Blockbuster Chooses Blu-ray 351
s31523 writes "The format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray has posted another battle, this time the victor seems to be the Blu-ray side. Blockbuster has announced it has chosen Blu-ray as the HD format to rent out in the majority of its stores. This decision comes after rental data was looked at for the 250 stores that carry both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray with the majority of rentals being Blu-Ray. Blockbuster now plans to stock Blu-ray only in 1450 of it's stores, but says the 250 stores with the HD-DVD movies will be kept on the shelf."
Oh? (Score:5, Funny)
8 rentals versus 6?
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But it gets pRon! [joystiq.com]
Freedom to choose (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Freedom to choose (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet another win for BitTorrent, which allows you to pick your favorite HD format!
:-P
monk.e.boy
Re:Freedom to choose (Score:5, Funny)
Re:BB online still has HDDVD (Score:4, Insightful)
Is netflix starting a chain of B&M rental outlets to compete with BB?
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Is netflix starting a chain of B&M rental outlets to compete with BB?
Only if their management are a bunch of shortsighted numpties. What they'll be doing instead is buying up datacenter space worldwide and installing terabytes of fast disk and boatloads of bandwidth.
I predict that BlueRay and HD-DVD won't even make a splash as they sink without trace. ok they may sell some in the US where they have 3rd world levels of bandwidth, but the rest of the world is going to be downloading it's HD movies to HD PVRs... legally or not...
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Let me be the first to say (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Let me be the first to say (Score:5, Interesting)
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Food for thought (Score:3, Insightful)
how appropriate (Score:5, Funny)
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Here? really? we have Sony (among others) for "blu-ray" and M$ (among others) for HD-DVD. Whatever the opposite of fanboy is, that's me. I hope that they both lose.
You can prefer one on a rational basis (Score:4, Informative)
There is no reason to hope both lose. I'd really hate to be suck with DVDs for several years while the next-next-gen media gets its act together, and probably does the exact same thing all over again.
Me, I prefer Blu-ray because Sony takes their recordable-data business seriously and they're getting that stuff to market much faster. You might prefer something else, like HD-DVD because the hardware is a bit cheaper. Either way, there are plenty of rational non-fanboy reasons to prefer formats. The most irrational view I can think of is your position. How would the completely failure of the new media types benefit the market or consumers?
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Are you paid by Sony and/or BMG? Because otherwise I cannot understand your extremely specious reasoning.
Corporations are entities that we are asked to treat [legally, and only more or less, but bear with me] as people. They are single entities, even when made up of other entities. And in fact all of them are, because they are made up of multiple people
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A little meaning, perhaps (Score:5, Insightful)
If Wal-Mart decides not to stock HD-DVD (or, for that matter, Blu-Ray) titles, then that's more interesting.
Myself, I think the idea of two formats which (unlike VHS/Betamax) are, at first glance, practically identical and come in very similar cases yet require different players is absurd. Unless and until either one wins or dual-format players become commonplace, there's going to be some very pissed off people when they get their shiny new film home only to find that it won't play.
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More importantly, even if you tell your aunt Becky 4 times (twice in writing no less,) you'll still get the wrong damned format come the great unwrapping time. Never mind the
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LoB
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I would say equally interesting. I think a rental giant will have more sway than a retailer as I believe the average consumer rents more than they buy. If I wanted to buy a HD format (well, I wouldn't because regular DVD is all I need, but IF I did, I would get a duel-player), if I had a choice of renting Blu-rays at any number of Blockbusters (I'm also a Blockbuster Online member) or having a hard time finding HD-DVD rentals, I would choose Blu-R
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That would get expensive, having to put both a BR and HD version of the same movie in the player
and only getting a single one back.
I suggest Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, that way you can put both movies in the duel player and
chant "TWO DISKS ENTER, ONE DISK LEAVES!".
Does this even matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Does this even matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
The cost of ownership is significantly lower too... pay your cable/satellite company $5 for the movie you want to see using the equipment you already have or buy a $500+ player and go to the store (or wait for delivery of) a rental + however much that costs.
