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Iron Man's Blu-ray release manages 20 percent of DVD's market share

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 8th 2008 at 11:28AM

Iron ManAt this point it seems that the only one not talking about how well Iron Man sold on Blu-ray is Paramount, as Adam's Research tells Video Business that the Blu-ray version of Iron Man managed to take 20 percent of the market share away from DVD. This number confirms our estimates that Blu-ray market share has doubled since HD DVD demise. The previous record holder, I Am Legend, that was released around the time HD DVD called it quits, only managed 9 percent. We have to say that this even exceeds our expectations though, and although there is no doubt that this title fits in the Blu-demographic, it once again is some indication that the future might just be Blu after all.

Retailers aren't wasting anytime dropping HD DVD

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Feb 23rd 2008 at 10:31AM

Best Buy
Analyst have suspected that much of this has been in the works since Warner went Blu and VB has given a number of retailers a call and discovered that this is just the case. It seems most retailers have been preparing for the end of the format war since Warner's announcement just before CES, but now that things are officially over, retailers aren't wasting any time. Some of the big boys in retail like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Netflix, were quick to make their intentions known before Toshiba gave the word, but the rest are falling in line quickly and we're not just talking about Amazon and DVD Empire, but smaller retailers around the country like Texas electronics store Bjorn's which is getting more creative and allowing its customers to return HD DVD players for store credit towards a Blu-ray player. Some retailers immediately returned its stock for credit while others have marked it as clearance and are quick to communicate to its customers that HD DVD is to be discontinued. Whatever the plans, one thing is for sure, most retailers knew this was coming long before some HD DVD fans did.

[Via Format War Central]

Sony Pictures: At least two 50GB Blu-ray releases by year-end, no BD-J until 2007

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 25th 2006 at 7:52PM

Retail movie releases on dual layer 50GB Blu-ray discs will become a reality in 2006, according to Sony Pictures President Ben Feingold, quoted by VideoBusiness as stating that the studio will release at least two movies on the discs by the end of this year. He didn't specify any additional features, titles, prices or advanced codec support yet, but while another executive confirmed more Blu-ray features would be coming, we shouldn't expect to see discs using Blu-ray Java (BD-J) technology until January. They also commented on the criticism of the quality of some Blu-ray releases, noting that newer movies and more recent releases have received better reviews, while also putting some blame on the decisions of filmmakers and the monitors used during the mastering process. Movie houses are also waiting for more players (read: PS3) to hit the ground to be able to test compatibility before they start including highly interactive features. At least so far, HD DVD has been able to take advantage of their lead time on the movie side with (currently) larger discs, more efficient compression and some interesting bonus features. The real Blu-ray launch is coming this winter as several new players will be greeted by these much improved discs, we'll see how the format war stacks up then.

HD DVD's marketing campaign having an affect already? Image Entertainment thinks so

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 21st 2006 at 9:21AM

Image Entertainment recently announced they are bringing a few items from their concert library to HD DVD this year, however potentially more interesting is their reasoning why. According to VideoBusiness, VP John Powers specifically cited the HD DVD camp's courting of their library, lower production costs and upcoming $150 million "The Look and Sound of Perfect" advertising campaign that they decided to move up their release schedule and get titles out now. Of course, there is also a possibility this has to do with the company fending off a takeover attempt by Lionsgate, but still it highlights one of the main points of contention in this high definition format war. Each side has to not only sell to end users, but hopefully convince content providers to release on their format so consumers have a reason to buy the players. It's a bit of a chicken-egg scenario where they have to convince both sides the other is either coming or already here, and in this case it seems to have worked for HD DVD. The HD DVDs featuring Barry Manilow, Chicago/Earth Wind & Fire and Heart are now listed for release November 14.

Microsoft demos Xbox 360 HD DVD player, menus [Updated image]

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 8th 2006 at 6:46AM

At yesterday's North America DVD Forum Conference, Microsoft showed off video playback from their upcoming Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on. The short clip from Phantom of the Opera was reported by Video Business to be similar in video and sound quality to standalone players shown earlier during the meeting. While they found time to mention that there is a "high interest level about HD DVD" among 360 owners and that 64% of them own HDTVs already, the only pricing information given was that it "will be the cheapest HD DVD player on the market for consumers who already own an Xbox 360 console". A quick bit of work with the calculator reveals that to mean the incredibly specific range of anywhere from $0 - $499. While there weren't any pictures available from the conference itself, Microsoft did find time to release these diagrams of the menu will allow users to select content from either the DVD or HD DVD drive when attached.

Despite their claims of "high demand" -- if it's so high, why didn't the 360 ship with an HD DVD drive in the first place -- the total pricetag for 360 HD DVD vs. PS3 w/ Blu-ray will likely be a key battle this holiday season and next, even if PQ isn't.

Update: John at the Gamerscore blog posted this animated .gif to show the dashboard in action. After selecting the disc as usual, the user selects up or down to go to the DVD or HD DVD drive.

Read - More on the HD-DVD player from Major Nelson - Microsoft Gamerscore Blog
Read - Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on unveiled - Video Business

High definition DVD launches are back on again

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 17th 2006 at 3:38PM

In the on again-off again world of next generation DVD formats, everything appears to be on again. The AACS conflict from last week has been settled with an "interim" agreement that will allow manufacturers to start making players. With that, HD-DVD should be on shelves in late March, followed by Blu-ray in May.

Excellent, the day when HDTV owners can buy high priced, high DRM but low functionality DVD players is nearly upon us, are you guys excited yet?

[Via Engadget]




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