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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
borghe said:
so the real question will be, "do Beowulf and Star Trek Season 2 hold"
Click to expand...

I would be surprised if Paramount, if they comeback, will really continue to output on HD-DVD. Only thing that scuppers that is contractual commitment on the part of Toshiba...but they have to get themselves out of the contract to release on BD anyway.

It's confusing. If they have to get themselves out of the contract why would they continue to release on HD-DVD? I'd expect sales to start tanking soon enough. Maybe they release on both and spend nothing on advertising the HD-DVD version.

What are the street dates for those titles? If they are >2months out then I expect no release...unless they already made the discs. Their big blockbusters of the year (Cloverfield) I would expect to see Blu-ray only.
 
L

Loudninja

Member
Blu-ray Hardware Is Outselling HD DVD 20-1 Now.
In order to better assess retailers' possible next moves, we contacted a variety of local Orange County, CA retail locations yesterday (including Best Buy and Circuit City stores, as well as Frys Electronics and a couple of specialty retailers) for an informal poll, and have learned that since Warner's decision on Friday, Blu-ray Disc hardware has begun outselling HD-DVD hardware dramatically, jumping from 3 to 1 early last week to a factor of roughly 20 to 1 (on average) over the weekend. Sales people are now more confidently recommending Blu-ray to their customers as the preferred of the two formats, and there have apparently been returns of HD-DVD decks. Said one Best Buy employee yesterday of HD-DVD: "We'll keep it around until it goes on clearance, but in a couple months, it probably won't be there anymore."
Click to expand...

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents
 
L

Laurent

Member
The Associated Press said:
Wife of Paramount Boss Files for Divorce

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The wife of Paramount Pictures boss Brad Grey has filed for divorce after 25 years of marriage.

Jill Grey cited irreconcilable differences in her Superior Court filing Tuesday. The Greys have an 18-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter.

Brad Grey became chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures in 2005, tasked with reviving Paramount after the studio struggled through several box-office flops under previous leadership.

His producing credits include the "The Larry Sanders Show" and "The Sopranos." He also produced films such as "The Wedding Singer," "Scary Movie" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

Grey has been questioned as a witness by the FBI and testified before a federal grand jury in the case against Anthony Pellicano, the private eye accused of wiretapping celebrities and others to help clients in legal disputes.

Grey has denied any wrongdoing and a spokeswoman said he is not a target in the investigation.

Prosecutors have been interested in two lawsuits filed against Grey in which his attorney, Bert Fields, used the services of Pellicano.

Calls to the Greys' attorneys were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Click to expand...
Even she can't understand why he wouldn't switch back his company to Blu-ray...
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Onix said:
You must be joking?


The center speaker is BY FAR the most important speaker for movies.
Click to expand...

absolutely. I only had a limited budget recently, so chose a good 5.1 system and then upgraded the center
 
C

Christoff Yurievich

Member
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
avaya said:
No. Sales wouldn't have been 3:1 the previous week if it included PS3.
Click to expand...

20 to 1. WOW!!!!!! Even priced lower HD-DVD couldn't sell their hardware in the Christmas season of all times.
 
O

OokieSpookie

Banned
To be honest I think right now Toshiba is more worried about keeping appearances long enough where they do not have to take a hit for even more returns than they already are.

I honestly can not imagine a company seriously keeping this going, their shareholders have to be throwing a fit.
 
A

avaya

Member
The relative 20:1 isn't really significant for me. That's just the HD-DVD consumer confidence collapsing. What's important is how much Blu-ray hardware sales grew vs. the previous weeks. That's the biggy. Outselling HD-DVD is not an achievement now.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Laurent said:
People are buying used HD-DVD on eBay instead?
Click to expand...


Why all of a sudden? And if what you say is true wouldn't that pissed off the CE makers of HD-DVD hardware?
 
B

border

Member
Onix said:
Wow ... what a house of cards HD DVD has become.
Click to expand...
Problem is that consumers of HD media are just very media-conscious newshounds. If a more mainstream technology were about to die, it'd probably take months for the sales to show it. I'm still astounded though, by just how quickly the sales have tanked.
 
C

Christoff Yurievich

Member
20:1 in a small area in LA? Come back when it's over a larger area.
The film was released on both DVD and HD DVD on November 13, 2007. The DVD was released in separate pan and scan and 1.78:1 widescreen formats (being the first DreamWorks Animation film to be reformatted from its original ratio of 1.85:1 to 1.78:1).[9] The HD DVD and DVD special features[10] include several deleted scenes, features, trailers, commentary, music videos, and exclusively on the HD DVD version, some web enabled and HDi Interactive Format features such as a special trivia track, a movie guide, and an interactive coloring book which can be downloaded as of street date.[11] [12]

The film and special features on the HD DVD version were presented in 1.85:1 widescreen high definition 1080p and feature a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio soundtrack. [13]
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so I was looking on wikipedia (school is back in session only I'm not in school, my wife is, so I'm bored) and noticed this. why did they re-frame it for DVD but not for HD-DVD?
 
