New Line confirms it'll follow in Warner's Blu footsteps
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted January 5th 2008 4:45PM
posted January 5th 2008 4:45PM
As if anyone expected anything different, New Line confirmed with Variety Magazine that it'll follow Warner to the Blu-ray promise land. While this is a no brainer considering the relationship between Warner and New Line, (also owned by Time Warner, just like Engadget) other studios remain up in the air. When, and if, Universal makes the switch as well is any ones guess, but at this point we doubt many would expect otherwise. But, as we've learned in the last few days, anything's possible, but the idea of having one HD format to adopt is something even most members of the red camp can get behind.
HP is wrong the triple layer hd dvd was approved and is 51 gb (not 45). Also the hd dvd discs are cheaper to produce since they use existing equipment. BD requires different fab.
>> Blu-Ray's disc capacity is 25GB single layer, 50GB dual layer, and 100GB prototype triple layer
100GB prototype is four-layer, not triple-layer. Double-check your math.
Also you forgot to mention the 150GB six-layer prototype demonstrated by [I think] TDK.
"Now lets hope a final spec blu-ray player comes out soon so we can all move on and enjoy our HD movie bliss."
Good luck with that...have you seen the HVD Forum's website?
"Q What impact will HVD have on the conventional optical disk such as DVD?
A With the wide acceptance of HDTV, HVD will form a new segment in optical disk market for consumers. HVD will eventually replace DVD."
cough* "HVD will eventually replace DVD." cough*
Blu-ray is going to have another compediter. A compeditor that makes Blu-ray look inferior. A product that should have been the replacement to DVD, but everyone else couldn't wait to jump into the money pile. HVD is the future of gaming, since it can read the disc without delay (Blu-ray can only spin at X52 speed like dvds, now why is this the future? it has the same flaws as the dvd), record data faster then dvd or blu-ray can ever do and no spinning disc. Hello, that is the future. Plus with about 4 times the capacity blu-ray can hold, I think everything about Blu-ray is pathetic, if you put one of these next to it.
Wait until Sony turns off the component outs on blu-ray, and unleashes the _real_ BD+ DRM scheme. Then we'll see how happy everyone is that Sony, oops, the BDA, owns HDM.
Hulk Hogan Movies on Blu-ray!!! Lets Go Suburban Commando!!!
So the big difference is 30GB dual layer for HD DVD and 50GB dual layer for BD. Has BD released a dual layer dvd using anymore than the 30GB available on HD DVD?
Yesterday and today's announcements saddened me until I realized that the best 2 movies (sadly not at the box office) of this year will be HD DVD exclusives. (No Country for Old Men & There will be Blood) Movies that DESERVE the high def treatment.
Miramax has the distribution rights in the US for No Country for Old Men (awesome movie btw), which of course means Blu-ray, it's been announced as such. The irony being that Paramount gets a share of a Blu-ray film whilst being in the red camp :)
There will be Blood is HDDVD in the US, but I'm not sure whose holding the distribution rights in Europe. I'd suspect it's going to be Blu-ray out there.
Who cares what MS wants? I for one will never pay to download a movie (hell I never even use my free netflix downloads). I want physical media.
steveo - you don't plan on buying many more HD DVDs, why not? If a movie you want is out for it why not pick it up if and when prices drop. Like I've said since I chose red. If blu wins I'll get a bunch of movies cheap to tide me over until a decent blu player is $200. And by decent I mean final revision of the format so I don't have to worry about it not working with titles 3 years down the line.
Besides it still isn't over. If red releases movies at the same price as the dvd version and drop the players price range into $100 to $200 they will be around for a long long time. As long as a couple of big studios support it.
@Killer
You're an idiot. That technology (HVD) is so far off, to think it will compete with Blu Ray soon is retarted. The drives to run an HVD is expected to be approximately $15,000, and discs are expected to run at over $100. The technology is meant for giant corporations with huge storage needs, not the average consumer. Those discs hold like 3 Terabytes of information. Its enough for one years worth of DVD quality video straight. Very few people need that (if anyone), therefore it competing for the mass market media format is ridiculous. Are you a moron?
