For anyone still waiting to see whether HD DVD or Blu-ray would win out, well - seems we have a winner:

http://online.wsj.com/art...lenews_wsj

Warner Brother's has finially decided to go with Blu-ray. Since they hold a ridiculous majority of the movie titles (I think it's something like 70%), seems that HD DVD will quickly go the way of BETA.
[Edited 1/4/08 14:28pm]

I cant read the entire article.

horatio said:

Well I guess it's a good thing I put an informative title on this thread
I don't think there's much more you need to know beyond that.

MuaPetahl said:

Thanks!

Warner Bros to back Blu-ray DVD format exclusively
Fri Jan 4, 2008 4:04pm EST
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Lionsgate (LGF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Paramount studios and General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.

horatio said:

Nice product placement

Mars23 said:

thank you

What really sucks is I just caved and blew $100 on The Matrix in HD cause WB drug their heels on the Blu-Ray release.

Now those fuckers will release a BR version with uncompressed audio and the deleted blowjob scene with Trinity or some shit and try to get me to buy it again.

Mars23 said:

Yeep - think about how much $$$ was spent this past Christmas on HD DVD's and related products. Couldn't they have decided all this in NOVEMBER!?! I suppose they wanted to make sure that those HD DVD's that they did press would move outta the sotres, greedy so-and-so's lol

I never took sides and had both formats, the only advantage I have found to Blu-Ray is the uncompressed audio and that only really matters if you have a high end reciever and lots of speakers.

But I will say I had a buy 2 get one free deal on HD and couldn't find enough titles I wanted to make it a good deal.

BR, has plenty of titles I want.

mdiver said: