD-R/+R) Anyone? This whole BD/HDDVD fiasco takes it one step further, but this disc...

Is pretty amazing. I wonder whether the LG Super Duper Multi Drive reads the BD Layer, the HD Layer, or allows you to choose?

[BK @ Jan 10th 2007 9:11AM]

Depending on the disc side your insert, it plays that format

[Phil @ Jan 10th 2007 1:14AM]

Hybrid players? What does that solve? Get all the studios to put both on one disc and let you be set no matter what happens to either format. Dual players aren't the solution because they are based on the assumption that both formats will be around forever. What happens to your HD DVD discs should the player break and there are no more dual format players produced? With the dual disc that's never a problem. It's a simplistic argument, sure, but that's only because the solution is so easy to see it's hard to understand why every studio wouldn't go Warner's way. If Sony only makes BD players and you only buy Sony then great, the disc will still work. Same with Toshiba. Dual disc players only fragment the market, the total HD disc doesn't. Think about it. :)

[Demaar @ Jan 10th 2007 3:04AM]

If the majority of studios move to this format, then HD DVD has won. Why? Because with hybrid discs that work on either player, people will buy the cheaper players.

[MDV @ Jan 10th 2007 3:55AM]

I had a somewhat obvious notion: If they can do this, can they make a tri-format disc which is also a regular DVD? I don't have either Bluray or HDDVD, but I would happily pay a little extra to buy movies that I can watch now on a normal DVD player but have a HD layer too for the future.

[Mike @ Jan 10th 2007 8:31AM]

The HD DVD/DVD Combo discs are already obscenely expensive... how much will this cost?

And what about long term durability? Most of the Blu-ray discs have the Durabis coating. Are they going to apply it to both sides?

I wish there was just one format.

[overcast @ Jan 10th 2007 9:18AM]

These hybrid discs will be silly expensive, and will fail miserably. Who's going to pay for twice the content when you can get the disc in your own format for much cheaper. Bluray discs are most definitely not using that Durabis coating. Much like most of their big claims at the beginning, this one came up short as well.

"Blu-Ray has its own coating to help resist scratching more since the data is only 0.1 mm from the surface of the disc. Because the data is only 0.1 mm from the surface Blu-Ray was originally intended to be a caddie format but that was decided against since it was believed that it would have dissuaded customers. Although a coating called "Durabis" could have been used they chose to have their own developed since the cost of Durabis was prohibitive.

HD DVD on the other hand has the same coating as standard DVD since the data is 0.6 mm from the surface of the disc, the same as standard DVD. Though Blu-Ray has a more resistant coating they will still scratch, and if the scratch is 0.1 mm deep or more then there is serious risk of permanently damaging the data. A scratch on an HD DVD will need to be six times deeper before the data is at serious risk of being damaged." - MidnightWatcher @ AVSForum.

As far as downloadable content taking over physical discs. That is a laugh, that will not come to light for many many years. First there is absolutely no infrastructure in place for downloading full HD content in any reasonable amount of time. Secondly, when people spend on something. They like having something tangible to back it up.

Deemar - You are absolutely correct. These hybrid discs will only hurt Bluray :)

[Andy @ Jan 10th 2007 9:16AM]

Hybrid players are the way to go. You're set no matter what.

[Marcus @ Jan 10th 2007 10:18AM]

They could of come up with a better name, and a cover design. Infact, the whole branding is awful, which is just one of the reasons why it will fail.

[Mark @ Jan 10th 2007 9:21PM]

Half red and half blue box on every release? It's fine for Superman (not really) but what about artwork in different color schemes? And the THD logo is pretty lame. Looks like someone whipped it up in 5 minutes. The packaging for the high def formats just keeps getting worse and worse. Not only that but now we lose a third of the back cover so there is space to list the (hopefully) nearly identical features of each format.

[Castle @ Jan 10th 2007 11:26AM]

Problem with hybrid players/discs is that you need to pay dual licensing from both Blu-ray and HD-DVD groups. That's the reason why the LG hybrid player shown at CES is priced at $1200 (you could get a Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player + a 60GB PS3 w/remote for that price)

>>Warner claims it will not cost "materially" more than a regular disc.

But you still will have to pay license fees to both groups, its a ridiculous solution which will have to consumer paying two groups for redundant royalties.

[The Jeremy 2 @ Jan 10th 2007 4:31PM]

This is Warner Home Video covering its azz.

If Warner from now on only ships THD discs, then they will reduce their manufacturing costs because they won't be ordering separate Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. The increased licensing costs for covering both platforms will shift to Joe Consumer in the form of higher prices. And even better, even with Blu-ray winning the format war, Warner will still continue receiving their cut from the DVD/HD DVD patent pool because Blu-ray owners will still be paying the fees associated with the HD DVD side of each THD disc they purchase.

Retailers like BestBuy will love this because they won't have to maintain separate spaces for Blu-ray and HD DVD titles as they currently do. They and Warners also reduce their liabilities when one of the two existing formats tanks.

Thus this has nothing to do with helping Joe Consumer but reducing Warner Home Video manufacturing costs and guaranteeing them their current fees from the patent pool they belong to.

Furthermore....*Superman Returns*? Geez, pick a title people actually want to buy/rent, like *Batman Begins*, or in terms of related Superman mythos, a *Smallville* season box set.

[Jacob Magnusson @ Jan 10th 2007 5:26PM]

These will probably be the end of the "physical media era" anyhoo so I don't really care if they make the disks double-sided. Downloadable content will reign next decade.
Maybe flash media distribution for those few unlucky ones who can't get broadband in their area...

[George @ Jan 11th 2007 1:05AM]

ok so how is this any different than just including both discs in one package? other than the fact that they're glued together.

[Mark G @ Jan 11th 2007 1:27PM]

this is ONLY good news, IF....

the hybrid disc supports 30GB HD-DVD and 50GB Blu-Ray...

Somehow, I seriously doubt it.. So all it does, it thow an inferior product at consumers, a format that stores like, as it's halfs the stock.

The best solution, is Blu-Ray simply takes over the market, and all this talk of hybrid players and discs is permenently put to rest as a bad idea all round.

[E Wedel @ Jan 13th 2007 8:23PM]

Regarding downloadable replacing discs: who's
ready for (original) divx again? Pay per view forever -- studios would love that.

I almost wonder if the studios didn't encourage dual disc formats just to give distribution bandwidth growth a chance to catch up.

[Mike P @ Jan 24th 2007 11:26AM]

Personally, I'd rather have one standard HD format (fat chance, eh?), so discs can be HD on one side, and standard DVD on the other for when I want to bring a movie over to a friend's who doesn't have an HD player. On a side note, I don't have an HD player.