Netflix goes Blu

[avaserfi]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Looks like yet another plus for BD supporters.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Disc_Rentals/Netflix/Netflix_Goes_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1451

I really thought Toshiba would do something after the Warner announcement, but their silence is really the final blow. I do realize they are cutting prices and had a Super Bowl add, but those seems like peanuts compared to what they should be doing if they wanted to keep the format alive.

 

[majorloser]

From the horse's mouth:

http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=265

Can't say it wasn't an expected move on their part.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Yeah, I just got the email myself. Looks like it is about over for HD DVD, unless Toshiba and Microsoft want to unload some serious money.

I hope Bluray finally becomes a fully baked technology. I am tired of having to investigate players so thoroughly to figure out what profile they are. Denon's new offering isn't much better, especially with the lack of connectivity.

 

[Nomo]

That sucks. I was hoping to get a bit more use of my A2 through Netflix rentals.

 

[funked up]

I just got the email. This sucks. Now I def have to buy a PS3.

 

[ParkerAudio]

I will tell you something else that sucks, now I won't be able to buy the nice combo discs that allow me to have high def. and standard DVD on one disc. That comes in handy when you buy Shrek 3 in High Def, and need a copy to take on the road.
Why didn't Bluray come up with that little miracle, all that space and can't fit that small time idea into the mix.
The two format race was only benefiting me.

 

[stratman]

We all knew this was coming, sooner or later. You guys knew that at the end of the day there will only be one format, but then what? Bluray will need to go up against SD DVD, then it's when the fun will begin, this is when the survival fitness of the format will be tested to it's limit. Once Bluray is finally, uncontestedly declared the "winner", every PR firm out there will try and convince J6P that he has to get BD, that will be the litmus test for High Def Dvd. In the meantime other technologies are creeping up ever so faster to get into the limelight. Will Bluray ever replace SD DVD? Will VOD replace SD DVD and BD? Those are the two questions being wrangled in board rooms across the world right now. This is not the end, but the begining of the battle for BD.

 

[aberkowitz]

I do realize they are cutting prices and had a Super Bowl add, but those seems like peanuts compared to what they should be doing if they wanted to keep the format alive.

I saw that ad... maybe I was just too nervous watching my Giants, but I really didn't see what they were expecting to get out of it. Particularly compared to the Sony Blu Ray ads I've seen, flashy and loud in typical Sony fashion, I wasn't about to start jumping up to run out and buy a HD DVD player.

As for Net Flix... why waste inventory space on a product that has drastically diminishing returns in the future? Also- this allows Netflix to add its two cents to the speed of adoption by new users. People who are sitting on the sidelines waiting for a "winner" may take direction from NF and buy a BD player... and then go out and rent BDs from Netflix.

 

[dobyblue]

I will tell you something else that sucks, now I won't be able to buy the nice combo discs that allow me to have high def. and standard DVD on one disc. That comes in handy when you buy Shrek 3 in High Def, and need a copy to take on the road.
Why didn't Bluray come up with that little miracle, all that space and can't fit that small time idea into the mix.
The two format race was only benefiting me.

Fox are including a digital copy of the movie in Standard Def on a separate disc included in the Blu-ray release for a few of their upcoming titles, the other studios may look into this as well.

Flipper discs suck, whether they're DualDiscs, DVD18 discs or HD DVD/DVD combo discs.

Hybrid discs is where it's at. Blu-ray had a DVD9/BD25 disc on display working on DVD player and BD player at IFA 2005 in Berlin, but according to Blu-ray insiders none of the current studios have expressed an interest in this disc, so it has not had much R&D.

 

[dobyblue]

Here's a recap of the last 5 weeks.

01/04/08: Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/05/08: New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/09/08: Adam & Eve goes neutral
01/10/08: HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/11/08: Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/16/08: Senator Entertainment goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/21/08: Eagle Rock goes neutral
01/21/08: RBFilms goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/22/08: Grant's Appliances goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/24/08: Topics goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: Woolworths goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: FS Films goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: Sonic Scenarist Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: EMI Japan Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: National Geographic Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/31/08: Surround Records goes neutral
02/01/08: ADV Goes Blu-ray
02/04/08: Manga Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: German Distributor Highlight Video Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: French Distributor BAC Films Joins the Blu-ray Trend
02/06/08: Kaleidescape announces Blu-ray Support (No current HD DVD plans)
02/07/08: Swedish film companies SF and Scanbox go Blu-ray Exclusive
02/07/08: Spanish distributor Filmax goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/10/08: Netflix announces they will go Blu-ray exclusive
02/11/08: Best Buy announces they will recommend Blu-ray to consumers

 

[ParkerAudio]

"Flipper discs suck, whether they're DualDiscs, DVD18 discs or HD DVD/DVD combo discs."


