Ouch that's gotta hurt.

[www.blu-ray.com]

(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.
"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2008 03:56PM by SLM.

> "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray..."

Hah!

I don't care if we end up with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, just that we end up with ONE instead of two or none.

Luckily, corporate greed which got us into this mess, will probably get us out of this mess as Warner now sees.

Another upgrade most don't really want or need.

Good.

I was hoping it would go this way.

HD-DVD just got a foot back in the grave. If Apple gives BD-R capability to the masses then get out the shovel b/c I'm betting HD-DVD will be vanquished by year end. I'm not really thrilled about that b/c I am enjoying the shoot out and am hopefull HD media will get down to more reasonable prices. $25-30+ is just too much money for a movie, even if it's HD.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

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PS3 sales are picking up with every single one having BR.

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Quote
incognegro
Another upgrade most don't really want or need.

Perhaps right now, but they have to start somewhere at some point.

Personally, I'm happy to see this because I do have a want and or need for it. If it wins out, it will effectively reduce costs for them and provide cheaper versions for Macs. I'd rather be storing backed up files on a much larger Blu-Ray disc than my current DVD-R.

Quote
MacMagus
> "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray..."

Hah!

On another thread, N-OS X-tasy wrote that "Blu-Ray content outsold HD-DVD content by nearly 2-to-1 in 2007", with a handy chart to illustrate his point. [forums.macresource.com]

I love charts.

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Spindle of 100....... just $1,699.99 @ SuperMedia Store! WHAT A BAHGAIN!

> On another thread, N-OS X-tasy wrote that "Blu-Ray content outsold HD-DVD content by nearly 2-to-1 in 2007"

Who cares?

Twice nothing is nothing. Neither one sold in any numbers to brag about.

Consumers -- excepting the gamer crowd who had it foisted on them -- have decided to sit this one out nearly en masse. They are expensive, redundant luxury goods in a slowing economy.

There's no "clear choice" between Blu-ray and HD DVD because neither one satisfies any demand.

They were created to sell more useless cr@p to people already stuffed silly with useless cr@p and have fatal flaws built-in to satisfy the DRM mafia.

They BOTH stink.

Quote
MacMagus
> On another thread, N-OS X-tasy wrote that "Blu-Ray content outsold HD-DVD content by nearly 2-to-1 in 2007"

Who cares?

Twice nothing is nothing. Neither one sold in any numbers to brag about.

Consumers -- excepting the gamer crowd who had it foisted on them -- have decided to sit this one out nearly en masse. They are expensive, redundant luxury goods in a slowing economy.

There's no "clear choice" between Blu-ray and HD DVD because neither one satisfies any demand.

They were created to sell more useless cr@p to people already stuffed silly with useless cr@p and have fatal flaws built-in to satisfy the DRM mafia.

They BOTH stink.

Posts like this crack me up.

The burgeoning HDTV market will create -- IS creating -- a market for hi-def content. People who drop 2 grand on a new HDTV don't do so to watch standard-def reruns of Law & Order on their new little slice of hi-def heaven -- they want hi-def content. This is reflected in the rapid growth in cable and satellite HD programming, as well as in the growing hi-def media (HDM) market.

Yes, current sales levels of HDM are small compared to those of the dominant format (DVD). Does that mean HDM is failing in the marketplace? Absolutely not. This scenario is typical as any new technology supplants another -- the rise of the new technology corresponds with the ebb of the old. The exact same sales trends were seen years ago as DVD overtook VHS as the dominant video format (but only after the outcome of the DVD vs. DiVX format war -- anyone remember that? -- had been decided).

After two years of flat sales, 2007 sales for standard-def DVD media were down for the first time since the introduction of the DVD format in 1997 [today.reuters.com]. Sales of SD-DVD players are also down [www.engadgethd.com]. At the same time, sales of HDM -- both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD -- are on the rise. Blu-Ray sales, however, have consistently outpaced HD-DVD sales by a 2:1 margin for the entirety of 2007, which is why Warner finally made the call.

Most consumers sat out this HDM format war -- an eminently reasonable position. No one wants to get stuck with obsolete technology, and the lessons of VHS vs. Beta still resonate strongly in the marketplace, even after all these years. Thus, it was left to the early adopters to decide the matter, which was probably for the best, as they tend to understand the merits and deficiencies of the technologies involved better than Mr. and Mrs. Joe Six-Pack. The Six-Pack family don't want to wrestle with discerning the "clear choice" between two formats -- they want ONE format. For all intents and purposes, that's what they now have.

Back to addressing MM's post: Within the HDTV market there is plenty of demand for HDM. The market for both HDTV and HDM is growing quickly and will continue to do so for years. It is your privilege to exclude yourself from these markets; if SDTV is good enough for you, good on you. However, to declare that the new technology STINKS simply because you choose not to partake is positively Luddite.

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It is what it is.

Sure, I definitely want HD. Regular dvds look like dung on my hdtv. And I'm not a videophile, at all. Does netflix have any plans to start sending HD discs? kj.

> to declare that the new technology STINKS simply because
> you choose not to partake is positively Luddite.

