Will Blockbuster Change Its Mind On Blu-ray?
One of the first things I thought about when Paramount/Dreamworks made their shocking announcement of HD DVD exclusivity was the recent Blockbuster announcement that they were going to stock Blu-Ray only discs for rent in their stores other than the initial 250 or so that were carrying both.I am sure that Blockbuster management had no clue that Paramount was about to go exclusive and was basing their decisions on the market as it existed at that time in regards to studio content and the sale of the PS3. Right now, the landscape is much different, so much so that Blockbuster must be second guessing their decision. With Paramount and Dreamworks now HD DVD exclusive, there will be many more movies released in the next several months on HD DVD that will not be available on Blu-Ray, with titles such as Blades of Glory and Shrek 3 along with Bourne Ultimatum.
In addition, vendors in the area have reported an increase is demand for HD-DVD players in the past week. The sales of HD-DVD players and software on sites like Amazon have been excellent. I can only imagine the response of customers entering Blockbuster looking for Blades of
Glory on Blu-Ray.
"I am looking for Blades of Glory on Blu-Ray. I don't see it. Can you tell me where it is?" I am sorry sir/madam, it was only released on HD-DVD."
"OK where is that disc? Sorry, we decided not to carry any HD-DVD discs. Why not if our favorite movies are released on that format and not Blu-Ray?"
The attendant will have no good answer for that customer.
Frankly, Blockbuster has a history of such boneheaded decisions. Was it really that long ago when DVD debuted? While Blockbuster was slow on the uptake on DVD rentals and stuck with VHS only for way too long, once they decided to carry DVDs, they would not carry the widescreen versions of discs that were released in separate widescreen and fullscreen (foolscreen) editions.
I can recall how frustrated I was in going to my local Blockbuster and finding 20 or 30 fullscreen version to rent but with no widescreens in stock at all. I would complain and was told often that our customers prefer fullscreen as they want their entire screen to be filled with a picture. They just hate those black bars! Well, after a few months of complaining, the store saw the light and started to carry a few widescreen additions. After several more months, Blockbuster corporate reconsidered and began to carry widescreen versions nationwide. It wasn't too long after that that the fullscreen versions began to disappear from the shelves.
One can't help but wonder whether a similar scenario will play itself out in the next few months. Only time will tell. -- Joseph Whip
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41 Comments:
You fail to mention that there are also many exclusive Blu-Ray titles to appear in the next few months such as the Spiderman Trilogy, POTC 3, Cars, Ratatuille, to name just a few. Everyone thinks that Paramount has won this war when it simply has just prolonged it a bit longer. This biased article is the only thing "boneheaded" here.
Its still a bonehead move, its a movie rental place why they decided to only rent out one format is beyond me. Seeing how some movies is on Blu Ray and some movies are on HD DVD. It was a boneheaded decision to make and people should have both choices of media format when they go in to rent a freakin movie. Your a rental place what does it matter to you.
First, only a few people own a blu-ray or hd-dvd player, even fewer own both (or combo player). Also, aren't they still stocking the regular dvd of these movies?! While it is a bad move to limit your market by taking out product, I don't think it is that big of a deal. If people want to rent an hd-dvd they can just use blockbuster online or netflix. Since most of the people with any sort of hd disc media player are "early-adopters" I am sure they abandonded the brick and mortor video rental stores long ago.
To be honest, the "HD Format Wars" that everyone is so fond of talking about probably don't exist.
Wars have winners and losers; this is more of a competition.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are not BETA and VHS, I really can't see it ending the same way (with one "killing" the other).
More likely it will be more like video game consoles where one is more popular but neither dies.
Each format has (or will have) it's own flagship software, and sometimes a movie might be exclusive to one or the other.
But so what? There's room for a little competition, and besides, good ol' DVD isn't going anywhere and both machines upconvert so it's not like you'll miss out entirely on any movie.
Ugh, I'm sick of this format war crap. Blu-Ray will ultimately win. Why would those 4.5 million people who already own a PS3 start buying up HDDVDs? The PS3 is selling much better than either High Def format stand alone players. Not only is the PS3 a trojan horse for Blu Ray, but they also have alot of really "must have" movies on their formats. Paramount's deal excluded all Speilberg movies, does anyone see a problem with that for the HDDVD camp???
I was pretty upset when Blockbuster anounced they'd only stock the Blu-ray version. I finally caved and gave Netfixs a shot. I've been pretty happy and now I don't care what Blockbuster does anymore!
Everyone thinks PS3 will cause blue-ray to win. Well, it seems to me HD DVD players, costing 200 bucks soon, will have a big role to play. The cheaper alternative will win this one. Your average person doesn't buy a PS3.
