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Laserdisc 2 vs Laserdisc 3

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6296434.html

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn said the studio will have five titles, including Fantastic Four and Ice Age, in stores two weeks prior to the release of the first Blu-ray Disc player by any manufacturer. Fox will release 20 titles by summer, also debuting most new theatrical titles day-and-date on DVD and Blu-ray.

Each title will have at least one feature unique to the new format and will include 10% to 20% of the bonus features from previously released or new DVDs and 80% new bonus elements, such as advanced branching and menus and including added value programming accessed through connections to other devices such as the Internet.

Fox also is preparing two sci-fi titles to be announced later that will take advantage of the extra capacity of the 50GB dual-layer disc.

“We have material that we set aside a long time ago for these,” Dunn said. “We’ve been working up to this and cataloging content for two years.”

Star Wars Ep. 1-3 and Star Wars Ep. 4-6??


Additionally, Sony is going out on a limb and committing to the debut of two titles--Bridge on the River Kwai and Black Hawk Down--using the 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Disc, which has been running behind development time from the standard 25GB single-layer disc.

The studio also is announcing plans Wednesday for summer titles featuring advanced interactive gaming using the BD Java software, which has sparked some dissension from Hewlett-Packard within the Blu-ray Disc camp. SPHE president Ben Feingold said the process is too far along now to turn back and not use BD Java.

As for the 50GB dual-layer disc, Feingold said both movies have long running times as well as hours of bonus features that the studio has produced but been unable to release on DVD because they take up too much space.

Sony also will take advantage of the enormous additional capacity to use uncompressed audio on some of its Blu-ray Disc titles, including two Sony/MGM titles in the first wave--The Fifth Element and The Last Waltz. Sony execs say that even movie theaters do not offer uncompressed digital audio.

Feingold said he expects to ship 50,000 to 100,000 units of each of the first titles, as compared to the 60,000 or so units for each of the first five movies shipped for PSP.

PSP UMD movies, if you remember, has a faster ramp up rate than DVD did when it launched....and it seems both 5th Element and The Last Waltz will also be 50GB titles, if I am interpreting the wording correctly...

Also there will be more Disney Blu-ray news on Thursday:

Other Blu-ray Disc backers, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate and Paramount, announced their lineup of titles as well. Disney will announce its titles and other plans at a Blu-ray Disc media event at CES on Thursday evening.
 
Midas said:
Have they mentioned the price for Blu-ray movies yet?

No. Hopefully we will get that though, via the BDA. Their presentation is tomorrow, but maybe they'll do press releases in advance.

Pioneer didn't give any pricing on their PC drive.
 
gofreak said:
No. Hopefully we will get that though, via the BDA. Their presentation is tomorrow, but maybe they'll do press releases in advance.

Pioneer didn't give any pricing on their PC drive.

Ok, thanks. I do wonder how expensive they'll be. I'll probably buy them even if they're $30. :lol
 
BTW, both HD-DVD and (particularly) Blu-ray are getting tons more launch software support than the DVD format did at *its* launch....for what thats worth...
 
$30? Try again. Many DVD's were even up to $40 for vanilla releases at launch. Fox came in two years later with FEATURELESS releases for $35 each (catalog titles no less).

I predict BRD and HDDVD will be $40 minimum. Studios don't care about a DVD-like adoption at this point. This is targetted at enthusiasts only as DVD is still providing a huge revenue stream and most customers would indeed be wary of buying everything all over again. I know they don't have to as both are compatible, but to the average joe six pack that is what it will feel like.

But broadcom definitely FTW. Knowing there are companies out there working on combination shipsets assures that I am not buying a player until they release the first universal one. (well, except for PS3)
 
gofreak said:
A couple of sample boxes:

LAW066-a

LAW066-b

Agh, those sample boxes look crap, I hope they change it. Reminds me of those new kiddie DVD cases I've seen around the shops these days.

784294.jpg
 
Kleegamefan said:
BTW, both HD-DVD and (particularly) Blu-ray are getting tons more launch software support than the DVD format did at *its* launch....for what thats worth...

Trouble is they have to sell HDTVs aswell as players to the majority of consumers.

typo said:
I don't know about Blade Runner. That movie is in copyright hell. I need a replacement of the Director's Cut DVD, too...

I wouldn't put it past Fox to mysteriously settle all legal disputes to get the movie out on BR. As long as a three-disc DVD comes out as well I don't care though!
 
