Paramount To Dump HD DVD Too?

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
It would certainly be a crippling blow for the HD DVD camp if Paramount decided to follow Warner Bros. lead and go Blu-ray only. The Financial Times, citing people “familiar with the situation,” claim that Paramount has a clause in its HD DVD contract that would allow the studio to jump ship.

Paramount joining the Blu-ray camp would leave HD-DVD likely to suffer the same fate as Sony's now obsolete Betamax video technology, which lost out to VHS in a similar format war in the 1980s.
Click to expand...
 
I’m not sure about everyone else but, as an owner of both formats, I am hoping the prices come waaaay down before one of the two formats dies off or we’ll be stuck with the current price scheme (which sucks).
 
The only thing though is when will this happen, they could wait until summer to actually move to Blu-ray exclusive or even longer.
 
We've always said that just because one format kills the other one, that doesn't = success for the remaining format.

It's like Ferrari battling it out with Lamborghini...just because one of the two car makers win that doesn't mean everyone will automatically stop driving their Fords and Chevys and come running ;) ....well, not until the exotic car is closer in price range to the Ford / Chevy.
 
Steve said:
We've always said that just because one format kills the other one, that doesn't = success for the remaining format.

It's like Ferrari battling it out with Lamborghini...just because one of the two car makers win that doesn't mean everyone will automatically stop driving their Fords and Chevys and come running ;) ....well, not until the exotic car is closer in price range to the Ford / Chevy.
Click to expand...

They arent that expensive. They are about the same prices as DVDs were originally.
I buy the majority of Blu-Rays, even new ones, from 19.99-26.99. I would never pay 34 bucks for a blu-ray, which best buy and CC tend to charge for many, but Amazon and other online retailers often have Blu-Rays for 14.99-29 max.
 
Steve said:
I’m not sure about everyone else but, as an owner of both formats, I am hoping the prices come waaaay down before one of the two formats dies off or we’ll be stuck with the current price scheme (which sucks).
Click to expand...

Owning both formats as well I have to agree. HD DVD was really trying to get itself to a price point that the average Joe could afford. The movies need to get closer to that $19.99 price point as well. I'm still confused why Fox, Disney, Warner, etc. feel ok with putting their content on a competitor’s (Sony) format.
 
Sony's format may not be the first to go. :eek: Isn't that the last sign before the world ends?
 
Hurrah for payola.

This worries me a bit. This is not a choice made by consumers. This is a choice made by large corporations for favorable licensing (read: bribes). Good for shareholders and corporate executives, likely bad for everyone else.
 
I got a Toshiba A3 for $99 before christmas and sold it yesterday (partly because of the writing on the wall as far as HD-DVD and partly because i was sick of it locking up when playing HD discs) but i'm not buying a blu-ray player anytime soon. Unless blu-ray camp can translate their victory into vastly lower prices on both players and media i'll go back to standard DVD's for a while.
 
Having both formats, I must say if blu wins, they need to adopt the menu system and additional features that HDDVD has. The Transformers HDDVD with web-enabled content has been one of the best movie experiences I've had to date and added to, but did not distract from the movie. I hope Blu realizes this and adjusts!
 
this is a sad day cause will never see blue ray at the price point of dvd's sony WILL milk this for everything they can.
 
Filter said:
this is a sad day cause will never see blue ray at the price point of dvd's sony WILL milk this for everything they can.
Click to expand...

Hey once again the fanboys dont realize that Sony isnt the biggest "shareholder" on the blu-ray board. Matsushita(panasonic) corporation is, with many other electronic corporations. Prices will be down once mass adoption happens. Remember DVDs were very expensive originally too.
 
That's what really torque's me about this whole thing. It was not consumer choice.

But these days, it's getting harder and harder for us TO make the choice.

jaegertech said:
Hurrah for payola.

This worries me a bit. This is not a choice made by consumers. This is a choice made by large corporations for favorable licensing (read: bribes). Good for shareholders and corporate executives, likely bad for everyone else.
Click to expand...
 
