Warner Bros. Goes Blu-ray Disc Exclusive!

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=40650

This could be the final blow necessary to put an end to the HD format war. Thoughts?

That will probably do it.

In the last 2 weeks, I've had 3 regular DVD players break in my house (just really bad luck). I was contemplating making the leap to buy a PS3, rather than buy a crappy, and soon to be outdated DVD player in the interim. This is furthering the tilt towards that purchase.

I don't care, since I still don't have an HDTV, and I have a large collection of DVD's, and I have to reason to replace them yet.

IMO, by the time they do come out with a format winner, they'll be on their way to another format war; seems like VHS hung around for a long time, DVD not as long, and HD-DVD/BR, who knows.

That will probably do it.

In the last 2 weeks, I've had 3 regular DVD players break in my house (just really bad luck). I was contemplating making the leap to buy a PS3, rather than buy a crappy, and soon to be outdated DVD player in the interim. This is furthering the tilt towards that purchase.You should do it.

The PS3 is a very good blu ray player compared to stand-alone players, and as an upscaling standard def DVD player, it is also good. In the latter regard, it compares very well to my Oppo upconverting DVD player, which is one of the better DVD players out there. The PS3 gets a bad rap, and to be fair the game selection is currently very poor, but it is a very good DVD/Blu Ray player. Very high quality machine. Once the games start coming out, it'll be even better.

As far as the format war is concerned, I don't think HD DVD will be completely eliminated, but Blu Ray has a decided edge, even more so with this news. I know it's anecdotal, but the Blu Ray section has been 2-3x as large as the HD DVD section in every DVD store I've been to.

I don't care, since I still don't have an HDTV, and I have a large collection of DVD's, and I have to reason to replace them yet.

IMO, by the time they do come out with a format winner, they'll be on their way to another format war; seems like VHS hung around for a long time, DVD not as long, and HD-DVD/BR, who knows.

You dont have to replace your DVD's Blue Ray players play regular DVD's and upconvert if you have an HD tv. Well the ps3 does it anyway.

And I dont see an other format war for a long time. It costs money and the blue ray discs have enough capacity to handle the requirements of HD TV.

Blu-ray is definantly leading the way! I wish one would just go away by now.

Kinda wishing I didn't buy that HD-DVD player now...I'd return it, but I also got a ton of HD-DVDs too...Just too much of a hassle now.

The majority of people still have HD-DVD players though...and everyones got DVDs. The article says HD-DVDs will continue to be produced for Warner Bros until May 2008. Is everyone going to be happy to go out and buy yet another disc player? This also gives the 'other side' enough time to plan something new.

Either way I'd say this is far from over. I don't own an HD-DVD player or a blu-ray player personally..I just wish everyone would make up their minds.

Just get a player that plays both. Problem solved.

I don't care, since I still don't have an HDTV, and I have a large collection of DVD's, and I have to reason to replace them yet.

IMO, by the time they do come out with a format winner, they'll be on their way to another format war; seems like VHS hung around for a long time, DVD not as long, and HD-DVD/BR, who knows.

This is exactly how I feel. I do have an HD TV though, just not at all interested in upgrading my DVD player, and I think we are in the majority.

I refuse to invest in a new format until there is only one of them reigning supreme. I refuse to invest in two formats to watch a god damn movie.


Until then I'll happily continue to use DVDs.

The majority of people still have HD-DVD players though...and everyones got DVDs. The article says HD-DVDs will continue to be produced for Warner Bros until May 2008. Is everyone going to be happy to go out and buy yet another disc player? This also gives the 'other side' enough time to plan something new.

Either way I'd say this is far from over. I don't own an HD-DVD player or a blu-ray player personally..I just wish everyone would make up their minds.

If people bought HD-DVD or BR players, and the other format wins, well that's their fault for being an early adopter, movie companies aren't going to feel bad for them.

Same went for Beta/VHS. That's why I think a lot of people are waiting this format war out; let the format fanboys, and early adopters blow their loads, and when dust settles, there will be a HD format standard.

Sony might have guessed right by including BR in the PS3 - it may be a ****** game console, but it's a decent media center, barring HD-DVD doesn't end up destroying BR in the end.

The majority of people still have HD-DVD players though...
What numbers are you looking at to reach that assessment? HD-DVD might have the lead in stand-alone players but they certainly don't have the lead if you include PS3s. Granted not everyone buys a PS3 to play Blu-Ray movies but it seems pretty likely that a large number of individuals are using it for that purpose given the large lead Blu-Ray has over HD DVD when it come to sales figures.

If anything, a "majority" of people have players capable of playing Blu-Ray discs.

It's looking like Blu-Ray might win this format war but I'm still waiting to see if anyone actually truly wins a decent share of the market in the long-term. Both sides are fighting over a tiny portion of the consumer movie market right now and plain old DVDs are still dominating the scene. It's debatable whether HD movies will ever catch on with the mass public (although the numbers should rise as HD TVs become more standard in households).

It's debatable whether HD movies will ever catch on with the mass public (although the numbers should rise as HD TVs become more standard in households).How is it debatable? The only thing stopping HD movies from having a larger market share is the amount of people who don't own HDTVs. Unless people all of the sudden stop buying HDTVs, the market share for HD movies will continue to grow. Given enough time, it will be the standard.

I don't watch too many movies produced by Warner Brothers, so this really doesn't effect me. BTW what's the difference between an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player? I've gone on to some forums and people debate over it like it's a same-sex marriage issue. I got an HD DVD player because it was much cheaper than Blu-ray (I got it for $250 and the lowest price I saw for Blu-ray was like $500). So, what differences are there between the two systems?

Waiting for the dual format players to come down in price; it's cheaper to buy one of each then the combo players at this point.

I'm don't watch too many movies produced by Warner Brothers, so this really doesn't effect me. BTW what's the difference between an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player? I've gone on to some forums and people debate over it like it's a same-sex marriage issue. I got an HD DVD player because it was much cheaper than Blu-ray (I got it for $250 and the lowest price I saw for Blu-ray was like $500). So, what differences are there between the two systems?Blu Ray discs have a larger storage capacity, but to my knowledge that's the only real important technical difference. The thing that will separate the two formats is film selection and studio backing.

The format war is basically over. Don't be surprised to see moves by Paramount and/or Universal in the next few weeks (if not sooner, next week is CES) towards publishing on Blu-ray. I wouldn't be shocked if Toshiba packed it in and sold what they can to Sony & company. The only thing that could save HD DVD is Microsoft and that's looking less and less likely.

Amazon is offering $10 Blu-rays the last couple weeks. Eventually with a small surcharge, Blu-ray can compete with DVD. Not sure if it can overtake it, but this is no SACD/DVD Audio.

If people bought HD-DVD or BR players, and the other format wins, well that's their fault for being an early adopter, movie companies aren't going to feel bad for them.

Same went for Beta/VHS. That's why I think a lot of people are waiting this format war out; let the format fanboys, and early adopters blow their loads, and when dust settles, there will be a HD format standard.

Sony might have guessed right by including BR in the PS3 - it may be a ****** game console, but it's a decent media center, barring HD-DVD doesn't end up destroying BR in the end.

Some of us didn't have much of a choice...SD looks like trash on big screen HD TVs, we had to pick one...I picked the cheaper one.

Getting a $400 PS3 was a no brainer for me. Altho I never played on consoles before and I dont expect to become a console gamer that much.

But having bought an HDTV I wanted to a DVD player that would upscale my DVD's. I wanted the new Movies I bought to be HD. I wanted a media center so I could listen to music and watch divx movies. And that was the PS3. It just turns out I can play games on it and now I'm eagerly waiting for a strange game called "Little Big Planet" to come out some time late next year(altho I had no idea the game would exist before I bought the console). Add to that the fact that I was and am still under the impression that blue ray will win. It also didnt hurt that I knew a couple of guys who bought PS3's not long before me.

I don't watch too many movies produced by Warner Brothers, so this really doesn't effect me. BTW what's the difference between an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player? I've gone on to some forums and people debate over it like it's a same-sex marriage issue. I got an HD DVD player because it was much cheaper than Blu-ray (I got it for $250 and the lowest price I saw for Blu-ray was like $500). So, what differences are there between the two systems?

I only know of two things and dont take them at face value.
1. Capacity (Altho I dont know if matters at this point)
Blu-ray 25/50GB
HD DVD 15/30GB
2. Cost
HD DVD is cheaper.

Getting a $400 PS3 was a no brainer for me. Altho I never played on consoles before and I dont expect to become a console gamer that much.

But having bought an HDTV I wanted to a DVD player that would upscale my DVD's. I wanted the new Movies I bought to be HD. I wanted a media center so I could listen to music and watch divx movies. And that was the PS3. It just turns out I can play games on it and now I'm eagerly waiting for a strange game called "Little Big Planet" to come out some time late next year(altho I had no idea the game would exist before I bought the console). Add to that the fact that I was and am still under the impression that blue ray will win. It also didnt hurt that I knew a couple of guys who bought PS3's not long before me.

Hahah, I'm in the exact same boat... Got a HDTV so I immediately sprung for the PS3 when the price dropped....

I have the following movies on bluray so far:

Cars
Ice Age Meltdown
The Departed
Blood Diamond
Spiderman 3 (came w/ PS3)

I also upgraded to high end receiver...

A few weeks ago I was doing some of the latest articles on the format war' and I remember eating that bluray dvd (not players) have outside hd dvd's by a ratio of 3:1... It was something like 3.x million to 1.x million....

