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Hi-Def Media Lovefest: The war is over and we can all go home.

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I'm away reading the Potter thread all day, and all I miss is a mind-numbing amount of detail about a $2000 player.

I am disappointed!

With HD-DVD due to die week after next, I expected more noise!
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
I'm away reading the Potter thread all day, and all I miss is a mind-numbing amount of detail about a $2000 player.

I am disappointed!

With HD-DVD due to die week after next, I expected more noise!

This is a bigger blow than you think, publically and internally. When a big name company like Denon doesn't bother with even a HD DVD combo, then it speaks volume for the CE market as a whole and which format they feel is the moneymaker. I think a lot of us (I know I did) expected a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo). And this unit WILL sell to Denon's upper tier fanbase. There's finally a true reference HD player. It will be the choice unit for Home theater installers.
 
I saw this in the paper today, too weird...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/324872_bluray25.html?source=mypi

Thieves wipe out store's Blu-ray section

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER

Seattle police are investigating a Sunday morning burglary at the Northgate Silver Platters, where employees say thieves grabbed about 200 Blu-ray discs with a retail value of more than $7,000.

"They basically took our whole Blu-ray section," said Mike Batt, a vice president for the company that has four King County locations. "Genre didn't matter to them."

A store security system was triggered about 6:40 a.m. when a double-paned window was broken, according to a police report. The Northgate store has no video surveillance, but "there's no way this was all done by one person," Batt said.

Costs of players and discs have kept Blu-ray -- a format that can hold more than five times as much information as a single-layer DVD -- from being extremely popular, Batt said. Discs are about $35 each and Playstation 3 is the least-expensive player, retailing at $499.

"They seemed to know what they wanted," he said, adding the window was the only property damage.

The Northgate Silver Platters has had three previous smash-and-grab break-ins, with thieves taking about 20 CDs near entrances in two burglary cases, Batt said. In 1988, burglars grabbed all CD players at the Northgate store.

"Whoever did that was never caught," Batt said, who hopes other retailers will be alert if people attempt to return the discs. "The sad thing is the success rate of catching anyone is very slim."

There were 3,266 thefts from buildings reported in 2006, according to Seattle police records. Less than 8 percent of $2.49 million dollars in stolen property was recovered.

"There are burglary detectives for every precinct who are forwarded evidence and incident reports from uniformed patrol officers on the scene," Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said. "Burglary is a felony and each report is taken very seriously."

Anyone with information about the Silver Platters burglary is asked to call the Seattle police non-emergency line at 206-625-5011.
 
DarkJediKnight said:
This is a bigger blow than you think, publically and internally. When a big name company like Denon doesn't bother with even a HD DVD combo, then it speaks volume for the CE market as a whole and which format they feel is the moneymaker. I think a lot of us (I know I did) expected a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo). And this unit WILL sell to Denon's upper tier fanbase. There's finally a true reference HD player. It will be the choice unit for Home theater installers.

Let's see how the Onkyo DV-HD805 HD DVD player fares against it this fall. Not saying it'll be better than the Denon (the unit does look to be impressive), but it'll be interesting to see what kind of features they will offer to the high-end users.
 

el Diablo

Banned
So what are the numbers looking like now? Haven't kept up much over the summer but i figured HD-DVD would close the gap some and possibly take a couple weeks since BD has released squadoosh this summer, yay or nay, or has it actually been business as usual for BD? What have the weekly percentages been, anyone?
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Blu Ray is like 65/35 and the Ken Graffeo suicide watch continues. You haven't missed much. HD DVD is set to have a killer couple of weeks in terms of releases, so the fans have something to look forward to.
 

el Diablo

Banned
VanMardigan said:
Blu Ray is like 65/35 and the Ken Graffeo suicide watch continues. You haven't missed much. HD DVD is set to have a killer couple of weeks in terms of releases, so the fans have something to look forward to.

Thanks, i'm pretty surprised that the numbers are still running like that since all summer it's basically been HD-DVD exclusives vs. BD format neutral releases.
 

