HD-DVD is Dead (was: First Signs of Blu-Ray Dominance)

[John Crichton]

http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1700383,00.html

This is a huge blow to HD-DVD. And most likely the beginning of the end of the format wars for HD media discs. Universal & Paramount studios are the remaining big companies to be HD-DVD exclusive. All the rest will support Blu-Ray exclusively or both formats.

Thoughts?

 

[Mallus]

Hello Battlestar Galatica on Blu-ray!!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I still feel the same as I have since this whole thing started. Its all just an annoying grab for money due to the whole exclusive thing. I don't care who wins, and honestly would like to see both lose to dual format players.

Its sad, because I have a wonderful HD TV but I just won't commit to either format in this thing...so no HD movies for me.

 

[Andre]

http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1700383,00.html

This is a huge blow to HD-DVD. And most likely the beginning of the end of the format wars for HD media discs. Universal & Paramount studios are the remaining big companies to be HD-DVD exclusive. All the rest will support Blu-Ray exclusively or both formats.

Thoughts?

You may be right, but I still think it's too early to tell. Warner will be producing material in both formats until May, and even then, their stuff will work on dual-format players. I expect at least another year or two before the war ends, and possibly longer.

Which is a shame, as it just hurts both companies and consumers.

 

[Banshee16]

http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1700383,00.html

This is a huge blow to HD-DVD. And most likely the beginning of the end of the format wars for HD media discs. Universal & Paramount studios are the remaining big companies to be HD-DVD exclusive. All the rest will support Blu-Ray exclusively or both formats.

Thoughts?

I don't know....given both HD and Blu-Ray together make up like 2.5% of the market, really, standard DVD is the winner.

Maybe HDDVD will be eliminated. Which is unfortunate, as I bought a player on sale shortly before Christmas, and I'm past the 30 day return policy to get my money back. But it's a great player, I really like the format, and have enjoyed the movies so far.

I don't know if it's over though. Sony's supposedly losing money hand over fist trying to win this war, and their pockets aren't as deep as Microsoft's and Toshiba's.

In any case, I can't bring myself to support Sony by spending $400 on an overpriced Blu-Ray player. Maybe when they come down to the $100-150 range. Otherwise, I can wait. If everyone panics and jumps ship from HDDVD it *will* be the nail in the coffin. I'll likely keep purchasing those movies I really want on HDDVD, and the rest on DVD. Eventually, dual-format players will come down in price (I hope), and that'll allow me to enjoy the best of both worlds. Not a big fan of Sony though....they've shown a consistent trend over the last 30 years of having overpriced equipment, and trying to establish proprietary formats that are non-inclusive, and over which they keep control.

I wonder how much it cost them to buy Warner?

I've heard that it won't really matter in another 2 years anyways, because it's going to likely go all online, via delivery of movies over the internet, and that *this* means of delivering content would likely kill both HD and Blu-Ray. I have concerns about that, however....what I've seen of downloadable content to date is that it's good, but that they've got the ability to make it expire on you after x many days since you bought/rented it, etc. And it requires an immense amount of storage space as well, if you want to have more than 2-3 movies.

A Blu-Ray question though....I've heard that if you have a non-PS3 Blu-Ray player, they are not compatible with Standard DVD. That would really suck, and is frankly pretty stupid. But I'm not sure if there's any truth to it. Any research I've done just ends up in reading "nyah nyah" type posts from supporters of one camp vs. the other, with less actual content....just noise.

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

You may be right, but I still think it's too early to tell. Warner will be producing material in both formats until May, and even then, their stuff will work on dual-format players. I expect at least another year or two before the war ends, and possibly longer.

Which is a shame, as it just hurts both companies and consumers.

I just bought my wife the Harry Potter 5 season set on HDDVD for Christmas.....one thing that'll suck if Warner sticks to this decision, is I won't be able to get her the complete collection.

Banshee

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Really doen't matter to me. I'll give my full support to HD-DVD and only buy BD if I have no other choice. Getting myself one of the combo players soon.

 

[John Crichton]

I just bought my wife the Harry Potter 5 season set on HDDVD for Christmas.....one thing that'll suck if Warner sticks to this decision, is I won't be able to get her the complete collection.

