The Blu-ray and HDDVD thread

[pogo]

I don't think the DRM did, but region encoding is just an idiotic speedhump.

Yes, but no more than a speedhump. I don't think it made much of a difference in the end as the DVD market is essentially local. Especially once it's gone mass market people but it on the high street from HMV, rent it from Blockbuster and for mail order from Amazon. High-def's going the same way: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray on the shelves of my local Woolworths, you don't get much more mass market than that.

[GBH]

Region encoding and DRM didn't harm DVD - quite the opposite - so it won't harm Blu-Ray. As for the profitability of Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD, I doubt either company is making money on their players. Certainly Toshiba is taking a big hit offering their players for as little as $99 recently, while the $150 million, $300 for every HD-DVD player sold, hasn't reversed or even dented Blu-Ray's lead.

Didn't say it would harm it, I said that was one of the main reasons I wanted it to fail Especially as it just hasn't worked on DVD other than causing end users pain (like most of these schemes)

I don't think Shy have much to worry about. Their main draw is exclusive content, in particular sport, and those rights will only grow more valuable with HD. It's possible the government will one day break up the cartel of Premiership clubs selling TV rights, but until they do Sky will be unassailable. And they are profitable enough that they can buy up other rights, to shows like Lost, 24, BSG, to stop other channels becoming too attractive.

I'd like to think Sky have a lot more than that to worry about.

When the public are faced with free, getting all of the main channels in HD and more HD content coming online all the time along with all of the FTA channels that are already on Sky, next to Sky at anything from £35+ a month for even one premium channel in HD and £55 a month if you want them all) On top of that you have all the PPV content you get charged extra on top for (boxing. wrestling etc.) and that £660 a year before PPV is pretty huge disincentive.

Setanta have already shown that Sky's place in sport is not unapproachable and I'm sure as time goes on things will begin to change there too. Boxing is finding out slowly that years of chasing the dollar has been very bad and the general consensus is that it's decline in the last 15 years can attributed to PPV and PTV.

As I said, time will tell if Sky can drop their prices and increase the quality enough to warrant the cost but I don't think anyone would say a 100% free service from the biggest broadcasters in the country backed and funded by the BBC isn't going to have Sky's arse twitching...

G

[Dio]

as the DVD market is essentially local. Especially once it's gone mass market people but it on the high street from HMV, rent it from Blockbuster and for mail order from Amazon.

Not sure about that, though. More than half the DVD's the mrs has bought are out-of-region - and she doesn't have any solid idea about the whole region thing beyond knowing that we don't have a problem with it - she's just buying things from online stores.

Globalisation plays both ways - consumers are increasingly buying globalised goods.

[pogo]

I'd like to think Sky have a lot more than that to worry about.

When the public are faced with free, getting all of the main channels in HD and more HD content coming online all the time along with all of the FTA channels that are already on Sky, next to Sky at anything from £35+ a month for even one premium channel in HD and £55 a month if you want them all) On top of that you have all the PPV content you get charged extra on top for (boxing. wrestling etc.) and that £660 a year before PPV is pretty huge disincentive.

I agree - it's £660, or even £400 more than I'm willing to pay. But Sky doesn't care about me, just the 20% or whatever of TV viewers willing to pay several hundred pounds for their exclusive content.

They'll do just as well in HD, except more-so as Sky have used the transition to both get a headstart on their "competitors" and fix technical problems with their service. By the time BBC and others join in, three or four years from now, Sky will be well entrenched.[/quote]

Setanta have already shown that Sky's place in sport is not unapproachable and I'm sure as time goes on things will begin to change there too. Boxing is finding out slowly that years of chasing the dollar has been very bad and the general consensus is that it's decline in the last 15 years can attributed to PPV and PTV.

While Sky can lock up the majority of Premiership, rugby, cricket etc. rights they will keep their customers. This also suits the sports, so it would take govt. intervention to change this. Can't see this happening any time soon.

[fog]

While Sky can lock up the majority of Premiership, rugby, cricket etc. rights they will keep their customers. This also suits the sports, so it would take govt. intervention to change this. Can't see this happening any time soon.

There already has been government intervention, of the European kind, and that's exactly why Setanta were able to get some of the Premier League TV rights away from Sky. And with the football now split into several smaller packages it's much more likely that the BBC, ITV etc will be able to bid against Sky in the future than if there were just a single prohibitively expensive package as has been the case in the past.


Anyway Blu-Ray then. What movie is gong to show off my new TV best when it arrives?

[GBH]

I agree - it's £660, or even £400 more than I'm willing to pay. But Sky doesn't care about me, just the 20% or whatever of TV viewers willing to pay several hundred pounds for their exclusive content.

They'll do just as well in HD, except more-so as Sky have used the transition to both get a headstart on their "competitors" and fix technical problems with their service. By the time BBC and others join in, three or four years from now, Sky will be well entrenched.

