Blockbuster to rent Blu-ray Only (limited HD-DVD rentals)

[J.M. Vargas]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_513097.html

"Blockbuster Inc. will rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores when it expands its high-def offerings next month, dealing a major blow to the rival HD DVD format. The move, being announced Monday, could be the first step in resolving a format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year and found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.

"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, told The Associated Press."

Noooooooooooo!

[TemporalWisdom]

Yeeeeeeeeesss!

[HGervais]

With news coming out this week that HD-DVDs biggest supporter, Microsoft, doesn't see HD as the long-term solution to high definition movies, I really think the "format war" is Blu-ray's to lose. P3 is going to nothing but get stronger and the choice of movies in high definition greatly swings to Sony's side. This whole war could be ended if Universal decides to either be a dual-release company like Paramount & Warner or just cast thier lot with Sony. The only thing HD has going for it is that its players are cheaper to buy and Sony is already making moves to counter that. I think Blockbuster is looking at the landscape and seeing what is quickly becoming obvious.

[TemporalWisdom]

My dad worked on the website team of a major company, and they switched to another DBMS. The order to do this came from the founder and CEO of the company without consulting my dad or any of the tech people. The new system wasn't any better, and making the switch cost the company a buttload of money! Dumb move, huh? He found out why in the end - the creator of the new DBMS was a buddy of his boss'!

Point is, major business decisions sometimes aren't always made for intelligent reasons. That said, we should recognize something Harold indirectly touched on. The people at Blockbuster know a hell of a lot more about what's going on with these formats than we do. They'll know more than we do about what kind of money is being made from licensing fees, which could be more important than revenue from sales.

[J.M. Vargas]

I'm convinced Sony paid Blockbuster suits to stock-up on BD only. Since the market for HD home video is so small right now (less than 1%) Blockbuster figured it might as well take Sony's cash and screw HD-DVD. This worries me because if Sony can bribe an electronics chain to support BD exclusively (Best Buy is already half in the pocket of Sony) and then make a big deal about it then it might manufacture (at great expense to itself) a chain reaction of hype that could bury HD-DVD under false pretense. Sad day to be an HD-DVD supporter, indeed!

[Ptolemy]

I don't pretend to know that much about the differences between the competing formats. Like many I'm waiting for a clear winner before I make an investment in new hardware. I don't know how much this means to anyone - but Blockbuster has been very wrong before. It wasn't too long ago that they only carried Full Screen versions of movies. Which means to me that just because 70 percent of the mouth breathers that go to Blockbuster choose Blu-ray, it doesn't necessarily follow that Blu-Ray will be the eventual winner.

It doesn't mean it won't either. And if any of you work for or are for whatever reason offended by my 'mouth breather' characterization of Blockbuster clientele - I apologize

[HGervais]

I'm convinced Sony paid Blockbuster suits to stock-up on BD only.

You know this how?

Since the market for HD home video is so small right now (less than 1%) Blockbuster figured it might as well take Sony's cash and screw HD-DVD.

Okay. You know this how?

This worries me because if Sony can bribe an electronics chain to support BD exclusively (Best Buy is already half in the pocket of Sony)

Again you know this how?

and then make a big deal about it then it might manufacture (at great expense to itself) a chain reaction of hype that could bury HD-DVD under false pretense. Sad day to be an HD-DVD supporter, indeed!

So you are asserting that two fortune 500 companies are being bribed by another fortune 500 company? I don't have a dog in this hunt either way but that is an awful lot conviction with little to no proof. I'm not naive enough to think that some pretty shady things don't go on in a poker game with such high stakes as this one but I can't imagine Toshiba would be sitting blishfully unaware of any kind of behind-the-scenes power plays you are talking about without stirring some serious crap. The main thing in this again Microsoft. They basically gave a thumbs down to the longterm growth of HD because it isn't in their corporate interests and without Microsoft, HD-DVD is dead in the water. Are we supposed to believe Sony is buying off Microsoft as well? Combine that with the advantage Sony has with delivering content and the winds are blowing against HD-DVD even without Blockbuster.
You have invested in one format, I get that. You want to see the format you invested in continue. I get that. I just don't get how you are getting from point A in a format war to point B being a major conspiracy involving some very public companies without anything close to evidence.

[Dunnyman]

Hmmmm. Having spent time working in the ranks of the Blue and Gold Craptacular Corporation, I don't see this as bribery, but I do see it as another attempt to get headlines. They love press releases and such. However, they boasted a deal about being the exclusive place to rent anything from the Weinsteins, and they're supposedly exclusively backing HD-DVD. The key to this, is one simple fact that anyone who ever worked for BB can tell you, their word ain't worth poop. They'll be exclusive with BluRay, until the CEO gets taken to lunch by someone from HD-DVD. Then they'll carry both. Then when BluRay starts to win, they'll be exclusive again, etc, etc etc. BB are the French of the business world. Which way is the wind blowing today?

