HD format war gets big shock

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Shripad

Shripad

Herald
In what could be the telling blow in deciding which HD format war will have a future, Warner Bros has said that they will exclusively back BlueRay from now on.
Honestly this comes as shock. Now we will be forced to buy uber expensive blue ray hardware bugged with revision / feature restriction issues or buy a PS3 :|
HD DVD players had become really cheap in last few months. I seriously hope Warner rethink this stand. This could result in less sales for them overall.

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES2008-01-04 20:22:49 GMT (Reuters) (Reuters) — Time Warner's Warner Bros. studio Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20% of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5% in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8% to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Reuters | Sony | News Corp | DVDS | Time Warner | Viacom

News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, and Lionsgate are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom's Paramount studios and General Electric's NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited.
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Source : Warner Bros. will back only Blu-ray - USATODAY.com
 
You know, I think this will have an effect, but what is more likely to have an effect is if Steve Jobs puts Blu-ray into Macs. That will pretty much finish off all arguments because HD-DVD isn't standard on PCs.. but if all (or many) Macs get it, then even non-Mac people will think it is the way to go.
 
only way hd dvd could get the mileage is if lg, liteon & benq start to supply hd rw drives for comps at around same price as dvd writers are sold now
 
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Lionsgate (LGF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Paramount studios and General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.
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Source: Breaking News, World News, Business & Finance News | Reuters.com

Looks Like HD DVD got pwned big time !!!
 
Heard about that a couple of weeks ago... great news for PS3 owners.. but it's still fairly old news :D It's pretty huge though, this helps to tip the scales quite dramatically.
 
6pack said:
only way hd dvd could get the mileage is if lg, liteon & benq start to supply hd rw drives for comps at around same price as dvd writers are sold now
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In about 2 yrs HD DVD drive and Blu-Ray wud be the std..

And abt 1 in every 10 homes in Cosmos and Metros wud've a PS3 most prolly... :D

Suhweet..

But too bad of Warner Bros...
 
I dont see that happening in India. Gaming devices are still considered waste of cash by most parents today.

Anyway, I dont see this ending so easily. Microsoft is behind HD DVD with its 40 billion $ liquidity cash. If M$ decides to get agressively behind HD DVD they could very well smother BR. They are soo big that they can buy the support for HD DVD if it comes to that :P

What will happen if Microsoft decides the next windows7 release to be distributed on HD DVD with some sort of HD DVD bundle / coupon? That will end it right there :P
 
Funky said:
What will happen if Microsoft decides the next windows7 release to be distributed on HD DVD with some sort of HD DVD bundle / coupon?
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im guessing they will get sued for abusing their monopoly as always :)

in any case, pricing notwithstanding, i am a fan and supporter of sony/bluray due it being superior tech IMO. sony has always developed cool tech, i've been a fan since i was old enuff to read :)

plenty of superior tech some of which failed in the market :)

betamax, trinitron, cdr (worm discs), compact disc players, mini disc, 3.5 inch floppy, bluray, the walkman, NT digital microtape, playstation/psp, aibo etc...

too bad they are being thrashed in the market/sales by cheaper companies/products like samsung etc... and their drm/rootkit fiasco...

they even lost some disgruntled employees (old senile management i guess) to apple who went on to develop cool products like the ipod and macbooks...
 
meh this is going to end up like the DVD-A vs SACD debate. Everyone will get x264/ DivX HD rips and live happily ever after :P
 
greenhorn said:
meh this is going to end up like the DVD-A vs SACD debate. Everyone will get x264/ DivX HD rips and live happily ever after :P
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to get the rips we need the original content :P

And who needs to buy these.

I still prefer renting DVDs as DVDs are still considerably better to watch than 700MB Rips.

Same with HD, I have 300 HD DVD and also 8GB Rip and there is daylight difference between the quality. We say we experience HD by downloading these rips but honestly there is noticeable difference in visual quality. Its just that most of us dont see the original content output to notice ;)

ABout BR laptop query. Well you can customize your dell XPS series lappies withhBR Drive for marginal cost of just Rs. 26,000/- additional nice deal eh? :rofl:
 
Funky said:
ABout BR laptop query. Well you can customize your dell XPS series lappies withhBR Drive for marginal cost of just Rs. 26,000/- nice deal eh? :rofl:
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I dont need one dood... :hap5:

Was jus curious about Riv's lap...:P
 
Also I think Dell never managed to make a Vista driver for it.... at least originally they hadn't. Funny thing is, Vista with its support for DRM is actually what these guys want to be able to play Blu-ray...

EDIT: Nope, they seem to have fixed it.
 
Funky said:
to get the rips we need the original content :P

And who needs to buy these.

I still prefer renting DVDs as DVDs are still considerably better to watch than 700MB Rips.

Same with HD, I have 300 HD DVD and also 8GB Rip and there is daylight difference between the quality. We say we experience HD by downloading these rips but honestly there is noticeable difference in visual quality. Its just that most of us dont see the original content output to notice ;)
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only those who really care will be involved in this battle. In the , say beta vs VHS battle , everyone was involved , because they were the only alternatives. But right now , the general public will remain content with the rips , they dont care whether it comes from an HD DVD or a BD. The only people who are taking sides are the first adopters , and the people for whom the difference matters. right now we have DivX DVD players, and eventually h264 will follow. for most people , thats all that matters..
 
SONY WINS! But at what cost i wonder? As long as consumers benefit from this, i hope everything goes well.
 
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