Warner Bros Now Blu-Ray exclusive!!!!!

[Reverb2009]

It's all over the net, Warner Brothers is dropping HD DVD. This is a big, big, big blow to HD DVD.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0444635420080104


NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Lionsgate (LGF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Paramount studios and General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases. (Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Bob Tourtellotte and Peter Henderson in Los Angeles; Editing by Brian Moss)

 

[HsvToolFool]

A blogger I read speculated that BluRay/HDDVD will be
the last physical media. It hadn't occurred to me,
but future Internet technology should allow all HD content
to be downloaded.

And we'll all have flying cars, and a robo-maid named Rosie, and...

 

[Reverb2009]

A blogger I read speculated that BluRay/HDDVD will be
the last physical media. It hadn't occurred to me,
but future Internet technology should allow all HD content
to be downloaded.

And we'll all have flying cars, and a robo-maid named Rosie, and...

If MicroCrap has there way, Yes.

Did you know it was MS that payed the 150M to Paramount to go exclusive?

MS payed Paramount and Dreamworks to keep the HD DVD format going in hopes of a stalemate. MS has been working on there Movie download service for some time now. There hope was to keep Blu-Ray in check and when the time was right swoop in and push there DownLoad service. Xbox Live has been the testing grounds for it. It's also why MS inked a deal with Viacom for $500 Million.

I personally am not for movie downloads. Like itunes it will be for convince not quality. Have you seen an HD movie from Xbox live? It looks like a standard DVD up-converted.

 

[HsvToolFool]

I agree, though I'm not especially against downloads per
se. As someone who has a cabinet full of laser, DVD, and
a growing number of BluRay disks, I'd actually prefer a
1-hour download period to running to the store or waiting
for UPS to deliver something I then have to find room for
on a shelf.

The problem we all have with a download system it that
it can never provide exactly the same functionality as a
physical medium...

• One-time purchase price.
• Unlimited repeat viewing.
• Allow friends to borrow, watch, and return movies.
• No tracking my preferences or viewing habits. This
  implies that an Internet connection is not needed
  to watch. I'd also need a way to pay via cash or an
  anonymous credit account.
• Same quality: minimal video compression and
  uncompressed audio.

 

[Rich]

The real problem as I see it is the music industry's incredible inability to adapt to changing technologies. Vinyl was "the" audio medium for about sixty years (and some would say, never surpassed), supplanted by cds for the last 25 years and that technology is terribly outdated. The technology is currently available to buy our music on flash cards, which are ubiquitous in every other area of technology, from games to cameras, but which haven't been used at all by the music industry.

I would much rather have to store a couple of thousand flash cards than a couple of thousand cds. And the players would have minimal or no moving parts, a definite plus.

Personally, I am not big on downloads because of quality restrictions, DRM, and permanence. I don't want to lose all my music when a hard drive crashes. I want a hard copy backup somewhere. But come on, RIAA join the freakin' 21st century.

 

[risabet]

I believed and continue to believe that both of these formats are dead ends in that they will, IMO, never be more than a niche market similar to DVD-A and SACD. Somewhere around 3 million BRD players are sold. How many of those are PS3s that were bought by gamers and happen to have the capacity to play BRDs? How many of those PS3 buyers will ever use them for BRDs? I would hazard that not many hard core gamers actually give a s**t about HD video. With upwards of 1 million PS3s sold that is 1/3 the total . Not a format with a giant future IMO. Others may differ!

 

[Reverb2009]

I'd actually prefer a
1-hour download period to running to the store or waiting
for UPS to deliver something I then have to find room for
on a shelf.

The problem we all have with a download system it that
it can never provide exactly the same functionality as a
physical medium...

• One-time purchase price.
• Unlimited repeat viewing.
• Allow friends to borrow, watch, and return movies.
• No tracking my preferences or viewing habits. This
  implies that an Internet connection is not needed
  to watch. I'd also need a way to pay via cash or an
  anonymous credit account.
  [*]Same quality: minimal video compression and
  uncompressed audio.

An hour DL time? You wish. Maybe if you have Verizon FiOs.

A movie on DVD averages 2 to 3GB with MPEG-2.
A movie on Blu-Ray/HD DVD is 25 to 40GB with AVC or VC-1.

A 480i movie on Xbox live is around 500mb with VC-1.
An HD movie on Xbox live is 1 to 1.5GB with VC-1.

Why such a difference? Over compression.

If HD DVD has proven anything it's 30GB disk space is not enough for an HD movie over 2 hours. An uncompressed HD movie is around a terabyte in size before its compressed down. Do you really want to DL an HD movie that was 1.2TB that is now compress to 1.5GB? Not I.

Also these will be movies only, no special features, no DTS option unless its DTS only. Bare bones for $10.00 to $15.00 each.

What do you do if your movie in on your deck in the living room but you want to watch it in the bedroom? Move the player? That's convenient, maybe pay for it again and re-DL it to the bedroom deck?

How about you have over a TB of movies and your Hard Drive dies's. Do you pay for them all over again? Maybe the service keeps a list of what you Downloaded so all you have to do is install a new HD and DL the movies again. Sweet, lets DL over a TB of movies! That will be fun.

Who wants to be the first to sign up for this and be MS ginnie pig? Because you know this will be flawed it's from Microsoft.

I agree this may be the last disk based format but I don't see Downloads being successful for awhile. Maybe Movies on Flash drives next?

 

[HsvToolFool]

An hour DL time? You wish. Maybe if you have Verizon FiOs.

I am a computer engineer. Therefore, I live with the reality
of Moores's Law every day. The bleeding-edge products
I design are mediocre within two years. It's a never ending
rat race which ensures my job security.

So the "1-hour download" I am willing to live with for a
low-compression-1080p-feature-length movie was not
predicated on current network bandwidth. It's safe to say
that 15 years from now, a 100 GB download will not take
very long, much less be unthinkable.

Otherwise, I'm glad you agree with my position.

Whatever technological wonders of the future make such
downloads feasible, corporations will use them to expand
profits rather than improve customer satisfaction. They will
continue to do so until consumers get fed up and stop buying.
I'm nearly there now just from all the annoying front-loaded
advertisements.

While there may be a feasible way for downloaded movies to
be possible, allow one-time payment, and provide maximum
quality, such a distribution system would certainly disallow
unlimited viewing or sharing videos with friends. More
importantly, corporations simply cannot resist tracking our
viewing habits. An Internet connection will certainly be
required to watch "your" movie so they log which films
you watch, how often, whether you skip chapters, and so
forth.

I resent corporate profiling so strongly that I pay cash for
almost everything I buy. I will never have a dish network
or similar cable box for the same reason. When I can no
longer buy and watch movies anonymously at home, then
I will go back to theaters and pay cash. If they are all out
of business or disallow cash, then I will stop watching
movies altogether.

 

[TheBobGoat]

I have to jump in here.

Joe, the HD downloads on Xbox live are about 5-6 GB. They take about 3 hrs total for me with my Comcast connection. After about 1.5-2 hrs you can begin watching the movie. The sound is usually 5.1 which is fine for me.

I like the 360 service in general but a few complaints...the first few have already been mentioned.

1. You can only rent the movies and not keep them (24 hrs after first play, 14 days if not played)
2. Hard drive space is limited so you can only have so many movies and there is no real way to back them up.
3. The selection is severely limited (maybe 100-150 movies with only about 80-100 being in HD)

OVERALL, I think it is a good starter service that gives a decent quality product and also keeps me from diving into HD-DVD or BluRay.

 

[STV]

An hour DL time? You wish. Maybe if you have Verizon FiOs.

A movie on DVD averages 2 to 3GB with MPEG-2.
A movie on Blu-Ray/HD DVD is 25 to 40GB with AVC or VC-1.

A 480i movie on Xbox live is around 500mb with VC-1.
An HD movie on Xbox live is 1 to 1.5GB with VC-1.

Why such a difference? Over compression.

If HD DVD has proven anything it's 30GB disk space is not enough for an HD movie over 2 hours. An uncompressed HD movie is around a terabyte in size before its compressed down. Do you really want to DL an HD movie that was 1.2TB that is now compress to 1.5GB? Not I.

Also these will be movies only, no special features, no DTS option unless its DTS only. Bare bones for $10.00 to $15.00 each.

What do you do if your movie in on your deck in the living room but you want to watch it in the bedroom? Move the player? That's convenient, maybe pay for it again and re-DL it to the bedroom deck?

How about you have over a TB of movies and your Hard Drive dies's. Do you pay for them all over again? Maybe the service keeps a list of what you Downloaded so all you have to do is install a new HD and DL the movies again. Sweet, lets DL over a TB of movies! That will be fun.

Who wants to be the first to sign up for this and be MS ginnie pig? Because you know this will be flawed it's from Microsoft.

I agree this may be the last disk based format but I don't see Downloads being successful for awhile. Maybe Movies on Flash drives next?

I couldn't agree more. I mean the whole download a movie things sounds great, but the reality of it is that not many are lucky enough to have the ultra high speed connection needed to make it feasable (I have a 1.5 Mbps connection and that is still way too slow for DL an HD movie). And like you said what happens if it crashes?

I for one will stick with physical media until DL becomes a viable option. So I need more shelf space to store my movies on disc, that's fine. I'm all for the best in features PQ and sound, and at this point downloading hasn't gotten there yet.

