Blockbuster to decide Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD?

PolkThug

Interesting....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19289649/

AP -By Gary Gentile

Blockbuster Inc. will rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores when it expands its high-def offerings next month, dealing a major blow to the rival HD DVD format.

The move, being announced Monday, could be the first step in resolving a format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year and found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.

"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, told The Associated Press.

Blockbuster will continue to rent HD DVD titles in the original 250 locations and online, the Dallas-based company said.

The decision was helped in large part by the lopsided availability of titles in Blu-ray, Smith said. All major studios except one are releasing films in Blu-ray, with several, including The Walt Disney Co., releasing exclusively in Blu-ray. Only Universal Studios, which is owned by General Electric Co., exclusively supports HD DVD.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., and Paramount Pictures, which is owned by Viacom Inc., release films in both formats.

"When you walk into a store and see all this product available in Blu-ray and there is less available on HD DVD, I think the consumer gets that," Smith said.

The rollout of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 game console, which comes standard with a Blu-ray drive, also helped give the format momentum, Smith said.

Blockbuster's decision, while significant on its own, could boost Blu-ray even more if other retailers follow suit.

"It will help shift the balance toward Blu-ray, clearly," said Richard Doherty, president of The Envisioneering Group, a research company.

The North American HD DVD Promotional Group said Blockbuster's decision was shortsighted and skewed by the success of films released by Blu-ray studios in the first three months of the year. The group said HD DVD has since gained momentum, selling more players and popular titles such as "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and "The Matrix" trilogy.

"I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying," said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the group.

The two formats have been battling it out since they both hit the market last year. Studios hope the high-definition discs, with their sharper picture and more room for interactive special features and games, will replace standard-definition DVDs.

The formats are incompatible and neither will play on standard DVD players, although standard DVDs can be viewed with either a Blu-ray or HD DVD player.

The Blu-ray camp has been helped by the release of such huge hits as "Casino Royale," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Spider-Man" coming out exclusively in its format.

As the battle has unfolded, the price of the high-definition players needed to show the movies has plummeted. Toshiba Corp., the major supporter of HD DVD, is selling its player for $299 with a rebate, down from $499 when it first went on sale.

Sony, which is pushing Blu-ray, recently slashed the price of its player by more than half to $499. The player retailed for $1,000 when it first was introduced.


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AndyGwis

Sweet! So, I've got two "dead format" players.

Way to jump the gun, Andy. Next up, PS3, Tiger Woods golf, and some BR discs.

venomclan

The faster the war ends, the better for the industry. Hopefully this will sway the victory to the Blu Ray camp. Which seemed the logical choice imho. Once Sony drops the price of the PS3, which they will have to do soon. It will accelerate BR.
V

Skynut

I'm sticking with Betamax

BIZILL

this worries me none.

sucks2beme

Guess I'll just hijack junoir's PS3.
It's in the rack with the HT anyhow.:p

Systems

I waited and waited until 2 weeks ago. Bought a PS3 for my kids to play with (Ps2 broke down) and the BD for my theater. So I've picked my side and bought 7 movies already.

Emlyn

Blockbuster to Expand Blu-Ray to 1,700 Stores
Company will continue to offer HD DVD titles online and in select number of stores


DALLAS, June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to the growing demand for high-definition DVDs, Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI)(NYSE: BBI.B) today announced that it is rolling out an expanded Blu-ray disc inventory for rental to 1,700 corporate-owned BLOCKBUSTER® stores by mid-July. The Company will continue to offer both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles through its online rental service, http://www.blockbuster.com/, and will continue to offer both formats at its initial 250 stores that currently carry both high-definition formats.

"We intend to meet the demands of our customers and based on the trends we're seeing, we're expanding our Blu-ray inventory to ensure our stores reflect the right level of products," said Matthew Smith, SVP Merchandising for Blockbuster. "While it is still too early to say which high-definition format will become the industry standard, we will continue to closely monitor customer rental patterns both at our stores and online, so we can adjust our inventory mix accordingly and ensure that Blockbuster is offering customers the most convenient access to the movies they want, in the format they want."

