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High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.
YES, I am available for consulting
Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com
All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Paramount dumps Sony's Blu-ray format - Times Online
Paramount dumps Sony's Blu-ray format - Times Online
"Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have dropped support for Sony’s Blu-ray next generation DVD format in a shock move that will see the two studios exclusively use Toshiba’s rival HD-DVD system. Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, the media giant, previously released movies in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Significantly, it cited HD-DVD's cheaper costs as a decisive factor behind its decision to back it. The latest development is a blow for Sony, which has invested heavily in Blu-ray."
This is surprising - Blu-ray seemed to have been gaining ground of late, and for someone with a foot in both camps to drop Blu-ray is something I wouldn't have bet on.
I was about to the point of resigning myself that the more expensive (boo!) but higher capacity (yay!) format was going to win, and just wait for Blu-ray to go ahead and take over so we only have one standard that consumers would therefore more willingly back. Not yet with this move, that says that the game is still wide open.
I'm also surprised that a company the size of Paramount would dump a format - why NOT keep two formats out there and maximize sales? How much more is it costing them to make both rather than a single format? They already had the infrastructure in place to produce both, so dropping one is an especially surprising move.
AFAIK, the only reason to dump Blu-ray was because they felt it wouldn't make them as much money. They think NOT selling a product in another format is going to save them money? Ouch.
Toshiba's players have been dropping in price (the HD-A2 is now about $240, the 1080p capable HD-A20 is about $330, both available at the HD For Indies Amazon Store). The PlayStation 3 (60GB), still the favored Blu-ray machine, is now only $500, but don't forget the $25 Bluetooth remote if you don't want to use a game contoller to play/pause.
-mike
Thanks to reader Jonathan for sending in this link. Always feel free to send in something good/relevant if you come across it.
UPDATE MONDAY 11PM
READ THE COMMENTS- rumor has it $150 million was paid to get two groups to dump Blu-ray. Fascinatingly naked ploy. Links in comments (Comments link below)
"Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have dropped support for Sony’s Blu-ray next generation DVD format in a shock move that will see the two studios exclusively use Toshiba’s rival HD-DVD system. Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, the media giant, previously released movies in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Significantly, it cited HD-DVD's cheaper costs as a decisive factor behind its decision to back it. The latest development is a blow for Sony, which has invested heavily in Blu-ray."
This is surprising - Blu-ray seemed to have been gaining ground of late, and for someone with a foot in both camps to drop Blu-ray is something I wouldn't have bet on.
I was about to the point of resigning myself that the more expensive (boo!) but higher capacity (yay!) format was going to win, and just wait for Blu-ray to go ahead and take over so we only have one standard that consumers would therefore more willingly back. Not yet with this move, that says that the game is still wide open.
I'm also surprised that a company the size of Paramount would dump a format - why NOT keep two formats out there and maximize sales? How much more is it costing them to make both rather than a single format? They already had the infrastructure in place to produce both, so dropping one is an especially surprising move.
AFAIK, the only reason to dump Blu-ray was because they felt it wouldn't make them as much money. They think NOT selling a product in another format is going to save them money? Ouch.
Toshiba's players have been dropping in price (the HD-A2 is now about $240, the 1080p capable HD-A20 is about $330, both available at the HD For Indies Amazon Store). The PlayStation 3 (60GB), still the favored Blu-ray machine, is now only $500, but don't forget the $25 Bluetooth remote if you don't want to use a game contoller to play/pause.
-mike
Thanks to reader Jonathan for sending in this link. Always feel free to send in something good/relevant if you come across it.
UPDATE MONDAY 11PM
READ THE COMMENTS- rumor has it $150 million was paid to get two groups to dump Blu-ray. Fascinatingly naked ploy. Links in comments (Comments link below)
Labels: Blu-ray, format war, HD-DVD
Comments:
The only way this makes sense is if the HD DVD partners (Toshiba, Microsoft, whoever else) offered those two studios a bunch of $$ or some other form of financial compensation to dump Blu-ray.
And lo and behold, there are rumors now that Paramount and Dreamworks are getting $100 million and $50 million to make the switch. That's a lot of cash, and probably makes up for the sales lost to the bigger Blu-ray market (since it's still relatively very small).
Otherwise, I can't imagine why two studios would dump the format with the bigger installed base, AND the higher disk sales.
Whatever the reason, this is a STUPID move on Paramount and DW's part. Blu-ray has been outselling HD-DVD disks by 2-1 lately, and was one studio away (Universal) from having all major studios on board, and essentially ending the format war.
Now the fools at Paramount and Dreamworks have totally screwed the consumer by making it IMPOSSIBLE for one format to have all major movies...at least in the near future. They've also screwed themselves by again introducing tons of consumer confusion and indecision to a promising new market. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
And lo and behold, there are rumors now that Paramount and Dreamworks are getting $100 million and $50 million to make the switch. That's a lot of cash, and probably makes up for the sales lost to the bigger Blu-ray market (since it's still relatively very small).