Sorry PS3 gamers and lovers of any thing sony makes. U have to buy stand alone cheaper HD DVD palyers to watch movies in EQUALLY & GOOD HD DVD format.
Blu-ray is one more EXCLUSIVE licnesing play and bound to fail.
I see alot of whining posts regarding the paramount studio dropping of Blu-ray. How much Sony paid the Target & Blockbuster to blu-ray shelves only or big commisions on the expensive blu-ray players.
There have not been 4.5 million PS3's sold in the US, not even close, more like 1.5 million.
Blockbuster, who stocks about 1 copy per title in Blu-Ray should NOT reconsider. They don't have blu-ray titles day & date with the SD version so why bother. To Blockbuster this is still a niche market.
Blu-ray is better off without Blades of Glory which doesn't qualify as a movie. It is like a really long, stupid SNL skit..that really isn't that funny either.
Regarding Transformers & Shrek 3 that's all of 2 movies not available on blu-ray, not that big a deal in the TRUE scheme of things.
I admit I had planned to buy both Transformers & Shrek 3 on blu-ray but really it isn't worth losing any sleep over. Life goes on.
The standard def versions of Transformers & Shrek 3 will look like HD DVD quality when played on a blu-ray player.
How ever nothing looks like 1080p Blu-Ray quality when played on a HD DVD player.
Not even close.
Even on a 1080p HD DVD player there is a visual difference.
Blu-Ray is a superior technology.
HD DVD is barely better that standard def upconverted.
Regardless of PS3 or stand alone Blu-ray player, Blu-ray is NOW outselling HD DVD in EVERY market.
Transformers & Shrek cant and wont save HD-DVD
Blu-ray And PS3 will kill it good just wait,
4.5 mill and counting, more ps3's = cheaper players
the world will decide not US and 2 crappy flicks.
and so far its blu-ray by miles WAy beter and more movies coming out on blu~ so tooodles~
I love the last posts. You get paid to post them. BD looks better than HD-DVD? Really? Have you seen both in operation or are you just pulling that out of your butt? I have both and the PQ of both is excellent, although the best looking titles I have seen are HD not BD. I agree that Blades of Glory is a terrible movie. So what? It was hot at the box office and will do real well on HD-DVD. I guess Shrek 3 and Transformers are meaningless but crap like Spiderman 3 and Pirates 3 are important. Spiderman 3 was aweful. So was Pirates 3 which I had to set through with my kids. I loved the first. The second was way too long and the third terrible. But, so what, they both did well at the box office and will do well on BD also. Be consistent rather than spin movies to your side. BD is not better than HD, just different.
No BD is better.
A superior technology.
And I wish I could get paid to do this.
Where do I apply?
HD DVD is barely better than a standard def DVD player that upconverts to 1080i.
All HD DVD players are not equal to Blu-ray.
HD DVD is very misleading in their advertising.
Every Blu-ray player is 1080p.
NOT every HD DVD player is 1080p.
The low end units being sold right now for $299 are NOT 1080p.
And I have both so I DO KNOW.
In fact I have all 3, my first next gen player was a LG DVD recorder / VHS combo that upconverts to 1080i.
I had HD DVD before I had BD. It is not equal.
It seems like the HD DVD camp sees the glass half full where the BD camp see the HD DVD glass half empty.
Enjoy your half a glass of water.
If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly.
Joe,
I am curious as to which titles on HD DVD have PQ better than BD.
My TV has 15,000 to 1 CR / 1080p and I have never watched a title in HD DVD with PQ comparable to BD.
I own both & am having a hard time seeing this from your perspective.
Please ENLIGHTEN me.
Joel,
First of all, I can tell you don't have both players, because since both came out, HD has almost consistently LOOKED better with sharper contrast and brighter colors. The sole exception that I have seen to this is ANYTHING that DISNEY puts out on BD. They know their High Def, but I can guarantee this, SONY DOES NOT. They put out their first 6 months on MPEG4, an ancient technology, used in Final Cut Pro 4, not even Final Cut Pro HD which came out 3 years ago. Due to this, it didn't matter if the disc could hold more storage, it needed to as the compression ratio was much lower.
Second, if you were one of the early adopters (such as myself) you would feel completely compelled to throw your BD player out the window, as the move to BDJ menus is coming, and those $1000 stand alones will not play them. How is that on support? HD-DVD at least insisted that all players were internet capable, enabling them to be updated regularly, unlike the glorified drink coasters that SONY and SAMSUNG both sold.
To continue with what HD-DVD did right, they used AC3. All of their disc were dual layer from the start, meaning that most held more storage than the origninally released BDs.