I see the HD-DVD vs BRD debate along the same lines as the DVD-Audio vs SACD debate... which format one that war? NEITHER the equipment was over priced, crippled by DRM and only a fraction of the market owned the supporting equipment to fully utilize it nevermind become actually interested in it.... who won that war? technically it still rages on but the real victor was the MP3 and other digitally distributed forms of music... far and wide technically inferior to the DVD-A and SACDs but it's pretty apparent that consumers go for convenience over quality... at least in terms of their media.
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Big DIFFERENCE between movies and music (Score:3, Informative)
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Yes, sometimes you do. Obviously not all the time but sometimes that is a choice consumers have to make.
If you're looking at portable media players you will never get the same quality out of those that is delivered by a SACD or DVD-A in a full high end surround sound setup... Not only is the music compressed way beyond what you'd get on SACD or DVD-A t
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Re:Does this even matter? (Score:5, Interesting)
The only service I've used that distributes a large number of HD movies online is the Xbox Live Marketplace on the 360. A 720p movie on there usually ranges from 6-7 GB which has takes 8-12 hours over my DSL line. Someone can correct me, but that size seems a bit small to be a true HD film. Most Blu-Ray/HD-DVD movies are 1080p, AFAIK. Besides the 360 & PS3, BR/HDDVD are the only ways to get a true 1080p image (no one broadcasts above 1080i). As the owner of a 1080p HDTV, that makes this format war all the more annoying.
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Since we're talking speed, BD and HD-DVD both max out at around 30Mb/s. How many years until I get more bandwidth from my Internet connection than a HD player gets from its disk? At this point, it makes more sense to plug something like an Apple TV into your HDTV and stream movies than it does to buy them on physical disk.
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AT&T/SBC
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For whom? Geeks with fancy computers hooked up to their TVs? The only digital distribution for movies I use is empornium.us for my fix because the local video store with a "back room" has a shit selection of what I want to watch and I don't like being taxed $8/video because there are no other porn peddling stores in town.
For the rest, I go to the Hollywood Video kiosk at the grocery st
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I wish this statement was true, but until bandwidth is available to every home with a TV, Digital Distribution will remain a niche player.
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Yes, and it sucks. It's basically YouTube on 'roids; you have to watch it on a computer, and it's streamed (not really downloaded), and it's Windows-only. I've played around with it and found it interesting from a technical standpoint but otherwise totally uncompelling. And this is from someone who *does* have computers driving most of the TV monitors in their house.
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Some of you love watching your movies on a 15" laptop screen. Most everyone else wants it on their 42" plasma or in their home theater with a 102" or larger screen.
Those are the people buying blu ray and HDDVD not the poor college kid that sits in his bunk in the dorm room with the covers over his/her head watching a movie on his laptop.
That's the Microsoft meme (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft sure thinks this is the way. That's why they backed HD-DVD, to try and keep the format war going long enough to make sure Microsoft is in control of the majority of digital distribution via Live and to fragment physical formats.
However, what is not being factored in here are two issues:
1) Size and thus quality of downloads.
2) DRM
You can download HD media today, but even the 720p stuff Microsoft offers takes a while. As 1080p sets become more popular, there simply are not a lot of people who will be able to download 1080p versions of movies over the network, for many many years to come as fiber is slowly built out to homes. A physical Blu-Ray disc offers 50 GB of storage - how long will it be before you can download anything near that amount in any kind of reasonable time? Even with torrents a few GB can take a while.
On top of that, the video people buy online is not really very transferable - Apple comes close by being able to also put video on an iPod, but it's still not something you can share. So people will be inclined to buy some video online, but if they really like a show or movie still pick up a physical disc for that just so they can share it or carry it around between devices easier.
P.S. Yes Netflix offers movies, but not all of them and only online streaming. A cool way to check out a bit of this or that but not very practical for watching whole movies, and nowhere near the quality even of DVD, much less Blu-Ray!
They should stock both but... (Score:2, Informative)
Evenrually, it'll be like a DVD-R/DVD+R situation - players will support both and that will be the end of it.
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To be skeptical of the PS3 because of this issue, you'd also have to be skeptical of any other CD or DVD player on the market since and until the PS3 was released.
