**Official HTF HD Formats Ind./Retailer/Studio Support Thread-*SEE POST 3176, p. 106* (1 Viewer)

[Dave Moritz]

IMHO Blu-ray is doing extremely well considering that the economy is on the verge of depression. There are plenty of good titles coming out and I remain upbeat about the possible releases from both Paramount and Universal. We should also see some strong releases in 2009 along with some really nice classics as well.

So even if some are claiming Blu is doomed already, I say give it a chance and wait and see what happens. We could very well be suprised with what Dreamworks, Paramount and Universal puts out for 2008. I would rather focus on that and enjoy all the HD titles I currently own than focus on being negative!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

That does sound like very good news. Certainly, there's nothing "moribund" about it considering the context. Of course, like Crawdaddy said, hopefully, the industry will work effectively to promote the format to the masses in the year (or two) ahead...

_Man_

 

[Douglas Monce]

To be perfectly honest the only bitching and whining I see hear is from people who can't seem to stand a bit of criticism directed toward a format that they apparently have a HUGE emotional investment in.

They are mostly the same people who thought that if only there was only one format everything would be sweetness and light. The problem is that now that we have one format, we still have the same problems and studios like Fox aren't helping matters.

If there was something else to talk about I'm sure we would be, but at the moment there isn't a whole lot going on with blu-ray. I personally find speculating on the future of home entertainment to be an interesting past time and I thought that was one of the purposes of this forum.

I am NOT a blu-ray doom sayer, there are quite a few announced titles that I'm looking forward too in the next few months. But for me personally the last 6 months have been pretty slim pickens.

I do think that the BDA is making a mistake. Now is not the time to stop beating the drums to get people interested in this format. I'd be willing to bet that nearly half the population doesn't even know what blu-ray is at this point. Now is the time that the BDA should be spending more money than ever to make blu-ray a house hold word by Christmas.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Well this is surely good news. I'm glad to see that sales are picking up. None of the titles mentioned are films I'm interested in other than No Country, but hopefully those are coming soon. Can you say Planet of the Apes!!!!

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

I'm not sure I would call an economy with 5% unemployment on the verge of a depression. When it gets to 30% let me know.

Doug

 

[troy evans]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but, I think the future looks bright for Blu-ray. It's a new format and like sd dvd, it'll more than likely open some doors. Before sd dvd, we never had so much available to us on the other formats. Now, we have all kinds of tv shows and movies and live concerts that before we could only have taped from tv if we were lucky or if it even aired. We have so much in fact, we debate on the ones still hanging in limbo. Rather than being happy with the ones we have. With Blu-ray more surprises are in store for us down the line. It's exciting and with Blu-ray raising the bar what will sd dvds answer be? Lower prices? Better transfers? Ultimately with HDM everyone will gain in some respects and that is awesome. I can't wait to see how all the 3-D stuff plays out. Man, times are great for home theater right now.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I must say that I would LOVE to see 3-D work. I'm a big fan of 50s sci-fi and would love to see Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space in 3-D again!

Doug

 

[Jari K]

I believe this is quite important now. Since these companies have been more or less "silent" after the end of the war, the discussion is focused too much on these same companies (Fox, Sony, Disney) that are often associated to Blu-ray (from the start). When Paramount/DW and Universal are "back" in full swing, it´ll be also another reason for all of us to "move on".

I´m confident that at least from e.g. "CEDIA EXPO 2008" (September 3-7, 2008) we´ll see the start of the new era and Xmas season is of course very important. Let´s hope that all the studios line-up behind Blu-ray with strong support. And those prices.. They should go down (at least with e.g. Fox and with the players).

 

[Paul_Scott]

Despite all my tedious kvetching and tin drum beating, I do agree with that- heartily!
And yes, the numbers just in are very positive. Hopefully things continue on the same trajectory steadily thru the rest of the year. David W was right in that it was my problem that I can't find much now , which is why I was careful to qualify the 'moribund' comment with "for me" and "seems". On the other hand, less domestic material I'm excited about means I can more readily afford imports- and I am greatly looking forward to importing Black Narcisuss in June, though it would be nice not to have to wait and wonder if region coding will apply.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I hope that the BDA gets serious about this bcs BD could incorporate a 3-D spec so that 3-D BD software could be backwards compatible with all standard players as well as provide true 1080p24 3-D playback in full-fidelity with 3-D equipped devices by using the secondary video stream running in full 1080p24 for the alternate angle (then the hardware could output the two video angles via whatever means desired: two HDMI outputs for two projectors with polarized filters or a matrixed via a single 1080p48/60/72/120 Hz signal for LCD glasses).