Jerkface said:
Trouble is they have to sell HDTVs aswell as players to the majority of consumers.
yeah, AT THIS POINT (it can change) I don't see BRD or HDDVD moving much beyond laserdisc/SACD/DVDA status. That could change of course, but this looks like it will be a marketing hell.

I wouldn't put it past Fox to mysteriously settle all legal disputes to get the movie out on BR. As long as a three-disc DVD comes out as well I don't care though!
it is warner.
 
borghe said:
yeah, AT THIS POINT (it can change) I don't see BRD or HDDVD moving much beyond laserdisc/SACD/DVDA status. That could change of course, but this looks like it will be a marketing hell.


it is warner.


Do you know how low Laserdisk hardware penetration was??

They didn't even sell much more than 3 million LD players over its lifetime and most likely SACD and DVDA was even less successful....is this the kind of sales you predict for PS3???
 
borghe said:
yeah, AT THIS POINT (it can change) I don't see BRD or HDDVD moving much beyond laserdisc/SACD/DVDA status. That could change of course, but this looks like it will be a marketing hell.


it is warner.

WTF

Someone forgetting PS3 here?
 
I think the 999 dollar 720p DLP TVs mentioned in that Carl Ziess newsletter thread will also help HDTV adoption rate somewhat
 
Kleegamefan said:
Do you know how low Laserdisk hardware penetration was??

They didn't even sell much more than 3 million LD players over its lifetime and most likely SACD and DVDA was even less successful....is this the kind of sales you predict for PS3???
being one of the three million owners at its height, I know exactly how low it was. and I wasn't saying it was going to do laserdisc NUMBERS, I said laserdisc STATUS. laserdisc as a home video PLAYER actually didn't have as bad of a penetration as it seemed, considering most bought VHS as a recorder, not as a player (and VHS video ownership didn't take off until the late 80's, really even early 90's).

anywho, BRD and HDDVD will be the high end video format for conneseuirs (or however that is spelled) and will see the same success as laserdisc (primarily day and date releases, every mainstream and independent release, etc). However I would AT THIS POINT be surprised to see either format eclipse DVD in total players, and imagine that BRD and HDDVD sales combined won't outsell DVD anytime soon, and definitely nowhere near as fast as DVD sales outpaced VHS. It will be a high end format for those who have the players, but the majority of users out there will still just back DVD. In a year I might be singing a different tune but that is certainly what it looks like now. The only hope os that mass consumer priced universal players make it out sometime early in the formats' lifespans.
 
fugimax said:
Anyone going to miss the "DVD" acronym?

"BR" just doesn't seem to have the same ring to it...and Blue-Ray is way too long to say.

Saying the word "Blu-Ray" actually entails one less syllable than saying "DVD".
 
borghe said:
But broadcom definitely FTW. Knowing there are companies out there working on combination shipsets assures that I am not buying a player until they release the first universal one. (well, except for PS3)
Meh, if Universal announces BRD support, like they probably will, I can't say I'll have a reason to care about universal chipset. It's a commendable development though.
 
No doubt somewhat of a noob question, but anyway: is there any visual difference noticable between DVD and Blu-ray on a non-HDTV?
 
As one who has a hard time finding time to watch all the DVD's I own right now, I do not see myself dropping a ton of money on a new format that will not look a $1000 better on a new HDTV compared to my already stellar looking non-HDTV. How fast do all of you think Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will overtake DVD in sales and demand? Personally, the cost will not outweigh the need any time soon for me. I really hope that the PS3 is a video game system at launch with a blu ray player in it rather than vice versa.

All of these CES BD announcements sound very much like the UMD/PSP announcements.
 
Falch said:
No doubt somewhat of a noob question, but anyway: is there any visual difference noticable between DVD and Blu-ray on a non-HDTV?

No one has done the comparison yet. If I had to guess..maybe a slight difference? You certainly won't be getting the full benefit of the extra resolution, obviously. I guess it depends on if a picture downsampled from 1080p to 480p will look better than a 480p picture. If transfer quality was generally better you might see some difference too (but that might depend on how picky you are).

DenogginizerOS said:
How fast do all of you think Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will overtake DVD in sales and demand?

It'll be some time, obviously. But if they didn't get this started now, it'd take even longer. Who cares? If you can enjoy it now, great, if not, sorry to hear.

