Warner to finally go Blu-ray-only at CES?
By Erik Hanson 
posted Dec 7th 2007 12:27PM
posted Dec 7th 2007 12:27PM
Another day, another format war rumor. Business Week has a lengthy writeup on the possibility of lone dual-format holdout Warner Brothers switching to Blu-ray exclusively, and how it could affect the outcome of the long-running feud between high-definition disc formats HD DVD and Blu-ray. The rumor gets its seed from vice-chairman of Lionsgate Michael Burns, who claims that Warner will be turning blue soon. With Warner on their side, the Blu-ray studios would hold a 70% market share for the DVD market. Of course, if Warner shifts red, then the studio market will again be split into two equal halves, and consumers are left to wait and see if one format can outsell, outspend, or outlast the other until only one format remains. The stakes are so high that top execs from both camps are banging down Warner's door with personal meetings -- and possibly even truckloads of cash -- to get Warner to turn to their side. One thing you can be sure of is that Warner is going to be keeping an extra close eye on the dual-format release of Harry Potter next week for guidance.[Thanks, Michael P.]
So, if they go 'red', then what percentage of the remaining 'blue' half would be sony owned/controlled?
I personally think that if Warner goes exclusive to either side, all the momentum will fly that way - they just have way too much good content to ignore.
Warner to Blu-ray would kill HD DVD. Warner to HD DVD would nearly cripple Blu-ray.
@TrentD
You're completely right. If they go red it'll only lengthen this nonsense.
Blue pill or red pill?
Stop bitching. Wait until the price drop and buy a combo player. I have a combo Blu-ray and HD drive and both formats are just the same quality.
The only thing right now I don't like is that HOW LONG will the Blu-ray and HD discs going to be around. Right now I have wasted $1000 dollars on DVDs over the years and I don't really plan to do that with Blu-ray or HD if they are going to be around for only 4yrs.
Buying a Comb Player is stupid. This whole thing is Laser disc vs. Beta Max, which is NOW turned into a freaking pissing contest. I'm expected to drop wads of cash on something that may not be around in 5 years -- no thanks, I'm not biting.
mark my words if warner happens to go HD-DVD exculsive you will have to buy a dual format player.
Come on WB, come to poppa. Besides that "B" in WB is for "Blu-Ray." We all knew that. Sorry, I had to make some silly and probably unfunny joke. I hope WB goes Blu so that we can have more fun.
Let the format war attacks and nonsense commence. This should be fun.
Thinking of a switch to Blu-ray, are we? Well, I might just have to pay a little visit to Mr. Warner CEO. Once you're into this family, there's no getting out.
Oh, there's no switching going on here at all. I'm Blu-Ray all the way. I'd love for WB to go Blu so we can get this silly format war over with. I have a few BD titles in my library, with one "Cinderella Man" on HD-DVD I bought for $3.00. However, if WB goes HD-DVD I'd have to rush and jump on one of those crazy sales going on at Amazon all the time. Come on WB let's go "Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu ......."
If they make an announcement on CES 2008 about going format exclusive, the world will go nuts. If they go Red, the scale is balanced with the same number of studios and the war will continue. If they go Blu, then HD-DVD will be in a tight spot and Universal may have to make a serious decision of going either neutral or Blu-Ray exclusive. Hard to say/guess.
Blu-ray should win the format war, because HD DVD has the 1080i players for $100, and that is a rip of, since thats not true HD. Blue ray players are all 1080p so people are getting riped of.
Good thing you're not selling it.
And the HD generation doesn't start until Sony says it does. Why woulds I pay extra for 1080p when the vast majority of tvs wont do better than 1080i?
I dont see how a very good sale on a close out model what will suit the needs of most HD fans is a "ripoff."
I personally don't care who wins, I just want a winner dammit. I want my HD movies but I'm not risking picking the losing side.