Hmmm I'm not sure you've been following it closely enough

The BBC have been trialling HD for over a year and a half and have now successfully launched their HD channel (Ironicall this past weekend). Channel 4 come live in a couple of weeks, ITV by the spring and Five sometime next year. Much of the BBC content (not soaps yet though I don't think) has been filmed in HD for a while. In fact Sky are no further ahead than the BBC at all and considering Sky's original output is next to nothing compared to the BBC's. The BBC have also already broadcast live HD sport (Wimbledon and last years World Cup coverage) along with things like the proms.

So they have the experience of producing and broadcasting the content already. The question over whether the satellites can actually transmit the signal is a little moot as they've been planning and trialing this on the chosen satellites for about 3 years. The satellites (I forget which) have been up there for a while and work perfectly fine for the signals they already carry.

Ultimately I wouldn't (and don't) pay that anyway but like all champions, theres always someone around who can give you a good kicking eventually.

While Sky can lock up the majority of Premiership, rugby, cricket etc. rights they will keep their customers. This also suits the sports, so it would take govt. intervention to change this. Can't see this happening any time soon.

Maybe, we shall see

G

[Dio]

Sky's a thousand miles ahead of the BBC.

If BBC showed all of 1 and 2 in HD I'd have gone for HD already, but they do cock all. At least Sky have five or six 24hr HD channels.

[GBH]

Sky's a thousand miles ahead of the BBC.

If BBC showed all of 1 and 2 in HD I'd have gone for HD already, but they do cock all. At least Sky have five or six 24hr HD channels.

Yes ok admittedly, 9 hours a day is a lot less than Sky currently. I've said this on another forum elsewhere, little of what Sky broadcasts interests me so I'll hold my hands up and admit my clear bias. None of the HD sport they show interests me (hate football and cricket) and if I wanted to see endless re-runs of year old films I'd just buy the films for £5 on DVD

As I've also said here before give me 9 hours of the BBC advert free over 900 hours of Sky any day

G

[Dio]

Thing is, have you seen what the 9 hours is? It's a lot of shite.

I'm looking for excuses to switch to HD and the BBC and Sky offer only one consistent thing, the sport, which I don't watch in the house often enough to be worthwhile. And the rest? A pick-and-mix selection of typically crap BBC1 offerings on BBC HD and typically crap movies on the two Sky HD movie channels.

Sky are the only people with the foresight to see that HD is a "whole channel on it, or don't do it" affair. So for me, they're ahead. But not ahead enough to be worth paying ten quid more for.

[benedictw]

Too many people are learning to download movies simply because you can't buy them here yet - it might be better to encourage people not to be pirates in the first place.

They're in danger of doing the same thing with unskippable cutscenes, by making the download copy more attractive than the original. Friends of ours have a kids DVD with five minutes of unskippable shite on the beginning. By the time the film's started, the kids have lost interest. Ripping the bugger is the only solution.

Quite.

We've bought the bugger (or rented) and I do NOT want to sit through N mins of adverts, patronising anti piracy bollocks or the rest. So I start the DVD while reading to the kids upstairs. Problem solved.

Childrens DVDs are even worse - lots of unskippable trailers - especially YOU disney.

[pogo]

Sky's a thousand miles ahead of the BBC.

If BBC showed all of 1 and 2 in HD I'd have gone for HD already, but they do cock all. At least Sky have five or six 24hr HD channels.

Yes ok admittedly, 9 hours a day is a lot less than Sky currently.

Nine hours ? Here's tonight's listing:

20:00 Planet Earth
21:00 Earth: The Power of the Planet
22:00 Mountain
23:00 Michael Palin's New Europe

Four hours of dull as fuck documentaries. Admittedly it's a slow evening: tomorrow there's Heroes and an extra twenty minutes. Hardly nine hours though. There's a couple more hours weekends, but it's still a tiny fraction of the BBC's output.

[HGFB]

Guys. If it isn't related to HDDVD and blu-ray could you take it to a separate thread please?

[HGFB]

I've got the HDDVD version of 2001 on in the background. It's so good looking it makes me drool. There's a couple of scenes where the ape learns how to use the bone as a weapon that have a depth of field effect that look just divine. Currently watching the inspiration for the Elite docking system :0

What other classics would you like to see on either HDDVD or BD?

[pogo]

Star Wars & Lord Of The Rings. Also the collected works of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, i.e. Studio Ghibli's back catalogue. And The Incredibles.

[sty]

I've got the HDDVD version of 2001 on in the background. It's so good looking it makes me drool. There's a couple of scenes where the ape learns how to use the bone as a weapon that have a depth of field effect that look just divine. Currently watching the inspiration for the Elite docking system :0

What other classics would you like to see on either HDDVD or BD?