Disney HD only on Blu-Ray? NOT NOW!

[Groundbeef]

In a suprise announcement yesterday at the E3 conference, MS announced that it will be adding Disney (HD)films to its XBOX LIVE Marketplace. MS also announced that it has currently grossed $125 Million in VOD (Video on demand), and offers content deeper, and wider than ANY cable provider in the US.

XBOX Live MarketPlace is also expanding to Canada, and Europe, that should only help with the "on demand" feature of the XBOX 360.

See here:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/...arketplace.htm

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/11...ve-right-now-/

Looks like Blu-Ray will be getting some competiton on their HD Only claim for Disney Films. Is there a possiblity of Disney HD on HD-DVD?

[kexodusc]

Looks like Blu-Ray will be getting some competiton on their HD Only claim for Disney Films. Is there a possiblity of Disney HD on HD-DVD?

I hadn't seen any promotions or efforts from from any marketing campaigns referencing Disney only being available in HD on BluRay. Was that ever anything more than afterthought statement someone made?

I would say it's never over until it's over, but with things being as they are, I think this just represents Disney venturing into the VOD marketplace - a whole different medium, which affects Blockbuster and the like far more than BluRay or HD-DVD. I always thougth Disney on demand would be a babysitter's dream....

Don't think it changes anything for the format war. Especially since they didn't announce they were adopting HD-DVD.

Good news for XBOX's VOD users, though.

[Groundbeef]

From what I understand Disney was pretty much in the Blu-Ray camp. Wooch (of course) knows more about the details, but that was a feather in the cap of Sony's darling HD standard Blu-Ray.

I just wonder if this may be an indication that Disney is "testing" the waters of the HD-DVD crowd as XBOX/MS is squarely in the HD-DVD camp. If the VOD goes well, or better than expected I wonder if they are going to consider releasing on HD-DVD.

[kexodusc]

From what I understand Disney was pretty much in the Blu-Ray camp. Wooch (of course) knows more about the details, but that was a feather in the cap of Sony's darling HD standard Blu-Ray.

I just wonder if this may be an indication that Disney is "testing" the waters of the HD-DVD crowd as XBOX/MS is squarely in the HD-DVD camp. If the VOD goes well, or better than expected I wonder if they are going to consider releasing on HD-DVD.

Nah, I think Disney believes it benefits more from a single format and that all evidence to suggests they're behind the eventual winner. Moving to HD-DVD would be pretty cheap and easy for them to do. If they thought it was worthwhile they'd be there already. I don't see VOD as being related at all to any HD-DVD/BluRay considerations, it's more of a service rather than a traditional retail sales product.

[Groundbeef]

Nah, I think Disney believes it benefits more from a single format and that all evidence to suggests they're behind the eventual winner. Moving to HD-DVD would be pretty cheap and easy for them to do. If they thought it was worthwhile they'd be there already. I don't see VOD as being related at all to any HD-DVD/BluRay considerations, it's more of a service rather than a traditional retail sales product.

1. Perhaps you are correct on the first point.

2. VOD in HD most certainly would be a direct competitior to physically owning the disc. If I can rent on demand a HD title, without the additional need for a fancy player, that could lessen the demand for any single format for HD playback.

For example, I personally own a 360 (as if you all didn't know that) and the related HD-DVD player. I had been giving serious considerations to picking up a Blu-Ray player specifically for the Disney lineup available as my kids love it. Now, it may be more feasible to simply rent the title. Of course if it becomes a family favorite, I may have to spluge for the player (blu-ray) anyways, but perhaps not.

Also, as the $125 million in VOD rentals on the 360 shows, it ain't goin' away anytime soon. Perhaps with the larger Hard Drive, it will supplant buying movies at $25-34 and renting once or twice. I am aware that plenty of folks on this board love to buy movies, but we for all intents an purposes are not the usual consumer. IMHO I think that more regular folks are willing to at least rent a HD movie more than simply shelliing out the cash for a player, and the movie. This can give them the experience of a HD movie with relatively few hassles.

Anyway, I thought it was cool that Disney is expanding its HD offerings to include VOD on the 360!

[kexodusc]

2. VOD in HD most certainly would be a direct competitior to physically owning the disc. If I can rent on demand a HD title, without the additional need for a fancy player, that could lessen the demand for any single format for HD playback.

Well, I don't mean to say it will have zero impact on sales, but it won't have any more impact on sales than Blockbuster and rental chains renting DVD's had on the DVD format...or VOD has had so far...we're talking a fraction of a fraction here...and at any rate,VOD will cannibalize sales of either format equally. It doesn't advantage or disadvantage BluRay with respect to HD-DVD...You either buy or you don't. I think VOD will tap into more impulse renting than, which might hurt sales a bit, but that likely affects all formats the same.