1.) 1080i HD-DVD for $100, 1080p HD-DVD for $250 - $500 OR Blu-Ray for $800+++. HD-DVD Wins
2.) HD-DVD and Regular DVD's can share the same disc on different sides, Blu, no such luck. HD-DVD wins
3.) HD-DVD is region free and lacks the ass-raping DRM. Blu-Ray is DRM'd so far up the ass its coming out its mouth. HD-DVD wins.
4.) Sony is evil. Everyone against Sony (including M$) is less evil. HD-DVD wins.
Gee, HD-DVD has 4, Blu-Ray has 0. HD-DVD Wins.
This is foolish.
Most TVs won't even accept a 1080p signal - why should they buy a 1080p player?
Also, your claim that "1080i isn't even real HD" is just so moronic that I can't believe I even addressed it.
Hmmm... I'm pretty sure Toshiba came out with a firmware update that added 1080p/24hz support to their players, including the HD-A2 (the $100 player).
here's the link...
http://www.tacp.com/tacpassets-images/notices/hddvd2firmware.asp
If I were in the States, I'd be behind HD-DVD 100% at this point.
720p/1080i is HD, regardless of what Sony's marketing dept. would have you believe.
Sorry Alan it did not add 1080p/24 to the A2 as the HD-A2 doesn't not have the chipset to output 1080p.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12197669&postcount=1
Read the bottom:
Anti-FUD Fanboy since December 2006!
For 24p content (all movies basically), 1080i or 1080p makes no difference-
http://hometheatermag.com/gearworks/1106gear/
At the risk of repeating myself, both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have movies encoded at 1080p with 24 frames per second. To display this on a 60 frames per second TV, it has to be enhanced. In both formats the process is 1080p/24->1080i/60->1080p/60. If you have a 1080p panel, it cannot display 1080i/60, so it upgrades any 1080i signal to 1080p. So, the only difference between a player with 1080p output and 1080i output is where the last step of the conversion takes place, in the player or in the TV. In either case, you are watching 1080p/24 content upgraded to 1080p/60. The convestsion from 1080i/60 to 1080p/60 is simple enough that your TV would have a hard time screwing it up. If you have an analog 1080p CRT or a 120Hz 1080p LCD, you might see a difference. Otherwise, it makes absolutely no difference whether your player outputs in 1080p or 1080i and you should not consider this as a buying factor.
The difference between 1080i and 1080p much not be so much in your world. It "only" specify the source of the signal. What is more interesting is the destination. Most 1080i-TV's doesn't have a 1920x1080 panel, but something much smaller and downscales all material and u wont even notice a difference between 720p and 1080p. Most 1080p full-HD-tv's i've seen have 1920x1080 panels which does do 1080p more justice.
"1080i HD-DVD for $100"
Where? That was a Black Friday deal, good luck finding anything for $100
"Blu-Ray for $800+++"
Try the newest Samsung Blu-ray for $299:
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/487442830?v_c=CJ&AID=10273773&PID=361116&SID=FW645roi
Mike, are you serious? Blu-ray players are MSRP $400 not $800, and the Samsung one is now MSRP $299 and selling for $269, which is $70 more than the cheapest HD DVD player. HD DVD is region free, but it also has AACS DRM, the same DRM Blu-ray has. Sony is only as evil as Toshiba, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, etc.
Yes, please just end it so we can focus on the next media format was, digital downloads versus no one. . . .
Nobody wants digital downloads :)
Microsoft does.
I think dual-format players are ultimately going to win out. Those players will ultimately become affordable one day, and when they do, red and blue isn't going to matter.
Sure, but having to create two different versions of the same product is expensive and counterproductive for the studios. I don't think studios want to have to deal with that for very long. They want to deal with one version and that's all. I don't think they want to worry with "I want to put this feature here, but wait, that won't work with HD-DVD, or Blu-Ray doesn't support that." Studios want to put out a single version of a product that would work on one format (whichever happens to win.)
Also, consumers are confused enough with the digital transition of 2009 thinking they have to buy hd-tv. Now, they have to choose between what format to pick and whether they'd be choosing the wrong format. Also, it'd be expensive for retailers because they'd have some customers who'd pay for the wrong format and having to return it for the proper one. And, having to ... It's just nonsense.
