Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The one of MANY HD-DVD threads (No bashing Blu-Ray)

agreed Daniel - does nothing but confuse the issue for people who are already confused enough;

Now you have to convince the guy to buy a new HD TV, buy a new player, buy a new disk, then make sure you put the new disk in on the side matching your new player....

Just gets worse and worse; Compare that to what Apple is doing, and it's no wonder people just say, screw it; I'd rather pay for easier than better, thank you...

ken

To illustrate the point of support and software I made above, I offer the following for consideration by our learned Hikers...
Here is a list of 2007 announced releases that are EXCLUSIVE to each format; The source is from AVS forum where some members are keeping track on-going. Can't wait - some great titles!! and many more to be announced I'm sure....

BLU-RAY 2007
Gridiron Gang (1/16)
Resident Evil: The Apocalypse (1/16)
Alien Vs Predator (1/23)
Men of Honor (1/23)
Courage Under Fire (1/23)
Open Season (1/30)
Flyboys (1/30)
Hart's War (1/30)
Running With Scissors (2/6)
The Tailor of Panama (2/6)
The Sentinel (2/13)
Entrapment (2/13)
Broken Arrow (2/13)
Phone Booth (2/13)
Planet of the Apes (2001) (2/13)
Chain Reaction (2/13)
The Marine (2/13)
Ladder 49 (2/13)
Reign of Fire (2/13)
The Usual Suspects (2/13)
The Prestige (2/20)
Vertical Limit (2/20)
Stranger Than Fiction (2/27)
Casino Royale (3/13)
Dances with Wolves (3/13)
The Thomas Crown Affair (3/13)
Hoosiers (3/13)
Layer Cake (3/13)
Ice Age (3/13)
Dodgeball (3/13)
Commando (3/13)
From Hell (3/13)
Chicken Little (3/20)
Finding Neverland (3/20)
King Arthur: Director's Cut (4/3)
G.I. Jane (4/3)The Fly (1986) (4/3)
Tristan & Isolde (4/3)
Me, Myself & Irene (4/3)
Dude, Where's My Car? (4/3)
Turistas (4/17)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (May)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (May)
Con Air (6/8)
Crimson Tide (6/8)
The Rock (6/8)
Cars (Summer)
The Recruit (Summer)
Open Range (Summer)
Remember the Titans (Fall)
Master & Commander (May)
Man on Fire (May)
Edward Scissorhands (May)
Predator (May)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (May)
The Siege (May)
Independence Day (June)
I, Robot (June)
Cast Away (June)
Prison Break Season 1 (TBA)
24 Season 1 (TBA)
The Silence of the Lambs (April)
Hannibal (April)
Platoon (May)
The Graduate (May)
Battle of Britain (May)
A Bridge Too Far (May)
Ronin (June)
To Live & Die in L.A. (June)
A Fistful of Dollars (June)
Out of Time (June)
Walking Tall (June)
Bull Durham (June)
A Few Good Men (TBA)
Hostel (TBA)
Jerry McGuire (TBA)

HD-DVD 2007
The Sting (Universal)
Brokeback Mountain (Universal)
Half Baked (Universal)
Hollywoodland (Universal)
Planet Earth: The Complete Collection (BBC) The Mummy Returns (Universal)
The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Universal)
American PIe (Universal)
American Pie (Unrated) (Universal)
American Pie Presents: A Naked Mile (Universal)
The Aviator (Universal)
The Black Dahlia (Universal)
The Blues Brothers (Universal)
The Bourne Identity (Universal)
Conan the Barbarian (Universal)
Dante's Peak (Universal)
Dawn of the Dead (2003) (Universal)
Idlewind (Universal)
Inside Man (Universal)
The Lemon Drop Kid (Universal)
Pride & Prejudic3 (Universal)
The Return (Universal)
Scoop (Universal)
Se7en (Universal)

I'm not sure it's a huge factor, but if you believe 2007 releases of RECENT (2006) hits will play an important role, note the 2006 studio total box office results (from Hollywood Reporter):
Note the top 3 are BD exclusive studios for 2007 releases...

----------------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A swaggering pirate, a hotshot roadster and a sexy new 007 helped bring moviegoers back to theaters last year, as domestic ticket sales recovered from a down year in 2005.

Along the way, Sony Pictures reached new heights, claiming 13 No. 1 releases and a domestic box office record of $1.698 billion.

Second-ranked Disney ($1.5 billion) claimed the top two films of the year with "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" ($423 million) and "Cars" ($244 million).

20th Century Fox held steady at No. 3 ($1.4 billion) thanks to a solid string of films including "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and "The Devil Wears Prada."

Meanwhile, 2005 market leader Warner Bros. Pictures, which arguably had one of the most anticipated slates of the year, tumbled to fourth ($1.1 billion), because of such misfires as "Poseidon," "Lady in the Water" and a disappointing "Superman Returns," even though the superhero's long-awaited return did climb above the $200 million mark domestically.

Paramount Pictures ($953 million) made some gains thanks to its acquisition of DreamWorks, which provided the studio's top-grossing movie, the animated film "Over the Hedge."

