Archived: Insiders Thread

[Rob Tomlin]

lol, I just posted this in the other thread.

[Spankey]

The yield issue seems to be the talking point of the day, week, month from the HD-DVD people. Do I think yields are perfect? No. You have to remember, Vaughn was promoting much lower yield rates last week as gospel. Now he comes in with another number.

Given the yield rates, has Blu-ray not been able to meet a quota? Has the cost been passed around to the studios?

If cost was such an issue for Paramount, why did they need a bribe to go exclusive?

[GaS]

I believe Paidgeek over Vaughn any day of the week.

[NutsAboutPS3]

According to this, yields were already around 80% almost a year ago.

"Yields are averaging 80% on single-layer 25-GB media -- about the same rates quoted on our May plant tour. Yields are “ever so slightly less" on dual-layer, he said." - Oct 2006

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

This is exactly what I heard on the title as well. The Blu-ray will provide a properly seamless experience, while the HD DVD will have short pauses for each branch.

HD-DVD ... now with Seamful Branching!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by David Forbes

Dave Vaughn just posted this twice over at AVS:

Originally Posted by Dave Vaughn
OK…I’ve heard back from a couple of sources

Translation……..
I called Amir twice this morning to see whaz up with replication, yields, etc. This is what he told me to say on AVMS.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Translation……..
I called Amir twice this morning to see whaz up with replication, yields, etc. This is what he told me to say on AVMS.

Bingo!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

David Vaughn has simply been assigned to be Amir's proxy under the new rules.

The A-man’s credibility has been shot down now so many times by saying things that can’t be proven one way or another so fewer and fewer people listen to him.

What’s an evangelist to do ?
Bring on a new face with no negative posting history (or no previous "insider" posting history for that matter) to tell your story to the sheep.

Expect the HD DVD “insiders” to ride the “replication issue” for as long as they pushed the notion that BD50 is science fiction. It is yet the newest negative mantra from the HD DVD side.

And I suppose the way it was written up at AVMS it fully meets the criteria for not “disparaging or bashing the opposing format in any way.”

Is the reason for the newest “rule change” on AVMS becoming more and more apparent to the Blu-ray supporters?

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by GaS

I believe Paidgeek over Vaughn any day of the week.

Agreed. I also think that the HD-DVD... er AVS guys are trying to goad the BDA into releasing actual numbers on disc replication. The cheaper player approach is not working, and it seems to be Paramounts only retort on the payoff with everything statistic wise stacked against them. Maybe Paramount is asking tough questions and the HD-DVD guys have burnt so many bridges they can't get answers. Even if the BD yield rate was 90%, they'll still say HD-DVD is better, reaching 100% yield rates. BR is a new technology less than a year old and there will be faulty discs. Maybe at the start the yields were 50%, but not anymore. Besides, no yield rate is going to be 100% for any technology or anything in this universe for that matter, there will always be a failure rate.

If yield rates are so low, and disc cost is expensive, why on average are Blu-Ray discs cheaper than HD-DVD discs? I'd like to see them answer that one. Reminds me of the the whole "BD50 is science fiction" statement.

It seems like a change in tactics now, attacking BR's strength of disc size by claiming the larger the size on a disc the greater the failure rate, so obviously 30GB is better . Talk about FUD. Anyone with half a brain knows that this is not what you put on the disc that determines failure rate.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

According to this, yields were already around 80% almost a year ago.

"Yields are averaging 80% on single-layer 25-GB media -- about the same rates quoted on our May plant tour. Yields are “ever so slightly less" on dual-layer, he said." - Oct 2006

Sorry can someone tell what Yields your all on about!?

[WickyWoo]

Yields: The ratio of good discs to bad discs that come off the line

[aygie]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Yields: The ratio of good discs to bad discs that come off the line

Thanks, now i can understand what your on about!

[eat_me_cool]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Yields: The ratio of good discs to bad discs that come off the line

Which are irrelevant as both the studio's and customers pay for the disc's after the yield has been taken into account. The price difference between the two formats is so small that it indicates the yield simply isn't an issue with BD.

[phloyd]

It is very interesting that nobody will talk about HD DVD Combo yields.

I think that is something HD DVD does not want to talk about.

Considering the number of bad discs that make it into customers' hands, it seems that they have both yield and quality assurance issues with that product.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by phloyd

I think that is something HD DVD does not want to talk about.

Amir specifically said he could not discuss this here (meaning AVS)...wonder why yet he expects the BD insiders to discuss it.

Originally Posted by amirm
The yield for combos are somewhat lower due to extra process steps. They are also more expensive because of the additional processing . I can't provide specific information here unfortunately.

[Bombthroat]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Translation……..
I called Amir twice this morning to see whaz up with replication, yields, etc. This is what he told me to say on AVMS.

LMFAO...you hit the nail on the head. Ha ha...

Any tidbits of information you can share for upcoming CEDIA announcements?

[cjamescook]

Can any Insider comment on whether Blu-ray discs produced for Blockbuster stores are edited (by studios?) as they are for DVD? If these are the same ones as in the retail chain, how does the average consumer determine which ones are edited and which are not?

Background: A few years ago, a web columnist (on cnet?) said that Blockbuster requires DVDs be edited for language and/or content for their stores. The writer said that single column generated the most email of all the columns that year. Strangely, the email was almost evenly divided between those expressing outrage for censorship and those expressing thanks (Moms?) for editing out "what they would have eliminated themselves" (or something like that).

Thanks in advance,
-Jim
(disclaimer: No, I am not trolling for FUD.)

[WickyWoo]

It's an urban legend

Blockbuster simply will not buy a title if they deem the content objectionable. It stems from their refusal to carry NC-17

[scott1256ca]

Which are irrelevant as both the studio's and customers pay for the disc's after the yield has been taken into account. The price difference between the two formats is so small that it indicates the yield simply isn't an issue with BD.

Speculation has been that Sony is (or at least was) capping the production costs for BD studios in order to make pricing competitive with HD DVD, which is why movie pricing on the end product is similar.

Would one of the insiders be able to answer a question for me?

Do companies that offer replication services, like Pacificdisc
http://www.pacificdisc.com
or proaction media
http://www.proactionmedia.com
actually own the equipment they replicate on, or do they outsource the actual replication to someone else? In other words, do they just create the master and send it out for replication?

[dakota81]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Translation……..
I called Amir twice this morning to see whaz up with replication, yields, etc. This is what he told me to say on AVMS.

Would you say it was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to come up with new numbers from several contacts at the drop of a hat - all of which were supposedly near impossible to obtain previously?