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I watched a few DVD movies on it when 1.8 came out and I really couldn't believe they were the same DVD's I'd watched before.
Of course, the benefit of the upsca
"We have no Blockbluster, you insensitive clod" (Score:4, Interesting)
One "advantage" of living in a depressed post-industrial area of the country - we are ahead of the curve in terms of business that will eventually no longer exist closing before everyone else. We lost our last CD stores years ago, and the one downtown bookstore closed just this year. Yippee.
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If BB can't survive with its much lower overhead and cash reserve to get it through rough patches, what makes you think several mom and pop video stores would?
Maybe they're more willing to accept lower profits? Or perhaps a greater ability to adapt to the local market? Big chains aren't necessarily the best competitors.
Re:"We have no Blockbluster, you insensitive clod" (Score:4, Interesting)
1. The owners may be inclined to stay in the area and tend the shop, so it doesn't matter that the capital could be better used elsewhere.
2. The owners can't just ship the DVDs to their 500 other stores with minimal loss. If they close shop they must liquidate probably for pennies on the dollar.
3. The owners may be able to use dodgy practices to reduce their costs, without the liabilities a major concern faces.
4. The small business probably has less overhead.
Now, in a hot market the small business will get killed by the corporation, but the small guy may stick around long after the corporation leaves - if for no other reason than they don't have much choice...
Wow, this is huge (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wow, this is huge (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Wow, this is huge (Score:4, Informative)
Between Warner and Paramount it looks like around 70-80 titles are currently available on both formats according to High-Def Digest's [highdefdigest.com] historical release [highdefdigest.com] lists [highdefdigest.com].
Warner's been a little quicker about getting their HD-DVD titles out, so they have about 20 more titles that are still waiting for Blu-Ray releases.
Re:Wow, this is huge (Score:5, Insightful)
Blockbuster only stocks "hits". And not for very long, at that.
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You might know the difference, but your spouse might not.
It makes more sense to pick one horse and back it.
They're not going to immediately fill the store with titles most people don't have equipment to play, anyway, so there's already going to be two formats in the store. Three is just asking for trouble.
And if Blu-Ray did fail, then they could just sell off the backstock and go to HD-DVD; if one format does go tits-u
Strong echoes with VHS/Betamax (Score:4, Insightful)
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I wish they'd do that again..
Another Layer of DRM (Score:5, Interesting)
For now, as a user who wants to play HD content with free software, I'm going to advocate the use of HD-DVD and not Blu-Ray.
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It'll be broken.
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The reason it hasn't been broken is because it hasn't been used. Once they start trying to stop copying it will be broken in a matter of days, even if it's merely playing it back on an HD screen and recording it with an HD camera.
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But it is just DRM. (Score:2)
It wouldn't matter if something you stick in your PC had God-DRM mark XIV or whatever magical DRM the movie industry has wet dreams about, it's still DRM and it's still just as breakable.
Rampant grammar-Nazism (Score:5, Funny)
What sort of shelf can fit 250 retail stores, exactly?
Re:Rampant grammar-Nazism (Score:5, Funny)
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Oh God, I suppose I must be accustomed to such glaring mistakes due to their overexposure in common use. Dammit.
Perhaps that's how language changes over time: eventually, we anal types just stop caring, and eventually stop noticing.
DOH! ... or ... (Score:5, Insightful)
The future ain't DVD, of any format. The future be network distributed content, no matter what the US film industry wants you to think.
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People (including me) like physical media because if all you have is a license and a file, your license can be revoked. Of course, there are schemes where that is possible with physical media as well, but that stuff has to call home (so far) and people haven't yet displayed a willingness to stand for that kind of shit (witness the failure of circuit shitty's divx project. a
Keep up the format war til the DRM is dead (Score:2)
Then whatever format wins will be actually useful by real people, so they can see the movies on any computer or TV they own, using any display they choose, and using any operating system. So they can back up their media (which always gets scratched or otherwise destroyed)
Other way (Score:2)
It's best to have one format for this though so hackers don't have to split efforts. And then the other format can't shift to offer new DRM that we have to crack again.