When Blu-ray and HD DVD were introduced to the marketplace in 2006, Blockbuster began offering the high-definition formats on all titles in which it was available through blockbuster.com. The Company also introduced both formats on select titles in 250 stores in November of 2006. With Blu-ray rentals significantly outpacing HD DVD rentals at its BLOCKBUSTER stores, the Company made the decision to expand the number of stores offering the Blu-ray format.

With the expansion in July, the 1,700 stores will be carrying more than 170 titles in Blu-ray and will continue to add titles in the format as they are released from the studios.

"We are excited to be able to make more high-definition titles available to our customers in those stores where our research indicates there will be the most demand," said Smith. "Obviously, when customers are ready we can expand the Blu-ray offering into more stores and add HD DVD to more locations if that's what customers tell us they want. We'll continue to work with the movie studios to ensure we have the right assortment of products."

Blu-ray formatted titles are available from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, FOX Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, and Paramount Home Entertainment and can be played on Blu-ray dedicated players, Sony PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) or a Blu-ray compatible computer drive.

About Blockbuster

Blockbuster Inc. is a leading global provider of in-home movie and game entertainment, with more than 8,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Company may be accessed worldwide at http://www.blockbuster.com/.

SOURCE: Blockbuster Inc.

MrNightly

How long do you guys think it will be before there is a clear cut winner? How long did the Beta-max vs VHS take?

I need to know how long before I step up the HD

AndyGwis

Best move, if you want to jump in the water now, would be to get a nice, cheap HD-DVD player (like the HD-A2) and a PS3.

If HD-DVD doesn't win, you only spent like $200-$300 on a solid upconverting player. If BR doesn't win, you have a sweet gaming console. . . worst case scenario isn't that bad.

PSOVLSK

Maybe dumb, but I wonder if HD DVD owners let Blockbuster know how they feel about this move if it would make a difference. Seems to me they are jumping the gun on making this decision since many HD DVD players have been sold recently due to Toshiba's rebate offer. These new HD owners will have to find other options without ever having a chance to give Blockbuster their business.

Sami

As I see it, the 2 HD-DVD players will satisfy my hunger for HD until the war is clearly over. I'll get into BR (if they win) once they drop below $200 or the PS3 below $300. Although I have invested into HD-DVD I don't really care who the winner is as by the time war is over the players are going to be cheap enough to offset the whole thing.

aaharvel

why is the audio set to a lower standard with Blu-Ray than in HD-DVD? Software prices appear to be identical.

Bill Ayotte

Guess it's a good thing I only "paid" $99 for my HD-A2....Either way, I would end up owning both of them at this point...I will be buying a PS3 once some worthwhile games come out for it....

dylan

Although not as main-stream, aren't we still wondering who'll win with SACD vs. DVD-A, after how many years? I bought a Denon multi-player, but regardless lost interest in the whole idea either way.

Not to mention I have a 'HD TV' with component cables. As an AV-educated consumer, I'm frustrated on both of those fronts. How about people that don't know HDMI from a hole in the ground?

Sami

dylan wrote: »

Although not as main-stream, aren't we still wondering who'll win with SACD vs. DVD-A, after how many years?

Apples and oranges. Most people with a decent HD monitor (and those will become mainstream unlike hi-fi audio equipments) will see a major improvement in quality, and most importantly care about it unlike with audio.

exalted512

What are the advantages to HD over Blu-Ray anyway? I thought Blu-Ray was supposed to be better...
-Cody

Bill Ayotte

dylan wrote: »

Not to mention I have a 'HD TV' with component cables. As an AV-educated consumer, I'm frustrated on both of those fronts. How about people that don't know HDMI from a hole in the ground?

This is very true...The only reason I have a HDMI cable is because it was given to me....Just so you know, many of the new DVDs and BDs require a HDMI connection in order to upscale beyond 480P when played in a HD player....I guess it is some new form of copy protection....

It frustrated the hell out of me when I tried to watch the regular DVD version of Casino Royale on the HD-A2....I had it hooked up with component cables at first, then hooked the HDMI up after finding this annoying fact out..

Sami

PQ is identical. HD-DVD is cheaper format, less problems with discs, less copy-protection BS. BD will most likely win the war but their advantages aren't relevant at this time. In the future the added capacity would be nice for storage purposes but for movies it doesn't matter.