[Mike Jackson]

I'm confused. Their online unit has just about every HD DVD available. But more importantly, they heavily tout that Weinstein Company releases are BB exclusive rentals, and Weinstein is HD DVD exclusive. What gives?

[reefa]

Blockbuster is trying to be ahead of the game on this after being woefully behind the curve when DVD first came out, allowing for the Hollywood Videos and Netflix of the world to smack them around. For what it's worth, just the opinion of a madman here.

[Eric Profancik]

Point is, major business decisions sometimes aren't always made for intelligent reasons. That said, we should recognize something Harold indirectly touched on. The people at Blockbuster know a hell of a lot more about what's going on with these formats than we do. They'll know more than we do about what kind of money is being made from licensing fees, which could be more important than revenue from sales.

I love the irony in your statement.
And with knowing store managers at Blockbuster, I can tell you without equivocation that BB does not have the brightest people at the top. I would be surprised if they knew what they were doing and weren't being influenced by something - which is not to say bribery but some other tangible important to BB (like Blu-Ray people are more apt to buy candy or sign up for their Total Access versus HD-DVD people).

[J.M. Vargas]

I'm confused. Their online unit has just about every HD DVD available. But more importantly, they heavily tout that Weinstein Company releases are BB exclusive rentals, and Weinstein is HD DVD exclusive. What gives?

DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray are completely different product. It's totally reasonable that Weinstein's exclusivity deal with BB covers only DVD copies of movies while (a) Weinstein continues to sell its titles on HD-DVD exclusively and (b) Blockbuster stocks-up on Blu-ray movies. Completely separate contracts for each format.

As for Blockbuster's online unit, they have all HD-DVD's listed but according to those that have both accounts on AVS Forum's HD-DVD/Blu-ray section (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=148) the wait to get a movie from BB is higher than Netflix and the actual selectable title section are much smaller.

[Mike Jackson]

I'm confused. Their online unit has just about every HD DVD available. But more importantly, they heavily tout that Weinstein Company releases are BB exclusive rentals, and Weinstein is HD DVD exclusive. What gives?

DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray are completely different product. It's totally reasonable that Weinstein's exclusivity deal with BB covers only DVD copies of movies while (a) Weinstein continues to sell its titles on HD-DVD exclusively and (b) Blockbuster stocks-up on Blu-ray movies. Completely separate contracts for each format.

As for Blockbuster's online unit, they have all HD-DVD's listed but according to those that have both accounts on AVS Forum's HD-DVD/Blu-ray section (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=148) the wait to get a movie from BB is higher than Netflix and the actual selectable title section are much smaller.

So far, so good for me. I never want for having an HD disc checked out. Heck, I even got The Frighteners the day it was released. The only title I've really wanted that I had to wait on was Digital Video Essentials. I just bumped it to the top of my queue in hopes that that will hurry it up. I could use my SD version, but I really don't want to.

[mkiker2089]

I don't understand why BB is making a choice at all. Isn't the idea to give your customer the choice? Can't they afford to stock both? Are they running out of shelf space because the candy aisle has been extended too far? I don't get it at all.

[TemporalWisdom]

Point is, major business decisions sometimes aren't always made for intelligent reasons. That said, we should recognize something Harold indirectly touched on. The people at Blockbuster know a hell of a lot more about what's going on with these formats than we do. They'll know more than we do about what kind of money is being made from licensing fees, which could be more important than revenue from sales.

I love the irony in your statement.
And with knowing store managers at Blockbuster, I can tell you without equivocation that BB does not have the brightest people at the top. I would be surprised if they knew what they were doing and weren't being influenced by something - which is not to say bribery but some other tangible important to BB (like Blu-Ray people are more apt to buy candy or sign up for their Total Access versus HD-DVD people).

I'm not necessarily saying they're smart, but that they have access to more information than we have. What they do with it is a whole other matter, neh?

I don't understand why BB is making a choice at all. Isn't the idea to give your customer the choice? Can't they afford to stock both? Are they running out of shelf space because the candy aisle has been extended too far? I don't get it at all.

I've thought about that. Perhaps they think HD-DVD is dead in the water, with Microsoft bailing out. Maybe they want to actually be a factor in determining the outcome of the format war. Or there could be some stupid reason. We may never know.

And Ptolemy, Blu-Ray is technically superior. Here's a link. It's a Wikipedia article, but I trust the accuracy of this one, at least the chart with the technical details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison ... sc_formats

It is worth noting that HD-DVD doesn't have regional lockouts at present, their only real technical advantage.