Otherwise, I can't imagine why two studios would dump the format with the bigger installed base, AND the higher disk sales.
Whatever the reason, this is a STUPID move on Paramount and DW's part. Blu-ray has been outselling HD-DVD disks by 2-1 lately, and was one studio away (Universal) from having all major studios on board, and essentially ending the format war.
Now the fools at Paramount and Dreamworks have totally screwed the consumer by making it IMPOSSIBLE for one format to have all major movies...at least in the near future. They've also screwed themselves by again introducing tons of consumer confusion and indecision to a promising new market. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
They have probably figured out that they are losing tons of money by fueling ambiguity with dual-releases. I stopped purchasing regular DVDs two years ago in anticipation of switching, so the media producers are losing my dollars coming and going until this is settled. I hope this is the beginning of the end of the war.
Looks like Microsoft may be behind this. From the Digit Bits website:
"Microsoft has paid DreamWorks and Paramount so much money that they've decided to join Universal in the HD-DVD exclusive camp. No kidding.
None of the participants in this deal are willing to openly disclose just how MUCH money was exchanged, but the L.A. Weekly is reporting (based in part on a confidential report from media analysis firm Pali Research) that it was in the neighborhood of $50 million in "promotional considerations" for Paramount and $100 million for DreamWorks. I'm sure they're also getting lots of free or discounted VC-1 compression and HDi authoring services, along with prime placement on Xbox Live too. Is anyone else just disgusted by Microsoft's naked, shameless financial influence in this thing? That Hollywood is a greedy place should be obvious to all by now, if it wasn't already. The HD-DVD format can't win any other way than for Microsoft to PAY studios off to stay exclusive. And then they have the balls to claim the Blu-ray Disc camp is involved in antitrust violations. Wow."
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa141.html#dp
"Microsoft has paid DreamWorks and Paramount so much money that they've decided to join Universal in the HD-DVD exclusive camp. No kidding.
None of the participants in this deal are willing to openly disclose just how MUCH money was exchanged, but the L.A. Weekly is reporting (based in part on a confidential report from media analysis firm Pali Research) that it was in the neighborhood of $50 million in "promotional considerations" for Paramount and $100 million for DreamWorks. I'm sure they're also getting lots of free or discounted VC-1 compression and HDi authoring services, along with prime placement on Xbox Live too. Is anyone else just disgusted by Microsoft's naked, shameless financial influence in this thing? That Hollywood is a greedy place should be obvious to all by now, if it wasn't already. The HD-DVD format can't win any other way than for Microsoft to PAY studios off to stay exclusive. And then they have the balls to claim the Blu-ray Disc camp is involved in antitrust violations. Wow."
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa141.html#dp
Tucked into the press release is a reference to "market-ready-technology" considerations impacting the decision. If you talk to those in the industry who do programming for HD-DVD and BluRay titles using the more advanced capabilities of those systems (network connectivity, animation, games, picture-in-picture effects, video scaling, etc., etc.) you will likely get a different opinion from them than you might expect regarding BluRay's current viability as an advanced content platform.
I'm not knocking either format, nor saying that the capabilities I listed above are the only or even the prime consideration for most people, but simply pointing out that each of the formats are in different stages of maturity at the moment, and that this may have had at least some effect on Paramount's decision.
I'm not knocking either format, nor saying that the capabilities I listed above are the only or even the prime consideration for most people, but simply pointing out that each of the formats are in different stages of maturity at the moment, and that this may have had at least some effect on Paramount's decision.
Nobody seems to mention anymore that Blu Ray has a more draconian DRM and copy protection system than HD DVD. Fox made a point of being Blu Ray exclusive because of this. So if Microsoft and Toshiba handout mucho $$$$$$ to keep HD DVD alive, fine. That way Sony can't make a Circuit City Divx (not DivX) like system where you never really "own" a permanent license for personally viewing of the content of said discs, which is one of the main advantage of digital distribution.
I think a big monetary issue that hasn't been brought up is that actual sales price of discs. $29.99 is a lot to pay for a movie and it's the sole reason that I have yet to purchase a single movie (I have both a PS3 and a 360 with external HD-DVD). So it's possible that Paramount wants to price their discs lower to stimulate sales and simply cannot do that while still supporting Bluray. Obviously, is they release the same films on both formats, they more or less have to price them the same or risk hurting their own sales. And due to the higher cost of DRM and production fees for Bluray, they probably can't go much cheaper. Thus, Bluray support may may be artificially dictating their pricing for both formats. This is all conjecture on my part, of course, but it WILL be interesting to see if Paramount movies on HD-DVD start selling at lower prices than what we've been seeing.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
I don't think the cost of producing a particular format should be a consideration at this stage because it's obvious that whichever one wins the "war" will drop significantly in price.
But this is a typical Microsoft move to skew the market. I mean, hey, if your products aren't good enough to compete on their own, just use your financial clout to screw your competitors.