I am not a Luddite by any stretch of imagination, but you are clearly a brainwashed fanboy. Thus, you will surely ignore all of these points or search for some way to pretend that they are not valid.

I say that they stink because both Blu-ray and HD DVD video -- as they are sold today -- stink.

The players detect modification (switching regions, for example) or "obsolete" (revoked) keys and disable themselves (and sometimes they disable themselves just for the heck of it).

The content is not separable from the media for fair use purposes. (My next big computing project is moving my DVD collection to hard drives for playback on my tv from my media-Mac. No-can-do with HD DVD or Blu-ray content.)

The media companies get to determine what output devices and protocols are permitted (Sony, for example, can make sure that your analog audio outputs are disabled when you play their discs or can disable video output from certain ports or at certain resolutions).

All of the accommodations are for the content-creators rather than for consumers. This adds to the price of the products with no concurrent increase in value. (Does the ethernet connection benefit users or is it a part of a DRM scheme? Do you benefit from the part of the cost that reflects a license and implementation of that DRM scheme? How about the region-coding?)

It's another expense on top of a pre-existing DVD collection. (And with a half-dozen alternatives coming 'round the bend odds are that yet another kind of high-def capable media or delivery system will replace BOTH Blue-ray and HD DVD before this century hits its teens.)

And given the quality of most "high-def" tv's, there's no advantage to switching to a high-def format because upsampling provides the same subjective quality.

It's a scam, fanboy. It's an attempt to boost sagging revenues across the industry by pushing a new format on you and you've bought into it.

Consumers haven't been waiting for "one format." They've been sitting out because they don't give a damn.

People are not demanding HD video. You may not be aware of this because you hang out in online forums like this where there are lots of early adopters.

Consumers -- people -- want to go home at night after work and sit down in front of the same old tv to watch the same old comfortable shows or new shows that repeat the same old comfortable plots. HD is being shoved down their throats and for once they aren't mindlessly swallowing it.

When a superior video standard makes an appearance, I'll be at the head of the line to adopt it and I'll preach it to the masses.

That time has not come.

You drank the purple Kool-Aid. 'Sorry chap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2008 03:36AM by MacMagus.

kj writes:

"Does netflix have any plans to start sending HD discs? "

Good news: they already do. Check Netflix online. Netflix offers both formats of Hi Definition discs for rental.

MacMagus, wheezing and pontificating and insulting those who disagree with his opinion, writes:

"Consumers haven't been waiting for "one format." They've been sitting out because they don't give a damn. "

Baloney.

What they---these "consumers" you're speak so derisively of---don't give a damn about is some long-winded "the Sky is Falling" speech about DRM and Movie Studio greed. What they DO give a damn about, is they want their Hollywood movies on Hi Def discs, and they want them sooner rather than later, Thank You.

Even average consumers--not just the impatient early adopters, I mean, Mom & Pop video watchers---are eager to load a Hi Def movie on the plasma or LCD TV they installed in their homes at Christmas, these high definition screens consumers are buying in record numbers.

What are they gonna watch now? ESPN? Local News in Hi Def? Get real.

They want movies. They want content. On disc. And they want to open their wallets, too, to buy the disc players.

Average consumers could care less about DRM issues, because unlike a lot of us techno-weenies in here, they don't "rip" movies for their "hard drives", or "burn" DVDs, or transfer movies from one format to another, like you I might do. They just open the disc tray and put a Hollywood disc in and watch it.

As long as the player is standard and affordable and they can get it at their local Best Buy or Costco, they simply don't care about the "industry greed" insider stuff you are personally freaking out about, they just want their Hi Definition Hollywood movies on disc. And they want it this year. In 2008. And they're going to happily spend millions for it, too, because yes, they have been waiting.

Why should they care what you tell them? With your lack of respect for the average consumer, and misreading of their preferences, if I were them, I would have tuned you out (not just you personally, guys like you) a long time ago.

"When a superior video standard makes an appearance, I'll be at the head of the line to adopt it and I'll preach it to the masses."

You'll be waiting a long time, in solitude, muttering to yourself, or preaching to squirrels. Because the Hi Def format the rest of us will be happily watching already won't be superior enough to suit your taste.

The "masses" (what are you, Karl Marx? Michael Moore?) will have long ago purchased our disc players, and will have been enjoying movies in Hi Def, while you're sitting on your couch with your arms folded, holding out for this imaginary superior format.

Maybe you'll be at home, watching Laserdiscs, or watching tapes on a Betamax player (that one, after all, is superior to VHS) or writing sweaty rant letters to Government Officials, or typing up the latest revision of your Consumer Technology Conspiracy Theory Manifesto. We'll be watching our Hi Def discs, eating popcorn, and laughing. We have enough preachers insulting our intelligence already. Consumers have a way of doing things you don't personally approve of.

The time has come.

You're preaching to the mirror. 'Sorry chap.

> And they want to open their wallets...

Right there. That's where you walked off the pier.

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MacMagus
> And they want to open their wallets...

Right there. That's where you walked off the pier.