As someone above said, it's not if but when. Paramount really has no choice now.

One label can't possibly sustain the format.

I have HDDVD, and while interesting it never really blew me away. BluRay even less, particularly with it's consumer controls.

I rarely bought any HD discs. Most of what I have were free (I still haven't received my 5 free discs from Microsoft. It's been 4 months).

I wonder how many others like myself will just say "Standard DVD is fine as it is" and just forget about the whole thing?
 
4saken said:
They arent that expensive. They are about the same prices as DVDs were originally.
I buy the majority of Blu-Rays, even new ones, from 19.99-26.99. I would never pay 34 bucks for a blu-ray, which best buy and CC tend to charge for many, but Amazon and other online retailers often have Blu-Rays for 14.99-29 max.
Click to expand...

Me, along with many others I'm sure, still consider that too much. I get all my DVDs through Columbia House (make an account, fulfill it, cancel it, repeat). I average $5-6 a dvd (and yes, this includes the "special editions" and all that, including new releases too).
 
4saken said:
They arent that expensive. They are about the same prices as DVDs were originally.
I buy the majority of Blu-Rays, even new ones, from 19.99-26.99. I would never pay 34 bucks for a blu-ray, which best buy and CC tend to charge for many, but Amazon and other online retailers often have Blu-Rays for 14.99-29 max.
Click to expand...

It's expensive considering the risk. I don't want to shell out $500 for a player to watch it go the way of the Betamax in 2 months.

Hell, Firefox's spell-checker doesn't even recognize the word Betamax anymore. :p
 
Sunin said:
Having both formats, I must say if blu wins, they need to adopt the menu system and additional features that HDDVD has. The Transformers HDDVD with web-enabled content has been one of the best movie experiences I've had to date and added to, but did not distract from the movie. I hope Blu realizes this and adjusts!
Click to expand...

+1 !!

I also have both, and the HD-DVD interface / experience is great! I've never disputed that blu-ray is technically superior, but hd-dvd nailed the user experience from day one. Until Blu catches up with releases that leverage profile 2.0 blu won't be any better than standard def dvd with high res audio and video.

Love it or hate it, those of you that haven't taken the time to see what Sunin is talking about, then do so. If nothing else, you'll see what blu-ray will be like in Jan of 2009 (or whenever profile 2.0 is finalized and makes its way into hardware that doesn't cost an arm and a leg)
 
I dont really care who wins, so long as whatever one wins is good and cracked, just like the DVD is. :eek::p:D

The worries really need to be what impact the DRM will have on the usability of your computer AT ALL into the future. If the computer makers cave in to DRM desires fo the content producers, we'll enter a dark ages for the consumer.
 
I wonder what excuse the studios will use when this exclusivity doesn't net them a drastic increase in sales? The only thing that Blu-Ray offered me was TrueHD and I don't have a $20K audio system, so I could really care less. Neither format had a price advantage IMO, since I got them through Amazon for nearly the same price. A year-and-half into the format war and the sales figures for both HD fomats are still trounced by SD-DVD.

Hooray for consumer choice! (even when it's made for you by a corporation). :rolleyes:
 
People concerned about the price of the hardware need to look more closley at this years CES and look at the MSRP of all the new players that were announced. All have come down considerably, along with Philips and a few others having budget minded players as well.

For people not willing to pay $15-30 for discs initially, they are best to just wait. I don't see why you think knowing the way DVD started, and its price point, why Blu-ray or HD-DVD would be able to fly out the door with prices anywhere close to DVD.
 
ajira99 said:
I wonder what excuse the studios will use when this exclusivity doesn't net them a drastic increase in sales? The only thing that Blu-Ray offered me was TrueHD and I don't have a $20K audio system, so I could really care less. Neither format had a price advantage IMO, since I got them through Amazon for nearly the same price. A year-and-half into the format war and the sales figures for both HD fomats are still trounced by SD-DVD.

