The format wars may be over as we know it. This a a HUGE blow to HD dvd.

Warner Bros. Entertainment to Release its High-Definition DVD Titles Exclusively in the Blu-Ray Disc Format Beginning Later This Year
January 04, 2008

In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."

Maybe I can go hi-def sooner now than expected. I didn't wanna end up with a dead format next year.

*indifference*

this is a strong endorsement for PS3

Glad I bought my Blu-ray player a couple of weeks ago. The tide seemed to be turning in favor of BR, so I made an educated gamble. Yay me.

I posted an article on here like a year ago predicting the demise of HD DVD and everyone yelled at me.

Anyway, how much do decent/cheap Blu Ray players cost? I'm not putting any money down on this crap until its more popular and cheaper.

i hate having purchased some 150 regular DVDs only to have another format come along. i guess it's bound to happen and is what people experienced when VHS went out of style. still, it sucks having spent money on these things only to have another format come along.

relax, it is not like VHS cause the next gen formats still play DVDs, so it is no lose. Unless you buy the losing side.

So how many people actually get these? I don't know anyone yet.

blu-ray? you mean tv can be in colour now?

Your best bet is a PS3. You get the Blu-ray player and game system for $399. If you don't want the game system at all, then there are Blu-ray players out there for a little cheaper.

I told everybody months ago here, that Blu-ray will be taking over the industry. Yesterday sister company New Line is now going exclusive with Blu-Ray. http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=808. 2 big guns Warner & New Line are with Blu-ray .. and it's the first week of January.

"Apple will announce Bluray in their upcoming machines at MacWorld, and hopefully Paramount will finally come back into the fold (although I wonder if they'll have to give back those hundreds of millions of dollars they got for going exclusive?)."

Blu-ray support :

Warner Bros.
Disney (Buena Vista)
Fox
Lionsgate
MGM
Sony Pictures


HD-DVD support :

Paramount
Universal Studios


The price on the Blu-ray & HD-DVD movies are not much different with the price of reg DVD movies.
For example: Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire 2007 Release

$18.99 DVD
$23.99 HD-DVD
$19.99 Blu-Ray

The party for HD DVD is over, literally
Posted by Michael Kanellos
War is hell, particularly when you want to schedule cocktail parties.

The HD DVD Promotional Group had scheduled a cocktail party and a press conference this Sunday evening in Las Vegas to tout the "progress" it has made in high definition video and the ongoing format war with the Blu-ray consortium.

On Friday, however, the group sent out a note terminating the event because Warner Home Video earlier in the day said it would switch exclusively to the Blu-ray format.

"Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," the cancellation read. "We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability--a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format."

The original invite was a lot more upbeat:

"Please join us as we present exciting news and a sneak peak at what's to come for 2008," it read, "featuring executives from the HD DVD Promotional Group: Intel, Microsoft, Paramount Home Entertainment, Toshiba, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Warner Home Video."

Warner leaving the group probably wasn't the exciting sneak peek they had in mind. But you have to wonder, why cancel? Was Warner bringing the food? Springing for the drinks? If they had any guts, the remaining members could have bought a keg and held a party in the parking lot.

We've all faced rejection, and the way to deal with it is to get shamelessly drunk and loud in public, after all. Where did these people learn their manners? The upside is that you will probably see a lot of derelicts walking around the strip with "HD DVD 2008" shoulder bags that they found in a dumpster.

The cancellation also marks two bad CESes in a row for Toshiba. Last year, the company abruptly canceled plans to show off its SED TVs at the show. Subsequently, it tossed responsibility for SED to Canon.

Ironically, HD DVD players have outsold standalone Blu-ray players. At Ceatec last October, Blu-ray execs said that their group would become more aggressive in late 2007 in promoting the format and try to gain an advantage by the first quarter of 2008.

is there a large contrast between the regular dvd and the hidef format? it's probably nothing compared to the differences between VHS and DVD.

On a 1080p TV it's pretty striking.

I can also depend on the movie itself. I have seen some shitty ones that weren't transfered very well, but for the most part there is a definite improvement. You're right though, it's nothing like the transition from VHS to DVD or regular cable to high def.

Blue Ray has been out selling HD DVD in terms of movies not players, right?
I thought I read they were by quite a margin.

If you've got the equipment to take advantage of it, you'll definitely notice the difference between DVD and the HD format.

there can be a huge difference between older DVDs and their brand new HD transfer, but as far as new DVDs are concerned, there is of course a difference, but nothing that you can't live without.