Alcibiades

Member
WTF is Bill Hunt's problem?

Is he jealous he wasn't asked to be on the panel?

Jealous that people actually turned out for an HD DVD information panel?

Universal and Microsoft could have been grilled about the future of the HD DVD this holiday season and next year and instead we have Bill Hunt on a mission? All he does is restate Blu-ray talking points which he's been talking about for ages instead of actually asking the panel questions.

UGH! He come off quite "assholish" from the very beginning.

Thank god they kinda cut him off and let others have some their say. A few good questions in there even if the panel ended up giving canned responses...

Either way, it really seems like Universal isn't gonna consider going neutral anytime soon, there was no hesitation from Graffeo (their HD DVD exec) in saying they still think they made the right choice. Also, they think that this format war has benefitted consumers and isn't gonna be over anytime soon. They seem gung-ho about prices and getting to $199/$99, so it seems it's gonna be a while before they evaluate their decision.
 

rubso

Banned
Alcibiades said:
WTF is Bill Hunt's problem?

Is he jealous he wasn't asked to be on the panel?

Jealous that people actually turned out for an HD DVD information panel?

Universal and Microsoft could have been grilled about the future of the HD DVD this holiday season and next year and instead we have Bill Hunt on a mission? All he does is restate Blu-ray talking points which he's been talking about for ages instead of actually asking the panel questions.

UGH! He come off quite "assholish" from the very beginning.

Thank god they kinda cut him off and let others have some their say. A few good questions in there even if the panel ended up giving canned responses...

Either way, it really seems like Universal isn't gonna consider going neutral anytime soon, there was no hesitation from Graffeo (their HD DVD exec) in saying they still think they made the right choice. Also, they think that this format war has benefitted consumers and isn't gonna be over anytime soon. They seem gung-ho about prices and getting to $199/$99, so it seems it's gonna be a while before they evaluate their decision.
Bill hunt is the retard in the "debate1" video, am i right?
"I bought a PS2" "my sister bought a ps2" "my grandma bought a wii" "I bought a PS3 to watch High Def movies" "I don't want games anymore" "PCs sucks, ahhh.."
 

Alcibiades

Member
rubso said:
Bill hunt is the retard in the "debate1" video, am i right?
"I bought a PS2" "my sister bought a ps2" "my grandma bought a wii" "I bought a PS3 to watch High Def movies" "I don't want games anymore" "PCs sucks, ahhh.."
no, he's the guy who in one video goes "I heard from sales people that when Toshiba dropped the price people bought an HD DVD player, but then returned it a few days later because they couldn't play Ice Age and Casino Royale"... I think it's the 2nd video...

but yeah, the first 2 videos are pretty bad... How about asking some questions instead of giving the Blu-ray talking points... the first guy was only slightly worse than Bill Hunt because he could have just said "I bought a PS3 because of Blu-ray, so when are you going to release on Blu-ray" and saved a few minutes for the panel to answer other questions...
 

Forsete

Member
*yawn*

Wake me up when Toshiba pulls the plug.

Anyway, thinking of getting Unforgiven.. Love that movie. Hows the IQ?

Thinking of putting an order with these titles:

Unforgiven
Superman returns
Blood diamond

Not sure about: Departed
 

Crayon Shinchan

Aquafina Fanboy
Universal will continue toting their line until they're comfortable the jump over.

Never give away your gameplan, so that your game plan can actually work! After all, if they telegraph to customers ahead of time, how long they're going to take to jump over, people are going to stop buying their HD-DVD stuff and just buy BD. Once the HD-DVD market is exhausted, they'll make a move. Not a moment sooner.

But given the numbers and figures and charts... I think even after Universal jumps, (to neutral), HD-DVD will still scrape by... with anywhere from a 15-25% market share.
 

el Diablo

Banned
Forsete said:
*yawn*

Wake me up when Toshiba pulls the plug.

Anyway, thinking of getting Unforgiven.. Love that movie. Hows the IQ?

