Paramount drops BluRay, adopts HD-DVD

[uzziah]

Originally Posted by tkam

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

but not enough, not enough; MS has spent a ridiculous amount of money attempting to once and for all kill the PS3 into obscurity; it's not entirely possible to do of course, the fans are far too numerous; but they've done a heck of a job; exclusives, extra content etc.

br and hddvd are just trading blows and not going for the kill; if you've ever read orson scott cards "ender's game" he talks about striking the first blow so the enemy can never fight back, these two are just ***** footing around the real deathmatch, and they'll fade into obscurity because of it; BR is sony's lovechild and they are going to go down with that ship; they've become too internalized, too arrogant; hddvd is a cluster**** it'll continue to be a half-assed effort

all that being said, of course they look very sexy, i wouldn't mind having one, but it's just too damn expensive

[uzziah]

Originally Posted by kwkarth

Ahem, that's two things.

it's one thing in that it's just: more space

[analogbox]

Originally Posted by uzziah

from the beginning i've been saying that the real winner in the HDDVD/BLURAY format war would be DVD; they just have a product that most people don't want; they're not willing to pay for it, they don't have hdtv's, they just don't care; neither of these formats will succeed, don't "invest" thinking one of them will replace dvd; it isn't going to happen; DVD will be the last great video disc before downloadable-EVERYTHING, bluray and hddvd might be fun for now, but they won't last, no way

I have no doubt that downloadable contents will have it's time, but you are looking at 10-20GB of data for high def contents and with today's progress in technology there's just no way people will wait 8 hours for it to download and watch one movie. I'm thinking it will be years and years until that technology is available to us unless someone invents something evolutionary that will broaden up the bandwidth of today's network capacity.

Even when that time comes, people will still want to have a physical copy on their hand rather than having it on hard drives. It just like owning an album vs. downloaded mp3.

Whatever the formats may be, HD contents on a disc WILL dominate the market once it gets more consumer friendly, and that's not far from today.

[Superpredator]

Originally Posted by kwkarth

What "backwards" compatibility are you referring to?

My mistake. I had recently read something from 2005 in which some Toshiba rep cited backwards compatibility (DVD) as a difference between HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#bluray_backwards_compatible

I see that this was either outdated or false information.

[kwkarth]

Originally Posted by analogbox

I have no doubt that downloadable contents will have it's time, but you are looking at 10-20GB of data for high def contents and with today's progress in technology there's just no way people will wait 8 hours for it to download and watch one movie. I'm thinking it will be years and years until that technology is available to us unless someone invents something evolutionary that will broaden up the bandwidth of today's network capacity.

Even when that time comes, people will still want to have a physical copy on their hand rather than having it on hard drives. It just like owning an album vs. downloaded mp3.

Whatever the formats may be, HD contents on a disc WILL dominate the market once it gets more consumer friendly, and that's not far from today.

You don't have to wait at all. HD is streamed real-time on demand to your home via cable. Comcast has been freeing up bandwidth space for well over a year to accommodate this and it works as advertized.

Random access video servers in their data centers handle it all seamlessly. The fast forward and reverse are a little laggy now and then, but like I say, it's getting better all the time. I've got literally hundreds of choices for HD movies and programs, most of which are free to me as a subscriber. 24/7, push button, instant access. They're actually getting closer to keeping pace with new releases all the time.

For the average consumer, once the emotional tie is overcome with regard to "something you hold in your hand," I do see (for media distribution) discs going the way of the dodo. I still think we'll need some form of portable non volatile mass storage media for archival use. Blu-Ray is the best on the market for now.

Just look at what's happened to the music industry. CD's are dying man, because of stuff like iTunes. I can certainly see DVD's going the same way. For right now, I love my Blu-Ray.

[archosman]

from IMDB...

Paramount and DreamWorks garnered "incentives" valued at $150 million to agree to release their films in high-definition home video exclusively in the HD DVD format, the New York Times and Daily Variety reported today (Wednesday), citing no sources. Both publications said that the HD DVD camp had agreed to "promotional considerations" amounting to $50 million for Paramount and $100 million for DreamWorks over the next 18 months. The Times indicated that an undisclosed amount of cash also exchanged hands. Variety's revelation was buried in an article about director Michael Bay's flip-flop over the two film companies' decision. Bay had originally posted a message titled "Paramount pisses me off!" on his personal website in which he remarked: "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!" He vowed not to direct Transformers 2 if it would not be released in the competing Blu-ray format, which currently outsells HD DVD by three to one. By the end of the day, however, Bay had backtracked, writing, "I overreacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD. ... I like what I heard." Fellow director Steven Spielberg remained unconvinced, balking at the Paramount/DreamWorks deal (as he did with Universal's exclusive deal with the HD DVD camp). A spokesman indicated that his films will continue to be released exclusively in the Blu-ray format, regardless of the studio for which they are made. DreamWorks marketing chief Marvin Levy said Tuesday that Spielberg continues to be a "big supporter of Blu-ray."

[DBrim]

Originally Posted by flashnolan

"The director behind such films as 'Bad Boys', 'Pearl Harbor', and the recent 'Transformers' movie is upset by Paramount's decision to drop support for Blu-ray. On a post on his personal web forum entitled, "Paramount pisses me off!", Michael Bay says, "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!""

Thanks Paramount...

Good. That encourages original content.

[archosman]

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/08...ddvd/index.php

[kwkarth]

Originally Posted by archosman

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/08...ddvd/index.php

Wow, what a bunch of weasel words in that interview. It's all about the dinero in his pocket, that's the bottom line.

[Davesrose]

Originally Posted by kwkarth

For the average consumer, once the emotional tie is overcome with regard to "something you hold in your hand," I do see (for media distribution) discs going the way of the dodo. I still think we'll need some form of portable non volatile mass storage media for archival use. Blu-Ray is the best on the market for now.

But by the time BR might be financially in league with HD backups/USB drives/etc......we might have an even better technology: ie holographic chips, etc.

One of the reasons I haven't jumped on the HD disc bandwagon yet is there's just not enough content for me to invest money into. There are very few movies I want to own.....from either Blu Ray or HD DVD. Sure, there are a handful that might be fun to own to be bowled by their picture quality. But to spend at least $400 on a good quality player for one??

I was thinking I would pick up a Toshiba HD DVD player when they came down in price enough (the ones that support TrueHD 5.1 too). I haven't gotten one because right now I'm spending a lot of money on buying a house. Those sorts of things take priority over spending $500 so that I can see 300 in HD