Sami

Bill Ayotte wrote: »

It frustrated the hell out of me when I tried to watch the regular DVD version of Casino Royale on the HD-A2....I had it hooked up with component cables at first, then hooked the HDMI up after finding this annoying fact out..

Pretty much all upconverting players do this as well, one of the copyright protection things. Some players choose to bypass it just like region coding.

Strong Bad

This is exactely why I haven't invested anything in any of these new formats. I saw a VHS vs Beta war brewing a while back and stayed away. I'll hang tight for a clear cut winner before buying anything.

Right now, i'm enjoying what I have.


John

Systems

If you guys are seriously into audio and video I would tell you to go get a Play station 3 now. I totally believe Sony loses $300 on each one of these. The last patch introduced media servers. I now can use the PS3 as not only my media player but my mp3 jukebox, picture album and video album and its very easy to use. It was worth $600 alone to be a piece of my media center. Its worth $4500 as a Blue ray player and its even worth another $500 as a game system. Heck, its worth $2000 as a PC since it blows away the 7 PC’s put together that I have in my house (folding@home).

Ron-P

How long do you guys think it will be before there is a clear cut winner?

Several years at least, most likely a lot longer. Both have way to much invested in their formats to make this end anytime soon. No big deal, I own both and buy both and will continue to do so.

Toxis

I'm sticking with my Denon for 4-5 years. As I see it, 2 years for the war to be closer to the end and the real winner being figured out then tack on another 2-3 years before video processing companies have had enough time to play with and tweak the format to look better. Look at DVD players and how long before they were worth a damn...

Sami

Toxis wrote: »

then tack on another 2-3 years before video processing companies have had enough time to play with and tweak the format to look better.

There is no way in h*ll one should wait for the format to "look better". Nothing wrong with it now, both formats blow any upconverted player away in PQ. SD-DVD looked pretty good until HD came along, now it's getting harder and harder to watch with all the HD broadcasts and HD discs available.

Bill Ayotte

Sami wrote: »

There is no way in h*ll one should wait for the format to "look better". Nothing wrong with it now, both formats blow any upconverted player away in PQ. SD-DVD looked pretty good until HD came along, now it's getting harder and harder to watch with all the HD broadcasts and HD discs available.

I agree here....Assuming you are playing a HD format on your player....I will say that the picture quality of normal DVDs is quite spectacular when upscaled on a HD-DVD player...The SQ on the HD-A2 is lacking a little for my taste, but I am comparing it to a $1800 DVD player....Take that for what it is. At $299, it isn't a bad deal it you are looking for a new player, while a dedicated Blue-Ray player is still pushing $400-500....I may eventually own a PS3 as well, but I would still like a dedicated player....My first DVD player was a PS2.....I have gone through three of those...

Toxis

Everyone keeps talking about the A2 but no one mentions it doesn't even do 1080p on HD DVDs.

I've done the Denon 2910 vs. Toshiba XA-1 comparison and everyone picked the Denon in a blind taste challenge.

Bill Ayotte

I could really care less if it does 1080p....I am fairly sure that most of the general public that buys an A2 doesn't have a 1080p set...For the price, it is a semi-affordable way to get into hi-def movies...

Demiurge

I don't understand the presumption that Blockbuster is somehow the be-all and end-all in movie rentals.

Netflix rents out both formats and has a much better service, IMO. I think it might cost a whole couple bucks more, but I rarely have an issue.

PolkThug

Toxis wrote: »

Everyone keeps talking about the A2 but no one mentions it doesn't even do 1080p on HD DVDs.

I've done the Denon 2910 vs. Toshiba XA-1 comparison and everyone picked the Denon in a blind taste challenge.

Yep, I'm holding on to my Denons as the prices keep dropping on the new format players. I'll probably wait until Denon makes an HD player before I drop any coins on one.

krabby5

Silverti wrote: »

If you guys are seriously into audio and video I would tell you to go get a Play station 3 now. I totally believe Sony loses $300 on each one of these. The last patch introduced media servers. I now can use the PS3 as not only my media player but my mp3 jukebox, picture album and video album and its very easy to use. It was worth $600 alone to be a piece of my media center. Its worth $4500 as a Blue ray player and its even worth another $500 as a game system. Heck, its worth $2000 as a PC since it blows away the 7 PC’s put together that I have in my house (folding@home).

wow.