Thinking of putting an order with these titles:

Unforgiven
Superman returns
Blood diamond

Not sure about: Departed

No clue about unforgiven but Blood Diamond had a so so transfer, sometimes it looks fantastic sometimes it looks like crap (however still better than DVD heh).

Also if buying on BD i'd wait on Superman Returns, there's supposed to be a rerelease with an uncompressed audio track.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
watched both borne movies back to back..

two observations:

1) The first movie was better.
2) The transfers are great.
3) The whole time, the movie was just great.. but I kept thinking "Man, I can totally hear that 1.5MBs encode for the audio."
4) Ultimatum needs to come out yesterday. Man I cant wait.
 
Question to all Hi-Def video owners out there:

If a releaase is available in an HD format you can play *and* DVD, do you ever get the DVD? Under what circumstances?
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Ignatz Mouse said:
Question to all Hi-Def video owners out there:

If a releaase is available in an HD format you can play *and* DVD, do you ever get the DVD? Under what circumstances?

No. In fact, I dont even buy DVDs of movies only on BRD. I cant go back. At first I thought I would just buy action movied on HDDVD, but soon realized, even comedies/dramas are worth the extra resolution. One step closer to the filmmakers original vision.
 

yacobod

Banned
StoOgE said:
watched both borne movies back to back..

3) The whole time, the movie was just great.. but I kept thinking "Man, I can totally hear that 1.5MBs encode for the audio."


:lol :lol :lol
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
I don't buy dvd's anymore. I didn't have a large dvd collection anyway. After less than 6 months, my HD DVD collection is already about a third the size of my dvd collection (10/30). I might still buy something minor on dvd (like a documentary) if its ultra-cheap, but where I live, there isn't much availability.

That's why I'm looking forward to going back to Chicago. I plan to buy a few HD DVD's to continue building my collection.
 

yacobod

Banned
Ignatz Mouse said:
Question to all Hi-Def video owners out there:

If a releaase is available in an HD format you can play *and* DVD, do you ever get the DVD? Under what circumstances?


borat was the last dvd i picked up

i dont plan on buying anymore dvds either, besides the rome season 2 set (cant wait for that in a few weeks :D ), other then that i've been picking up all hd-dvds or BRDs

it's hard to go back to dvds imo
 

djkimothy

Member
I have bought only 1 DVD only because I know it won't come to High Def any time soon since it's an indy. But I go Blu whenever I can.
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
The only stuff I would even be tempted to buy that's not on HD DVD is PoTC series, Spiderman, and Casino Royale.

Everything else I can live with. I rented Apocalypto and liked it, but I think there's an HD DVD version in Europe, so I might go that route.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
jjasper said:
(well unless there is a fox movie I want to see)
:lol

I will say, more TV shows need to come to BRD/HDDVD. All the new network shows are shot in HD.. yet 90% are MIA. Why isnt every single one that is getting a DVD release coming to an HD format.
 

calder

Member
Ignatz Mouse said:
Question to all Hi-Def video owners out there:

If a releaase is available in an HD format you can play *and* DVD, do you ever get the DVD? Under what circumstances?
I'll get the BD when available, unfortunately for me I don't buy DVD movies nearly as much as TV shows, and those are only now being releases on BD/HD (that I noticed anyway).

I have bought a few DVDs since, if the BD release of a movie isn't there and I'm not sure if it's supposed to be I'll usually buy the DVD.
 
I realize this is pretty much the choir here, but I am surprised at the answers so far-- nobody has said they would buy a DVD over an HD-DVD/Blu version if available, and moreover, many skip a DVD entirely even if it's not available in an HD format they can play.

So for us, the cost of the disc doesn't really matter, and the "only one player in the house, but many DVD players" argument carries no weight either.
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Ignatz Mouse said:
So for us, the cost of the disc doesn't really matter, and the "only one player in the house, but many DVD players" argument carries no weight either.

Well, for the HD DVD side, the combo discs take care of that part. I love my combo discs, though I know a lot of people here hate them.
 

jjasper

Member
StoOgE said:
:lol

I will say, more TV shows need to come to BRD/HDDVD. All the new network shows are shot in HD.. yet 90% are MIA. Why isnt every single one that is getting a DVD release coming to an HD format.

