+1... make that 2 for HD-DVD

[Newport420]

DreamWorks Animation, Paramount choose HD DVD

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070820/tc_nm/studios_hddvd_dc_3;_ylt=As9g8TsEz8aEywg.Gmbqpn4E1v AI

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N) Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (DWA.N) said on Monday they will release their DVD titles exclusively on HD DVD ahead of what they say could be the biggest holiday season ever for DVDs.

Paramount had sold titles in both the new high-definition formats -- HD DVD and Blu-Ray -- but settled exclusively on HD DVD after deciding that it offered better quality, lower-priced players and lower manufacturing costs, Kelley Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, told Reuters.
"This has been the biggest summer on record for movies, it will be the biggest fourth quarter for popular movies for consumers," Avery said. "At the same time, we have HD DVD players that are truly affordable."
HD DVD and Blu-Ray are waging a battle to dominate the next generation of DVD players that promise better pictures, sound and in some cases more content in the multibillion-dollar home- entertainment arena.
So far, most of the major Hollywood studios are selling Blu-Ray titles, and HD DVD sales have lagged. But some HD DVD supporters hope to broaden their appeal to consumers based on cost. The lowest-priced, stand-alone HD DVD player sells for $299, compared with $499 for the lowest-cost Blu-Ray option.
Paramount's first releases under the exclusive HD DVD program include "Blades of Glory" on August 28, and the summer blockbusters "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third," due for release later this fall.
"SHREK" PREFERS HD DVD
DreamWorks Animation, maker of the blockbuster "Shrek" animated movie franchise, had not committed exclusively to either high-definition format but was swayed to HD DVD by the lower-cost player, DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg said.
"They have a high-quality consumer experience that is now being offered at a price point that we believe is going to connect with the consumer," Katzenberg told Reuters.
Katzenberg said timing also played a part, with the holiday season "sure to be the biggest quarter in the history of the home-video market" and consumers facing the 2009 switch to a high-definition broadcast signal.
"This seems to us to be the right product at the right price at the right time," Katzenberg said.
DreamWorks Animation titles are distributed on home video and DVD by Paramount.
The exclusive agreement does not include movies directed by Steven Spielberg for DreamWorks SKG, a Paramount unit. It does include all other movies distributed by Paramount, DreamWorks, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films.
HD DVD was developed by Toshiba Corp. and backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and is supported by Warner Bros., Universal Studios, New Line Cinema, HBO and the Weinstein Co.
Blu-Ray discs use Sony Corp (6758.T)-backed technology and are supported by most of the major U.S. movie studios.
Both formats came on the market last year. Blu-Ray outsold HD DVD 2-to-1 in the United States in the first half of 2007. An estimated 3.7 million high-definition discs have been sold, overall, including 2.2 million in Blu-Ray and 1.5 million in HD DVD through July, according to Home Media Research.

[jp]

Oh Cyyyyyyystiiiiiiiiic...

[Newport420]

I found this interesting as HD-DVD has had no good "news" for quite some time. The idea that a couple studios have looked at the situation and decided on HD-DVD is interesting to me. Especially at this point in the format war. I personally have been inclining more and more towards just adopting Blu-Ray but this news gives me pause.

Cyyyyyyyystic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p

[jp]

See, everyone has been trying to "make a decision" too soon. I've said from the beginning, people should wait. See what happens. HD-DVD is the better format, and neither format has really "taken the market" yet. The only reason Blu-Ray sales so well is because its the only reason there is for owning a PS3.

For those wondering, I'm referencing Cystic because once upon a time he told me some guy he met in a desert told him that he had snuck on to the site of Transformers or something and told him Transformers was owned by Sony and would be a Blu-Ray exclusive. :confused:

At any rate, with Universal, Paramount, and Dream Works supporting HD-DVD exclusively it really doesn't leave Sony much. I mean, this Christmas season HD-DVD will have Transformers while Blu-Ray will have Spider-Man 3... gee, I wonder which one people will want more. :lol:

[Newport420]

Ahhh I just thought it was because he was always into these HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray threads is all. I had no idea about the transformers deal.

I found this interesting as there has been nothing but +1's for Blu-Ray lately. Wallmart, Target and Blockbuster all going Blu-Ray exclusive. There has been nothing significant coming from the HD-DVD camp.