Music downloads are getting to the point of reaching the quality of CD (not quite but close), and I see that as the near future for music. But movie downloads that are on par with their physical counterparts is still quite a way off.

As for this news of Warner bailing on HD DVD, one can almost know that there was a large amount of money offered as an incentive. I mean money was offered to Paramount and Dreamworks to go HD DVD, so it's really no surprise to see Warner go Blu-ray. I personally think that both formats deliver the goods, with identical PQ and sound. Since I own both a Blu-ray player and an HD DVD player I'm covered, but I feel bad for the people who only own an HD DVD player.

If HD DVD does ultimately fall, quite a few people out there are going to have to buy a Blu-ray player if they want to see any new movies in high def. And at least for the near term I don't see Blu-ray offering players for $200. Right now I think the lowest priced player is $400.

It will be very interesting to see what Toshiba and it's supporting studios will do in the coming weeks.



Seth

 

[Reverb2009]

Music downloads are getting to the point of reaching the quality of CD (not quite but close), and I see that as the near future for music. But movie downloads that are on par with their physical counterparts is still quite a way off.

As for this news of Warner bailing on HD DVD, one can almost know that there was a large amount of money offered as an incentive. I mean money was offered to Paramount and Dreamworks to go HD DVD, so it's really no surprise to see Warner go Blu-ray. I personally think that both formats deliver the goods, with identical PQ and sound. Since I own both a Blu-ray player and an HD DVD player I'm covered, but I feel bad for the people who only own an HD DVD player.

I love my ipod but I don't DL music any more. Most of it is in low bit rates, I still buy the CD's and rip them myself with a higher bit rate.


No money was payed to WB, this was there new CEO's decision. Rumor has it MS offered the WB a large amount of money but they turned it down. The WB's decision was purely on sales numbers. If WB went HD DVD it would be a stalemate, HD DVD and Blu-Ray would both have 50% of the movie industry. With WB and New line exclusive, Blu-Ray owns around 70%. Rumor has it Universal executives have toured Blu-Ray manufacturing sites twice last year, they will more then likely be the next to go.

Also the HD DVD group canceled there CES press conference yesterday. They had big announcements and HD DVD chanting to do and now... Game over.

I have been a supporter of Blu-Ray because of the disk's. Unlike other fixed space disks, Blu-Ray has the ability to go up to 8 layers for 200GB. The reason why new disk formats keep coming is because we keep needing more. I hope that Blu-Rays expandability will keep this going for another 10 years. So far we have BD25 & BD50 disks, the BD group is expected to announce BD100 going to production any day now. BD150 & BD200 are in working form in the lab from what I hear.

 

[HsvToolFool]

Blu-Ray has the ability to go up to 8 layers for 200GB.

I suspect the dual-layer-dual-sided 100GB disks will be
practical to implement for consumer use and we'll see them
on shelves pretty soon. Then people will finally begin to
understand why BD is fundamentally better. Such disks
(if they are affordable) will be the perfect archival media
for amatuer HD home video, which I believe will eventually
drive that market.

I hope it works, but I'm not confident that quad-layer-
dual-sided disks supporting 200GB will be reliable for
consumer writers. The technology which permits the
quad-layer technique was a bit of an afterthought. Sony
never intended more that two layers per side.

Regardless, the cost per blank BluRay disk must drop
drastically before it's a practical archive format. The best
cost-per-MB solution at about 1/8th the cost is the 500GB
USB drive...

One BD writer ($700) + Twenty 25GB disks (or ten 50GB
disks) ($300) = $1,000

Eight 500GB drives = $800 to $1,000

Of course, prices become invalid the instant I type. But the
happy-geek news is that BD burners will drop to $99 and
the blanks should be around $1 each in a year or so.

 

[STV]

I love my ipod but I don't DL music any more. Most of it is in low bit rates, I still buy the CD's and rip them myself with a higher bit rate.


No money was payed to WB, this was there new CEO's decision. Rumor has it MS offered the WB a large amount of money but they turned it down. The WB's decision was purely on sales numbers. If WB went HD DVD it would be a stalemate, HD DVD and Blu-Ray would both have 50% of the movie industry. With WB and New line exclusive, Blu-Ray owns around 70%. Rumor has it Universal executives have toured Blu-Ray manufacturing sites twice last year, they will more then likely be the next to go.

Also the HD DVD group canceled there CES press conference yesterday. They had big announcements and HD DVD chanting to do and now... Game over.

I have been a supporter of Blu-Ray because of the disk's. Unlike other fixed space disks, Blu-Ray has the ability to go up to 8 layers for 200GB. The reason why new disk formats keep coming is because we keep needing more. I hope that Blu-Rays expandability will keep this going for another 10 years. So far we have BD25 & BD50 disks, the BD group is expected to announce BD100 going to production any day now. BD150 & BD200 are in working form in the lab from what I hear.