Universal Pictures ($796 million) also struggled -- not only did it lose longtime chief Stacey Snider to DreamWorks, but it propelled only one film, the romantic comedy "The Break-Up," into the $100 million club.

New Line Cinema ($252 million) and MGM ($171 million) brought up the rear, with only one movie between them -- the latter studio's "Rocky Balboa" -- cracking $50 million.
-----------------------------------------------------

Well, thats it- Dude Wheres My Car is on BRD!



best regards,
Jerry

I just wish YOU'RE car was in MY driveway!!!

ken
(inside joke - sorry)

Ken, can you confirm that these are exclusive to the format because of the studio or because of the distributor?

As you are probably aware that in Europe, many titles are distributed by a different distributor than other regions so what is exclusive to a format in one region may be available on another format in another region. So titles that are region free can be purchased from a different region if the title is not available on that format in the home region.

I don't have any specific examples, but I believe that Terminator is one such example - Blu-ray in US, HD DVD in Europe.

Don't know where that list is from, but Se7en is New Line (format neutral) and The Aviator is Warner (format neutral). Planet Eath is also coming out on both formats.

There's one you can add however. CBS announced that despite supporting both formats, they will issue the remastered original series of Star Trek in the latter part of 2007 as a DVD/HD DVD combo release. A Bluray version will probably surface in 2008 though.


There are very few on that list that have alternative distributors outside of America. Master & Commander is handled by Universal in Europe however, and The Prestige is handled by Warner. Pathe oculd release Dances with Wolves in Europe if they wanted. There might be one or two more, but 99% of those titles are bound to Disney, Sony and Fox globally. The whole argument over movies having different distributors which might help HD DVD is really, as far as the majority of big BIG movies are concerned, pretty baseless and I do wish Amir…etc would stop touting this is as a bigger deal than it actually is.

Fipping the disc is no biggie. DVD did it with "Standard" and "Widescreen".

Ken,
LOL. To me, the conspiracy theory guy, who has the most to gain/ lose with BR? Sony probably. Casino Royale is great, but wheres Spiderman I&II?

I think THD is a good idea but the price and other factors are likely to drag it down and frankly, that packaging is horrible. My 4 year old could come up with a better logo.

best regards,
Jerry

All comments above I'm sure are valid; This is US based and I'm sure not an exact list, but they are based on Exclusivity of studio for the format; I wouldn't get into each and every one, as there will be European exceptions due to different distributors - Althogh most will be correct.

It's meant to provide indication of relative numbers and indicates to me that it will be virtually impossible for HD-DVD to somehow replace BD as the total single format winner (not speaking to co-existence) - Unless of course all of these exclusive studios decide to switch.

Jerry - good point ; I'm guessing Spidey will be here in 2007 as well, sometime around Spidey 3 maybe...

Again, I'm buying both formats right now because of the titles available; I would encourage other early adopters to do the same; I'm going to enjoy this ride for the thrill...!

ken

The first two Spider-Man films will either appear on Bluray at the time of Spider-Man III cinema release, or Sony will release all three together in October/November. The same can probably be assumed of Fox and the Die Hard series, which has yet another instalment out this summer.


I rarely have a bad word to say about Warner, but with their hybrid disc concept they are introducing yet another HD disc standard to the market with potentially disastrous consequences. I think they`re a hideous idea.

The consumer would be faced with:

HD DVD
HD DVD/DVD hybrid
Bluray
TotalHD Bluray/HD DVD hybrid

TotalHD does nothing but attempt to justify prolonging the life of both formats rather than leaving it split and up to the consumer to decide a winner. These discs will really only benefit one group, and that`s the retailers as it saves them having to stock two formats… except, they`re going to have to keep stocking two formats anyway because outside of Warner/New Line/HBO, no other studio is likely to ever adopt these hybrids. Perhaps Paramount will, but Disney have already said they think it a stupid idea, and Fox and Sony are so bullish toward Bluray they would never dare adopt such a thing.

So where does that leave the consumer? Even more confused. Not only do they have two different formats to think about, they`re then left questioning why Pirates of the Caribbean 3 doesn`t play on both formats when Harry Potter 5 would. There`s also the danger they might think TotalHD is a format unto itself!

These discs will also force Warner to cease releasing HD DVD/DVD hybrid releases, which I do honestly believe for new releases are a great advantage HD DVD can offer the consumer, and what`s more, with these types of disc they would no longer have any way of tracking sales of their content for one format or another. The discs might sell, but how on Earth would they know what format users are playing them on? It`s absurd.

Interesting List of International Hd-DVD discs being maintained here :

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=249791


~M~

I will tell you where it leaves the Consumer. With good old DVD, thats where!!

Only enthusiasts will buy 2 machines. Plus a CD player.
CD playback in these mchines is said to be poor. I bet Joe six pack would be happy with it.

Shops cannot afford to stock multiple formats too in any meaningfull amounts.

This HD is an enthusiasts Niche product and it will remain so for a long time, or untill its down to ONE FORMAT backward compatible.

I personaly hope this day will come, but I aint holding my breath.

Cheers, Chris