There were rumors of that swirling at ComiCon, which beatboy and his ilk on AVS have been spinning as "fact", but nothing was officially announced.

It wouldn't terribly surprise me if Weinstein went neutral, but given their small market presence they won't make any difference at all to the balance of power in the format war.

I hope that's not true. I just wrote a new column for HDD that goes up today about how Combo discs suck and the studios should give up on them.

[Update: The column has been postponed anyway.]

^On the subject of combos, what I find interesting is that Warner is re-releasing its older combo titles in HD DVD only versions. To me that means that all I have to do is skip the initial combo release and pick up the HD DVD only second release. At a lower cost.

Yeah I noticed that too. Looking forward to picking up 300. But I don't think that one has been announced yet.

Warner staying neutral

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...f_Strategy/896

Very anti-climatic statement imho. I still feel that something big is coming from these guys at CEDIA. There's still way too much buzz going around right now.

I wouldnt be surprised if WB goes exclusive to either side. Right now, my bet would be on hd-dvd....why havent they even put out dates for Matrix, Batman Begins and some others on BD?

I think we might see them go exclusive soon to hd-dvd....not sure, but well see.

There is a supposed 1 year exclusivity deal on the above mentioned titles from WB. Dobyblue on bluray.com has said that we should see batman begins with PCM before Christmas and there has been an insert with V for Vendetta coming out as well.

Warner won't go exclusive HD-DVD. Just one example over at Amazon. Smallville season 6 BD is ranked something like 1390 on the best sellers list. HD-DVD 6th season is ranked something like 2725. Just one example, but to go exclusive just means they lose all those folks going BD.

It didn't seem to bother Paramount a whole lot . . .

Sales are not the most important thing. Profit is. If development of BD product cuts so far into the returns, then WB could easily dump BD. It is my feeling that that, coupled with a cash incentive, caused Paramount to drop BD.

The same could be true of HD DVD, of course.

They'd not lose them all. Some % of those purchasing the BD version of WB titles would instead purchase them on HD-DVD if the BD wasn't available. I'll usually get the BD version of a WB disc if all features are the same (such as The Departed), but will buy the HD version if it offers more (like 300). I ordered the Smallville Season 6 set on BD, but would certainly have purchased the HD version if it was the only version available.

But, if they are given financial incentive (like Paramount), then they might.

Things WOULD definately change if WB goes exclusive. That would be the big 3 exclusive to hd-dvd and virtually handicap Bluray.

Those amazon rankings would most likely start to shift. Just because something sells well right now, doesnt mean it wont change.

And there's also a rumor that Toshiba is planning on spending $200+ million for a big marketing push this Fall through the holidays. An annoucement by Warners stating they will be HD DVD exclusive combined with $200 HD DVD players would be a huge blow to Blu-ray. And to be honest, I would much rather have a catalog of Universal, Paramount, and Warners over Sony, Disney, and Fox. As long as Fox releases barebones titles with a $40 list price, they aren't a factor for me.

IF Warners went HD DVD exclusive, I think pressure would build upon Disney. Wasn't their main reason for going with BD because of interactive features? That can be achieved right now on HD DVD.

I think 2 major studios dropping BD in favor of HD DVD would certainly turn alot of heads and make other studios take notice very quickly. The reason Paramount and Warners went neutral was the possibility of the PS3 being a huge BD success. I don't think the numbers are reflecting that and they may have given up on that Sony promise. I'm sure they look at attach rates.

Yeah, I think Disney would at least become neutral.

Warner Bros can change this war easily to either side.

Warners is the key here. They could start a domino effect. Honestly, what is keeping LionsGate from going neutral?

Warner is hurting HD-DVD in my mind. If it's a combo disc, I'll go with BR.

Disney, Fox, and Lionsgate all received incentive packages from Sony in return for Blu-ray exclusivity. Don't count on any of them going neutral until those contracts run out.

I doubt there are too many people who have bought into both formats. The combo disc only works if there is no standard DVD. As it is now, like you stated, it affects only those who have bought into HD-DVD.

Agreed. It would be interesting to know what percentage of those who have one, have the other.

I smell a poll.

The first Pirates movie comes with a standard dvd with the BD, btw. That's the way to handle the people who still want SD.

This isn't a practical solution from the studios' perspective because the separate SD DVD version of a movie could be sold by the buyer and might reduce the market for the SD DVD. With combos, there is no separating the two versions.

Would the DVD Forum have to approve this inclusion with a BD release? Since BD is not a supported format by the DVD forum?

Maybe someone can help me understand something that has been bugging me since day one. I have heard that HD-DVD is significantly cheaper to manufacture than Blu-Ray. I have no knowledge to dispute that. But then wouldn't HD-DVD discs be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than Blu-Ray?

I see a lot of focus on the cost of the players, but I will probably buy 1 - maybe 2- players over the course of the next few years. I will buy DVDs per MONTH (sometimes per week!). So the cost of the disc, imho, has more of an impact that the cost of player.

If HD-DVD discs were to cost 1/2 of Blu-Ray, then the argument changes drastically.

But I am seeing both formats relatively in line with each other - price wise.

Is this because Blu-ray should be a lot higher in cost, but they are artifically lowering the price to be competitive?

Is this because HD-DVD is trying to recoup loss of the players?

Of is the cost to manufacture really not much different?

Anybody??