I agree with you on most available music downloads, but some studios like EMI/Capitol are now offering high bitrate downloads of very good quality. I hope to see this trend continue with other music companies also offering high quality high bitrate downloads. Of course I also prefer to rip music off of CD's (I like to use iTunes lossless AAC).


Warner is saying that no money was offered but do we know that for sure?

I have been a Blu-ray supporter because of the movie titles available. I wanted movies from all the studios and by staying solely with HD DVD I was limited. But by going Blu-ray only I was limited also, so I decided to go neutral and get both (like many have done). I don't think one format is visually or audibly superior as both look and sound the same (at least to my eyes and ears).

I personally prefer HD DVD's interactive menu system better than Blu-ray's BD-Java system. Every title I own (or rented) on HD DVD has loaded just fine no matter how much interactive stuff they have on it. Blu-ray on the other hand takes forever to load on my S300 when the disc uses extensive BD-Java. Of course once the disc does load the picture and sound is amazing.

The extra storage storage space that Blu-ray has is nice though



Seth

 

[TheBobGoat]

Whoever wins, I just want it to be over sooner than later. So maybe Warner moving the BRD way was a good call.

So many people are on the sidelines just waiting for this to pan out so they can spend.

 

[jfm]

still, there was always a downside for any winner in this format war - that is, the demise of one of the formats does not automatically guarantee long term success for the surviving one.

 

[Reverb2009]

still, there was always a downside for any winner in this format war - that is, the demise of one of the formats does not automatically guarantee long term success for the surviving one.

Funny you should bring that up.


I stop at Toys R Us on my way to work today because they are having a BOGO (Buy One Get One) on Disney Blu-Ray titles. As I walk in I see an older gentleman looking threw the movies looking for something, I start looking around for the Blu-Ray's and do not see any? But before I ask an employee I check there video game department to find an end cap of Blu-Rays. I went back and asked the gentleman if he was looking for the Blu-Rays and he says "Yes, but I thin k they are all out." I say No I just found them in the video game department, and with a big smile on his face he follows me over there.

We get to talking and he tells me he doesn't even have a player yet, but with Warner Bros. going exclusive and Blu-Ray winning the war this deal is too good to pass up and wanted to get the three Pirates movies with 007 Casino Royal on the BOGO.

Word is spreading quickly about Blu-Ray, I expect Blu-Ray sales to greatly increase.

Buy the way I got Pixars Cars and Ratatouille for $26.93 out the door.

 

[Reverb2009]

I suspect the dual-layer-dual-sided 100GB disks will be
practical to implement for consumer use and we'll see them
on shelves pretty soon. Then people will finally begin to
understand why BD is fundamentally better. Such disks
(if they are affordable) will be the perfect archival media
for amatuer HD home video, which I believe will eventually
drive that market.

I hope it works, but I'm not confident that quad-layer-
dual-sided disks supporting 200GB will be reliable for
consumer writers. The technology which permits the
quad-layer technique was a bit of an afterthought. Sony
never intended more that two layers per side.

Regardless, the cost per blank BluRay disk must drop
drastically before it's a practical archive format. The best
cost-per-MB solution at about 1/8th the cost is the 500GB
USB drive...

One BD writer ($700) + Twenty 25GB disks (or ten 50GB
disks) ($300) = $1,000

Eight 500GB drives = $800 to $1,000

Of course, prices become invalid the instant I type. But the
happy-geek news is that BD burners will drop to $99 and
the blanks should be around $1 each in a year or so.

The BD group had working BD100 disks playing at CEDIA'07, I am crossing my fingers for a production announcement at CES next week.

I am also crossing my fingers they can get the BD150 & BD200 to production. :rocker:

 

[Reverb2009]

Whoever wins, I just want it to be over sooner than later. So maybe Warner moving the BRD way was a good call.

So many people are on the sidelines just waiting for this to pan out so they can spend.

It's over.



Announced at the Philips press event at CES, Target going Blu-Ray exclusive.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/live-coverage-from-the-philips-press-event/

Apparently, Paramount reserved the right to switch back to Blu-ray.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8d56c2a8-bc89-11dc-bcf9-0000779fd2ac.html

Apparent Blu-ray victory revs up CES in Vegas

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/01/06/ces-
show.html#skip300x250

 

[Reverb2009]

HBO Confirms Switch to Blu-ray Exclusivity


http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s...O_Confirms_Switch_to_Blu-ray_Exclusivity/1357

 

[TheBobGoat]

Now Wal-Mart is moving to Blu-Ray only

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWEN397220080215?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

"In a statement on its Web site, Wal-Mart said that over the next few months it will phase out sales of HD DVD systems and discs. By June, it will sell only products in the Blu-ray format which was developed by Sony Corp."

NOTE: This link is not to Ebay