The rumor is that Warner is coming aboard soon

[dustin410]

How come Warner Bros. makes their DVD's better on DUD than it's counterpart on blu? Pisses me off. Terminator 3 will most likely suck like the other two on blu. Harry Potter movies are said too be better as well on DUD.

And just today Warner released a statement saying nothing has changed.


Web forums were ablaze this morning because of a controversial report by Rich Greenfield of Pali Research, saying in 2008 Warner Bros. would cease support of HD DVD and become Blu-ray only. As a syndicated newspaper columnist I have contacts within the industry and found the whole thing suspicious and oddly timed. My PR contacts put me in touch with Jim Noonan, Warner Bros. Senior Vice President and General Manager, for clarification. I received a response almost immediately and his reply is as follows:

“Dear Mr. Lindich, We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.”

No denial, no silence as one would expect if change was in the works… I received a quick confirmation that their policy won’t be changing. Nothing surprising here, given Warner’s strong support of the HD DVD format with exclusives such as The Matrix and Batman Begins, as well as Warner’s embracing of HD DVD’s web interactivity on the new Harry Potter titles. To learn more about the differences between the HD DVD and Blu-ray Harry Potter titles, see The State of HD DVD at gizmodo.com.

It is possible Warner could swing one way or the other in 2008, but for now, it’s undecided and that’s straight from a Warner executive.


http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=677


Maybe they are staying neutral. That really sucks if they do decide that in the end. This war will never end and people will be forced into buying both players instead. How bad would that suck...

Then there is this.


A recent research study shows that a great deal of consumers intend to buy a HD TV during the next 12 months however what vis interesting is their attitude to HD DVD Vs Blu ray.
According to global research from The Diffusion Group, close to one-third of non-HDTV households are interested in purchasing a new HDTV in the next six months – a very encouraging sign for HDTV manufacturers and, by relation, high-def DVD manufacturers claims the researchers.

More interesting, perhaps, is that the same research found that the characteristics of these "HDTV Intenders" vary widely from that of current HDTV owners. HDTV Intenders tend to be younger, single, more ethnically diverse, and have lower annual household incomes than current HDTV owners – in many respects more characteristic of mainstream consumers than the early adopters who today own an HDTV.

While this trend could in theory benefit either Blu-ray or HD DVD, the data suggests otherwise. Among HDTV Intenders who are likely to purchase a new high-def DVD player in the next six months, 43% prefer HD DVD, 27% prefer Blu-ray, and 30% are undecided.

"The strength of this preference and its correlation to mainstream attributes are notable," states Michael Greeson, president and principal analyst with The Diffusion Group. "Today's high-def DVD owner is likely an early adopter with a knack for power gaming; most certainly tech-sophisticates not at all mainstream in temperament. The next wave of buyers is comprised of early mass-market consumers, a much larger segment with a focus on practical considerations such as price. It is TDG's opinion that the format which can best address the needs of mainstream consumers will emerge as the winner of this format war."

TDG's research confirms this conclusion. When asked to characterize their own "status" as technology consumers, High-Def DVD Owners are five times more likely than Non-Owning High-Def DVD Intenders to see themselves as early adopters. Conversely, Non-Owning High-Def DVD Intenders are almost twice as likely as High-Def DVD Owners to view themselves as early mass-market buyers.

As is the case with the diffusion of most new technologies, TDG believes there will be several "waves" of high-def DVD buyers, each of which will be motivated by different factors. The most immediate wave, which is expected to be exhausted by early 2008, is comprised of the remaining early adopters who have yet to buy a high-def DVD player and which (not surprisingly) show a preference for Blu-ray. The second (and more sizable) wave will consist of early mass-market consumers who, while less enthusiastic about technology per se and very price sensitive, are more likely to favor HD DVD (a conclusion grounded in TDG's latest primary research).

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And...2S3X8F4?page=1


I'm not trying to sound negative, but all this up-down crap is killing me. First you hear that blu ray is killing DUD, then all of a sudden 43% V/S 27% preffer DUD! WTF? Now how is that possible?

Some inside views and or opinions would be great on this. I'd like to feel a bit better. This crap is depressing me.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by BTBuck1

And Twister on 5-6 08

Huh?!

~Alan

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by dustin410

I'm not trying to sound negative, but all this up-down crap is killing me. First you hear that blu ray is killing DUD, then all of a sudden 43% V/S 27% preffer DUD! WTF? Now how is that possible?

Some inside views and or opinions would be great on this. I'd like to feel a bit better. This crap is depressing me.

Id like to see if that 43% will still feel that way when they see how many corporations are bundling bluray players with their TVs this week. Just a thought....