UNtil this news clip I had been leaning much more towards doing Blu-Ray as it seemed to be pulling out in front. However with this I am very much back into my wait and see mode.

[jp]

I thought Wal-mart announced they were supporting HD-DVD a few months ago? :confused:

[Hunter]

Yeah, I thought they were ditching blu-ray?

[shinjirod]

yup, walmart is supposedly manufacturing a line of cheap HD-DVDS for sale exclusively at their stores.

[Newport420]

Nope..... wallmart does not support HD-DVD neither does Target or BB. Basically thats why I started leaning to Blu-Ray. If those major retail outlets have made up their minds.... when they really don't have to then the coffin lid seemed to be closing for HD-DVD... but then this news.

Bottom line.... I will wait longer as I will not support either format till there is a clear winner.

[jp]

Nope..... wallmart does not support HD-DVD neither does Target or BB. Basically thats why I started leaning to Blu-Ray.


Article?

[DarthArcturus]

fuck all this I'm happy with dvds.

[Newport420]

I looked real quick and could not find one. I did find one supporting your theory though. I could have sworn that at first walmart was gonna stock a cheap ass HD-DVD player and people were like oooooooooh. Then that failed to materialize I heard and Walmart then announced that they would no longer carry HD-DVD movies.

Oh well I have no pruuffs so I gotta shrug and take a pass on this one. Sorry.

[Specineff]

Torrents FTW.

[Hunter]

fuck all this I'm happy with dvds.


Agreed. 480P>1080P

[DarthArcturus]

Agreed. 480P>1080P

are you being sarcastic hunter? :eyeball:

[Luminous]

I was just going to post this as I am very happy. I was hoping I could get Transformers on HD-DVD so this news made my day. I have the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 (Christmas gift last year) and I was hoping to hold off on buying a Blu-Ray player until they were cheap.

This makes all that possible.


As for Wal-Mart, I was in there 2 weeks ago and they were still selling HD-DVD's.

http://tinyurl.com/2hqu47

They are still selling HD-DVD's on their website.

[Newport420]

Yeah like I said I couldn't find anything to support my mistaken theory. Walmart it seems is still very much behind HD-DVD.

[ssbomberman]

My Best Buy and Target carry equal parts HD to Bluray...

Don't forget that Disney is supporting Bluray -- which is huge. I will support whatever leans towards asian/anime and it looks like Japan is supporting bluray as well as HK (with its release of Infernal Affairs Bluray). Korean stuff is getting put out on Bluray as well (old Boy, etc.)

For now, it's all about DVD...

[Newport420]

The format war is really doing a lot to maintain the existing sales of the DVD format. God these companies are so fucking retarded for doing this to the consumer. They basically shot a hole in their own piggy bank. Stupid fucks. If there was only one format the sales would be ten fold what they are right now or more.

[Hunter]

are you being sarcastic hunter? :eyeball:


Oddly enough, no. I don't see a big enough difference to warrant the price.

[Advocate]

All I know is Bay is pissed and is out as director for Transformers 2.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6228

[gamevet]

Agreed. 480P>1080P[quote]


[quote]Oddly enough, no. I don't see a big enough difference to warrant the price.


I guess it depends on the movie. I've seen plenty of DVDs with blocky backgrounds. Animated movies, on the other hand, really don't demand as much resources, so they're just fine on a normal DVD.

It's not as simple as 480P vs. 1080P, the compression and encoding are far superior on the newer formats.

The 1080p stuff you're seeing in stores, really isn't 1080p at all. It's usually broadcast network stuff, running out of a 1080i receiver. Go look at a display set up with an HD-DVD, or Blu-Ray player. The difference is more than negligable.

[Newport420]

Yeah its sad to say but gamevet is right. You typically don't see 1080p when viewing a set thats capable of that resolution in a store. Make sure you find a 1080p set up with a 1080p source like an HD-DVD player.

The thing I was most surprised about was not resolution but the color... its depth, seperation etc. I knew the resolution and detail were there I just had no idea the color was that much better.

[Hunter]

[quote=Hunter;201060]Agreed. 480P>1080P[quote]





I guess it depends on the movie. I've seen plenty of DVDs with blocky backgrounds. Animated movies, on the hand, really don't demand as much resources, so they're just fine on a normal DVD.

