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Difference Between Warner Blu-Ray VS Warner Archive Blu-Ray (1 Viewer)

MCCLOUD

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Could anyone tell me the difference between a Warner Blu-Ray and a Warner Archive Blu-Ray? For example Warners has released Point Blank on Blu- Ray and The Wind And The Lion on Warner Archive Blu Ray. Is Point Blank superior in video and audio quality because it is on a Blu Ray disc? What are the technical differences between a Blu-Ray and an Archive Blu-Ray? Bottom line what does it all mean? Thanks!

Robert
 

Josh Steinberg

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In this case, it's just a differentiation of brand -- Warner is the name used for commercial, in-store releases, while Warner Archive is used to designate titles that they're selling directly in smaller quantities (or through select retail partners like Amazon). It's actually that the name of the label is different, not the name of the disc -- so it's "Warner" and "Warner Archive" as two different home video labels, not two different formats of disc.

In terms of technical quality, both are Blu-ray discs so you should receive a quality pressed disc for both titles.
 

Robert Crawford

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MCCLOUD said:
Could anyone tell me the difference between a Warner Blu-Ray and a Warner Archive Blu-Ray? For example Warners has released Point Blank on Blu- Ray and The Wind And The Lion on Warner Archive Blu Ray. Is Point Blank superior in video and audio quality because it is on a Blu Ray disc? What are the technical differences between a Blu-Ray and an Archive Blu-Ray? Bottom line what does it all mean? Thanks!

Robert
There is no difference in PQ. It's marketing from the same company using two different labels.
 

Robert Crawford

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Keith Cobby said:
It's about time they abandoned the marketing difference and put everything out through the archive. We might get titles like High Society and The Bandwagon more quickly.
I don't think marketing has anything to do with it, if we want titles more quickly then we, the consumer base needs to buy more of these BD releases.
 

MCCLOUD

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Thanks Josh!
Josh Steinberg said:
In this case, it's just a differentiation of brand -- Warner is the name used for commercial, in-store releases, while Warner Archive is used to designate titles that they're selling directly in smaller quantities (or through select retail partners like Amazon). It's actually that the name of the label is different, not the name of the disc -- so it's "Warner" and "Warner Archive" as two different home video labels, not two different formats of disc.

In terms of technical quality, both are Blu-ray discs so you should receive a quality pressed disc for both titles.
 

Robert Crawford

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Another tidbit, Warner has the same company, MPI, preparing these titles for release from both labels.
 

JoeDoakes

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Robert Crawford said:
I don't think marketing has anything to do with it, if we want titles more quickly then we, the consumer base needs to buy more of these BD releases.
My feeling is that WA has more freedom on what they can release in connection with sales generated. They also seem to have more control over price. I think that if you look at what WHV has been doing in blu over Fox, it's fairly clear that WHV has a different set of corporate restrictions in place. Telling consumers to buy more while ignoring what's happening on the corporate side is a bit backwards imo. What is exciting to me about this release is that it is really the first first-tier classic that WA has issued, and it suggests that WHV has relaxed their hold on their classic library vis-a-vis WA. Hopefully, at some point, WB will also allow licensing, then maybe we'll finally get a blu of a classic like Magnificent Ambersons.
 

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Robert Crawford said:
I don't think marketing has anything to do with it, if we want titles more quickly then we, the consumer base needs to buy more of these BD releases.
But as Josh notes, the branding difference likely just denotes the expected production volume and retail presence. So I would beg to differ Robert...I think this is all about the "marketing".

Plus I don't believe for a second that we - the core fan and collector community for movies - are the problem anymore, if we ever were. Some of us (demographically biased for sure) are now almost exclusively catalogue buyers, and the various labels and licensees can't seem to release them fast enough. The only problem with our market segment is that our numbers are diminishing through natural attrition.

The other demos don't care...or don't care enough...to buy something like, say, Kismet, regardless how you market it to them. And a title like Point Blank could have gone either way, for what I suspect will be essentially the same result.
 

Robert Crawford

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You have a point regarding marketing as it pertains to the cost structure as WA doesn't have to worry about the retailer base entities like BB, Walmart and such which do place a burden on Warner cost-wise, when classic titles don't sell well at those retailers. With WA, they can control much of their sales costs internally, but they still make them available to online outlets like Amazon.
 

Jari K

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Warner Archive Blu-rays are using BD-R media, right? Others are factory pressed BD-ROMs.
 

ROclockCK

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Robert Crawford said:
You have a point regarding marketing as it pertains to the cost structure as WA doesn't have to worry about the retailer base entities like BB, Walmart and such which do place a burden on Warner cost-wise, when classic titles don't sell well at those retailers. With WA, they can control much of their sales costs internally, but they still make them available to online outlets like Amazon.
I think we just witnessed something like that with Universal's Touch of Evil and Double Indemnity, both going out as Limited Editions.

Sure, I'll admit it was kinda nostalgic fun to be able to snag those classics off the shelf day one from my local HMV rather than having to wait for the dogsled to arrive. But how well has that worked for Universal? I mean, most of our stores had only 1 available - 2 tops - so why did the studio even bother with retail? On a per unit basis, the transportation alone couldn't have been worth it, much less the paperwork.
 

Jari K

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First patch* or all of them? That's good news if true.(*Meaning that with Archive DVDs, the first patch can be "pressed" but after that they're DVD-Rs)
 

Robert Crawford

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Jari K said:
First patch* or all of them? That's good news if true.(*Meaning that with Archive DVDs, the first patch can be "pressed" but after that they're DVD-Rs)
I don't know, all of mine are pressed.
 

jcroy

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ROclockCK said:
I mean, most of our stores had only 1 available - 2 tops - so why did the studio even bother with retail? On a per unit basis, the transportation alone couldn't have been worth it, much less the paperwork.
Older and less popular dvd titles seems to be falling into this pattern too.

These days I find it's easier to get tv show dvd (or bluray) season sets from amazon, than going to the nearby WM, BB, etc ...


For that matter, these days I rarely ever go to BB. I only go to WM to buy other stuff like food, cleaning supplies, clothing, etc ...
 

Robert Crawford

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Our one hope is that we buy enough of these WA BDs that Warner decides to increase the number of titles release each time.
 

ROclockCK

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jcroy said:
Older and less popular dvd titles seems to be falling into this pattern too.

These days I find it's easier to get tv show dvd (or bluray) season sets from amazon, than going to the nearby WM, BB, etc ...


For that matter, these days I rarely ever go to BB. I only go to WM to buy other stuff like food, cleaning supplies, clothing, etc ...
I just had this discussion on Tuesday with a Future Shop rep. After a couple of years of not bothering to pop into the big boxes on 'street date' for first pick of the new releases, I was more shocked than ever how many of the newly released titles not only were not in stock, but would never be. And rep dude didn't even have to search his database...he just said, "Have you checked online?"

Our segment doesn't even exist to those stores anymore.
 

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