I hope to god that they go 'blu'. Then all we would need is for the exclusivity deal to run out with Paramount so I can get Star Trek on Blu-ray.
Amen to that. Star Trek on Blu-ray ftw!
i'm an hd-dvd fanboy, but you can have your Star Trek. wanna trade Star Wars for Star Trek?
Option #1 is to go Blu-Ray
Option #2 is to go HD-DVD
As an owner of an HD-DVD player, I would like them to go with Option #3: don't go exclusive.
Go Blu-ray god damit!!
What makes this latest rumor any more credible than the dozens and dozens of other rumors that preceded it?
Team Blu has won. Sorry, Red, time to go home, thanks for playing.
here's how to win the war:
Offer a disc exchange program. For every retail DVD you hand them, they hand you the HD-DVD/BR version.
Would probably come with a 25 or 50 DVD limit, but I'd upgrade to whatever standard offers me an easy way to do so.
I'm happy as long as they continue to produce the regular ass dvd.
I don't really need the blu-ray or the HD (although they are pretty....very pretty). The world won't come to an end as long as they continue with the regular one.
An ass man, are we? You know, those asses look a whole lot clearer in high def.
It's just pathetic...
Consumers don't care about standards, they care about media. They just want to buy a disc, take it home and watch it. I just don't see how excluding people that have bought a particular type of player can make any business sense to studios - it's not like they're selling players.
Just can't see the point of this...
go bluray, we don't want to be M$ b*tches anymore
go HD-DVD, we don't want to be Sony b****es anymore.
i'd rather be sony's than M$
How about nobody's bitch?
omgz!!11 l00k I pu7t a $ in $ony!!!11 TAH7'S TEH FUNNI!!
Idiot.
Re: Wicked
"We don't want to be Sony ****** anymore."
Blu-Ray isn't just Sony. Do your homework.
The clear winner here is digital downloads. I said it a year ago and will stand by that claim.
No no no, digital downloads are not a feasible solution as of this moment.
How many 50GB movies can you currently keep locally?
How long does it take for you to download 30-50GB?
I thought so, until the backbone exists to deliver that kind of data and store it cheaply, physical media is here to stay.
Eventually, yes, digital downloads of 1080p video and uncompressed audio will be possible but that is at least ten years off so if you're waiting for that, better pull up a chair.
You know what wins
all this HD, Blu Ray ....
One that has the biggest selection of movies and one that has the most affordable movies and players.
Think about it guys
70% of people buying TV end up getting the 720p - 1080i tvs, not to say they are not good for the $$ they spend but they are better once ( if u have $2k + to spend on a tv, u got $300 + to spend on a HD or Blu Ray Player)
u can get a upconverting DVD play for $60 and it will upconvert to 1080i ... good enough for most people, and 60% of people wont be able to notice a big difference on there 720p-1080i tv from upconverted DVD (witch they already have) from spending $40 for a HD or Blu Ray DVD that will only give them 1080i since there tv don't give out better resolution
in conclusion, format war will be won, when 70% of tv sales end up being true HD 1080p because without that an AVERAGE consumer can't tell 2 much difference between HD movie or Regular movie upscaled other then a big HOLE in is pocket
Upscaled SD content looks horrible compared to any decent HD content on these two "new" formats unless you have a very, very bad display unit.
you and me know that
an average consumer doesn't also, someone in there mid 40s is not gonna care, as long as it plays there dvd for them that is all that they care and there HD box (1080i) plays on there tv and it is better then there tube tv they are happy
i agree with you .. HD content is so much better ... i have both blu ray and hd dvd players and they both show amazing quality, and i can't pick one since u can't get all the movies in one format so i chose to go with both
witch ever one wins, i think it be the one that is most affordable one in long run not short one. Honestly so many people are uneducated about HD that they couldn't tell why why HD is better then SD other then it has good picture, its on a bigger TV
A couple days ago the BDA released figures showing 2.7 million Blu-Ray players in homes, including 700,000 standalone players (vs. 750,000 HD-DVD players, and that includes the Xbox 360 attachment). That's a lot more standalone players than I think a lot of people expected given the price difference, and a *big* overall advantage when you factor in the PS3. And software sales seem to be bearing that out - it's almost a 3:1 advantage for Blu-Ray in software right now.
