Warner Brothers goes exclusively Blu-ray
Posted Jan 4th 2008 7:07PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, HDTV, PVR Wire, Hardware
Starting this spring,
Warner Bros. will only release DVDs high definition DVDs on Blu-ray. That's a lot of DVDs only on Blu-ray for you HD DVD people (although Warner Bros. will continue to release DVDs in both formats until the end of May). Kevin Tsujihara, the President of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, says that the choice to go exclusively Blu-Rray is for the consumers: "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."
Warner Bros. also claims that the two formats for high definition are confusing to customers and deterring HD technology from really soaring. I have to say I agree with them there. In the past year, I have purchased a few non-HD movies because they weren't released on Blu-ray. Since I don't even own an HD DVD player, this decision really doesn't affect me. But I'd imagine some people who do own HD DVD players are pretty miffed that such a big company signed such an absolute deal. A partnership like this might mean the end of HD DVDs (hello? Laser Discs?). I wonder if the other studios will follow suit.
Tags: blu ray dvd, BluRayDvd, HD, hd dvd, hd tv, HdDvd, HdTv, high definition television, HighDefinitionTelevision, warner bros, warner bros and blu ray, WarnerBros, WarnerBrosAndBluRay
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-04-2008 @ 7:21PM
RazorD said...
'widest possible audience'
Right. Ditching a format with thousands of consumers achieves that, does it? Idiots.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 7:40PM
Keith McDuffee said...
The issue here is that a multitude of people are waiting out the format war before taking the plunge to an HD player. This is one huge way of nudging the format war to a Blu-Ray win, which Warner Bros (and Sony, etc.) hope will give consumers confidence that buying a Blu-Ray player is the right move now, then buying their HD formated DVDs.
Sure, ultimately it would be great if everyone supported both formats forever, but everyone knows that's just not going to happen, so they wait it out. I know I'm still waiting.
1-04-2008 @ 8:00PM
Barkin said...
Watch your first sentence. You said, "Starting this spring, Warner Bros. will only release DVDs on Blu-ray."
That's not true. Starting this spring, Warner Bros. will only release _HD_ DVDs on Blu-ray." Those of us who are fine with regular old DVDs can still buy those. It's just the folks who like the HDDVD format who are screwed. As the WB press release says,
"Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray."
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 8:25PM
Bash said...
What kind of post is this?
They will release "DVDs on Blu-Ray"?
Last time I check they are releasing MOVIES (TV Shows, etc cetera) on a MEDIUM in a certan FORMAT.
A DVD is a DIGITAL VERSATILE DISC. It both defines a FORMAT, the way the data is stored on the medium, as well as the medium itself (groves, lands, with of both, CRC information et cetera).
To be honest: I think Warner Brothers won't be able to release a DVD on a Blu Ray. That's just like saying they will be releasing a car as a bicycle.
Better work on this article, in the current form it's totally ridiculous.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 8:54PM
jmps said...
Actually Bash, the V in DVD never stood for versitile, that was added later. It was conceived and marketed as "Digital Video Disc". If you are going to critcize others, get your facts straight.
I'll agree with Barkin's comment that the article's author should be careful to point out that Warner Bros will still release standard def DVDs.
1-05-2008 @ 4:31AM
Michael said...
@jmps - truthfully, when the format was officially rolled out back in '95, the "V" did stand for versatile however since no one ever used anything but the DVD abbreviation anyway it quickly became a moot point and turned into the minutia that we will argue about ad infinitum.
@Keith - I take a bit of umbrage at your comment about Warner simply trying to "nudge" consumers to a single format. This is taking consumers by force at gunpoint plain and simple. The consumer electronics market including the media that goes along with it has become a bloodbath. Industry giants have little or no regard for their customers and what they want or need and have instead chosen a path of protectionism and greed. Admittedly, there is piracy in the world but for the most part it is due to delivery systems that are both antiquated and broken. Instead of providing a method of low cost delivery that can be easily updated and still provides superior content to their customers (and I'm not just talking about HD media, btw) the studios are far more concerned about protecting their perceived ownership of product and end up penalizing their customer base with buggy and rotten systems to access their products. Why in the world do you suppose downloaded music has been so successful and tangible product sales continue to decline? No one wants to buy what they are continuing to shove down their customer's throats any more!
I'm sick of Sony's methodology here in trying to demand that consumers buy into what they have predetermined we "want" to buy. Evidently that includes spyware rootkits in their CDs (put there on behalf of the STUDIOS, not the consumers) and strong arming other studios into denying their product to the customers who wish to buy their format of choice. Let the market decide for itself which format suits the customers, not some arrogant studio exec who is more concerned with making sure we can't take our HD media with us should we move to another country (region coding) or load our personal libraries onto our computers for streaming to all the sets in our own houses.
Bah! These bastards make me all sick!
1-04-2008 @ 8:28PM
Carissa said...
This is the one area of technology I am completely behind on - the battle of the HD DVD. I don't even understand it; how can HD DVD be one thing and Blue-Ray be another, but still be called an HD format DVD? And I'm technically savvy otherwise. Can both players play "down" meaning they will both support my old, regular old DVDs? I wish there had only been one format to begin with so I could have purchased something by now; my HD plasma tv is screaming for it.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 8:41PM
Matt said...
"Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray"
That's pure BS. This format war was never in the consumers hands. It's being fought at a corporate level. If they wanted to see what the consumers thought then all the studios would have supported both formats instead of everyone choosing sides.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 8:43PM
Si said...
They use different technologies. The discs they use are both higher capacity than regular DVD discs, so they can store the huge movie file in high definition. HD movies are several gigabytes worth of data. Both sides can play regular DVD's though and up convert them, which makes them look better on larger screens (mainly HDTV's).
I'm going to sit this round out. I'm just hoping someone at CES this month will come out with a new disc that is better than the two losers we have now. The likelihood of my dream coming true? Too small to image.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 9:20PM
Kristin Sample said...
@ Barkin: Thanks for the correction. Indeed there's a pretty big difference between "normal" and high-definition DVDs.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 9:24PM
DVSman said...
I never could understand the HD disc wars.
HD-DVD and BluRay movies costs the same at the store right? BUT the big justification for HD-DVD was lower costs of production since they used existing dvd production lines and theoretically these lower costs were to be passed to the consumer, right?
Did these savings ever appear? No.
So if we assume that Blu-ray is entirely new and technically superior to HD-DVD - can someone explain to me why I should buy and pay the same amount of money for an HD-DVD format movie vs. the Blu-Ray counterpart?
No fanboism at all - just dollars and cents.
Why pay the same amount of money for "Evolutionary" tech when you can get "Revolutionary" tech?
Or is there something about HD-DVD that I have just plain missed - outside of the exclusive movie deals they have with NBC / Universal & Paramount?
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 10:55PM
Si said...
You're not paying the same. Right now, the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market is the Sony PS3. Yep, a game console. You pay for a game console and a high def player, but a stand alone play costs more? It makes no sense.
Meanwhile, HD DVD players are dipping into the $100 level. I'd rather buy a cheap player that supports a stable spec than pay $400 bloated player for a disc who's technical specifications haven't been finalized. Worst case scenario is I have to buy another player because it don't support the latest revision and technology. Since Blu-Ray is by Sony (the King of Evil, see the DRM rootkit fiasco) I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they did.
So yes, the prices of the movies are the same, but HD DVD is still the cheaper route.
I'm not going to call the HD DVD format out of the question yet. A lot of the computer companies (minus Apple) are still on board with HD DVD. Plus a few studios are still on the HD DVD camp.
I still see people buying regular DVD's. Most people don't even know what the HD formats are. This isn't going to be a fight that will be settled quickly.
1-07-2008 @ 3:24PM
Hollywood Ron said...
Actually the HD DVDs are cheaper to buy at MSRP.
1-04-2008 @ 9:38PM
Bash said...
nice you can't reply to a reply.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD#Etymology
Etymology
"DVD" was originally used as an initialism for the unofficial term "digital video disc".[2] It was reported in 1995, at the time of the specification finalization, that the letters officially stood for "digital versatile disc" (due to non-video applications),[3] however, the text of the press release announcing the specification finalization only refers to the technology as "DVD", making no mention of what (if anything) the letters stood for.[1] A newsgroup FAQ written by Jim Taylor (a prominent figure in the industry) claims that four years later, in 1999, the DVD Forum stated that the format name was simply the three letters "DVD" and did not stand for anything.[4] The official DVD specification documents have never defined DVD. Usage in the present day varies, with "DVD", "Digital Video Disc", and "Digital Versatile Disc" being the most common.
There. My facts. Straight.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 9:42PM
Bash said...
And again, let me add this: the article uses "DVD" as a synonym for "movie" or "digital video".
This is rubbish, plain and straight. Or would you say that "Warner is going to release their BETA as DAT" is a correct sentence?
Strike out DVD or and put "content". You are talking about content here. DVD is not a synonym for content.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 10:10PM
Darren said...
They better smarten up! I don't want to have 2 different set ups here. That is a stupid decision they made.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 11:06PM
Rebecca said...
"Right now, the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market is the Sony PS3. Yep, a game console."
I don't know what planet you're living on, but here in Australia the PS3 costs AUS$999 RRP. The cheapest Blu-Ray player costs SU$545 RRP, with many retailers selling it for less.
This decision will simply lead to piracy. People who own a HD-DVD player aren't going to go out and buy a Blu-Ray player. They'll simply download the High-Definition version of the movie.
Reply
1-04-2008 @ 11:36PM
Si said...
In the US the PlayStation 3 is the cheapest at $399 for the basic model. The cheapest stand-alone player is $450 from Samsung.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Blu-ray_Disc_devices
1-05-2008 @ 5:17PM
The Midnight Penguin said...
We're on the same planet, just different countries!!!! =)
And my message that pertains to the topic at hand....I'm waiting until one clear winner emerges. I stopped buying DVD's when the two started, and have found it's saving me a lot of money. Once they (or the consumers if we're allowed) lean toward one side, they'll certainly reap a lot of money from my pockets at that point.
1-04-2008 @ 11:50PM
Manda said...
...The day after I purchase my first HD TV with DVD. Haha.
Reply