Does not look like Warner is giving up Blu

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Yesterday I attended the Bluray Festival and really had a great time finding out what the BDA has up its sleeve. What really surprised me was Warner rather enthusiastic appearance, and it's VP of high definition video comments regarding it's support for Bluray. Here is the press link;

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_id=11449

[L.J.]

Should be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of months.

I went to BB to pick up the Spiderman trilogy (BR of course ) and noticed that they doubled the space for BR but not HD-DVD. I think this was mentioned by others but it just now happened at my location.

[pixelthis]

Should be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of months.

I went to BB to pick up the Spiderman trilogy (BR of course ) and noticed that they doubled the space for BR but not HD-DVD. I think this was mentioned by others but it just now happened at my location.

THE HDDVD types are rapidly running out of fingers to stick in the dike as HDDVD
becomes increasingly marginalized.
Nice system BTW, love that SXRD, those energies are nice short term but those tweeters will drill a hole in your brain

[drseid]

Yesterday I attended the Bluray Festival and really had a great time finding out what the BDA has up its sleeve. What really surprised me was Warner rather enthusiastic appearance, and it's VP of high definition video comments regarding it's support for Bluray. Here is the press link;

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_id=11449

I would not put much weight into reading anything into what this guy meant or was implying. Many high-level execs play to the crowd (in this case Blu-ray supporters at their event) and say what they think the crowd wants to hear (then they and their company act in whatever direction they secretly intended to all along -- many times in the exact opposite path (not to imply that is the case here)). This is definitely something that occurs all over the place and I confess I have had to do it from time to time myself to my chagrin.

I would not be surprised to see the same guy (or another top exec from Warner) at the next HD DVD event say "We can definitely talk HD DVD"..."we are committed to the format." It will be just as meaningless there too based on just the statement alone.

The studios *actions* next year will show their real intentions -- not what an exec says playing to the crowd, IMO.

---Dave

[L.J.]

Nice system BTW, love that SXRD, those energies are nice short term but those tweeters will drill a hole in your brain

I don't know, they sound pretty sweet to me. I may upgrade my speakers in a few years, but I'm content for now. Besides, my wife would freakin' kill me

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I would not put much weight into reading anything into what this guy meant or was implying. Many high-level execs play to the crowd (in this case Blu-ray supporters at their event) and say what they think the crowd wants to hear (then they and their company act in whatever direction they secretly intended to all along -- many times in the exact opposite path (not to imply that is the case here)). This is definitely something that occurs all over the place and I confess I have had to do it from time to time myself to my chagrin.

I would not be surprised to see the same guy (or another top exec from Warner) at the next HD DVD event say "We can definitely talk HD DVD"..."we are committed to the format." It will be just as meaningless there too based on just the statement alone.

The studios *actions* next year will show their real intentions -- not what an exec says playing to the crowd, IMO.

---Dave

Dave, I was there. To characterize this as playing to the crowd would be a mis-characterization. There was nothing in his facial expressions or his body langauge that made it look like he was anything but dead serious. His comments, and how he delivered them showed he was dead serious. They are looking at sales, and the general buzz was the fact that Transformers was a big release for HD DVD, but it didn't help HD DVD beat bluray in weekly sales during the week of its release. They are looking at the fact that 300 bluray has sold over 300k for Warner, and less than half that on HD DVD. They are looking at the fact that all of their titles have sold better on bluray than HD DVD. This was mentioned by him. Warner does not get the royalties from HD DVD like they got from DVD. So they can walk away from the format without losing much.

[JSE]

I don't know, they sound pretty sweet to me. I may upgrade my speakers in a few years, but I'm content for now. Besides, my wife would freakin' kill me

Let me know if you ever decide the sell your speakers. I love the C9's. I with you on this one, harsh or bright to the ear is not how I would describe them. I almost bought them but got to good of a deal on my current speakers to pass up. BTW, hated the C7's. C5's were very nice as well but something about the C7's were just horrible to me. No mids and very "bloated, soggy" bass.

[L.J.]

Let me know if you ever decide the sell your speakers. I love the C9's. I with you on this one, harsh or bright to the ear is not how I would describe them. I almost bought them but got to good of a deal on my current speakers to pass up. BTW, hated the C7's. C5's were very nice as well but something about the C7's were just horrible to me. No mids and very "bloated, soggy" bass.