For example, I personally own a 360 (as if you all didn't know that) and the related HD-DVD player. I had been giving serious considerations to picking up a Blu-Ray player specifically for the Disney lineup available as my kids love it. Now, it may be more feasible to simply rent the title. Of course if it becomes a family favorite, I may have to spluge for the player (blu-ray) anyways, but perhaps not.

Again, the ease of selecting on demand might make you order a movie you otherwise wouldn't have gone out of the way to rent (at Blockbuster's expense, not BluRay), but if it's something you want to buy, it shouldn't affect that decision - at least not any more than the option of renting already does.

Anyway, I thought it was cool that Disney is expanding its HD offerings to include VOD on the 360!

Agreed. This is something that appeals to me quite a bit - I don't know if PS3 plans an equivalent or has a service already but I'm sure they're behind here. This is something I'd use probably as much as gaming itself. My cable provider just doesn't have enough yet.

[musicman1999]

From all indications Disney seems firmly in Blu-Ray camp.This video on demand will be for them a very small drop in a very big bucket.It should not have an affect on the hd battle.That battle will be over on the day that Universal studio goes format neutral.

bill

[Woochifer]

As the saying goes, the devil's in the details ...

All that this announcement means is that Disney studio stable (which also includes Touchstone, Hollywood, and Miramax) will start releasing titles for HD VOD downloads, but nothing yet regarding their classic animated features or recent blockbuster titles.

I don't know how the Xbox VOD works, but if these downloads are intended for limited time access (i.e., they "self-destruct" after a certain time or number of viewings), then they are by no means comparable to Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs that have no time or view limits. If that's the case, then this announcement is no different than announcing that the Disney Channel will begin broadcasting in HD (which they have slated for 2008) or making selected titles available to HBO, Showtime, or Starz's HD feeds (which they already have). It's just another cog in an overall distribution wheel that's getting upgraded to HD one piece at a time.

And even if these HD VOD downloads allow for unlimited access, how many of them can a Xbox 360's hard drive store before space becomes an issue?

The significance of this announcement also depends on which titles Disney will make available. If anything, Disney is the studio that protects their crown jewels the tightest. (Remember that Disney was the last major studio to support the DVD format, and they embraced the infamous DIVX pay-per-view disc format) They might make their run-of-the-mill new releases available, but I don't see them releasing their top-tier animated features for VOD anytime soon, especially if it does not include access limitations. For one thing, Disney is rumored to have begun preparing their Platinum Series features for Blu-ray release (Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray was mentioned on a recent Disney press release for 2008).

Also, with Pixar's close ties to Apple, I just don't see them handing the keys to those franchises over to Microsoft, especially if Apple has its own HD plans in the works.

Like I've said before, I agree that HD VOD is the future, but there are plenty of other players looking to get into the mix. Microsoft is ahead of the curve right now, but the cable/satellite operators and other outside players like Apple will likely have their say as the market progresses.

[bfalls]

From what I understand porn will be replicated on HD-DVD. In the past Disney had refused replicating in facilities which replicate porn for the obvious possibility discs can get switched. Sony has never replicated porn, has an excellent customer base and better DVD and BD copy protection (ARccOS, AACS/BD+). Everyone knows the main reason Beta, which was a better tape format, lost the video format war to VHS was because VHS made pornographic videos. I would need to see direct evidence before I'll believe Disney will be carried on HD-DVD. I can see the headlines. DISNEY MAKING DISCS IN SAME PLANT AS PORNOGRAPHY. ARE OUR CHILDREN SAFE? What responsible parent would take the chance of permanently scarring their children? Speculate as much as you want, but I don't believe it.

[Groundbeef]

From what I understand porn will be replicated on HD-DVD. In the past Disney had refused replicating in facilities which replicate porn for the obvious possibility discs can get switched. Sony has never replicated porn, has an excellent customer base and better DVD and BD copy protection (ARccOS, AACS/BD+). Everyone knows the main reason Beta, which was a better tape format, lost the video format war to VHS was because VHS made pornographic videos. I would need to see direct evidence before I'll believe Disney will be carried on HD-DVD. I can see the headlines. DISNEY MAKING DISCS IN SAME PLANT AS PORNOGRAPHY. ARE OUR CHILDREN SAFE? What responsible parent would take the chance of permanently scarring their children? Speculate as much as you want, but I don't believe it.

Hmmm...only slightly off topic here....

[Groundbeef]

As the saying goes, the devil's in the details ...

All that this announcement means is that Disney studio stable (which also includes Touchstone, Hollywood, and Miramax) will start releasing titles for HD VOD downloads, but nothing yet regarding their classic animated features or recent blockbuster titles.

