Archived: Ask the Insiders: Judgment Day Edition

[Rich Peterson]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Sorry folks, no time to answer any other questions today as I’m on my way out the door now to head out to the Big Show in Vegas........for presentations and such.

Hope I see you in Vegas.

[JasonS]

"There you go, Penton-Man is still busy working.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Penton-Man View Post
Hey guys, I’ve told you time and again don’t call me at work.

One lady[Weinstein or Universal] wants highlights and another new customer[Universal or Weinstein] just walked in and wants a color change.
I’m busy!

Take advantage of kjack and talkstr8t while they’re here.
Later."



I think in regards to this, Universal would be the highlights to go neutral, Weinstein would be the color change since they were red exclusive and would flip outright to Blu exclusive.

[doctorD]

For my 200th post, I just want to thank the Insiders for all of their hard work and continued support on this site. You have truly made this forum very educational for myself, as well as for others!

Thank You!

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I think a good way to celebrate would be tomorrow at 5PM PT we all sit down in our respective HTs, crack open a cold beer and watch Blade Runner.

Sound like a plan?

That's a no go for American Football fans, the playoffs start tomorrow, but I got 12 BDs for Christmas, 10 were WB titles! I had Blade Runner and Terminator 3 on order before that, and just ordered The Aviator from WB direct, w/ 10% off and free shipping, so I will have many nights of WB-Blu-ray goodness in the near future.

Now, for a question to all insiders, esp. Maxpower since he seems to be the most accessible: I've read rumors that Paramounts exclusive contract is pretty iron-clad, so will they just have to wait it out? For whatever you know, how will contractual obligations affect the HD DVD-exclusive studios from moving to a better laser aperture in a more timely fashion?

Thank you for all the work tonight.

[ErikR]

Does anyone care to comment on this latest revelation...

Warner: New Line, HBO Not Covered By Blu-ray Announcement

Though it's widely expected that Warner Bros. subsidiaries New Line and HBO will follow Warner Home Entertainment to Blu-ray exclusivity, for the moment they remain format-agnostic.

That's according to Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara, who said that the studio's announcement that it would drop HD DVD support does not extend to titles released by New Line, HBO or the BBC (which Warner distributes here in the US).

"They'll be making whatever decision they're going to make," said Tsujihara. "I assume they'll let people know very quickly, but they are not covered by this initial announcement."

Tsujihara's comments came in a post-announcement conference call with various members of the media, including High-Def Digest.

Stay tuned for more news from the Warner conference call...

[L or S of Perfect?]

Funny because I thought I saw a link where they were covered by it.

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It wasn't really, but there have been talks and outlines had been made all the way back in September for this move. WB going Blu was not a rush job like Paramount, it was very well thought out and executed, if not for Lionsgate's Burns, we could have had this wrapped up a bit earlier...

It's all in the past now though.

wondered about that. seemed the seeds were planted a while ago in hindsight.

---

so i'm half way through my Chimay Red in celebration. god bless those trappist monks.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by ErikR

Does anyone care to comment on this latest revelation...

where is this from?...link?

[ziggy66]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

OK, Blade runner for those who have got it, or another Warner/New Line Blu-ray for those who haven't, how about that?

If your gonna bust open a beer.....u gotta fire up the good ol WB title, BEERFEST

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by The Don

where is this from?...link?

Maxpower said that NL will make their whole decision, in a clarification.

[L or S of Perfect?]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I should have clarified. NL will make their own announcement when they see fit, they are still a fully autonomous studio, but the BDA have made a deal with Time Warner and you can rest assured that it includes all studios operating under TW.

Thank you.

[ErikR]

Originally Posted by The Don

where is this from?...link?

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/

[Green Iguana]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

What does this do to the combo player market?

I saw the Samsung at the BB in Houston - looked nice, but I don't think it will have much of a market at the $999 they have it listed for.

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by mrinck

Thank you Max, kiss your girlfriend for us!

Cheers from France!

man that's just wrong but I'm into my 2nd liter of chimay red now, so... uh, yeah....

+1 on all the thanks to the insiders. i've learned quite a lot and don't think i've ever religiously checked a site as much as this over the last few months. this site and the insiders are why i have a ps3 and blu-ray movies. and why i've been able to sell several other folks on blu (no kidding! i want commission )

[onanie]

Shocked, but extremely glad about Warner seeing the light

And what impeccable timing! There sure is going to be a lot of free seats at the two hour HD DVD event. I feel sorry for the HD DVD presenters who will have to stand there looking silly.

If the timing wasn't a deliberate measure to ensure maximum effect against HD DVD, I'd be surprised. Warner is truly blu.

Million thanks to Penton-man, paidgeek, kjack, maxpower, drmpeg, talk, RBFilms and all the other insiders for your valiant efforts, and effectiveness.

In the end, I'm relieved that a format is winning because of its fundamental merits. And not because of meaningless points such as earliness, or disc yields. Not because of negative campaigning. Not because of lies.

[WickyWoo]

I think a good way to celebrate would be tomorrow at 5PM PT we all sit down in our respective HTs, crack open a cold beer and watch Blade Runner.

Now I know something's wrong here, an Englishman drinking cold beer?

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Now I know something's wrong here, an Englishman drinking cold beer?

at least it better be a sam smith oatmeat stout (well, any sam smith would be acceptable; a case in the states here is about $50 US. What do you pay in the UK?)

[Damon Payne]

Some smart guy on KlipschCorner.com had this to say. Hey insiders, maybe you can help promote an obviously Blu-Ray biased site...
"Nearly a year ago, on my personal blog, I wrote that I thought Blu-Ray was looking good. As a perfection-seeking home theater enthusiast, the future of packaged High Defintion media is something that I felt concerned me and the industry closely. I wrote that Blu-Ray was better technology because more storage space + higher maximum bitrates for audio+video ultimately meant a better home theater experience. I also wrote that I felt Blu-Ray actually had a chance to win in the marketplace and I spelled out why.

Today, Warner announced that they would be dropping HD-DVD support to be Blu-Ray exclusive. As one of the most successful studios in current day terms, with some of the most successful catalog titles from the past ten years, this is a pretty big blow to HD-DVD. Looking back at sales numbers, all of the highest selling HD-DVD titles have come from Warner with the notable exception of Transformers. The Matrix, Batman Begins, 300, Harry Potter, V for Vendetta; these have been the big sellers and they are Warner titles. Warner owns New Line who will surely follow suit and have said as much in the past. This means that the LOTR movies will be Blu-Ray exclusive.

Some Blu-Ray fanboys have claimed that this is essentially the end of the format war. As a fellow BD Fanboy I am inclined to agree. Some HD-DVD fanboys have said that HD packaged media will just be a small niche product and suffer the fate of DVD-Audio vs. SACD. I am inclined to disagree. Some extremely rabid fanboys have said they are now going back to upconverted DVDs or waiting for HD downloads, refusing to join their hated Blu enemy.

This last position is hardest to understand on a number of levels. Ten years ago, if you had told me the unwashed masses would be siding with Microsoft and calling Sony the big bad company they couldn't support on priciple, I would have laughed in your face. I half expect Apple to be the next "big bad out of fashion ugly corporate face" next. Anyway, to get the kind of audio and video quality of say, Pirates of the Carribean on Blu-Ray today, it would take most people 3-5 days to finish the download. I really think we are several years out before even the most cutting edge households have this kind of bandwidth, let alone average movie watching folks. I personally own several movies on DVD and Blu-Ray. Doing back-to-back comparisons of upconverted Pirates of the Carribean, Black Hawk Down, Bram Stoker's Dracula, against their native 1080p counterparts, I cannot fathom anyone choosing upconverted DVD over true high definition source material. It should be noted that while color gradients and resolution can be extrapolated to produce an image that is better than the data on disc, I know of no sound upconversion. Sound is half of the movie experience. This notion of never getting into Blu-Ray due purely to Sour Grapes seems both immature and telling. Had Warner gone the other way, I would have been stopping by Best Buy on the way home to see if the high end 1080p Toshiba HD-DVD players were in stock, and I would have picked up some Universal published guilty pleasures (Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick) to go with it. Sure, I would have been upset that my analysis was incorrect, but I like high definition audio and sound, so I would have to go with the best format with the best chance of succeeding in the marketplace.

I have a feeling Warner's decision will cause the entire High Definition Packaged Media pie to grow in size. Will Blu-Ray succeed DVD? I don't know, I hope so. Either way I'll be enjoying 1080p video and uncompressed LPCM audio for some time to come, and if you pick up a Blu-Ray player so can you.

"

[Zotar]

Originally Posted by Harry Seldon

I have to say I thought I would see childish gloating as I read this thread through. I saw some, but overall, you folks are handling victory as adults do, with restraint. Congratulations on your new recruit, me.

I lost a war, perhaps I gained a unified format.

Well what ever you've said in the past, it's water under the bridge now.

Welcome!

[Seretur]

I'll drink a pint of bitter to that.

(What? It's not warm, sheesh.)