Could Warner Bros. Abandon HD DVD in 2008?

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by kennyt

DaVID Boulet,

Dude, calm down!

Lotus' post, which you are correct, would be considered a case study, or if more than one person at the dinner party felt the same way, a study with a small study group.

Either way it IS data!

He posted an opinion, and yes, some recently acquired data, no need to attach him nor to feel you have been attacked!

Some of these people take this stuff way too serious. I used the word "data," to mean information received not as some kind of statistical data or something. I think it was obvious from the post as well. Dinner conversations, water cooler talk, etc. can really spark some interesting debate, and that's all I was bringing to it.

I do think it's an interesting angle that I never considered. At what point does PQ matter for kid's movies? If you're spending $2k+ on a TV, and 2k+ on receiver and surround, plus an additional $300 to $400 for a next gen player do you think you'd be considering what studios are available for you or your kids?

Cars looks amazing in BD, and I really get a kick out of it. However I see the arguement that DVD should be just fine for the kids. The kids don't care about the PQ at all.

[DaViD Boulet]

I do think it's an interesting angle that I never considered. At what point does PQ matter for kid's movies? If you're spending $2k+ on a TV, and 2k+ on receiver and surround, plus an additional $300 to $400 for a next gen player do you think you'd be considering what studios are available for you or your kids?

For a kid audience, it means absolutely zilch.

However, there's a large adult contingent that purchases "kid" movies. We saw it with Transformers on DVD/HD DVD. We saw it with Ratatoulle on DVD/BD. If you look at the high-def sales of both these titles, it's apparent that PQ does matter to a great many (adult) collectors.

[deacongreg]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Since you feel the need to be the grammar police... it wouldn't be conjecture. I don't think anyone here is forming a theory without sufficient evidence.

It's not a theory, WB and New Line are "for sale." The highest bidder will get their exclusive partnership. It would be conjecture to state one is going to go one way.

I've speculated on why I think MS might throw more money at WB than Sony, but it's pure speculation. It doesn't stop the fact that WB is currently letting the two formats bid over their future exclusive partnership.

Fine. Like kennyt says, enough with this stuff. No one really knows what is going on except the two camps involved. My concern is what is best for the AV industry and how all of this will ultimately affect it.
But, I`ll let the rest of you all fight about it.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

For a kid audience, it means absolutely zilch.

However, there's a large adult contingent that purchases "kid" movies. We saw it with Transformers on DVD/HD DVD. We saw it with Ratatoulle on DVD/BD. If you look at the high-def sales of both these titles, it's apparent that PQ does matter to a great many (adult) collectors.

Transformers was a summer blockbuster based on an old toy, and the focus was the 18 to 30 group. I wouldn't call that a kid movie. I didn't think it was a good movie, but it wasn't a kid movie.

While "some," kid movies may appeal to adults for the most part they don't. The crowd that bought the movies you mentioned aren't going to be lining up to buy Cinderella in high def.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by deacongreg

Fine. Like kennyt says, enough with this stuff. No one really knows what is going on except the two camps involved. My concern is what is best for the AV industry and how all of this will ultimately affect it.
But, I`ll let the rest of you all fight about it.

Exactly. The consumers are the victims here of a big stupid fight between Studios and major corporations. How can we benefit from their war? We obviously don't. All we can do is hope one side does win and does so quickly. Obviously BD had the best chance of a quick clean win, and they screwed it up on their own with high priced players and initial releases that didn't stand up to the half priced competition.

Then the PS3 saved the day and in July it looked over. Universal was considering going neutral and everything was pointing towards a BD victory. Then HD DVD bought Paramount and Dreamworks (not to mention rumors of making Universal happy to stay HD DVD).

With hardware sales firmly in the 70% range right now for HD DVD things are getting really hot. That means the people who invested in BD are getting upset, nobody likes to be a loser. They're still winning but they just hope that some how things don't get any worse.

WB is going to go exclusive and the side they pick will likely win. All the momentum is in the HD DVD side right now.

[deacongreg]

But what I have always said from the very beginning was, there should be no war ever. People on this forum have gone back and forth on being early adoptors, enjoying the HD quality now, and who supposedly will win.

The industry, especially the high end community, does not need this. I just recently, thanks to Jerry and kennyt have decided to get a HD DVD player. People have even said that because we are into the high end, that we should be expected to deal with firmware updates and such. NO, NO, NO!! Its this kind of thinking that has continued to keep more people from moving into our arena.

The ultimate goal is for this great equipment to reproduce music, and now movies, to the best of its ability, without taken anything away from the original performance. So, we can enjoy the music and or movie. Not to be home tweaking, updating files just to watch a movie.

Thats it gentleman. When I go home, I want to power up, and listen. Period. Having 4 units with eject buttons is not what I call a leap in technology.