[Jack1000]

So does that mean Blockbuster won't sell or rent standard-definition DVD's anymore and the $100's of dollars that I spent on buying DVD's is nothing now. I still don't have an HD set because my cable company does not offer enough channels to support the added cost

Will the new formats still work in SD players and on SD sets?

Jack

[Burson_Fouch]

uote="Jack1000"]So does that mean Blockbuster won't sell or rent standard-definition DVD's anymore and the $100's of dollars that I spent on buying DVD's is nothing now. I still don't have an HD set because my cable company does not offer enough channels to support the added cost

Will the new formats still work in SD players and on SD sets?

Jack

Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are backward compatible with standard DVD's. However, you will need to get a HDTV to get the benefit from high-def dvd's and upconverting players.

Standard DVD's aren't going away, this isn't like the DVD killing off VHS. That was due to DVD being so far superior to VHS.

The high-def formats aren't that superior to 480p DVD's, especially if you upconvert a standard DVD.

[Dunnyman]

OK, after reading up on the formats, I think BluRay will be the winner. Why?
Think about how much space gets wasted on discs for audio tracks. If you have two or three languge tracks, you have a full disk so far. BluRay's larger format would allow the studios to master basically ONE disc, with say 25 audio tracks, a hundred+ subs, etc, and then with a simple click on encoding, you have a master for Region 1, 2, 3 and so on. It would only play where you need it to, and could only access the things it needs, but instead of weeks of mastering a different disc for each region, they do it once. That HAS to appeal to the studios, plus I imagine they will keep region coding quite secure so as not to allow all region players. I easily bought one a few years ago, and ordered discs from all over the world.

[HGervais]

Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are backward compatible with standard DVD's. However, you will need to get a HDTV to get the benefit from high-def dvd's and upconverting players.

Standard DVD's aren't going away, this isn't like the DVD killing off VHS. That was due to DVD being so far superior to VHS.

The high-def formats aren't that superior to 480p DVD's, especially if you upconvert a standard DVD.

You hit on a key point. Up until the majority of Americans start going out and buying the equipment that will showcase full 1080p resolution, most people will be pretty content with what they have. As has been discussed here several dozen times over the past couple of years I'm not convinced people see the need for HD movies and I think Sony & Toshiba are trying to force-feed something down our throats that most people aren't hungry for. A few years perhaps but not now. Or I could be wrong.

[Burson_Fouch]

Having just purchased and installed an OPPO upconverting player I can say that I'm perfectly happy with upconversion from 480p to 1080i. I can now play any standard DVD in my collection in near high-def and don't have to start double/triple/quadruple dipping to upgrade the DVD's I already own.

I'm perfectly happy to sit out the format wars until one wins,the prices start coming down and the titles become more numerous. Really, I'm a bit more intrigued by the new audio options than the video options, especially if the studio's start offering both DD7.1 and DTS7.1 tracks in high def as a standard for all titles.

[Duane Dibbley]

Here's the press release: http://blockbuster.mediaroom.com/index. ... s&item=727

It and the original article say that Blockbuster will keep HD-DVD at the stores that already carry it and online. Blockbuster is just expanding its Blu-Ray offerings.

Not that I care especially, since I don't have an HDTV, and likely won't for a while.

[TemporalWisdom]

Y'know, Microsoft may have been giving itself an out by packaging the HD-DVD reader in a separate device from the 360. It wouldn't shock me if they came out with an attachment that plays Blu-Ray movies.

It would be nice if the superior format won this time. My old man's still bitter about VHS winning the war against Betamax. Hopefully Sony has learned their lesson from the last time.

[HGervais]

My old man's still bitter about VHS winning the war against Betamax. Hopefully Sony has learned their lesson from the last time.

I'm sure Sony was/is pretty bitter about it as well.

[Mike Jackson]

Y'know, Microsoft may have been giving itself an out by packaging the HD-DVD reader in a separate device from the 360. It wouldn't shock me if they came out with an attachment that plays Blu-Ray movies.

From what I've been reading, Microsoft's support of HD DVD is just a means to an end. They don't want movies to be distributed on disc at all; they're using HD DVD as a means to spread adoption of their VC-1 codec. That way, they can have a stronger in-road to VOD and other online distribution channels. Blu-Ray also supports VC-1, but its use isn't as widespread as others, like MPEG-2 (the same one used by SD DVDs, only at a higher bitrate). I suppose the HD attachment just gets people to consider their XBox 360 as part of their home theater, not just as a game console. Then they'll buy HD movies from XBox Live and Microsoft will beat Apple and Sony at their own games.