Add to this that all studios are taking a loss producing the dual layer BDs, due to harmfully skewed production costs that Sony announced, and I am shocked that more studios haven't gone HD-DVD instead of BD.
Last but not least, the complete and utter disappointment that the PS3 has been since launch day leaves me with even less respect, as the only reason that console was rushed out before games were ready was to give the Studios misleading BD sales projections. If you even try to defend a PS3 that you bought a month ago, it's pointless, I bought mine on launch day, and have yet to find those promised launch games like LAIR, and the then 3 months off Heavenly Sword. It is now nearly 10 months later and they will soon be here. Too bad I am so disappointed with the PS3, SONY ISN'T WASTING ANYMORE OF MY MONEY.
Signed a former Sony early adopter, now an early adopter of ANYTHING BUT SONY!!!!
BTW Joel, I have a HD-XA2 and a Samsung BD-P1000 projected on a Panasonic PT-AE1000U with 11,000:1 contrast ratio on a Dalite high contrast 133" drop down screen. That's what I do my comparisons on.
Joel, I hope your set is calibrated via the service menu so we can get a good baseline. Once that has been done, pop in Hot Fuzz, which I think is the best looking hi def disc of either format. Hands down. Then try King Kong. After that, try the Matrix box set and Terminator 2 Judgment Day which is an import from Franch and now the UK. If you get the French addition, the real beauty is disc 2 which is the director's cut. All are better looking than any BD I have seen including The 2 Pirates films. I have also seen a couple of films released on both with the BD discs having a different encode to take advantage of the higher storage capacity and guess what, they look the same. And please, don't feed me the line about one being 1080i and the other 1080p as that makes no difference. Please check out my personal blog with a link to an article posted by Peter Putnam explaining that as he says it better than I can.
Joe - nope I don't agree! King Kong's PQ is aging, it was the best at its time but Pirates looks better. I own both formats, BD movies are looking better then HD-DVD. reviews also are pointing more near-perfect PQ on BD then on HD-DVD. BD uses mostly MPEG-4 AVC while HD-DVD uses mostly VC-1 codec (more compress method). Movies in VC-1 codec are incosistent and you get some just looking completely crappy. MPEG-4 is more consistent and the movies in that codec are near-perfect PQ.
Also to comment about the article, the only bonehead move is by Paramount for caving in for the money and screwing over their Blu-ray fanbase. Blockbuster siding with Blu-ray makes sense because BD is selling atleast 2:1 since January and more customers demand Blu-ray. Now with Paramount, what the hell convinced them to support HD-DVD only when they were selling more copies on Blu-ray. Plain and simple, greed.
It's Paramount that made the bonehead decision, not Blockbuster.
Blockbuster should hold their nerve as no-one wants multiple format for High-Def, and Paramount will have the chance to go back to Blu-ray with everyone else in 18 months when the current deal with Microsoft expires.
Joel,
I was in Compusa(saddly, one of the few places I've been with a decent set up, let alone comparison), which based on their setup and layout, I'd say is very pro BR.
They had identical movies playing on a BR player connected to a 1080p TV and a HD-DVD player connected to a 1080i TV. The HD-DVD blew it away.
BR has not provided a set version of standards, unlike HD-DVD which is backed by the DVD Consortium(ever wonder why you haven't seen a BR/DVD disk, ever wonder if you will)? To show how arrogantly stupid sony is, it screwed consumers with the notion that MPEG2 was perfect for hi-def, rather then MPEG4/VC1 which looks 100% better, and is mandated by the HD-DVD specs.
Didn't mean to spread incorrect propiganda. Even though Sony pushed MPEG2, they are now using the better HD-DVD standards. Meant it as to show how little thought they put into this.
so it's "anti-consumer" for paramount to go exclusively with the discs that are cheaper to make and that play on machines that are cheaper to make, but not anti-consumer for sony to release its own movies solely on its own format that consumers have to shell out hundreds of dollars more to play? that's the go figure of the year.
I've read many BD vs HD-DVD articles and only a small handful are unbiased. However, I've noticed that there are more HD-DVD supporters posting comments. I truly find it hard to believe that this so call war will be won by a bunch of hardcore PS3 gamers. In my opinion, once the stand alone players come down in price then we'll have a better idea of who will have the greater market share.
Edit to my last post:
"...However, I've noticed that there are more HD-DVD supporters posting comments lately and previous boards were pro BD..."
All this bickering is ridiculous. Right now we're talking about a miniscule percentage of the total home video rental market.
