Warner Bros has announced that they will release High Definition titles exclusively on Blu-Ray.
“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 Kevin 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.”
I’ve always believed that Blu-ray is the better format just based on the fact that the format touts a higher capacity. Most people in the industry believe this move could be the death-blow for HD-DVD (sorry Alex, you picked the wrong side). I still stand firm in my belief that neither format will convert the entire DVD market-share. On Demand is clearly the future, but studios make a good dime on consumers repurchasing their collections when new formats are introduced. So picking a side in this war might give Warners a few years of HD cash before digital downloads and streams take off. Just my opinion.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Blu-Ray is the better format and I’m glad they went with this choice :up:. I’m glad I bought my Blu-ray Player now.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
So Sony has decided to pay out now, then? I think this “format war” is disgusting. The only thing that’s confusing consumers is the fact these studios are picking sides. I wish they’d all just acknowledge the fact that no format will disappear. There are too many customers on both sides.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Nice to hear that this is coming closer to a definitive end. I for one will not be jumping on either bandwagon until the one of them is dead, dead, dead.
Regarding on-demand: I think movie fans are different from music junkies in that they like to have copies of movies they can hold in their hot little hands and display to others.
Vic
January 4th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
It doesn’t really matter which side you pick in this generation of the format war because even if a format is ultimately successful the same company will come out with a new and improved version a few years later requiring you to buy all new hardware and once again replacing all your favorite movies with the new super ultimate edition that will only be negligably superior. Planned obsolesence has become an industry unto itself. Wait until you can get a satisfactory High Definition digital copy and store it on whatever disk format or hard drive you choose.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
You son of a bitch! Hahah… I didn’t pick the wrong side, everyone else just picked the wrong side and made the market share switch!!
Nah I know, the war is over. It’s over and HD-DVD is dead in the water. I prefered HD-DVD, but all in the same, I don’t mind either way who wins because I just support the HD revolution. I’ll still have my player and all my discs, but now I’m going to start buying Blu-Ray as well. Oh well, there goes that.
January 5th, 2008 at 1:42 am
whoever wins… we lose
January 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Digital downloads wont take over due to the fact half the world dosnt have broadband plans to suit downloading high def material.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
well, i’m glad they seem to think that everyone can afford to upgrade from their dvd players. as it is, i’m watching dvds on the ps2 that i bought two years ago -and no, it’s not a thin one. thanks, guys.
January 5th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I don’t like Sony.
Blu-Ray is “superior”, but it also costs a tad more to manufacture. With HDDVD all DVD manufacturers had to do to produce HDDVD’s is to upgrade their DVD factories a bit…With Blu-Ray you basically have to buy all new equipment. Statistically speaking Blu-Ray is better though. You can store more, and it has a better coating on the disc to resist scratching. I’m sure there are other differences too…But those i think are the big ones…Correct me if I’m wrong.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Digital Downloads suck, period.