Will Warner support Blu-ray?

[one]

According to Nikkei, the Oct. 3rd issue of Daily Variety reports that Warner is going to announce Blu-ray support this week. (CEATEC JAPAN 2005 has begun today BTW and Blu-ray/HD-DVD/Cell are exhibited by respective companies)

Meanwhile, according to Yomiuri, NEC Electronics (NEC's semiconductor subsidiary company that manufactures Xenos daughter die and Game Cube Flipper) joined BDA.

Though this news about Warner can be overshooting (again), will Warner support Blu-ray to be a de facto standard? Incidentally, the Japanese subsidiary of Warner Bros. recently announced their support of UMD.

Since "Game Over" was declared by Ken Kutaragi, only Toshiba have been voicing their intention of format unification by talk. If BD can be the de facto standard, it's frankly the best scenario for PS3 as there's less concession to make for Sony. Microsoft, Intel, and 2 Chinese manufacturers' support of HD-DVD might be the last useless efforts of those who have little to gain from Blu-ray except for Toshiba & Warner.

 

[bRoNx]

Oh boy! That will just about put the final nail in the HD-DVD coffin, right? I wonder if Intel & M$ are thinking twice about their support for HD-DVD, because it appears as though their views weren't shared by many! I mean, if Warner comes off the fence and goes to BR's house, who's left? I think Toshiba should've struck a deal with the BR camp when they had the chance!

Game over? We should know by the end of this week...hopefully

 

[Titanio]

I don't know if they were reading these same reports, but some of the reports on Paramount's support of Bluray cite a move by Warner as one of the reasons.

But yes, if Warner announces support, that really just leaves Universal as the odd one out. And I doubt that would remain that way for very long. If Universal fall behind Bluray too, I think that would make Bluray the defacto standard, and further I think Toshiba would be looking for a quick exit. Recent comments from Toshiba suggests they're looking for more talks with Sony and would be "flexible" (and the issue they cite as the reason for the breakdown in earlier talks suggests acceptance of bluray as the physical format could be a possibility - in fact, they almost sound like they want to be convinced).

There have been so many false dawns with this story, but hopefully maybe we'll have a standard, or defacto standard, within the next couple of months if not sooner.

edit - Variety does seem to be sourcing their info from the other reports, or vice versa.

 

[London Geezer]

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=11960

Hollywood's trade press is predicting that Warner Bros. will follow Paramount's lead by the end of the week, something which would further damage the HD-DVD cause. Studios which have already announced their support for Blu-Ray include Disney, Fox and MGM.

Paramount's move could further encourage Toshiba to look again at the possibility of working with Sony to create a unified disc format. Negotiations between the two camps collapsed in June, but last week Toshiba president Yoshihide Fujii said that the company had "No intention of giving up on creating a single format."

Seems like Toshiba are chasing Sony for a unified format. They can see what's happening. It's very simple, Bluray is on a roll and Toshiba sees it.
With Warner and Paramount behind them, no more release date difference (or nothing worth notice, now that HDDVD has been pushed back), PS3 (everyone is ackowledging this will be a huge factor)... It's easy to see where this is heading to.
Personally i don't care which one "wins", i just really wanted "just one" to win, cause it makes things much easier. And i think it's almost clear these days what format will dominate.

 

[ecliptic]

New Line supports HD-DVD.

I personally think Blu-ray is a bad idea for the market. The more expensive it is, the less likely it will be accepted by the mass market.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Seems like Toshiba are chasing Sony for a unified format. They can see what's happening. It's very simple, Bluray is on a roll and Toshiba sees it.

At the moment the current media news suggests you'll be able to buy HD-DVD with 50% of the movie industry available, or BRD with 100%. It's a hands down victory. Perhaps Toshiba are going to sign in with BRD's hardware format which was the trouble? Better to have some of the pie then none.

 

[Mmmkay]

New Line supports HD-DVD.

Uh, New Line is owned by Warner.

 

[avaya]

New Line supports HD-DVD.

I personally think Blu-ray is a bad idea for the market. The more expensive it is, the less likely it will be accepted by the mass market.

New Line is a Time-Warner company. Apparently the cost side of things is changing too, all very clouded though.

 

[London Geezer]

Uh, New Line is owned by Warner.

Which means by the end of the week, Bluray will also have Warner (and New Line, with the LOTR trilogy) behind them.
Now we only need the bloody things OUT TO BUY. Or PS3.

 

[aldo]

"We have been intrigued by the broad support of Blu-Ray, especially the key advantage of including Blu-Ray in PlayStation 3," Lesinski said in a statement. "After more detailed assessment and new data on cost, manufacturability and copy protection solutions, we have now made the decision to move ahead with the Blu-ray format. We believe the unique portfolio of Viacom content coupled with this format will provide great benefit for consumers and our shareholders alike."Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Ben Feingold said that while the Paramount announcement is very important to the Blu-ray camp, "being on both formats will confuse the consumer."

Several execs in each camp believe the Paramount announcement to publish in both formats—which is the direction Warner has been leaning for the past week or two with a similar announcement expected this week—is simply a temporary face-saving strategy and that ultimately all studios will shift completely over to Blu-ray by launch time.-Video Business

Thought we already covered this in a couple of other threads, but yeah, it looks like the writing is on the wall for HD-DVD.

-aldo

 

[Titanio]

I personally think Blu-ray is a bad idea for the market. The more expensive it is, the less likely it will be accepted by the mass market.

Wait until they announce pricing, eh? A small manufacturing medium doesn't speak for the retail cost.

