January 30th is BD-day!!!

[shamus]

Just did a quick count on http://www.highdefdigest.com/ (check my math)

Titles available today:
BD =121
HD-DVD =133

Titles with release dates:
BD =53
HD-DVD =21


Total:
BD =174
HD-DVD =154


JAN 23rd, both formats will tie with 150 titles.

JAN 30th, BD takes the lead.

[phranctoast]

the creaters of the amazon.com next gen wars wont like this....lol

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

the creaters of the amazon.com next gen wars wont like this....lol

Take a look. They already have BD ahead, and so they rearranged the graphs to bury the disc counts.

Amazing they'd be so obvious in their bias. Goodness knows what would happen if BD surpassed HD DVD in disc rankings. The site would probably disappear.

Gary

[Damon Payne]

That is interesting that it was rearranged.
Honestly its odd that BD doesn't have quite a bit more titles, I would expect them to greatly pass HD-DVD with all the studio support.

[theknub]

most likely hd-dvd being out a few months longer

[dobyblue]

Yes.
Keep in mind Paramount and Warner still have 23 titles that aren't announced yet to go to catch up with their HD DVD releases.

It's all falling into place quite nicely.

[ProvenFlipper]

We'll we all know Warner is usually late in making announcements, so they might have something for January, but hopefully it will come out on BD and HD-DVD, so they will just be a wash. I'm looking forward to the day that I can look at the shelves at work, and see more BDs than HD-DVDs.

[marine92104]

I have both formats so I can watch all movies released on HD. My only gripe with Blu-Ray so far is that when I have the decision to buy the movie in HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (Say Amazon for example or Best Buy in store) I usually have to pay $10 more for the Blu-Ray movie versus the HD-DVD movie.

I get about the same quality in picture recently. It's usually a little sharper with VC-1 encoding & the MPEG-2 incoding is a little harsher. You can see that in the online reviews also. I really wish Sony would go to the AVC encoding or the VC-1 encoding.

The only ones I see paying extra for Blu-Ray for is if it has an uncompressed soundtrack like the Disney or Sony ones.

Don't get me wrong. I love both formats. I don't like one over the other except for the cost per discs. I have a HD-DVD player & a Blu-Ray player. Do you think Blu-Ray will ever come down in price on discs to the price HD-DVD is now? When you're building a HD library cost per movie is a factor if you're getting the same thing.

That seems to be a BIG defining decision maker when people are picking up titles that are available in both formats. Especially if the picture quality is the same & the audio is the same. I love the uncompressed audio on Blu-Ray like I like the Dolby True HD sound on HD-DVD. I can't wait until the new receivers come out that decode it properly.

I hope if Blu-Ray eventually becomes the one format they will lower prices on movies. I remember reading a quote from a rep from Fox Studios that said the reason they were charging $39.99 was for 1 reason only - early adopters. I don't like studios sticking it to people for being early adopters & getting a format going.

Last thing. I remember somebody posting why would anybody want a HD-DVD Combo movie. Actually I don't mind paying extra for that since I can play it on my portable DVD player on the standard DVD side. I wish Blu-Ray could do that.

As far as my movie collection goes it's about equal Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD & I'm sure if I can only get a movie on Blu-Ray the Blu-Ray will go up since it has more studio support but if it's released in both formats & the reviews are the same I'll go with which one I can get cheaper.

The average cost on Amazon for a regular HD-DVD movie with their 10% discount for a year runs about $17.99 and the regular Blu-Ray movie with the 10% discount runs about $24.99 to $27.99.

That's what the regular public looks at when buying. I hope Blu-Ray movies come down in price this year so that's not an issue.

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by marine92104

The average cost on Amazon for a regular HD-DVD movie with their 10% discount for a year runs about $17.99 and the regular Blu-Ray movie with the 10% discount runs about $24.99 to $27.99.

Umm... the lowest price for HD DVDs on Amazon is $19.95 (then $17.95 after the discount) so if you buy a single combo disc your average price must be higher than this minimum.

I randomly chose a title - Lethal Weapon.

The BD is $19.95. The HD DVD is $19.95 - and the same is true for Lethal Weapon 2.

Can you please give some examples where the BD costs more for the same movie?

For the combos, the BD costs less...

Firewall costs $23.95 on BD and $27.95 on HD DVD.

So... how about some examples that support your theory?

