Warner Brothers to go Blu Ray Exclusive (War effectively over)

[admin_exported]

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Breaking:_Warner_Goes_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1325

 

[Anonymous]

was the war over when paramount dropped blu ray?

 

[Anonymous]

Paramount are no where near as big as WB. BD effectively have 70% of movie titles. Universal will announce neutraily mid 08 and Paramount will follow suite.

 

[Anonymous]

you know more about paramounts future than they do, well done!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Good to know we have so many Hollywood insiders on the forum. Now about this script I've been working on...

 

[Anonymous]

Paramount are tied to the deal for 18 months far as i know

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]Good to know we have so many Hollywood insiders on the forum. Now about this script I've been working on...
[/quote]

Official statement. Of course the comments about Paramount and Universal are only my opinion but Blu Ray insiders confirmed Universal was inspecting BD production lines late last year.

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

If you read the latest report on CNBCs website

http://www.cnbc.com/id/22508081/site/14081545

and as most people will know CNBC and Universal are owned by GE.

 

[Anonymous]

Thats what i heard too. But you can be sure there is get out clauses.

 

[Anonymous]

... Interesting.
Might even see a 'winner' this year, in the HD 'war'.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

More speculation.

http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2008/01/04/warner-swayed-by-500-million-from-the-bda/

 

[Zubkabera]

At last it looks like the HD format war is over as Warner Bros has decided that they will release DVDs only in Blu-ray and since they control majority of the market for DVD it means Sony is the winner. I can now buy either PS3 or dedicated blu-ray player.

Any recomendations on the blu-ray 5 star product or I am better-off with PS3. Those who bought Toshiba or HD DVD must be biting their nails !

 

[Anonymous]

The PS3 is future proof to Profile 2.0 as it has an ethernet connection for BD-Live. It is already Profile 1.1. At the moment it is the only profile 1.1 player available in Europe as far as I know but it will not be long before there will be plenty of profile 1.1 players. If your interested in BD-Live then invest in either the PS3 or wait for the announcement of a profile 1.1 player with ethernet connection as you will need this for connection to your broadband.

I am importing the Panasonic BD-30K which is profile 1.1 but has no enthernet connection. With two PS3s I am already covered in that regard. The BD-30K can decode DTS HD MA which the PS3 currently cannot.

 

[Anonymous]

Doesn't Paramount include the likes of Dreamworks etc etc ? I wouldn't say it's over yet ! Toshiba have also upped the capacity of HD-DVD too.

Whats the best dual format player out there ? Seems to be the only way to go at the moment. I don't see things changing much in the coming year or two.

 

[Anonymous]

You guys are missing the point completely, HD DVD Will win no doubt, the deep shade of almost Merlot red look far superior to the some what weaker Blue Ray blue.

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Headfunk"]the deep shade of almost Merlot red look far superior to the some what weaker Blue Ray blue.[/quote]

I want some of what you're on!

 

[Anonymous]

I feel genuinely sorry for those that have supported the HD DVD format with their hard earned cash. It's a war that we could all have done without.

I think that anyone who thinks that HD DVD stands a chance after Warner Brothers exclusive support for Blu-ray is living in cloud coo-coo land!

Like DVD before it, BD is a developing format. I'm sure that now we have light at the end of the tunnel and a clear winner, then the hardware manufacturers will be more confident to develop ranges of BD products to suit different needs and budgets. Not everyone want picture in picture or internet access etc.

By the way, Rush Hour 3 (New Line Cinema) has picture in picture and our Samsung BD-P1400 (Profile 1.0) plays it faultlessly!

 

[jetjohnson]

....Agreed I think the safest thing to say is that whilst HD will not "die" any day soon Blu Ray cannot now lose the battle (well I know what I mean!)

 

[Anonymous]

New Line Cinema, sister studio to WB have also announced exclusivity to Blu Ray. Expect HBO to announce BD exclusive soon. All three are owned by Time Warner.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm still going to wait a little longer before splitting with my hard earned cash.
BTW Andrew - i've still not received my Pirates Ble-Ray discs that i won.
Not a moan as i dont have anything to play them on, i was just expecting them by now.

