Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive >> R.I.P HD-DVD

[DigitalDude]

Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive

*www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/01/1-4-08-warner_bd.jpg

We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true. Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros. Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles "exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year." According to Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, the move is a "strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," and he also noted that "the window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger." Notably, Warner will continue to release on both HD DVD and Blu-ray until May 2008, but after that, it's BD for life for this studio. Oh, and while there's nothing official mentioning any sort of payoff, we're hearing that quite a sum was dished out to make this happen.

lol after lot of format screwups Sony may breathe a sigh of relief over this one.

R.I.P HD-DVD


Full Press Release in the Source Article:
Source: Engadget

Another Related News: HD-DVD Group Cancels CES Press Conference



P.S. related previous thread in DIGIT Forums:
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75129


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[praka123]

isnt blu-ray technically superior?hd-dvd gets attention due to M$ backing!

 

[Batistabomb]

SO NOW IT'S TIME FOR ALL TO TUNE FOR blue-ray ROM'S

 

[Who]

praka123@ no its not, well not any more anway a MS fan will explain you more about HD-DVD.

 

[DigitalDude]

MS != HD-DVD

Toshiba = HD-DVD

and yeah its just a part of the Group.


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[naveen_reloaded]

isnt blu-ray technically superior?hd-dvd gets attention due to M$ backing!

yes true...

now the balance has finally tilted..

i p.s like bluray... its superior and a sony`s product...

 

[The_Devil_Himself]

yep blu-ray is technologically superior afaik,but it is costlier than hd-dvd.


blu-ray FTW!.Cos ps3 supports blu-ray and ps3 kicks a&&.

 

[Who]

well x-360 supports HD-DVD on 1080P too...

 

[DigitalDude]

^^^

for xbox its an add-on.. but PS3 has built-in Bluray.. MS is clever, they know this might happen thats why they didnt include it in the console itself



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[Who]

well x360 is the 2nd most sold console after wii also blue ray is costiler so this may help PS 3 i mean disney is already in side of blue ray.

 

[goobimama]

Well, Paramount is still on HD DVD exclusive. But I think Blu ray is ultimately going to win.

 

[naveen_reloaded]

its all coz of ms we have had such loooooooooooong war....


hope they would juiced enough money to compensate thier developmental losses...

 

[praka123]

I read that the cost of making HD-DVD is less as the machinaries needs few upgradation from normal DVD ones.while blu-ray is completely different and may be Revolutionary!

 

[goobimama]

^^ What's your point?

First of all there's nothing "Revolutionary" about bluray that wasn't there in HD DVD. Maybe the BD+ DRM, but I don't think anyone here wants that. Space wasn't an issue due to VC-1 encoding. HD DVDs could go up to three layers (not available for public) making them 51GB vs the 50GB of Bluray (DL).

And why is everyone blaming MS for this? What have they done that was so bad?

 

[DigitalDude]

^^^
not everyone

and yeah nothing revolutionery about bluray.. its all marketing and products in market (sony brought out so-many gadgets using bluray like HD camcorder PS3 etc etc).. this time Sony is very aggressive and careful not to relive their betamax era.

both formats can accomplish a lot in paper... but wat the consumers see in their hands and eys is only going to win. and Sony is also showing signs of shying away or atleast weakening its DRM stance. so I wish it all turns out good in the end.


anyway nothing to worry for us DVD FTW! haha


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[Who]

goobimama proves my point completely there no big diffrence in blue ray & HD it just sony & MS trying hard to get their format well known , since WB has taken sides of Blue-ray , HD will have a some what hard time now , well i don't care who ever wins though.

 

[praka123]

what i meant is AFAIK a standard Blu-ray DVD can contain 25GB of data and a standard HD-DVD can only 15GB's.correct me if i am wrong.

BTW,HD-DVD format is known much for its support by M$ than Toshiba

 

[goobimama]

So what's the problem with 15GB per layer? Like I said, triple layer HD DVD is as much as a dual layer Blu ray so space was never an issue. Even with 1080p movies plus some soundtracks, a 30GB HD DVD was more than enough. H.264 compresses really well.

Blu ray:
- Expensive media. Entire production lines had to be changed
- Expensive players. HD DVD players have always been half the cost of Blu ray players
- BD+. Yep. DRM at it's best...

 

[Ankur Gupta]

Yes Goobi has explained it well in the last post..
Blu-Ray was based on a new technology so its production cost was much higher...
HD-DVD was cheaper which is what matters to consumers in the end as they are getting almost same space on each disk.

 

[rockthegod]

This was already predicted before... the best news is for us customers.... I don't simply care who wins or who loses.... I want to see one format win and this meaningless war comes to an end.. and now Warner and New Line going Blu-ray xclusive.... I will just wait until the price of Blu Ray drives for PC gets below $100 (which will be soon now I suppose)... and I simply can't wait for Matrix and Lord of the Rings trilogy on 1080p HD Blu-ray discs.... !!!!