Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive! - Page 34  

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

What a statement. All the blu-ray supporting companies have no integrity, while the hd-dvd companies do. Very biased statement and quite laughable. I can imagine how much Universal and Microsoft have worked together, including bank accounts, since day 1. That's intregity? Paramount's cash exchange last August is integrity? Please! They are all guilty, every studio...blue and red.

Just a side note to Ron...I have enjoyed your web site very much but I don't think it wise to tease your readers about "surprises." If you know something, as an editor you could tell us, and if you can't, maybe not mentioning it as a hint would be wise? Just seems like teasing here.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

My scenario is more likely fantasy than not. But Big Executives have Big Egos, business leaders are human too, and they can (and do) act irrationally.

Toshiba has just been burned badly by Fox and WB -- you think they're sending happy cards on well, too bad the deal didn't work out, but we'll see ya for drinks this weekend?

Toshiba's senior management may be breathing fire and muttering death as they stalk their offices halls looking for ways to get back at the turncoat studios.

Someone else noted it's hard to scorch the earth without ligher fluid: and I've no idea if Toshiba could cause market havoc if they did want to.

But it's more fun to speculate on than whether BR players will be $299.99 or $249.99 by Thanksgiving...

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

I'm sure they're not happy about it but they'd never let it get in the way of their business relationship. All the while they were developing their HD mediums, Toshiba worked closely with Sony to create the Playstation 3--one of the biggest Blu-ray players on the market. Things like that don't happen if your leaders are a bunch of 4 year olds. Toshiba may have felt a sting, but business will go on as usual.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Well I suggested a week ago tonight, when the Warner news broke, that it might actually cause the format war to HEAT UP rather than end as many were speculating. I still feel that it's a very strong possibility.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Doesn't Toshiba continue to get royalties from DVD sales?
Would it be in their interest to see more and more interest in sd dvd siphoned off and going over to a format they have no stake in?
personally, I don't think either of the optical disc formats is EVER destined for anything more than a niche. I thought differently before, even though it never fit my theory that only a wholesale upgrade in areas of convienence and form factors in addition to quality boosts is what makes a new delivery system/format take off.
So in light of that, Toshiba looks a little petty, if that is part of the reasoning behind their decisions.
But I also wouldn't blame them for not going down without a fight- just to angle the best deal when/if they do fold. That seems only sensible to me.

Ultimately it just doesn't matter. If Blu-ray folds 5 years from now, that doesn't mean that we are going back to standard def on all media. High def wil be here in some form or fashion, and in a mass market physical media of some sort in the future.
Right now, since I'm not a format cheerleader, I enjoy the content (all about the content remember?) and ignore the format it is on. I went into this realizing I would need two systems to expand my content selection, just like have a good region free player in the rack also expands my content choices. I spun my wheels in frustration for a while, made declarations about never buying a Bd player, but it when it hit a price I was comfortable with I bit.

I actually feel no sympathy whatsoever by Bd only users who passed up all sorts of deals on hd dvd players in the past. It never really was about content for these people so much as convienence- as in, "I'll wait until everything is on my beloved format".
so fine. wait a little longer.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Thanks for the quick response, Ronald! I'm sure you are quite busy, so it is much appreciated that you took the time, even though you don't know specifically what they meant.

One thing is for sure, all corporations have really good pr and law departments to make sure their press-releases are as bullet-proof as possible

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Thanks for the kind words. Please understand our position....

Bill Hunt posts something that he feels is imminent.

We hear something different.

I'm not going to come out and tell you exactly what I am hearing
because quite frankly, we are looking to protect our sources.

However, if I say something like "Don't be surprised if something
else happens....", it's my way of saying that we have different
information being told to us and we just can't tell you about it right
now. Just don't take everything that's being posted elsewhere for granted.

In fact, if not for the fact that other websites were posting the
dirty details behind the Warner Blu-ray deal, I would never have
confirmed it. I was shocked that got out because it was kept very
close to the hip. I suppose, however, when you piss one side off
these details are going to leak.