L

Laurent

Member
bune duggy said:
in other news, I think your avatar would be better if it faded from red to blue, given the circumstances. :)
Click to expand...
Maybe...

And talking about yours, aren't you pissed at the DVD cover for that movie? Why fix something that ain't broken?
 
O

OokieSpookie

Banned
As has been said, the 20:1 is nice and all but what matters is the fact that even before the Warner news blu stand alones were outselling hd stand alones.
There is no way to spin that away.
 
C

Christoff Yurievich

Member
Laurent said:
Maybe...

And talking about yours, aren't you pissed at the DVD cover for that movie? Why fix something that ain't broken?
Click to expand...
it's Disney for Pete's sake...they always find a way. Have you seen the Flight of the Navigator DVD release?

The-Flight-of-the-Navigator.jpg


Flightofnavigatorpost.jpg
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
Onix said:
You must be joking?


The center speaker is BY FAR the most important speaker for movies.
Click to expand...

Not always. Not in Van's case. As I said in my previous post, if he's going to sit on axis with the front speakers, he's good to go if he just buys a pair of good quality fronts - for now. Because his receiver will downmix all the center channel information to his fronts. The center is critical when you sit off axis or the room is just big. With a "phantom center" in an off axis seating position, there's a mode drop of gain along with frequency spikes and the entire front soundstage just collapses and sounds off. This is where the Center is critical.

His speakers as we speak are very entry level and I cannot recommend just upgrading the center (which is what I was replying to). A better solution would be to ditch the left and right and upgrade with better speakers and then get a timbre matching center from the same brand. Or purchase a good surround package.
 
KZObsessed

KZObsessed

Member
What do people think of Pan's Labyrinth? Just ordered it on a whim. It looked quite interesting and had great reviews.

Also has anyone seen Eastern Promises? I didn't like A History of Violence, which I believe is done by the same people, but the trailer looked very good. Thought I might blind buy it when it comes out on Blu.
 
P

polyh3dron

Banned
FFObsessed said:
What do people think of Pan's Labyrinth? Just ordered it on a whim. It looked quite interesting and had great reviews.

Also has anyone seen Eastern Promises? I didn't like A History of Violence, which I believe is done by the same people, but the trailer looked very good. Thought I might blind buy it when it comes out on Blu.
Click to expand...
Both are amazing movies IMO.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
FFObsessed said:
What do people think of Pan's Labyrinth? Just ordered it on a whim. It looked quite interesting and had great reviews.
Click to expand...
My favourite movie of 2006. I now own four copies of the damn thing :lol

Plus the HD version looks and sounds stunning. It's gone straight in as one of my favourites.
 
C

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
border said:
"Speaker discussion" is about to outdo "CD vs. Vinyl discussion" for most annoying thread subtopic ;)
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Really its not, the only other thread even close to this one is the Hi definition new gen thread which is mostly for TV's, and most of the audio guys do frequent this thread.
I would make recomendations for van but he couldnt read it anyway. :lol

65746.jpg

Oh Oh Oh is this coming to america? Or is this an import of some kind?
I want a lot of Weinsteins titles!
 
The Main Event

The Main Event

Member
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-01-07-dvd-sales-slippage_N.htm
Code: 
[B]No. of discs sold in 2007:[/B]

Blu-ray: 5.7 million (64% or $172.8 million)
HD DVD: 3.2 million (36% or $97.2 million)

[B]Discs sold since inception:[/B]

Blu-ray: 6.1 million (62%)
HD DVD: 3.7 million (38%)

Source: Redhill Group

Code: 
[B]Top-selling high-definition discs of 2007 (through 12/30/07)[/B]

1. 300 (both/Warner): 472,400
2. Planet Earth: The Complete Series (both formats/BBC Video): 294,300
3. Transformers (HD DVD/Paramount/DreamWorks): 239,100
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Blu-ray/Disney): 219,300
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (both/Warner): 179,500
6. The Departed (both/Warner): 171,800
7. Casino Royale (Blu-ray/Sony): 169,800
8. Bourne Ultimatum (HD DVD/Universal): 162,300
9. Spider-Man 3 (Blu-ray/Sony): 145,300
10. Ratatouille (Blu-ray/Disney): 117,500

Source: Redhill Group

Don't know if it's been posted.
 
The Main Event

The Main Event

Member
http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_Universal_expected_to_deny_Bluray_rumors/1199974983

2:00 pm ET January 10, 2008 -- The HD DVD Promotional Group is expected to release a statement this afternoon refuting claims that Universal is jumping ship to Blu-ray.

While it's not clear what the statement will say, HD DVD indicated at CES that it still had full support from Paramount and Universal -- the last two major Hollywood studios to be backing the format exclusively.

However, without actual exclusive contracts in place, Universal could still decide to switch allegiances in the future.

It's not clear what led to the Variety claims, but they follow similar rumors reported by the Financial Times -- and later disputed by the studio -- that Paramount would go Blu-ray only.