Just wait for whatever the pornindustry standard becomes, worked with VHS .:D

Just wait for whatever the pornindustry standard becomes, worked with VHS .:D
Porn is an internet-driven industry at this point so it isn't likely going to be the king maker like it was last time around. In any event, porn sided with HD DVD from almost day one and it has had a very small impact on the overall format war.

The HD-DVD group has cancelled their CES press conference FWIW.

I'm seriously considering returning my HD DVD player now...I probably can, at Best Buy. Only problem is I cut out the UPC from the box to get those 5 free DVDs from Microsoft...But I can tape it back on I figure. Think BB will still take it back? I threw away some of the plastic packaging but otherwise everything is still there, including the free DVDs.

I would also have to return my DVDs from amazon, which are in delivery.

Sony paid 500 million for this deal.

Just get a player that plays both. Problem solved.

The problem with that approach is that you still have to buy media for one format. And if that format happens to be the one that loses, you're stuck with the format because the later versions of players might not be supported. Heck, if this war is over early, hybrid players might cease to be made since they're more expensive to produce.

HD DVDs don't really interest me all that much. The only thing that would make me want it is when George Lucas releases the mega Star Wars set and it is only Blu-Ray. Otherwise I'm happy with my DVDs.

I'm just gonna keep my HD DVD player, it wasn't expensive anyways.

This Blue Ray and HD-DVD is just another way to get money out of people. I have an HDTV and when I watch a regular DVD the pictures looks great. I'm not going to waste another couple hundred dollars for a minor upgrade in quality.

I still have a crap load of old VHS movies as well. I'm not just going to get rid of them and replace them with DVD's for the hell of it. Replacing them all would cost hundreds of dollars and in another 5-10 years another format will come along and replace HD-DVD/Blue Ray anyways so what's the point?

well i'd say that hddvd is done for now.

walt disney was already exclusive to bluray, and that was huge, but now you also have the harry potter series exclusive to it as well.

all the parents out there buying that stuff for their kids alone is enough to kill off hddvd i would think.

with warner you also get the matrix series, 300, batman begins, i am legend, etc.

yeah i'd say hddvd is dead. i just wish universal would come over to bluray. i really want to see 'jaws' in hi def.

i think i'll pick up 'evil dead 2' tonight on bluray. it's one of my faves. now i can feel better about buying more bluray stuff. i was starting to wonder if it'd be a waste.

i only own a few so far ...

300
reservoir dogs
click

2 questions about blu ray:

1) Can they play normal DVD's?

2) Do you see a difference in picture/sound quality if your TV only supports up to 1080i?

2 questions about blu ray:

1) Can they play normal DVD's?

2) Do you see a difference in picture/sound quality if your TV only supports up to 1080i?

My belief is that regular, stand-alone bluray players cannot play SD DVD's....

However, if you grab a PS3 for $399, you can play bluray DVD's as well as upscale SD DVD's to HD quality....

I was watching Training Day today on my PS3 and the picture looked fantastic... SD DVD... Plus with the PS3 you have the luxury of firmware updates!

2 questions about blu ray:

1) Can they play normal DVD's?

2) Do you see a difference in picture/sound quality if your TV only supports up to 1080i?

The PS3 plays normal DVD'S but I dont know about regular DVD players. It also plays Divx and WMV videos and others are on the way with updates.

The visual quality is better. But the main advantages are that you have more audio formats of better quality on the DVD and the movies that were on 2 DVD now fit on one.

My belief is that regular, stand-alone bluray players cannot play SD DVD's....

However, if you grab a PS3 for $399, you can play bluray DVD's as well as upscale SD DVD's to HD quality....

I was watching Training Day today on my PS3 and the picture looked fantastic... SD DVD... Plus with the PS3 you have the luxury of firmware updates!

Any Blu-ray player out there will play standard DVDs. Not only play them, but upconvert them to a hi-def resolution (making them look a bit better).

It may be possible that one day some Blu-ray player won't play regular DVDs. But I think it's highly unlikely that day will ever come.

2 questions about blu ray:

1) Can they play normal DVD's?

2) Do you see a difference in picture/sound quality if your TV only supports up to 1080i?

1) yes

2) Mostly yes. Movies have 24 frames per second. 1080i means your 1080 picture is split in half with alternating halfs coming to your TV 60 times per second. So basically your TV gets a full picture 30 times per second, so no info from the movie that's shot in 24 frames per second is not coming at you. Very few TVs are 1080i (most are 720p or 1080p). Some players are 1080i, so you might want to double check what specs you have.

Sony paid 500 million for this deal.

There's strong rumors that Sony gave out financial incentives (not direct cash). So far no credible source has cofirmed the number to be that large. But it may be true, but that's what companies do through leverage against each other.

I'm not going to waste another couple hundred dollars for a minor upgrade in quality.Depending on your TV, the difference in quality between Blu-Ray and and standard def DVDs is significant.

Both are ****. Blu Ray has size, while HD has slightly better quality and top notch compression... woohoo! Now onto the fun stuff...

Everyone here is saying 'majority', 'won', and 'came out on top'.... I have said it before and i'll say it again...

WHAT THE **** DID THEY WIN?

And the answer? 3% video market share! WOOOHOO! Crack open the champagne Sony! You got 3%! Multi billion dollar investment, been 3 years, you got the 3%! YEAH! While HD has the other 2 percent if i recall... YEAH! Both formats royally ****ed up this whole thing...now the funny thing? If a new format came out tomorrow, guess what? It could give Sony a run for their money... Thats how sad this whole thing has gotten... Sony even with their Blu Ray PS3 cant even crack a 3 percent market share of video sales... sad.

And yes the industry insiders are saying anything for 400-600 million paid to Warner, to incentives, to it only being a 1 year exclusive deal.

The funny thing? Warner helped develop HD DVD and is a member of the DVD Consortium... The same group that funded and developed HD DVD... I guess literally anyone can be bought.

So yes, HD DVD is probably dead, and good riddance. Next Blu Ray will fizzle away in 3-5 years and a new format will be out. The industry HATES Blu Ray due to the expensive licensing fees and the high cost of manufacturing due to that special 'powder' you have to sprinkle on the DVDs... heh, love that. But throw them money and they will side with it. While HD DVD had less players sold (due to the PS3), so why side with it? This whole thing was a 'lesser of two evils' thing and for the moment Blu Ray is on top.

Lets compare this whole situation to when DVDs were first released... oh wait nothing is similar since that was done, essentially perfect in a business and development sense. Though it was about to crash due to (take a guess...) Sony and Toshiba making 2 different High Capacity formats (SuperDensity and MultiMedia), but IBM stepped in and said 'Whoa thats ****ed up, lets unite this **** and do it right!'. Once that happened the only problem was getting the industry to side with it due to them being scared about piracy. Once they saw some form of copy protection, it blew up.

Both are ****. Blu Ray has size, while HD has slightly better quality and top notch compression... woohoo! Now onto the fun stuff...

Everyone here is saying 'majority', 'won', and 'came out on top'.... I have said it before and i'll say it again...

WHAT THE **** DID THEY WIN?

And the answer? 3% video market share! WOOOHOO! Crack open the champagne Sony! You got 3%! Multi billion dollar investment, been 3 years, you got the 3%! YEAH! While HD has the other 2 percent if i recall... YEAH! Both formats royally ****ed up this whole thing...now the funny thing? If a new format came out tomorrow, guess what? It could give Sony a run for their money... Thats how sad this whole thing has gotten... Sony even with their Blu Ray PS3 cant even crack a 3 percent market share of video sales... sad.

And yes the industry insiders are saying anything for 400-600 million paid to Warner, to incentives, to it only being a 1 year exclusive deal.

The funny thing? Warner helped develop HD DVD and is a member of the DVD Consortium... The same group that funded and developed HD DVD... I guess literally anyone can be bought.

So yes, HD DVD is probably dead, and good riddance. Next Blu Ray will fizzle away in 3-5 years and a new format will be out. The industry HATES Blu Ray due to the expensive licensing fees and the high cost of manufacturing due to that special 'powder' you have to sprinkle on the DVDs... heh, love that. But throw them money and they will side with it. While HD DVD had less players sold (due to the PS3), so why side with it? This whole thing was a 'lesser of two evils' thing and for the moment Blu Ray is on top.

Lets compare this whole situation to when DVDs were first released... oh wait nothing is similar since that was done, essentially perfect in a business and development sense. Though it was about to crash due to (take a guess...) Sony and Toshiba making 2 different High Capacity formats (SuperDensity and MultiMedia), but IBM stepped in and said 'Whoa thats ****ed up, lets unite this **** and do it right!'. Once that happened the only problem was getting the industry to side with it due to them being scared about piracy. Once they saw some form of copy protection, it blew up.

It's in no one's interest to get new formats out this soon. It cost these companys alot of money right now. The DVD had a decent run. The only reason why there is a new format out is because of the emergence of HDTV. If it wasnt the case there would be no new format comming out. We just want one of the 2 HD formats to win as soon as possible so things can stabilize. I dont know why your crying like a little girl about it. Wether you like it or not there was going to be a new format out because regular DVDs couldnt contain the new HD formats. You seem verry bitter about it and I find that amusing.

Concur with znk...

Excellent! A great day indeed.

I just want to add, it is possible with blu-ray to stack 6 layers together totaling 200gb per disk. HD-DVD doesn't come close to this. Plus the new 6 layer disks would be playable on regular blu-ray players. The expansion of blu-ray is amazing, we shouldn't need another format for a long time.

Depending on your TV, the difference in quality between Blu-Ray and and standard def DVDs is significant.

Meh i'm sure it looks better but regular DVDs look fine to me. I'm sure I will get one of these fancy new DVD players one day once they become standard but i'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars for one of them.

