The War Is Over! Warner Bros. Turns Blu!
The rumors had been circulating, but the shock was still great.In a move that can only mean the ultimate end of the HD DVD format, powerhouse studio Warner Bros. announced today that they would be going exclusively Blu-ray. The change will go into effect in May of 2008.
The official statement from Warners’ Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer is as follows:
"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want. The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."
With Warners out of the HD DVD business, Paramount and Universal are the only two major studios supporting HD DVD exclusively.
posted by Shannon T. Nutt at 1:37 PM
21 Comments:
Awesome news!
this is hugh! I can't believe it. the WB was looking for hardware sales which HD DVD was big with this holiday season. The new CEO states that this is what the people want. I'll going out to buy one of those Dual players from LG because there is no way that I'm replacing all of my HD DVDs.
From the reports I've read, Blu-Ray outsold HD DVD in every aspect this holiday season. The only thing Toshiba claims to be winning in is attach rates (and that's because it's the only time they include the PS3 in their figures). I think it's great, and I also agree with Bill Hunt who says they should offer a trade in program for HD DVD's. Each studio that switches should let you send in your HD DVD and get a Blu-Ray replacement. Lets hope they go through with that...
I have and love Blu Ray and HD DVD. Being format Neutral, I'm still saddened by this news. I think HD DVD is like the "Tucker" automobiles. I think they had the best upgrading dvd player of any company at any cost. I really like that the pip/second audio technology was easy, user friendly and what else, oh yes that actually worked. I have more issues with Blu ray on the first 2 titles they released (Resident Evil Extinction and Sunshine). If you have a Playstation upgraded or a new Panasonic with the Blu ray 1.1 plyer standard, you can't access the True HD track on the newest Resident Evil Blu ray. I know one format is the right call, and Blu ray, based on it's studio support makes sense, but I think we've all had benefits from the competing companies. There is no way these players and products would have dropped in price so much and never mind both formats rushing to offer better and better picture and sound. (HDMI 1.3, DTS Hd etc.)
Hey bottom line Blade Runner came out on High Def in both formats, in great sound....
Oh and Bill Hunt you hate HD DVD, you think Blu Ray's are better. Yeah, we get it... you're the digital Paul Revere. Hopefully all the studios get on to one format, now that they don't have to fence sit anymore.
I do find it funny in this blog that when Paramount went HD-DVD it was a "setback" and when Warner Bros went Blu-Ray the war is now deemed as being over. Well, only time will tell that, I just think that there is an obvious bias here.
I am not too concerned about Warner Bros leaving since I already own all of the titles that I cared to own from them anyway which wasn't that many (300, Matrix Trilogy). My real concern is that pshychologically this event may force other HD-DVD supporting studios to eventually jump ship. Too bad that we don't actually live in a free market world where the consumer can actually decide on things. The reality is that our hands are forcibly tied.
Yes, when Paramount went HD-DVD it was a setback, because it prolonged the format war. The Warner switch is great thing becasue it ended the format war and now we can actually have a single format that will allow the fence-sitters who were waiting for a winner to jump in and support hi-def.
I'm pretty sure the consumer did decide. That's why every WB title released on both formats sold way better on Blu-Ray. As far as this site being biased by saying the war is pretty much over, I think that's a bit of a stretch. Both die hard Blu-Ray and HD DVD supporters seem to make this claim a lot (not for this website but for other ones). So I'd like to point out the facts as to why this was a format ender.
Universal (Focus Features/Rogue Pictures) & Paramount/DreamWorks VS. Sony (Columbia/TriStar), Buena Vista (Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood, Dimension Pre-Weinstein), Fox (w/ MGM and Fox Searchlight), Lionsgate, New Line Cinema (w/ Picture House), Warner Brothers (w/ HBO).
The reason Paramount didn't break Blu-Ray is because it evened things out for the most part. Plus their highest profile title (Transformers) still couldn't bring HD DVD a win in sales that week.
I too have both formats, and I have no problem at all with this switch. I have had many of WB combo titles freeze up and skip on me, not to mention the ports that they use where you can clearly see compression artifacting due to low bandwidth/disc space. It'll be nice to have them make a 50gb disc and actually use it instead of just 30gb of it.
