Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Warner Bro's Goes Blu-ray Exclusive

50 inch plasma, nice. I'll keep my 130" projection screen.

Ooh, buzz kill.

Well, that's disappointing news. Oh, well. I have no problem continuing to support HD DVD.

Looks like the $98 dollars + one movie I invested into HD-DVD was a bad move. Luckiy I have been using netflix and not buiying HD DVD's (for this very reason)

I will wait a while, but looks like I will be buying a bluray player.

If I can get a good bluray player that can upconvert standard DVD's as good as my A2 I will be unhooking that thing completely.

Maybe I can still sell it if I hurry

I just have to say that these are two of the weakest reasons that could possibly account for Blu-ray's success. If names were an indicator, how did the Nintendo Wii do so well? EVERYONE was making fun of its name, and it seems to be doing fine.

And what does Apple backing Blu-ray have to do with anything? It's not like we'll be able to watch Blu-ray Discs on iPods or iPhones, and their computer business is still a drop in the bucket.

It seems fairly obvious that it comes down to studio support and install base, which Sony was able to secure by launching the PS3 with Blu-ray as standard and slapping the consumers with two forms of DRM to make movie studios feel a little more secure.

If Blu-ray really is where the industry heads, then I'll follow, but I think it's wrong to simply hand them their victory, even after this news.

Tis indeed sad news.

Thanks for starting this thread. I just got back from overseas today and have been planning for weeks to go out and buy an HD DVD player tomorrow as a late Christmas present for myself. I just might have dodged a bullet thanks to you.

Thanks,
Dean

I too have dodged a big bullet. I was going to try to get the toshiba a35 so that I could get in on the free 7 hddvd offer this month. I just can't wait anymore. I don't want to buy any new releases on DVD since I want them in high def. So this is great news that we most likely finally have a winner (even it was Sony). If this format war was to drag on any longer it would have killed the whole thing for everyone.

Now is a great time to go with a blue ray player with Warner Bros going exclusively Blue Ray. Too bad that there isn't a decent one that is only around 300 to 400 dollars like with Toshiba. The entry level Sony blue ray doesn't even decode all of the new audio formats even though it sells for around $500 list price. I want my Blue ray player to do any excellent job upconverting DVD's. I guess I'll just have to wait for the Denon. Does anyone know when the Denon Blue ray player is coming out?

- Nick

I honestly think its kind of sad. I have a Toshiba XA2 and a Samsung 1400. The audio and video performance are the same, but the HD-DVD is far less buggy. The build of the machine is much better too. Oh well at least I have both.

Well, the system here is format neutral with an A35 and a BD30. I am probably within the timeframe where I could still return the A35.

Right now my gut is saying no. Why?

From a DVD upconverting standpoint, the A35 does a better job than the BD30. That's a benefit to the hundreds of reg DVDs I have that I am in no rush to replace with a hi-def counterpart.

While the majority of studios are now Blu-Ray exclusive, there are quite a number of desireable titles that are only on HD-DVD. Not sure how soon those that are HD-DVD exclusive will switch over.

There are a fair amount of HD-DVDs already out there (new and used). With this news, and with a little time, I suspect that the prices on those discs will bottom out. (Alread on some forums I see some loking to get rid of their HD-DVDs. I am in talks with a couple of them looking to get the discs for $4-$5 a piece).
Seems like an inexpensive way to grow the library. Going forward, at least for myself, if I have a title on HD-DVD, that is fine with me AS long as the cost of acquisition is good. No need to replace it in the library with its Blu-Ray counterpart.

Your thoughts?