Our first priority is to protect our sources. If we try to be heroes
and leak private information to the Internet, we lose those sources
forever. There are many things we are told in private, and we are
very considerate to our sources when we are asked not to publish
such information.

I have respect for Bill Hunt, and he absolutely does get accurate
inside information. However, there are two sides to many stories
and we are both talking to different camps at opposite sides of the
format spectrum.

With all due respect to THE BITS and similar sites, you need to be
careful about the kind of news being reported. These are pro Blu-ray
sites and chances are they are getting their information from just one
side. This is certainly not a knock against anybody. I have stated
this before....we have been privy to the same news and sales numbers
that were being posted on pro Blu-ray sites and there were many times
that we personally felt there were small discrepancies in what was being
posted. At the same time (and to be fair) I'm sure that there were
times the HD-DVD camp was putting out information that perhaps wasn't
exactly representative of the entire situation. This is known as war propaganda.

We have just continued to remain neutral in this war and strived to
present the facts as fairly as we see it from both sides.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

At this moment they are not planning on supporting Blu-ray but are sticking with HD-DVD. This could allways change at any time, look at what happened with WB. Its very difficult to say what is going to happen but things could change the next few months, if HD-DVD sales really start to slump?


That would be the most vendictive aprouch Tohsiba could take. And I would have 0 repect for Toshiba if they pull that stunt. It would also mean that I definantly would not purchase another Toshiba product ever!


Maybe WB was under the impression that there defection would have a stronger effect on Paramount and Universal. And maybe WB is messing with Toshiba because there insistance in prolonging the war pissed them off. But this is all a huge guess!


Not sure how WB going Blu-ray exclusive effects the integrity of Sony, Disney or Fox? Sony, Fox and Disney have just as much intergrity as Paramount and Universal. And if you are basing integrity on the company not switching sides. Fox, Disney and Sony have not left there cutomers with a format that will not play there movies. So that statement is not accurate IMHO. We know why WB made the choice they did and it was for the right reason. They did take some heat for it and I am glad that they made the choice to try to help the industry move forward, by helping end the format war. I own both formats and I feel it is time for the war to end, it no longer serves any purpose.


While Toshiba would not make any revinue off of Blu-ray. Toshiba would continue to make money off DVD, that format is not going away any time soon. Even if the HD war ended by summer time DVD sales are strong enough that Toshiba will still coninue to recieve revinue for many years to come. IMHO you can count on DVD being around a minimum of 5 years, I would not be suprised if DVD is still around in 10 years. DVD is a proven format that sales speak for itself. While Blu-ray is still a new format which still has low sales numbers compaired to DVD. When the war is over and its only a matter of time, Sony's next hurdle will be to market Blu-ray and get sales up. And with the industry being able to focus on this task there is a better chance of Blu-ray selling to a wider range of consumers. And with DVD not going away anytime soon Toshiba will still have revinue coming in. They however will not have revinue from two different formats which I am sure Toshiba is not to happy about!

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Ya know, some of the folks on the pro-Blu-ray fan sites have gotten so damn nasty and ugly, I find myself hoping that Universal/Paramount/Dreamworks remain HD DVD exclusive for years to come! I mean, it wouldn't bother me a single bit if that happened. I'm format neutral and I can watch ANY Blu-ray or HD DVD movie any time I want. I can buy either one whenever I want.

Being format neutral is where the real HDM fun is at!!

Mark

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

It´s better just ignore those type of comments. "Corporate integrity"..

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

At all? What player is that?

Now I haven´t really followed that closely all the recent Blu-ray-models and their 1.1-issues, but I thought that those certain 1.1 extras might not work in certain players, but the film and regular extras do still work?

Perhaps I am wrong, but could someone clear this matter for me?

"Won´t play at all" for me means that the disc just won´t play at all..

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

As has been noted in several threads, Sunshine will not play in the Samsung BD-P1000. In my instance, after the disc begins to load there is a circular spinning menu that plays on the display, after about 5 or 6 minutes I gave up and ejected the disc. Tried the play one disc, load the next disc workaround discussed on AVS with no change. For whatever reason, Fox titles and the Samsung players do not get along. As per AVS, folks with the BD-P1200 are also having problems with this title.