Sources close to the matter say that neither Variety or the Financial Times bothered to contact HD DVD for confirmation before publishing the rumors
Click to expand...

Well, let's see what they'll have to say.
 
E

Elios83

Member
The Main Event said:
http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_Universal_expected_to_deny_Bluray_rumors/1199974983

2:00 pm ET January 10, 2008 -- The HD DVD Promotional Group is expected to release a statement this afternoon refuting claims that Universal is jumping ship to Blu-ray.



Well, let's see what they'll have to say.
Click to expand...


If true they're just desperately trying to avoid a sales collapse of their products in the upcoming days/weeks (which would be the real final deathblow, the market acknowledges the format is dead). Too late for that and they're not going to convince anyone unless they have something concrete to announce, something like "Universal has just renewed their exclusive contract with us, Paramount cannot escape their contract and will stay HD-DVD exclusive for the rest of the year". Too bad it will be something like "Universal and Paramount currently plan to continue to support HD-DVD only"
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Elios83 said:
Too bad it will be something like "Universal and Paramount currently plan to continue to support HD-DVD"
Click to expand...
fixed. there is no way they would be so bold as to say only. the writing is on the wall, and backing your position isn't anything new. but just flat out lying would be seen as a bad move by most. almost suicidal.

the best HD-DVD can do now (which until they hear otherwise from the studios) is say that they still have Paramount's and Universal's full backing, which as I said they should assume until told otherwise by those companies.

However with the exclusitivity now lapsed with both companies, saying "they're releasing HD-DVD only" is well outside of their right to say. they would get slammed if they did that.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
The Main Event said:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-01-07-dvd-sales-slippage_N.htm
Code: 
[B]No. of discs sold in 2007:[/B]

Blu-ray: 5.7 million (64% or $172.8 million)
HD DVD: 3.2 million (36% or $97.2 million)

[B]Discs sold since inception:[/B]

Blu-ray: 6.1 million (62%)
HD DVD: 3.7 million (38%)

Source: Redhill Group

Code: 
[B]Top-selling high-definition discs of 2007 (through 12/30/07)[/B]

1. 300 (Blu-ray/Warner): 472,400
2. Planet Earth: The Complete Series (both formats/BBC Video): 294,300
3. Transformers (HD DVD/Paramount/DreamWorks): 239,100
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Blu-ray/Disney): 219,300
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (both/Warner): 179,500
6. The Departed (both/Warner): 171,800
7. Casino Royale (Blu-ray/Sony): 169,800
8. Bourne Ultimatum (HD DVD/Universal): 162,300
9. Spider-Man 3 (Blu-ray/Sony): 145,300
10. Ratatouille (Blu-ray/Disney): 117,500

Source: Redhill Group

Don't know if it's been posted.
Click to expand...

So last year along the HDM sold almost $300 million worth of disc. That's ALOT for the first real year of HD movies.
 
K

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
avaya said:
That has to be a error. Look at how Planet Earth is counted.
Click to expand...
You might be right - If it's true that the BD version of 300 outsold the HDDVD version 2:1 (as keeps getting mentioned in this thread), then the HDDVD version should still have made the top ten.
 
R

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
DarkJediKnight said:
Not always. Not in Van's case. As I said in my previous post, if he's going to sit on axis with the front speakers, he's good to go if he just buys a pair of good quality fronts - for now. Because his receiver will downmix all the center channel information to his fronts. The center is critical when you sit off axis or the room is just big. With a "phantom center" in an off axis seating position, there's a mode drop of gain along with frequency spikes and the entire front soundstage just collapses and sounds off. This is where the Center is critical.
Click to expand...

I dont' recall him saying he was planning on using phantom mode on his receiver. If so, fine. If not, then I disagree with your points.

Regardless of whether you are on or off axis, the reality is that the majority of audio in a movie sountrack is mixed to the center speaker. I don't recall the number but something like 60% of audio is coming from your center.

If it sucks, your system will sound like garbage.

His speakers as we speak are very entry level and I cannot recommend just upgrading the center (which is what I was replying to). A better solution would be to ditch the left and right and upgrade with better speakers and then get a timbre matching center from the same brand. Or purchase a good surround package.
Click to expand...

Ah. I was not implying to go center-only ... If he plans to only to only do some ... he should at least do the front 3.
 
A

avaya

Member
kaching said:
You might be right - If it's true that the BD version of 300 outsold the HDDVD version 2:1 (as keeps getting mentioned in this thread), then the HDDVD version should still have made the top ten.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's an error, I remember reading initial sales figures for 300 of 170k BD, 80k HD-DVD just a week or two after release.
 
C

Christoff Yurievich

Member
avaya said:
No. Sales wouldn't have been 3:1 the previous week if it included PS3.
Click to expand...
was thinking about this during lunch - yes, it's possible because the sample is so small. For those stores polled, sales increased to 20:1. This practically has to include the PS3 with that kind of ratio.
 
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