Mod note: split off from the HD-DVD release date thread:

My only concern is are they going to do all hybrid discs with new releases like WB is doing with Rumor Has It? I hope not. I would hope something like Inside Man's HD title includes just that. I'm assuming/hoping that will get a day & date since it's Universal's first big title this year.

Hybrids are an okay idea on paper, but I don't see the appeal at all with as much as they cost to produce.

I mean, isn't the idea to get people who don't have an HD-DVD player to buy them, and then if/when they eventually do get a player, they'll already have a library in place?

If you release a regular DVD for $17.99 and a hybrid HD-DVD/DVD of the same title for $27.99, what average consumer is going to leap at the latter? The only way this idea would work is if there is no regular DVD and if there's little-to-no difference in price. Otherwise it's just going to annoy everyone...potentially confusing regular consumers and alienating current HD-DVD owners who have to pay a premium for a title with no screened art, compromised space, etc. Plus, where do stores stock these titles? Near the HD-DVDs or near the regular DVDs? Both ways seem like a negative.

I think it'd be a really great idea for less popular catalog titles if they could get the costs down, but the way things stand now, hybrids are a waste.

Hybrids are a waste. I hope no Blu-Ray/DVD hybrids ever come out. All they do is increase the cost of the disc for a version that not a single HD-DVD owner actually wants. Plus flippers suck. No disc art and that tiny print telling you which side they are awful. Hybrids putting both versions on a single side are even worse. Those would do nothing but lower the quality for both versions since single layer isn't enough for a full length movie on either format. Hybrids are awful.

I hope they kill this idea quick.

I am fine with it as long as it adds no extra cost to the release. Since Warner is jacking up the price for the hybrids I have zero interest in them.

I thought about purchasing hybrids to hedge my bet on high def DVD releases. But with no clear cut winner yet in the BD/HD-DVD war I'm holding off.
Joined Netflix to rent DVDs rather than buy them now. When next gen players come down in price and there's one format left. Then I'll make the plunge.

I guess this answers my question:

This will die a quick death. A nice bonus gesture would be to include the SD version seperately in addition. Yet another arrow in the quiver against BR (or BR could do it too).

Quite a bit of money was spent trying to do a BD/DVD hybrid, but I don't think much of anything came of it. One replicator -- Cinram -- seemed to indicate that the studios were really keen on the idea.

The studios won't do HD-DVD and DVD as separate discs in one package out of fear that they'd be diluting their sales to people who give away/eBay the other disc.

If the Rumor Has It poster gets replaced with a Superman Returns poster around Christmas time, I'm going to be severly pissed. I hope they leave that one out of their hybrid plans.

Does anyone know if the quality of either side is compromised in any way on the hybrid discs? I heard that the HD side might not be able to have the same number of layers that are on the HD-only disc. If that's true then it's a bad idea, but otherwise I think it's a good way to get the format out there, the price is just too high either way though.

It seems Sony are planing to do just that with some of their BD and DVD releases. They've apparently been testing the idea out using UMD and DVD.

Cinram are Warners main replicator from what I remember, and the WB appear to be doing only Hybrids of their new release titles. That might make them a little expensive unless they quickly decide to lower their prices.

I agree. But what an incentive it would be. When I mentioned BR, it wasn't in a hybrid sense.

I just wish we could get a regular HD DVD as well. I don't want to pay extra for the new releases to get a hybrid disc I don't want.

that's my biggest issue as well. given the option between an HD and SD disc, I'm taking the HD every time. The SD side is worthless to me at this point.

The word from the home media retailing conference is that Warner will release a hybrid DVD/HD DVD a week.

That sucks. I'm sure the hybrids will be mostly new releases. Which means we'll be paying at least $25 for this combo crap (that's counting the 10% off deal w/ Amazon). I just hope they don't do it for Superman Returns release later in the year.

Assuming these will all be day & date, these will likely be WB's hybrids: Syrianna, V for Vendetta, Poseidon, 16 Blocks

There was one comment from that discussion that I found interesting, and the same thought had occurred to me a couple of days ago.

There is an advantage for some people in having both an HD and an SD version of the film in a single package. Most people won't own multiple HD-DVD players for several years. In the meantime, if someone has a movie they want to watch again, perhaps in a location where there is no HD DVD player (another room, a friend/relative's home, etc.), a hybrid disc allows them to do that.

Absolutely. When I was reviewing Firewall for DVD Talk, for instance, I took the disc upstairs and went through the extras on the DVD side of the disc on my PC. (I prefer watching movies on my home theater but like to sift through extras in my bedroom, as strange as that may sound.) There's certainly a benefit to having a DVD and HD DVD on the same disc, but I don't think that added utility is worth the premium Warner's charging right now.

Hybrid discs is a very good idea IMO. Those who don't have an HD-DVD player can began purchasing films on HD-DVD while they are waiting to get a player and will still be able to watch the film if they want to. With hybrids available peopel won't have to waste money on just the SD version. It sounds a lot better than having to double dip.

The problem is that they're charging extra for it and if I had a choice, I definitely wouldn't be paying more for these titles. I wonder how much extra it costs to make.

I like the idea of hybrid discs for the reasons mentioned above, but for it to work the price needs to be only a few dollars more, not $10 like the Rumour Has It release. To expect the price to be the same may be unrealistic. I would say 5 dollars (MSRP) would be ok. (that would make titles discounted at 40% cost $3 more)