I'm sure i'll end up purchasing a Playstation 3 eventually. I'm going to wait it out though there's not really any games I want to play for it and its too expensive right now. That's pretty much the only way I would buy one of these new DVD players.

It's in no one's interest to get new formats out this soon. It cost these companys alot of money right now. The DVD had a decent run. The only reason why there is a new format out is because of the emergence of HDTV. If it wasnt the case there would be no new format comming out. We just want one of the 2 HD formats to win as soon as possible so things can stabilize. I dont know why your crying like a little girl about it. Wether you like it or not there was going to be a new format out because regular DVDs couldnt contain the new HD formats. You seem verry bitter about it and I find that amusing.

Are you sure about that dude? Beta, VHS, DVD, HD-DVD, Blue Ray. That's 5 different movie formats all in my lifetime. Any way these people can find new ways to make money they will do it. That's why I refuse to upgrade to a new format because its all just a way to screw the average person.

Mark my words - Within 10 years you'll see another format come out. It would be naive to think otherwise.

I will live with my good ole' dvds. Cheaper and just fine for me.

New Line just went over to Blu-Ray as well...

http://kotaku.com/341033/new-line-goes-blu+ray

Both are ****. Blu Ray has size, while HD has slightly better quality and top notch compression... woohoo! Now onto the fun stuff...

Everyone here is saying 'majority', 'won', and 'came out on top'.... I have said it before and i'll say it again...

WHAT THE **** DID THEY WIN?

And the answer? 3% video market share! WOOOHOO! Crack open the champagne Sony! You got 3%! Multi billion dollar investment, been 3 years, you got the 3%! YEAH! While HD has the other 2 percent if i recall... YEAH! Both formats royally ****ed up this whole thing...now the funny thing? If a new format came out tomorrow, guess what? It could give Sony a run for their money... Thats how sad this whole thing has gotten... Sony even with their Blu Ray PS3 cant even crack a 3 percent market share of video sales... sad.

And yes the industry insiders are saying anything for 400-600 million paid to Warner, to incentives, to it only being a 1 year exclusive deal.

The funny thing? Warner helped develop HD DVD and is a member of the DVD Consortium... The same group that funded and developed HD DVD... I guess literally anyone can be bought.

So yes, HD DVD is probably dead, and good riddance. Next Blu Ray will fizzle away in 3-5 years and a new format will be out. The industry HATES Blu Ray due to the expensive licensing fees and the high cost of manufacturing due to that special 'powder' you have to sprinkle on the DVDs... heh, love that. But throw them money and they will side with it. While HD DVD had less players sold (due to the PS3), so why side with it? This whole thing was a 'lesser of two evils' thing and for the moment Blu Ray is on top.

Lets compare this whole situation to when DVDs were first released... oh wait nothing is similar since that was done, essentially perfect in a business and development sense. Though it was about to crash due to (take a guess...) Sony and Toshiba making 2 different High Capacity formats (SuperDensity and MultiMedia), but IBM stepped in and said 'Whoa thats ****ed up, lets unite this **** and do it right!'. Once that happened the only problem was getting the industry to side with it due to them being scared about piracy. Once they saw some form of copy protection, it blew up.

HD DVD has the same compression codec as Blu-ray, so I don't see how the compression is better on HD DVD.

The whole point made by Warner was that 1 format was needed to better grow from that 3%. I'll agree that DVD may keep the majority of market share for many, many years to come. But at little to marginal cost premium (say in 5 years), there's little reason not to upgrade to Blu-ray for your HDTV unless you spend signficant time watching movies in the car or on a laptop (even then eventually Blu-ray will be cheap enough).

For those saying something else is coming around, at a 10ft viewing distance, you'll need an 80 inch screen to see any improvement. Maybe one day studios will release content at 4k (~4000) resolution, but unles you have a movie theater in your house, you probably won't care. DVD is too big to ever be eliminated completely. Expect all Blu-ray players to have full backward compatibility with DVDs.

I JUST got the HP series on HD-DVD and then this announcement comes out.........**** at least release the final two HP's on HD-DVD for the people who bought that and are now ****ed over. I have both a blu-ray (ps3) and HD-DVD (360 add-on) so in the end I was set, but still, people should have the choice and studios should just release movies in BOTH formats, that way the consumer wins and gets to choose. Porn decided Beta v.s VHS, but that won't happen this time as the internet takes away that business.

Who cares, digital downloads are so much better than either format.

Are you sure about that dude? Beta, VHS, DVD, HD-DVD, Blue Ray. That's 5 different movie formats all in my lifetime. Any way these people can find new ways to make money they will do it. That's why I refuse to upgrade to a new format because its all just a way to screw the average person.

Mark my words - Within 10 years you'll see another format come out. It would be naive to think otherwise.

Actualy you are talking about 3 phases.
VHS won the war agasint Beta.

Then they moved on to a digital media that was more reliable, wouldnt wear out like tapes and could handle things like 5.1 sound. That was DVD. That was just a step to go digital.

Now we are in a step to go HD. I dont see a reason for anything else at this time since the only reason for the upgrade now is media capacity.

Maybe it 10 years we'll see a new format come out...I dont know why but I guess it could happen...but I wont wait for that. I wont wait 10 years to save a couple of hunderd bucks.

Who cares, digital downloads are so much better than either format.

For those who have good internet connections with high download limits.

And I like the ability to just borrow DVD's from friends and stuff.

New Line just went over to Blu-Ray as well...

http://kotaku.com/341033/new-line-goes-blu+ray

Oh that's great. LOTR is a trilogy I want in HD.

Who cares, digital downloads are so much better than either format.

Downloading a hi def film would be out of the question for most people. There's still plenty of people out there with dial up.

Also, I think many like to have a hard copy, with nice box art work and extras, that they can archive and use whenever they want. It's nice to have a collection like that of films you really enjoy.

New Line just went over to Blu-Ray as well...

http://kotaku.com/341033/new-line-goes-blu+ray

new line is a warner company

Who cares, digital downloads are so much better than either format.

You must be crazy. Even people with a fiber optical connection would be waiting forever for one of these. If you download a blu-ray rip at 25gb+ thats still going to take forever. It is VERY unpractical right now.

Of course New-Line went Blu-Ray Exclusive..........Rush Hour 3 was only on Blu-Ray and that was a NL release.

Of course New-Line went Blu-Ray Exclusive..........Rush Hour 3 was only on Blu-Ray and that was a NL release.

New Line doesn't have full international rights to some of their films. HD DVD doesn't have region coding. So they had to delay day-and-date (recent) movie releases on HD DVD. That had little to do with predicting the Time Warner decision.

I'm buying a stand along blu-ray player anyway... quality much better than the PS3.

I'm buying a stand along blu-ray player anyway... quality much better than the PS3.

That would be a misconception. In fact it's propably still the best one out there and there is no reason why that would change since the firmware updates are frequent. It's the only player to my knowledge that was upgradable to Blu-ray Profile 1.1 certified.
http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?t=47627

And as stated earlier it's a media center....good luck geting a blue ray player that can play divx.

Porn is an internet-driven industry at this point so it isn't likely going to be the king maker like it was last time around. In any event, porn sided with HD DVD from almost day one and it has had a very small impact on the overall format war.
That and the porn industry hasn't fully switched to DVD at this point. Movies still come out on VHS. Plus does anyone really want to see porn chicks in HD?

I'm buying a stand along blu-ray player anyway... quality much better than the PS3.Actually, no, it isn't. The only stand-alone players that have a higher quality than the PS3 cost significantly more and the quality difference is negligible.

PS3 for blu-ray is the smart way to go. You not only get a movie player but a full stand alone media center too. Music, photos, videos etc, And games if you so choose.

Toshiba Defiant After HD DVD Setback (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080106/gadget_show_hd_dvd.html)

Actually, no, it isn't. The only stand-alone players that have a higher quality than the PS3 cost significantly more and the quality difference is negligible.

I'd rather spend the $1200.00 on the Pioneer Elite and get quality that is clearly better than the PS3. Negligible? Not really.

I'd rather spend the $1200.00 on the Pioneer Elite and get quality that is clearly better than the PS3. Negligible? Not really.

Go for it, it should be great.

I'd rather spend the $1200.00 on the Pioneer Elite and get quality that is clearly better than the PS3. Negligible? Not really.

I'd rather spend 400$ on the PS3 media center and use the extra $800 for other things...

But...to each their own I guess.

Toshiba Defiant After HD DVD Setback (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080106/gadget_show_hd_dvd.html)

I wonder when they'll take questions from the press? Will Universal or Paramount show up to CES? This is either over in 2 weeks or in 6 months, how much money does Toshiba want to lose on the way down?

I'd rather spend 400$ on the PS3 media center and use the extra $800 for other things...

But...to each their own I guess.

He just hates sony.

He just hates sony.

I gathered so much. This has to be unhealthy.

I gathered so much. This has to be unhealthy.

Very, a good dose of Vista and some playing on xbox live the last 2 weeks could fix that!

new line is a warner company
It's a sister company. The same can be said about HBO and BBC and it's not a forgone conclusion at this point that they both make the leap to Blu-ray.

It's a sister company. The same can be said about HBO and BBC and it's not a forgone conclusion at this point that they both make the leap to Blu-ray.


In 3 months all should be crystal clear I hope. Then the HD movie era can begin.

I'd rather spend the $1200.00 on the Pioneer Elite and get quality that is clearly better than the PS3. Negligible? Not really.

hehe ...i'm a big fan of pioneer, but you'd have to be nuts to pay that much. also, i bet there's hardly any difference in quality between the two. the ps3 always had good reviews as a bluray player ...even better now with divx/xvid support and bluray 1.1. it just keeps getting better and better.

