Warner Bros to back Blu-ray DVD format exclusively

[faraway.]

Game over. The Future is Blu.

[Zab]

Life will move on my PS3 will play Blu all i need now is LOTR Special Extended Edition Box Set BLU-RAY DISC PACK!!

Thats all I care about (WOOT THE HOBBIT EN ROUTE FOR 2010!!!

[Huleboeren]

Sweet!

What major studios are still supporting HD-DVD exclusively?

Its time they join the darkside :alien:

[randomnut]

This is a real kick in the nuts, especially as HDDVD is clearly the better format (Like your extras and artifact-free video, anyone?). I hope HD can pull something out and quickly, otherwise my collection is going on ebay :(

[tunafish]

Untill DVD all suddenly just stop being made i wont be getting any new gen player any time soon.

However all those people saying those who backup their content are pirates etc, ever thought of the fact sometimes disks can get scratched/broken?

I always rip my DVDS to my home server and store the master DVD in my DVD collection box, and will only get it out if i need to.

I then will just use the content from my server to play it. I would also like to point out that the SERVER is a LAN server so its NOT sharing the CONTENT on the net.

I also copy my DVDS so when i go on train trips or to other countrys i got a region free dvd that i can pop into the local dvd player there etc and also play on my laptop as well.

Did this when i went to the USA and the cable was on the blink.

[DrCheese]

People who are saying this is bad for consumers overall are nuts. I've said that yes its very bad for those who've already invested in a library but some posters speak as if BD players are going to be $300+ forever which just won't happen. Now there is pretty much only one format there will be decent competition between CE companies to get the price down as quick as possible.

Long term this is a good thing for consumers, it would have been pathetic to see the format war go on yet another year. If Warner had jumped to HD-DVD themselves it would have been a 50/50 split which would have made it even worse. Now the retail market can push a single format massively with confidence.

artifact-free video, anyone?

*slaps* For the 100th time, that's down to the codec's used for that film, not the format of the disc. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray can use the same codecs and there is pretty much zero visual difference between the two when they do use the same codec on a disk. The only reason some early BD releases were poor was because they used mpeg2 on a BD 25 disk which wasn't enough.

[xirtam]

nice, blue-ray ftw!

Found some more related news :)

HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement!

the HD DVD group is canceling its CES press conference; tail severely between legs over today's explosive news that Warner -- the last "undecided" studio -- was going to the other side and doing Blu-ray discs exclusively. We're not sure if that's because the HD DVD group was in 11th hour negotiations with Warner or what, but the mood at that camp has to be beyond somber right now, so it's pretty hard to thump the tub when you've just been dealt a hard losing hand.

Update: Toshiba, masters of the HD DVD format, just issued a press release expressing their "particular disappointment" with Warner, also implying that the move to go Blu-ray exclusive is actually in breach of contract.

Update 2: Doing a little victory dance of its own, Blu-ray is touting its CES presence as "Best Booth of All Time".

Read more at source Edited January 5, 2008 by xirtamdbml

[Julius Caro]

No, it's not that.. it's the fact that I'm buying a feature limited product for more money. That's why.

It's like buying a car with no hi-fi system in there, no sattelite radio etc. And you are paying more for not having those. And if you want to see how this looks like, then you have to pay even more.

Please tell me you don't realize that's what Blu-Ray is at this point. We'll see, but I don't think we'll see $99 Blu-Ray players for YEARS to come. One way or the other.

When you go and buy things do you say hey even though I can get more for my money, I'll pay even more and get less because I might not need it. It's a very narrow way of looking at things that has no real touch with reality. I'm sure you don't do that in real life, but you are just supporting that attitude now because it suits your Blu-Ray support thing.

And I agree with many people that I've taked to now. High-def market is doomed now. There is not mass adoption at $300 prices and by the time they lower the prices to acceptible <$200 HD VOD and services like hi-def downloads will take over completely.

Warner made the worst possible move they could.

As consumers we've been screwed big time.

Some people live in denial (not you, I mean, in other forums, lol). I was expecting players from both sides to sell enough units to prevent any other studio for going anything but neutral. That was the only way the consumer could have "spoken", making it less attractive to any studio to ignore the user base of the other format.

This isn't any more anti-consumer than Paramount going HD-DVD exclusive back in August. It's the same deal. The consumers weren't given any choice at all in this war. "Cheaper prices" is not a choice, as it is a no-brainier. "Region free" is also not a real advantage to US consumers, since the place were movies are cheaper is the US. ANd china did have its own region particularities anyway.