Google "blu-ray 2.7 million" if you want a source for this info (some articles spin it positively in favor of blu-ray, others negatively, though the negative ones are really grasping).
So I don't disbelieve this rumor. It's going to be every studio eventually. This format "war" has never really even been a contest, and the Universal HD-DVD exclusivity hasn't seemed to put a damper on anything in the blu-ray camp. People are buying more blu-ray discs than ever, and they're not buying any more hd-dvd's than they were. The studios are definitely paying attention.
Standalone counts are nowhere near 700k. The 2.7m figure includes 2.4m ps3s, leaving only 300k standalones.
actually, any standalone/console counts at all (on both sides) are merely speculation, as neither group gave breakdowns.
Actually, maybe VGChartz.com has info on PS3 only sales.
Anyway, I don't disagree with your point, Jeff. I would like to see this war end and it makes sense that Warner would pick Blu, since, as media, it consistently outsells HD DVD, even on its best day (release of Transformers).
That's not a good indicator. Who the hell buys Harry Potter. Kids don't have that kind of caash to be appreciating hidef. A movie worthy of hidef will be bought, like Die Hard. That movie is fake as hell but fun to watch. It's like the original die hard but updated. So I bought a BluRay of it.
Been living under a rock? A lot more than just kids like Harry Potter.
Even if Warner goes "Blu", the format war is still on for at least another year, since Dreamworks and Paramount are HD DVD exclusives through then.
btw those who are saying digital downloads are the winner here are clearly misinformed - there are already many more blu-ray and hd-dvd discs being bought and rented than there have ever been digital movie downloads. And that number is only growing over time.
HD disc adoption in general is happening at a much faster rate than DVD adoption after its launch. Downloads haven't grown nearly as fast.
The HD content that is downloaded today seems to be very compressed as well. I don't want to display lesser quality material on an expensive tv! I want the best quality available that I can afford.
I wonder how much Sony paid Warner to switch? I wonder how many Blu-ray fans are going to complain that this was an underhanded trick, and will boycot products from Sony, Warner, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.?
Just remember, the format war is on until EVERY movie studio is available on one side.
Yup.
I don't care which format "wins" as long as this stupid tug of war gets resolved so we as the consumer can feel confident in our purchases.
If, by the sound of it, Warner going Blu-ray will make this happen quicker, then I say WB PLEASE GO BLU-RAY.
To Me, This sounds like a simple business decision. In my opinion, it would be smarter for the WB to go Blu-Ray. Think about it. If they go red (HD-DVD) they will definetly prolong the format war another 2 years at least, during which time the Blu-Ray players will get cheaper (Cheapest is 500 bucks now), the PS3's will definetly get cheaper, and HDTV's will definetly be cheaper. So, by next Christmas, price won't matter a great deal, and people would be left with these choices:
1 chose which type of player they want (Which means choosing which movies and tv shows you want to see in HD).
2 purchase a combo player (Which will definetly prolong the war and force customers to buy more expensive players)
or
3 Buy both types of players (which would be silly when you could buy a combo player). It would be smarter to wait another year to see which format wins.
The best decision is for the WB to go Blue (Blu-Ray) and thus, shift the market over to Blu-Ray. By doing this, HD-DVD will die a slow death as people will realize that HD-DVD is a silly investment when the majority of content will be on Blu-Ray. By next Christmas, when Blu-Ray players are more affordable, HD-DVD will go the way of BetaMax. The WB will have made a smart investment here, where if they go red, the future will be uncertain. The choice is simple. Go one way, and the future is uncertain and there is no way to be sure if it will be profitable. Go the other way and the future certain to turn profits.