But this is a typical Microsoft move to skew the market. I mean, hey, if your products aren't good enough to compete on their own, just use your financial clout to screw your competitors.
Also, I read in the New York Times that this is only an 18 months exclusive. So basically, HDDVD camp is paying a bunch of money to try to get some market back before the tide goes complete against them. Who wants to bet that in 18 months we see Paramount return to being a dual-format publisher?
Also a good story on Hidefdigest.com about Spielberg getting a carve out for his title to be released on Blu-Ray.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Steven_Spielberg/Industry_Forecasts/Exclusive:_Spielberg_Big_Supporter_of_Blu-ray,_But_Future_High-Def_Releases_Uncertain/878
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Steven_Spielberg/Industry_Forecasts/Exclusive:_Spielberg_Big_Supporter_of_Blu-ray,_But_Future_High-Def_Releases_Uncertain/878
Everyone is outraged by these payoffs, but it was likely for the exact same reasons that both Target and Blockbuster went exclusively Blue Ray.
And while I do like the size of Blue Ray discs, currently as others have said the more advanced features are only working on HD DVD right now, and current Blue Ray Hardware may never be able to do some of the advanced features. And that is something the average consumer does not know.
And while I do like the size of Blue Ray discs, currently as others have said the more advanced features are only working on HD DVD right now, and current Blue Ray Hardware may never be able to do some of the advanced features. And that is something the average consumer does not know.
Jonah,
As I understand it Blockbuster went to Blu-Ray in most, not all, of it's stores because 70% of their hi def rentals were BR (and this move was for B&M stores only so online customers can get both HD-DVD and BR). I assume the stores that didn't go BR only are ones where HD-DVD had a better rental rate. Considering so many BB B&M stores are bleeding money I'm not surprised they went to such an extreme measure to help control inventory. If you constantly sell out of product X and have tons of product Y collecting dust it makes sense to stock more of X and less of Y.
As I understand it Blockbuster went to Blu-Ray in most, not all, of it's stores because 70% of their hi def rentals were BR (and this move was for B&M stores only so online customers can get both HD-DVD and BR). I assume the stores that didn't go BR only are ones where HD-DVD had a better rental rate. Considering so many BB B&M stores are bleeding money I'm not surprised they went to such an extreme measure to help control inventory. If you constantly sell out of product X and have tons of product Y collecting dust it makes sense to stock more of X and less of Y.
Expensive? Um, Criterion Collection SD DVDs can cost $39.99.
And these days you can get many Blu-ray discs for under $15:
Memento $14.95
Kung Fu Hustle $14.95
Layer Cake $14.95
House of Flying Daggers $14.95
just to name a few. There are other great films under $20 like The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Dog Day Afternoon, Reservoir Dogs and the Stanley Kubrik films.
Get a couple with free shipping and support the better format at this critical time. Sorry for the gross consumerism. It's what I've been doing, and I don't even have a player yet. But 25GB a layer is a moral imperative.
And these days you can get many Blu-ray discs for under $15:
Memento $14.95
Kung Fu Hustle $14.95
Layer Cake $14.95
House of Flying Daggers $14.95
just to name a few. There are other great films under $20 like The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Dog Day Afternoon, Reservoir Dogs and the Stanley Kubrik films.
Get a couple with free shipping and support the better format at this critical time. Sorry for the gross consumerism. It's what I've been doing, and I don't even have a player yet. But 25GB a layer is a moral imperative.
The ONLY advantages hd-dvd has over blu-ray right now is cost of players which its about a $150 diff and PIP video. The only movie so far with PIP being worth a crap are 300 and there are very few movies able to have a feature with the usefulness 300 provides. The manufacturing costs are pennies per disc not even 10 cents. Considering it costs less than $2 per disc they sell to retailers for $18-$25 depending if its a catalog release or new the difference is insignificant.
Advantages that HD DVD has over Blu-ray today.
1. A unified Interactive layer that works on ALL players. HDi.
2. Combo Format discs for DVD support and Twin Format discs (DVD and HD DVD on the same side)
3. Networking on every player with networked movies available.
4. Dual video/audio decoders for true PiP
5. Persistent storage for features like saving scenes and bookmarking amongst other things.
6. Mandatory TrueHD lossless audio support in every player.
There was a recent statement from Universal that from Heroes on every title will support networking.
If I had my druthers I'd have both formats but for right now I've chosen the more "complete" format in HD DVD.
Post a Comment
1. A unified Interactive layer that works on ALL players. HDi.
2. Combo Format discs for DVD support and Twin Format discs (DVD and HD DVD on the same side)
3. Networking on every player with networked movies available.
4. Dual video/audio decoders for true PiP
5. Persistent storage for features like saving scenes and bookmarking amongst other things.
6. Mandatory TrueHD lossless audio support in every player.
There was a recent statement from Universal that from Heroes on every title will support networking.
If I had my druthers I'd have both formats but for right now I've chosen the more "complete" format in HD DVD.
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