He just hates sony.

Uh... that's why I own a Bravia right?

Oh and a Sony camcorder too... damn.

If I hated Sony so much I'm an idiot for spending $4500.00 on a Bravia for sure.

Much better alternatives than the PS3 out there for blu-ray... only PS3 fanboys can't see that.

hehe ...i'm a big fan of pioneer, but you'd have to be nuts to pay that much. also, i bet there's hardly any difference in quality between the two. the ps3 always had good reviews as a bluray player ...even better now with divx/xvid support and bluray 1.1. it just keeps getting better and better.

But it's much more important that he pays the extra $800. This he wins. ermmm wait....

But it's much more important that he pays the extra $800. This he wins. ermmm wait....

For something much better... why not?

You get what you pay for... the old saying goes.

Uh... that's why I own a Bravia right?

Oh and a Sony camcorder too... damn.

If I hated Sony so much I'm an idiot for spending $4500.00 on a Bravia for sure.

Much better alternatives than the PS3 out there for blu-ray... only PS3 fanboys can't see that.

Not being a console player my self I would realy like to know what advantages I would have to pay 3 times the price I did for my current media center. If you wouldnt mind sharing those alternatives and what are the advantages of each....since you apparently already did the work.

Not being a console player my self I would realy like to know what advantages I would have to pay 3 times the price I did for my current media center. If you wouldnt mind sharing those alternatives and what are the advantages of each....since you apparently already did the work.

I didn't do any work. I asked a friend to give me a few options because I've decided to pick up a stand alone ever since Sony paid 500 Million for Warner Bros. to go exclusive. I'm listening to this guy because he knows his stuff and I trust that he knows what he's talking about.

I never claimed to know tons about Blu-Ray and HD- DVD player differences. Just going off what I was told. I think I'll take the word of my bud over anonymous people here. Appreciated though.

Uh... that's why I own a Bravia right?

Oh and a Sony camcorder too... damn.

If I hated Sony so much I'm an idiot for spending $4500.00 on a Bravia for sure.

Much better alternatives than the PS3 out there for blu-ray... only PS3 fanboys can't see that.

This ps3 fanboy is playing the circle of doom demo on my 360 right now.

I didn't do any work. I asked a friend to give me a few options because I've decided to pick up a stand alone ever since Sony paid 500 Million for Warner Bros. to go exclusive. I'm listening to this guy because he knows his stuff and I trust that he knows what he's talking about.

I never claimed to know tons about Blu-Ray and HD- DVD player differences. Just going off what I was told. I think I'll take the word of my bud over anonymous people here. Appreciated though.

So you'll dish out $1200 without doing any of your own research ?

This ps3 fanboy is playing the circle of doom demo on my 360 right now.

That's great... get it fixed.

The 360 has problems... so what?

How quickly all the PS3 fanboys forget about the infamous disc read error. Hypocritical much?

So you'll dish out $1200 without doing any of your own research ?

No. I go to this guy for a first opinion, he gives me options and pros and cons for everything and then tells me to check it out myself.

Considering I basically built my entertainment center off this guy he knows what I'm working with and usually gives me the best advice. I'm more knowledgeable when it comes to the HDTV side of things and home theater.

That's great... get it fixed.

The 360 has problems... so what?

How quickly all the PS3 fanboys forget about the infamous disc read error. Hypocritical much?

KUF: circle of doom game demo :biglaugh:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/kingdomunderfirecircleofdoom/index.html

What disk error?

and http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_No_Payoff_for_Move_to_Blu-ray/1327

That's great... get it fixed.

The 360 has problems... so what?

How quickly all the PS3 fanboys forget about the infamous disc read error. Hypocritical much?

Jesus christ your ****ing paranoid.

KUF: circle of doom game demo :biglaugh:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/kingdomunderfirecircleofdoom/index.html

What disk error?

and http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_No_Payoff_for_Move_to_Blu-ray/1327

:help: You did that on purpose damn it! :rant:

PS2... Disc Read Error. Never heard of it? Surprising. Just find it humorous when the PS2 problem was just as bad as this 3 red lights of doom thing.

My bad.

Jesus christ your ****ing paranoid.

Oh really? Nah.

I like being opinionated though.

:help: You did that on purpose damn it! :rant:

PS2... Disc Read Error. Never heard of it? Surprising. Just find it humorous when the PS2 problem was just as bad as this 3 red lights of doom thing.

My bad.


Ha no, its the latest demo.

Oh really? Nah.

I like being opinionated though.

your first job is to be micro$oft's ***** and defend them to the bitter end though, right?

right.

Haha in this thread klaus is a micro$oft fanboy yet in the ps3 for sale thread he's labled a ps3 fanboy :help:

Uh... that's why I own a Bravia right?

Oh and a Sony camcorder too... damn.

If I hated Sony so much I'm an idiot for spending $4500.00 on a Bravia for sure.

Much better alternatives than the PS3 out there for blu-ray... only PS3 fanboys can't see that.

parents must be rich.

was that your xmas gift?

parents must be rich.

was that your xmas gift?

Considering I'm 19 and work two jobs.

Ignorant much?

what's this?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8d56c2a8-bc89-11dc-bcf9-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=e07cebf2-ba1c-11dc-abcb-0000779fd2ac,print=yes.html

'It was also unclear yesterday whether the other studios backing HD-DVD would change sides, although it is understood Paramount has reserved the right to switch its backing to Blu-ray.'

so that 150mil that tosh and microwhore spent for paramount to come over to hddvd might not matter? wouldn't that be a kick in the bag? yep ...another kick to an already swollen bag, that is.

of course, you know it's coming. no way universal and paramount stay with hddvd. universal will be the first of the two to switch, i would think.

your first job is to be micro$oft's ***** and defend them to the bitter end though, right?

right.

You really don'y bring anything to a discussion do you?
Haha in this thread klaus is a micro$oft fanboy yet in the ps3 for sale thread he's labled a ps3 fanboy :help:

Link? I want to see this. :biglaugh:

No. I go to this guy for a first opinion, he gives me options and pros and cons for everything and then tells me to check it out myself.

Considering I basically built my entertainment center off this guy he knows what I'm working with and usually gives me the best advice. I'm more knowledgeable when it comes to the HDTV side of things and home theater.

Here's the $100 question... Do you own a PS3 and have you auditioned this $1200 Pioneer stand alone Bluray player?

If not, I don't think you're really in a position to argue that the extra money is worth it.... $1200 is A LOT of money to invest on a HD player.... Especially for someone at 19.....

Many of us just feel that at the $100-$500 price point, you'd be hard pressed to find a bluray player with more features and more performance than the PS3.... Certainly not one that's capable of getting firmware updates that enable MORE FEATURES down the road....

I've only owned my PS3 for 1 month and I bought it predominantly as a bluray player... I'm not huge into console video games and will only play a few that interest me as they come along.... This machine is the real deal....

Found this on a Finnish forum, original source wasn't mentioned:

Since both formats launched in the spring of 2006, an estimated 4.98 million high-definition discs have been sold, including 3.01 million in Blu-ray and 1.97 million in HD DVD through the end of September, 2007.
However, those figures are dwarfed by the sales of regular DVDs. Combined, the two high-def disc formats accounted for only 2.5 % of overall disc sales during the first half of 2007. And although Blu-ray has sold more discs, the HD DVD group claims that the attach rate (the number of movies bought per player) is higher for HD DVD than for Blu-ray.

Found this on a Finnish forum, original source wasn't mentioned:

I'm fairly certain that DVD's had a really slow start in the first year or two of its inception before taking off three/fours year down the line. DVD players were available by 1997, but DVD sales and rentals didn't overtake VHS until 2003.

Found this on a Finnish forum, original source wasn't mentioned:

Oh that is completely true. HD-DVD owners are complete new gen DVD maniacs and bought tons on movies. All you need to look at is Planet Earth and see it outsold Blu-Ray 1.5/1. The attach rate is higher.

But those days could be over. One look at Amazon shows 4/5 of the top selling disks of any type are Blu-ray but they are Harry Pothead blu-ray disks at a great price. The last two days show the demise of hd-dvd doesn't take long to happen as if you look at this link:
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

You can see interest in HD-DVD has dropped off the planet by the graphs.

Disclaimer: The person that made this site did so to show trends but if you click on the movies and buy them they get kickbacks so DONT buy movies this way.

But it is one of the only good comparison sites.


I'm fairly certain that DVD's had a really slow start in the first year or two of its inception before taking off three/fours year down the line. DVD players were available by 1997, but DVD sales and rentals didn't overtake VHS until 2003.
It took DVD 2 years to go mainstream, and that was because of the ps2.

Much better alternatives than the PS3 out there for blu-ray... only PS3 fanboys can't see that.

Funnily enough, the cheapest Blu-ray player at Futureshop are still above 450 bucks. At some of the Chinese computer stores I go to, the cheapest Blu-ray player is about 220 bucks before tax.

For about double, people can purchase a PS3 that can:
a) Play video games
b) Have wireless internet connected through their console to their TV
c) Play a massive library of PS2 games
d) Play a slew of multiplatform games that have done well on the XBOX 360(e.g. Rock Band, NHL 08, soon to be GTA)
e) Exclusives like Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, and God of War
f) Download trailers or other stuff from Sony online for free on the HDD
g) Very easy and seamless firmware updates
h) Option to install any hard-drive I desire

I was on the fence about an XBOX 360 or PS3, but those reasons convinced me. I know I'm going to miss out on a couple games I really wanted to play, like Mass Effect or Gears of War. But my PS3 has become a fun and easy to use media center that IMO, has solid bang for your buck.

