Paramount to drop HD DVD for Blu-ray

[Mavs Man]

In light of Warner Bros. dropping HD DVD to sell Blu-rays exclusively, Paramount will actually be switching from HD DVD to Blu-ray reportedly...

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/64393

Paramount Set to Drop HD DVD for Blu-ray
Tue Jan 8, 2008 10:54AM EST

How many "death blows" will it take for Blu-ray to finally win the format war against HD DVD? I've been hearing that phrase (and writing about it) since July 2007. Well here comes another one. Following in the footsteps of Warner Brothers' abandonment of the HD DVD format, reports are surfacing that Paramount is headed to Blu-ray as well.

This is huge news not just because it would leave just one major studio (Universal, plus the mini-major DreamWorks) producing HD DVD content. It would mark the first time in the high-def war that a studio has abandoned one exclusive format and switched to another. Warner was producing both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs and merely dropped the HD DVD ones. Paramount will have to switch entirely to Blu-ray, which it has not been producing up to now.

According to the Financial Times, Paramount has a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp allowing it to switch to Blu-ray in the event that Warner was to do so. And exercising that clause is what's about to happen. It's also theorized that DreamWorks will follow Paramount, since the studios are closely tied together.

Nothing's been announced yet, but this should be wrapped up in fairly short order. Stay tuned.

 

[Dallas]

This is the nail in the coffin for HD/DVD.


I would like to let everyone know right now.


When you are at Best Buy and you see that HD/DVD player on sale for 49.99 this weekend? Call your ex-wife and let her know.


Ill be getting a new Blue Ray player this week looks like. Glad I waited.

 

[theogt]

Not true according to the Financial Times.

 

[Mavs Man]

Not true according to the Financial Times.

I don't follow you... link?

Financial Times, Jan 8, 2008 - Paramount set to drop HD-DVD

Nothing's been announced yet, but this should be wrapped up in fairly short order. Stay tuned.

 

[Mavs Man]

I did find an article on Bloomberg that denied the rumors:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aQMGgh2LV_bU&refer=japan

Paramount Denies Report It Will Drop Toshiba's HD DVD (Update2)

By Andy Fixmer and John Liu

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures denied a newspaper report that the studio is poised to follow Time Warner Inc. in abandoning Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD technology.

``Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,'' Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in an e-mail today.

Toshiba, the leading promoter of the HD DVD format for high- definition video discs, fell in Tokyo trading after the Financial Times reported Paramount is poised to adopt Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format instead.

Paramount can defect because a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp allows the studio to switch to Blu-ray if Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. dropped its support of Toshiba's standard, the newspaper reported today, citing unidentified people familiar with the plan. Warner Bros. said on Jan. 4 it would drop its support of HD DVD.

Keisuke Ohmori, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Toshiba, said the report is speculative. Masayo Endo, a spokeswoman for Sony, declined to comment on the report.

Toshiba's shares fell 0.1 percent to close at 782 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after dropping as much as 1.3 percent. Sony's stock rose 3.4 percent.

Also, it does seem curious of them to switch back to Blu-ray less than six months after dropping them:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=412

Paramount Drops Blu-ray Support; Does Not Include Spielberg Movies
Posted August 20, 2007 by Josh

Despite selling more movies on the Blu-ray format, Paramount has announced today that they will begin supporting HD DVD exclusively. This move, rumored to be driven by a $150M exclusivity deal with the HD DVD group, comes after Paramount began favoring Blu-ray releases with higher quality video encodings and more HD features. The deal covers all of Paramount's properties excluding those directed by Steven Spielberg. The move will inevitably lengthen a format war which should never have been. Consumers will unfortunately suffer the most, as they will be forced to support a format which is being supported by corporations instead of consumers. No word was given as to how long the exclusivity agreement is for, but rumors indicate through 2008. High definition enthusiasts can now only hope that a DVD-A/SACD situation hasn't been initiated by this decision.

 

[burmafrd]

Band wagon. SInce right now it looks like Blu Ray has the edge, that is the way they are going. Though the odds against HD=DVD are getting longer.

 

[theogt]

I don't follow you... link?

Financial Times, Jan 8, 2008 - Paramount set to drop HD-DVD

Sorry, I misread this post at aintitcool.com.

 

[Mavs Man]

Sorry, I misread this post at aintitcool.com.

Ah, yes, Harry Knowles.

