Warner Chat 2-26-07 (1 Viewer)

Can we at least let them know that some of us have no interest in their THD. Product specific details for a THD flipper I'm not buying doesn't do me a whole lot of good and I would think they might be interested what the forum thinks about this Frankenstein they've created.

They read the forum daily so I'm sure they know how some of us feel about these issues.

Problem is: some people love it. Generally the naysayers get more emphasis, because others aren't going to say "well I love this and that and that, and please can you tell me....".
What the forum thinks about anything, will not be a single opinion that can simply be communicated in a chat.


Cees

Well in that case, I love BD-50's with maxed out video and audio filling the entire disc space available in either AVC or VC1 and a lossless audio track topped off with nice disc art sold at a reasonable price

Anybody else wondering when Heat will be on HD-DVD, or am I alone here?

I need Heat, and every other Warner 2 disc SE DVD onto 1 disc non-combo HD DVD.

I'm with you Yumbo. How about The Maltise Falcon? And for that matter, Universal, how about a couple of Franks and Drac?

Exactly. I don't want to be stuck with the lowest common denominator.

Can one of the moderators elaborate a little more on the "specs" part? My biggest question is in regards to the audio bitrates on future releases. Is that considered off limits?

These HiDef Mutant Discs are great for sharing between friends using different formats.

Blu-ray friend buys title and watches it. Loans it to HD DVD friend who watches it (no sale for WB). Stick it on eBay - it has no collectable value after all - to sell on (no sale for WB) and so on.

That's an example where THD is actually useful. But it costs WB several potential sales - perhaps that's what they had in mind when they said it was consumer friendly?

When I buy, for example, a Blu-ray title from WB will the HD DVD version glued to the other side be free (I have zero interest in owning it)? To be honest I don't even want to have it given to me. How will the HD DVD only fans feel about buying Blu-ray? How will the sales figures be decided. Presumably it has to be 50:50 but didn't the departed on Blu-ray just outsell the HD DVD version on Amazon by 3:1? So THD cheats the dominating format out of legitimate sales by handing exactly the same number to the minority format.

Completely and utterly ludicrous.

Anyway, here's a banana playing the drums - that's about as likely as THD actually being launched!

I'd like to see the forum push Warner to commit to releasing separate HD-DVD only releases of combo titles. I don't think I'm the only one who objects to being forced to pay extra for a DVD version on the flipside I'll never use.

I don't completely despise combo discs, but I would like the choice of an HD-DVD only version for $5 - $10 dollars less.

A few things....

As in past practice, we would like as very little discussion
as possible (if not at all) about the things you plan to ask
during the Warner chat.

The studio asked me to make it clear that questions be
regarding Theatrical product only. Perhaps because we are
involved in a format war, the studio doesn't want to fully
disclose their plans for either format as far as audio specs
or otherwise.

As far as THD is concerned, start a thread about it
(if one does not exist already) to talk about your concerns.
More than any other studio, Warner reads this forum often.
I guarantee whatever you post will be recognized by them.
Please don't use the chat as a forum to rail the studio about
any particular issue. When doing this, it ruins the chat for
everyone else.

Thanks!

I think that's why they specified no discusion about format or specs. It's off the table. They don't want to hear it.

Personally, I think it's going to be problematic, if not over-priced. A few prototypes that "work", isn't the same as production runs of hundreds of thousands, even millions. That's a lot of crap to stuff onto one disc, especially without trimming content or features, as Warner contends will be the case.

The bright spot is: at least the price tag will get passed along to the Blu crowd, too, instead of the HD crowd being singled out for combo pricing.

I agree. That and the inevitable "Why don't you license your films to Criterion?" question.

There is already a thread on that subject matter in which Warner, in all probability, has already read. If some of you feel that opinions regarding THD have not been expressed enough then revive that thread with some fresh discusison.

Furthermore, I have already expressed my personal opinion that I don't particularly like combo discs of any kind, but I can live with the THD if priced reasonably, since I own both formats, but I fully understand why others would not like it. My personal preference is to not have any combo discs at all because they're causing software costs to remain high which IMO is hurting the adoption of either format.



Crawdaddy

Personally, I love hybrid SACD with SACD for home and CD for the auto. DualDisc with the DVD-A for home and CD for the auto was something I bought as well. I also own quite a few DVD-A/CD packages for the same reason. I have only one Blu-ray player connected to one display and haven't completely thought out the dual format possibilities with the new HD formats but first thought it seems to make sense. I fully expect DVD to dominate the market for the life of DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray with sales of each and every title until all three formats and optical discs in total disappear from homes. Being able to play the discs in DVD players at family or friends homes or RV's or portable DVD players may be attractive to a lot of people. Right now I continue to buy budget and used DVD's and rent Blu-ray from Netflix and fully expect that decision to continue for the life of my Blu-ray involvement. Of course if Blu-ray does become mass market and players and discs priced comparably to DVD, that will change. I don't see that happening and I don't see owning a library of films for one player on one display.

Since hybrid SACD and DualDisc haven't exactly been great successes, maybe the idea is dumb, don't look to me for the answer. I like what I like and don't usually pick the formats that succeed.

Chris

I am very disappointed that we can not talk about HD releases. I was very excited about this discusion with WB about a week ago. But now I might as well do something else instead of getting involved with the chat. There just does not seem to be any reason to participate now? :frowning:

You don't want to ask them what's coming out on HD releases or when will new HD releases occur on the same day as SD DVD releases? Oh well, whatever.

What I want to know from Warner more than anything else is WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO START RELEASING HD-DVDS AGAIN! And I'm not talking about Bullitt and The Getaway -- I'm talking about Harry Potter, The Matrix, Green Mile, Shawshank and others that were expected in 2006. When HD-DVD is sputtering with new releases and they're sitting on major titles (some that have already been released overseas) that would help this format immensely, I find it ridiculous that they have adopted such a policy.

It's absolutely ridiculous that the UK gets our Harry Potter release, complete with FBI Warning, while the US continues to play the waiting game! I just ordered it from amazon.uk, but a title like this would help drive the format. There's simply no reason to play these games with the format -- WHERE ARE THE BIG GUNS?

I take this as we can not ask them about HD releaseses. I do want to know about HD-DVD releases and I am not sure about the "Oh well, whatever" response!