Gee thanks alot, maybe I should take my C7's and burn 'em

I have my C9's/C-C1 up front, C7's/C-C3/C1's on my main system & C3's in my bedroom. Most I got used or 50% when they were discontinued. For someone that's coming off Cerwin Vegas, Sony & Yamaha speakers, I have no complaints. I only paid $400 for my C7's, so I'm surely not complaining. They sound decent enough to keep me going a few more years. That plus my wife would kill me.

If I do upgrade, I would most likely get a new set for up front. But, I'm sure my wife would kill me. As I told GM, maybe 2009 will be my year to upgrade.

[drseid]

Dave, I was there. To characterize this as playing to the crowd would be a mis-characterization. There was nothing in his facial expressions or his body langauge that made it look like he was anything but dead serious. His comments, and how he delivered them showed he was dead serious. They are looking at sales, and the general buzz was the fact that Transformers was a big release for HD DVD, but it didn't help HD DVD beat bluray in weekly sales during the week of its release. They are looking at the fact that 300 bluray has sold over 300k for Warner, and less than half that on HD DVD. They are looking at the fact that all of their titles have sold better on bluray than HD DVD. This was mentioned by him. Warner does not get the royalties from HD DVD like they got from DVD. So they can walk away from the format without losing much.

You may be right, but I have looked pretty convincing too in similar situations... and my company still acted differently. ;-)

I am not saying what I have done personally applies to Warner here (could wind up just as you predict), but I have been there, done that and I have seen it all done before... many times. Bottom line is I stand by my comments.

---Dave

[Woochifer]

Dave, I was there. To characterize this as playing to the crowd would be a mis-characterization. There was nothing in his facial expressions or his body langauge that made it look like he was anything but dead serious. His comments, and how he delivered them showed he was dead serious. They are looking at sales, and the general buzz was the fact that Transformers was a big release for HD DVD, but it didn't help HD DVD beat bluray in weekly sales during the week of its release. They are looking at the fact that 300 bluray has sold over 300k for Warner, and less than half that on HD DVD. They are looking at the fact that all of their titles have sold better on bluray than HD DVD. This was mentioned by him. Warner does not get the royalties from HD DVD like they got from DVD. So they can walk away from the format without losing much.

Hmmm! Interesting. I thought that Warner's DVD patents were also applicable to HD-DVD, so it looks like that's not the case?

I think aside from their dominant 40% market share of the overall HD disc market, Warner also has a financial incentive to keep their foothold in both camps since they do hold the patents for the TotalHD hybrid disc format. Even though I keep reading mixed things about the viability of that disc format, if the market eventually settles on a dual format compromise, Warner's in prime position to fill in that gap. The longer this format war drags out, the more of a king maker Warner becomes.

The fact that HD-DVD could not outsell Blu-ray the week of Transformers' release is more an indicator of the HD optical market maturing to a point that the market share is no longer subject to wild swings from week to week. Seems that Blu-ray's lead is a fairly well entrenched market trend if a $200 million blockbuster like Transformers can't single-handedly vault HD-DVD into the lead.

It's also interesting to note that Transformers' sales tally was comparable to what 300 sold on HD-DVD, which was less than half the number of copies that sold on Blu-ray. That's a lot of potential sales that Paramount left on the table.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Hmmm! Interesting. I thought that Warner's DVD patents were also applicable to HD-DVD, so it looks like that's not the case?

They actually have fewer patents on HD DVD than they did on DVD.

I think aside from their dominant 40% market share of the overall HD disc market, Warner also has a financial incentive to keep their foothold in both camps since they do hold the patents for the TotalHD hybrid disc format. Even though I keep reading mixed things about the viability of that disc format, if the market eventually settles on a dual format compromise, Warner's in prime position to fill in that gap. The longer this format war drags out, the more of a king maker Warner becomes.

Here is the problem. Warner understands completely that the two formats cannot continue to compete against each other. It is creating consumer apathy and disinterest. According to surveys taken by the BDA, most folks are waiting this out until a winner is declared. There is a window of opportunity here, and Warner wants to take advantage of the opportunity before it is lost. From what I heard totalHD is essentially dead, as there is no interest from the studios. Warner has stated time and time again, the only reason that they were supporting both formats was because player prices were so high. Now they are closer in price, and Warner is now looking at sales figures.