Why do HD DVD/DVD combo discs suck? I am curious why you would think that. Lets face it, if John Q public is going to sign on to Bluray, they are going to want it to work in their cars, and on their portable machines. People like my sister, who could give a rats *** about clarity, and different sound codecs, only want their kids to be able to watch their movies where ever they want for cheap.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Here's a recap of the last 5 weeks.

01/04/08: Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/05/08: New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/09/08: Adam & Eve goes neutral
01/10/08: HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/11/08: Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/16/08: Senator Entertainment goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/21/08: Eagle Rock goes neutral
01/21/08: RBFilms goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/22/08: Grant's Appliances goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/24/08: Topics goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: Woolworths goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: FS Films goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: Sonic Scenarist Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: EMI Japan Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: National Geographic Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/31/08: Surround Records goes neutral
02/01/08: ADV Goes Blu-ray
02/04/08: Manga Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: German Distributor Highlight Video Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: French Distributor BAC Films Joins the Blu-ray Trend
02/06/08: Kaleidescape announces Blu-ray Support (No current HD DVD plans)
02/07/08: Swedish film companies SF and Scanbox go Blu-ray Exclusive
02/07/08: Spanish distributor Filmax goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/10/08: Netflix announces they will go Blu-ray exclusive
02/11/08: Best Buy announces they will recommend Blu-ray to consumers

Great list, but Woolworths?

 

[stratman]

Let's see if after the smoke clears, prices on on BD will start dropping (as they should) or will it take government hearings (like CDs) to determine if we (J6P) are getting anally probed by the BD consortium. If all (Toshiba included) jump on one format prices should drop considerably over time.

 

[dobyblue]

"Flipper discs suck, whether they're DualDiscs, DVD18 discs or HD DVD/DVD combo discs."


Why do HD DVD/DVD combo discs suck? I am curious why you would think that. Lets face it, if John Q public is going to sign on to Bluray, they are going to want it to work in their cars, and on their portable machines. People like my sister, who could give a rats *** about clarity, and different sound codecs, only want their kids to be able to watch their movies where ever they want for cheap.

Any flipper disc sucks, it's not a general comment about the HD DVD/DVD combo disc.

Plus it's only a small percentage of discs showing up in this format, mostly from Universal. What good is it without some sort of consistency.

As for your sister, she'll be fine with DVD for another 4 years until Blu-ray is commonplace.

 

[dobyblue]

Great list, but Woolworths?

I think you're unaware of whom Woolworths are.

Look up Woolworth's UK, they are in the Top 3 retailers for discs. That's who made the announcement.

http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/woolworths_backs_bluray_format_over_hd_dvd_28-01-08/

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Looks like yet another plus for BD supporters.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Disc_Rentals/Netflix/Netflix_Goes_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1451

I really thought Toshiba would do something after the Warner announcement, but their silence is really the final blow. I do realize they are cutting prices and had a Super Bowl add, but those seems like peanuts compared to what they should be doing if they wanted to keep the format alive.

Ouch.... I guess HD-DVD fanboys can scratch rentals off the list of movie choices. The only redeeming factor of their format was that, at least, they could rent them on netflix.

With Blockbuster corporate stores ditching the format, you'll have a hard time finding a local place to rent them.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I think it would be great if a sd version was included with the BD version. That way I could watch a movie in the other room or take it with me somewhere.

dobyblue, for clarification, do you say flipper discs suck because you don't personally care for them or is there something flawed with the design? (asking not challenging) I've never had any issues with flipper discs before. Other than the old ones (pre-dual layering) irritating me when you had to flip the disc in the middle of a movie.

Flippers make sense to me from the studios side. They probably don't want people taking a second disc and giving it to their friends or selling them, theoritically cutting sales in half - key word being "theoretically."

Jack

 

[Alamar]

This announcement made me glad that I didn't invest into HD-DVD because with NetFlix limiting support of HD-DVD I wouldn't have much in the way of rentals ...

With the price of movies [many 30$+ without sales] I won't be owning much at all for a while so NetFlix is really one of the few games in town.

On the other hand I hear odd rumors of NetFlix wanting to charge more for BD rentals ....

If the prices stay high I think that I'll get more enjoyment out of my $ if I just upgrade the substandard equipment. By the time I'm through with that then maybe BD player & movie prices will have come down to more reasonable levels [with players supporting the latest standard BTW].

 

[majorloser]

They're Telling Netflix Members Now

Here'e the e-mail I received from Netflix today:

"We're Going Blu-ray

Dear David,

You're receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.

Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don't worry, we will contact you before this happens.

You can click here to change your format preferences.

We're sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

-The Netflix Team"


So much for the only reason I switched to Netflix.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I got the email today too.
Good thing I only paid 98 bucks for HD A2. HD DVD is dead. I really liked HD DVD's menu system better than BD too. Oh well, I liked Betamax as well