It's not as simple as 480P vs. 1080P, the compression and encoding are far superior on the newer formats.

The 1080p stuff you're seeing in stores, really isn't 1080p at all. It's usually broadcast network stuff, running out of a 1080i receiver. Go look at a display set up with an HD-DVD, or Blu-Ray player. The difference is more than negligable.


I have, it looks nicer, yes. But in the end, it's still the same image. I'm just not a big fan of visuals. As long what I can see is clearly intelligible, i have no need for it to be "brighter".

[Zorro7]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1187716056-c2Mq61WxJfZdveB5XXDbmQ&oref=slogin

The Army of Darkness pulled out the checkbook!

[Wildcat]

Fun fact to add - Spielberg's movies are NOT exclusive to either format.

And normal DVD's FTW! I won't be getting a fancypants player any time soon.

[gamevet]

I'm going Blu-Ray, when I pick up a PS3 this weekend and mail in my 5 free movies coupon. :)

[Specineff]

Fun fact to add - Spielberg's movies are NOT exclusive to either format.

And normal DVD's FTW! I won't be getting a fancypants player any time soon.


Agreed. Upconverting DVD Players rock. Why bother with new hardware and new movies, when pretty much everything can be upconverted and enjoyed in 720P glory, for less money?

[Newport420]

If you don't own an HDTV then there is not a lot of reasons... well none really to get into the next gen formats. HOWEVER if you do have a 1080p TV then its something that you should at least be following closely and once the war is over you should be adopting.

Its like buying a Ferrari and never breaking the speed limit. If you got one... you gotta go fast at least sometimes otherwise its just a pretty paperweight. Same goes with the HDTV in 1080p. If your never gonna display a 1080p signal then why did you buy the TV in the first place?

[Advocate]

If your never gonna display a 1080p signal then why did you buy the TV in the first place?

to play the 360 or ps3.

[Hunter]

Alas, I only have 1080i. I should have waited a few months maybe?

[Newport420]

My only point is that if you have a 1080p set you should display a 1080p signal at some point or it was not a worthwhile purchase IMO.

1080i was out for quite some time before 1080p. Its only been a few years that we have had those sets I believe. Its why I waited so long to buy my HDTV. Had to have 1080p once I heard of it and I had to wait for the prices to come down too. ;)

[gamevet]

Agreed. Upconverting DVD Players rock. Why bother with new hardware and new movies, when pretty much everything can be upconverted and enjoyed in 720P glory, for less money?


Either it's my Wega, or the cheap $75 Cyberhome (upconverting) DVD player, because when I set it to 720p(HDMI) the picture gets squashed. Not exactly upconverting.:(

[Luminous]

I only have a 1080i TV, but some of my HD-DVD's look amazing. Batman Begins, King Kong, The Matrix trilogy, Planet Earth, just to name a few. I have actually compared the HD-DVD to the DVD in some cases. The HD picture is much sharper and cleaner.

I use an Oppo upconverting player so my DVD's look great as it is.


I will say that I hate the format war and the only reason I even have an HD-DVD player is because it is the add on for the 360 and was a Christmas gift. I wanted it, but I wasn't really ready to dive in. IF I need to get a Blu-Ray player I will....after the PS3 is $400 or less.

[Bruhaha69]

HD-DVD quality is SO much better than standard DVD video. I still don't think it's enough of a jump to justify a new DVD player and rebuying DVD's I already had in standard def. The colors and clarity are just so much better in HD. It's magical.

[ssbomberman]

Either it's my Wega, or the cheap $75 Cyberhome (upconverting) DVD player, because when I set it to 720p(HDMI) the picture gets squashed. Not exactly upconverting.:(

You need to make sure the TV is set to accept anamorphic video and that the DVD can handle that. Some DVDs have the blackbars, so it will look squished and you have to set it to 480p. If the DVD is formatted for widescreen and you set the TV is widescreen mode, then it should look proper -- at which point it is probably your DVD player. I had a cyberhome that had serious issues with widescreen...