Also, another take which seems timely:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-03-dvd-ces_x.htm

For the first time in home video's nearly 30-year history, sales and rentals slipped in 2005 as slowing growth in DVDs couldn't overcome falling prices and a dying VHS market.

Studios are looking to the next generation of video discs, which roll out this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, to jump-start sales.

"The DVD market matured much more quickly than anyone expected," says Scott Hettrick, editor of DVD Exclusive. The industry "shot itself in the foot by lowering DVD prices too much and too quickly. There is little growth left."

The studios also hope that new high-definition DVDs will spur a buying binge by consumers. "The prime motivator for studios to launch a next-generation high-def home-video format is to build pricing levels back up," Hettrick says.

"A couple of years ago we were hearing from studios that maybe we should wait on high-definition DVD because we didn't want to hurt (regular) DVD," says Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin Feingold. "There is a unanimity that the time for high-definition DVD is now."

The last bit also seems to indicate a premium on high def movies, but that's to be expected.
 
Falch said:
No doubt somewhat of a noob question, but anyway: is there any visual difference noticable between DVD and Blu-ray on a non-HDTV?
Probably not. DVD is already a bit "too good" for a non-HDTV (it supports progressive scan which is not supported by non HDTVs

You can bet that movies will be perfectly remastered/transferred for BD, so unless a comparable remastered DVD is released, the advantage will be there for sure. Many DVDs of older movies have terrible transfer quality.
 
Fantastic, it begins. I just hope that BD/HDDVD camps hold to their announced schedules. The sooner the better.
 
gofreak said:

Now that Toshiba have put all that "cell will not be used in anything other than PS3" talk to rest i cannot help but wonder why they need such a chip in all thier TVs surely a custom IC is far cheaper to implement, especially for low end TVs. I wonder what kind of processing it will be used for, outside of maybe filtering, picture display, upscaling .....
 
fugimax said:
Anyone going to miss the "DVD" acronym?

"BR" just doesn't seem to have the same ring to it...and Blue-Ray is way too long to say.

DVD - three syllables
Blue Ray - two syllables

Um. No.
 
DVD - three syllables
Blue Ray - two syllables

Um. No.
Ya, I know how to count. "DVD" can be said faster and still come out distinguishable. "Blue-ray" sounds like mush coming out.

Anyways, I didn't mean to start such a big conversation. Funny the things that turn into arguments here. :P
 
DaCocoBrova said:
Beta all over again.

For one of these formats, yes. But so far it seems a lot easier to pick the winner..

edit - it seems there'll be HD-DVD announcements, including pricing later today. So Blu-ray pricing may well be forthcoming also, tomorrow at the BDA presentation.
 
The curent dvd pricing model is the only recipe for success. Consumers buy dvds like candy. BRD or HDDVD cannot be priced too much higher than dvd or it will be LD all over again.
 
If the movie industry wants to generate more revenue, maybe they should invest more in digital theatres and increase the ticket prices so you can get more bang for your buck, but not have to invest in all of the new hardware at home.

I just don't see people reading these CES announcements right after XMAS and hearing about DVD maturing too fast and DVD players not being able to play the new discs and taking this news well. This could create a backlash or even a drop in DVD sales while people wait and see what the new formats will yield.
 
Dracos said:
The curent dvd pricing model is the only recipe for success. Consumers buy dvds like candy. BRD or HDDVD cannot be priced too much higher than dvd or it will be LD all over again.

DVD also commanded a premium at first.

colinisation said:
Now that Toshiba have put all that "cell will not be used in anything other than PS3" talk to rest i cannot help but wonder why they need such a chip in all thier TVs surely a custom IC is far cheaper to implement, especially for low end TVs. I wonder what kind of processing it will be used for, outside of maybe filtering, picture display, upscaling .....

CELL should be great for all the multimedia activities. Notice how more and more plasma and LCD include memor card readers and even some media boxes. CELL is pretty good at handling these things.
 
DenogginizerOS said:
If the movie industry wants to generate more revenue, maybe they should invest more in digital theatres and increase the ticket prices so you can get more bang for your buck, but not have to invest in all of the new hardware at home.

I just don't see people reading these CES announcements right after XMAS and hearing about DVD maturing too fast and DVD players not being able to play the new discs and taking this news well. This could create a backlash or even a drop in DVD sales while people wait and see what the new formats will yield.
not likely at all..

98% of dvd customers dont even know CES is going on.. or even what CES is for that matter
 
So please inform me.