The winner of this format war will be the one that convinces the millions of HDTV owners that still have a plain old DVD player to upgrade to a high definition player. Given that price is the predominant concern for most of these people, with picture quality being a close second, the war will ultimately be won by whomever is able to move more units this holiday. It appears that HD-DVD will be the winner in that category. HD-DVD arguably has better PQ on many discs as well. Absent a discernable difference in the PQ by the average viewer, price will be the determining factor. In this regard, Sony's arrogance will probably, and rightfully, bury it once again. Sony believes, "our product is better so people should pay more for it." This is faulty logic in the world of consumer electronic sales, particularly when your product utilizes an unsettled format. I have been hesitant to predict a "winner" in this format war until now, but it seems fairly clear at this point that HD-DVD will likely carry the day for the same reasons that VHS beat out Betamax. BTW, I own neither player so I do not have the built-in bias that other posters have shown in an attempt to ensure that the format they have invested in survives.
As someone who’s spent the last 30 years looking at displays with an engineers eyeball and the last 15 years or so working on high end excrement compactors (I smuggled an early MPEG2 HD encoder, list price of 175K – as far as I’ve been able to determine the worlds most expensive single rack unit – in and out of some interesting places several years ago) I’ve got home video on HDCam – and I own several functioning SuperBetaHiFi’s so I kinds sorta have some opinions
One of the little commented but deciding factors on the VHS vs Beta had to do with a certain category of content that was almost exclusively available on VHS, in these internet daze and the nature of the content I’m not convinced that the same phenomena could happen again, however it will be a race to see who has the most appealing titles at the lowest price.
I hope both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray co exist. It is about type consumer adapt and realize that sometimes having more than one standard is NOT a problem.
Is it really accurate to say Blu Ray is outselling HD 2 to 1. Keep in mind, now that Blockbuster is only carrying Blu Ray, they must be buying up a fair chunk of those discs. So, give me the buying stats for the average joe jerk-off on the street, jag-off.
This just means Sammy's DF player will have more of a market. In a year the replacement model will be well under $400. By that time any manufacturer that isn't getting royaties from one format or the other will be making a DF player to compete in the market. It will also mean nobody will give a fart about if it's BD or HD DVD.
I doubt it. The Paramount deal has not really changed anything as of yet on the HD-DVD front and still Blu-Ray has the most support and is outselling HD-DVD by at least 2:1. That margin is just going to continue to grow as some of the biggest blockbusters come out this Holiday season and will be Exclusive to Blu-Ray.
I think i just read some idiot trying to explain that Bluray looks better than HD-DVD. I'm a video editor. I havent touched MPEG2 in years. And that's whats on Blurrys. F-ing MPEG2!!!!. VC1 is a much better format and much easier to encode, with less space to take up!
I work at Best Buy. Guess what. No one wants blurrys anymore. They come in, "Yah dude, where are the HD-DVD players. I've been neutral and waiting for one to win but with the whole paramount thing and them dropping bluray that tells me who's gonna win." None of them no or care about the payoff. It's business and that's how it works. Just watch what happens on black friday when hd-dvd is 150 dollars for a player. Or less. Bluray won't stand a chance, even at 300.
It doesn't matter with me anymore, I started with an HD DVD player and Block Buster Online only to find out Block Buster carried more Blue Ray titles both Online and at their store(s) originally. That is why I bought a Blue Ray player and now have both formats. I only wish I started with a PS3 because I am finding some Blue Ray discs like the movie “The Guardian” have advanced features that you have to have a PS3 so you can select Enhanced Java Mode that will allow you to interact through the entire movie like a question and answer segment. Plus, I found Blue Ray discs are more durable that an HD DVD disc meaning the Blue Ray scratches less. I sure wish I started with a PS3 not only it is a way cool gaming device that also plays Blue Ray discs the way movie produces intended you to watch it and would have a lot more money in my pocket now rather than in Best Buy's register.
The author makes some good points. Blockbuster did go back on the whole widescreen thing so it's not inconceivable thay reverse their decision on Blu-Ray. I don't really care who wins, I just want this business over so I can buy one or the other and start enjoying it.
By the time this stupid war is over we won't need these players as we'll already have 100000080p for wich we'll need 1TB of space.
Watch what happens when the Wal-mart crowd goes APE over the hd dvd players on black friday and during the holiday shopping season. I'm sorry, but if you can get lower middle class/middle class to afford something that makes them feel more like upper class, it will sell. Look at the sales of granite countertops, hd tv's, etc.
The main reason Blu Ray will win is because eventually everyone who owns a PS2 will eventually purchase a PS3 as the price continues to fall.
Negating any reason to buy an HD-DVD player.
It's simple math. With that many people owning blu ray by default it really puts the brakes on HD-DVD.
Paramount will eventually offer both blu ray and HD-DVD once their deal with Microsoft or whoever paid them runs out.
Thats not at all true, your going to have those people who owned the ps2 and xbox who can't afford both new one and will chose the Xbox 360(Like i did). Your going to have those people who grew out of games(like my brother did), as well as those who just thought it cost way to much and but the wii(like my other brother). Right there are three people in my family who owned ps2 and have no intrested in buying a ps3.
I was going to buy one just for the Blu-ray but then I did some research and tested out the blue-ray and hddvd players we had at work(I work for sears(haha yes we do sell tvs)) PQ whiles pretty much the same... but with the Blue-ray not only did the players not work as well but they had weird problems with them.
We had to send the first sony player back. well I can't get into it all now I jsut got off work
but I ended up getting the hd-dvd player for the xbox 360 and I've loved every movie I've watched on it. The picture couldn't be better.
I find it hard to believe that someone that works in consumer retail does not fully support Blu-ray as opposed to HD-DVD. As a Best Buy store manager, I can inform you that I rarely have requests of HD-DVD movies or players. When someone comes in to purchase a Hi-Def television, it is rare that they buy an HD-DVD player. What people fail to realize is that there are many brand associated people out in the consumer world. Currently, Toshiba is the only producer of HD-DVD players. Toshiba does not have the diehard following that Samsung, Sony, Pioneer, or even LG. I've found that if someone has the cash (or willingness to finance) to purchase a Hi-Def TV, majority of the time they will purchase matching components. I am one of those people. I own several TVs, all Samsung and I own Samsung DVD players and a Blu-ray player (I also have an HD-DVD player that I had to buy for the Matrix Trilogy, which is fine, but it doesn’t have 1080p output only 1080i, slightly annoying). Many of my customers like the way a home theatre looks when all the components match.
I have many women customers that are coming in to purchase players for either their significant other or themselves and when they make a decision, they pick blu-ray 7 out of 10 times. They do this because of a really neat marketing ploy. They say they like the term “Blu-Ray” versus “HD-DVD” because it sounds nicer. As a marketer, I can tell you that the vast majority of people out there are not as informed as many of you and they purchase on emotion. Any of us men that are married to or have dated or even know a “girly girl” knows they will pick something because how it looks or makes them feel. Case in point, I was not “allowed” to purchase my new motorcycle until my fiancé had final choice of color. Whereas women are not the target consumer, they sure as hell have a lot of spending power, this I have seen firsthand (and god bless them).
As far as picture quality, I cannot and will not say one source is better than the other (granted both are 1080P and good sound). Both have advantages, and both have glaring issues. Neither one is what I would call superior, although opinions obviously vary.
For any one person to state that one format will win out at this stage is ridiculous. It's too early to tell. Many of you don't remember this but DVD wasn't wildly popular upon its release and it took many years to gain momentum. As a matter of fact many more people who are just casually purchasing products are buying regular DVD players and not Hi-Def players. This is due to the vast majority of people not being able to afford a hi-def TV and others just not caring.
Another aspect that goes greatly overlooked is the ability to re-write disks and use them for storage. There are many more computers out there than there are Hi-Def TVs. The main reason DVDs took off so huge was not because of movies or video games but because of media storage from home PCs. The media that has the highest capacity of storage will ultimately be preferred by computer people. From what I'm told and what I’ve read, HD-DVD is quickly closing the storage gap. In this instance, it'll come down to which camp has the best options at burning disks and saving data.
What people fail to realize is that this isn't a two horse race; it is a three horse race, where standard DVDs are still out pacing Hi-def mediums. This whole Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD feud is a battle between two niche media sources. It could be a VERY long time before it's all said and done.
To say that a $200 player will make a difference to lower income families is also skewed. That same family who is on a budget still has to buy a Hi-def display. While prices are dropping on each, many families still find it cost beneficial to stay with their current set up and buy normal DVDs that are still being released.
As for my preference, I like Blu-Ray. Just for the simple fact that I don't care about the special features and I like the movies that are being offered on the format. Like I said before I have multiple 1080p displays and some really great surround sound system in my home and I think it does a fantastic job of delivering a theatre experience in my home. I’m sure the HD-DVD would do just as good if I had a 1080p model and the movies I wanted to watch.
Ideally it would be great if all studios produced all movies in both formats so the public could decide. Where that may not be cost effective for the studios, it would end this silly debate. I guess the next best option is a player that can play both, but since they are very expensive right now, that won’t be an option either.
Whatever happens I just hope people continue to buy both so I still have a job (just kidding) ;-)
Sorry for the long post I just had to get this off my chest.
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