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

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A

avaya

Member
HokieJoe said:
Then again, as I stated before, Apple most likely does want digital downloads. Nothing is very clear cut here without knowing all of the inside angles.
Click to expand...

Apple has shown no signs of wanting a stalemate, which is the quickest way to ensuring the death of HD optical. Apple has shown every sign of opposing Microsoft though: Campaigning against the BDA adopting VC-1 and opposing iHD adoption.

The death of HD optical would not hasten the arrival of digital downloads.

HD optical presents a problem for Microsoft because the likely winner does not embrace its standards: Blu-ray favours AVC and uses Java. This is not something that Apple is worried about. The digital download market will pose no real threat to physical formats for a very long time. The infrastructure is not in place for a wide coverage. Globally physical media is not going away, like CDs are not going away anytime soon, worldwide.

Digital downloads require a format (AVC for Apple). HD-DVD continuing to survive will help put HDi and WMV on parity terms with official MPEG formats and Java. Even if Apple wanted to get to digital downloads they wouldn't want to do it by helping establish HDi and WMV.
 
G

gkryhewy

Member
polyh3dron said:
Yeah, these BusinessWeek and New York Times guys can't be trusted.
Click to expand...

Easy, sherlock, he just means it isn't new. Good sleuthing though, and I agree that there's a certain momentum building.
 
A

avaya

Member
It's expectation that's building. People are getting ahead of themselves though. There have been confrimations of rumours. Huge hints. Nothing concrete.

Don't be surprised if nothing happens.
 
E

Elios83

Member
avaya said:
It's expectation that's building. People are getting ahead of themselves though. There have been confrimations of rumours. Huge hints. Nothing concrete.

Don't be surprised if nothing happens.
Click to expand...


LOL indeed, at this rate people on the internet will riot against Warner if they don't have anything to announce at CES :lol :lol
 
Q

quest

Not Banned from OT
I really hope warner stays neutral or at worst goes red. If warner goes blu it will just mean that blu CEs can continue to drag thier feet on pricing. I want to purchase a few blu players to go with my hd-dvd players. I will not pay a cent over 200 for any hd player and it has to be upgradable to latest spec I think it is what 2.0.

If a quick end ment main stream adoption I could see that argument. But IMO neither hd-format will ever come close to dvd in sales. The cons for the average person outweigh the pros imo. The pro of hd-media is pq and sound that is great for an video/audophile. The average person who has the 1000 dollar walmart tv using the TVs speakers for sound is not going to see a difference to pay a premium. The con is well the hd-media only works on hd-players. That means they have to purchase media 2x once for the hd-media player and once for the other dvd players they have including portable units that are very very popular now.
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
quest said:
I really hope warner stays neutral or at worst goes red. If warner goes blu it will just mean that blu CEs can continue to drag thier feet on pricing. I want to purchase a few blu players to go with my hd-dvd players. I will not pay a cent over 200 for any hd player and it has to be upgradable to latest spec I think it is what 2.0.
Click to expand...

Maybe for a little while, but if Blu-ray then would want to cross the chasm and become a mainstream product, it's going to have to reduce in price to DVD levels. Otherwise, it'll have trouble taking off.

Competition is good, but personally I like to keep it all in the same format.
 
Alcibiades

Alcibiades

Member
Next week's BOGOF deal finally includes some HD DVDs...

luckily I haven't bought any in months (other than XBox 360 promotion)...

High Definition Discs at $29.99 Each or Where Marked:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519706