And hopefully, 6 months after next X-mas, when the new Star Trek movie is released in stores, it will be on Blu-Ray.
dual format owner here so i could care less. my HTPC plays both formats with one optical drive ($300.00).
I want HD-DVD to win, why: I like the name better, i prefer microsoft to sony, I liked them better from the beginning(they had bettter PQ in the beginning too)
of course a blu-ray fanboy, named Mr. Lionsgate CEO Guy, is saying WB is going Blu.
Cue every crazy HD-DVD fanatic waiting to pick up Harry Potter just to put more sales behind the HD-DVD version regardless if they even want to watch the movie. Who knows Microsoft might drop $500 million in Warner's lap. They haven't stalled the market long enough to get thier digital distribution method up and running. Live for Windows is pretty much a failure.
Full HD 1080p sets are going to be that majority of HDTVs sold in the future. Prices are dropping and everything larger than 37" is going 1080p including plasma. Hell with Sharp releasing 32" 1080p sets you can probably expect everything larger than a kitchen or bedroom set to be 1080p. 720p sets are going the way of 1080i CRT rear projectors.
All retailers are either equal or favored to BluRay in software and all retailers are heavily favored to BluRay in hardware. Does anyone actually think that a store wants to give away movies to sell something? If they are giving away 5 free movies out of thier stock with purchase they want to get rid of inventory. At least if they sell a BluRay player there is some decent profit margin.
But the Blu-ray fanboys are logical when they buy anything just to boost numbers?
Also, ignore the constant BOGO sales for Blu-ray movies, giving away 5 movies with a Blu-ray player, movies bundled with the player (SM3 in a PS3). When HD DVD does it, it is bad. When Blu-Ray does it, it is a sensible business decision.
If Blu-Ray wins, I buy the PS3. If not, I wait.
I have a really silly question I'm sure so please be gentle. But why does movie studios have to pick one or the other? Can't they just make movies for both formats?
To answer your question: cost.
Producing content for both discs cost more money than using a single standard format. Studios don't want to pay, say, 10,000 BluRay and 10,000 HD-DVD discs when they could make 20,000 for less money. The reason for this is that you first have to pay 2 teams to master (program) both discs then pay 2 productions facilities to press both versions, then ship both version in separate packaging to retailers.
It cost far lest money for a studio to pay 1 team for design, 1 team for pressing, and ship 1 set packaging to retailers. In fact (using my original example) it actually could costs a studio probably just over half the cost (maybe 60% or so) to produce 20,000 BluRay discs versus 10,000 BR and 10,000 HD-DVD.
I really hope they go Blue, so this stupid format war will be over.
All I know is, I won't pay a dime for a 1080i player. I'm going to consider 1080p "future-proof" for the time being; we all saw how long it took for HDTV to come to pass, I doubt the resolution will go any higher anytime soon (next decade or so).
Yes, I have a 1080p TV, and yes, I understand that 24fps film should look the same on a 1080i/60 player as it does on a 1080p/60 player, since both give an effective 1080p/30, which is more than 24fps.. but I'm sticking to my guns :)
I'm hoping Blu-Ray wins, although the region coding is a shame.
Blu-Ray players are no longer out of my price range (I consider anything over 500 to be more than I really want to pay), but I'm not going to pay even $300-$400 for a BR player if I'm not pretty sure the format war will go that way.
I think that strategy makes some sense, because who knows what's down the road, etc. At least you're not spreading the typical FUD about this subject.
I'm personally waiting for the next sale to get the Toshiba HD-DVD plus 39 free movies for $49. That will allay my fears about i vs. p... ;-)
So, you understand that it's just marketing babble and there's no real difference between 1080p/24 content sent to your TV as 1080p/60 and content sent to your TV as 1080i/60, since your TV displays them both as 1080p/60, but you'll never buy a player that putputs at 1080i/60? Umm. Why? If you know it makes no difference, why do you care?
In any case, what does this have to do with the choice between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? Isn't an HD-DVD player with 1080p output still cheaper than the cheapest Blu-Ray player?