I wish someone defined "consumer friendly" to me. BD+ is a joke, as is AACS and any layer of DRM both formats could have. I hope they get cracked, if they aren't already. Not only that, but I DO Hope for a court to rule anti anti-copy measure is illegal. BD+ purpose is exactly the same as AACS purpose, and HD-DVD also has that one too. If BLu-ray is anti-consumer for adding BD+, it's not like HD-DVD was consumer-friendly because it didn't have it. They obviously thought it didn't provide any advantage over AACS (and they were right). In that area, both are anti consumers.

So, right on to the next point. Features. There are four things that some people care about when buying a movie:

- price

- picture quality

- audio quality

- extras

Price/extras usually go together, as some people seem to pay more to get more extras.

Anyway, you'll find that the only thing people care about IS price. Either to get the extras-less cheaper movie or to get the get-more-for-your-money extras-packed dvd.

Picture quality and audio quality, both formats can achieve amazing things in these areas. Sure, BD has more bitrate, but the PQ advantages remain to be seen, especially with LONG movies.

As for the profiles, consumers have every right to be angry if their players can't play certain features. I still consider PiP and "on-line" features to be useless. Not because they are, or because I want to justify BD. In fact, I got the ps3 because I thought that was the only BD player that could be upgraded to Profile 1.1 or 2.0. In a few years, we'll see that all movies will pack comparable features. Today, most of them have those boring audio commentaries. And online features? Probably all will link to the same page, with the same content, because its easier for them to maintain one website for the years to come, than many individual websites depending on the title. Another thing to note is that no one should be forced to have internet or to have a router next to the standalone player to enjoy a movie. So this next-gen interactivity, as beautiful as it sounds, is not something that is going to be used by all those millions of people.

Now, the price. BD, as of today, is more expensive, at least on the hardware side. But it all makes sense. BD has had more CE companies selling BD compatible products than HD-DVD. Nobody could compete with toshiba because the players were extremely cheap. I suppose toshiba get royalties on HD-DVD technologies, right? So they could risk lowering the prices, to maximize titles sold and make up for the income they don't get on players.

On sony's side, had sony done the same, BD would have lost support of all the other companies. That's why the main CEs weren't releasing entry-level HD-DVD players, because they simply couldn't compete with toshiba in a cost-effective manner.

Now, if HD-DVD is out of the picture, and High def media becomes mainstream, the CEs will no longer be competing "together" against HD-DVD, but all against each other. So prices will have to come down, as we've seen happened with cds, dvds, etc. Blu-ray is not inherently more expensive, in the not-so-long run, prices will be as cheap as dvd. The only thing was, HD-DVD could have been dirty cheap in the short term. But that advantage to the companies didnt translate into an advantage to the consumer. The chose to mimic BD software prices, so they got higher profit margins. Hardly consumer-friendly.

[Allan]

I'll wait for the next generation. Sony's done me wrong three times in the past, I don't wish to use anything they support.

Congrats to Blu-Ray though

[Bhav]

I'll wait for the next generation. Sony's done me wrong three times in the past, I don't wish to use anything they support.

Congrats to Blu-Ray though

You say that now, but if Blu-ray wins, then you'll have no choice but to use it if you want to buy a movie in high definition on a disc. You can't seriously suggest that you'll completely skip out this generation of HD because you don't like Sony lol.

[#Michael]

I personally don't care who wins. I just want one hidef format so that I can start updating my dvd collection and starting saving for a hidef tv.

This is like the old cdr battle, took forever for a standard to come out.

[goji]

Now, the price. BD, as of today, is more expensive, at least on the hardware side. But it all makes sense. BD has had more CE companies selling BD compatible products than HD-DVD. Nobody could compete with toshiba because the players were extremely cheap. I suppose toshiba get royalties on HD-DVD technologies, right? So they could risk lowering the prices, to maximize titles sold and make up for the income they don't get on players.

Absolutely. Keep it in the family to keep prices down.

On sony's side, had sony done the same, BD would have lost support of all the other companies. That's why the main CEs weren't releasing entry-level HD-DVD players, because they simply couldn't compete with toshiba in a cost-effective manner.

All speculation of course, but its surprising the level of disorganization HD-DVD group may have had. Though their product was "complete" from day one, the same couldn't have been said in their success at mustering long term support and a marketing program that even matched Blu-Ray's.