 

[Anonymous]

I would like the lord of the rings trio come to a hd format well blu ray really has anyone seen anything

 

[Anonymous]

Thing is not many punters will be aware of the WB gone BD exclusive, Only AV fans are likley to know like ourselves so when toshiba load the shelves with cheap players which is very likely! imo and jo public buy cheap super market players, it is possible that toshiba could come up smelling of roses. im not saying this is a given just that it's possible!

PS im the proud owner of both formats!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="garethwd"]Thing is not many punters will be aware of the WB gone BD exclusive, Only AV fans are likley to know like ourselves so when toshiba load the shelves with cheap players which is very likely! imo and jo public buy cheap super market players, it is possible that toshiba could come up smelling of roses. im not saying this is a given just that it's possible!

PS im the proud owner of both formats![/quote]
A sad day for hddvd camp,in my opinion a better format as it was a more complete product for customers apart from the storage space.Hddvd is a better format for customers,with cheaper players,easier to create backup copies of the media you own,has better interactive support for movies,Ethernet connection on every single hddvd player ever released(a mandatory for hddvd players so that you can update your player and doesn't become dated after a few months)and has better hd-sound as it supports Dolby Digital plus(a mandatory),Dolby tru-hd,Dts hd and unlike Blu-ray which supports PCM sound(a mandatory)Dolby tru-hd,Dts hd (only Fox are using Dts hd for their movies) which makes me think other companies will be releasing continuous stream of spacial editions movies for example with Dts-hd sound, filling their pockets with cash.
I agree with you Garethwd the only way Tosh can make a comeback is if they partner with companies like Alba,LG,Samsung,Sherwood,Aiwa and ask them to come-up with some really cheap players.
I know hddvd will have a very hard time recovering now that Warner Bros is blu-ray exclusive.Actually i think the war is over,but one question remains now that they have won the war against their rival will they win over the hearts and minds of the average customer,i mean are we ready to switch from dvd to blu-ray?

PS I,m a proud owner of a PS3 the only blu-ray worth getting.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd agree that HD-DVD, as it stands now, is probably a more complete and mature product for consumers. And, with the exception of the excellent and ever updatable PS3, the current Blu Ray players are incomplete, lacking many features of HD-DVD.

However, Blu Ray has significantly more storage potential and therefore offers more in the long run - I expect that it is just a matter of time before it will eventually catch up to HD-DVD. And, as it has more storage capacity, I expect it to eventually exceed HD-DVD. And for people who think storage doesn't matter, the whole point of Blu Ray and HD-DVD is because the new formats have more storage than DVD.

If you have remained fairly neutral about this so far, and have yet to buy a single Blu Ray or HD disc, this is good news. Should the market consolidate towards one format, I expect that this can lead to decreased costs for the providers of the "media content" and potentially cheaper and better quality discs as they focus on publishing in one format only. This will accelerate the overall move towards HD, which is good news overall.

So now that things have finally become "serious" and the market looks to have picked one format, I have decided to take the plunge and just bought (i.e. yesterday) myself a dual format media PC (couldn't get myself to buy a PS3 and I'd like to see transformers in HD) and look forward to buying my first HD discs.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm.. mixed feelings from here.

I haven't had my Tosh EP-30 hooked up for more than a month and already it's got the faint air of obscurity wafting over it.

I'll be casting a very careful eye methinks on future HD-DVD purchases as either multi-format is the way to go, or ebay first for my HD DVD's then off down to Comet for a PS3.

Can't help to feel really let down though. Thought I was going to be the coolest kid on the block when I had my EP-30 and LE40-F86 delivered. Just goes to show how the gits have us eating out of their hands !!!

I blame Bush !!

 

[Anonymous]

I dont know if the fight IS over yet but i'll agree going in to the last few rounds blu-ray is ahead on points !

Ive also just bought a Tosh (i couldnt sit on my hands long enough) but at least the Tosh still stands up as a reasonably priced good upscaling DVD player, and there should be plenty of cheap discs available on ebay soon.

But isn't it a shame thats its good ole Joe Public that loses out (yet again) in the fight between formats.

I also blame Bush (for everything) !