 

[Robert Crawford]

I am not talking about Fox catalog titles perse. I'm talking about lower pricing in general as far as BR software and hardware so that later this year especially around the Holiday season, people that haven't bought into BR might be entice to do so. What those prices are I leave it up to the industry to determine in order to get some of those folks to buy into BR. I want BR to be successful as the HDM format, but only the industry can help make that happened and help it grow beyond its hardcore group because it's really out of our (HT enthusiast) hands.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Once again we are in agreement, Robert. I believe that pricing is going to be one of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption of HDM (beyond the scope of the enthusiasts who are already sold on the benefits of HDM.) I'll leave it at that; without posting a litany of oft repeated arguments regarding SD DVD; which is the real competition now.

- Walter.

 

[Paul_Scott]

HomeMediaMagazine.com | Bringing Digital Entertainment To You

Can't get a direct link but there is an interesting article here (3/27) from the replicators point of view- in particular the smaller replicators. There are also some numbers thrown around for the ultimate packaged costs of discs in smaller runs (25,000 @ $4-$5 each). When new releases may only do 70,000-100,000, $4-$5 per disc may be prohibitive for things like much of the Criterion catalog as well as multi-disc catalog sets and tv shows (Star Trek? BSG?). of course with the likely line congestion that is the main gist of the article, sets with 6-10 50gb Bds are probably going to be the first to be backburnered anyway.
Keep in mind, this post is really only intended to be seen by the 3 or 4 members who don't have me on the ignore list yet ; )

 

[Goko]

Mr Scott,
My laugh for the day. I find it hard to believe that in a forum such as this where people are encouraged to speak their minds that anyone would (or should) ignore you. You and your ideas are a presence that's, quite frankly, hard to ignore. To quote from a famous movie: " you tread heavily, but you speak the truth" as you see it. Besides, anyone that's afraid of a few words should re-think why they frequent this forum. I find the exchange of ideas on this forum simply delightful and I encourge your posting.

 

[Marc Colella]

Logically, this makes sense.

However, companies that sell in much smaller quantities than Criterion are releasing on Blu-Ray. So I'm not understanding how they feel it's worth their time to release to a very small market within a small format market. For example, Plexifilm is releasing the documentary "Helvetica" on Blu-Ray. A documentary about a font... in HD. I have to believe Plexifilm is aware that it'll sell in very very small numbers, yet they will release it on Blu-Ray. Are some companies getting subsidized while others aren't?

 

[RickER]

See, thats the problem with the ignore! Someone comes along and quotes the whole damn post!

Just kidding, i dont have you on ignore Paul_Scott.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Marc, that may be the cost of unsubsidized Bd 50's in which case the 25s should be a good deal lower. Then that might not be prohibitive for a Criterion one disc title after all(I'm hoping as there are a few titles from them I crave in HD).

 

[FrancisP]

Most of the higher cost of bluray is licensing fees. Some of these fees were not a part of hd-dvd or were optional. For example, the AACES fee was optional in hd-dvd but are mandatory in bluray. Some releases are not likely
to have piracy issues but they are still forced to pay the fee. It is interesting that titles like the Bob Hope double features, Road to Bali/Road to Rio and Son of Paleface/My Favorite Brunette, were not released in bluray. I suspect the higher fee structure is a part of this.

Also another obstacle to the adoption of hd media is movie fatigue. How many times can you get people to buy the same movie? You could talk people into going from videocassette to dvd. The picture was so much better
and the discs were much more compact than videocassette. I passed on Close Encounters because I was sick of buying it. I bought it on ced, videocassette, and twice on dvd. If people see hd as another way to get money from them, ordinary people will not buy into it.

CH-dvd looks to be an option because it looks like I may already be invested in ch-dvd. Apparently ch-dvd players will play hd-dvd movies which means that if my hd-dvd players die, ch-dvd would be the only route to go. That means I may as well wait a couple of years and see where it goes. I bought dvds before I even had a dvd player so I am very patient.

 

[Jari K]

Just one minor side note..

HD DVD Promotion Group -ŽŸ¢‘ãƒfƒBƒXƒN‚̃Xƒ^ƒ“ƒ_[ƒh-

"The HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved as of March 28, 2008,
and the website was closed accordingly."

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

You'll be waiting a loooooong time. CH DVD has never been confirmed to work with HD DVD, although it's been mentioned that it won't. Of course, that's assuming CH DVD is ever released. No players have been released, no titles have been announced, major US studios are highly unlikely to support it (why throw money down that well twice?), and player prices were estimated to be more like the $500 price tags than $250 (and $500 is a lot less affordable in China than it is here). Being anywhere from 3-5 years behind the rest of the world in HD adoption probably doesn't help.

sarcasm
But hey, they've got support from the Chinese gov't, so maybe they'll force CH DVD to work!
/sarcasm