You should really check facts before making claims that are so easily refuted.

[marine92104]

I wasn't talking about the combo's price. I was saying on Amazon I can get most HD-DVD movies for $17.99 with free shipping.

Not counting the Warner titles where they release on both formats take Ice Age: Meltdown for instance the cheapest I could get it is $25.15

Click $24.52
Dinosaur $21.55
Devil Wears Prada $25.15
Talladega Nights $24.25
Fantastic Four $25.15
Speed $25.15
Enemy Of The State $21.55
Rocky $25.15
Pearl Harbor $21.55
Chicago $21.55
Planet Of The Apes $25.15

And that's with the 10% discount & free shipping. It's not all the studios that are gouging people but those are some of the titles I'm wanting to buy but they range anywhere from $3.50 to $7.15 higher that most HD-DVD titles. I just wish all the studios would be priced the same as most of the HD-DVD titles.

It's not right for a Fox rep to say their titles are so high because early adopters will pay that price. If they really want Blu-Ray to take off the way I'd like for it to with the masses then they're going to have to lower the prices.

Hopefully next year the players will do Dolby True HD & DTS MA out of the box thru HDMI & analog outs & the new receivers will have the new audio codecs in them. But of course we don't live in a perfect world.

It's just if you're having a new format you're trying to sell to the masses make it as affordable as possible with the players & the movies. That's how HD-DVD got their foot so far in the door. Hopefully Fox & some of the other studios will lower prices next year so Blu-Ray will really take off the way it should.

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by marine92104

I wasn't talking about the combo's price. I was saying on Amazon I can get most HD-DVD movies for $17.99 with free shipping.

Not counting the Warner titles where they release on both formats...

Ok - your way of expressing this was not well put since you said the following:

Originally Posted by marine92104

My only gripe with Blu-Ray so far is that when I have the decision to buy the movie in HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (Say Amazon for example or Best Buy in store) I usually have to pay $10 more for the Blu-Ray movie versus the HD-DVD movie.

This implies Warner or Paramount since if you have to decide between formats for a given movie, it is going to be a Warner or Paramount title.

As noted these titles are the same price or cheaper on BD compared to HD DVD (due mostly to some being combos).

Perhaps you meant 'buy a movie'

I agree that if you are talking any movie, the BDs are a sometimes more/too expensive. I have only bought Fox titles when they were on sale and Disney and Columbia Tristar 'day and date' titles are also quite expensive.

[Deciazulado]

Average price on dvdwars:



not exactly $17.99 vs $26.50 (47% more)

but $21.00 vs $21.80 (4% less!)


That chart is dynamic. I've reposted, to refect today's numbers.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by marine92104

It's just if you're having a new format you're trying to sell to the masses make it as affordable as possible with the players & the movies. That's how HD-DVD got their foot so far in the door. Hopefully Fox & some of the other studios will lower prices next year so Blu-Ray will really take off the way it should.

OK, so you think Fox, Disney and Sony are charging too much. Fair enough. But, I expect they'd be about the same if they were releasing to HD DVD.

The cheaper Paramount and Warner BD titles hasn't affected the studio prices so far.

But I agree, when the PS/3 sales numbers are there in sufficient quantity, it would be smart for the studios to notch down the prices some. But, at this point, they are still low volume to early adopters.

Gary

[marine92104]

How can Warner, Universal & Paramount sell movies on HD-DVD for $19.99 on Amazon & Sony, Disney, etc ask for $25 - $30 a title with the same video quality & sound?

The Fox rep said they were charging that much because they knew the early adopters would pay that much. Why stick to the people that are getting your product started?

That's why HD-DVD has such a positive following. They don't gouge you on the price.

Again I'm not a HD-DVD fanboy. I like both formats the same. That's why I have both players. I just don't understand why the other studios are sticking it to the customers.

I feel like they would have the same positive following by more people if they were in line with the HD-DVD pricing.

By the way today I ordered 19 HD-DVDs & 16 Blu-Ray DVDs so that show I'm not a fanboy either way. Only 1 of the HD-DVDs was above $19.99 & the price of the 16 Blu-Ray movies ranged from $19.99 (only 5) to $27.95.

How can the HD-DVD studios manage to sell their movies for $19.99 but the Blu-Ray studios sell that much higher.