It took DVD 2 years to go mainstream, and that was because of the ps2.

Wouldn't that be four years then, because the PS2 took off by late 2001, while DVD players were on the market in the U.S. in 1997(Japan, 1996)?

c) Play a massive library of PS2 games


Make sure to mention ps2 games don't play on the 40 gig model, but who cares about ps2 games in 2008.


Wouldn't that be four years then, because the PS2 took off by late 2001, while DVD players were on the market in the U.S. in 1997(Japan, 1996)?

I thought DVD hit Japan wayy earlier? And I got my ps2 in dec 2000(my Uni grad present to myself). Need to do some research to when exactly DVD hit North America mainstream.

Woops yeah that was my bad. It was 2000, not 2001.

Anyways, I care about PS2 games. I've never had a console before, so classic games like God of War and Shadow of the Colossus are games that I'll definitely be playing. For non-PS2 owners like myself, it's nice to play some of the best games of the old which still look good.

And for PS2 owners, it means they can sell their old console(usually about $100) and keep their favorites. There are definitely some timeless games that people play years later. Hell, even I play Starcraft and Warcraft 3 now and then, and it's been more than a decade since the former was developed.

Here's the $100 question... Do you own a PS3 and have you auditioned this $1200 Pioneer stand alone Bluray player?

If not, I don't think you're really in a position to argue that the extra money is worth it.... $1200 is A LOT of money to invest on a HD player.... Especially for someone at 19.....

Many of us just feel that at the $100-$500 price point, you'd be hard pressed to find a bluray player with more features and more performance than the PS3.... Certainly not one that's capable of getting firmware updates that enable MORE FEATURES down the road....

I've only owned my PS3 for 1 month and I bought it predominantly as a bluray player... I'm not huge into console video games and will only play a few that interest me as they come along.... This machine is the real deal....

Indeed. I'd much rather put the extra money on a quality reciever then spend it all on the player. Maybe he's quite rich and dosent have to care about that. But most of us have to. I still have my old reciever...If I had an extra $800 I'd put it on that.

All you need to look at is Planet Earth and see it outsold Blu-Ray 1.5/1. The attach rate is higher.

Planet Earth was something of an anomoly. Actual Warner movies (not documentaries) leaned the other way. And though I'm unsure of the validity, there's a pretty strong theory that Oprah backing Planet Earth on tv and then having her website link to the HD DVD version was a confounder. Those attach rates get muddled by the PS3 having dual purposes.

I'd agree that HD DVD was the format of choice for big time movie collectors. But it was making little progress in actually catching Blu-ray in the marketplace and with the widespread support of manufacturers behind Blu-ray plus the edge in studio support, Blu-ray has had a pretty clear edge in most every area for the last year. HD DVD put up more of a fight that I expected and had some good aspects that has pushed Blu-ray to improve. But ultimately I still think a format war was a bad idea. The true format war (vs DVD) is just starting. I still have much more invested in DVD.

Downloading a hi def film would be out of the question for most people. There's still plenty of people out there with dial up.

Then they have other issues to worry about before considering what HD format to go to. Also, if your HD player is a ps3 or an xbox, you can't game on PSN or Live either if you don't have broadband, which really limits what you are getting out of your console.

Also, I think many like to have a hard copy, with nice box art work and extras, that they can archive and use whenever they want. It's nice to have a collection like that of films you really enjoy.

Box art and extras are nice, but not nearly as nice is the spontaneity of being in the mood to watch an HD movie, and then doing so 30 seconds later while it downloads onto your computer to be permanently yours.

You must be crazy. Even people with a fiber optical connection would be waiting forever for one of these. If you download a blu-ray rip at 25gb+ thats still going to take forever. It is VERY unpractical right now.

I have a cable modem, which I bet many people do as well, and when I want to see an HD flick off of xbox live, all I need to do is wait 30 seconds before I can start watching. While I watch, the video downloads to my HD, and completes downloading well before the movie is over. Though full 1080p movies will take a few hours to download, it shouldn't matter as long as people can watch the movie while it downloads.

Toshiba is going to sue Warner for breach of contract apparently. This is a sticky situation, Im still pissed about those Harry Potter's in HD I bought

Toshiba is going to sue Warner for breach of contract apparently. This is a sticky situation, Im still pissed about those Harry Potter's in HD I bought

They had no contract.

Though full 1080p movies will take a few hours to download, it shouldn't matter as long as people can watch the movie while it downloads.
Just how large are these files? Bandwidth is still a huge issue for those with high speed internet and I know I wouldn't be able to download many movies before going well over my monthly limit.

God, these companies don't realize what they're doing to themselves. They think they're going to get spoils once they defeat the other, but all they're setting themselves up for is cannabalizing each other with marketing. I can't stand format wars, it used to be just between hardcore nerds that you would see this crap, but now it's spread to the general populace. Just like... movies! And games! Stop arbitrarily enlisting yourself to some company's defense force. All the company wants is to take your money, you owe absolutely nothing to them that you should feel good or bad about which format or console or anything that you've purchased.

Oh that is completely true. HD-DVD owners are complete new gen DVD maniacs and bought tons on movies. All you need to look at is Planet Earth and see it outsold Blu-Ray 1.5/1. The attach rate is higher.



Actually I was trying to highlight how poorly Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have done compared to regular DVD.

God, these companies don't realize what they're doing to themselves. They think they're going to get spoils once they defeat the other, but all they're setting themselves up for is cannabalizing each other with marketing. I can't stand format wars, it used to be just between hardcore nerds that you would see this crap, but now it's spread to the general populace. Just like... movies! And games! Stop arbitrarily enlisting yourself to some company's defense force. All the company wants is to take your money, you owe absolutely nothing to them that you should feel good or bad about which format or console or anything that you've purchased.

The only interest we have in the format war is for it to end as soon as possible.

Actually I was trying to highlight how poorly Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have done compared to regular DVD.

But that's not realy an issue. And actualy I don tknow what the plans are for DVD. It might stick arround for many many years. HD is a progressive change. People who replace their TV's today often opt for HD. I dont think anyone HAS to move on to HD...It's still going to be done at a slow pace.

Just how large are these files? Bandwidth is still a huge issue for those with high speed internet and I know I wouldn't be able to download many movies before going well over my monthly limit.

Hard to tell, as there aren't many full 1080P movies out there for download right now. However, 720P stuff you download off of xbox live tends to be around 5 GB, so I would say 1080P movies would end up over 10 GB. I am talking only about the actual movie; alot of the space used on HD DVD and Bluray discs are added content (which there often is a ton of). And let me say this is heavy speculation by myself as there isn't a good movie downloading service around yet that serves up full 1080P HD movies.

Then they have other issues to worry about before considering what HD format to go to. Also, if your HD player is a ps3 or an xbox, you can't game on PSN or Live either if you don't have broadband, which really limits what you are getting out of your console.



Box art and extras are nice, but not nearly as nice is the spontaneity of being in the mood to watch an HD movie, and then doing so 30 seconds later while it downloads onto your computer to be permanently yours.



I have a cable modem, which I bet many people do as well, and when I want to see an HD flick off of xbox live, all I need to do is wait 30 seconds before I can start watching. While I watch, the video downloads to my HD, and completes downloading well before the movie is over. Though full 1080p movies will take a few hours to download, it shouldn't matter as long as people can watch the movie while it downloads.

There is no WAY in heck that you can stream 25gb of data in 2 hrs AND have it dl to your HDD within that time. You are talking about something else.

The majority of people still have HD-DVD players though...and everyones got DVDs.

I have a feeling you're looking at the figures that ignore all ps3 systems. Theres alot of data floating around that exclude the PS3 since its a gaming console. Obviously thats a huge mistake since there was a huge market out there for people using the system solely for movies (before the players price reduction).

That will probably do it.

In the last 2 weeks, I've had 3 regular DVD players break in my house (just really bad luck). I was contemplating making the leap to buy a PS3, rather than buy a crappy, and soon to be outdated DVD player in the interim. This is furthering the tilt towards that purchase.

Thats really your best bet. It is possible to get a player for as low as $260 with rebates. But I would say go with the ps3. Its always nice to have the option to play games for house partys or what not.

Toshiba is going to sue Warner for breach of contract apparently. This is a sticky situation, Im still pissed about those Harry Potter's in HD I bought

They could try, but they wont gain any ground. I already read an article over the weekend predicting Paramount and Universal will make annoucements over the next 6 months about switching to duel formats or moving to bluray camp. That will essentially seal the deal. But lets face it, as of now bluray has 70% which is more then whats needed to take over.

There is no WAY in heck that you can stream 25gb of data in 2 hrs AND have it dl to your HDD within that time. You are talking about something else.

When did I ever say you could? I said I watch 720P HD movies on my xbox while they are downloading, something that theoretically should still be possible when 1080P content is widely available for download. That is the key here, the satisfaction of being able to watch something I want, exactly when I want to. And also, though bluray discs are capable of 25 gb on the single layer, much of that space is occupied by content that isn't the actual movie.

But that's not realy an issue. And actualy I don tknow what the plans are for DVD. It might stick arround for many many years. HD is a progressive change. People who replace their TV's today often opt for HD. I dont think anyone HAS to move on to HD...It's still going to be done at a slow pace.

Considering that most people around the world still SD tvs, DVD isn't going anywhere soon.

As an owner of the HD DVD add-on for the 360 :surrender. I don't have too many movies, and will probably buy more when they are being blown-out (closer to the final bell of the format fight), but I have been seriously considering getting into the PS3/Blu-Ray market, and this is probably the news that will push me into it.