Hooray for consumer choice! (even when it's made for you by a corporation). :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Onkyo has a whole line of TrueHD/DTS Master HDMI Bitstream capable receivers starting at the 605, which is less than $400 on Ebay. Trust me, you want to hear 300 in TrueHD.
 
I personally bought into HD DVD, not because of a Sony hatred but because I personally felt it gave me the best experience and was a cheaper buy in, seeing as how I use the xbox 360 add on drive. The one thing that torques me about Blu Ray though is the lack of a final spec; HD DVD from day one was finalized. Even if BR wins, which it is looking like it will, I will continue to buy HD DVD as long as I can and just use that. In all honesty regular DVD's are still very viable and BR winning just means they have won the battle not the "War" as everyone is calling it. The "War" IMO is with DVD and the general public accepting one of the victorious formats. I don't really know if if either would really supplant DVD in the long run but rather be a stop gap for something else to come in the near future. The next year will be an interesting one for whom ever comes out the victor of this debacle.
 
Azhar said:
It's expensive considering the risk. I don't want to shell out $500 for a player to watch it go the way of the Betamax in 2 months.

Hell, Firefox's spell-checker doesn't even recognize the word Betamax anymore. :p
Click to expand...

Not much risk. HD disc has had much faster initial adoption than DVD did when it first came out.
 
Kinda glad this is about over. Isn't Paramount's contract for exclusivity only for 18 months anyway, with that ending sometime this year? I seem to recall that from somewhere. If that is the case, if Paramount doesn't switch NOW, it certainly means that they will fulfill their contract and THEN switch....
 
/cries for w1retap

Can't wait until he jumps in to tout how HDDVD is going to come back and WIN!!
 
So what if consumers didn't make the choice over who wins? They gave us a good year and a half to decide, and most just sat back waiting for one to magically win. With 95% of the population waiting to see who wins before they buy, the corporations had to do act in determining a victor, and I'm glad that someone is finally deciding to put an end to this format war.

Blu-Ray will win, and we need to remember that all technology debuts at a high price, anyone moaning about it costing so much more than DVDs is deluded as it will take several years before you will pick up Blu-Rays at CVS for 9.99, just as it took DVDs several years to get to that point.

This is a new product, that offers a premium over regular DVDs, and you will pay for that premium. R&D costs need to be recouped at first, and when it is no longer a premium product, and HD discs become the norm - it will be priced to match.
 
GrimWD said:
So what if consumers didn't make the choice over who wins? They gave us a good year and a half to decide, and most just sat back waiting for one to magically win. With 95% of the population waiting to see who wins before they buy, the corporations had to do act in determining a victor, and I'm glad that someone is finally deciding to put an end to this format war.
Click to expand...

Or maybe they should have just released a product that the market wanted? There are a few primary reason that the market didn't decide and, even with a single format, most still apply.

1: Poor HD penetration in the US: The majority of US households STILL don't have HD capable TVs.
2: Benefit: Beyond the desires of a select few, what does HD media REALLY offer that standard DVDs don't? The image quality difference is obvious to anyone, but an upconverted DVD already looks pretty damned good.
3: Cost: This ties in with the above. You have to lay out $200+ for a new player and pay nearly twice as much for each movie. Even if the benefit was clear, that is still one hell of a premium to expect people to accept.
4: Choices: HDDVD vs Bluray reminds people of Betamax vs VHS. Nobody wants to get caught on the wrong side.

Looks like only one issue has been addressed and I don't expect the other three to be. I also expect Bluray adoption rates to muddle along the same as they've been, after accounting for the cannibalized HDDVD sales. Actually, let me revise that, I believe sales will actually SLOW overall, because HDDVD was closer to reaching an acceptable price than Bluray is or will be soon.
 