You were off the pier the moment you started typing.

Just because you personally plan to avoid purchasing a Blu-Ray player or an HD DVD player (because it'll interrupt your soon-to-be-obsolete content-transfer projects, which they could care less about) doesn't mean hundreds of thousands of consumers with hundreds of millions of dollars won't trample over your body to purchase Hi Def players in 2008.

Hi Def players will arrive in homes this year whether you approve of the format or not. You don't think consumers will open their wallets in 2008? You're in for a surprise. They're smarter than you think they are, they disagree with you, and I don't blame them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2008 06:55AM by guitarist.

Neither Blu-ray nor HDDVD have any significant penetration compared to DVD.

Prices on the standalone Blu-ray players are still too high for mass-market adoption.

HD optical is still very much a niche market.

HD optical is still very much a niche market.

As were video tapes and DVDs, though DVDs were adopted in record time compared to any other format.

As stated, you gotta start somewhere.

Prices are getting better, and will get better still.

But unfortunately, the general, general public won't be particularly concerned about DRM.

---

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You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I'm hoping prices will come down, but I'm more interested in it for the computer than the TV.

I'd love to see a $199 Blu-ray burner with 50GB rewriteble media @ $10 each.

Quote
Bill in NC
Neither Blu-ray nor HDDVD have any significant penetration compared to DVD.

Prices on the standalone Blu-ray players are still too high for mass-market adoption.

HD optical is still very much a niche market.

That's so 2007.

Just kidding.

Yes, we're well aware of this. The debate/discussion is whether there's pent-up demand for the players or not. Once the format competition is settled and prices for the players plummet into the affordable zone, some of us contend that Hi Def disc will rapidly move toward becoming as cheap and ordinary and common as DVDs are now. Our view is that 2008 will be a watershed year where much of this will be decided.

Others contend that both HD DVD and Blu-Ray aren't gonna happen in any meaningful way. They aren't mature enough, or are too problematic, convoluted, too restricted, or too uninteresting to consumers for either format to flourish. This view holds that what will be the prevailing Hi Def disc format hasn't emerged yet, and won't for several more years, not until well into the next decade.

Both are valid points of view. But only one will turn out to be right. We won't know until the end of 2008 whether or not consumers did or didn't bite.

Until then, we can pretend to be "experts", firmly believing we "know for a fact" what's going to happen, but we don't. We're speculating based on current trends, subjective analysis, prejudices, habits, and self-interested priorities.

It'll happen. It won't be a niche market for very long, as HDTV ownership continues to multiply, the FCC's digital switch date approaches (13 months) and prices adjust downward for the emerging medium. The question is how soon consumers will select their products and start spending. I'm among those who predict that there is indeed pent-up demand, and we'll see some momentum one way or another in 2008.

For people living in parents' basements and getting their entertainment form illegal geek activities (ripping, bit-torrenting), the HD does not matter, as they usually do not have the equipment to enjoy it. But even for those, the illegal HD tools already exist on the PC side.

For those who have decent equipment and either normal or corrected vision, the difference between SD, DVDS, and HD formats is obvious and dramatic. Having only one format will go a long way for broadening the installed base and driving the prices down.

For those in the middle, it is going to be up to marketing to determine the speed and eventual success of HD adoption. The average size of TV sets sold will also have a large impact (if people mainly buy sets under 47", the impact of any HD programming is greatly reduced).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2008 09:37AM by dk62.

I'm not putting any more "new cutting edge technology" in the land fill.
I'm done.
I'm buying a tractor instead.
Fresh air.
Battle with mother nature.
I can watch her undo everything I've done and not give a penny to Comcast or Dish.

"I'm buying a tractor instead. "

And soon you'll be subscribing to "Farm Equipment Monthly" magazine, and hanging out online browsing and posting on "Tractoresource" Forums, salivating over Farm Tool deals.

It's all the same, just different.

> I'm hoping prices will come down, but I'm more interested in it for the computer than the TV.

Yes. That's the one way that Blu-ray is likely to get into my home.

I don't see why the venom toward MacMagus's post. I tend to agree with MacMagus, I give my wife and my in laws as examples. We just got a 50" HD plasma, but my wife isn't interested in looking for the HD channel versions of TV shows, she's quite content to watch the SD analog version. My inlaws are the same. While they may be impressed by saying what a nice picture, they still don't see the advantage are perfectly happy watching a SD signal.

So based on my limited polling of 'average' consumers, there isn't a 'pent-up demand' for High Def among the masses. They just want to be entertained.

Oh, regarding the masses not caring about DRM, the minute someone's player gets locked out because it didn't get the proper decryption keys, the 'masses' will get upset. They just want it to work. They don't understand that some studios put new encryption keys onto the latest movies and the player hasn't been properly updated, they just want to take their new movie and watch it. I've already gotten negative feedback because of the wait associated with getting a movie into the player. Our Toshiba has to boot first, this takes about a minute. I've already gotten complaints "why does it take so long". The masses expect things to work like a toaster, like their old VHS and DVD players did. Turn it on, insert disk/tape and play.