Now, if HD-DVD is out of the picture, and High def media becomes mainstream, the CEs will no longer be competing "together" against HD-DVD, but all against each other. So prices will have to come down, as we've seen happened with cds, dvds, etc. Blu-ray is not inherently more expensive, in the not-so-long run, prices will be as cheap as dvd. The only thing was, HD-DVD could have been dirty cheap in the short term. But that advantage to the companies didnt translate into an advantage to the consumer. The chose to mimic BD software prices, so they got higher profit margins. Hardly consumer-friendly.

Problem. Now that there is no competition by another format, if they wanted to, Blu Ray could jack up the royalty fees on these players though nothing is for sure. However, since Sony is still tied up in a console war with MS, and their console happens to be one of the most, "economical" players on the market, Sony has already shot itself in the foot with any other CE company wishing to sell a player in the same ballpark cost.

[TruckWEB]

However, since Sony is still tied up in a console war with MS, and their console happens to be one of the most, "economical" players on the market, Sony has already shot itself in the foot with any other CE company wishing to sell a player in the same ballpark cost.

At $399, not only the PS3 is the lowest Blu-Ray player (Profile 1.1), it's also... a gaming console! Even if Sharp, Samsung, Pioneer, .... dropped the price of their Blu-Ray player to $399, it's still too much for only a player when you can get a gaming console for the same price! Those other player would have to be $299 to be of some value. Higher than that and I would still go for a PS3.

And I'm talking about newer player, Profile 1.1 device. Don't quote the price of Profile 1.0 device, those should be on fire sale soon.

[kak]

Heck, the 20GB was on sale @ Toys-R-Us for $299 a week ago. That is very affordable to the current market [early adopters who have money to burn].

[MGS4-SS]

MIchael Bay is a prophet.

[Ayepecks]

MIchael Bay is a prophet.

I like his movies, but I think the man's an idiot.

[goji]

At $399, not only the PS3 is the lowest Blu-Ray player (Profile 1.1), it's also... a gaming console! Even if Sharp, Samsung, Pioneer, .... dropped the price of their Blu-Ray player to $399, it's still too much for only a player when you can get a gaming console for the same price! Those other player would have to be $299 to be of some value. Higher than that and I would still go for a PS3.

And I'm talking about newer player, Profile 1.1 device. Don't quote the price of Profile 1.0 device, those should be on fire sale soon.

Absolutely which further confounds Sony's position and participation in this next gen format. No matter how flashy and gimmicky the new HD formats really are, there is NOTHING that says "buy me" knowing full well the history of these formats.

I'm waiting on the next "big" thing that will replace Blu Ray. I imagine the wait won't be to long :rofl:

[theyarecomingforyou]

I'm waiting on the next "big" thing that will replace Blu Ray. I imagine the wait won't be to long :rofl:

Considering Sony owns a lot of studios and the rest have all invested a lot in this current generation of HD formats I think you'll be waiting a long time. I was never happy with the quality of DVDs from the time I first played on in my computer and felt the format was rushed but HD seems to be a sweet spot... there's plenty of room for improvement in the future but it won't be as apparent. Now that TVs are much bigger HD is a must but most rooms can't fit in 60" displays so an increase in resolution isn't very important - increased framerates are also unnecessary and most content is filmed at less than 30fps anyway. Still, I'm sure in 10yrs time they'll find a way to market the next upgrade and we'll all lap it up.

[rajputwarrior]

I like his movies, but I think the man's an idiot.

i agree with that 100%

[American Ninja]

Blu FTW! Sweet! :)

More Blu news:

Michael Bay: "Blu-ray is Just Better"

New Line Shifts to Blu-ray Exclusivity

:D

[Tech Star]

New Line Shifts to Blu-ray Exclusivity!

Following Warner's lead, sister company New Line has confirmed that it will support Blu-ray Disc high def releases exclusively. New Line has previously delayed their day-and-date new releases on HD DVD due to the format's lack of region coding, effectively making titles such as Shoot 'em Up, Hairspray, and Rush Hour 3 exclusive to Blu-ray. Although a 2008 release slate for the studio has not been released, an announcement may be possible at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=808

[Julius Caro]

*crosses finger for universal to cave in too*

[spenser.d]

Thank god.

Granted I'd rather HDDVD would've won, but I'm just glad that the war will finally end.

-Spenser

[ctebah]

wow new line joining blu-ray. crazy, things are getting worse for hd-dvd day by day.

[Boz]

wow new line joining blu-ray. crazy, things are getting worse for hd-dvd day by day.

wow what a shocker, since they are the same company :rolleyes: