Warner Bros. Weighing HD DVD Offer? Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Warner Bros. Weighing HD DVD Offer? Posted by XanTium | September 10 17:51 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From tvpredictions.com: [QUOTE] Warner Bros is considering a "lucrative offer" to back HD DVD exclusively in the high-def disc format war. That's according to an article in today's Los Angeles Times. The Times writes that "Hollywood insiders" say Warner is "mulling over a lucrative offer that could bring such popular titles as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into the HD DVD camp." The newspaper doesn't say, but the offer is presumably from Toshiba, the leading backer of the HD DVD format. While a Warner switch would seriously boost HD DVD's chances in the high-def format war, the Times reports that the Blu-ray side is also busy trying to line up exclusive deals with studios and retailers. [/QUOTE] Full Story: tvpredictions.com

[DarkSky Forever]

Its not really a surprise. Bluray is doing it, and Toshiba has to follow suit.

It just sucks for consumers that this is happening. Rather than pick one format over another based on quality, price, etc... we have to choose based on what we want to watch.

Meh - a 1080p upconvert DVD player has quality of video very near the 'next gen' HD formats.

[cooljerk_dv]

Meh - a 1080p upconvert DVD player has quality of video very near the 'next gen' HD formats.

LOL, you wish . . people who say that either have a subpar system, or bad eyes. There is a good difference, mostly is color reproduction, and fine details . . even though dvd upscaling looks alot better than not, it is still nowhere close to the detail actual HD content provides.. sorry

this format war will continue for quite a while, but it matters not to me, I have muliple players (both consoles and standalones) for each format, and many movies for them (few dozen HDDVD, and about 20 bluray) . .and growing rapidly (actually most of my HD movies/shows are in .mkv format, a healthy 2.4Tb's so far)

My favorite HD purchase so far is the Planet Earth HDDVD . . looks absolutely stunning

This post has been edited by cooljerk_dv: Sep 11 2007, 12:10 AM

[dvsone]

After the Blockbuster announcement I thought it was only a matter of time till HD DVD died. Toshiba looks to be unleashing a killer offensive.

This post has been edited by dvsone: Sep 11 2007, 01:50 AM

[ravage73]

jeez, this s**t is getting old. its a good thing i stream all my hd movies. F*** em both!

[epsilon72]

Anything that makes the format war over faster......

C'mon Warner, don't disappoint us!

[Elemino]

I sell both formats at my job and I'm truley sick of it all. In the end, the answer to consumers is the picture and sound quality has the same capability... so just pick one. I can't wait for hybrids to become the norm... I don't even have an HDTV and I'm ready for hybrids.

[h3xagram]

Warner... HD DVD exclusive..?

Go Warner!

[DarkSky Forever]

LOL, you wish . . people who say that either have a subpar system, or bad eyes. There is a good difference, mostly is color reproduction, and fine details . . even though dvd upscaling looks alot better than not...

So you disagree, then agree. What point are you trying to make?

[cooljerk_dv]

So you disagree, then agree. What point are you trying to make?

hmm. .

the point i was trying to make was that upscaled dvds are not at all close to the quality of actual HD content, and that upscaling dvds (if you do have to use dvd's still) is definitely a bump up in quality compared to dvd's that aren't upscaled.. . but still much worse that actual HD


i thought that was obvious . .


This post has been edited by cooljerk_dv: Sep 11 2007, 05:14 AM

[biga55]

hmm. .

the point i was trying to make was that upscaled dvds are not at all close to the quality of actual HD content, and that upscaling dvds (if you do have to use dvd's still) is definitely a bump up in quality compared to dvd's that aren't upscaled.. . but still much worse that actual HD
i thought that was obvious . .

Well, how close an upscaled DVD looks in comparison to HD depends on screen size as well. While you probably wouldn't notice anything at 26 inch screen, you would probably notice with something close to 60 inches.

I am also sick of these companies paying off these studios for exclusivity on either side. You guys cheering for this kind of payoff must really not understand that it doesn't help consumers in the end.

[kowrip]

Well, how close an upscaled DVD looks in comparison to HD depends on screen size as well. While you probably wouldn't notice anything at 26 inch screen, you would probably notice with something close to 60 inches.

I am also sick of these companies paying off these studios for exclusivity on either side. You guys cheering for this kind of payoff must really not understand that it doesn't help consumers in the end.

I've seen a few DVDs on an upconverting DVD player and while I think it looked better than when it was played on a regular player, it still did not compare to a true HD signal. I don't see how anybody can think that they are nearly equivalent. Did you ever upscale digital pictures ? They don't look very good at all. Basically, the algorithms are "guessing" at missing data and filling it in. There's simply no comparison to starting with the higher resolution in the first place.

*EDIT: I think cooljerk_dv summed it up nicely

This post has been edited by kowrip: Sep 11 2007, 05:11 PM

[biga55]

I've seen a few DVDs on an upconverting DVD player and while I think it looked better than when it was played on a regular player, it still did not compare to a true HD signal. I don't see how anybody can think that they are nearly equivalent. Did you ever upscale digital pictures ? They don't look very good at all. Basically, the algorithms are "guessing" at missing data and filling it in. There's simply no comparison to starting with the higher resolution in the first place.

*EDIT: I think cooljerk_dv summed it up nicely

I know how upscaling works but let's get practical and consider screen size and viewing distance. What I said, that how close an upscaled DVD looks in comparison to HD depends on screen size is FACT. Go to avsforum and see what they say. It's common sense.

Go look at a resolution chart that maps when viewers benefit from 480p, 720p, and so on as a function of viewing distance and screen size. If you're sitting at least 5 feet from the screen (which is, let's say 26 in), you probably can't see the difference between a good upscaled DVD player and an HD player. If you stand a foot from the screen, you may see a difference but what jackass sits that close to their screen?

Again, I said that you will notice a much better picture once you have a larger screen size, but not with smaller screens like the 26 inchers. You can't just compare upscaled DVD pictures and true HD without taking into account your viewing environment, can you?

This post has been edited by biga55: Sep 13 2007, 05:28 PM

[Chancer]

you probably can't see the difference between a good upscaled DVD player and an HD player.

You need glasses mate.
I have a Panasonic DMREX75. Upscales DVD and a PS3. The Hi Def content on the PS3 (Blu-Ray) is far better than the same film upscaled on the Panasonic and noticeably so. Same will apply for HD-DVD
The source material is a major factor.