If Warner renews its BDA membership in October, then...

[joeorc]

OK for all of you that do not know in order to be on the blu-ray Board of directors and the renew is in oct of each year. you have to pay out some money $50,000 +

http://www.blu-raydisc.info/spec_info/index.shtml



Supporting Companies
January 04, 2006
2006-01-04T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

The Blu-ray Disc Association has member companies from the consumer electronics (CE), information technology (IT), media and software industries. The lists below include current members as well as applicants.



For more information about the various membership levels and how to become a member, please refer to the the About Us section at the top of the screen.

Last updated: September 2007



Board of Directors
Apple, Inc.
Dell
HP
Hitachi
LG
Mitsubishi Electric
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony
Sun Microsystems
TDK
Thomson
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney
Warner Bros.

if there would be a switch it would be after OCT. 2007 and stepping down from the board of directors of THE BDA and not even a supporting company of the format. because that's when the companies renew their payment to the blu-ray consortium to be on the board of directors.so if after OCT 2007 they are still there on the BDA board of directors its in my OPINION safe to say at least for yet another year WB will still be backing the Blu-Ray format.

now this is in my OPINION and in no way shape or form OFFICIAL but if i was paying out $50,000+ a year to be on a board of directors. i sure would not do it ,if i did no see the format i was supporting was going to be a viable option as a format if i view it as a format that could not go anywhere. since i would view that as throwing money away.

[lch]

so how much to pay for hd-dvd member ?
when is the payment time ?

[vsbdtv]

if after OCT 2007 they are still there on the BDA board of directors its in my OPINION safe to say at least for yet another year WB will still be backing the Blu-Ray format.

I'd say it would only be useful information if WB did not review. $50K is chump change to any large company, and the way recurring annual payments like this are often budgeted, it would probably take more work to cancel the payment than to let the status quo continue.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by vsbdtv

I'd say it would only be useful information if WB did not review. $50K is chump change to any large company, and the way recurring annual payments like this are often budgeted, it would probably take more work to cancel the payment than to let the status quo continue.

thats not the reason..if say Warner Bros. does indeed step down AND SWITCHED SIDES TO HD DVD and blu-ray still WON guess what. for one they have commitments to the Share holders to do something with the money they spend . and second if they did step down and switched and blu-ray still won the BLU-RAY BDA can vote to keep a company off of the board of directors for ever. so they could not share in the profits in licenceing.its the obligations as a board of director thats the real issue. aside from that.

its not just $50,000 its just $50,000 to just sit on the Board of Directors.there are other things they have to pay and not just WB all the board of directors have to pay that includes SONY. $50,000 is not chump change no matter any way you look at it. you may say that but every accountant for every large corperation has to account for every $1.00

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by lch

so how much to pay for hd-dvd member ?
when is the payment time ?

here you go:

2.1.3 Managing Membership
Managing Members shall be elected from among the General Members at the General Meeting to comprise the Management Meeting and manage the Group. The Management Meeting shall consist of no more than ten (10) Managing Members. The term of office of the Managing Members shall be two (2) years. The Managing Members for the initial term of two (2) years shall be Memory-Tech Corporation, NEC Corporation, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., and Toshiba Corporation.

for HD DVD

2.2 Membership Fee
The annual membership fees specified below shall be paid by Members by the end of April for the applicable fiscal year. Those Members who join the Group on or after October 1 shall be entitled to a reduction of the annual membership fees for the first fiscal year to one half. Membership fees shall be non-refundable.
Associate Member: 30,000 Japanese Yen
General Member: 150,000 Japanese Yen
Managing Member: 1,000,000 Japanese Yen

SO EVEN AT THE MANAGING MEMBERSHIP..WHICH IS (8,710.801 USD)
YOU ARE STILL MORE INVESTED INTO BLU-RAY THEN YOU WOULD BE IN HD DVD just in board fees.why spend more on a so called lesser format that is BLU-RAY if HD DVD is so much better
blu-ray BDA cost more but yet has more membership's than HD DVD promotional group


http://www.hddvdprg.com/eng/about/charter.html

my fav. thing about this is look at this :

3.3.3 Chair Company, Vice-Chair Company
One (1) Chair Company and two (2) Vice-Chair Companies shall be elected from among the Managing Members by the majority vote of the Managing Members. The Chair Company shall serve as chairman of the General Meeting and Management Meeting. In case the Chair Company is not able to act in such capacity, one of the Vice-Chair Companies shall act in place of the Chair Company. The term of office of the Chair Company and Vice-Chair Company shall be two (2) years. The Chair Company for the initial term of two (2) years shall be Toshiba Corporation; and the Vice-Chair Companies of such initial term shall be Memory-Tech Corporation and NEC Corporation.

whats this the co-vice chair of HD DVD NEC...DOING WHAT..

