Paramount dumps Sonys Blu-ray format – Times Online — I find this particularly weird since Paramount was the only company aggressively doing PR for Blu-ray — probably moreso than Sony itself. And the tide seemed to be turning to Blu-ray after some recent announcements. All I can assume here is that Sony screwed something up, as usual. I’ll try an comment on this on tomorrow’s Tech5 report with more details.
Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have dropped support for Sony’s Blu-ray next generation DVD format in a shock move that will see the two studios exclusively use Toshiba’s rival HD-DVD system.
Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, the media giant, previously released movies in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Significantly, it cited HD-DVDs cheaper costs as a decisive factor behind its decision to back it.
The latest development is a blow for Sony, which has invested heavily in Blu-ray. The battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is widely being seen as a re-run of that in the 1970s and 1980s between Sony’s Betamax video format and VHS – a cheaper rival – a fight that Sony lost.
The move is also likely to prolong the confusion among consumers, who cannot be sure of buying a next-generation DVD system that does not become defunct after being beaten by an incompatible rival.
they were probably promised lower licensing deals thru Sony (exclusive ps3 titles, lower blu-ray licenses) if they backed Blu-ray and sony messed up the whole deal as usual
Follow the money. Apparently that cost HDDVD $150mil in a payola to
Paramount + Dreamworks ($50mil + $100mil)
Damn it! I really thought this fight was almost over, especially after Blockbuster moved to Blu-Ray. But now we’re back to nearly square one with Paramount, Dreamworks and Universal on HD-DVD, against Sony, Fox & Disney with Blu-Ray (if I have that right).
I am NOT buying any of these stupid players until they settle this. I’m old enough to have lived thought that Beta vs VHS nonsense and I’m not doing it again. My DVDs look just fine on my little $99 upconverting DVD player. Sure they’d look a little better in “full” HD format, but by the time they settle this…we’ll probably have a whole NEW format that’s even higher resolution on the ‘near term’ horizon.
Similar to music, it’s all part of an annoying plan to have the consumer re-buy our entire entertainment library every 5-8 years in the COOL new format. I’m so glad I (had) Dark Side of the Moon on LP, 8-track, cassette tape, CD, MP3, etc. How many times to I have to pay for this ONE damn album before the studios stop considering all consumers ‘pirates’. (ok, I drifted a little off topic here)
where has the significance of content gone?
All this babbling about hd formats, just to be able to see those explosions better that hollywood uses to cover up the fact that they have no new ideas.
Silly silly silly.
pj
Disc formats will be dead in 5-years anyway, so who cares? These formats will go the way of the video cassette and be replaced with some sort of NAND flash or network as media. I’m betting on the former.
Who cares about the damned Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD or any other) format? As mentioned by David, my DVDs look just fine on my “obsolete” DVD player, but mine only cost $39 at Wal*Mart.
If they come out with something that just can’t be properly enjoyed without high-tech, surround-sound, high-definition, Dolby XYZQRMNS presentation, I’ll go see it in the theater. They ought to concentrate more on making fewer shitty movies, and less on trying to scam gullible geeks out of their lunch money for some fancy new format that will be obsolete again in a few years.
What sane person would back anything Sony has done lately?
#6, Mr. Mustard
>>my DVDs look just fine on my “obsolete” DVD player
I’ve two high-end DVD players, and I think I posted in another thread on this blog that “who cares about HD DVD.” I’ve not seen the difference in pic quality on a 100″ screen from a DLP projector at 20 feet between regular DVD, HDDVD or Blu–Ray. Maybe my eyes are just old, but like other posters, I’d rather see better content than some whizzy HD special effects. Content quality, not some darned res war. Sheesh!
Wake me up when the war is over, let me know which mega-corp wins. [Snore].
HA HA!
Can anybody say, “Missed sales target on PS3” ??
Does the fact that Sony Pictures competes with Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks?
While Sony likely provided clear and reasonable terms (license free) for Blueray, I suspect Paramount and Dreamworks would rather not do business with a competitor.