I don't know how the Xbox VOD works, but if these downloads are intended for limited time access (i.e., they "self-destruct" after a certain time or number of viewings), then they are by no means comparable to Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs that have no time or view limits. If that's the case, then this announcement is no different than announcing that the Disney Channel will begin broadcasting in HD (which they have slated for 2008) or making selected titles available to HBO, Showtime, or Starz's HD feeds (which they already have). It's just another cog in an overall distribution wheel that's getting upgraded to HD one piece at a time.

And even if these HD VOD downloads allow for unlimited access, how many of them can a Xbox 360's hard drive store before space becomes an issue?

The significance of this announcement also depends on which titles Disney will make available. If anything, Disney is the studio that protects their crown jewels the tightest. (Remember that Disney was the last major studio to support the DVD format, and they embraced the infamous DIVX pay-per-view disc format) They might make their run-of-the-mill new releases available, but I don't see them releasing their top-tier animated features for VOD anytime soon, especially if it does not include access limitations. For one thing, Disney is rumored to have begun preparing their Platinum Series features for Blu-ray release (Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray was mentioned on a recent Disney press release for 2008).

Also, with Pixar's close ties to Apple, I just don't see them handing the keys to those franchises over to Microsoft, especially if Apple has its own HD plans in the works.

Like I've said before, I agree that HD VOD is the future, but there are plenty of other players looking to get into the mix. Microsoft is ahead of the curve right now, but the cable/satellite operators and other outside players like Apple will likely have their say as the market progresses.

1. Bridge to Taribitihia (sp) is a recent movie I heard is going VOD. Didn't spend a whole lot of time checking out the initial release titles.

2. Yes, on the 360, you have 14 days to watch the film. After pushing play anytime in that 14 day window, you only have 24 hours to watch it. After that its dead weight on your HD unless you "renew" the license. The 20 gig drive will allow about 2-3 HD movies or 4-5 SD movies. Or about 15 30 miniute sitcoms. The TV downloads are for keeps though, no limited viewing time for them. Once bought they are yours forever.

3. No mention of Pixar. So i cant comment on that.

[bobsticks]

You seem to be the 360 guru so lemme throw this atcha. Two recent HD-DVDs I have purchased make it to the last few chapters and then start to skip and stall. This happens on both sides of the dual disc, though it does not happen with any standard dvds. Are there downloads available for this? Is this a problem you've heard of before?

Thanks

[pixelthis]

You seem to be the 360 guru so lemme throw this atcha. Two recent HD-DVDs I have purchased make it to the last few chapters and then start to skip and stall. This happens on both sides of the dual disc, though it does not happen with any standard dvds. Are there downloads available for this? Is this a problem you've heard of before?

Thanks

Its a gamebox built by microsoft using a format developed by toshibia, just be happy you're surviving using it.
BUT REALLY everybody on this thread is missing forest for trees.
This is a blow for both hd formats and yet another encroachment by VOD
wAVE of the future sonny boy, wave of the future

[PeruvianSkies]

Its a gamebox built by microsoft using a format developed by toshibia, just be happy you're surviving using it.
BUT REALLY everybody on this thread is missing forest for trees.
This is a blow for both hd formats and yet another encroachment by VOD
wAVE of the future sonny boy, wave of the future

Well, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between forests and trees, especially with poor LCD's that are in need of severe color correction.

[Groundbeef]

You seem to be the 360 guru so lemme throw this atcha. Two recent HD-DVDs I have purchased make it to the last few chapters and then start to skip and stall. This happens on both sides of the dual disc, though it does not happen with any standard dvds. Are there downloads available for this? Is this a problem you've heard of before?

Thanks

Well, thanks for the kind words, and sorry for the late reply. 1st, there has been an update released for the HD-DVD, so you need to make sure you get it.

Do you have your 360 on a static always on-line connection? If so, it should pull any updates you will need off of MS. You don't need to be a "gold" (paying) member of live. Silver (free) accounts get all updates free of charge so make sure you are hooked up.

If you don't have an ethernet connection, or simply don't have your 360 hooked up, you ought to. The Spring 2007 update went up about 2 months ago, and it had loads of tweaks for the system.

Without asking the obvious, have you checked the discs? Do you have problems with only those 2? I havent had any trouble with playback, but I only have about 7 HD-DVDs.

Lastly, try google, and see if anyone is experiencing your issues. I dont really have much more to add, so additional issues might require a call to customer help.

Let me know!

[bobsticks]

Thanks for the reply. I have the 360 hooked up in my main system with the computers in an adjoining room. I suppose I could switch rooms but perhaps first I'll do a bit of lurking on the MS website and see if there is something I can download and transfer.

And yeah, I've checked both discs and there's nothing amiss. If only it were as easy as simple wipedown. In reference to the other thread regarding firmware upgrades you can count me in the "this is annoyingly sucky" category.

Peace gents

[Groundbeef]

Thanks for the reply. I have the 360 hooked up in my main system with the computers in an adjoining room. I suppose I could switch rooms but perhaps first I'll do a bit of lurking on the MS website and see if there is something I can download and transfer.