This is not the first time that a Fox title has had playback problems on a Samsung player. I have not experienced problems with discs from any other studio on this player. The Samsung BD-P1000 firmware update in November addressed playback on other Fox titles, if I recall correctly.

- Walter.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Samsung BD-P1000. My copy hasn't arrived yet so I can test it personally, but that's the word that's been kicking around a few threads here.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Fair enough and it´s of course very annoying, I can understand that.

But this also sounds like a problem of Samsung also, not just plainly "Blu-ray"? I mean Toshiba-players had also some issues with some combo-discs, "low bass" (I believe still is) and such, but rarely we hear that "HD DVD is bad"..

I fully understand that these 1.1/2.0-issues with Blu-ray have been confusing to say at least, though. For me too.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

But I found your signature interesting:


Why haven't you bought a Onkyo 605? I haven't bought one because it doesn't have enough HDMI ports (2) for my situation (I'd like at least 4 of them or more, room to grow, and all that jazz). Plus, I'm sort of wary of a relatively new model having a lot of refurbed unit out there as well. It just seems odd that so many have been refurbed in the first place. I've read of lip-sync issues on the 705 and 805, and the 805 has heat issues, and in general, I'm just not an Onkyo guy. The 605 has other deficiencies in the analog video area. Also, this is also just me, but my speakers are more in the 4 ohm side of things, so if I drive them hard, I'm wary of the Onkyo not having enough in the tank to drive them, and that usually causes overloads for the amp section. I think, in the end, you get what you pay for.

So, if I were just basing my receiver purchase decision on whether or not it has HDMI so I could get lossless audio from a PS3, sure, it's good for that one particular task, but for my HT system as an integrator of components, it comes up short, and thus, not an option, personally, for me, and to get something that is more expansive in terms of inputs and decoding options (and the aforementioned beefier amp section), it looks like I'll have to fork over 4-digits in dough, or wait it out. Plus, it still doesn't belie the point that to get into Blu-ray with a PS3 purchase, you're still looking at having to upgrade that receiver or pre-pro of yours, even at a low low price of $350, it's more than most people want to spend just get to that taste of lossless audio, a feature that is touted, but unfortunately requires additional investment into the HT arena.

The HD-capable TV is almost a given, depending on how young your TV happens to be, but even the older HD-capable TVs usually have component video inputs, and it's possible to sample the video improvement that blu-ray has to offer. (IIRC, there's a way to get component video out of the PS3, some form of breakout box/cable).

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

It's just a simple PS2/PS3-specific breakout component video cable (w/ stereo audio included) for 1080i output. Costs mere $20 anywhere, including direct from Sony. Not really anything more than you'd need if you bought some other player and need component out -- though the breakout cable obviously won't be reuseable for some other device. That's what I'm using until I upgrade the TV in another year or so.

BTW, if you haven't already, maybe it's time to consider buying a used AV power amp so you only need to upgrade the prepro (or even just a separate processor) from time to time as needed -- and throw in additional power amp(s) as needed too. I went the used route for a B&K multi-channel power amp right from the get-go myself -- upgraded to that from a B&K stereo amp. You can save some good $$$ on quality gear by going the used route.

_Man_

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Annoying? A noticable layer change is annoying. A Blu-ray disc that won't play on a Blu-ray player would be unacceptable to me. I admit that I haven't bought into Blu-ray yet but I plan to and I hope they have these kind of problems fixed by the time I do. I don't think that's asking too much.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

You can lay blame all over the place - Samsung for building a player that apparently doesn't have the horsepower for BDs with a certain amount of Java on them, Fox for apparently letting discs past QC that don't play on a fairly common player, the BDA for the multi-profiled spec and apparently lax certification process that allowed this to happen.