I think this is a killing blow for Blueray
yesssssssssssssss!!! My xbox 360 hd dvd player will prob. still be useful a year from now.
This makes me feel so warm inside considering I bought an HD-DVD player in January.
FYI original DVD’s look like shit on big tv’s.
I’ve had the Toshiba HD-A2 for a few weeks now, and the image is stunning with a well transferred HD-DVD. This player also happens to do a great job of upscaling too. I suppose those who can’t see the difference might as well save their money.
I believe if the HD-DVD players can maintain the price advantage they currently have, the battle will be eventually be theirs. This was sure unexpected, but it might tip the scales just a bit more.
Kudos to #4.
Hollywood makes crappy content which is why they had to resort to HD whatever in the first place. I have all my good films on DVD, do not care for a “better” experience, and would rather spend time creating my own content instead.
I mean, seriously, how many 2-3 second shots can one take in HD ?
Oh this is another jab at the format wars… like the one that gave us VHS…an inferior product to Betamax, but successful by weight of numbers. HD-DVD’s only up side is lesser impact on production channels. Anyway… the moment the war is set it will be too late. Ubiquitous broad-broadband and IPTV set top boxes with pay-as-you-view TV will rule. no need for plastic… But as we’ve seen from the demise of Google video, there’s something to be said about buying into real physical media…
WAIT! Didn’t the porn people say Blu-Ray is the … well, blue way? Let the war continue…
Send a message to the movie industry. Boycott both high-def formats until one or both meet their demise. I do, and I’m happier for it.
>>Said Mister mustard next to his 78 colection
No, Pete, I got rid of my 78 collection and bought all the music over again. But there’s an advantage to CD or MP3 over 78 or wax cylinders.
Other than seeing the pimples on Jenna James’s ass in glorious high definition, or being able to view the Snakes On A Plane from multiple angles and in high-definition, what’s the benefit of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?
As I said, when (if?) they come out with something worth watching, I might consider upgrading to Blu-Ray _AND_ HD-DVD (so I can throw away whichever format doesn’t make it) and a 1000-inch TV screen. For the majority of what’s out there now, a 14-inch black and white system would probably do the trick.
Yeah, war is hell.
Isn’t it curious that in this age of emerging high def, we are simultaneously embracing tiny MP3-player and cell phone sized screens to watch our movies?
And then there are those small, hand-held dedicated DVD players. What good is high def on any of these devices? Not a thing. But Blu-ray would require you to re-purchase such a player anyway and throw away your “old” one. But not HD-DVD. As I understand it, HD-DVD movies are (or can be) marketed with the SD movie on the reverse side. Such that all your “old” DVD gear is still useful (good for the kids rooms, etc.) All helping to extend your current DVD collection life-span.
Eventually, every program that was ever made for television will be available on DVD. Is there any point in upconverting this to HD?
At one time I was certain the more-advanced Blu-ray would prevail. Then came the time to consider purchasing a high def player and suddenly “much cheaper” for the same quality became attractive.
That said, I’m also inclined to believe the disc system will soon be irrelelevant. With Flash now incorporating the HD disc & Apple standard H264, it’s pretty obvious this will become the MP3 of video.
RBG
Some of you maybe waiting along time then. Neither format is going away anytime soon. Sony PS3 can make Blu-Ray games and movies to a captured audience and HD-DVD is the format of choice for the porn industry. To the average consumer with a 32″ tv, SD dvd’s are just fine. For those of us that prefer a better picture & sound (and have the properly set up gear to enjoy it), both HD formats are the only reliable way to see a movie as close to what the director & director of photography saw thru the camera lens. IPTV looks & sounds like the ‘big thing’ but alot of time can go by before they even decide on compression scheme for delivery. One last, beit lengthy, comment… I don’t consider this format war exactly like the Betamax vs. VHS tape war. Why? Blu-Ray & HD-DVD have the same potential picture quality and features (audio & video) technologies available. Ther formatted space per disc is bloated and meaning less for movies. Blu-Ray uses the CD based machines for making the discs & HD-DVD uses the dvd platform for making discs. Nothing revolutionary there. So quality and options aren’t even a consideration. That just leaves price and we know the lowest price will win. If Blu-Ray dies, Sony’s ‘the Sony way or the highway’ business model will be to blame, not the format itself. Long live HD optical disc.