And yeah, I've checked both discs and there's nothing amiss. If only it were as easy as simple wipedown. In reference to the other thread regarding firmware upgrades you can count me in the "this is annoyingly sucky" category.

Peace gents

If you get a "patch cord" ethernet cable, you should be able to just strech it from your router to your360. 50' runs about $17. Then just hook it right up in your living room. It will automatically connect to live and update. Takes about 5 minutes and it will do it automatically. Then just every few months hook it up, turn it on, and it will d/l any updates. Plus, it will patch any games that have been updated since release. And then if you get a membership, you can also d/l movies and such.

It would be worth it to get hooked up, even on a temorary basis.

[bobsticks]

Good idea. I love it when a plan comes together.

Grassyass

[pixelthis]

Well, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between forests and trees, especially with poor LCD's that are in need of severe color correction.

Well, at least I wont have to risk death to change the slide projector light bulb
powering it it like DLP users will (RCA'S exact words in one of their DLP owners maunels)
and I wont have to wory about a rube goldburg "color wheel" going ballistic and fying off, killing any small children and dogs in the room

[kexodusc]

Well, at least I wont have to risk death to change the slide projector light bulb
powering it it like DLP users will (RCA'S exact words in one of their DLP owners maunels)
and I wont have to wory about a rube goldburg "color wheel" going ballistic and fying off, killing any small children and dogs in the room

You continue to over-exaggerate and spew blatantly untrue facts regarding DLP and other technologies which only serves to discredit any half-truths and over-exaggerated facts you spew in support of your preferred set.

I don't think I've ever encountered anyone who's so exhaustingly vested their emotions into a television technology before.

[nightflier]

BUT REALLY everybody on this thread is missing forest for trees.
This is a blow for both hd formats and yet another encroachment by VOD wAVE of the future sonny boy, wave of the future

My guess is that this is a play against Sony & Apple. Both those companies are just itching to get a slice of that $125M VOD pie. Disney beat them to the punch, and throwing in the added carrot of HD to boot.

While I can't say for sure that Disney was specifically aiming at the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray formats, you'd have to be blind not to see that VOD (whether HD or not) is a real threat to both HD formats (as if anyone still believed that iTunes doesn't threaten CD sales). Point is, if I can download an HD movie for a few dollars instead of buying it for 20-30, that's a deal. Fact is there are two kinds of movies: those we own, and those we rent, and 80-90% of movies are the latter. The real market opportunity is in VOD, not in owned movies. Disney sees this as an opportunity (and I'm sure their lawyers love the self-destruct aspect of VOD, too).

By the way, the 20Gb drives on those X-Boxes are the real bottle-neck here. I almost think Microsoft did that on purpose to get people to re-rent movies they deleted because they ran out of space. In any case, it's not too hard to upgrade that drive, and I'm sure lots of people have.

[Groundbeef]

By the way, the 20Gb drives on those X-Boxes are the real bottle-neck here. I almost think Microsoft did that on purpose to get people to re-rent movies they deleted because they ran out of space. In any case, it's not too hard to upgrade that drive, and I'm sure lots of people have.

$179 to upgrade, MS uses a proprietary drive.

Doesn't matter if you delete or not, after 14 days its not "playable" even if not watched. Your "license" runs out, and you would need to re-purchase it.

Either way, I have rented about 10 movies, 4 of them HD. It has been a very good experience, and I will probably rent more.

[pixelthis]

$179 to upgrade, MS uses a proprietary drive.

Doesn't matter if you delete or not, after 14 days its not "playable" even if not watched. Your "license" runs out, and you would need to re-purchase it.

Either way, I have rented about 10 movies, 4 of them HD. It has been a very good experience, and I will probably rent more.

WAVE of the future, wave of the future

[musicman1999]

Still a few years in the future yet for you my American friends,a couple of weeks ago USA today ran an article listing broadband internet speeds for the different states and many counties around the world.Japan was tops almost 9 times faster than us here in Canada and 30 times faster than you folks.This must be improved by all of us before downloads will be a viable replacement for discs.

bill

[pixelthis]

Still a few years in the future yet for you my American friends,a couple of weeks ago USA today ran an article listing broadband internet speeds for the different states and many counties around the world.Japan was tops almost 9 times faster than us here in Canada and 30 times faster than you folks.This must be improved by all of us before downloads will be a viable replacement for discs.

bill

Who cares?
I have a HD cable box and V.O.D
If you have a premium channel (HBO, SHOTIME, ETC) you can download most of their
movies playing in rotation for free, anytime you want, with quite a bit of HD content.
And you can buy newer movies with better quality and a lower price than renting, with
fast foward, rewind, DD, etc.
This is thanks to a hugh fiber optic upgrade a few years back.
And its not just me, the local video rental clerks are looking a lot like the maytag repairman around here