[stockstar1138]

dustin, their was a similar study done about 6 months ago and hd dvd had even a bigger lead over blu-ray in terms of what future hdtv owners said they intended to buy. you gotta ask yourself how the surveying is done. its not clear at all, how many of these people look at their options of hd dvd, blu-ray, or neither and think, well, ive got a sdtv and a dvd player and im upgrading to a hdtv, so ill upgrade to an hd dvd player, im not entirely sure what blu-ray is, so ill say hd dvd. then they get to the store and a store rep tells them that blu-ray is just as good if not better than hd dvd in terms of quality and that pirates, die hard, 007, simpsons, ratatouille, cars, etc. are only on blu-ray and the customer walks out with a blu-ray player, when he marked down hd dvd, you can bet it doesn't happen nearly as much the other way around.

[dustin410]

@Merrick,

Forgot about that. It could help, but the red side will just do the same thing. Sony needs Warner to back them bad. Exclusively. That would put and end to all of this chaos. Quickly at that.

@Stackstar,

You make a valid point. I just hope it ends quick. Maybe if Disney had a Bogo sale or started pushing blu real hard. Anything would help.

[JadedRaverLA]

Dustin410 -- I lnow you may have wanted an insider to comment specifically... but as we don't have any Warner insider's here anyway, it would be nice to have that moved to a different thread for everyone else to respond.

There's a lot I would say... but as this is the insider's thread, I'll just say this: there are REAL statistics (Nielson, etc) that are verifiable and have a reason to exist. Then there are statistics (the favored format of some sampled research participants who don't own an HDTV but plan to buy one at some point in the next year -- in Australia) that are so meaningless it amounts to nothing but further straw grasps by a format struggling to stay afloat.

Trust me, if Warner is planning on going Blu-ray exclusive, they aren't going to announce it by emailing an HD DVD fansite to break the news.

Just try to stay above the fray and avoid getting hit by the FUD.

[dustin410]

I don't know how to move a thread. Can someone move this to the proper thread?

Sorry I put this in the wrong section.

EDIT

Sorry, Stockstar. Spelled your name wrong.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by dustin410

@Merrick,

Forgot about that. It could help, but the red side will just do the same thing. Sony needs Warner to back them bad. That would put and end to all of this chaos. Quickly at that.

@Stackstar,

You make a valid point. I just hope it ends quick. Maybe if Disney had a Bogo sale or started pushing blu real hard. Anything would help.

also remember that hd dvd has been saying they are going to win on cheaper players forever now. guess what they have sold about a 43:27 ratio of standalone players over blu-ray. and guess what blu-ray continues to dominate. wanna know why? because like the articles says these people are price sensitive and they really, really don't like 30 dollar combo discs, and their cheap hd dvd player upscales dvds wonderful. and cause they are $ sensative they got a cheap 720p vizio and they really can't see much of a difference between hd dvd and upscaled dvd, so why waste the extra $. especialy when they got most of the good hd titles n freebies.

[Manco]

Originally Posted by spicynacho

My super secret inside source at WB told me that there is a chance that they will go HD DVD exclusive. Heres what needs to happen... Giant meteors need to fall from the sky and destroy all of the Blu Ray replication plants. If this happens and none of the HD DVD plants are harmed, they will issue a press release that they are going to release only on HD DVD.

They think there is still a good chance of this happening because there is supposed to be a big meteor shower later this week.

CONFIRMED: Eating Spicy Nachos leads to severe Brain Farts!!

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by dustin410

@Merrick,

Forgot about that. It could help, but the red side will just do the same thing. Sony needs Warner to back them bad. Exclusively. That would put and end to all of this chaos. Quickly at that.

Yes, the red side can, but all they can have is Toshiba doing it and they cannot effectively compete with Panasonic, Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Sharp and Samsung if they were to do these holiday promotions.

There is just no way.

Samsung, Sony and Sharp by themselves all sell way more HDTVs than Toshiba does.

My disappointment is that the BDA has waited until NOW to do this and could have started it last month. Granted its much easier for me to tell a company how to spend their money, but if they had managed to start this promotion sooner. There could potentially be a LOT more bluray players out there.

[dustin410]

@Merrick,

Agreed. A month ago would have been a lot of help. Every little bit helps, though. I'm just glad they have this promotion at all. I just hope it's enough to stave off the red side indefinitely.

EDIT

Thanks for moving this into the correct section, BTW, modds. You guys are on top of things

[stockstar1138]

one more thing dustin, you claim wb made hp for hd dvd better, this is very, very far from the truth. wb did not bless hp on hd dvd with an uncompressed track like it did for bd, wb did not bless hp on hd dvd with hd extras like it did on blu-ray, all extras on hp hd dvd are in sd. wb did not include teh 45 min. documentary from the history channel on the hd dvd version, it did on the blu-ray version. what does hp on hd dvd that it doesn't have on blu-ray, community viewing so somebody else can pause your movie when they have to go pee.

