Spiky

Well, the gold DVDs use gold instead of aluminum. IIRC. And there are various colored dyes used in the various colors of blank discs. So it isn't something special they put in just for fun.

However, it would be cool to have a red and blue tone to each side. A combo player is still a better answer. Or a clearcut winner soon, but that won't happen. (the soon part)

Mr. Cinema

I thought I had read an article before that said Warner would still be making separate HD DVD and BD releases in addition to TotalHD, but I'm guessing that's probably not the case. It sounds like each side can contain dual layers. I was worried we'd only get 25gig BD releases from them. I hate flipper discs of any kind and this will certainly not be any better. I guess Harry Potter will come in a red/blue case.

Artman

Hopefully the cover art is the same size, so it could be swapped out for a blu or red case of your choice.

Still, I think when I get into it later this yr I'm going to have to initially not buy any THD discs.. a shame as it looks like 300 will be one of WB's first (according to a guy at AVS)

darkside

Has pricing been announced yet? That is what I expect to be the killer. I hope TotalHD dies a quick death.

Mr. Cinema

Does Best Buy put these with the HD DVD section, or the BD section? When a customer comes in, they'll see Red HD DVD cases, Blue BD cases, Red/Blue TotalHD cases, and then Red HD DVD/DVD Combo cases. Shouldn't be too confusing.

her34

you may see colors, but i judge by content. discriminator...

matome

So here's some more awesome THD news

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_id=10397

I'm assuming a BD50 version will come down the pipe. Hopefully.

Noonan

What bad news. Looks like I won't be buying any Warner discs any time soon.

darkside

This is going to be a tough decision. I've gone to the trouble of supporting both formats and now I may have to stop buying releases from Warner.

Steve Phillips

Don't panic and jump to conclusions just yet.

Until dual layer/dual side versions are ready, Warner and New Line will likely utilize Total HD for shorter movies at first (that can fit without any loss of quality), and continue to issue seperate HD DVD and Blu-ray versions for longer films. No one said they were pulling a switch in June and going Total HD only immediately.

SNAKES ON A PLANE would seem a good candidate for an early Total HD release, as it only runs 90 mins or so.

darkside

This is still a huge step backwards. Warner has been a leader at loading their HD DVDs and Blu-ray and are now putting themselves in a position to start putting out expensive bare bones releases like Fox. I'm hoping they experiment with films like Snakes on a Plane and figure out quickly that we are not going to buy these discs. I will definitely boycott all TotalHD releases with the hopes they will figure this out down the road.

Artman

This whole time I just assumed they would all be 30/50GB releases, and I was conflicted even at that. You can forget my support with single-layer discs WB.

kvrdave

So they will have an MSRP of $59.95, I suppose.

That will help the format.

candyrocket786

Well, I'm expecting something in that range, especially when current combos have an MSRP of $39.

Looks like it might be cheaper to import since there are no combos overseas.

Mr. Cinema

I'm glad The Departed and Superman Returns got released before they came up with this crap.

Josh Z

Keep in mind that Warner's initial DVD/HD DVD combo discs were also limited to single layer. They chose short movies that didn't have many extras. There were no quality issues, and they didn't actually drop any significant existing supplements.

lizard

While prices for TotalHD may be high initially, it is worth remembering that it was Warner that was most responsible for low DVD prices. They forced DVD prices down to increase sales and other studios were left scrambling to lower their prices to compete.

The market for HD discs is so tiny now that prices may stay high for awhile. But if the same folks at Warner are still in charge, I would expect prices to be lowered aggressively once the market is a bit larger.

Gizmo

If these are the same price as the HD-DVD Combos I'd be ok with that.

Supermallet

But they have dropped things from Blu-ray, including a TrueHD track on Superman Returns, and if TotalHD is only using single-layer BD, this may continue.

applesandrice

According to BD specs, the layers are buried so deep, wouldn't a 30/50 disc be impossible? The thing would have to be half an inch thick . . .

Supermallet

Just another reason why TotalHD is a bad idea.

Artman

At least The Fountain looks to be released beforehand. I just hope they aren't planning to release Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, T3 and other current HD's on this format... wouldn't that just be great.

bunkaroo

Just as with HD/SD combos, I will significantly pull back on my purchasing of these discs.

obladioblada

if sony agreed to TotalHD discs they would lose out in player sales revenue. No one would buy the BD players over a HDDVD player to play the discs because of the price difference in the players.

Burnt Thru

say what? bd layers are far nearer to the surface than the hd dvd layers - it's what necessitates the protective hard coat.