Buy 1, Get 1 Free // Purchases must be made on same receipt

Free Discs must be of equal or lesser value

The Bourne Ultimatum HD-DVD
Blades Of Glory HD-DVD
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry HD-DVD
Knocked Up: Unrated HD-DVD
Disturbia HD-DDVD
Mr. Bean’s Holiday HD-DVD
Shrek The Third HD-DVD
Evan Almighty HD-DVD
Transformers HD-DVD
Harry Potter & Order Of The Phoenix HD-DVD >>>> $32.99
The Departed HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Shooter HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Ocean’s Thirteen HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
300 HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Crank Blu-Ray
300 Blu-Ray
28 Weeks Later Blu-Ray
Spider-man 3 Blu-Ray
The Condemned Blu-Ray
Hostel: Part II Blu-Ray
Ocean’s Thirteen Blu-Ray
Underworld: Evolution Blu-Ray
The Departed Blu-Ray
SAW III Blu-Ray
Harry Potter & Order Of The Phoenix Blu-Ray >>>> $32.99
Mr. Brooks Blu-Ray >>>> $34.99
Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer Blu-Ray >>>> $34.99
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Blu-Ray >>>> $34.99


I think I'm gonna pick up several, especially since I have a $10 credit for online purchase (will probably do instore pickup though)
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
quest said:
I really hope warner stays neutral or at worst goes red. If warner goes blu it will just mean that blu CEs can continue to drag thier feet on pricing. I want to purchase a few blu players to go with my hd-dvd players. I will not pay a cent over 200 for any hd player and it has to be upgradable to latest spec I think it is what 2.0.
Click to expand...

I don't care about pricing. I care about not having useless movies. How many of you still have your Xbox and Dreamcasts plugged in? Or heck, a VCR? I don't want this war to continue because there have been times when I wanted to buy a title that's on both formats (Alexander) and honestly couldn't decide and instead bought an exclusive title instead (V for Vendetta). Yea, yea, if HD DVD dies, your players won't self destruct and your movies won't go anywhere.

I beg to differ. Maybe not instantly, but many will try to unload it to make room on their entertainment shelf. Well some of us don't want to spend the dough on Dual Format players.

I personally have been far more selective about the movies I buy since the Paramount announcement and will continue to do so unless more tides shift.
 
Q

quest

Not Banned from OT
teh_pwn said:
Maybe for a little while, but if Blu-ray then would want to cross the chasm and become a mainstream product, it's going to have to reduce in price to DVD levels. Otherwise, it'll have trouble taking off.

Competition is good, but personally I like to keep it all in the same format.
Click to expand...

That would be great but the way I see it the only thing that will get blu CEs to lower prices any time soon is hd-dvd being a real threat. Real blu players not year old models are still way to expensive and prices are not moving.
 
M

MaX_PL

Banned
Alcibiades said:
The Bourne Ultimatum HD-DVD
Blades Of Glory HD-DVD
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry HD-DVD
Knocked Up: Unrated HD-DVD
Disturbia HD-DDVD
Mr. Bean’s Holiday HD-DVD
Shrek The Third HD-DVD
Evan Almighty HD-DVD
Transformers HD-DVD
Harry Potter & Order Of The Phoenix HD-DVD >>>> $32.99
The Departed HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Shooter HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Ocean’s Thirteen HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
300 HD-DVD >>>> $34.99
Click to expand...

ohh nice. i'm finally gonna pick up a bunch of HD DVDs. i'll wait and buy potter then too.

potter
shooter
ultimatum
disturbia
evan almighty
and maybe batman since its lesser value than all of those.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
NYT Article said:
And now, hoping to prevent Warner from going with Sony, Toshiba plans to cut the retail price for its HD DVD titles at $31.74 - about $2 less than Blu-ray’s suggested price.
Click to expand...

Hey now, cheaper movies on HD DVD? Do it Toshiba!!!
 
M

Mrbob

Member
I've never seen cheaper HD DVD movies in a retail store for multi format releases.

They are all the same, or more often than not, the Blu Ray version is 5 dollars cheaper. Two dollars won't make a difference, and you can bet both versions will be the same price at worse, or cheaper on Blu Ray due to not having to combo everything.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Mrbob said:
Two dollars won't make a difference, and you can bet both versions will be the same price at worst, or cheaper on Blu Ray due to not having to combo everything.
Click to expand...

Pay attention. The combos from Warner no longer cost 5 dollars more. Now HD DVD movies will be cheaper across the board, according to that article.

So Warner would be making about $2 less/HD DVD sold? That is sure to bring them on-board.
Click to expand...