I hope they come down so it's on a more even playing field. That's when I feel like you'll see Blu-Ray really take off.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by marine92104

How can Warner, Universal & Paramount sell movies on HD-DVD for $19.99 on Amazon & Sony, Disney, etc ask for $25 - $30 a title with the same video quality & sound?

Au contraire my friend, the sound is anything but the same.
There are only 8 North American HD DVD releases with lossless audio.
Every release from Sony, Fox and Disney has lossless audio on it.
I'd much rather may five dollars more for lossless audio.

[phranctoast]

OK, so you think Fox, Disney and Sony are charging too much. Fair enough. But, I expect they'd be about the same if they were releasing to HD DVD.

I kind of think so. Expecially Sony. They stand to gain by blu rays early adoption, yet they charge the most for their movies. I dont get that. Thats the thing keeping me from getting ultraviolet. Its not worth 27.00 to me, but 17.99-19.99 seems more doable.

As far as blu ray or hddvd's being more expensive/less expensive than each other. That appears to change week to week. For a while they had blurays average price lower than hd dvd's. That just recently changed maybe last week.

[theknub]

and it's lower again

[marine92104]

So you're saying the companies that only support Blu-Ray are lowering their prices to match HD-DVD.

What people don't realize for HD movies is if they want it to become successful they need to lower prices on movies & players like HD-DVD has done. That is why they have such a huge following. Because most people can afford it.

Sony, Fox & Disney need to take notice of that.

And a quite a few of Warner's HD-DVD's have Dolby True HD on it & they don't charge $5 - $8 more for it.

I love the lossless 5.1 on Blu-Ray. Do I think it's worth $5 - $8 more a title. No I don't and the average person I don't think they would either.

They would go for the cheaper movie. I hope Blu-Ray is a huge success but they need to lower prices to get the fanbase that HD-DVD has made in the last year.

If they hadn't done that the war would already be over. That's just my opinions & my thoughts.

I bought alot of HD movies the last week for Christmas. I did all my homework to see if any of them had better sound on either format & picture quality not from just 1 sight but several.

99% of the HD-DVD titles I bought was $19.77 with a 10% discount to $17.99 a title. The average Blu-Ray title I bought was from $25 - $29 a title. That's a huge difference for the average person including myself.

If it was opposite & Blu-Ray was averaging $19.99 a title I would have bought mostly Blu-Ray. By the way I only bought 2 more HD-DVD titles than Blu-Ray & none of the ones I passed on had lossless compression audio.

I just wish Fox, Disney & Sony would learn from this. Again I say it's not right for a Fox rep to say they're charging up to $8 to $10 more a title because they know the early adopters will pay that for their discs right now.

[theknub]

do you have a link to this information regarding this whole "sticking it to them"

i haven't heard it and im sure i would have at this point.

where are you getting your discs. if you look at average pricing, BR discs are cheaper. but, i guess you have ignored all the links that have been posted. besides, it may just be that the discs you want are more expensive. on the flip side, you can't even get hi def content on that other format for fox, sony, disney, etc.

[marine92104]

I got the pricing off of Amazon.com

I just ordered 35 discs from them. 19 HD-DVD movies & 17 Blu-Ray movies. I'm taking the average price from both formats. I love the lossless sound on Sony & Disney movies. I was under the impression that Fox didn't release LCPM lossless audio. Am I wrong on that?

That do have DTS-MA that as far as I know doesn't have a receiver yet that can fully decode that lossless format.

If I have a choice on a movie & it has lossless LCPM audio I would choose that as long as the video is as good as the HD-DVD. I hope that Sony & some of the other studios go to VC-1 or AVC encoding. I just don't think from my viewing on my Panny Blu-Ray player that MPEG-2 encoding looks as smooth. It looks more harsh looking & not as sharp. I understand they don't want to pay Microsoft to use the VC-1 encoding.

But no one has answered my question. Do you think it is right that a rep from Fox studios said the only reason they're charging $39 a movie is right because they know early adopters will pay it? They're intentionally gouging customers for getting a format started.

The reason you have so many people on so many forums standing up for HD-DVD is because they have a player that is below $500 & most of the movies online cost $19.99. They don't feel the movie studios that support that format is sticking it to them.

I love both formats. I don't like one over the other. I just wish the studios that support Blu-Ray would come down on their pricing & not be gouging the public to get a format started.