Toastmasters International
Communication is Everything
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Originally Posted by Marc Colella
HDM has been available for 1.5 years already and you can see with movie sales that it's moving very slowly. That's not because of the format war, it's because most people don't feel the need to upgrade to something that most feel isn't really an upgrade.
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Frank
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Scott
View My DVD Collection
Stop the on-screen Bugs!!!!!!
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Originally Posted by Frank L
I actually DO think that the format war has, in some measure, influenced people into not buying HDMs. I know you can count me among those. Even though I'm a huge movie buff, I only have a handful of Blu-ray movies (presents plus the odd one I have bought) precisely because of the format war. I don't have the ability right now to buy both HD and BD, so I am waiting to see which one comes out ahead first.
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| Huh? What difference does it make the sales in Arkansas when total national and international sales strongly reflect the opposite? That's an odd "subjective". |
| I don't know about other HD-DVD owners, but I have not had any stability problems with any discs I have put through my A2. Are third-gen owners having the problems that Edwin describes? Just curious. |
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Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
As a Brit, this news is sickening. HD DVD is region free, Blu-Ray can be, but can also be region protected. If Blu Ray does become predominant, I would guess that about 0.000000000000000001 seconds later, the decision will be made that all new BR releases will be region encoded.
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Who says Paramount is stuck. I don't think anyone has any information that would indicate that Paramount HAS to be exclusive for a particular period of time. The only thing the 18 months referred to was the period of time that Toshiba would promote Paramount films. Paramount may very well be able to walk away from that at any time.
Doug |
Columnist for the GOLDEN HOLLYWOOD column on The Digital Bits.
Equipment: Denon 3808 Receiver, ,Epson 1080 projector, 150" screen, PS3, Denon 3930 dvd player, Dish Network.
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Originally Posted by John H Ross
Agreed. It's ridiculous to think that the format war is now "over", any more than it was when Paramount and Dreamworks shifted to HD-DVD. As long as there are two different formats competing for sales there will still be a "war" as we perceive it. Just because there are no longer any major studios supporting both formats doesn't mean that the two formats aren't still going to go head to head.
In fact, depending on how the HD-DVD guys react to this, the war might actually heat up! |
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Originally Posted by FrancisP
Since warner has decided to join the evil empire, I have nothing but contempt for Warner. What Warner did was worst than Paramount. They had their hand out while lying that they did not. Even while they were pushing the Harry Potter and BR movies on HD, they knew that they were going to screw one segment of the buying public. Pretty mercenary to me.
The idea that Warner decided it on the basis of sales is a bunch of pap. Sales ffor Harry Potter 5 were about 1.1 to 1 in favor of bluray and about even on BR. The Bourne Ultimatum was the biggest selling HD among exclusives and Transformers finished second. Overall sales figures were also murky because the bluray studios were in a hot streak at the box office. Also the blu-ray strategy was to give away the software as they pushed it much more than hd-dvd. Also more catalog titles were released on blu-ray than were on hd-dvd. They didn't sell many but they added up. I also see people who say that sales of hd media will take off. I don't see that. K-Mart carried hd-dvd only and they admitted it was because it was the cheapest alternative. Many of the people who bought them at the Walmart sale are not likely to pay higher prices for blu-ray. Maybe the Walmart sale showed the price level that hd media will need to get to for mass acceptance. The price of an up-converting SD dvd player. It also raises troubling issues. If blu-ray wins, it will be because Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner are imposing their will on the market. Vhs won the betamax war because the consumers decided it. DVD replaced VHS because the market demanded it. Now we have Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner acting like a cartel for the sake of one format. Suppose someone came up with a better and cheaper hd media. Would this cartel impose their will on the market and withold their titles? Suppose someone came up with a way to make upconverting dvd players and SD even more HD like, would this cartel impose their will by witholding titles? Also I see where adult titles are having issues with Sony over pressing blu-ray discs. Will Sony have the power to decide which titles are pressed? There are clearly anti-trust issues here but unfortunately the Justice Department is not looking out for you. This seems to be the beginning of a movement towards a Rollerball type world where the corporation is more important than the individual. As for me, I will be heading back to SD. I have too many issues with DRM issues and blu-ray. I still think the ultimate goal of the backers of blu ray are pay for play blu-ray recorders. They can't do it while sd is king but if sd were eliminated, they would have free reign to implement their schemes. If I want hd, then I will download it rather than support br. |
| As someone that has been format neutral from the beginning, I find your comments very much sour grapes and really short-sighted to say the least. There is no doubt that Warner has been compensated very well for their change of direction, but it's no different than what the other studios have done in the past couple of years. |
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Originally Posted by RickER
How can the war heat up with only TWO studios supporting HD DVD?
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Originally Posted by Shane Martin
Not to call him a fanboy but all of the big time HD fanboys are reacting like this at AVS. It's a telling sign that they weren't in it for the movies. They let their emotional attachment or hate against someone(Sony) get into play.
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Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
...I find your comments very much sour grapes and really short-sighted to say the least.
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Universal, please release Streets of Fire on Blu-ray.
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Originally Posted by Scott-S
The other comment I have is about all of these so-called extra features the HD-DVD camp talks about. Almost all of these online features I would never use. In fact, I would argue all the online content is only there to sell you stuff.
