Warner Bros. backs both sides in DVD war

[Pupton]

I've been getting much more interested in the format development now that I own a HD-DVD player... here's another feed I read this morning:


Warner Bros. backs both sides in DVD war
Baltimore Sun, MD - Jan 6, 2007

I wonder if others will follow or just wait to see if one format takes the lead...

[Eddie Horton]

I don't think this will hurt HD-DVD or help Blu-Ray considering the price difference in players. If the PQ is equal, and you could get the movie on either format, would you not get the cheapest player? This makes a lot of assumptions on my part, and we know what happens when you do that, but that's my take on it.

[Pupton]

Hi Eddie, I agree at this point as I don't think there is a leader in the format war and I really wouldn't want to spend the extra dollars on a player or the hybrid disks...

now if we begin to see a true lead from one format, we may see some people begin buying hybrids to mitigate their risk (I know I'd hate to be an owner of +100 "beta" titles)...

I hope that the Warner Bros and LG initiatives help us get to a place where we either have a decided format (if we actually see them sold in public or not is a different story - but at least it shows there's interest in moving towards solutions)

Another option that would be a win-win would be an integration in technology that offers backdating the initial formats... if not then we will have consumers on one side lose (like the early adopters of Beta) ... I'm hoping this doesn't happen.

Mike

[Eddie Horton]

What I end up keeping will depend a lot on what the studios do. If more go neutral, I'll stand pat with my HD-D1 or an upgrade to an XA-2 as long as the hardware stays cheaper on the HD-DVD side. If any drop one altogether for another, then I guess a combo player could be in my future depending on which way things fall. If they both survive and studios continue to fall in one camp or the other, then I'll have to have both. I just want all the high quality hi-def I can get. One thing's for sure, the confusion continues for folks like me who don't have the pockets deep enough for both right now.