Warners to go BluRay exclusively

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#103270 7-Jan-2008 10:00

walt12: A few thousand customers downloading HD 25GB+ content simultaneously would bring a whole new meaning to peak time. In addition to the existing crowd of "regular" (light) users. As it stands, the state of the network currently seems to have finally caught up with existing usage patterns ... HD VOD is a whole different ballgame.

Like file sizes, Internet technologies are evolving all the time. However what would make the most sense would be to have local caches of the content here in New Zealand so that we don't hammer the international links unnecessarily.

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#103289 7-Jan-2008 11:01

walt12: A few thousand customers downloading HD 25GB+ content simultaneously would bring a whole new meaning to peak time. In addition to the existing crowd of "regular" (light) users. As it stands, the state of the network currently seems to have finally caught up with existing usage patterns ... HD VOD is a whole different ballgame.

Such solutions don't need to be pure VOD. A push based system can work well and works very well for MySky.

IMHO P2P torrent based systems are the future of high bandwidth content delivery. They solve many of the issues associated with trying to deliver vast quantities of data to multiple users, particularly if they are on the same network.

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#103373 7-Jan-2008 17:12

sbiddle:

IMHO P2P torrent based systems are the future of high bandwidth content delivery. They solve many of the issues associated with trying to deliver vast quantities of data to multiple users, particularly if they are on the same network.

That's where [present] bandwidth limits come into play, at least here in NZ - the cost of bandwidth will have to drop significantly for it to be affordable to the average person.

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#103374 7-Jan-2008 17:16

Unless it was 'local' traffic which wasn't metred.

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#103375 7-Jan-2008 17:19

From the customer end or the ISP end? It would be great if all NZ traffic as unmetered though.

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#103388 7-Jan-2008 17:53

Remember, Local bandwidth is cheap and actually very easy to implement more if needed, remember we once had many plans with unlimited Local traffic. We just need a good local supplier whom can dish out the required data fast enough and my guess is that a commercial service is not too far away which will charge "one fee" for the download and not count it towards the standard data cap. (an ISP or Telco)

I have been doing a pile of local tests recently and have had superb results (this is a big catch-up for me as I have been left long behind in the old analogue 4:3 world.). My basic home internet is 12Mbps and handles even streaming 7.5Mb H.264 perfectly.
one thing which has really let us down was EVDO however, it seems to be suffering from an insane amount of latency and jitter at the moment.

Most people go on examples about international speeds when downloading pirated torrents of movies which is an unfair comparison, remember this costs a pile more for us due to simple economies of scale..

My take on the format wars 25 years on:

I would consider getting a blue-ray drive for backups but did not even think about bothering with HD-DVD.
Blu-ray is going to win due to it's obvious higher capacity and the fact there has been a version out on the professional Broadcast front for some time now and of course, Cheap and plentiful players (PS3) (that have lovely usable purple laser diodes too!)

Remeber Beta vs VHS? VHS actually won as the tapes were a LONGER playing time, a lot of people seem to have forgotten this!
(As i'm sitting here in the "studio" casting my eyes upon examples of various competing formats, Beta vs VHS, LS120 Vs Zip100, etc..)

lchiu7

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#103412 7-Jan-2008 19:01

sbiddle:
walt12: A few thousand customers downloading HD 25GB+ content simultaneously would bring a whole new meaning to peak time. In addition to the existing crowd of "regular" (light) users. As it stands, the state of the network currently seems to have finally caught up with existing usage patterns ... HD VOD is a whole different ballgame.

Such solutions don't need to be pure VOD. A push based system can work well and works very well for MySky.

IMHO P2P torrent based systems are the future of high bandwidth content delivery. They solve many of the issues associated with trying to deliver vast quantities of data to multiple users, particularly if they are on the same network.

While all undeniably valid ways to distribute content over the Internet, I as a consumer would want the ability to watch that content anywhere, not just on the machine that downloaded it. The disc does this - all other download methods have their challenges. Let's say I downloaded a copy of a movie that I wanted to take with me to a beach house or someplace. Taking the disc is easy - finding a way to move that content to another device with all the DRM implications will be a challenge I would imagine.

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paradoxsm

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#103419 7-Jan-2008 19:18

It depends on the price, I avoid DRM like the plague but if it's cheap and designed to be watched once only as on demand on a supplied "appliance", DRM is OK, Otherwise It's just not going to work.

I still use CD and DVD all the time and people say i'm so old fashioned and that media centre is the way (Dvd are decrypted and de macrovisioned and originals stored)

Your scenario of "taking it to a mates house" is the exact reason, try THAT with your huge media centre. My "media Centre" is one of these 7" PVR units which is very portable, I love sitting it on top of the whirring great PC media-centre and wathing their faces sink.

