AfterDawn: News

Lions Gate to release content using Blu-Ray format

Lions Gate Entertainment has announced plans to release movies and other content using the Blu-Ray disc format when it becomes available next year. Blu-Ray disc is a competing format for post DVD supremacy developed by Sony Corp. Also in the competition is HD-DVD developed by Toshiba. Both formats offer much more capacity than normal DVDs which is needed to store High Definition movies on discs. Both sides have also got strong competition.

Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and The Walt Disney Co. are studios that also support the Blu-Ray format. Studios backing HD-DVD include Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios. Studios are looking for the best format to allow the storing of much higher quality copies of movies and of course, good protection against piracy, which so far the traditional DVD failed to give.



Due to the amount of support building on each side and each camp claiming their technology is the best; it looks like the world is headed towards another format war which will rival the fuss BetaMax vs. VHS caused. With equipment expected soon for both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, consumers will be confused and not sure which technology to go with. A much better scenario would be a unified standard, but there has been no luck with that.

Source:
MercuryNews.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 17 Aug 2005 22:31

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• 17 comments

• Pop_Smith

  Interesting... I will wait and see what format prevails, no need to jump on either train and be left in the dust by the other!
  
  Peace

  17.8.2005 22:59 #1

• BobL

  At least with the physical spec of the discs being the same, I'm sure we'll see players that can play both formats at some point. Probably not 1st gen machines, but eventually...
  
  With Beta and VHS, the formats where physically incompatible so there was no hope of a dual-format player.
  
  So I suspect this won't be quite as disasterous of a "format war" as Beta and VHS was.
  
  

  18.8.2005 00:42 #2

• Lethal_B

  Dela, or anyone 4 that matter, do u have any vague ideas as to how much storage this new wave of discs could carry? ie could u back up ur HDD on a couple of discs?
  
  thx
  
  lethal_b

  18.8.2005 00:43 #3

• Rosco404

  Sizes of the media can be found here....
  
  http://www.blu-ray.com/

  18.8.2005 01:13 #4

• borhan9

  Well i like the way tech is going as one of the other users said it would b good to c if they become Dual palyer format.
  Quote: Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios. Studios are looking for the best format to allow the storing of much higher quality copies of movies and of course, good protection against piracy, which so far the traditional DVD failed to give.Well when it comes to protection its all about the time game how long will it take for someone to break the protection on the new disc....
  
  I'll b waiting...

  18.8.2005 01:34 #5

• A_Klingon

  Unfortunately it doesn't seem that we can avoid the 'war' that appears inevitable now.
  
  Since no "meeting of the minds" has officially been made, it would seem likely now that the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats are both going to go ahead, full bore, into the non-forgiving marketplace.
  
  One is going to fall by the wayside, and the other is going to make a fortune.
  
  The two factions just couldn't (or wouldn't) co-operate/compromise, so a simple, unified format doesn't seem possible now.
  
  Too bad ..... they both could have shared in a substancial booty, and we (the paying consumers) could have been spared the aggravation of having to babysit these companies while they ry to kill each other off.
  
  (Blu-Ray is going to win). :-)

  18.8.2005 08:22 #6

• Pop_Smith

  @A_Klingon, yeah your probably right about Blu-Ray winning. The only thing that sucks about that is it will take quite a while (I think) to defeat its protection. This means more money wasted on new disks kids, pets etc. ruin. :(

  18.8.2005 08:28 #7

• A_Klingon

  Yep, it will probably take "forever" considering as how there are something like three concurrent copy-protection mechanisms in place for the new format, all used at the same time. (I think).
  
  One of the DRM cripplers is "upgradeable", that is, if cracked, the measure can be changed somehow. As Doom9 pointed out, you *may*, conceiveably, be locked out of your own machine if you attempt to play an 'illegal' disc.
  
  Consumers will not stand for that particular handicap, I don't think.
  
  I hope the hardware companies won't be BoneHeaded enough to actually include a modem-hookup connector in the back of their settop players, requiring a quick dialup to some central authorizing center, to verify the validity of your disc. If they dare to pull that kind of stuff, the whole format will be doomed just as the original Circuit City Divx was doomed.
  
  The whole delay-thing (waiting for an eventual winner) may be a good thing for us though, Pop_Smith. It will allow us to avoid becoming "Early Adopters" while the formats Duke it Out. That will save us a Bundle ($$$), especially if we were to have chosen the losing format.
  
  And it's going to be murder for retailers and rental people to stock two different types of discs. (My bet is that they won't tolerate this for very long anyway).
  
  It's a 100% Totally Losing Thing that we have two competing formats, both poised for market release.
  
  One of them is about to experience a very abrupt death.
  
  (See ya later HD-DVD. You had your chance to compromise, and you blew it).

  18.8.2005 09:55 #8

• Jasper44

  Sorry if this is a little off topic, but I found this on the blu-ray.com site.
  
  1.2 Why the name Blu-ray?
  
  The name Blu-ray is derived from the underlying technology, which utilizes a blue-violet laser to read and write data. The name is a combination of "Blue" and optical ray "Ray". According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the spelling of "Blu-ray" is not a mistake. The character "e" is intentionally left out because a daily-used term can't be registered as a trademark.
  
