Netflix to go exclusively with BluRay

[blutach]

Netflix has become the latest convert in the battle of the HD titans. Under the directions of a “clear signal from the industry”, Netflix, “will carry High-def DVDs only in Blu-ray format”. Would the clear signal be akin to rats scurrying off a sinking ship?

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[rago88]

Just read about it few minutes ago...

so...............

would buying a hybrid[ HD/BluRay] be a waste of money now or recently..?

I own neither..
Just have the upscale rig..

[admin]

I guess people will have to rent their HD DVD exclusives from somewhere else. Blockbusters is still renting HD DVDs online for the present.

To decide if you need HD DVD or not, you really need to look at your budget and look at the movies that are on the format and will come to the format exclusively in the short term. This is just a small list of movies that will be HD DVD exclusive in most regions:

American Gangster
Atonement (Bafta Best Film Winner)
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Charlie Wilson's War
The Kingdom
The Kite Runner
No Country for Old Men
Zodiac

I for one would like to get these movies on HD, as I would like to get the Blu-ray exclusives too. Money is a problem, but HD DVD players are cheap and the PS3 is versatile and good value for the price (works as game console, media hub and Blu-ray player, and Folding@Home client).

Even if HD DVD dies tomorrow, it will take ages for the existing titles to be transferred to Blu-ray - Warner announcing Batman Begins being available on Blu-ray very late this year proves this, since it and many other Warner titles has been exclusively available on HD DVD for ages now. Some of the Warner HD DVD exclusives don't even have release dates for this year. It will be 2009 before most of the HD DVD exclusives make their way onto Blu-ray, and that's assuming Paramount and Universal both fold tomorrow.

[BR7]

Even if HD DVD dies tomorrow, it will take ages for the existing titles to be transferred to Blu-ray - Warner announcing Batman Begins being available on Blu-ray very late this year proves this, since it and many other Warner titles has been exclusively available on HD DVD for ages now

You could get lucky on some titles by getting imports.For example Rob Zombies Halloween will be released on Blu-ray in Sweden sometime soon

[blutach]

With the rental stores going BD, it really means the end of HDDVD, I reckon. Sad. They need to do something and fast or they will be the BetaMax to BD's VHS.

Regards

[admin]

You could get lucky on some titles by getting imports.For example Rob Zombies Halloween will be released on Blu-ray in Sweden sometime soon

Same can be said of Blu-ray exclusives available as HD DVD exclusive in Europe (many through Studio Canal). The same thing happens in Australia as well, we just got T2: Director's Cut on HD DVD, which is a Lionsgate Blu-ray exclusive title in the US (not the Director's Cut though, I don't think). There are some HD DVD exclusives coming out soon that will be Blu-ray exclusives here, so HD DVD's region-free-ness comes in very handy (as is the low prices on Amazon.com ). One would have to be really careful with Blu-ray imports due to region locking - I use this list, which covers most of the US/UK/Aus Blu-ray titles:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=50447

Rentals play almost no part in the HD war at the moment, since the majority of users are new adopters that are more likely to buy than to rent. In any case, the number of HD rentals in comparison to DVD is quite pathetic (HD being not copyable might be a reason), just like sales figures. There are still quite a lot of online sites for renting HD DVDs, both in the US (Blockbusters) and in Australia (Quickflix).

[gonwk]

A Dumb Q ...

Does BluRay or HDDVD mean that Regular DVDs will totally be phased out and everyone be forced into buying the High $$$ BD or HD!?!?

G!

[admin]

Both formats are backwards compatible with DVD (meaning all BD/HD players will play DVDs, usually upscaled to HD resolution for a superior image on HDTVs), so I don't think DVD is going anywhere soon. Even when high definition (BD or HD) discs become mainstream, DVDs will still be around since it's cheaper to produce. If you do have a HDTV, but don't have an upscaling DVD player, the getting a BD/HD player will actually improve your DVD viewing experience.

Right now, BD/HD sales combined only accounts for maybe 3% to 5% of total movie sales, so there's still a long time to go before anyone needs to worry about DVD being phased out (if it ever reaches this point at all). In relation to this Netflix story, the BD/HD rental figure is put at 3%, so 97% of Netflix's business is still DVD rental.