81:19 Nielsen/VideoScan Weekly Sales Numbers

[aaronwt]

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

[Shin-Ra]

I can't help but laugh really.

[baccusboy]

Originally Posted by desmond

wipeout. it is a combo so dud will be more expensive.

Those expensive combo HD-DVDs really turned around and bit them in the butt. I don't think many expected that to turn out to be such a negative.

It was a good idea marketed very poorly. Such a disc only has appeal if it's the same price -- over very close in price -- to a standard DVD. Also, it would have to be provided instead of the regular SD-DVD option, so consumers didn't have a choice.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

Ah, the old bait and switch. You are trying to compare HD discs to "ALL" video downloads here (read what you wrote). Doesn't quite seem fair now does it? Maybe you should compare HD discs to only "HD" downloads, which BTW is not growing by "leaps and bounds".

[Chris Beveridge]

The titles that were selling during the big 6/26 release week were quite low for volume. According to some inquiries, it looks like the twin-format disc Freedom ended up doing about 70 copies sold to date via Nielsen.

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

Ah, the old bait and switch. You are trying to compare HD discs to "ALL" video downloads here (read what you wrote). Doesn't quite seem fair now does it? Maybe you should compare HD discs to only "HD" downloads, which BTW is not growing by "leaps and bounds".

The point is most people couldn't care less about HD, let alone BD/HD DVD. Your average person is fine with DVD resolution which would include On demand and Video downloads in SD. Most people who have an HD set don't even watch any HD content. If they cared about HD content that wouldn't be the case.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

You may be right. But, I think if you crunch the numbers, the studio makes more money from disc sales than a VOD rental. So, it's a sure road to major revenue reduction if ownership is taken out of the equation.

VOD will always be compromised. The bandwidth limits and the storage costs at the head will always push compressionists to use fewer bits. You can certainly kiss any hope of lossless audio goodbye on downloads or streaming.

It has been show the mass consumer is satisfied with compromise (e.g. MP3 over CD). So, it's definitely an issue of whether either format can be entrenched before VOD starts to dominate. And, as has been said before, it is likely Microsoft's moves have always been toward hurting discs to favour their download goals, rather than helping HD DVD.

Gary

[ra1024]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand.

If that's the case why have HD tvs caught on? People do want better quality and have been willing to pay a premium for HD sets for years to the point the prices have come down substantially. If people didn't care, HD sets would have stayed a nich market.

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

It has been show the mass consumer is satisfied with compromise (e.g. MP3 over CD). So, it's definitely an issue of whether either format can be entrenched before VOD starts to dominate.

I don't think the mp3/cd situation will play out in the movie market due to several differences. I think a key difference is that video is much more powerful than audio. Lower quality audio is easier to overlook than lower quality video for the masses and I think people can tell a difference with video easier than with audio. I think downloads took off with music because people usually only want a few songs from a cd and iTunes makes it easy to buy just what they want.

I suspect that downloads will stay a nich market for tech savy people but I don't see it hurting optical any more than pay per view movies hurt the dvd rental market.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by ra1024

I think downloads took off with music because people usually only want a few songs from a cd and iTunes makes it easy to buy just what they want.

That's why legal downloads took off. Downloads were huge well before iTunes. When the for pay services came out people asked whether people could be weaned off stealing.

The key about HD is that most people don't have a good enough display or sound system to take advantage of the true HD aspects.

What are the percentages of 1080p v. 720p/768p (or even less) displays?
How about those capable of handling HD audio?

Would $20 1080p/lossless audio discs beat $10 720p/lossy audio downloads, if devices that handled either were generally available and inexpensive?

Gary

[Anthony P]

You are correct on item 1. The weekly number has to exceed the metric you are tracking against (YTD or SI) if you want it to increase that number otherwise it erodes it.

well not really, if it is the same then it neither increases nor erodes.

As for the rest even though mathematically you are right, we have rounded numbers, so my guess is that even if it became 51:49 one week it would most likely mean that very few movies have sold and so no change in either SI or YTD that is visible

Just look at it so far YTD has been the same since May 20th and SI has been the same for 2 weeks and was the same (1% different from this week) for 4 other weeks.