When there's only one format, when it's cracked it stays cracked. Just need to take out BD+ at this point
News That Doesn't Matter (Score:4, Insightful)
Firstly, there's price. I'm not just talking the price of players here, though that is a factor right now. The big thing is that the vast majority of people do not own televisions that will benefit from a higher-quality format. The cost of having a television that will benefit from this has to be added on to the startup cost, and that price hasn't seemed like it's gone down at all. Sure, you can get high-def 22" sets - but with a set that small, the difference between DVD and HD-format is pretty nullified. Again, only enthusiasts will notice a difference.
Another big reason is customer fatigue. DVDs have only relatively recently obtained high penetration in the home market - in no part thanks to cheap players from Walmart and other discount stores. Now customers are being asked once again to spend money to upgrade their collections... and as I said above, the startup price is not trivial for marginal improvement in quality. No, there are no MPAA-Nazis... oh, there are. My point is, no one is forcing them to upgrade - but on the other hand, the mass amount of customers just don't care.
Another thing I might point out is that the major indicator of trends - the porn industry - hasn't chosen a format yet. In fact, they're pretty much eschewing physical media for the internet. So, were I to be a betting man, I'd say that an online format is going to be the next big thing - and we're already seeing that with sites like YouTube.
So, in the long run, this isn't really news at all, this is just a blip on the radar.
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It matters for penetration (Score:2)
While your reasons are good, the bigger reason is simply that there ARE two formats. A lot of people are waiting for one to fail. So when one format fails, adoption of the remaining format will be much brisker.
I do not think studios will allow a dual format contest f
Whine (Score:2)
"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[North American HD DVD Promotional Group].
If blockbuster had decided in favor of HD-DVD I bet he would have said "I think Blockbuster is making a decision based on what people want and it is a good move for them strategically." He is only bitching because they didn't pick the HD-DVD format, deal with it!
Obligatory Conspiracy (Score:5, Interesting)
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Today just isn't your day... :) (Score:3, Informative)
This is so sad ... (Score:3, Interesting)
I guess the dying industries need to get into the news somehow.
So sad.
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Most consumers are either rent or purchase their movies. The concept of a DVD player is now ubiquitous in the consumer culture. I consider myself to be VERY computer literate, but I can see major hurdles with trying to toss a 50GB movie file around a home network. Better yet, how would I permit a friend to watch the movie?
I can walk into a Best Buy and pick up 250 GB of movies (I'm generalizing), go home and watch them, sell them, trade them, lend them to friends, etc. etc.
The d
One format means no more price wars (Score:5, Informative)
Reasons to support BD:
- Sony & Disney catalogs
- More storage
Reasons to support HD DVD:
- Universal catalog
- Less DRM, no region codes (imports!)
- Easier to author your own content
- No censorship by factories
Reasons to hope both stay alive:
- Price wars
Not just blockbuster - Hollywood Video also (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Betting on a loser. (Score:4, Informative)
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I must be odd - I don't find the process of driving to the video store, shuffling through the poor selection, finding something that's actually in stock and waiting in line to check out and driving home all that appealing.
I suppose they're still relevant in much the same way Blu-ray vs HD-DVD is relevant.
Other people might see value there - but all I see are the limitations that far outweigh the b
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Re: Netflix HD? I must be missing something here (Score:2)
Re:someone's getting paid off (Score:5, Informative)
Define clear winner. Toshiba has been heavily subsidizing its players to make them sell, yet it's still had to slash its 2007 sales estimates almost in half. Sales of Blu Ray discs outstrip HD DVD almost two to one and the format has the support and backing of the majority of electronics companies and every major studio except one.
It's not a question of if HD DVD will fail but when. Now perhaps some cheap HD DVD players will charge over the hill and save the day, but I think it may be too late for that.
That doesn't mean Blu Ray has set the world alight - it's still transitioning from early adopter to mainstream. But it looks inevitable that in a few years the only things selling in your local store will be DVDs and BDs.
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Second, MPEG2 was mainly used for the initial Blu-ray releases. Casino Royale used AVC at around the same bitrate (~30mbit) and it looks fantastic. I don't even have a 1080p set. I highly doubt it would be possible to get even close to the same quality on DVD (in one disc mind you).
Finally, since it's not in the DVD spec, p