When did I ever say you could? I said I watch 720P HD movies on my xbox while they are downloading, something that theoretically should still be possible when 1080P content is widely available for download. That is the key here, the satisfaction of being able to watch something I want, exactly when I want to. And also, though bluray discs are capable of 25 gb on the single layer, much of that space is occupied by content that isn't the actual movie.

Video is less compressed and sound is less compressed. When you are talking about a 720P HD movie...Are you talking about a divx encoded one? Cause regular DVDs arent even 720P and you've got 4 gigs right there.

That might be your solution, but most non-techy people I've encountered, they don't use a computer hooked up to their television, but instead use a gaming console or DVD/HD/BD player.

Furthermore, bandwidth restrictions limit the amount of potential downloads that people can use.

On top of that, even if 720p programs are only 5GBs, that only allows for a few movies for someones gaming hard drive. I realize that you can expand the HDD's by yourself, but the majority of consoles will be vanilla.

I simply think the easiest route for most people will be buying an HDTV and BD/HD player, and as such, will be the more popular route.

Video is less compressed and sound is less compressed. When you are talking about a 720P HD movie...Are you talking about a divx encoded one? Cause regular DVDs arent even 720P and you've got 4 gigs right there.

I am not sure what encoding scheme the videos on live use. However, even DVDs have alot of added content that isn't the actual movie.

That might be your solution, but most non-techy people I've encountered, they don't use a computer hooked up to their television, but instead use a gaming console or DVD/HD/BD player.

That will change over time. In the beginning most people weren't downloading mp3s either, but that sure changed in a hurry.

Furthermore, bandwidth restrictions limit the amount of potential downloads that people can use.

Infastructure is also improving across the country, and more people are getting on fiber. That too I feel will increase over time.

On top of that, even if 720p programs are only 5GBs, that only allows for a few movies for someones gaming hard drive. I realize that you can expand the HDD's by yourself, but the majority of consoles will be vanilla.

I simply think the easiest route for most people will be buying an HDTV and BD/HD player, and as such, will be the more popular route.

Well a few things, one, do you really need to store the movie forever if you can start watching it whenever you want almost instantaneously? Two, it shouldn't only be for game consoles. Some people, like myself, have a media center pc in their home that is the hub for all digital content. I use my xbox as a media center extender accessing the files on the huge HD on my media center pc and my ps3 can do the same thing.

God, these companies don't realize what they're doing to themselves. They think they're going to get spoils once they defeat the other, but all they're setting themselves up for is cannabalizing each other with marketing. I can't stand format wars, it used to be just between hardcore nerds that you would see this crap, but now it's spread to the general populace. Just like... movies! And games! Stop arbitrarily enlisting yourself to some company's defense force. All the company wants is to take your money, you owe absolutely nothing to them that you should feel good or bad about which format or console or anything that you've purchased.Yeah, dude! Fight the power! Everyone who's purchased one of these players is just a slave to the corporate machine!

Or more like they just want to enjoy a good product. I don't see anyone here staunchly defending either company, but rather most people are making accurate observations on the state of the format war. Get over yourself.

Yeah, dude! Fight the power! Everyone who's purchased one of these players is just a slave to the corporate machine!

Or more like they just want to enjoy a good product. I don't see anyone here staunchly defending either company, but rather most people are making accurate observations on the state of the format war. Get over yourself.

He's making a good point and I don't sense any egotism from his post. Although I would say that most people are arguing out of a need to justify their own purchases to themselves rather than to defend a company.

Yeah, dude! Fight the power! Everyone who's purchased one of these players is just a slave to the corporate machine!

Well that's a gross misunderstanding of my point. Who said anything about fight the machine? I'm just saying don't take up arms on an internet forum in defense of the machine.

Personally, I'm just going to wait until they get their crap straight and decide which format is the format. This is VHS and Beta, and the fact that people like me are worried they'll adopt early and be stuck with 2008 Beta is probably losing them serious business.

A little off topic, but i didn't think this deserves a new one.

I watched Rush Hour 3 on Blu-Ray the other day. It was the first Blu-Ray movie i had seen. Did anyone else have a hard time adjusting to the picture the first time watching? Of course everything is so clear and real, but i got this feeling that the people looked like they were in front of a background. It's kind of weird and hard to explain. Am i missing something? Like when i watch tv in HD i don't get that feeling but that movie did.

A little off topic, but i didn't think this deserves a new one.

I watched Rush Hour 3 on Blu-Ray the other day. It was the first Blu-Ray movie i had seen. Did anyone else have a hard time adjusting to the picture the first time watching? Of course everything is so clear and real, but i got this feeling that the people looked like they were in front of a background. It's kind of weird and hard to explain. Am i missing something? Like when i watch tv in HD i don't get that feeling but that movie did.

I know it looked gorgeous in blu-ray but 4 posts about it that are word for word? C'mon man hahaha jk

Well that's a gross misunderstanding of my point. Who said anything about fight the machine? I'm just saying don't take up arms on an internet forum in defense of the machine.

Personally, I'm just going to wait until they get their crap straight and decide which format is the format. This is VHS and Beta, and the fact that people like me are worried they'll adopt early and be stuck with 2008 Beta is probably losing them serious business.

It's past that. The Blu-ray has won, unless something MAJOR happens, I don't see any recovery for HD.

Looks to me like everyone bashing the blu-ray are people who own the 360 and are trying to justify their purchase.

It's past that. The Blu-ray has won, unless something MAJOR happens, I don't see any recovery for HD.

Looks to me like everyone bashing the blu-ray are people who own the 360 and are trying to justify their purchase.

You can have a 360 and not be an HD-DVD supporter you know. According to execs; paramount might be deciding to use it's out clause with HD-DVD

I know it looked gorgeous in blu-ray but 4 posts about it that are word for word? C'mon man hahaha jk

I apologize for that. HF wasn't working for me when i tried to post it. Looks like it did, i just didn't see it. Anyway, fixed.

And now this: http://www.nmeinc.com/

Can store up to 100 GB...

And now this: http://www.nmeinc.com/

Can store up to 100 GB...

No one is going to buy this player.........it's between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. This format you've listed is the Ross Perrot of HD formats.

You can have a 360 and not be an HD-DVD supporter you know. According to execs; paramount might be deciding to use it's out clause with HD-DVD

It was denied by all parties.

The thing that might hurt Blu Ray in the end is how they keep coming out with new profiles for it. Right now they're at 1.1 but when 2.0 comes out, all the current Blu Ray players will be obscelete (except maybe the PS3) and can't be upgraded because it's a hardware issue.

So if you spent $1000+ on a Blu Ray player...Yeesh.

It was denied by all parties.


http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzconsume0110,0,7743524.story

Sounds like Paramount will be making a decision over the next 4 weeks.

A little off topic, but i didn't think this deserves a new one.

I watched Rush Hour 3 on Blu-Ray the other day. It was the first Blu-Ray movie i had seen. Did anyone else have a hard time adjusting to the picture the first time watching? Of course everything is so clear and real, but i got this feeling that the people looked like they were in front of a background. It's kind of weird and hard to explain. Am i missing something? Like when i watch tv in HD i don't get that feeling but that movie did.

Maybe its the tv you watched it on? I own this movie and didnt notice anything weird.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzconsume0110,0,7743524.story

Sounds like Paramount will be making a decision over the next 4 weeks.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aQMGgh2LV_bU&refer=japan

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DreamWorks/Paramount/CES_2008/Paramount/DreamWorks:__Still_Supporting_HD_DVD_[UPDATED]/1345

It won't happen. It'll cost them $150 million to get out of the contract in any case...It'll take YEARS to make that money back selling Blu Ray disks...Many years more than the length of the contract.

Maybe its the tv you watched it on? I own this movie and didnt notice anything weird.

You will notice this effect watching movies on a 160 Hz LCD TV.

The thing that might hurt Blu Ray in the end is how they keep coming out with new profiles for it. Right now they're at 1.1 but when 2.0 comes out, all the current Blu Ray players will be obscelete (except maybe the PS3) and can't be upgraded because it's a hardware issue.

So if you spent $1000+ on a Blu Ray player...Yeesh.

Actually thats wrong, they made the blu-ray specifically to be able to be upgraded through firmware updates alone. Plus they are saying the current blu-ray players will still be able to utilize the 6 layer disks (200gb) with just the firmware update.

Actually thats wrong, they made the blu-ray specifically to be able to be upgraded through firmware updates alone. Plus they are saying the current blu-ray players will still be able to utilize the 6 layer disks (200gb) with just the firmware update.

Source?

Source?

Well there was this from some time ago.
http://p2pnet.net/story/9748
p2pnet.net News:- TDK, which has been selling a rewritable 25GB Blu-ray disc since the beginning of the year and recently announced a 100-gig prototype, says it’ll be shipping a rewritable 50-gig Blu-ray disc this week.

And it’s already working on a prototype 200GB disc big enough to hold 18 hours of high-definition video, says vnunet.com.

“The 200 gig test disc stores 33.3Gb on each of six layers on a single-sided disc, whereas the 100 gig prototype stores 25Gb on four layers,” says HDTV UK.

“Both are still within the tolerances of the Blu-ray playback specifications.”

Actually thats wrong, they made the blu-ray specifically to be able to be upgraded through firmware updates alone. Plus they are saying the current blu-ray players will still be able to utilize the 6 layer disks (200gb) with just the firmware update.