[darinp2]

Originally Posted by dustin410

“Dear Mr. Lindich, We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.”

No denial, no silence as one would expect if change was in the works… I received a quick confirmation that their policy won’t be changing.

That doesn't say that their policy won't be changing. It says that they "have made no decision to change". With the way things normally work, it basically says they haven't signed anything, since the decision hasn't really been made for a company like this until they are ready to sign, as far as what they tend to say. Right up until the signing point things can always change. They could make a change next week after negotiating the finer points of a contract and the Warner guy could still say that what he said was true. They hadn't made a decision until they made a decision and committed to one side.

--Darin

[dustin410]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

one more thing dustin, you claim wb made hp for hd dvd better, this is very, very far from the truth. wb did not bless hp on hd dvd with an uncompressed track like it did for bd, wb did not bless hp on hd dvd with hd extras like it did on blu-ray, all extras on hp hd dvd are in sd. wb did not include teh 45 min. documentary from the history channel on the hd dvd version, it did on the blu-ray version. what does hp on hd dvd that it doesn't have on blu-ray, community viewing so somebody else can pause your movie when they have to go pee.

LOL.

That's good to know. I hadn't heard that. Just read a lot of junk from internet sites saying that the red version was better. Most likely from the red side. Those dirty bastards.

I can sleep better now. Thanks.

@Darin,

True that. Will have to wait and see, I guess. ....I hate waiting.

[blindcat87]

How is red going to use this tactic? Toshiba can do a bundle, but with Blu-Ray, Sony, Panny, Sharp, and so on and so on. Red is kind of outgunned on that front.

Chris

Originally Posted by dustin410

@Merrick,

Forgot about that. It could help, but the red side will just do the same thing. Sony needs Warner to back them bad. Exclusively. That would put and end to all of this chaos. Quickly at that.

@Stackstar,

You make a valid point. I just hope it ends quick. Maybe if Disney had a Bogo sale or started pushing blu real hard. Anything would help.

[SGRSBSKIER]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

this is why i think Pan's Labryinth is going to get delayed. Techincally that is New Line, but WB is the parent. There is no reason for NL to author its ONLY HD DVD EVER to be released after xmas when its parent has decided to ditch the format 15 days later.

If they are already pressed there is no reason not to sell it, but they shouldn't make any more, its not going to sell that many and they probably pressed less than 50k.

[Lord_Stewie]

I'm not trying to sound negative, but all this up-down crap is killing me. First you hear that blu ray is killing DUD, then all of a sudden 43% V/S 27% preffer DUD! WTF? Now how is that possible?

Some inside views and or opinions would be great on this. I'd like to feel a bit better. This crap is depressing me.[/QUOTE]

where in the hell you got the 43% in favor of HDDVD?

[Manco]

Originally Posted by LeoneFan

I don't see Warner going Blu exclusive. They've had their noses up HDDVD's ass since the beginning and they still do. Look at all their ads on TV and magazine, the HDDVD version of the release is always in front of the Blu-ray covering it up. Warner has a big ego and I wouldn't be surprised if they think that if they went with HDDVD then it would win based on their support alone. I hope I'm wrong but after the Paramount debacle anything is possible.

I'm going out on a limb and agreeing with LeoneFan on this one. I'm just not feeling the love. Go inside the Warner employee store on the lot...HD-DVD. Drive past the studio lot...GIANT ASS billboards all up and down street...HD-DVD. EVERY ad has the HD-DVD package conveniently hiding the BD behind it. Now all of sudden.........it's Blu-ray.......because ONE GUY wrote ONE PARAGRAPH in Business Week?!?! Come on. WB has their cocksicle wrapped very tightly around DVD/HD-DVD. It's THEIR baby. Their name is stamped verbatim on the DVD patents. I think it's going to take a shit load more PS3's and Star Wars on BD to move these people into going BD exclusive. I think we all want this to end so badly we'll believe anything at this point. "This just in....BeatBoy has big news from the Time Warner Cable Call Center in Denver, Colorado............"

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

I do not have the "personallysitting in on the meeting" confirmation, but I have the next best thing. Nothing has been signed yet. And nothing will be signed by Warner, should they decide to go exclusive (likely) until after the holidays. Pre-emptive strike- If it doesn't happen at CES, it doesn't mean it won't at some point after CES. Right now Warner knows they're the swing vote, and at the very least they want to milk it for everything they can. No one is going to make any new offers till after they see the Christmas numbers

Hence the HD DVD BOGO here.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by richard lichtenfelt

First time I saw the small #'s point was in an article by Josh Zyber on highdefdigest.com.
I don't know if he is the one who first made that comment though.

It's been one of the red side talking points for quite some time now.