AfterDawn: News

Warner announces support for Blu-Ray

We reported two weeks ago that Warner Brothers was getting ready to put support behind the Blu-Ray disc format, while still release movies on the HD-DVD format also and on Thursday, Warner finally made the official announcement. The company will now join the board of the Blu-Ray Disc Association. The pledge to still release movies using HD-DVD makes Warner the second major movie studio to support both formats.

Paramount was the first earlier this month to say that it will release content for both formats to give consumers a choice. Now NBC Universal remains the only movie company that supports only the HD-DVD format and not Blu-Ray at all. None of the studios that originally backed Blu-Ray, including The Walt Disney Co., have announced plans to release movies using the HD-DVD format as well as Blu-Ray. Warner's official announcement comes just a day after Hewlett-Packard urged the Blu-Ray camp to implement more consumer friendly features such as Mandatory Managed Copy.



Now it seems that everyone is accepting that a costly format war is coming, which is why two major movie studios have already decided to use both formats. Hollywood is seeing DVD sales slow down and since major movie studios make the majority of profits from home video sales, they are very eager to start releasing high definition movies. A format war however will most likely set back demand for high definition material by a few years.

Disney and Twentieth Century Fox applauded the announcement by Warner saying that strengthening Blu-Ray's advantage could avoid the costly competition between two formats. "The continued dramatic momentum toward Blu-ray makes us more optimistic than ever that a format war can be avoided," said Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Source:
MercuryNews.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 20 Oct 2005 23:05

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• 15 comments

• sisph

  Any word on Microsoft still sticking with HDDVD?

  21.10.2005 06:09 #1

• diabolos

  It sounds like all of the movie theaters will do the same. Support both formats. That would make it a level playing field so consumers can judge each format on its merits without being forced to back one or both because thier favorite movies are only in one format.
  
  From what I have read it seem that HD-DVD had the best hardware support while Blue-Ray (BD) has the most content. HD-DVD has killer features that BD seems reluctant to include in its format.
  
  Ced

  21.10.2005 06:27 #2

• A_Klingon

  I can't stand Hewlett Packard. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. I have personally boycotted any further purchases of their products.
  Quote:(...announcement comes) just a day after Hewlett-Packard urged the Blu-Ray camp to implement more consumer friendly features such as Mandatory Managed Copy.Any time HP recommends or supports a new, as-yet-unimplemented technoloy, the RED FLAGS go up in my mind's eye. It seems that they (along with an increasing number of the larger players) are heading hell-bent for this "Mandatory Managed Copy" crap. Make no mistake - MMC is nothing more than undisguised DRM.
  
  The studios won't be happy until they firmly control what you can back-up, when you can back-up, how often you can back-up, or even if you can back-up at all.
  
  And "backing-up" doesn't necessarily mean to a blank blu-ray disc either. Even if a consumer is "graciously permitted" to make an archival copy of his legit, retail-bought disc, that doesn't mean he can put it on a disc. It may only be back-uppable to a hard disc or portable playback device.
  
  "Mandatory Managed Copy", like all other DRM initiatives drummed up before it, is simply another form of cancer.
  
  No wonder HP endorses it. And Warner Brothers too.
  
  You'd better hold-off being an early-adopter of WB's blu-ray discs until you have a chance to read for yourself the *outrage* purchasers will be telling us about in these pages, when they discover that they can't do nearly a damn thing with their encrypted MMD'd discs.
  
  

  21.10.2005 08:35 #3

• nonoitall

  I'll support whichever one gets cracked first.

  21.10.2005 11:49 #4

• borhan9

  @nonoitall
  Quote:I'll support whichever one gets cracked first.I like that idea :) Ill do the samne...
  
  But for the time being i will stick with normal DVD format it will b awhile b4 these 2 other formats will become the norm.
  
  Ill just sit from a far and watch the war begin :)
  

  21.10.2005 12:37 #5

• sisph

  I was reading up on the MMC crap on CNET. So correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the way MMC works is by allowing you to copy content and distribute it on a network but not allow you to update the contents online or burn them to a DVD? I'm not really sure how that's gonna work. I have no expierence programming or writing software and I just know a tad bit about backing up my movies on DVD.
  
  This might sound stupid, (and I guess it is) but you don't really have to crack the MMC right? you just find a way to circumvent it running on the operating system and that way you bypass it?

  21.10.2005 13:20 #6

• sisph

  oh wait,
  
  my point is if you wanted to circumvent the MMC it isn't so much about decrpyting the disc (because if you can copy and distribute it in the first place) it's fooling around with an OS to give you permission to do so, on your own terms.

  21.10.2005 13:23 #7

• tanviper

  If the MMC is software only, then you know it's going to get cracked with days (if it hasn't already) of it's release. If it's hardware, then there will be a mod chip, or add in board to your computer....I wouldn't sweat this.

  21.10.2005 15:59 #8

• bomber991

  Whichever one netflix goes to is the one I'll support. Oh yeah, and whichever one gets cracked first too, like that other guy said.

  21.10.2005 21:38 #9

• DaOsT

  I like blu ray Myself
  

  ::LivE ForeveR OR DiE TryiN!!::....::DonT FinD US WE WilL FinD YoU::..
  ChecK OuT ThE PenguiN GamE AnD PosT YouR HighesT DistancE ON ThE ForuM
  http://www.gazholland.co.uk

  21.10.2005 21:45 #10

• christ93

  Its gonna be 5 to 10 years before we are going to have to worry about MMC or new encryption on the next gen of DVD. DVD has just in the last few years hit big. people are not going to want to buy new hardware just to see the same video quality that they can get now. How much Hidef can the human eye pick out. DVD is just fine for most of us. I will also support the next gen DVD that is cracked first

  22.10.2005 09:16 #11

• tanviper

  "How much Hi-def can the human eye pick out?"
  
  Well, a lot. I have COX HI-DEF TV, and let me tell you, it rocks! I also get ABC, NBC, CBS, and Universal TV in HI DEF. REALLY big difference from normal TV to HI-DEF TV.
  
  I'm going to go with BluRay myself, and only replace my "must see" and "wow" titles with a newer copy. Most of my DVD's look fine, so I won’t be replacing about 85% of my collection.
  
  I’ll replace my Star Wars, Star Trek (most of them), Firefly, Serenity, Starship troopers, Batman Begins, Riddick, and a few others.
  

  22.10.2005 16:48 #12

• holoman

  I disagree,
  
  Holographic Storage will have 1,000 times the storage capacity, 1,000 times the bandwidth, and 1,000 times less cost per bit.
  
  http://colossalstorage.net
  
  

  23.10.2005 06:36 #13

• DVDCO

  I echo what A_Klingon says on HP.
  HP SUCKS----If only they'd suck harder and swallow themselves !!

  23.10.2005 07:30 #14

• PANIC567

  If microsft goes with HDDVD, i have to go with blu-ray. Also, whichever one i can burn stuff onto the cheapest. I dont see any point whatsoever for me having to buy a blu ray reader -just- to watch a stupid movie. Putting data on the disc is the only reason i would and will use Blu-Ray.

  23.10.2005 09:37 #15