Thread: HD Format War "News"

So the HD-DVD group gave them money.. so what. The BluRay group is giving money to TV stations (commercials) and Target (exclusive endcaps.) What is the difference? Sony actually buys whole Film companies (Columbia?!).

guys, don't waste your money on either format. on-demand download services will win out.

-_Sf

drycan, you may be right about the quality of downloading but many if not most bars that have widescreens are broadcasting SD stretched and no one even complains. Also many surveys reveal as many as 50% of HDTV owners aren't even hooked up to HD signals. The point is many consumers don't even know the difference.

Originally Posted by SirJW

drycan, you may be right about the quality of downloading but many if not most bars that have widescreens are broadcasting SD stretched and no one even complains. Also many surveys reveal as many as 50% of HDTV owners aren't even hooked up to HD signals. The point is many consumers don't even know the difference.

There's an huge difference between ignorant and indifferent. Most of the people fall into the first group - they don't KNOW that they require both a TV and a signal to get true HD. Once they DO get it though, you can damned well believe they know a difference. I don't know ANYONE who has a choice between an HD feed and a SD feed just decided that the SD feed is good enough.

We're speficially talking about movies here. Who goes to a bar to watch a movie? TVs are nothing but atmosphere and accessories in a bar. A movie is the central figure when someone wants to watch one. Quality means a whole lot more.

Trust me . . . I've installed over 50 home theater systems and upgrade. Once improvements are demonstrated, people appreciate quality differences.

Originally Posted by go

So the HD-DVD group gave them money.. so what. The BluRay group is giving money to TV stations (commercials) and Target (exclusive endcaps.) What is the difference? Sony actually buys whole Film companies (Columbia?!).

Amazing that you say that now, and yet just a page or two ago, you were harping on the European Union investigating Blu-ray for this very kind of unfair business practices.

Originally Posted by Unfiltered

I don't know how level the playing field is against the Cars, Ratatouille, Pirates and Spider-man trilogies.

I think Transformers would have outsold every one of those titles had it remained on both formats. Now that it's HD-DVD only, it probably won't outsell any of them, but it will probably sell more than 300 did on HD-DVD.

Sony has made a mistake on loading Spiderman 3 with so much HD content that they had to charge a ridiculously high price for it, which will have an effect. It'll be as expensive as a new HD-DVD!!

Adding Shrek and Transformers to their exclusive column might not completely evens the playing field, but it gives them a much greater chance to make ground on the 2-to-1 sales disadvantage that Paramount found so appealing. They'll also be adding some fairly big catalog titles with Top Gun, The Jack Ryan Collection and Face-Off.

Originally Posted by dgrycan

I think Transformers would have outsold every one of those titles had it remained on both formats. Now that it's HD-DVD only, it probably won't outsell any of them, but it will probably sell more than 300 did on HD-DVD.

Sony has made a mistake on loading Spiderman 3 with so much HD content that they had to charge a ridiculously high price for it, which will have an effect. It'll be as expensive as a new HD-DVD!!

Adding Shrek and Transformers to their exclusive column might not completely evens the playing field, but it gives them a much greater chance to make ground on the 2-to-1 sales disadvantage that Paramount found so appealing. They'll also be adding some fairly big catalog titles with Top Gun, The Jack Ryan Collection and Face-Off.

Paramount has very little non-Spielberg titles that I could care about. With SS' Blu-ray Clause (if you will), will allow the Indiana Jones 4-Pack to come out Fall 2008 on Blu-ray.

Oh, I've got a little more to say about Bay refusing to make Transformers 2: the viewing audience is better off. See, something good came out of this. Besides, it'll all be over in 18 months or less.

Installing custom theater systems in a niche isn't it? The average consumer is buying the cheapest set they can get and plugging it in w/ out sound systems or anything. "It's widescreen pretty bitchin' huh?" I'd say it's a bit of ignorance and indifference.

Go to a movie in LA and see semi out of focus projectors and crappy sound systems (not to mention soft shots in the films). Not enough people seem to care anymore to complain and this is a company town. Sure there is The Bridge and The Arclight but most theaters in this town suck. So why would the average consumer be any more discerning for home video? I hate to say it; I just don't think it's that important to most people. Laser disk is a good example; it was a great product for the time but not for the masses.

Factor in You Tube, Camera Phone TV Devices and Ipods and we have a whole new generation that is not even demanding quality video.

I'm not trying to get into a heated debate I'm camera assistant (film and HD) and I'm passionate about it, but as I've said I just don't think most consumers are going to know the difference between Blu-ray and HDDVD and downloadable media.

Originally Posted by SirJW

Installing custom theater systems in a niche isn't it? The average consumer is buying the cheapest set they can get and plugging it in w/ out sound systems or anything. "It's widescreen pretty bitchin' huh?" I'd say it's a bit of ignorance and indifference.

I disagree. HIGH-END home theaters - yes. But simple, surround sound set-ups? Very common. Home Theater in a Box setups are extremely popular at all retail locations.

Go to a movie in LA and see semi out of focus projectors and crappy sound systems (not to mention soft shots in the films). Not enough people seem to care anymore to complain and this is a company town.

I don't know where you go and see your movies, but the theaters that I go to, which include Mann, Pacific and Loews, I don't see any of these problems, at least not consistently.

Sure there is The Bridge and The Arclight but most theaters in this town suck.

Well, perhaps things are changing, as there are going to be some new Arclights opening up. Galleria - woo-hoo!

So why would the average consumer be any more discerning for home video? I hate to say it; I just don't think it's that important to most people.

And again, I disagree. There are many factors as to what goes into a persons home theater. Sometimes it's to have the best experience, sometimes it's to have a better system than Joe down the street. The living room (or whichever room features the main television) has become much more in the last ten years than it ever was before. New construction includes wiring for things like surround sound speakers, in ceiling mounts, etc.

Laser disk is a good example; it was a great product for the time but not for the masses.

LaserDisc was NOT a good format. It was cost prohibitive, and it's convience factor was mitigated by it's size limitations, where some movies were spread across multiple sides of multiple discs. Physical disc quality issues, noisy hardware, and the list goes on.

Factor in You Tube, Camera Phone TV Devices and Ipods and we have a whole new generation that is not even demanding quality video.

This just isn't accurate.

http://videobusiness.com/article/CA6...dustryid=47214

The study “Online Content: New Pathways of Discovery and Use” surveyed 1,035 broadband Internet users in the U.S., ages 18 to 49, who watched three hours or more of streaming video online each week. Research firm SmithGeiger conducted the study in May for the DEG.

Just 10% of those surveyed prefer to watch a movie via streaming or downloading, compared to 41% who prefer to watch on DVD and 32% who prefer TV.

I'm not trying to get into a heated debate I'm camera assistant (film and HD) and I'm passionate about it, but as I've said I just don't think most consumers are going to know the difference between Blu-ray and HDDVD and downloadable media.

Do you really believe that? Do you really believe the average consumer isn't going to understand the difference between an in-the-hand tangible form of media and an downloaded file that they may only have access to for a short period of time before having to re-purchase rights to watch it again?