[Anthony P]

Hey, *I* did too (you can look it up here). I figured the 14:2 week would result in a pre-order booking effect that would have HD DVD get a slight win.

I'm absolutely shocked that the Universal Catalog Society crowd was nowhere to be seen. It's as if Universal didn't release a darn thing (the numbers didn't really budge).

Gary, I never did, like Redux said, the problem with HD DVD was never titles (as some fanboys liked to portray at the time). It was always the players. People without players can't buy movies, people with players can't buy 14 movies in a week just because so many were released. On Bountiful weeks people tend to buy what they want first, on slow weeks they supplemented with what they did not buy the bountiful weeks.

My guess is most weeks people buy more or less the same number of titles, the only exceptions are weeks where there is a top new release and then people add that to what they buy (not to mention that you also have the occasional buyers that jump in).

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

totally disagree. The average person is always content with what he has until he sees something better at someone else’s house and then he changes his mind and wants something better.

[GasCat]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The point is most people couldn't care less about HD, let alone BD/HD DVD. Your average person is fine with DVD resolution which would include On demand and Video downloads in SD. Most people who have an HD set don't even watch any HD content. If they cared about HD content that wouldn't be the case.

Can you throw us a link?

[gand41f]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

Ah, here comes the M$ party line. Predictable, really.

whatever
gandalf

[GasCat]

I found a link~:

US survey reveals that most HDTV owners don't watch HD programmes
The new study, 'HDTV: You have the set, but do you have the content?' revealed that only 44% of households owning a high-definition TV actually received HD programming. And that the majority of consumers who do receive HD programming still don't understand what programming they do and don't receive.

http://www.hdtvuk.tv/2007/07/us_survey_revea.html

Most use the set to watch movies or gaming. PS3? XBOX? They didn't say but we can go by sales figures.

[iceman]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The point is most people couldn't care less about HD, let alone BD/HD DVD. Your average person is fine with DVD resolution which would include On demand and Video downloads in SD. Most people who have an HD set don't even watch any HD content. If they cared about HD content that wouldn't be the case.

Originally Posted by aaronwt

The HD discs will never really catch on. Your average person is quite content with DVD and will switch to video downloads and On Demand. BD/HD DVD will probably never surpass video downloads and On Demand. So many more people use that currently and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

I've read a lot of similar posts in other threads from you, in fact, about all posts I've read from you have been about why HD is no good and why (lowres) VOD is so much better. Still you claim to be a dual format supporter with a lot of movies and equipment, which means you are putting a lot of money into something you really don't believe in. Number 2, why are you constantly posting about this in a Blu-ray forum? Shouldn't you be talking in a download/DVD/SD/VOD forum? Please explain this behaviour as "I can't quite figure it out".

Edit: I've read some more of your posts and you are definitely posting in the wrong forum. Please see the forum rules next time.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Iceman

I've read a lot of similar posts in other threads from you, in fact, about all posts I've read from you have been about why HD is no good and why (lowres) VOD is so much better. Still you claim to be a dual format supporter with a lot of movies and equipment, which means you are putting a lot of money into something you really don't believe in. Number 2, why are you constantly posting about this in a Blu-ray forum? Shouldn't you be talking in a download/DVD/SD/VOD forum? Please explain this behaviour as "I can't quite figure it out".

Edit: I've read some more of your posts and you are definitely posting in the wrong forum. Please see the forum rules next time.

These posts are expressing the latest HD DVD talking point: which format is winning the format war? DVD.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by patrick99

These posts are expressing the latest HD DVD talking point: which format is winning the format war? DVD.

If I were sitting on the sinking ship I'd say the same...

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by patrick99

These posts are expressing the latest HD DVD talking point: which format is winning the format war? DVD.

That is just too funny.


fuad

[iceman]

Originally Posted by patrick99

These posts are expressing the latest HD DVD talking point: which format is winning the format war? DVD.

Hey, if you can't win you can at least try to sabotage the whole market...