I have the momitsu upconverting player (came out a bit before oppo became king), but there is definitely a limit. I bought a DVD player day 1 when they came out in the 90s, so I have some really old DVDs -- such as the crow and faceoff, and they look horrible on my LCD in 1080i because the DVD is just not mastered well. Black levels are bad, detail is soft, and there is lots of noise, so I would love to buy some of my older stuff on an HD platform to enjoy.

Now a lot of the newer stuff looks just fine, especially Korean DVDs and superbit DVDs, which are usually really good quality... but upconverting can only do so much to a bad transfer...

Cars FTW. I tell you if Disney puts its Stuido Ghibli stuff on Bluray, then they win hands-down. Honestly with Transformers I really don't see it causing this much drama. It's not like Star Wars being an HD-DVD exclusive, now that would be drama. Stupid format war, how did this happen in the first place...

I plan to get both the HD-DVD add on and a PS3 so I can just be done with it and netflix whatever I want on either platform until they decide wtf they are doing and then I can buy the ones I want...

I think the format war is really lame. The average consumer has no idea about either and I feel bad for those that will get stuck with the losing platform, cause some slimy sales guy talks them in to one over the other. If you really cared about your consumers, then you would pick a format and be done with it... it's really lame.

BTW, aren't dual discs supposed to be coming out soon? I think Warner was going to release discs that work in both bluray and HD-DVD?

[Newport420]

Combo Blu-HD discs were in the works but I believe that was shot down in the past few months. Combo HD/DVD movies have been coming out for awhile now. Not sure if there is a Blu/DVD combo though.

AGREED..... stupid fucking format war and fucking Sony for breaking with the DVD consortium to go fuck consumers with ANOTHER pipe dream of a fucking proprietary media format.

The scary part is that they have lost very damn format war so far..... so odds are they are due for a win...... and that sucks IMO. :(

[RawkHawkHarrier]

Well, I only have a regular T.V. with S-Video availability, and I don't plan on upgrading it until it goes out on me honestly. I'm perfectly content watching regular DVD movies until then. I didn't jump on the DVD bandwagon until pretty late into things... but even I wasn't as late as those who bought their PS2's just to get a DVD player! It's hard to believe that they were getting a PS2 JUST for a DVD player back then... and it's already a new format?

I honestly HATE this whole Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war. I mean, we HAD a standard with DVD's, and they worked well... but now we get to go through this drawn out format war, and if you jump in early, then you run the risk of picking the losing format and have an obsolete doorstop that plays a few movies in a couple of years. If you pick the winner, then that's cool... but if you don't pick at all, then you're just going to have to be at the mercy of whoever ends up winning. When they are both similar enough to each other, I really don't feel compelled to dive into the High Definition thing until the dust has settled on this one. It's not like games where if you want to watch a movie, you HAVE to get that player... because we do still have DVD which is getting EVERYTHING! Once they stop putting movies on DVD, THEN things will get interesting!

[ShinobiWan1]

All I know is Bay is pissed and is out as director for Transformers 2.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6228

Sweet, maybe Transformers 2 will be better than a typical Michael Bay movie! ;)

[Raz]

Sweet, maybe Transformers 2 will be better than a typical Michael Bay movie! ;)

My thoughts as well.

[shinjirod]

and whole days wont go by in a 5 minute chase!

one of the worst movie mistakes ive ever seen.

[gamevet]

You need to make sure the TV is set to accept anamorphic video and that the DVD can handle that. Some DVDs have the blackbars, so it will look squished and you have to set it to 480p. If the DVD is formatted for widescreen and you set the TV is widescreen mode, then it should look proper -- at which point it is probably your DVD player. I had a cyberhome that had serious issues with widescreen...


I'd decided to pop in an anamorphic DVD to see if it changed anything. Turns out the movie looks fine in 720p. I guess they don't tell you these things, about the upscaling players.

My television is set to automatically go to 16 x 9 mode, when the video is widescreen.;)

[ssbomberman]

Yeah, if you put it in 1080i, you'll get a full black box around any content that isn't anamorphic. I wish they had the ability to detect and crop the black bars -- some TVs can do this ok, but mine cannot...

[SilverCross]

new formats look great and all..but i dont see any reason to bother with them for now.....when im watching a movie, im watching for the movie..im not worried if one looks sharper then the other.....