It's not a matter of if, WB is done with HD-DVD in 5 short months.

Worst case scenario with Harry Potter is getting her the 7 movie boxed set a few years from now on Blu-Ray which should be cheaper (in a few years) and discounted for having all the movies in one set.

 

[John Crichton]

I don't know....given both HD and Blu-Ray together make up like 2.5% of the market, really, standard DVD is the winner.

They really are different markets for the time being, especially with the buy-in cost of HD. DVD saw it's first drop in sales last year, if that makes any difference.

In any case, I can't bring myself to support Sony by spending $400 on an overpriced Blu-Ray player. Maybe when they come down to the $100-150 range. Otherwise, I can wait. If everyone panics and jumps ship from HDDVD it *will* be the nail in the coffin. I'll likely keep purchasing those movies I really want on HDDVD, and the rest on DVD. Eventually, dual-format players will come down in price (I hope), and that'll allow me to enjoy the best of both worlds. Not a big fan of Sony though....they've shown a consistent trend over the last 30 years of having overpriced equipment, and trying to establish proprietary formats that are non-inclusive, and over which they keep control.

If HD-DVD is dead, I'm not really worried about it. Sony is not the sole owner of BR. They have a big horse in the race, for sure. But it's not just them.

I wonder how much it cost them to buy Warner?

I was thinking the same thing. Early reports say they didn't get a dime from the BR patent holders (which are more companies than just Sony, BTW). Time will tell on that one, tho.

I've heard that it won't really matter in another 2 years anyways, because it's going to likely go all online, via delivery of movies over the internet, and that *this* means of delivering content would likely kill both HD and Blu-Ray. I have concerns about that, however....what I've seen of downloadable content to date is that it's good, but that they've got the ability to make it expire on you after x many days since you bought/rented it, etc. And it requires an immense amount of storage space as well, if you want to have more than 2-3 movies.

Downloadable content rocks, but for HD I don't see it becoming the norm in a few years. There will be similar problems with delivery and "who actually owns it" issues. And some people just like having a hard copy they can bring to a friend's house, or pop into a laptop. I'd love for the tech to get to that point, and fast, but it looks to be further down the road as something that would eliminate discs.

A Blu-Ray question though....I've heard that if you have a non-PS3 Blu-Ray player, they are not compatible with Standard DVD. That would really suck, and is frankly pretty stupid. But I'm not sure if there's any truth to it. Any research I've done just ends up in reading "nyah nyah" type posts from supporters of one camp vs. the other, with less actual content....just noise.

Ddoing a quick search reveals this quick example of backwards compatability:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony...sem/rpsm/oid/184588/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I haven't personally tested a DVD on a stand alone BR player.

 

[Banshee16]

It's not a matter of if, WB is done with HD-DVD in 5 short months.

Worst case scenario with Harry Potter is getting her the 7 movie boxed set a few years from now on Blu-Ray which should be cheaper (in a few years) and discounted for having all the movies in one set.

I've already got the first four on DVD. Getting 5 on HDDVD was a surprise present. I'm not paying *again* for the same movies. I guess worst case is if HDDVD does lose, when the Blu-Ray players actually come down to sane pricing levels, I'll buy one, or a dual-format player, and just buy the final two movies in Blu-Ray, and put them in the box with the 5 HDDVD ones (the box of both the HDDVD and Blu-Ray sets leaves room for the final two movies). At the amount of money we're talking about, I'm not going to spend $150 getting all 7 movies just so they can match.

I'm still not sure that it's over. Five months is a lot of time, and frankly, there's been a lot of back and forth in this. Warner announced this today, but who knows if Microsoft/Toshiba are going to try stealing one of the companies Sony currently has in the Blu-Ray camp. They're talking about getting HDDVD players into the market for $100, when Blu-Ray's still largely around $3-400. If sales of the HDDVD players continue increasing due to lower cost, you don't think some of these companies might reconsider? I've heard that if you eliminate the PS3's from the equation, HDDVD is actually kicking Blu-Ray's butt...

And my understanding is that, since HDDVD isn't region-coded, I can get a lot of movies in HDDVD that are currently only available in Blu-Ray in North America, simply by ordering them from Europe. If that's the case, I'll totally investigate that option.

Banshee