It sounds as if we're not going to have a choice though. Would they really release separate HD DVD, BD, and Total HD versions? (Superman was already released; I'm talking about upcoming releases.) As they said, this is as much about the retailers as it is the consumers. That tells me it's Total HD or nothing.

Amen to that! My point was, this will hurt us consumers because they get to charge even more.

Well, if WB goes to all Total HD, then honestly, I'd probably stop purchasing WB titles for awhile. If WB goes Total HD, I would probably expect Blu-ray to come out of this the winner.

My thoughts are that it's unlikely that they will sell all three versions especially if there were no differences in the content each three provided.

If all three were made available (again assuming the content across all three are the same), would you be willing to pay more for the THD version to future proof your investment? And if so, how much more are you willing to pay to have this insurance? Keep in mind, right now the difference in a regular HDDVD and a Combo disc is approximately $8 - $10 and I've seen even more!

Why would they be? As a consumer, you could show me 37 turdburgers and one hamburger, and I'd like the hamburger better. (Not saying BD is a turdburger, just an illustration.)

Actually, the more I think about it, WB may release both Total HD and HD-DVD, and not release BD only discs any longer. But honestly, I think we'll see three simultaneous releases in the short term so WB can see the sales numbers, and if there really is a market for THD.

Combos are actually $5 more according to list price, but stores haven't been discounting them enough. It's similar to the situation with two-tiered releases, where the 2-disc edition is only a few dollars more than the single-disc edition, but the single-disc gets discounted more heavily than the 2-disc. At Amazon, the combo difference is about $4. Also, new releases (which cost more anyway) have been combos, so there ends up being a vast difference between a non-discounted new release combo and a discounted catalog title. In addition, even with the combo premium, the list price of Warner and Universal's new releases have been the same as the BD studios' new releases.

I don't know if I would pay the THD premium or not, but I think I'd be more likely to do that than pay extra for the SD DVD combos if I had a choice with those.

I haven't minded the extra $4-$5 for the HD/DVD combos, but I'm still not sure about TotalHD. I'm really worried that these things could retail as high as $50. Guess I will wait and see on them, but if given the choice I will not buy the TotalHD discs.

Holy sheesh! The format war has officially ended for me!

I predict these will cost about as much as combo discs. Why? Because I think the costs of producing 2 separate types of discs has associated costs which this will alleviate. So basically, they are producing one line of discs. I bet its similar in prod cost to combos.

It will be interesting to see. BUT, it looks like this will wave bye bye to standard dvd/hd-dvd combos from WB.

For those of you who hate combos, this is THE ULTIMATE COMBO DISC!!

I don't understand why people would be willing to pay more for a combo than for a TotalHD disc. At least the TotalHD disc is doing something to alleviate the format wars. What I'm waiting for, personally, are all of the "This TotalHD disc won't play in my player!" threads.

Great.... now we're back to digis/amarays.

I'm guessing by 2008 we'll see the Total Media Disc which will include:

HD-DVD version of the film
Blu-Ray version of the film.
X-Box 360 Tie-in Game
PS3 Tie-in Game
Film Soundtrack

Awesome, so now retailers have to make room for HD DVD, Blu ray, and Total HD discs. Nah, this won't confuse the general public.

Forgive my ignorance, but are HD-DVD locked in to only holding 15Gs(?) per layer? Is it possible for Toshiba, or whomever else makes the disc to create a 50G capacity HD-DVD. I ask because I remember when DVD's first came out they were only 4.7G and you would have to flip the disc to watch the second half of the movie.

Just wondering.

At CES Toshiba announced a 51GB disc.

The Digital Bits posted some more detailed information today, and they specifically stated that, at a certain point, WB will release exclusively on THD, and it sounds like New Line will be doing so from the start. I guess that's okay...sort of. I do hate that packaging, though. Gaudy.

It looks to me like it is merely a clear version of the HD DVD/Blu-ray cases but with a slipcase covering it.

I actually don't think the cover looks too bad, although I would definitely prefer a solid color.

Oh geez. I really don't know if i can get behind this TotalHD format. I'm just really disappointed in this.

Fucking WB. Last thing I need is a stack of glitchy disks.

It's nice to see NL getting involved, but if them coming into HD in Fall '07 "will move (their) schedule ahead considerably" to quote the article, just how frickin' long were they planning to wait?

I sure hope so, because I was digging the smaller cases. I just bought ten blank HD DVD cases, so if these discs turn out to be in amarays, then I'll get some custom cover art and make the damn things myself.

This is a worry I have as well. They never got DVD-18s working well. Am I supposed to have faith in a discs with a dual layered BD and HD DVD on each side?

Between the lack of HD DVD movie announcements, Warner forcing us to buy these more expensive discs, the glitches with the Weinstein discs, the large numbers of bad/medicore HD transfers I rented lately (yes, Deer Hunter you are at the top of that list) and the problems I have had with my Toshiba A1 the past few weeks I am as close as ever to bailing out on whole idea of HD discs. I currently have zero HD DVDs on preorder and the way its going I may keep it that way. I've already decided to get Clerks II on regular DVD and skip the glitchy Weinstein HD DVD offering.

Well, the one good thing about THD is that maybe the custom art game for next gen discs will heat up again.

Unless it handicaps you in some way, I strongly recommend selling your A1 and picking up an A2. The A2 improves quite a bit on its predecessor; I've not had one single issue with mine, including the Weinstein discs.

"THD" = Total Harmonic Distortion.
Honestly. That's what it stands for.

But you lose the analog outs which give you TrueHD without a HDMI receiver.