Paramount drops BluRay, adopts HD-DVD

[J-Pak]

I hope both formats aren't doomed. I love watching movies in high def, and on my TV upsampled DVDs at 1080p don't fare nearly as well.

But like many others I'll be waiting it out, so this is one less person buying into either format which can't be helping the cause.

[unclejr]

Can someone explain something to me? Admittedly I have not followed this thing very closely, but who stands to benefit from one standard beating the other? That is to say, who gains financially when HD-DVD becomes the format of choice or Blu-Ray does? It all sounds so silly ... are the rips on licensing fees really that insane? I wonder if anyone is truly making any money yet.

This really is starting to look like SACD v. DVD-A. Still no winner there, eh, and over 10 years in.

[Redo]

Originally Posted by unclejr

This really is starting to look like SACD v. DVD-A. Still no winner there, eh, and over 10 years in.

SACD and DVD-A was the opposite trend. MP3's and portable was the audio trend. Hardly anybody sits around listening to music for enjoyment anymore. Especially not in a correctly setup environment with expensive equipment to make the SACD/DVD-A standards shine. With hundreds of CD's being able to fit on a small device, and with 95% of people listening to music on the go or through their computer speakers, SACD/DVD-A didn't stand a chance to hit the mainstream.

However, mobile video is a novel entertainment at best. People aren't getting smaller, more portable TV's. They have been sort of "neat, but what good is it?" for 2 decades now.

But big HDTV's are the future trend, and HD content is out-of-this world stunning. People love to watch football games in HD, movies in HD, girls in bikinis in HD, news in HD, everything must be in HD once you get a taste of the purity. Even a non-purist can see a 50" Plasma being feed a pristine HD signal and KNOW they have to have one! They save up, spring the extra dough, set it up, start to drool, then plug in their cable line and look at washed out SD signals.

What do they really want? HD content!!! Once HD players are as cheap as DVD players, the HD releases are going to be coming out in masses. Hell, nearly every new release can be found on a HD format. The long process of back cataloging all the old titles to HD is what the bottleneck will be for a few years.

[warpdriver]

nevermind

[virometal]

Originally Posted by J-Pak

I hope both formats aren't doomed.

Me too. I love watching HD-DVD's. The only reason I've been rooting for Blu-Ray (a format I don't own) is because it appeared to be in the best position to end the war and get to the real business of winning mass adoption. Then we would get more high rez audio discs!

Originally Posted by Redo

What do they really want? HD content!!!

Heck yes I do! I hope you're right. But part of me thinks that "people" view DVD as high def. Really, outside of tech forums like this one, do you get a sense of either media gaining some public perception foothold?

I don't. When DVD dropped, I remember everyone talking about it. With these two latest, I don't get that buzz outside my tech buddies, and it's surprisingly lukewarm among them.

[Redo]

Originally Posted by virometal

I don't. When DVD dropped, I remember everyone talking about it. With these two latest, I don't get that buzz outside my tech buddies, and it's surprisingly lukewarm among them.

Nobody understands until they come see my 60" SXRD in action

[tkam]

It would be better if one format wins in the end but for now I have no problem supporting both formats.

Also according to nytimes paramount/dreamworks are getting $150 million in incentives for going hd-dvd exclusive .

[flashnolan]

When I worked in Walmart and HD was still very new we setup an HD LCD TV with the streaming Walmart HD channel. It actually got a few customers (not shopping for HD) to stop in their tracks and do a double head turn. For a split second they thought it was a window. HD is here to stay.

This format war is unlike any other. For the first time movie studios, stores, producers, etc. are influencing it. If this keeps up you might one day go to buy a movie only to find out that: the movie you want is only available on a certain format you don't own and only sold in a certain store you don't shop at and only available in a certain state you don't live in sold on a certain day of the week you work on.

[flecom]

if toshiba really knows that they are going to have their $99 players for x-mas paying $150mil for extra content for that extra push... would be a good investment for them

[blessingx]

So the $150 million has been confirmed.

But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified.