HD DVD or Blu Ray prices?

[webslinger]

Just reading the next stage in argument between the HD and BR DVD's and it got me wondering.....

if, in theory a HDDVD or BRDVD can store roughly 40G on one disc - will the days of 6disc box sets for our favourite TV shows be gone?

will we get complete 7 Disc edition of STTNG, for the entire shows 7 seasons?

I was wondering about how they are going to justify the high prices they currently charge when complete seasons can fit on 1 dvd.

Currently, the use the "manufacturing costs" as a strong reason why a season of Xfiles retails at 79.99 on the high street. Well this long drawn out process of having 7 different discs to manufacture for one season will be gone.....so....will a season of xfiles cost only £15 ?

How can they justify the drop in manufacturing, but keep the prices as they are?

[DaveH]

The costs of the manufacter of discs is small in comparison of the retail price. I think that excuse is a load of crap. What they charge for is content. Even if the content is complete rubbish. The average viewer will want to have more footage to watch on the disc for the money he paid.

Why do you think DVDs all have extras? It's just filler to justify them charging extra. Most of the DVD extra is of the usual guy running around the set with a camcorder showing that everyone had a good time. Then there's the HBO footage of the film premier and the usual bit showing that they did a bit of CGI somewhere and surprise surprise, they did it on a computer!

Edited for grammatical errors.

[jerclay]

C'mon, man! Extras are also about deleted scenes and alternate endings, don't you think? ;)

[DaveH]

Usually that's the film equivalent of dustbin raiding.

Sorry for sounding so jaded. I used to like extras but then I realised that it's the same old Hollywood format showing the same type of stuff again and again.

[degeneration]

Usually that's the film equivalent of dustbin raiding.

Sorry for sounding so jaded. I used to like extras but then I realised that it's the same old Hollywood format showing the same type of stuff again and again.
The same reason why I'm quite happy to have the 1 disc edition nowerdays... God help me if I actually decided to watch all the 'extras' on my collection...

[jeffstarr]

DVD-9s cost less than £1 / disc to manufacture for a big studio (or any studio).

Blu-Ray & HD DVD discs will be comparable.

It's all about the profit and 'percieved value'

[rbullivant]

Hardly ever watch the extras on a DVD, I mean who cares about how they did the effects to most films (they sat at a computer) or listening to the same old fluff from the main star how they loved working with the director.

On topic I don't think we'll be seeing TV shows on one DVD, I thought the whole point of the next-gen DVD formats was to have higher quality picture rather than fitiing more on a disk

Rik

[thescrounger]

Just reading the next stage in argument between the HD and BR DVD's and it got me wondering.....

if, in theory a HDDVD or BRDVD can store roughly 40G on one disc - will the days of 6disc box sets for our favourite TV shows be gone?



No, Because HD content takes up a comparable amount of space to the new disc size. Higher capactity discs are to allow for the larger amount of space required for HD material.

[webslinger]

but what if most consumers are happy with their already "amazing clarity and definittion" players and films we were sold first time round?

[Alan b]

Moving to Home Entertainment Hardware Forum

[Spectre07]

but what if most consumers are happy with their already "amazing clarity and definittion" players and films we were sold first time round?I don't think that's a 'what if', I think most consumers definately will be happy with their DVD's. The more I think about it, what with the premium companies will charge for the new format, the higher cost of new players etc etc, the more I think the new formats will be an 'enthusiasts/early adoptors back water. I reckon it's the modern day laser disc where the majority of punters were happy enough with their pre-recorded VHS. You only get one new format per generation.

[Vulcan101]

A better example would be DVD-A, many people haven't got the equipment to get the most out of DVD-A so why spend good money on replacing CD's that sound way more than adequate on a reasonable HI-FI.

I suspect the same thing will be the case wiht HI-DEF. I don't have room for a 30+ inch TV whether its CRT, LCD or Plasma, without that sort of AV equipment what is the advantage for me to buy one.

Plus there is the whole on-line disk checking to avoid piracy issue.

[Spectre07]

I suspect the same thing will be the case wiht HI-DEF. I don't have room for a 30+ inch TV whether its CRT, LCD or Plasma, without that sort of AV equipment what is the advantage for me to buy one..When I was shown in 1997, a side by side comparison between DVD and VHS it blew my socks away. The stark difference in picture quality and the 5.1 suround sound capabilities sold me and I had to have DVD. This was in a 'hi-end' hifi store where they had properly set up equipment to show the capabilities of the two formats. However the difference between the two formats were so great any retailer could have demonstrated the differences. The differences between the new format and DVD are going to be more subtle so you're not going to get that 'blow your socks away' effect. I suspect they'd have to set up two very big screens side by side in order to demonstrate the differences and I can't see many high street retailers going to all that trouble.

[kiran_mk2]

When I was shown in 1997, a side by side comparison between DVD and VHS it blew my socks away. The stark difference in picture quality and the 5.1 suround sound capabilities sold me and I had to have DVD. This was in a 'hi-end' hifi store where they had properly set up equipment to show the capabilities of the two formats. However the difference between the two formats were so great any retailer could have demonstrated the differences. The differences between the new format and DVD are going to be more subtle so you're not going to get that 'blow your socks away' effect. I suspect they'd have to set up two very big screens side by side in order to demonstrate the differences and I can't see many high street retailers going to all that trouble.

You'd be surprised - when I was in the US last year I saw a basketball game on a 720p LCD screen and even though I knew HD would lool a lot better, it really did amaze me - it probably works better for TV programs - especially live things.

Add on to that the retailers won't be able to mess up demonstrations as the only sources of HD will be from HD players or PCs.

[thescrounger]

Retailers are already messing up demos in some places. I've seen quite a few that although show a higher res are still displaying compression artifacts. I was in comet the other day and saw just this. The 60 inch LG displays that a lot of Dixons are using to show off HD on around the country are also not without their display faults.

As for amazing me, it was nice to see clearer pictures on 42 and above displays, but it also highlighted the fact that these devices should be much better at displaying SD material too. My 80" projector screen isn't too shabby with progressive SD material.

[AndyWilson]

Back to prices, I'd imagine studios will want to position HD as a "premium" product, so I can't see the launch price of HD DVDs (in the generic sense) being much less than $50/£30. A lot of people in the industry are very concerned with the way DVD has been "devalued" so quickly - particularly with the current trend of newspaper giveaways. It's not just about profits either - more about the perception of the value of a product. If HD DVD sells for only a little more than SD people will think it's only a little better...

[thescrounger]

I'm sure I read a while ago that the price of HD-DVDs was going to be equal to normal DVD prices.

[Spectre07]

It's a bit of a twin edged sword if HD becomes established the studios can't maintain a premium brand status becuase it will find it hard to compete with SD on price. If they want to increase market penetration they will have to reduce the price of HD discs. The price of SD discs will then fall even further because it will be perceived as old technology against the new format and people will expect the HD discs to fall to an even lower price, not as cheap as SD discs but low enough for them to not be considered a premium brand. If they maintain a premium brand status it will become a specialist format for enthusiasts only.

[kiran_mk2]

Surely HD-DVD can't be much more than DVDs as Toshiba have been trumpeting loudly about how cheap it is to produce - that is if HD-DVD actually makes it to market.

[AndyWilson]

The price of production has no relevance to the sale price. The main thing affecting the pricing will be how they want to position the brand.

[camaj]

A better example would be DVD-A, many people haven't got the equipment to get the most out of DVD-A so why spend good money on replacing CD's that sound way more than adequate on a reasonable HI-FI.

The problem here is you're comparing audio to video, people are far more perceptive to visual quality compared to audio quality. Why would I spend money on upgrading my hardware and software? Because the picture quality (and sound) are so much better.

I don't have room for a 30+ inch TV whether its CRT, LCD or Plasma, without that sort of AV equipment what is the advantage for me to buy one.

You're under the mistake impression that you need that sort of equipment. Obviously the bigger the display the more detail you'll see but a 28" HD display will look a lot better than a 28" SD display

Plus there is the whole on-line disk checking to avoid piracy issue.

You mean the wild scare mongering that a lot of people fell for hook line and sinker?

The differences between the new format and DVD are going to be more subtle so you're not going to get that 'blow your socks away' effect.

I don't know how you can say that about a format you've never seen? If you had you'd know that the difference is greater than the difference between VHS and DVD. The biggest problem HD has is that most people haven't seen it and it's hard to imagine what it's like and most people will probably think something it'll be something along the lines of the best SD pictures they've seen.

I'd imagine studios will want to position HD as a "premium" product, so I can't see the launch price of HD DVDs (in the generic sense) being much less than $50/£30.

I don't know about "premium product", of course they're going to charge more mainly because of the cost of production will be higher initially but also the price of DVD should be less since it's inferiror

£30 seems like a gross exaggeration. DVD was originally £18 and the rrp for most seems to be £14 and I'd imagine a £5 premium which would take it to £19 or £20, the maximum would surely have to be £25 and that would be streching it. After discounts or imports then you'd probably be looking for £15 initially and dropping after that

[neilalford]

£30 seems like a gross exaggeration. DVD was originally £18 and the rrp for most seems to be £14 and I'd imagine a £5 premium which would take it to £19 or £20, the maximum would surely have to be £25 and that would be streching it. After discounts or imports then you'd probably be looking for £15 initially and dropping after that

There were quite a few DVD's released at £25 rrp and I think a few were even released at £30 (Titanic I think), just for barebones films!