Could Warner Bros. Abandon HD DVD in 2008?

[JerryDelColliano]

My flights are expensive!!!!!

If either camp wants to send me a Marquis jet 25 hour card - I will support then.

Until then - I am going with BOTH!!!!

Love,

Jerry

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Lotus

If I post a link to Paramount's CTO stating the 3 replicator BD DL thing, Doby is just going to say it's a lie. If I post to MS' VP stating the same thing, again he's just going to state that it's a lie.

Perhaps since what I post is generally considered common knowledge (that BD DL has low yields) it should be Doby Blue posting a link to proof of his statements?

Again, I don't think it really matters. It will not change the basics of my arguement that WB would go HD DVD. BD is still more expensive. Which everyone agrees to. I'm willing to say "sure BD DL have great yields," because arguing about it is pointless to the overall picture and it seems to get other people to act poorly.

No Lo Tus, I have already linked you to proof of a) how many BD50 replicators are in use and b) what the yields are. SonyDADC has BD50 yields up at 75-79% which is only a little better than what they were a year earlier.


As for whether or not BD is more expensive, I point you to R&B Films producer Richard Casey, responsible for Chronos and Nature's Journey, who has stated in no uncertain terms that the differences in cost for Nature's Journey were "negligible" to the studio.

The only "industry insiders" I've seen on AVS talking about ratios are a) David Vaughan, a disc reviewer/member of the press and b) Amir Majidimehr from Microsoft's team HD DVD who also told the good people of AVS Forum that BD50 discs were "science fiction" and then when they started being released in October claimed that it was something someone from one of the SonyDADC factories told him.

How convenient anonymous sources are for passing the buck and avoiding responsibility.

At Panasonic the very first AVC-MPEG4 encode was done for "Eight Below", have done just about all of the AVC encodes for Fox and Disney, can broadcast the original 2k source on a 100" screen split with the BD50 encode on the other side and show you that there's no difference at all between the two, will be the first company to get a 1.1 profile player to market and you think we're stuck at around 35% yields for BD50 discs?

Pshaw.

PS - it's one thing to talk about all these things you can post links to, it's another thing to do it. All I see in your posts is anecdotal evidence, loads of "I can post links" fluff and nothing of substance at all.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Bandwidth is not the issue many claim it is.

Well I'll take the word of Warner's compressionist "Cjplay" from last year who claimed that bandwidth is the most serious issue HD DVD has. Funny how you would turn around and make a statement to the contrary - quite inline with your MO.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Take a deep breath. Just because someone points out that something is less expensive and that the public likes cheap doesn't mean they have an agenda.

I can point to links from REPLICATORS stating why they haven't invested in the BD DL lines yet and they speak of the low yields. To me the point is it's been discussed at BD events, HD DVD events, etc. LOW YIELDS. Official numbers are never released and I believe after strolling through hundreds of posts on other sites that 98% of all data is FUD. People are blatantly lying on BOTH sides.

It's disgusting. The fact that there are people PAID to lie on those boards is even more disgusting. It's SICK.

I stand firmly by the statement:

HD DVD is less expensive than BD in manufacturing and replication.

I will not point to anymore links about it.

Umm, you haven't pointed to any.

I don't see anyone lying on these boards. My points are all backed up by links, not just stating that there are links and not bothering to post them.

You claimed that 107,000 copies of Casino Royale were sold in North America in the first week, yet they didn't even ship that many, so your claim is impossible and also a lie.

AS for manufacting and replication, that's another lie. Replication for small runs of titles is about 30% more expensive on Blu-ray, but manufacturing dear fellow? Are you sure you know what that is? Manufacturing is the same on both outside of replication. Red plastic costs no more than Blue plastic, savvy?

Here's an excerpt from an interview with R&B Films Richard Casey, outlining the two points I've just spoken about.

http://hidefpreview.com/Exclusive%20Interview.html

5. Which HD format is less expensive to produce for? Details?

Well, if you asked me this question a year ago, the answer would be different. However, from a production standpoint, there is no difference in cost between HD and BD formats.

Also, as the professional tools for production mature, I have seen the cost for HD / BD authoring come down quite a bit.

However, when it comes to replication of the discs, BD clearly costs more money to produce. We pay approximately 30% more for a BD Replicated Disc than we do for an HD replicated disc. To us, this is a negligible difference at this early stage of the game.

Blu-ray Disc is a new format using somewhat different technology from HD-DVD. I expect it to cost more in the beginning. However, like anything else, pricing will drop on BD replication as the installed base of players increase and some of the R&D Costs are recouped.

A negligible difference, at 20,000 copies.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Lotus

He does have a plan for HD DVD to WIN. He and MS are very interested in that outcome.

Just as Sony has a plan for BD to WIN. They've veered off their plan by having to make new standards to keep a certain Studio in the fold.

Just as Toshiba has a plan for HD DVD to win.

Just as Panasonic, 20th Century Fox, Hitachi, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, JVC, Denon, Marantz, Mitsubishi, Loewe, Walt Disney, Sun Microsystems, Sharp, TDK, etc., have a plan for BD to win.

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by Lotus

All of you people who are taking this so seriously need to do yourself a favor and RELAX.

I strongly suggest you take your own advice.