But you know what? It doesn't matter. Until such time as I upgrade my player - which I see as a couple hundred bucks that could be better spent on movies, presuming I can unload this machine for something - this is "Blu-ray" for me. It's why I still intend to buy Warner films on HD-DVD as long as I still can and resent the delay in doing so, because my HD-A1 will be able to play everything on those discs.

I know, "early adopter buyer beware". But I'm in this for the movies, not the hardware. I can't afford to upgrade my BD player and still get the movies I want, and my definition of "obsolete" is "can no longer serve its intended purpose". If the BD-P1000 is obsolete because it can't serve its intended purpose of playing movies (despite the assurances that Profile 1.1 titles would still play in all BD machines, just without some of the bells and whistles), I figure I'm justified in being sore at everyone in the chain.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Did not purchase the title, so I can't speak from personal experience; but based on threads over at other forums 3:10 to Yuma is not working on some Samsung players either. Since this is not a Fox title (Lionsgate release) I do wonder if authoring for the 1.1 profile is causing issues with some of the Samsung players. ( Or do Fox and Lionsgate use the same authoring facilities / software? )

Personally, I consider it to be more than annoying; it demonstrates the evolving nature of Bd and I am of the opinon that despite the perceived resolution of the 'format war' Bd is not ready to break out in terms of mass acceptance until players and software have stabilized.

- Walter.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Love my PS3. Over 200 movies played, and I haven't had one playback issue.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

I first saw a demonstration of Blu-Ray given by Sony at the studio back in 04 thanks to the HTF. I was a big supporter and was excited by the thought of HD movies.

I'm sorry but only the most ardent Blu Boy would not consider that fact that four years later they still unable to deliver everything they were promising in 04 as anything but pathetic.

I'm format neutral thanks to the generosity of the Blu-Ray marketing group and but I would not and will not buy a player until they are able to deliver everything they have promised for over four years.

I think the biggest problem they are having is with Java. Java is an unstable resource hog nightmare that was a poor choice by the Blu-Ray people.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

That's not a lot of help to those that bought some of standalone players in 2006 and 2007.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

These incompatabilities are inexcusable.

I understand the chances you take as an early adopter - but I have a problem with it when the format has been out for over 1.5+ years.
Should something as major as not being able to play a movie still be an issue 1.5+ years after the introduction?

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

I remember more than one DVD not playing on a player, even now it still happens. At least with Blu-ray you stand a chance that a firmware update will take care of it. In the old DVD days you just had to get another machine, or hope for a new disc. But yea, discs that dont play really sucks!

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

I have separates, but old separates (circa 2001-2002). I was hoping to go back to an integrated solution, so that's why my speakers might present an issue for the amp section, but if I have to, I'll just use my old 5-channel amp with a new-fangled receiver that's got all that gee-whiz HDMI incorporated into it and use preouts for the speaker output. Too bad the new upcoming pre-pro's with HDMI are looking to be real expensive as well.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

FW update or upgrade.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

I think they are frustrated about having to do that.. also some times they have to wait a while to get the update.. I have a PS3 myself and it's true it's rock solid, but it's not helping them much.

That said, maybe this can be posted in other threads? Doesn't seem all that relevant to the discussions here. This seems to be more the "Studio Support" thread...

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

My fault guys. I didn't realize the discussion was on the Sammy players. Thought it was on BD's not playing on some players. Oops!

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

Thanks Ron for the response. I sure hope the surprise news is something that brings us to the end of the format war for sure.

Re: Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

That's the same reason I didn't purchase a 605, I have heard of problems, but not so many with the 705 or 805 which also go for under $1000, Yamaha 1800 goes for as low as $799 online from reliable dealers, as does the Pioneer VSX-91TXH, I was just saying that not all of them are over 4 digits as someone said. I also want more than 2 HDMI ports as well. As far as the PS3 being a cheapie player, I completely disagree with that post, I think it is a fine machine and I am anjoying it very much, bought it as a blu-ray player and it is turning me into a gamer as well. I was hoping for some new receiver announcements at CES but doesn't seem like there were many that I found except a Pioneer (not Elite) for around $599 coming with 3 HDMI ports and DTS Master/ Dolby True decoding.