Does he have an insider source for this? At this point it's anyone's guess - lots of smoke and mirrors - but it does not look good for HD DVD.

Lucky for me, standard DVD should be the format of choice for the next few years, at least.

 

[theogt]

Ah, yes, Harry Knowles.

Does he have an insider source for this? At this point it's anyone's guess - lots of smoke and mirrors - but it does not look good for HD DVD.

Lucky for me, standard DVD should be the format of choice for the next few years, at least.

Not sure, but it's rare that he's wrong when he makes such a declarative statement.

 

[Mavs Man]

Not sure, but it's rare that he's wrong when he makes such a declarative statement.

The Financial Times doesn't list a source either, so it could be pure speculation on their part based solely on the clause in the Paramount contract. If Paramount does drop them, more than likely Dreamworks will follow (seems like I read they signed deals with HD DVD at the same time, with similar language in their contracts).

If that scenario played out, it would leave Universal as the lone studio backer of HD DVD.

 

[Concord]

With Warner Bros and Paramount switching to Blu-Ray we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy...

 

[theogt]

It would be nice if they'd change the name of Blu-Ray to HD-DVD if they do in fact "win." They should have just called their product HD-DVD from the beginning considering that's what it is.

 

[Kevinicus]

Not sure, but it's rare that he's wrong when he makes such a declarative statement.

Harry Knowles is wrong more often than he is right. Far more.

 

[GTaylor]

Blu-Ray is locked down more than HD-DVD and is tailored for the studios whereas HD-DVD was more user friendly, so it's not surprising the studios are backing Blu-Ray.

The real challenge now will be to convince those still on DVD to not only re-buy all their old movies at a higher cost, but to replace all the DVD players in their PCs, SUVs, etc. and to support a medium that so far has no ripping/duplicating capabilities.

 

[jterrell]

Blu ray was always gonna win because they own the most movies.

Paramount has been trying to get out of the HD DVD deal and the WB out allows them to.

In a short while most blu ray players will play HD DVD movies and then it won't matter much.

Blu ray players are cheap enough and the movies are becoming easy to find at near standard DVD prices.

After watching blu ray movies on a HD tv I can tell you I'll never buy standard definition again.

 

[theogt]

Harry Knowles is wrong more often than he is right. Far more.

When he posts rumor, maybe. That's just the nature of posting rumor. But if he says it's definitive, it's usually definitive.

 

[locked&loaded]

Blu ray was always gonna win because they own the most movies.

Paramount has been trying to get out of the HD DVD deal and the WB out allows them to.

In a short while most blu ray players will play HD DVD movies and then it won't matter much.

Blu ray players are cheap enough and the movies are becoming easy to find at near standard DVD prices.

After watching blu ray movies on a HD tv I can tell you I'll never buy standard definition again.

And they sold Millions of blu ray players in the ps3*

 

[Kevinicus]

Blu-Ray is locked down more than HD-DVD and is tailored for the studios whereas HD-DVD was more user friendly, so it's not surprising the studios are backing Blu-Ray.

The real challenge now will be to convince those still on DVD to not only re-buy all their old movies at a higher cost, but to replace all the DVD players in their PCs, SUVs, etc. and to support a medium that so far has no ripping/duplicating capabilities.

You can rip/duplicate HD-DVD and blu-ray, it's expensive though. And people don't need to rebuy any movies if they don't want to, just buy NEW movies in HD if they want.

 

[GTaylor]

You can rip/duplicate HD-DVD and blu-ray, it's expensive though. And people don't need to rebuy any movies if they don't want to, just buy NEW movies in HD if they want.

I agree, but most people own 100+ DVDs (I'm sure others own much more) and now with a higher def they're stuck with either being forced to watch their favorite movies in lower quality or rebuy their movies. Same thing that happened to us with the cassette tapes/cds, etc.

 

[SweetDC]

God I hate all of this digital technology. I cannot keep up with it. Can someone educate me please? I always thought Blu-ray is HD just branded differently. So Blu-ray is totally different technology then? Like the difference between VHS and Beta back in the day?

If HD is on the decline why are stations broadcasting in HD rather than Blu-ray? (You can insert laughter here if you want. I am sure that's a dumb question and I just don't know it yet.)

It looks like it's time to get on Google for more info because I was about to buy a HD DVD player. I swear no sooner do you buy something and it's suddenly obsolete.