I'd expect both HD-DVD and Bluray movies to be more expensive to purchase than DVD starting out, but I doubt there'd be much of a gap between them at retail, if any at all.

 

[avaya]

Intel 180?

Blu-ray support hinges on disc copy, says Intel
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service MacCentral
1 hour, 21 minutes ago

Intel Corp., which last week expressed support for the HD-DVD format for high-definition video discs, is open to also supporting the rival Blu-ray Disc format should its backers commit to allowing the copying of content from discs onto home multimedia servers, an Intel executive said Tuesday.

“The reason we provided support for HD-DVD is that basically it has committed to several features. Specifically, the mandatory managed copy,†said McDonald.

“We have not heard an unequivocal statement from the Blu-ray camp to say that you’ll be able to have mandatory managed copy without any kind of complications and any kind of issues. So we could be thrilled if they were able to deliver a similar commitment,†McDonald said. “The opportunity is for Blu-ray to unequivocally commit to having exactly the same consumer friendly features.â€

Intel’s statement of support doesn’t mean its technology won’t work with Blu-ray Disc. Like other technologies the company will build the technical support required for the format into its chipsets and devices, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mc/20051004/tc_mc/bluraysupporthingesondisccopysaysintel

Matsushita think the war is finished

The CEATEC 2005 exhibition in Chiba, Japan, is opening as the battle escalated a notch after Paramount Pictures, which had previously supported the HD DVD backed by Toshiba Corp., became the first major movie studio to support both rival formats.

And Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which backs Blu-ray Disc, the other technology, was openly gloating.

"The format war is coming to a close," said Matsushita Executive Officer Kazuhiro Tsuga, adding that he was hopeful other Hollywood studios will follow suit. "That's our current scenario."

Until Paramount's decision, the six major studios had been evenly split between HD DVD and Blu-ray, also backed by Sony Corp.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1182053&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

 

[Mordecaii]

It definately sounds like Intel is softening their position... In fact I think Microsoft may be the last one to back down along with Toshiba because MS knows that if the PS3 has the next-gen format that everyone is supporting, it's going to hurt them. I'd like to see the BD guys announce support for the features Intel wants so that they can get them on their side and hopefully that would put an end once and for all to any format war that might have happened.

 

[scooby_dooby]

This is all great, but it's still gonna come down to who can mass produce affordable players the quickest.

The studios will go where the money is, any format that starts selling large amount of players, and therefore media, will get all the studios behind it.

HD-DVD's advantage is price, but does that extend to the hardware as well as the media? I dunno...

 

[avaya]

This is all great, but it's still gonna come down to who can mass produce affordable players the quickest.

The studios will go where the money is, any format that starts selling large amount of players, and therefore media, will get all the studios behind it.

HD-DVD's advantage is price, but does that extend to the hardware as well as the media? I dunno...

Hardware? PS3. Paramount cited it

 

[London Geezer]

This is all great, but it's still gonna come down to who can mass produce affordable players the quickest.

The studios will go where the money is, any format that starts selling large amount of players, and therefore media, will get all the studios behind it.

HD-DVD's advantage is price, but does that extend to the hardware as well as the media? I dunno...

Obviously, now with Bluray having pretty much 100% of the movie industry behind them compared to little more than 50% for HDDVD, i think that "cost" won't matter much, especially because the differences will be negligible, if they're there.
PS3 will sell at a very competitive price, cheaper than any HDDVD player, and the difference in price between HDDVD and Bluray media will be marginal, if there will be a difference.

I only thank god that there seems to be one "winner" afterall. Don't care which one. 2 formats would have driven me crazy!

 

[Rur0ni]

Well im just happy there isnt a war that ends up with both formats on the shelves. So blu-ray wins... ok. That's fairly fine for me, because it does seem to be the superior format. But.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000737057152/

On top of that, consumers should expect punishment for tinkering with their Blu-ray players, as many have done with current DVD players, for instance to remove regional coding. The new, Internet-connected and secure players will report any “hackâ€￾ and the device can be disabled remotely.

Not to fond of someone being able to do that.

http://www.doom9.net/ -- 9/4 news block

With an Internet connection, verification checks if you're entitled to play a disc is only one very small step away, and then we're right back to DIVX, which forced you to get the studio's OK to play any disc, and allowed them to keep a complete record of your viewing habits, along with blocking you from taking movies you paid for to watch them over at your friend's house (sounds awfully familiar if you've been looking at the state of digital music lately).

Seriously, wtf? I know its divx, as far as the viewing habits, but do we face the same thing for Blu-Ray?

 

[Nite_Hawk]

Sucks doesn't it? I actually hope they take it too far and actually wake everyone up to how annoying and evil it is. Until then we're all just boiling frogs.

Nite_Hawk

Well im just happy there isnt a war that ends up with both formats on the shelves. So blu-ray wins... ok. That's fairly fine for me, because it does seem to be the superior format. But.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000737057152/



Not to fond of someone being able to do that.

http://www.doom9.net/ -- 9/4 news block



Seriously, wtf? I know its divx, as far as the viewing habits, but do we face the same thing for Blu-Ray?

 

[London Geezer]

I'm pretty sure things will be much softer than that, and if they aren't, it won't be long till we get "work-arounds". It's only normal.

 

[BlueTsunami]

and if they aren't, it won't be long till we get "work-arounds". It's only normal.

Yep, and this is one scenario where I wouldn't feel quilty using these "work-arounds". It will be a FU straight from my short puerto rican ass straight to the movie companies.