Paramount, DreamWorks support HD DVD only
 

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=36487

This is a bit of a blow to Blu-Ray, imo, because some of the biggest hits this year are from D.W. and Paramount. My friend, who has a PlayStation 3, will be upset he won't have Transformers in high def.

heath

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...-the-curb.html

Just saw this on Ars too.. *groan*

Trekkers have clout ;)

I can't forget about Trek! They're releasing old eps with updated FX (I hear a lot of positive stuff) in HD on television and that can only mean we'll be seeing an HD DVD release at some point.

Heath

Every time I catch one of those Star Trek episodes on NBC, I am stunned to see how the interiors are lit. All of the faded telecines I've grown up with did no justice to the those outlandish party gels that Gerald Finnerman used. Wild stuff.

It was made in the 1960s, heh heh.

Heath

Just found this (a bit gossipy):

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.co...vd-format-war/

Hmmm, wonder if it's true that the studios are getting paid to support the format. I'm sure this isn't an unusual occurrence.

heath

After re-reading it, maybe this isn't as big a blow to Blu-Ray. I'm sure it'll hurt, but Disney is starting to release its titles in Blu-Ray and sales are 2-1 in Blu-Ray's favor. Blockbuster loves the format, too.

Interesting that Katzenberg said neither would win because it's not the next step (I'm guessing digital downloads). I'm starting to think this is what will happen, too, much like iTunes, etc.

heath

Yeesh! I thought Bluray was the clear winner after all of the knocks on HD-DVD's sales charts for the past few months. Can you imagine how many kids (and parents ;) ) would love to see movies like "Shrek" in HD? The only thing about this development is whether it's too late or not. =/

Jack,

You might be right about the timing; if indeed they spent $150 million to get Paramount on exclusively, ouch. It may be too late for that, regardless.

I think digital downloads may happen next, and the tech used to develop Blu-Ray (H.264) may just go into developing the next-gen of this newest home video tech.

heath

Oh man, this is just going to just keep this format war going for a while... I was hoping that with all these reports of Blu-Ray significantly outselling HD-DVD that it'd all be over soon. I guess I was wrong.

And am I the only one that doesn't see digital distribution as the next step anytime soon? I don't think we have the bandwidth to be downloading/streaming HD movies at 25-30gb a movie. I wouldn't want to sacrifice quality either.

But they won't happen for everybody.

I live 18 miles by car from an international airport, yet DSL and digital cable are not available to me or my neighbors. I get 384 kbps from a WISP (Wireless ISP) for $50/mo. In a few years I might double or triple that with WiMAX, depending on where they put their towers. Comcast would rather try to get people to buy advanced services than lay cable in my semi-rural 'hood. Full HD movie downloads are not in my immediate cards.

Also, not everybody is technically savvy enough to get a download into the living room TV. However, anybody can buy a disc at Target and slip it into a player.

Another thing to consider is the gift market. I would guess that over half of our DVDs were purchased with the excuse of being a gift. Unwrapping a download coupon just isn't the same. I can't imagine shipping coupons to the nephews and nieces for Xmas.

Thats not to say that downloads won't be an important delivery method. I'm just sayin' that there are some demographics that won't go for downloads, while almost anybody can play a disc.

I think it's going to be through the TV, either satellite or cable. I'm not thinking it'll be tomorrow, but I think it's sooner than we know. You can get an SD movie on the iTunes Store, but I'd love to see extras that can be downloaded too, packing in a commentary track in the audio stream, HD, etc.

I just hope they go 1080p with downloads vs. 720p, even if 720p is a smaller file size.

Heath

Ouch

This hurts those who wanted to only support one player. I plan to go neutral anyways but having Gladiator, Braveheart and The Transforms available as exclusives (until further change) now is huge. If you look through Dreamworks SKG and Paramount titles they have a lot of good stuff coming.

This movie pretty much eviscerated any chance of a Blu-ray victory. I don't know many people who will live without the aformentioned movies in HD. As soon as the Godfather comes out in HD it's a purchase.

I'm betting that Universal players will now become the focus.

Don't discount the great titles of Sony, MGM/UA (Bond, anyone?), WB, Fox and Disney. Great, great films there, too.

heath

I guess I'm showing my age, but the whole high def disk thing is a big yawn for me. I have a very large collection of regular DVD's and honestly I don't feel I'm missing much when watching them on my 37" plasma from a comfortable distance.

I'm quite happy to let the companies duke it out and let the willing consumers pick their horses while I sit back and enjoy my collection. And I rarely pay more than $10 for a DVD, I get them on sale sometimes as cheap as $5.

For me personally, high definition disks are a solution in search of a problem. When there's agreement on the standard, and when I can buy disks for similar prices, then I'll get interested.