Yeah I agree. It makes no sense that I can watch a TV show for a whole season in HD and then my only option to buy is DVD.

Why is Heroes the only HD DVD release Universal? Where is House, Monk, Pysch, 30 Rock?

And Disney, why only Lost?
 

Oni Jazar

Member
Honestly as a BD only guy I kind of like the combo idea. When I buy a movie for the GF like Harry Potter, it would be nice to know that the disc will play in any player old or new. That way you can watch it anywhere in the house or on the road. I'd pay an extra fiver for that option. If it's a guilty pleasure for me like Silent Hill then i don't care that much about it.
 
VanMardigan said:
Well, for the HD DVD side, the combo discs take care of that part. I love my combo discs, though I know a lot of people here hate them.

Well, I was half expecting to hear people say that that influenced their decision, but clearly people buy the HD version anyway, and the Combo disc is just a bonus. Do you ever skip the HD version of something because it's not on a combo disc, and buy the DVD instead?
 

yacobod

Banned
jjasper said:
Yeah I agree. It makes no sense that I can watch a TV show for a whole season in HD and then my only option to buy is DVD.

Why is Heroes the only HD DVD release Universal? Where is House, Monk, Pysch, 30 Rock?

And Disney, why only Lost?


hbo released part 1 of season 6 of the sopranos on hd-dvd and BRD, maybe it didnt sell that well idk

i would love if they released s2 of rome in an hd format, it would be an instant purchase
 

rubso

Banned
Alcibiades said:
no, he's the guy who in one video goes "I heard from sales people that when Toshiba dropped the price people bought an HD DVD player, but then returned it a few days later because they couldn't play Ice Age and Casino Royale"... I think it's the 2nd video...

but yeah, the first 2 videos are pretty bad... How about asking some questions instead of giving the Blu-ray talking points... the first guy was only slightly worse than Bill Hunt because he could have just said "I bought a PS3 because of Blu-ray, so when are you going to release on Blu-ray" and saved a few minutes for the panel to answer other questions...
this Bill hunt, makes me laugh :lol
more like "I heard from sales people that when Sony dropped the price people bought a PS3, but then returned it a few days later because they couldn't play Gears of War and HALO 3"
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Ignatz Mouse said:
Well, I was half expecting to hear people say that that influenced their decision, but clearly people buy the HD version anyway, and the Combo disc is just a bonus. Do you ever skip the HD version of something because it's not on a combo disc, and buy the DVD instead?

I'm not surprised it hasn't been mentioned. It's not an option on Blu Ray (the majority of the folks who post here) and it gets a lot of flak from the HD DVD supporters. To answer your question, I wouldn't pass on a disc because it wasn't a combo, but if there were a choice, I'd pick the combo version every time for $5 extra.
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
Matrix said:
Gary,even with some problems,most either end up being discs that were pressed bad or a firmware update ends up helping to fix the issue.

"As for BRD; you're probably just ignoring the disc rot problems with The Prestige, The Departed, and others."

IMG_0931-1wtmk.jpg


HD-DVD and Blu-ray both have issues just like Dvd did.

The hell? Does that disc have leprosy?
 
VanMardigan said:
I'm not surprised it hasn't been mentioned. It's not an option on Blu Ray (the majority of the folks who post here) and it gets a lot of flak from the HD DVD supporters. To answer your question, I wouldn't pass on a disc because it wasn't a combo, but if there were a choice, I'd pick the combo version every time for $5 extra.

Sure. I might too (depending on whether it was gimped in some way).

But my point was that anti HD-any-flavor people like to say that the lack of backwards compatibility and higher disc prices will keep people from buying HD movies. I thought at least one person here would buy the DVD version for cost reasons, extras, to be able to play on any player in the house, etc. Nobody yet.

I guess if I posted over on the game forum, there would be PS3 owners who aren't interest in HD who duy DVDs over BDs for some of those reasons. But for people who seem to support the formats actively, they jump in all the way.
 
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