The editorial mentioned that Paramount may be legally capable of getting out of their contract according to "people familiar with the situation." I wonder how long before some other people "familiar with the situation" come out with a rebuttal.;)
 
HD DVD isn't going to win, lol. That is apparently clear. A week before CES, it could have gone either way, not anymore.
 
w1retap said:
HD DVD isn't going to win, lol. That is apparently clear. A week before CES, it could have gone either way, not anymore.
Click to expand...

Do I sense that you've turned to the dark side? Which model bluray player are you looking at? :D


*/off to go play the lotto now*
 
This is the way I look at it. No matter what format wins. I still get to watch my movies for free in HD. I just would hate to see Sony win this cuz we are all going to get roflpwned when they control the tech.
 
If Blu-Ray wins can they please change the name Blu-Ray to HD DVD lol. I was really never a fan of the name.....

Its looks like Blu-Ray has a upper hand in this format war. Like other people have said, if Blu-Ray does win, it still can use some work on. People still are having problems with the DRM stuff supposdly (im ot sure whats wrong, but I always hear people say Blu-Ray and DRM dont get along), and the interface for the users can be better. While I own the HD DVD addon for the 360, I did see Blu-Ray players over Christmas for $250-300 at my Best Buy and Circuit City. Even though this is considered "high" its still alot better then the $1000 price tag they had. Even if Blu-Ray wins, it be nice if manufactors to find a way to make those combo players we heard about way back and yet only one has been released. There are tons of HD DVD movies out there. Guess people were right when they said 2008 will decide the format war.

And to think, with all those cheap HD DVD players out there for Christmas, you think studios will be heading for the HD DVD camp as im sure alot of people got HD DVD players for Christmas.
 
Vashypooh said:
This is the way I look at it. No matter what format wins. I still get to watch my movies for free in HD. I just would hate to see Sony win this cuz we are all going to get roflpwned when they control the tech.
Click to expand...

Sony doesnt own Blu-Ray, you just see there name on most of the players:p Blu-Ray is a consortium and Sony is just a big player in this consortium.
 
I have to agree with several other's who have posted above about the price of hddvd and blu-ray has dropped substantially faster than standard dvd did when it was first introduced.

Standard dvd player's released in late 96/97...don't remember the exact year and too lazy to look it up, but the point is they $1000-1500 for most players. The price didn't drop drastically till 2yrs down the road, late 98/early 99 and it was still $400-800.

It wasn't until holiday of 2000 that you could purchase your first player for $100 price range, as I remeber distinctly b/c I was working for Circuit City at the tim and it was huge.

So the fact that you've been able to get an hddvd player for $99-$199 already and I've seen a few places have a blu-ray player for $249, think it was Sams Club, is quiet incredible in the time frame given imo.

Give it another year to mature and you'll say better cheaper players and lower cost on discs as you did with dvd. Reproduction costs will re-cooped and player's will get cheaper to the consumer.

Dvd didn't drop in price overnight like some people here apparently think, and you can't compare new hi-tech gear with something that's been out for 10+ years. :rolleyes:

As far as hdtv penetration goes, hdtv's are becoming a lot more common with cheaper prices offered by all retailer's (walmart) and technology improving. I have relatives in their lates 60's and early 70's who've bought themselves a new cheap bigscreen hdtv and they can barely turn on the tv and change channels.

It may not be the best set available but at the price's you can purchase a decent sized hdtv now, there's no reason the majority cannot have an hd set in their home and it's only going to get better within the next couple of years.
 
Ockie said:
Do I sense that you've turned to the dark side? Which model bluray player are you looking at? :D


*/off to go play the lotto now*
Click to expand...

Picking up a dual format drive for my HTPC. :)

But I still don't like how either format is running their encodes. For some movies they waste space on the disks because they are all worried about 'extras'. I'd rather see one movie disk and one or more extras disk(s). If they did that, they wouldn't need to go over 25gb or 30gb for the movie feature presentation assuming they encoded in AVC or VC-1 with uncompressed audio. You also feel as if you get more as a consumer with multi-disk sets. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top