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#103499 8-Jan-2008 08:49

paradoxsm:
My take on the format wars 25 years on:

I would consider getting a blue-ray drive for backups but did not even think about bothering with HD-DVD.
Blu-ray is going to win due to it's obvious higher capacity and the fact there has been a version out on the professional Broadcast front for some time now and of course, Cheap and plentiful players (PS3) (that have lovely usable purple laser diodes too!)

Remeber Beta vs VHS? VHS actually won as the tapes were a LONGER playing time, a lot of people seem to have forgotten this!
(As i'm sitting here in the "studio" casting my eyes upon examples of various competing formats, Beta vs VHS, LS120 Vs Zip100, etc..)

I think that the extra space on a BD disk has nothing to do with the movie as both formats don't use it all. At least the HD DVD standard was completed when the format was released not a moving target as Blu-ray still is..

Beta tapes. I was able to get both Beta and VHS 3 hour tapes in the 1980s so there was no advantage there though I thought that beta had a better picture.

"Cheap and plentiful players (PS3) (that have lovely usable purple laser diodes too!)" If your talking 2008 then you must have won lotto last weekend..:-)

Regards,

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walt12

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#103506 8-Jan-2008 09:14

Back on topic, rightly or wrong HD DVD sales will now slowly decline (in share of market terms). The large installed base of stand-alone HD DVD players in the US will ensure that it won't be a quick death, and while Universal and Paramount (who were rumoured to be tied to HD DVD until after the next holiday season, end 2008) will still produce some content, Warners really is a large blow because of their large share of the home rental market. If Universal were to defect (or at least go neutral), then the process of decline in HD DVD might accelerate.

Leaving aside all the rumours of large payments for format loyalty, and the corporate machinations, I do agree that having a clearly dominant format will speed up the acceptance of HD in the lay-person segment of the viewing market. I would have preferred personally that HD DVD would have prevailed, but I will bite the bullet at some point and embrace Blu-Ray. It would be nice to see the local market take the next step soon, as the number of titles available is very limited currently.

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#103564 8-Jan-2008 13:10

walt12: Back on topic, rightly or wrong HD DVD sales will now slowly decline (in share of market terms). The large installed base of stand-alone HD DVD players in the US will ensure that it won't be a quick death, and while Universal and Paramount (who were rumoured to be tied to HD DVD until after the next holiday season, end 2008) will still produce some content, Warners really is a large blow because of their large share of the home rental market. If Universal were to defect (or at least go neutral), then the process of decline in HD DVD might accelerate.

Leaving aside all the rumours of large payments for format loyalty, and the corporate machinations, I do agree that having a clearly dominant format will speed up the acceptance of HD in the lay-person segment of the viewing market. I would have preferred personally that HD DVD would have prevailed, but I will bite the bullet at some point and embrace Blu-Ray. It would be nice to see the local market take the next step soon, as the number of titles available is very limited currently.

Well put. I would add to that " It would be nice to see the local market take the next step soon, as the number of titles available is very limited currently." and add players as the only store I have seen any Hidef players of any flavor is the pile of Sony Blu-ray players at JB HiFi , Manukau. The pile is the same height as it was early December but the price has now dropped to $999. Still way too expensive in my mind..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#103565 8-Jan-2008 13:13

Playstation 3 --> Cheaper and decent bluray player.

lchiu7

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#103573 8-Jan-2008 13:42

The PS3 is a great BR player as well as games console. In checking local stores for HD-DVD players I think I only saw a Toshiba (well that's not surprising given they are the only manufacturer) for about $1000 or so. It's hard to justify that purchase when you can get a 40G PS3 for $799 I think it is now. And weren't there some deals over Xmas for free BD players with certain plasma TV's?

While I also have a HD-DVD player (which only cost US$179 with ten free titles so it wasn't exactly a huge investment) and I might continue to purchase HD-DVD's if titles are only available in that format. I am pretty happy with the PS3 as a BD player. I also picked up the Nyko Blue-Wave IR remote for the PS3 and it integrated into my Harmony setup. So I can control everything with one remote apart from having to use the PS3 controller to turn the PS3 on and off.

The only bug bear is the local selection of BD titles is minimal but thankfully for Amazon, their Buy One Get One Free deals and the strong NZD, I can keep updating my catalogue.

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#103734 9-Jan-2008 08:38

The only bug bear is the local selection of BD titles is minimal but thankfully for Amazon, their Buy One Get One Free deals and the strong NZD, I can keep updating my catalogue.

You must have a region free PS3 then or one from the US as the new Amazon BD titles are region A..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#103753 9-Jan-2008 10:21

Old3Eyes,

Region coding of Blu-ray discs is a studio decision and the majority of releases at the moment are region A/B/C ie region neutral. Some studios such as Fox insist on Region coding, others such as Warner do not and some, such as Disney, vary from disk to disk.

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