  If that last sentence is true then how did Trump trademark "You're Fired"?

  18.8.2005 15:49 #9

• slacker1

  I don't know why people are counting HD-DVD out?? I don't know who is going to win but like 90% of people think blu-ray is going win.. But you need to think people we are talking about consumers who are all idiots so whichever one is the better the other one is going to win... that is just how life goes. The one thing I like about HD-DVD is that the players will be able to play my regular dvds in generation 1 and that will not happen with blu-ray (unless something has changed recently)
  
  

  I AM #1 or not I don't really care

  18.8.2005 16:07 #10

• Xsilver

  There dont have to be a loser in the traditional sense. Look at the DVD-R and the DVD+R everybody including me thought the "betamax Vs VHS war" would kick off again and it did a little. Now both formats happily live together and i dont think you can say they is a clear winner.
  
  For me i buy which everyone is the cheapest at the time +r's last month -r's this month. It will all come down to price and if you remember the PS2 big advantage when it came out was that is was compatable with existing PSX games something all the people that bought the original PSX liked.
  
  So i am gonna side with HD-DVD besides which i dont think the DVD has had a long enough life VHS has been around nearly 30 years i aint ready to exchange my dvd collection for Blu-ray discs.

  18.8.2005 16:55 #11

• plutonash

  You guy do realize that HD-DVD will be alot cheaper whether it blank media or not. you think the average joe is going to shell out some serious cash for 1 30-50 blank disc. I think not. Even if the price goes down Sony has a system that coming out that will bleed them money. There not microsoft. i honestly can see Sony filing or bankrupty i this whole experiment goes bad.

  18.8.2005 22:42 #12

• A_Klingon

  That's never going to happen, plutonash.
  
  Sony has been around far too long and is far too entrenched in the electronic hardware bizz (and movie bizz too - don't forget - they own the entire Columbia Motion Pictures Studios' catalog now) to go bankrupt in my lifetime or yours.
  
  They are an established, international electronics Giant. They have their own, dedicated stores ("The Sony Store") throughout North America. There's a Sony Store right around the corner from where I live. (Canada) They publish their own Sony Store product catalog.
  
  Proprietary format-failures are nothing new to Sony (remember the 'ElCassette'?) Sony mini-disc never caught on in North America in any big way, and I won't even mention BetaMax. Point is, Sony has the financial clout to rebound from these setbacks.
  
  It's been estimated that people will pay up to 30% more for a seemingly-identical product, just because it carries the Sony logo. (I read that in an audio magazine).
  
  Blu-Ray is going to take the world by storm.
  
  HD-DVD's main claim to fame is that it is cheap to make on existing production lines.
  
  Big friggen deal. (Yawn)
  
  The advantages touted by the HD-DVD camp are ALL geared toward potential manufacturers - NOT to you and me (as consumers). Don't be naieve enough to believe that initially-cheaper production costs are going to translate into cheaper prices for you 'n me. 'Taint so.
  
  Blu-Ray is an advanced, whole new format - not a 'left-over', somewhat-enhanced version of what we already have. You can only squeeze so much out of an older format, despite technological advances.
  
  Trust me - I'm a genius. I know everything. :=)

  19.8.2005 01:52 #13

• neo1000

  I hope that wins the one that makes cheaper movies.

  19.8.2005 19:13 #14

• A_Klingon

  As far as retail price is concerned, I strongly suspect that the studios have a set retail price in mind, regardless of format.
  
  Doesn't make any difference which type of disc (or discS) they are released on. The studios will charge whatever they feel they can get away with.
  
  In other words .......... get your credit card out.
  
  P.S. I hope to god they don't introduce both formats. What a WASTE of time and money that's going to be. Dual inventories. Two damned playback machines. Incompatible formats. Expensive. Stupid.
  
  (God!)

  19.8.2005 19:47 #15

• saintdogg

  "There dont have to be a loser in the traditional sense. Look at the DVD-R and the DVD+R everybody including me thought the "betamax Vs VHS war" would kick off again and it did a little. Now both formats happily live together and i dont think you can say they is a clear winner.
  -Xsilver"
  
  Yes but dvd +r and -r are still both dvds. a store bought dvd is neither, it is a dvd-rom, but all three are dvd format.
  hd-dvd and blu-ray are entirely different formats. so that means the aformentioned competing movie companies' movies will be incompatible with their opposers (in 1st gen consoles as said by others) ie you'd need 2 different players for the first year-2.
  
  their is stupid...if one wins, let it be hd-dvd
  

  20.8.2005 21:17 #16

• thenaz11c

  You may not win, but you don't have to lose.
  
  Patince is what is needed here for the consumer. Let the companys hack at each other to see who will have the lions share. Normal dvd isn't going anywhere for some time, so your not going to wake up anytime soon not being able to get a new movie. Let the manufactures come out with the first couple generations of their products, see what they got and then make decisions. I my self will be looking to see what some of our more proactive friends in the disk reproduction area come up with before I even reach for my wallet on this one.

  20.8.2005 21:35 #17