Blu-Ray will offer 50GB+ storage, uncompressed Audio channels (decompressed on the fly?) and basically a "better" home theater entertainment value than today's modern home theater.


Right.
 
VictimOfGrief said:
So please inform me.

Blu-Ray will offer 50GB+ storage, uncompressed Audio channels (decompressed on the fly?) and basically a "better" home theater entertainment value than today's modern home theater.


Right.

You seem to have already formed an opinion
 
Schattenjagger said:
not likely at all..

98% of dvd customers dont even know CES is going on.. or even what CES is for that matter

A lot of DVD owners surf the net and it is one of the headline stories in the "Tech" section of Google News. This will be a bullet point announcement on the evening news which will not help. Imagine hearing that the new DVD player/Home Theatre/HDTV setup you just invested in is headlined to be old because movie studios aren't making enough off of DVD sales. That would piss me off.

I guess it will all come down to what consumers are willing to fork out in the coming months while they are still paying off the 18 month no interest financing on the $2000 HDTV they bought that doesn't even support true Hi-Def 1080P.
 
DenogginizerOS said:
Imagine hearing that the new DVD player/Home Theatre/HDTV setup you just invested in is headlined to be old because movie studios aren't making enough off of DVD sales. That would piss me off.

If you invested enough in a DVD player recently that it would piss you off, I have to think you're in the end of the market that would know Blu-ray was coming.

If you invested recently in a new Home Theater or HDTV, well, one has to think you're ready for Bluray. You certainly don't need a 1080p set to enjoy Bluray - Bluray movies will look beautiful on a 720p.
 
As long as people know their existing libraries will play on the BR players, they'll have no problem with it. The big issue with VHS --> DVD was there being no simple all-in-one solution (i.e., you still had tapes and discs -- each going in different slots).

Nowadays DVD players are cheap, so most consumers that would be "upset" by this move probably only spent $79 on a player anyways.
 
gofreak said:
If you invested enough in a DVD player recently that it would piss you off, I have to think you're in the end of the market that would know Blu-ray was coming.

If you invested recently in a new Home Theater or HDTV, well, one has to think you're ready for Bluray. You certainly don't need a 1080p set to enjoy Bluray - Bluray movies will look beautiful on a 720p.

The point is current DVD's look beautiful as well on HDTV's.
 
gofreak said:
If you invested enough in a DVD player recently that it would piss you off, I have to think you're in the end of the market that would know Blu-ray was coming.

If you invested recently in a new Home Theater or HDTV, well, one has to think you're ready for Bluray. You certainly don't need a 1080p set to enjoy Bluray - Bluray movies will look beautiful on a 720p.

This is somewhat true.

What does bother me to no avail is the unavailability of 1080p TVs at a reasonable price from REPUTABLE brands. And don't come parading the damn Westinghouse 1080p TV.

I've been waiting for quite a while to buy a new HDTV but these damn formats and technologies just don't seem to settle and just keep changing often. I own a HDTV and won't be able to play hdtv movies on it due to it only having component cables (5 year old TV though.) I don't want to buy a TV that will be overpriced and not be capable to handle whatever the heck these bastards decide to do with DRM.
 
The point is current DVD's look beautiful as well on HDTV's.
So then consumers with DVD players will keep buying DVDs for the next year?

DVD isn't going to just disappear when the first BR disc hits..
 
DenogginizerOS said:
The point is current DVD's look beautiful as well on HDTV's.

I'd have to disagree, on my projector at least, the shortcomings of DVD are readily apparent in the vast majority of cases.

DVDs won't look nearly as beautiful as Blu-ray on 720p or 1080p.

IJoel said:
I've been waiting for quite a while to buy a new HDTV but these damn formats and technologies just don't seem to settle and just keep changing often. I own a HDTV and won't be able to play hdtv movies on it due to it only having component cables (5 year old TV though.) I don't want to buy a TV that will be overpriced and not be capable to handle whatever the heck these bastards decide to do with DRM.

My guess is you'll have relevant news in the next couple of days, if you're looking for a 1080p in 2006.
 
BR isn't really filling a void IMO. Sure movies at higher resolutions will be great, but most consumers are fine with DVD as-is. I guess this will be a slow grind for Sony.
 
any news of TV series going to blue-ray? I would love to have each season on a single disc. I have been holding off buying shows in hope of this.
 
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