No, Toshiba will be making 2 bucks less per movie. Sort of like how Sony is eating the cost of every other movie sold for the past two months during the relentless BOGO deals. Not that I'm complaining either way, but pathetic fanboys apparently make even cheaper movies seem like a bad thing.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Mrbob said:
I did pay attention. I'll believe it when I see it. Heresay is all it is.
Click to expand...

Look at the "heresay" on Amazon.com's Harry Potter combo disc. Or how about the newly announced Appleseed which is a combo disc.....and hey look, it costs the same as the Blu Ray version.

So yeah, the price on Warner's combos is already even, and if this article is correct, ALL HD DVD movies will come down in price, so the movies will be cheaper than Blu Ray across the board.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Apparently, Warner is doing the standard denial on this rumor, which of course, leaves us back at square one, but at least it answers the question of why Warner hasn't said anything:

sound advice blog said:
Web forums were ablaze this morning because of a controversial report by Rich Greenfield of Pali Research, saying in 2008 Warner Bros. would cease support of HD DVD and become Blu-ray only. Finding this suspicious, I contacted Jim Noonan, Warner Bros. Senior Vice President and General Manager, for clarification. I received a response almost immediately and his reply is as follows:

”Dear Mr. Lindich, We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.”
Click to expand...
 
D

djkimothy

Member
”Dear Mr. Lindich, We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.”
Click to expand...

The language is quite "careful". They've made no decision, that much is true, but have there been discussions?
 
H

HokieJoe

Member
You make some good points.

avaya said:
Apple has shown no signs of wanting a stalemate, which is the quickest way to ensuring the death of HD optical. Apple has shown every sign of opposing Microsoft though: Campaigning against the BDA adopting VC-1 and opposing iHD adoption.
Click to expand...

All true, but I’d like to add that Disney helped MS create what is now known as HDi; Jobs is on Disney's board; and Apple Compressor supports encoding to h.264 or VC1 (via Telestream) on HD DVD.


avaya said:
The death of HD optical would not hasten the arrival of digital downloads.
Click to expand...

The primary reason studios are pushing HD movies is because their DVD revenue stream is shrinking. When you consider that the U.S. will be broadcasting HD exclusively by 2009, I think Hollywood knows that there will be a demand for content (more HDTV’s in the market). The question is, how will consumers take it? Shaken or stirred? I think the studios will try to cover their bases no matter what.


avaya said:
HD optical presents a problem for Microsoft because the likely winner does not embrace its standards: Blu-ray favors AVC and uses Java. This is not something that Apple is worried about. The digital download market will pose no real threat to physical formats for a very long time. The infrastructure is not in place for a wide coverage. Globally physical media is not going away, like CDs are not going away anytime soon, worldwide.
Click to expand...

The lion’s share of Bluray studios favor h.264 or MPEG2 (and BD-J). MS's aim isn’t to immediately supplant all HD movie sales with DD. They know that's unlikely. They know they can peddle it as an alternative format alongside HD DVD and BR though. I’m not keen on the idea of digital downloads either, but it certainly is an alternative delivery mechanism that neither Apple nor the studios will ignore IMO. The U.S. has considerable latent infrastructure (see dark fiber). The question is whether the market will prove it economically viable.

avaya said:
Digital downloads require a format (AVC for Apple). HD-DVD continuing to survive will help put HDi and WMV on parity terms with official MPEG formats and Java. Even if Apple wanted to get to digital downloads they wouldn't want to do it by helping establish HDi and WMV.
Click to expand...


I’m not sure if parity is the issue here. VC-1 is already an official codec for Bluray, and Warner has shown concern for the lack of BD-J interactivity features thus far. Apple doesn’t appear to have a dog in the hunt anyway, because they don’t offer a competing solution to HDi or BD-J. Strategically I can see why they would favor the competing format to HDi, but I don’t think it matters to them in terms of development. HDi would be trivial to support for their current authoring solutions. The situation is market dependent, and Apple won't go to the woodshed for Bluray like Sony will.