1:15 PM ON WED MAR 21 2007
BY CHARLIE WHITE

When Sony announced its joint venture with NEC over a year ago (resulting in a company called Optiarc), the company said it would be creating Blu-ray and DVD drives, and may produce HD DVD drives. CeBIT was another story, where the company rolled out no less than five Blu-ray burners at the big euro-show. Will the company also offer HD DVD burners, or, heaven forbid, combo devices that can handle both HD DVD and Blu-ray? Maybe.

Topping the quintet of drives is the BD-M100A (pictured above), a 2x Blu-ray writer for desktops that can also burn single- and dual-layer DVDs. Optiarc also rolled out the BD5500A, 5500S, 5600S, and 5710S, all with the same specs (see the gallery for a full spec list) except for their laptop-sized form factor and serial ATA connectivity on the models ending with "S". Details on all these drives were murky, but pricing is said to start at 599 Euros, or $796, and they'll be available in July. – Charlie White

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/periphera...ght-245906.php

EVEN the CO vice CHAIR of the HD DVD promotional group makes BLU-RAY DRIVES.

[Lord_Stewie]

the issue isn't the money. it is where loyalty lies. i think WB made a statment from the beginning, that they will stay format neutral. so i am almost 90% sure that they will renew their membership with BD, and continue also to support HDDVD. This is the one thing i learned from this year's WB behavior. that they just want to make money, which explains their neutrality, and their total HD player proposition. Heck, the first chance Warner gets i bet, they will release the total HD just to provide more to their customers.

[Papi4baby]

That's some good info Joe, thanks.

What i dont like alrady is the membership cost? See again why we are having a hard time ending this war. Blu ray wan'ts 50 large to be a member, while HDDVD only 9???? Why, that makes no sense what so ever.

[joeorc]

current for the HD DVD promotional group:

Chair Company-Toshiba Corporation
Vice-Chair Company-Memory-Tech Corporation, NEC Corporation
Auditor-SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.

Managing member-
Memory-Tech Corporation
NEC Corporation
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
Toshiba Corporation

General member : 61companies

2.3 Subsidiaries
Any subsidiary company more than fifty percent (50%) of whose voting rights a Member owns or controls directly or indirectly ("Subsidiary") shall be included in the membership for the Member. A Subsidiary, if it wishes, can also become an independent Member by paying a separate membership fee; however, the voting rights at the General Meeting and Management Meeting shall be held by the parent Member exclusively unless it is approved by the Management Meeting that such Subsidiary shall have its own voting rights, taking into consideration whether such Subsidiary is substantially independent from its parent Member.

Warner Home Video Inc.
Paramount Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures
Microsoft Corporation

Associate member : 70 companies

http://www.hddvdprg.com/eng/about/member.html

COMPARED TO:

BLU-RAY BDA

Supporting Companies
January 04, 2006
2006-01-04T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

The Blu-ray Disc Association has member companies from the consumer electronics (CE), information technology (IT), media and software industries. The lists below include current members as well as applicants.



For more information about the various membership levels and how to become a member, please refer to the the About Us section at the top of the screen.

Last updated: September 2007



Board of Directors
Apple, Inc.
Dell
HP
Hitachi
LG
Mitsubishi Electric
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony
Sun Microsystems
TDK
Thomson
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney
Warner Bros.

Contributors
NEC Electronics Corporation

General Members
NEC Personal Products Ltd.
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

SO THATS NOT ONLY THE CO-VICE CHAIR BUT ALSO COMPANIES IN CHARGE OF HD DVD promotional group also backing Blu-Ray.

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_i...009/Index.html

[w_tanoto]

I think HP should be taken down forcibly from that list (although I liked HP, they did nothing for the goodness of BD - except BD business laptop). Some companies (ASUS, Acer) who actually support HD DVD at first, now even released BD notebook to consumer line before HP even do anything.

Well, I hope universal comes to their senses and go blu by october.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by Papi4baby

That's some good info Joe, thanks.

What i dont like alrady is the membership cost? See again why we are having a hard time ending this war. Blu ray wan'ts 50 large to be a member, while HDDVD only 9???? Why, that makes no sense what so ever.

because unlike HD DVD look at the bylaws what each offer's for the money invested..blu-ray's investment returns are more for the companies involved than HD DVD.WHY its the markets that HD DVD are not in CAMCORDER, SOFTWARE outside of just MOVIES...every disc sold helps cover the cost on the investment of its members hardware or software content more than the cost in investment. the profit margins are higher than HD DVD combined with the disc sales of content outside of MOVIES like PC games ,playstation 3 games, MUSIC, BLANK MEDIA.

[Papi4baby]

Thanks makes sense.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by Papi4baby

Thanks makes sense.

NO PROBLEM... i just thought people would like to know that the OCT dead lines have a truth to them .Because that is the renew month for memberships for each of the format promotional and BDA ARE BOTH IN OCT.

[monkyman]

So if they got paid 150 million to switch, they would still have 149,950,000.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by monkyman

So if they got paid 150 million to switch, they would still have 149,950,000.

yup that is true..but look at where their profit margins would be since Warner Bros. are on the board of directors..how much does Warner get from BEING ON THE BOARD IN THE OTHER markets that blu-ray disc's are in compared to the market return's on the profits gained if they are just HD DVD exclusive.

markets of areas that HD DVD IS IN RIGHT NOW:

1)MOVIES
2)BLANK MEDIA -12 cm DISC format only

markets of areas that Blu-Ray IS IN RIGHT NOW:

1)MOVIES
2)BLANK MEDIA -12 cm and 8 cm formats
3)software -outside of the movie industry
4)hand camcorder market

AS YOU CAN SEE Blu-Ray already has 2 more markets already open that
HD DVD does not have.


remember Paramount and dreamworks were not on the BDA Board of Directors.so it would be in most cases they would not aquire as much return from the market areas anyway as Warner Bros. who are on the BDA Board of Directors which Paramount and dreamworks are not.

[richard lichtenfelt]

What we're not seeing on this thread are the incentives given for membership. These companies are probably getting royalties, discounts, etc.

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by richard lichtenfelt

What we're not seeing on this thread are the incentives given for membership. These companies are probably getting royalties, discounts, etc.

At CEDIA (or IFA??), members claimed that they have not received "sweeteners" to support BD, except Disney. Some time ago, however, Disney also said they did not receive incentive to support BD.

[lokus]

Originally Posted by w_tanoto

Well, I hope universal comes to their senses and go blu by october.

I can guarantee that I would be purchasing many more Blu-rays if they went neutral b/c they are one of my favorite studios. I am however, not willing to buy into HD-DVD to get their movies.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by richard lichtenfelt

What we're not seeing on this thread are the incentives given for membership. These companies are probably getting royalties, discounts, etc.

the bylaws and the BLU-RAY consortium is setup like the DVD forum, BLUETOOTH, ETC.
YOU DON'T NEED INCENTIVES IF YOU HAVE A STAKE IN THE FORMAT ITS SELF SUCH AS PATENTS..
Did you know Warner Bros. owns patents in Blu-ray...

the incentive if you want to call it that.. is makeing a better return on your money than what you have invested..look what just happened in a part of europe:


GERMANY's parliament has approved a controversial copyright law which will make it illegal to make copies of CDs and DVDs, even for personal use. The Bundesrat, the upper part of the German parliament, approved the legislation over the objections of consumer protection groups. The law is set to take effect in 2008, and covers CDs, DVDs, recordings from IPTV, and TV recordings.

http://www.dvd-intelligence.com/main...ews_briefs.htm

things like this happen all the time now in germany something like this happens. things change but the market investment V'S the return after investment is what matters to some of the companies.

[HK-48]

I hope Memory-Tech goes neutral soon, pretty much everybody that supports HD DVD also supports Blu-Ray, except for Toshiba (Of course), Microsoft, and Memory-Tech.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by HK-48

I hope Memory-Tech goes neutral soon, pretty much everybody that supports HD DVD also supports Blu-Ray, except for Toshiba (Of course), Microsoft, and Memory-Tech.

both Memory-Tech and Microsoft can support BLU-Ray if they want too there is no problem in companies from both sides supporting each other's format.theyjust have to pay the money to have the option to do so, and even TOSHIBA does indeed make Blu-Ray optical drives out of the TSST production line with Samsung out of KOREA.

SO that's IRONIC in of its self ...

Posted Jan 23, 2006

TSST Korea (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation) announced that it has completed the technical development of its Blu-ray disc drives. These offer a storage capacity up to 25GB at a single layer disc.

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/R...rticleID=10987

SONY did the same thing with NEC in 2006 as Toshiba and Samsung did back in 2003 . even SONY can produce HD DVD optical drives and players if SONY wants too.

Ismaning, Germany, May 2007 – Sony NEC Optiarc Europe GmbH (“Optiarc”) has now unveiled its first Blu-ray Disc drive for PCs. The Optiarc’s BD-M100A burns single and dual layer BD-R/BD-RE media at double speed. Storage capacity of up to 50 GB enables up to about 230 minutes of HDV 1080i video.

http://sonynec-optiarc.eu/en/press/l...unc=full&id=55



The funny thing is NEC is the co creator of the HD DVD format itself along with Toshiba, NEC is also the CO-VICE CHAIR OF THE HD DVD promotional group. my how thing's have changed...


Main Content
Press Release

*****For immediate use August 29th, 2002
Toshiba and NEC Jointly Propose Next Generation, High Capacity, Blue-Laser DVD Format.

Tokyo-Toshiba Corporation and NEC Corporation today jointly proposed to the DVD Forum a next-generation, high-capacity, blue-laser DVD format that will allow manufacturers to continue to use existing DVD plant and equipment and so minimize the investment required for the transition to next-generation DVD players and drives. Adoption of the proposed format will bring benefits to hardware and software developers, manufacturers and consumers.

The format proposed by Toshiba and NEC covers both read-only discs that are used to distribute high-definition movies, and read-and-write discs. The format utilizes a short wavelength blue laser and the same disc technology used in current DVDs-back-to-back bonding of two 0.6mm thick, 120mm discs.

The proposed format increases the capacity of read-only discs to 15GB for a single-sided, single-layer disc, and to 30 GB for a single-sided dual-layer disc, and pushes the capacity of read-and-write discs, which currently are single-sided with a single-layer, to 20GB. Today's single-sided dual-layer read-only discs have a capacity of 8.5 GB, while read-and-write discs (single-sided, single-layer only) can store up to 4.7GB of data. The increased capacity of the proposed format is achieved by employing a blue laser, and by utilizing the two companies' new signal-processing and phase-change media recording technologies.

In addition, Toshiba and NEC will shortly propose a 40GB single-sided, dual-layer read-and-write disc to the DVD Forum.

Please see attached chart for more details on the proposed format.

The DVD Forum established two subgroups to study different technical approaches toward the next-generation blue laser DVD format in February this year. One is considering an approach based on a 0.6mm disc substrate, the same method employed in current DVDs, and the other a 0.1mm cover layer. Toshiba and NEC separately promoted research on a 0.6mm disc substrate, the same as that of current DVD discs. After verifying one another's technology they decided to jointly propose a single, unified format to the DVD Forum.

High-definition digital imaging is the wave of the future, an increasingly powerful force in terrestrial and satellite-based broadcasting, the cinema, and in the delivery of games and entertainment and computer applications. The richer data sources and heightened user experience that digital media offer can be seen in the fast penetration of DVD, and in the growing demand for digital media supporting even higher capacities. Toshiba and NEC support this trend, with a format that provides a cost-effective upgrade path for media vendors, and a backward-compatible solution for the many consumers who have built DVD libraries.

The new formats also meets the needs of the PC-industry-driven optical-drive business, where coming years will see demand for combination drives that can handle both current and next-generation DVD media.

Toshiba and NEC's proposal is based on the following four advantages.

1.

It meets manufacturers' needs by enabling use of the same manufacturing infrastructure as current DVD, which minimizes disc production costs.
2.

It supports development of backward compatible players that can playback current and next generation DVD.
3.

Like the current DVD, it is easy to realize a disc that does not need a cartridge, which allows slim drives that can be integrated into portable equipment.
4.

It is easy to realize dual-layer discs, as the back-to-back bonding of 0.6mm-thick discs is the same as for current DVD.

Toshiba and NEC will together submit technical data to the DVD Forum that is necessary for the standardization of the next-generation, high-capacity, blue-laser DVD.

http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0208/2901.html