Films are at 24fps. I don't want to preclude any potential 1080p/60 content. Not every piece of video content available is a 24fps film. I think it's worth buying the best, and right now that is a 1080p set and a 1080p player, because who knows what content may be released in the future. Furthermore, 1080p/60 content might take more space than a HD-DVD disk can store.
I have also seen content on 1080i/30 signals that is visibly interlaced, so its important that your 1080i/60 source upconverts to progressive scan.
And yes, there is an HD-DVD player with 1080p that is cheaper than BR. It's not cheap enough, though. I'm not going to pay $200 or $300 for a HD-DVD 1080p player that may very well be obsolete. If they were selling $100 HD-DVD players that supported 1080p, I'd buy one because I don't mind the $100 "cost" (which is almost free when you consider the freebie movies) to enjoy high-def DVDs for awhile until the format war is decided. I'm willing to pay a bit more for a BR 1080p player than an HDDVD 1080p player, because I am more willing to bet my money on BR than on HD.
On the other hand, I'm not about to go to a Wal-Mart, let alone fight mad holiday crowds at a Wal-Mart, for the privilege of a 1080i player.
You understand that 1080 = 1080, right? If you have a 1080p TV and send it content at 1080p, guess what it'll display at?
If you take that same TV, the same content but at 1080i, guess what it'll display at?
*GASP* Why, it'll display at 1080p.
A 1080p only has one resolution: 1080p. It scales and deinterlaces every signal that comes into it and outputs 1080p. There's no other way for it to work. So go ahead and waste your money on the "superior" 1080p players and scoff at the "not-even-HD" 1080i players while we enjoy the exact same quality as you.
God, I'm so sick of the misinformation being spewed by and believed by these lemming shills all over the internet. This is where Sony really shines through: deception and bullshit.
You're either not reading what I'm writing, or you don't understand what you're saying.
You are correct that the signal from a 1080i player will be deinterlaced, so the full screen will be refreshed, say, 60 times per second. However, there is still HALF THE DATA in a 1080i signal versus a 1080p signal so true 1080p content can be 60 full frames per second, but upscaled 1080i signals will only have an effective 30fps, even if the signal is refreshed 60 times per second.
For film this does not matter because it is only 24fps anyway. For things such as computer animation, it is possible to create 60 full frames in one second.
Not only are you providing misinformation, you're providing LATE misinformation :)
Well, on my 750gb HD I can keep quite a few, enough for now. Besides very few BRD or HDVD are 50gb. More around 20gb. AND on torrent sites, with a few seeders, a movie can be had over night. If there was a dedicated server, I'm sure you could download sooner. Once downloading in the background is possible it opens up more.
Downloads are the future. I'd rather have a few bricks with hundreds of movies with a few clicks to access rather than a wall of discs that I have to find, remove, insert, play and repeat.
Ok, how many households have at least 1TB of disk space to store movies? Better yet, how many studios are moving towards torrent swarms of HD movies?
I'll answer for you, less than 1% and zero.
Look, I'm not against digital downloads but it's just not feasible and will not be feasible to the average consumer for many years.
Until then, physical media is here to stay and all I was saying to this guy is that if he's waiting for digital downloads to become the de facto standard for the distribution of 1080p video and uncompressed audio, he's going to be HD media-less for a long time.
"When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide," said Silverberg. "But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide — so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter."
Sounds like they are "finaly going to Blu-ray" to me! Oh wait there was that blurb of the "he said that, he said...".
Ben, did you write this!?
I sincerely believe that Warner not only wants to go Blu, but that they NEED to go Blu. If this stupid-ass format war keeps going on, there will not be a market for high-definition movies on disc, PERIOD. It is in Warner's best interest (as well as everyone else's best interest) to go with the leading high-definition disc format and put an end to this bullshit. Otherwise, neither side will definitively "win" out over the other and neither side will ever take off. Sooner rather than later would be much appreciated.
Who the hell is prolonging the war now? With comments like "Oh wait on buying those cheaper HD DVD player because warner might go BD" is something straight out of BD's handbook on Customer manipulation with Press BS.