The fact that HD-DVD could not outsell Blu-ray the week of Transformers' release is more an indicator of the HD optical market maturing to a point that the market share is no longer subject to wild swings from week to week. Seems that Blu-ray's lead is a fairly well entrenched market trend if a $200 million blockbuster like Transformers can't single-handedly vault HD-DVD into the lead.

Sales for that week were close 51-49%. However bluray did not have a single new title released in that week. All sales were on previously released bluray discs. That is significant and really raised some eyebrows. What has clouded this issue somewhat is the confusion about how many disc were actually sold. Paramount states 190k, however no sales report firm can confirm that figure. Videoscan reports 89k, and that covers the big three sellers. Home media estimates 115k. These are all first week sales. However Warner sold 163k on bluray only with 300.

It's also interesting to note that Transformers' sales tally was comparable to what 300 sold on HD-DVD, which was less than half the number of copies that sold on Blu-ray. That's a lot of potential sales that Paramount left on the table.

Now you know what that 50 million covers.

[L.J.]

Any chance of Universal going neutral anytime soon, or if it's still a possibility?

[pixelthis]

Hmmm! Interesting. I thought that Warner's DVD patents were also applicable to HD-DVD, so it looks like that's not the case?

I think aside from their dominant 40% market share of the overall HD disc market, Warner also has a financial incentive to keep their foothold in both camps since they do hold the patents for the TotalHD hybrid disc format. Even though I keep reading mixed things about the viability of that disc format, if the market eventually settles on a dual format compromise, Warner's in prime position to fill in that gap. The longer this format war drags out, the more of a king maker Warner becomes.

The fact that HD-DVD could not outsell Blu-ray the week of Transformers' release is more an indicator of the HD optical market maturing to a point that the market share is no longer subject to wild swings from week to week. Seems that Blu-ray's lead is a fairly well entrenched market trend if a $200 million blockbuster like Transformers can't single-handedly vault HD-DVD into the lead.

It's also interesting to note that Transformers' sales tally was comparable to what 300 sold on HD-DVD, which was less than half the number of copies that sold on Blu-ray. That's a lot of potential sales that Paramount left on the table.

YEP, in time they are going to regret their short term deal, penny wise and pound foolish.
And just one title isn't gping to cut it anymore, what kind of idiot would buy a new disc player just for one movie when its out on DVD and he knows that sooner or later it will be out on Blu-ray?

[JSE]

Gee thanks alot, maybe I should take my C7's and burn 'em

I have my C9's/C-C1 up front, C7's/C-C3/C1's on my main system & C3's in my bedroom. Most I got used or 50% when they were discontinued. For someone that's coming off Cerwin Vegas, Sony & Yamaha speakers, I have no complaints. I only paid $400 for my C7's, so I'm surely not complaining. They sound decent enough to keep me going a few more years. That plus my wife would kill me.

If I do upgrade, I would most likely get a new set for up front. But, I'm sure my wife would kill me. As I told GM, maybe 2009 will be my year to upgrade.

Hey LJ, sorry that came off harsh. Been away and have not been able to respond. I actually posted about this a few years ago. I am pretty sure it was the actual speaker that sounded like crap. As in, there was something wrong with them. They sounded horrible and the sales guy just kept telling me they were very detailed speakers and revealed a bad recording. I know detailed speakers and that was not the problem. And, I brought in my own well recorded CD. I am almost certain the polarity was crossed or maybe the actual C7's I was listening to were duds. They were that bad! There has to be something wrong with them.

Anyway, sorry to leave you hanging with that comment.

JSE

[L.J.]

Hey LJ, sorry that came off harsh. Been away and have not been able to respond. I actually posted about this a few years ago. I am pretty sure it was the actual speaker that sounded like crap. As in, there was something wrong with them. They sounded horrible and the sales guy just kept telling me they were very detailed speakers and revealed a bad recording. I know detailed speakers and that was not the problem. And, I brought in my own well recorded CD. I am almost certain the polarity was crossed or maybe the actual C7's I was listening to were duds. They were that bad! There has to be something wrong with them.

Anyway, sorry to leave you hanging with that comment.

JSE

Oh, I was just joking around. They sound decent enough. I'm a happy man.

I wasn't joking about the wife killing me part though