Good discussion.
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
Originally Posted by sound advice blog: said:
Web forums were ablaze this morning because of a controversial report by Rich Greenfield of Pali Research, saying in 2008 Warner Bros. would cease support of HD DVD and become Blu-ray only. Finding this suspicious, I contacted Jim Noonan, Warner Bros. Senior Vice President and General Manager, for clarification. I received a response almost immediately and his reply is as follows:

”Dear Mr. Lindich, We have been waiting for the first journalist to email us about this story, and frankly waiting by the keyboard all day has made me irritable. But you're a friend... So, apologies in advance if I may seem tight-lipped. We at Warner have made a decision on which format we will support: It is Blu-ray. Now I am not at liberty to discuss in details, the terms of the agreement. However, because of my affection for your wife's cantalope deserts, I'll share a portion of the information I'm privy to: Panasonic and Sony will subsidize 100% of the cost of replication of our discs for a period of 2 calender years. Also, all Warner employees will receive a paid, yearly, no expense vacation to BangCock, Thighland, where all of our dreams can come true. This deal goes into effect in Q1 2008, and at present, Warner has made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.”
Click to expand...

Why don't you post the full email Van? You HD DVD fanboys make me sick! Taking stuff out of context all the time for your benefit!
 
G

gkryhewy

Member
DarkJediKnight said:
Why don't you post the full email Van? You HD DVD fanboys make me sick! Taking stuff out of context all the time for your benefit!
Click to expand...

All that creativity wasted on dumb jokes and grammatical errors. For shame.
 
K

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
From Warner's perspective, "going Blu" probably just means not holding the likes of Batman Begins and The Matrix hostage anymore. ;)
 
R

rage1973

Member
I hope that BOGO sale applies to amazon as well. If you factor in sales tax it's not much cheaper than buying 2 movies from amazon.
 
F

Fëanor

Member
adg1034 said:
I bought Blade Runner 5-disc HD-DVD for $28 from Amazon earlier today. :D


Wait.


Dammit.


That may not be a good thing...
Click to expand...

Probably not.

Has anyone seen this national geographic doc:
51UbSB9UAGL._AA240_.jpg


I'm interested in owning a few documentaries, already own Planet Earth.
 
The Main Event

The Main Event

Member
Fëanor said:
Probably not.

Has anyone seen this national geographic doc:
51UbSB9UAGL._AA240_.jpg


I'm interested in owning a few documentaries, already own Planet Earth.
Click to expand...

Didn't see that one yet, but I own Galapagos.

51wen9wYwnL._SS500_.jpg


Only watched one episode, but it's well worth owning, especially if you loved Planet Earth.
 
B

Bebpo

Banned
I watched Jin-Roh and I'd say the PQ is about 4/5 stars with some 3/5 star moments in a few dark scenes. It's similar to a lot of the other Bandai Visual releases of non-digital films, the daytime stuff looks fantastic but the night time stuff varies by scene with some looking perfect and others looking grainy.

Also the color pallete of the film is really muted so it's not really a standout film for HD anime. Still, it definitely looks better than the dvd and most of the scenes look great. No artifacting is nice too.

The audio side is a much bigger improvement with the PCM mix really standing out during the action scenes.

Still, it was worth upgrading from the dvd just to have an incentive to put the film back in and watch it again. Really is up there with the best of 'em. The storyboards Oshii did for the film will probably end up being the best thing he ever did when people look back after his career is over.
 
B

Barnolde

Banned
Cold-Steel said:
FUCK I was in the middle of shopping the 115-title Amazon BOGO and they killed the sale.

DAMMIT.
Click to expand...
Speaking of sales killed off early, I want to get Planet Earth, but Deepdiscountdvd's 20% off sale has ended, anyone know if it's coming back?
 
R

robertsan21

Member
when is this shitty battle between HD DVD and Blu over?

I am sick of having to watch films arrive on HD dvd when I only own a Bluray!

some films arrive on HDdvd that I want on Blu, is this battle ever going to end?
 
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