As a consumer, is this legal, can the authorities that be make sure that these tactics by both formats be halted. As a consumer, these games that are being played by both formats do no good and eventually will leave too many customers out of luck if one format drops out of the race. How about a class action law suit against the industry itself for or the corporation involved in such anticonsumer practices?
Well why doesn't anyone think straight ?
IF BLU-RAY WINS THE FORMAT WAR EVERYONE EXCEPT SONY AND ITS ASSOCIATES IS GOING TO LOSE MONEY!
CONSIDER THOSE :
A) THE BLU RAY FORMAT IS NOT APPROVED BY THE DVD FORUM!
B) HD DVD PLAYERS ARE CHEPEAR TO OWN AND PRODUCE THAN THE BLU-RAY PLAYERS
C) THE INTERACTIVE AND WEB ENABLED FEATURES ARE MISSING FROM THE BLURAY PLAYERS
D) THE HD DVD DISKS ARE CHEAPER TO PRODUCE AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR BOTH THE FILM COMPANIES AND PEOPLE WANT TO BUY MOVIES SINCE THE FINAL PRICE OF THE HD DVD COULD GO DOWN!
E) TOSHIBA IS FIGHTING A DIFFICULT CAUSE ALONE AND WE CONSUMERS OUGHT TO HELP THEM!
F) BECAUSE I MANAGED TO OWN BOTH PLAYERS I FOUND OUT THAT IN THE SAME TV THE HD DVD HAS BETTER PICTURE THAN BLU-RAY
AS YOU SEE I CAN SELECT ANY FORMAT BUT I THINNK IT'S BEST FOR ALL OF AS TO SEE THE HD-DVD WIN THIS WAR!
DVD-Forum is not the be all end all organization. It was expected that Bluray will be approved but Toshiba took HD-DVD to the DVD-Forum and got it approved. Bluray was around before HD-DVD! Now, you tell me. If there are so many CE companies supporting Bluray and only one company support HD-DVD, what use is this so called DVD-Forum.
Also, Bluray is not controlled by Sony - it is a consortium of companies. The only reason Microsoft threw their support behind HD-DVD is to balance the power of other CE companies and also because HD-DVD readily adopted Microsoft's HDi.
I own several BD disks and my PS3 has not malfunctioned even once. Great sound, great picture. There were initial duds like the original Fifth Element, but most movies coming out now are great. Have you even seen the Pirates in BD. Awesome!!
If consumers prefer HD-DVD, why is the "300" marketshare 3:1 favoring BD? Microsoft has more nefarious plans than Sony. At least Sony is an entertainment company. They may have pissed off their consumers by using rootkits, etc, but Microsoft is just a dud!!
I was reading your comments and respecting your opinion until you got to the "E) TOSHIBA IS FIGHTING A DIFFICULT CAUSE ALONE AND WE CONSUMERS OUGHT TO HELP THEM!" point. Who gives a rat's ass if Toshiba is going at it alone or not. I pay for all my stuff and living expenses "alone" and I don't see Toshiba helping me. You're acting like a lunatic.
People need to get off this high horse of "I hate Sony so I'm going Red" or "I hate MS so I'm going Blu." Who cares. If you own a PS3 it makes a bit more sense to purchase Blu-Ray because you already own the player. If you own an Xbox 360, you're halfway there. Just buy the attachment and get your HD-DVD movies. If you're fortunate enough to own both, then more power to you. Disclaimer: I own the PS3, hence I purchase Blu-Ray discs.
doesn't anybody care for the image quality?
does anybody know that the upscaling quality of the hd dvd toshiba player is far superior than every blu-ray player in dvd viewing?
i know that since we are talking about hd formats that this might look stupid but in most countries the availiabity of hd titles is limited and might take enough years to achieved the widespread of dvd titles !
so until the hd format replaces dvd we are going to use our old and new movies in dvd!
If warner was really going go to Blu, would they really spend all that time making HD-DVD only special features, and interactivity. Would they have invested that much in a format they plan to drop? I don't think so... I think this is a last attempt from the Blu camp to confuse consumers during the christmas season to go blu.
