HBO hops on bandwagon, also going Blu-ray exclusive
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 10th 2008 9:54AM
posted Jan 10th 2008 9:54AM
Merely days after hearing New Line affirm that it would indeed be following Warner Bros. to the Blu side, we're now seeing confirmation that HBO (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) will be making the same leap. According to reports, HBO Video president Henry McGee has stated that HBO will too be "following the same policy as Warner Home Video" -- though we can't really imagine anyone being shocked about the decision. The blows just keep on comin', eh?[Thanks, Utah]
Pretty much expected, but nice no less.
LOL
I would say Yeah for the WIRE on BLU but they never shot it in widescreen so meh. Sopranos is WAY overrated... now if they never would have cancelled CARNIVALE, that was a great show and would have been great in HD.
The Wire complete series in HD......YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
Widescreen or not its way better than Sopranos ever was.
No question! But for the price, I would be just dandy with regular DVD version.
yea.........no point in getting the Wire on Blu-Ray.........
just get the DVD........up-conversion looks good enough for that........
The Wire is the best show ever!! But I don't think it was ever filmed in HD, all the shows are in 4x3 standard def, even on HBO HD channel. Same with The Shield, another great show. It would be nice to see it on bluray anyway. One full season on 1 disc would be great.
The Wire is the best show ever!! But I don't think it was ever filmed in HD, all the shows are in 4x3 standard def, even on HBO HD channel. Same with The Shield, another great show. It would be nice to see it on bluray anyway. One full season on 1 disc would be great.
The Wire is the best show ever!! But I don't think it was ever filmed in HD, all the shows are in 4x3 standard def, even on HBO HD channel. Same with The Shield, another great show. It would be nice to see it on bluray anyway. One full season on 1 disc would be great.
Now let's see if companies which are not owned by Time Warner will also go Blu exclusive.
Damnit. That's it. I'm done with HD DVD...I've been waiting for "Band of Brothers" and "From the Earth to the Moon" on HD DVD (yes, I know about the Japanese version of BoB...). Anyone wanna buy a cheap XBOX 360 HD DVD drive and about 20-25 movies on HD DVD??
For the record, I'm now 1-2 with format wars: picked Betamax, DVD (vs. DIVX) and now HD DVD. How's your format war record?
2-1 by your measure: VHS, DVD, HD-DVD. For $99, no regrets on the HD-DVD player... looks GREAT, and I only directly purchased 5 movies. Got 3 free at the store, 2 in the box, and another 5 on the way. Didn't fall for the temptation of those BOGO sales so I'm good, and it upscales DVD's beautifully.
Hehe, i'm on a winning streak :D 3-0! VHS, DVD, Blu-ray :D Hopefully the streak continues onto the next war.
damn all of y'all are in ya 40's huh??
This is the only format war I've been able to actually buy something for seeing as how I was only 6 When Betamax died........lol
WOOT! Band of Brothers in Blu-ray, let's have it! That would be a must buy for me...
go blu
Oh well, the deck was stacked from the beginning in Blu-ray's favor. About the only thing diehard fans of Microsoft and Toshiba can console themselves with is that both companies will still come out on top. MS owns VC-1, while Toshiba owns Cell processor technology. More PS3s and standalone Blu-ray players sold means more money for them, despite HD DVD's all but inevitable disappearance.
At least I won't have to read anymore immature rants with "HD DUD" in them by posters whom you'd think have stock in Sony and the BDA. I guess the new thing will be "My Blu-ray player is better than yours!"
Not crying sour grapes, but I bought 2 HD DVD players in the past year. I can't fork out $500+ for a Blu Ray. I'm a home theater nut...I can't see how average joe consumer is going to pay higher player prices and make the format profitable.
If you haven't been reading the CES news, there is a whole plethora of new blu-ray players coming and some are going to be
I don't know what is going on with this site today or if it is just me but my comments are freaking out...
...anyway the rest of my comment from above got cut off somehow. Let me finish my sentence
If you haven't been reading the CES news, there is a whole plethora of new blu-ray players coming and some are going to be sub $300 and if you are a home theater nut, then $300 shouldn't be a problem, otherwise you need a new hobby...
I believe this is all about the overall marketing of high-definition formats.
Truth is Joe Consumer is perfectly fine with DVDs, or for that matter, upscaling DVD players. That's what we're all finding.
Plus, Blu-ray is being successfully perceived to be a videophile format. Like Laserdisc, it's been successfully recieved by just the minority of users who are interested in high-definition discs.
HD-DVD however is not. It is being perceived as a successor to DVD, a format that many people exceedingly comfortable with right now (see RoughlyDrafted article on Why Lo-Fi Is The New Hi-Fi). It's strength is that it speaks best (compatibility and price) to an audience which is still showing indifference to the format war (since current DVD players offer the *best* compatibility and best price).
Basically, HD-DVD *competes* with DVD in buyers' minds more than Blu-ray does. In the studio's mind there's no point in continuing the war by getting behind two camps if one of them seems to confuse the established and well-performing standard DVD market, and this way they can streamline disc manufacturing and subsequently have a clearer marketing message.
(Wishes there was an edit button, yikes!)
VHS, DVD, HD torrents :P , HD-DVD. I got the $99 A2, which I'm keeping as it upscales DVDs EXTREMELY well. I have about 10 HD-DVDs I got for crazy cheap.. keeping them too. Most likely they'll still be better than the Blu-Ray version when they get re-released.
I have more invested in my Blu-Ray player (paid $319 for a P1400 last month) than I do in my 2 HD DVD players (360 add-on owner from day 1 & HD-A2 for $98)! I've got about 20 HD DVD titles and about 5 Blu-Ray movies. My HD DVD players aren't going anywhere. Now I just need to wait for a BR player to drop to $199 so I can have both formats in my den and theater room. No regrets.
Hi. I'm from Ausrtalia. What is From The Earth To The Moon? I heard this mentioned elsewhere also.
Cheers
From the Earth to the Moon was an HBO miniseries produced by Tom Hanks, et al. about the 1960's space race.
More info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/
Sony, Disney, and Fox don't use VC-1, they use AVC(quite frankly a superior codec). Now that Warners is Blu hopefully they'll drop VC-1 as well.
Microsoft tried their damndest to get their claws into this whole thing, all for naught.
Actually a couple of Disney movies have VC-1. Do a search? I am actually an AVC fan myself, but I just want to say that VC-1 was used by Disney.
Do we really need separate announcements for each one of Warner's companies? It is pretty obvious that they would all follow Warner.
Makes it that more painful for the fangirls.
I know its off topic but your HD DVD will be a collectible like Beta in just 20 years!
The dominoes keep falling in favor for Blu-ray. HD DVD is most surely dead. Can't wait for Paramount and Universal to officially go Bl-ray exclusive!
The dominoes keep falling in favor for Blu-ray. HD DVD is most surely dead. Can't wait for Paramount and Universal to officially go Bl-ray exclusive!
@ morpheus73
Is this codec better because you say so? Many posters on forums such as AVS disagree with this, and hoping Warner (not "Warners") drops it simply because they're Blu-ray exclusive sounds amazingly fanboyish and unnecessary at this point.
I suppose you're hoping Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks follow suit, as most of their titles use VC-1. All I know is that the VC-1 HD DVDs I own from all three companies look stunning and will continue to whether or not I decide to "go Blu." An argument over coding is probably just as silly as the storage space issue, so I'd rather not get into one.