H264 is not an Apple standard. And also it’s not worth the trouble to encode. H264 is much slower than Xvid / Divx to encode (3 times slower) and the quality gains are negligible at higher bit rates… H264 only proves it’s value in very low bit rate conditions. Cellphones, Videoconferencing, iPod, yes they all benefit from H264.
23, JoaoPT . I’m not an Apple user, yet, but I’m not aware of Apple promoting any other high def codec to the same degree as H.264. Is there one?
If you go to NAB – it’s H.264 they have running at their demo stations.
22, Lowfreq. I think you just made the case for the parallel between the Betamax-VHS and Blu-ray-HD-DVD. Betamax was always the better format. Picture quality or features were never the issue. It still lost.
Blu-ray & HD-DVD are not going away any time soon as CD is not going away any time soon as the result of MP3… as cassette tape still seems to be hanging in to some degree.
RBG
Absolutely, cheaper will win. That said, I still think the big winner will be the first company to come out with an inexpensive dual format player.
24, RBG, Not exactly. The differance was Betamax was the better format, clearly. No pun intended. But there isn’t such a difference in quality nor features with Blu-Ray & HD-DVD formats. So the cheap one is just as good as the expensive one. I don’t agree the CD is not going away. The iPod has proven that most consumers care more about portability and less about audio quality. More and more devices allow you one to plug in their iPod (or any MP3 type device) and go. No, the CD won’t leave tomorrow but it wil dwindle down to cassette (or even DAT) range. Hey, even vinyl is still being produced.
25, hhopper, That idea always seem to be the most logical for the consumer. Eliminate confusion by giving the end user one machine that will play all formats and do it cheaply. But House of Sony & House of Toshiba make hardware. Niether one will give a ‘cheap’ license to allow another builder to sell a machine that supports it’s rival. So, we’re screwed for now. I say let Sony exec’s and Toshiba exec’s duke it out in the ring. Winner take all.
#17. Given the DRM-mania of video download services, I am NOT giving up my plastic disks. the few folks who bought Google videos learned the value of physical media the hard way.
Also, given the crappiness of US “broadband,” downloading a full-length movie on the internet will be far from “on demand” for the forseable future. 512 kbs DSL wont cut it, and for most of us fiber to the home is a long ways off.
Not to mention the probability of losing your entire collection when your hard drive fails.
I got me an HDDVD player, which does a heck of a job upconverting my SD DVDs. I am not duplicating my existing collection, but buying only in HD DVD.
I figure I will have gotten my money out of my Toshiba by the time dual-format players put this whole “war” to rest.
26, Lowfreq. I think we’re agreeing with each other but let me point out anyway that when the quality and the price are largely irrelevant to the product and all that really matters is the marketing (defined in the common sense), then you are getting into Betamax-VHS wars territory.
Betamax showed a better format can still lose, so quality isn’t the make or break factor.
As little as a few days ago, it seemed that Blu-ray was going to win this one, in spite of its significantly higher price – so price isn’t the make or break factor either…
There’s a lot more to this current war – as was with Beta/VHS – than anyone ever expected would be the case. Call it marketing know-how, deal-making, promotion, market penetration, whatever… it appears it’s going to be those things that will create the winner, just as it was with Beta/VHS.
I think the CD will eventually be marginalized, and more or less at the same rate that the same thing will happen to SD & HD DVD and for the same reasons.
RBG
#29. One of the key distinctions between the HD DVD – BRD tussle and the Beta – VHS scrap is that in the latter, a dual format player was impossible for mechanical reasons. Now it can be done, has been done and will be done with greater frequency as the price of the tech comes down.
I think a closer analogy could be DVD-R vs DVD+R and eventually universal recorders/players became standard.