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Scott
View My DVD Collection
Stop the on-screen Bugs!!!!!!
But that ain't happening in the least. On paper, BD looked better, but not in HTs. So the cost did become a factor.
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Originally Posted by FrancisP
Since warner has decided to join the evil empire, I have nothing but contempt for Warner. What Warner did was worst than Paramount. They had their hand out while lying that they did not. Even while they were pushing the Harry Potter and BR movies on HD, they knew that they were going to screw one segment of the buying public. Pretty mercenary to me.
The idea that Warner decided it on the basis of sales is a bunch of pap. Sales ffor Harry Potter 5 were about 1.1 to 1 in favor of bluray and about even on BR. The Bourne Ultimatum was the biggest selling HD among exclusives and Transformers finished second. Overall sales figures were also murky because the bluray studios were in a hot streak at the box office. Also the blu-ray strategy was to give away the software as they pushed it much more than hd-dvd. Also more catalog titles were released on blu-ray than were on hd-dvd. They didn't sell many but they added up. I also see people who say that sales of hd media will take off. I don't see that. K-Mart carried hd-dvd only and they admitted it was because it was the cheapest alternative. Many of the people who bought them at the Walmart sale are not likely to pay higher prices for blu-ray. Maybe the Walmart sale showed the price level that hd media will need to get to for mass acceptance. The price of an up-converting SD dvd player. It also raises troubling issues. If blu-ray wins, it will be because Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner are imposing their will on the market. Vhs won the betamax war because the consumers decided it. DVD replaced VHS because the market demanded it. Now we have Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner acting like a cartel for the sake of one format. Suppose someone came up with a better and cheaper hd media. Would this cartel impose their will on the market and withold their titles? Suppose someone came up with a way to make upconverting dvd players and SD even more HD like, would this cartel impose their will by witholding titles? Also I see where adult titles are having issues with Sony over pressing blu-ray discs. Will Sony have the power to decide which titles are pressed? There are clearly anti-trust issues here but unfortunately the Justice Department is not looking out for you. This seems to be the beginning of a movement towards a Rollerball type world where the corporation is more important than the individual. As for me, I will be heading back to SD. I have too many issues with DRM issues and blu-ray. I still think the ultimate goal of the backers of blu ray are pay for play blu-ray recorders. They can't do it while sd is king but if sd were eliminated, they would have free reign to implement their schemes. If I want hd, then I will download it rather than support br. |
Frank
Going from projector to flatscreen for a while.... :p
| Scott-S, I don't see specs on my TV screen. I see audio and video quality, and the best of HD is INDISTINGUISHABLE from the best of BD. |
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Scott
View My DVD Collection
Stop the on-screen Bugs!!!!!!
| If something called a "Wii" can be a hit, there's nothing wrong with "Blu-ray" |
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
| Since warner has decided to join the evil empire, I have nothing but contempt for Warner. What Warner did was worst than Paramount. They had their hand out while lying that they did not. Even while they were pushing the Harry Potter and BR movies on HD, they knew that they were going to screw one segment of the buying public. Pretty mercenary to me. The idea that Warner decided it on the basis of sales is a bunch of pap. Sales ffor Harry Potter 5 were about 1.1 to 1 in favor of bluray and about even on BR. The Bourne Ultimatum was the biggest selling HD among exclusives and Transformers finished second. Overall sales figures were also murky because the bluray studios were in a hot streak at the box office. Also the blu-ray strategy was to give away the software as they pushed it much more than hd-dvd. Also more catalog titles were released on blu-ray than were on hd-dvd. They didn't sell many but they added up. I also see people who say that sales of hd media will take off. I don't see that. K-Mart carried hd-dvd only and they admitted it was because it was the cheapest alternative. Many of the people who bought them at the Walmart sale are not likely to pay higher prices for blu-ray. Maybe the Walmart sale showed the price level that hd media will need to get to for mass acceptance. The price of an up-converting SD dvd player. It also raises troubling issues. If blu-ray wins, it will be because Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner are imposing their will on the market. Vhs won the betamax war because the consumers decided it. DVD replaced VHS because the market demanded it. Now we have Sony, Disney, MGM, and Warner acting like a cartel for the sake of one format. Suppose someone came up with a better and cheaper hd media. Would this cartel impose their will on the market and withold their titles? Suppose someone came up with a way to make upconverting dvd players and SD even more HD like, would this cartel impose their will by witholding titles? Also I see where adult titles are having issues with Sony over pressing blu-ray discs. Will Sony have the power to decide which titles are pressed? There are clearly anti-trust issues here but unfortunately the Justice Department is not looking out for you. This seems to be the beginning of a movement towards a Rollerball type world where the corporation is more important than the individual. As for me, I will be heading back to SD. I have too many issues with DRM issues and blu-ray. I still think the ultimate goal of the backers of blu ray are pay for play blu-ray recorders. They can't do it while sd is king but if sd were eliminated, they would have free reign to implement their schemes. If I want hd, then I will download it rather than support br. |
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Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich
What to these numbers mean? To me they mean Time Warner took the best financial offer they were given--it was about the money. Do I fault them for this? No. It's their job to be responsible to their shareholders. Not to formats or to consumers.
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