I agree completely with Harry. At the time that Paramount "switched" to HD-DVD their actions were only financially motivated, as at the time their Blu-ray Disc titles were outselling their HD-DVD ones. The move only did one thing: it extended a format war that should have been over long ago.
What I find the saddest about all this is just how bitter the HD-DVD camp has been over the Warner incident. Take a look at the posts here on DVD Empire under the story about Paramount's switch. It is not filled with snide remarks and comparisons, just the comments of shocked consumers that voted with their dollars and were still somehow ignored.
And now, when Warner makes the decision to switch after really looking at what the consumers bought this Christmas (instead of being mislead by marketing reports that do not consider the PlayStation 3 a Blu-ray player except for when convenient) the whole HD-DVD community cries foul play. This is really unforgivable behavior, considering that anyone who continued to support HD-DVD throughout 2007 could plainly see that Blu-ray was selling better.
SAD is all that can be said. The HD format is better is every way except on how much storage it can handle, blu-ray being a little larger. HD is the the more durable format the blu-ray. People will find their movies degrading to a point that they no longer play LONG before HD users do, that is a fact! Lets face it Microsoft dropped the ball BIG TIME here! If they had offered a HD drive built into the XBOX 360 this chirstmas the format wars would have gone differently. Blu-ray is the lesser quaility in paly back of the 2 tha is also a FACT, but unless you are a computer our mere human eyes can't tell the difference.
MICROSOFT you let us down yet again and it will cost you more than vista has......!
No. The war isn't over. The War is just beginning.
How is HD better? The ONLY thing it has that not all Blu-Ray players have is a LAN port. As for HD discs being more durable, I call FUD on that right away. Blu-Ray contains a harder surface area that's harder to scratch than HD DVD does. And a little bit more space? Try close to twice as much... In fact, that post sounded like a whole bunch of made up FUD. I'd imagine there's going to be quite a bit of this going around as the people who bought into HD DVD doesn't want their format to die. And yes, the war is pretty much over. I realize a lot of people think that just because they don't want the war to end, it shouldn't. But it is deffinately time.
war...battle...or the inevitable. I own both formats and am happy with only one, Bluray. If you're interested in a product that is superior in what counts, picture and sound quality for the home theater, it's not even close! Bluray excels.
HD-DVD, as with most Microsoft associtated products, is way less than promised, in deperate need of upgrades, and most importantly - with this particular product, there may not be time to catch up. Lan connection, yes it better have it, not so much for web content as for upgrading, and even the very latest HD-DVD players have a long way to go. Most importantly, what's with the multiple HD-DVD formats? HD-30, HD-60 and sometimes actual 1080p/24. Formats that require you to go back to setup and change settings just so you can watch a dvd without it freezing up or gaging all the time. Sound codecs...well maybe someday.
Good decision WB! I look forward to seeing all your feature films in Bluray with it's pristine 1080p/24 and amazing 7.1 uncompressed PCM surround sound! Of course, that depends on your studio, not my player...as it should be.
Well said Clayton. I have read most of the posts of HD-DVD supporters and in each case they just say that HD-DVD is better without citing legitimate examples or facts.
I often wonder if this is because more Blu-ray supporters seem to also have HD-DVD players, whereas the opposite tends to be true of HD-DVD supporters? Just something I have noticed in the posts at this blog and others, so while it seems likely, it may not necessarily be the case.
Well I just think it's odd how someone can go "FACT!" and think that since they said it, it makes it so. There is absolutely no evidence what-so-ever to support "dr. detroit's" claims. But the thing that I don't understand is that he/she claims that Blu-Rays will quit playing long before HD DVD's... These formats have been around for a little over 2 years now. It's absurd to think that someone would know what will happen to Blu-Rays (or HD DVD's for that matter) down the road. But it's even more absurd to think that you picked the one that uses an extra protective layer to be the one to fail first while the one without the protective layer is the one that will supposedly live on. But that's just how I look at it.