No Blu Ray players on the market are 2.0 compatible.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aQMGgh2LV_bU&refer=japan

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DreamWorks/Paramount/CES_2008/Paramount/DreamWorks:__Still_Supporting_HD_DVD_[UPDATED]/1345

It won't happen. It'll cost them $150 million to get out of the contract in any case...It'll take YEARS to make that money back selling Blu Ray disks...Many years more than the length of the contract.

second link doesnt work.. Where do you see anything about it costing 150 mil for them to pull out? Ive read a ******** of articles over the past week about this and have only seen this mentioned:

Paramount can defect because a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp allows the studio to switch to Blu-ray if Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. dropped its support of Toshiba's standard

Well there was this from some time ago.
http://p2pnet.net/story/9748

I think that's something else.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9808376-7.html

second link doesnt work.. Where do you see anything about it costing 150 mil for them to pull out? Ive read a ******** of articles over the past week about this and have only seen this mentioned:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/B/Barnes,%20Brooks

$150 million is what they got to go HD DVD exclusive. They can buy out the contract, not simply pull out and keep the cash.

Click here for the link that didn't work (http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DreamWorks/Paramount/CES_2008/Paramount/DreamWorks:__Still_Supporting_HD_DVD_[UPDATED]/1345)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/B/Barnes,%20Brooks

$150 million is what they got to go HD DVD exclusive. They can buy out the contract, not simply pull out and keep the cash.


But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified.

The incentives will come in a combination of cash and promotional guarantees. Toshiba, for instance, will use the release of “Shrek the Third” as part of an HD DVD marketing campaign.

After reading that, it doesnt sound like they will be hurt much at all if they pull out. they werent handed $150 million, they were giving financial incentives which could be a number of things. And it sounds like it wasnt an immediate thing. For all we know they couldve only recieved 1/4 of those incentives to date.

After reading that, it doesnt sound like they will be hurt much at all if they pull out. they werent handed $150 million, they were giving financial incentives which could be a number of things. And it sounds like it wasnt an immediate thing. For all we know they couldve only recieved 1/4 of those incentives to date.

That's still $150 million is potential revenues they'd be losing.

In order to make up that money, they'd have to sell quite a few Blu Ray disks...Considering how expensive they are to manufacture, let's assume a liberal estimate of $10 profit on each disk. There are only around 1 million BRD players out there...It's going to take a long time to make that money up, alot longer than the 18 month committment they made with Toshiba.

I'd like to know how long Warner and the others are exclusive to Blu-Ray for......because HD-DVD will stand as long as Universal and Paramount stay, which they're on for another year....if it's around the same length, who's to say that the other companies might see the market trend going towards HD-DVD's and won't change to the HD format??

That's still $150 million is potential revenues they'd be losing.

I think thats where the disconnect is.. you seem to think 150 million in financle incentives is 150 in revenue. Theres a huge difference between the two and its not nearly the lose you seem to believe it is. The one example they gave was a marketing campaign for Shrek the Third. So they can basically say, we spent 12-15 million marketing this HDDVD for Paramount (between commericals, print and online advertising) for free and considering that part of the 150 mil incentive deal. Thats money that wouldnt have to be returned due to the release of the movie in hd format and success of the campaign.

Im willing to bet that more then half of that 150 wasnt used yet and that Paramount wouldnt be responsible for any cash spent on promoting existing releases they put out in this format.


I'd like to know how long Warner and the others are exclusive to Blu-Ray for......because HD-DVD will stand as long as Universal and Paramount stay, which they're on for another year....if it's around the same length, who's to say that the other companies might see the market trend going towards HD-DVD's and won't change to the HD format??

WB just made the move. Theres no other road and I can guarantee they wouldnt move back to HDDVD after pulling out. Bluray movie market has been outselling HD for well over a year now and its not even close. 3-1 and 2-1 are the numbers I keep seeing.

WB just made the move. Theres no other road and I can guarantee they wouldnt move back to HDDVD after pulling out. Bluray movie market has been outselling HD for well over a year now and its not even close. 3-1 and 2-1 are the numbers I keep seeing.

Paramount made the move in September on a 18 month contract if they renew it after that time and Warner's contract is around 18 then maybe they can switch after their 18 months. It all depends on how the consumer goes from here, if they still back HD or not. It's a long shot, but it's possible and that's what HD has to hold out for.

I'd like to know how long Warner and the others are exclusive to Blu-Ray for......because HD-DVD will stand as long as Universal and Paramount stay, which they're on for another year....if it's around the same length, who's to say that the other companies might see the market trend going towards HD-DVD's and won't change to the HD format??

Problem is, how is HDDVD going to do that? They were outsold all year by BR films since the PS3 came out and BR and HD standalones were about 50/50 for the holiday season despite HD being $100 cheaper and having their $99 HDDVD players.

This year CES, Toshiba didnt release any new players for the upcoming year, heck they spent only 5 min on HDDVD, mostly recapping the year (no other company makes standalone HDDVD players, the others are rebadged Toshibas)

and which studio would switch?
Sony/Columbia/MGM - forget it
Fox - loves BD+
Disney/BV - was seen as BR's strongest supporter all year
LionsGate - really cant say

and any studio switching to HD now would prolong the war, which what they dont want

No Blu Ray players on the market are 2.0 compatible.

Anything purchased after Oct31 07 is required to handle 2.0 via firmware update. All Ps3's can support it as well.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/9477/10501/Disney-announces-BD-Live-Blu-ray-discs.phtml

Anything purchased after Oct31 07 is required to handle 2.0 via firmware update. All Ps3's can support it as well.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/9477/10501/Disney-announces-BD-Live-Blu-ray-discs.phtml

I think its better to say any player that has been released after Oct 31 can handle it (since Profile 1.0 players can still be purchased today lol)

I think its better to say any player that has been released after Oct 31 can handle it (since Profile 1.0 players can still be purchased today lol)

Yup my bad. :biglaugh:

I think thats where the disconnect is.. you seem to think 150 million in financle incentives is 150 in revenue. Theres a huge difference between the two and its not nearly the lose you seem to believe it is. The one example they gave was a marketing campaign for Shrek the Third. So they can basically say, we spent 12-15 million marketing this HDDVD for Paramount (between commericals, print and online advertising) for free and considering that part of the 150 mil incentive deal. Thats money that wouldnt have to be returned due to the release of the movie in hd format and success of the campaign.

Im willing to bet that more then half of that 150 wasnt used yet and that Paramount wouldnt be responsible for any cash spent on promoting existing releases they put out in this format.




WB just made the move. Theres no other road and I can guarantee they wouldnt move back to HDDVD after pulling out. Bluray movie market has been outselling HD for well over a year now and its not even close. 3-1 and 2-1 are the numbers I keep seeing.

this post is spot on

There was no $150 million check written last August. I'd bet MOST of the deal was in advertising and discounts on production. If HD DVD is dying off, what is the worth of advertising your HD DVD discs and getting cheap prices to make your discs? Not $150 million. Several reports now have indicated that the deal was full of opt-outs. What is it worth for Paramount to cheaply produce HD DVDs, get free advertising on them, and then have them not sell? They could actually be losing money by continuing this "payout". Not to mention that prolonging this war might continue to harm regular (standard) DVD sales.

Where we are now is Paramount evaluating how to use their opt-out and Universal probably waiting until they can opt-out in February with both studios considering whether to go neutral vs Blu-ray exclusive. Both studios likely have concerns about not getting charged at the highest rate to produce Blu-rays (like say small studios would have to pay). So they'll use what little leverage they have left to get some small discount on Blu-ray production. Expect the process to take days to weeks.

Problem is, how is HDDVD going to do that? They were outsold all year by BR films since the PS3 came out and BR and HD standalones were about 50/50 for the holiday season despite HD being $100 cheaper and having their $99 HDDVD players.

This year CES, Toshiba didnt release any new players for the upcoming year, heck they spent only 5 min on HDDVD, mostly recapping the year (no other company makes standalone HDDVD players, the others are rebadged Toshibas)

and which studio would switch?
Sony/Columbia/MGM - forget it
Fox - loves BD+
Disney/BV - was seen as BR's strongest supporter all year
LionsGate - really cant say

and any studio switching to HD now would prolong the war, which what they dont want

Like I said if consumer market trends find HD more affordable and if people like the dual format HD/SD combo dvds then maybe the studios might reconsider. What really needs to happen is that the 360 needs to have it's HD drive listed at a much cheaper price.

Like I said if consumer market trends find HD more affordable and if people like the dual format HD/SD combo dvds then maybe the studios might reconsider. What really needs to happen is that the 360 needs to have it's HD drive listed at a much cheaper price.


and all this might have been relevant 4 months ago

Toshiba can't get much cheaper and so far there's no sign of a comeback, especially given that they're now limited to <30% of studio releases.

Combos have a pretty high error rate. That's doubtful to change.

The 360 add-on can't compete with a $99 standalone player

I can't really envision a realistic scenario that isn't game over. Right now it's just a matter of weeks vs months before HD DVD is mostly buried.

and all this might have been relevant 4 months ago

Toshiba can't get much cheaper and so far there's no sign of a comeback, especially given that they're now limited to <30% of studio releases.

Combos have a pretty high error rate. That's doubtful to change.

The 360 add-on can't compete with a $99 standalone player

I can't really envision a realistic scenario that isn't game over. Right now it's just a matter of weeks vs months before HD DVD is mostly buried.

Frankly I hope so. There are a ton of HD DVD movies out there and I can't wait to snatch them up for pennies.

You will notice this effect watching movies on a 160 Hz LCD TV.

I did notice lots of ghosting after awhile. After they turned off the tv and back on, it went away. Unfortunately the ghosting and stuttering gradually came back. Seemed like a nice tv. It was a Samsung LCD.

So does the strange out of place look of the characters in the movie really the fault of the tv?