@Haldol
You my friend must be snorting coke or something, because what you said may be the dumbest thing i've ever read. I LOVE AMERICAN PRODUCTS AND THAT'S WHY I LOVE TOSHIBA! Are you serious? Both companies are Japanese. You need to shut up because you're giving Canadians a bad name. American's already think we're retarted hicks, we don't really need you making posts while you're high because everything you said is stupid. You go buy your Harry Potter HD DVD, it's a waste of money now.
@everyone worried about prices being driven up
Do you people not understand economics at all? What the *%$# are you talking about. Believe it or not, Sony is not the only one making BD Players. Therefore when Toshiba drops HD DVD, its not making competition leave for the manufacturing of players. If anything its adding more competition because all companies making HD DVD Players (including Toshiba) will start making BD Players. Furthermore, as one format gets selected as the industry standard, DVD will be pushed far down in price point (Like VHS before it) and instead of HD movies being 30 dollars compared to 20 dollar DVDS, they'll be 20 doller HD movies competing with 10 dollar DVDs. With so many people unsure of what to buy right now (BD or HDDVD) DVDs have remained the industry standard and haven't moved down in price. This is good for the consumer to finally pick a side. And why are people so defensive about "their" preferred format. They're pretty much exactly the F'ing same. Who cares which one wins, lets just get this damn thing over with so that you don't have to look at which movies are coming out on which format. Everyone needs to just stop bitching and be happy that they'll be able to watch both Transformers and Pirates of the Carribean on the same player very soon. Just get over this whole fanboy format war BS. I am fairly confident no one on this site has any REAL money invested in either technology aside from a player and a couple movies. So stop crying and/or gloating like you do. Sure it sucks buying an HD DVD player, and then hearing these peices of news, but as early adopters we take that risk.
Best worded response in this whole Warner BD announcement comment-storm.
I'm sure it's a tough weekend for those five HD DVD fanboys who spent all day writing about HD DVD's splendor. BD, even with its final specs incomplete, blew the doors off of cheaper HD DVD players. I can not wait for Toshiba to make it's first BD player. The better format won, the victory was won by mainstream movie companies, and not by porn as so many predicted. While I will still wait a bit longer till I buy one, I look forward to the increased competition as Toshiba and other HD DVD makers begin building Blue Ray players. Remember, how prices fell dramatically every year once VHS one its format war. Blue Rays victory (and yes, the war is over, deal with it), will lead to a multitude of new manufacturers (toshiba et al), competing on quality and features, just as it should be.
I see many here think the end of the format war will lead to higher prices. This is beyond ignorant. When the Betamax lost to VHS, The price of VCRs dropped like a rock as many other manufacturers (including Sony), began to build them. DVDs beat out VideoDisks, exact same result, When PC's made Macs irrelevant, everybody was building PC's and prices dropped like a rock. Blue Ray players, will get lighter, get more features, will be built by more manufacturers and prices will drop like a rock. It wont happen by Monday afternoon, but history and competition both demonstrate that Blue Ray will follow the same pattern. There is no reason why it would not. What part of this do you pathetic sore loser HD DVD fanboys not understand?
For the first time since the introduction of the format, DVD sales are down. The studios need to resell their libraries (again!) and high definition DVDs is their revenue bridge until downloading becomes mainstream. Consolidating on one format simplifies the retail message and removes consumers' hesitation to re-buy their favorite titles.
For the electronics manufacturers, one format assures higher volume sales per model (vs. splitting between two units supporting separate formats) giving them the marketing courage to push new units. We could easily see 15 different Blu-Ray players by Holiday 2008 that have to compete on price and features. In the end, choice is not about format but how many boxes to choose from on the retailer shelf.
SONY, from the people who brought Pearl Harbor comes the Blue (death) Ray.........
Why do you hate Blu Ray. Is there actually a logical reason? Why do you love HD DVD? Seriously. Can you tell me the difference between them that actually warrents you to love one and hate the other. Do you just like red, but aren't that crazy about blue. Is it really just the packaging?