Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive, drops HD DVD

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Warner is pulling the plug on HD DVD. The news was widely expected to break at next week's CES, but an early announcement was made by Barry Meyer (Warner Entertainment CEO) and Kevin Tsujihara (Home Entertainment Group president). According to the studio the decision was made due to “consumer demand.” According to Tsujihara: “A [...]
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:censored:
 
:rolleyes: What a silly response.

Why would you applaud this decision ? It means no change for Blu-Ray buyers but, an even smaller film catalogue for HD-DVD buyers. So, in effect there's no winners, just losers. :thumbsdow

Paul
 
good.Im hoping this gives blu-ray a boost after the whole paramount hd thing.
The whole format war is silly,all it does is confuse people to a point that no one wants to buy into it.
I dont own any hd player yet but plan to get a ps3 as i see this to be the best bet on the hd war.I think blu-ray will win because it has so many big company's behind it.(pioneer,denon,sony,panasonic,etc)
I would like to know the real figures on how many hd-dvd units have been sold
compared to how many units of blu-ray,inc pc's,laptops,ps3,and dedicated players.
 
Untill all the Studios either side with one of the formats, I still am not going down either route. I have no interest in any format that limits my choice and a hybrid player is far to expensive for my tastes. :(

Film studios want there :censored: heads banging together.
 
Film studios want there :censored: heads banging together.

Agreed. I bought Batman Begins on HD DVD and will only be able to buy The Dark Knight on Blu Ray! Unless a hybrid player is released between now and then which is under £500 I'll have to make do with the standard def DVD...
 
If everyone is so bothered about this why don't they just go and buy a Sony PS3 and Toshiba HD-EP30. It'll cost you £500. £300 for PS3 and £200 for the Toshiba HD-EP30.

I've got both and am very happy with both of them. I've not had a problem with either and at and the quality of both on my home cinema is awesome. Watched Die Hard 4.0 again on Blu-ray over the weekend and it was quality. Also watched Transformers on the HD-EP30 and again it was brilliant.

I would recommend going for both because this battle is going to last quite a while.
 
If everyone is so bothered about this why don't they just go and buy a Sony PS3 and Toshiba HD-EP30. It'll cost you £500. £300 for PS3 and £200 for the Toshiba HD-EP30

I see what you're saying but I don't want to buy a PS3 just to watch Blu Ray - I'm more than happy enough with my Xbox 360 for games. I would rather wait for an affordable hybrid player.

Besides, I don't think my Harmony could take any more devices! :)
 
Arse. This sucks. I'll still buy HD DVD when I can though. My collection's 12 Blu-Ray vs 16 HD DVDs although two of those HD DVDs are boxsets. As long as Paramount are on HD DVD, there'll still be a customer here. :)
 
As long as Paramount are on HD DVD, there'll still be a customer here. :)

With the new Indy film out this year I wonder if Paramount will "do a Warner Bros" if they think they will sell more by going with Blu Ray? Personally I hope not!
 
If everyone is so bothered about this why don't they just go and buy a Sony PS3 and Toshiba HD-EP30. It'll cost you £500. £300 for PS3 and £200 for the Toshiba HD-EP30.

Because £300 buys a lot of SD-DVD's! :devil: With no cheap HD option, this puts HD back into the hands of the early adopters with cheapskates like me happy to make do with SD-DVD :rolleyes:

Maybe in a few years time when the BluRay sweeteners have run out at WB they'll come back to HD-DVD but I won't hold my breath! ;)
 
With the new Indy film out this year I wonder if Paramount will "do a Warner Bros" if they think they will sell more by going with Blu Ray? Personally I hope not!

Is Speilberg involved with this Indy film - i thought all his films are to appear on both formats?
 
:rolleyes: What a silly response.

Why would you applaud this decision ? It means no change for Blu-Ray buyers but, an even smaller film catalogue for HD-DVD buyers. So, in effect there's no winners, just losers. :thumbsdow

Paul

Because we're one step closer to ending the format war. The longer there are equal splits of studio's and dual format studios the longer the format war will rage on, that's bad for everybody too. Paramount are only tied into an 18 month exclusivity, and I think they have an option to exit that deal too.