I did notice lots of ghosting after awhile. After they turned off the tv and back on, it went away. Unfortunately the ghosting and stuttering gradually came back. Seemed like a nice tv. It was a Samsung LCD.

So does the strange out of place look of the characters in the movie really the fault of the tv?

Well if there was ghosting it might be something else. Most LCD TVs are 60 Hz, but they are starting to make 120 Hz TVs (I wrote 160 before, it was an accident, I meant 120) which basically eliminate the refresh rate problems and ghosting.

The 120 Hz sets make movies VERY, VERY clear. It's actually quite incredible. Even at fast motion everything is in perfect detail. However, some people have complained that it is almost too detailed...To the point where you can actually tell when CGI is being used because the people are in so much better detail than the backgrounds.

THis turn of events is really really bad for HD Video content on the discs. It would have been in everybody's best interests if HD DVD won this war long time ago so now we would have had an affordable technology, which is also better. Now that Blu Ray seems to winning the war it basically threw the market one year back and there are no truely affordable High Definition players right now. Most people would have to wait for 1-2 years until these players become $150 or less which is affordable for masses. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and we are stuck with an expensive Blu Ray Technology which will not live very long since there is already a big breakthrough in downloadable HD contents (Check VUDU boxes).

THis turn of events is really really bad for HD Video content on the discs. It would have been in everybody's best interests if HD DVD won this war long time ago so now we would have had an affordable technology, which is also better. Now that Blu Ray seems to winning the war it basically threw the market one year back and there are no truely affordable High Definition players right now. Most people would have to wait for 1-2 years until these players become $150 or less which is affordable for masses. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and we are stuck with an expensive Blu Ray Technology which will not live very long since there is already a big breakthrough in downloadable HD contents (Check VUDU boxes).

Exactly. Blu Ray will not last once IPTV catches on.

Exactly. Blu Ray will not last once IPTV catches on.

Well...people need high speed internet, they need a package that allows alot of download. And in the end you dont own your copy. If you want to watch a movie at your friends house or lend him your copy you cant. It's going to be pretty cool once it's all established but I still lkike the convenience of having my own physical copy.

Exactly. Blu Ray will not last once IPTV catches on.

Your local ISP will have something to say about this!

It looks like Universal is considering the move to Blu-ray as well (although it says they might not completely abandon HD DVD):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20080110/tc_nf/57679;_ylt=AgJqJjTW1qSrMJ7ykiUsGkQjtBAF

What numbers are you looking at to reach that assessment? HD-DVD might have the lead in stand-alone players but they certainly don't have the lead if you include PS3s. Granted not everyone buys a PS3 to play Blu-Ray movies but it seems pretty likely that a large number of individuals are using it for that purpose given the large lead Blu-Ray has over HD DVD when it come to sales figures.

If anything, a "majority" of people have players capable of playing Blu-Ray discs.

It's looking like Blu-Ray might win this format war but I'm still waiting to see if anyone actually truly wins a decent share of the market in the long-term. Both sides are fighting over a tiny portion of the consumer movie market right now and plain old DVDs are still dominating the scene. It's debatable whether HD movies will ever catch on with the mass public (although the numbers should rise as HD TVs become more standard in households).

There was a survey just about a month ago saying quite the opposite. I really wish I could remember where I saw it.

The gist of it was that sales figures for BR are grossly exaggerated because they include the 6 free movies you get with A PS3....and that virtually no PS3 owners buy any BR movies.

For those who have good internet connections with high download limits.

And I like the ability to just borrow DVD's from friends and stuff.

Downloading a hi def film would be out of the question for most people. There's still plenty of people out there with dial up.

Also, I think many like to have a hard copy, with nice box art work and extras, that they can archive and use whenever they want. It's nice to have a collection like that of films you really enjoy.

You must be crazy. Even people with a fiber optical connection would be waiting forever for one of these. If you download a blu-ray rip at 25gb+ thats still going to take forever. It is VERY unpractical right now.

Broadband penetration will only improve.

Downloading a 25GB movie wouldnt take an extreme amount of time at all....even on a decent BB connection over BT. On a somewhat upper tier connection and from a fast source like a newsgroup....no time.

This is of course ignoring that most HD movies on the net arent "Blu Ray rips"....they arent either format. They are x264 and under 5 GBs.

As for being able to bring them to a friends, have a library, etc.....

I can do both of those with my collection, and only a very small minority of my 500+ DVDs were bought at a store with a case, etc.

There was a survey just about a month ago saying quite the opposite. I really wish I could remember where I saw it.

The gist of it was that sales figures for BR are grossly exaggerated because they include the 6 free movies you get with A PS3....and that virtually no PS3 owners buy any BR movies.

This is total BS. All Blu-ray and HD DVD players come with 5 free movies by mail-in. Lately the PS3 comes with Spidey 3 in the box. The HD DVD players come with both 300 and the Bourne Identity. And none of these count towards the weekly sales figures. It's unbelievable some of the misconceptions that spread around.

Broadband penetration will only improve.

Downloading a 25GB movie wouldnt take an extreme amount of time at all....even on a decent BB connection over BT. On a somewhat upper tier connection and from a fast source like a newsgroup....no time.



So how long does it take you to download a 25GB movie ? And what kind of connection do you have ?

So how long does it take you to download a 25GB movie ? And what kind of connection do you have ?

Ive never downloaded a 25GB movie (as I said, HD movies are under 5GB), but I have downloaded things in that range.

I can pull down 25 gigs in less than 24 hours fairly easily.

I am on Rogers Extreme.

I can pull down 25 gigs in less than 24 hours fairly easily.

I am on Rogers Extreme.

So you would be satisfied with 3 movies a month? Since rogers extreme has a 100gb limit a month and you'd probably want to use your internet connection for something else too during the month, so you'd have to leave that last 25gb for that use.

Digital downloads will not threaten Blu-ray, at least not for the next 5 years or more. We need a completely new network infrastructure before ISP's can handle all that load. Just not going to happen too soon. It's of course fine now because not everyone and their dog are getting HD content online, but if you wanna go mainstream with that, you better have fibre optics all over the place.

Ive never downloaded a 25GB movie (as I said, HD movies are under 5GB), but I have downloaded things in that range.

I can pull down 25 gigs in less than 24 hours fairly easily.

I am on Rogers Extreme.

I wonder how many people in your area are doing X GB in 24 hours ? I'd bet less than 5-10%. If it was much higher than that you would not be getting those kind of speeds on Rogers Extreme.

IPTV and the like will not threaten the physical medium for the next 5-6 years because the infrastructure is not there yet and with the current infrastructure ISP's place soft/hard limits on the amount downloaded/uploaded.

So you would be satisfied with 3 movies a month? Since rogers extreme has a 100gb limit a month and you'd probably want to use your internet connection for something else too during the month, so you'd have to leave that last 25gb for that use.

Digital downloads will not threaten Blu-ray, at least not for the next 5 years or more. We need a completely new network infrastructure before ISP's can handle all that load. Just not going to happen too soon. It's of course fine now because not everyone and their dog are getting HD content online, but if you wanna go mainstream with that, you better have fibre optics all over the place.

Ive gone over the rogers limit every month since they introduced it....sometimes breaking 400GBs up/down.

Have never heard a word from them. Their monitoring is spotty at best.

I wonder how many people in your area are doing X GB in 24 hours ? I'd bet less than 5-10%. If it was much higher than that you would not be getting those kind of speeds on Rogers Extreme.

IPTV and the like will not threaten the physical medium for the next 5-6 years because the infrastructure is not there yet and with the current infrastructure ISP's place soft/hard limits on the amount downloaded/uploaded.

I agree, hence why my post said that it will only improve.

At the same time, as I said, people will not be downloading 2 GB movies because there is no need. You can find pretty much any movie thats available in HD in HD and under 5GBs (at the most going up to 8-10).

Of course, this is a very NA centric view as well. The infrastructure is present in many other places, and is FAR away in even more places.

I have the Blu-ray just due to the PS3 and I could care less. I don't buy them, don't rent them. There is no way I'll drop 40 bones on any movie. I think all HD formats will kill themselves this way. Why pay 25 dollars extra on a movie? Sure the quality is better, but it's not like regular DVD is unwatchable for that price difference.

Digital downloads are exactly why High Def media will never be able to duplicate the success of the DVD. Blu Ray is an expensive technology (compared to HD-DVD) and this fact will also speed up the development of the video downloads. Common, why are we talking about 25 gb per movie? The only reason why they put 25 gb on a Blu Ray or HD-DVD disc is because they can but in reality they do not need to because there is such a thing as a compression. I download an SD movie via bit torrent in 15-20 minutes, the size averages about 700 gb. As a general rule an HD resolution is about 6 times better, so the actual size of a compressed HD movie should be in the range of 4-5 gb, that means that with a 100 gb transfer limit you can easily download 15 movies a month with no problem.

VUDU service seems to be doing exactly that and it seems that people who are using it love it. Their only problem is their library is just in the developing stage but it is picking up.
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/vudu/4505-6739_7-32589079.html

I am not a fanboy of HD-DVD in the format war but I truely regret if HD DVD will be gone, this is a huge injustice to the end users. This is just a way the big companies are telling the end user FY.

I have the Blu-ray just due to the PS3 and I could care less. I don't buy them, don't rent them. There is no way I'll drop 40 bones on any movie. I think all HD formats will kill themselves this way. Why pay 25 dollars extra on a movie? Sure the quality is better, but it's not like regular DVD is unwatchable for that price difference.

Some movies are high priced, most arent. If you shop around you can pay 16-24 a movie. Thats not much more then you pay now.