How can limiting the consumer’s choices... be doing them any favors? I’m not impressed with blu-ray and HD works for me. If I have to convert my existing DVD to HD so be it. It’s pointless to invest in a technology that will be dead in a few years.
Nadi, I think you're only looking at it from your point of view. Imagine everyone having a different format. That means studios would have to release on multiple formats just to keep everyone happy. With WB's move, it's safe for consumers (and studios and other companies) to get behind Blu-Ray. And personally, HD doesn't work for me. After multiple firmware upgrades for almost 2 years now, I still cannot play a disc without it skipping or jumping. I've never had that problem with Blu-Ray. So I am glad that WB made their decission. As is the majority of people out there which is another reason for WB's decission. Blu-Ray has been outselling HD DVD for over a year straight now. It's not that hard to understand WB's methods behind this move.
How can limiting consumer choice be good for them? That's simple. Imagine two different digital audio formats that only worked on certain portable players. One format would only play on Philips players and one on Sony players. That would be a pain in the ass. You can't transfer files from one to the other, share them with friends, and any download service would have to have both formats - meaning grandma would have to know which format she needed and she's not technically savvy. This is a real situation, Sony had ATRAC and Philips had DDC. ATRAC won the short term but MP# won eventually because it was interchangeable with most players both portable and on the PC. It was cross-platform so you could send it to anyone without worrying about what computer or players they had. That's why a limited choice is better. And iTunes and Windows Media are trying to do this again because they want DRM, and it's not working too well for those formats either (AAC and WMA).
Come on people. It all comes down to who is offering more monie to carry there system along. It does appear that at this point that it is Sony !!!!. I have 2 hd-dvd players and have no problems, and I love them !!. The loss of Warner Bros is a loss, but It is a financial move for them because they got offered a buyout most likely to go exclusive. Tell me what is the problem with making both versions ( blu-ray and hd-dvd ). They already have the technology because they have been making them. Why alienate people that have went out and got the HD-DVD players now ?. Here it goes again , the consumer is always the loser on anything. Besides, How much money did Warner bros make from all the movies that were packed into The hd-dvd players boxes. Hmmmm ? Do you really think they would give that up without some counter offer that was much larger. I will never own another warner bros movie, just because of the games they have played. And now giving the date of May 2008 to stop making the HD-DVD'S. Why wait ?. Do it now, or are you still under contract with Hd to give you more money for your movies that are in the boxes ??
coachdrivr, look at the posts before your's about there being 2 formats and why it's bad. It's already been explained a few times and not only that, you can look in newspapers and things for even more reasons. There's been a ton of articles lately about why 2 formats is a bad thing and why it's time for this format war to end. And no, WB wasn't offered money to switch sides. I seem to remember them even being disgusted when Paramount did it and then getting disgusted again when Paramount prematurely announced false Transformers numbers. But why would they continue to support HD DVD when every single HD DVD (aside from Planet Earth) has been outsold by it's Blu-Ray release? And why didn't you mention Toshiba paying Paramount/DreamWorks $150mil to go HD DVD exclusive? And the reason they're waiting is because they already announced titles and don't want to do what Paramount did which really screwed over the majority of HD media consumers. As for the other things in your post about free movies in boxes, I don't understand what you were getting at there at all. I think you were trying to say that they made a lot of money off the free movies packaged in HD DVD player boxes? For some reason I don't think that a small number like that would counter the larger numbers being sold on Blu-Ray.
DVD Empire's numbers are disgusting. HD DVD's drop off in such a short time is crazy and now I hear Netflix has gone totally Blu. It looks like the end for the Lil engine that could......not. If HD DVD drops a good title I will buy, but it looks like it's pretty much over.
I just heard today that Bestbuy &Wal mart are now ditching HD DVD for total support for Blu Ray. This is great news for Sony but as an employee of Bestbuy (here in WA state) that works in their Home Theater dept this has already brought in some negative feedback and comments from previous customers. Even though I personally advised my customers that I would hold out from buying one of the two rival formats it still didn't stop a few of them. Both formats have there pros and cons but I'm glad it looks like the war is finally over. The best is yet to come.
Post a Comment
<< Home