By increasing the number of BR exclusive releases it strengthens the argument for consumers to buy into that format. If more BR decks are sold than HD-DVD then studio's will see more money in supporting that format, then eventually we'll be able to settle on a single format. It may take another 12 months, but it looks more likely to happen now than ever.
 
Now that they are BR, will Warner now start implementing region coding? I import for my Region A PS3 (cost and choice), but having even more films that I can't rent locally would be disappointing.
 
in the end it all boils down to one thing and thats money.
the format war was stupid didnt any one learn anything from beta/vhs war?
but hd-dvd has suffered a fatal blow and only a few big studios backing HD
now.
 
I have only 1 question.
If the format war does end with BR the winner, can Microsoft then bring out a Blu-Ray add-on for the 360 in place of the HD-DVD one? Surely they would have to swallow their pride and do this, otherwise they no longer have a machine capable of playing high definition movies?
 
I have only 1 question.
If the format war does end with BR the winner, can Microsoft then bring out a Blu-Ray add-on for the 360 in place of the HD-DVD one? Surely they would have to swallow their pride and do this, otherwise they no longer have a machine capable of playing high definition movies?

Microsoft said as much when it released the HD-DVD add on. As the hardware is external there's no reason why it couldn't release a Blu-Ray drive.
 
I'm still owed my free 5 HD-DVD's from when I bought the Toshiba EP30. Warner better cough up :)
 
further on the Financial Times story:

HD DVD Really Dead Now: Paramount Following Warner to Blu-ray-Only Party

Financial Times is reporting that Paramount has a clause in its HD DVD exclusivity contract allowing them to bail from the sinking HD DVD ship if Warner defected to Blu-ray, and they are "poised" to do so.

Warner's switch already put 70 percent of Hollywood's output on Blu-ray—Paramount rolling Blu-ray too would leave Universal and Dreamworks as the last major studios in the HD DVD camp, promptly and undoubtfully closing the books on HD DVD's future in Hollywood. Imagine: Michael Bay is sipping a mojito somewhere with a smile on his face. [Financial Times]


Thank you, now I can go out and buy a BR player and not worry about its future :clap:
 
further on the Financial Times story:

HD DVD Really Dead Now: Paramount Following Warner to Blu-ray-Only Party

Financial Times is reporting that Paramount has a clause in its HD DVD exclusivity contract allowing them to bail from the sinking HD DVD ship if Warner defected to Blu-ray, and they are "poised" to do so.

Warner's switch already put 70 percent of Hollywood's output on Blu-ray—Paramount rolling Blu-ray too would leave Universal and Dreamworks as the last major studios in the HD DVD camp, promptly and undoubtfully closing the books on HD DVD's future in Hollywood. Imagine: Michael Bay is sipping a mojito somewhere with a smile on his face. [Financial Times]


Thank you, now I can go out and buy a BR player and not worry about its future :clap:

So what's the cheapest Blu Ray player you can get, and is it any good?

I saw a HD-DVD player on play.com today for £180 with 7 HD-DVDs. Now I know why it was so cheap...
 
further on the Financial Times story:

HD DVD Really Dead Now: Paramount Following Warner to Blu-ray-Only Party

Financial Times is reporting that Paramount has a clause in its HD DVD exclusivity contract allowing them to bail from the sinking HD DVD ship if Warner defected to Blu-ray, and they are "poised" to do so.

Warner's switch already put 70 percent of Hollywood's output on Blu-ray—Paramount rolling Blu-ray too would leave Universal and Dreamworks as the last major studios in the HD DVD camp, promptly and undoubtfully closing the books on HD DVD's future in Hollywood. Imagine: Michael Bay is sipping a mojito somewhere with a smile on his face. [Financial Times]


Thank you, now I can go out and buy a BR player and not worry about its future :clap:

Its not over yet ....

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/08/paramount_puts_down_hd_dvd_dump_rumour/

'Paramount puts down HD DVD dump rumour

Hollywood-based Paramount Studios has denied claims that it will be dropping the HD DVD format and returning to Blu-ray Disc.

In an email sent to Bloomberg, Paramount spokeswoman Brenda Ciccone said: "Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format.".......

:boring:
 

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