HiDef Discs with SD side (2 Viewers)

[Benson R]

I think if they are going to release some of these titles in this format it should be the only hd-dvd release and have no price premium. I actually would be interested in these releases as I like to lend out a lot of movies to friends who probably won't be buying into hidef for years, also I bring movies with me to my job (I sit around a long time waiting for a computer system to break) and would like to not buy something twice so I can watch it at work.

However I will not pay any premium at all for a dual release.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I think by choosing a $39.95 price point (for a not very well-regarded title, with no extras beyond a trailer, at that) I think Warner may have killed this idea in the cradle. Were it comparably priced to other HD DVDs, it might have caught on, but I wouldn't shell out that much for this title.

 

[Rob_HD]

I think that the hybrid is a fantastic idea. I truly believe it is the right thing to offer.

Just think of all the folks who are not buying SD DVDs right now, in preparation for a coming upgrade to Hi Def.

HOWEVER - it should not be priced to far off of the regular HD DVD price, better yet, it should be priced only at the true cost difference.

Otherwise, there's a double negative, potentially. One, it's too expensive for the consideration of the SD DVD owners. Two, the cost of an HD DVD disc just increased for the HD DVD owner, just to support SD DVD owners.

So the price must be competitive (and of course, the Dual Layer version of the hybrid disc should be used, so the quality is the same).

The other consideration is that a somewhat mediocre chick-flick (no offense) as your first test-offering, to a male-dominated, technology-led, new format, was probably about the WORST choice you could have made

I hope they try again with the above bits of advice in mind, as I really think it could be a huge factor in the rapid adoption of the Hi Def formats.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Precisely. The commercial cost of making an extra standard DVD-9 is less than $.05 and if it was simply added to the existing HD DVD or Blu-ray case then there would be no additional packaging or shipping costs.

I suspect the studios don't want to do this as they probably know a lot of consumers who have no need for the standard DVD version will just sell it or give it away thus hurting the sales of the standard DVD edition. Thus the reason why they came up with the idea for a hybrid in the first place.

 

[Cees Alons]

Yes, adding a separate HD disk (or a separate SD disk, depending how you look at it) at no costs for the buyer won't work.

But I also think the hybrid won't work commercially. The price can never be lower than the HD-only version (or else no-one will buy the HD), and not be higher than the SD-only version (or no SD buyer will buy the hybrid). Most HD collectors won't need the SD side (and won't be willing to pay extra for it). Most SD collectors won't want to pay for the HD side in advance (as long as they have a choice to buy a cheaper standard DVD).


Cees

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I say: DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!! There's always the compatibility issues besides the problems with scratching one side or the other. De-lamination could happen as well.

It's possible they would start with DVD-5's on one side and HD-DVD-15's on the other. The worse possible scenario for both formats.

Dan

 

[TonyD]

no it wont.
wont be my choice.

i will not be buying a hb-hd dvd for $27-$35
too much money.

if they can offer a sd dvd as a seperate dvd why not also a hd dvd as a seperate dvd

for sale---
rumor has it
hd dvd
sd dvd
hb-hd dvd

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