Hard to say because DreamWorks and Paramount were doing all kinds of promotions for the Blu-Ray titles until the day before making the HD-DVD exclusive announcement. So, it can go either way.
Going by that example, HD-DVD would be more likely considering the blu-ray only WB promotion on Amazon recently.
From a business standpoint, Warner is most likely going to go blu. You can't ignore the fact that blu-ray movie sales have continued to outsell HD-DVD 2:1 month after month despite the fact that Tosbiba has been selling their cheap stand alone players. Then you have the other global markets to consider: Blu-ray outselling HD-DVD in Japan 9:1, 4:1 in Europe, and god knows how much in Australia although the last time I checked, Blu-ray held a substantial chunk of the HD market over there. Its time for HD-DVD to just die off.......
The 2:1 Bluray sales are inflated because of the constant BOGO 2for1 deals... It makes it seem like blu is selling very well when they aren't.
@Ryan
Whatever.... HD-DVD has had the same type of promotions available.
You know who REALLY gets screwed in all of this? The consumer. Either way Joe consumer is effed in the a. Whether Joe consumer is red or blue, they are getting effed.
I just opted to go with HD-DVD based on the ridiculously low priced deals before Black Friday. I have no qualms going with the cheapest alternative, and HD-DVD was the cheapest at the time. I love my HD content and I can't foresee going back to SD DVDs. However, I can't afford to sink a bunch more money in a BLU-RAY DVD player, so I will just have to live with my SD DVDs if HD-DVD goes under.
We're not dead yet; we still have Universal!
Too bad Blu-ray doesn't get The Bourne Ultimatum. hahahahahahaha
OK, even here I am seeing this blu-ray outsells hd-dvd by 2 to 1. Come on people, even you blu-brainers know that almost half of these blu-ray sales #'s are actually FREE-BIES. Most blu-ray people only buy during these 2 for 1 sales. I have seen post of people saying they bought 7 to get 7 for free, one person even claimed that he bought 15 to get 15 for free, and many, many more post saying the same. All of those free-bie buy 1 get 1 free giveaways are counted as SOLD disc ! ! ! I would love to see the MONEY spent on blu-ray disc, compared to the MONEY spent on hd-dvd disc, compared, then you would really see that this 2 to 1 sales lead is really a LIE ! ! ! The only way blu-ray can make this claim is to GIVE their movies AWAY .
Right... because HD-DVD hasn't had similar promotions. Please. Also, if you looks at various slaes charts you can see that BR has had very consistant sales lead. If the lead was due soley to BOGO promotions you would see large spikes during these promotions and then see the sales drop below HD-DVD between them. That's simply not been the case. BR is selling more is nearly every territory. Get over it.
This whole thing is so stupid. Some studios will only support one format, while some will only support the other. What are the idiots behind these formats and the studios thinking? All they're doing by taking different sides is confusing and stalling consumers and killing sales.
Studios should not choose. All of them should offer both. This fight should be between the Sony and Toshiba groups.
But of course, if Toshiba and Sony and whoever else involved could have set aside their stupid, fragile, little egos and uncontrollable greed for a moment, then they could've come out with one standard. You know, like DVD. One standard would provide enough money to go around for everybody.
Idiots. All this does is prolong everything. And no consumer wants a fragmented library - part Blu-ray and part HD-DVD and possibly two drives.
Quite frankly, I don't care which format wins, as long as ONE does so we can get on with knowing which one to commit to without having to risk investing a bunch of money into something that's going to die in six months to a year.
Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD can bite me for being obstinate and not coming to terms on a common format a couple years ago. And that goes for Warner, Sony, and every other studio. To state the obvious, if everyone had only come to their senses earlier, the high-def DVD market would be in its adolescence (if not maturity) by now. Instead, we get two opposing camps still trying to squeeze the most from a nickel and cutting off their own noses. This format war benefits nobody - not the DVD-Player makers, not the LCD TV makers, and least of all, not you or me, the consumers.