Netflix Opts for Blu-ray Disc (US - BD RA)
We have a press release from Netflix describing their Blu-ray Disc decision
Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With the industry now having picked a winner in the face-off between the two competing high- definition DVD formats, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today said that it will move toward stocking high-def DVDs exclusively in the Blu-ray format.
Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that as of now it will purchase only Blu-ray discs and will phase out by roughly year's end the alternative high-def format, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba.
Since the first high-definition DVDs came on the market in early 2006, Netflix has stocked both formats. But the company said that in recent months the industry has stated its clear preference for Blu-ray and that it now makes sense for the company to initiate the transition to a single format.
"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."
Added Mr. Sarandos: "From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers who want high- definition to be an important part of how they enjoy our service."
While only a portion of Netflix subscribers have elected to receive high- def DVDs, a majority of those subscribers have chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD. As part of the transition to Blu-ray, the company said it will acquire no new HD DVDs but that its current HD DVD inventory would continue to rent until the discs' natural life cycle takes them out of circulation in the coming months.
When Warner Home Video announced last month that by the end of this year it will release high-def titles exclusively in the Blu-ray format, it joined fellow majors Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment in endorsing Blu-ray. Currently, the two remaining majors, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.
Netflix currently stocks over 400 Blu-ray titles, having recently added popular releases such as "Across the Universe" (Sony), "Gone Baby Gone" (Buena Vista) and the Academy Award nominated "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.). Blu- ray titles scheduled for release in the next month or so include the Academy Award nominated "No Country for Old Men" (Walt Disney), "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" (Sony) and "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (20th Century Fox).
About Netflix
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental service, providing more than seven million subscribers access to more than 90,000 DVD titles plus a growing library of more than 7,000 choices that can be watched instantly on their PCs. The company offers nine subscription plans, starting at only $4.99 per month. There are no due dates and no late fees -- ever. All Netflix plans include both DVDs delivered to subscribers' homes and, for no additional fee, movies and TV series that can be started in as little as 30 seconds on subscribers' PCs. DVDs are delivered free to members by first class mail, with a postage-paid return envelope, from over 100 U.S. shipping points. Nearly 95 percent of Netflix subscribers live in areas that can be reached with generally one business day delivery. Netflix offers personalized movie recommendations and has two billion movie ratings. For more information, visit http://www.netflix.com/.
News by Malcolm Campbell
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With the industry now having picked a winner in the face-off between the two competing high- definition DVD formats, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today said that it will move toward stocking high-def DVDs exclusively in the Blu-ray format.
Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that as of now it will purchase only Blu-ray discs and will phase out by roughly year's end the alternative high-def format, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba.
Since the first high-definition DVDs came on the market in early 2006, Netflix has stocked both formats. But the company said that in recent months the industry has stated its clear preference for Blu-ray and that it now makes sense for the company to initiate the transition to a single format.
"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."
Added Mr. Sarandos: "From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers who want high- definition to be an important part of how they enjoy our service."
While only a portion of Netflix subscribers have elected to receive high- def DVDs, a majority of those subscribers have chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD. As part of the transition to Blu-ray, the company said it will acquire no new HD DVDs but that its current HD DVD inventory would continue to rent until the discs' natural life cycle takes them out of circulation in the coming months.
When Warner Home Video announced last month that by the end of this year it will release high-def titles exclusively in the Blu-ray format, it joined fellow majors Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment in endorsing Blu-ray. Currently, the two remaining majors, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.
Netflix currently stocks over 400 Blu-ray titles, having recently added popular releases such as "Across the Universe" (Sony), "Gone Baby Gone" (Buena Vista) and the Academy Award nominated "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.). Blu- ray titles scheduled for release in the next month or so include the Academy Award nominated "No Country for Old Men" (Walt Disney), "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" (Sony) and "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (20th Century Fox).
About Netflix
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental service, providing more than seven million subscribers access to more than 90,000 DVD titles plus a growing library of more than 7,000 choices that can be watched instantly on their PCs. The company offers nine subscription plans, starting at only $4.99 per month. There are no due dates and no late fees -- ever. All Netflix plans include both DVDs delivered to subscribers' homes and, for no additional fee, movies and TV series that can be started in as little as 30 seconds on subscribers' PCs. DVDs are delivered free to members by first class mail, with a postage-paid return envelope, from over 100 U.S. shipping points. Nearly 95 percent of Netflix subscribers live in areas that can be reached with generally one business day delivery. Netflix offers personalized movie recommendations and has two billion movie ratings. For more information, visit http://www.netflix.com/.
News by Malcolm Campbell
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Gabe Powers
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Join Date: September 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4,028
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Go Blu-ray!!
Another win for Blu
Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu (tell me when this gets annoying), Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu...
Thank you!!!
Let's end this damn war once and for all.
Let's end this damn war once and for all.
instead of taking sides, had every studio just supported both in the first place, i'm sure a clear winner woulda risen way earlier. because then you'd be able to compare every movie on each format and truly see who was the better format. but hey, it seems HD is going away so we're on the cusp of one format only but yeah..just my thoughts. lol
Good. Blu-Ray is far superior and its about time everyone is realizing this.
sec127 wrote: Good. Blu-Ray is far superior and its about time everyone is realizing this.
As a supporter of both, I'd like to know your opinions as to why Blu-Ray is "superior"... I will check back, should be a hilarious read.
As for my feeling, big bummer for me, I didn't plan on buying anymore HD-DVDs, but re-activated my Netflix account because they had both formats... sucks in plain english.
As a supporter of both, I'd like to know your opinions as to why Blu-Ray is "superior"... I will check back, should be a hilarious read.
As for my feeling, big bummer for me, I didn't plan on buying anymore HD-DVDs, but re-activated my Netflix account because they had both formats... sucks in plain english.
Blu all the way. Better overall and shorter loading time then HD-DVD also much more room on disc so the extras also can be in HD:-)
Who cares!? DVD will die eventually!
Bouncy X wrote: instead of taking sides, had every studio just supported both in the first place, i'm sure a clear winner woulda risen way earlier. because then you'd be able to compare every movie on each format and truly see who was the better format. but hey, it seems HD is going away so we're on the cusp of one format only but yeah..just my thoughts. lol
That was exactly what I was thinking about that they should have done from the very beginning. Now they will never know the true potential of HD or Blu Ray.
That was exactly what I was thinking about that they should have done from the very beginning. Now they will never know the true potential of HD or Blu Ray.
Michael Friedrichsen wrote: Blu all the way. Better overall and shorter loading time then HD-DVD also much more room on disc so the extras also can be in HD:-)
LOL! Yes, the three minute load times for BD-J titles are so much quicker than HD DVD load times... How many BD titles have 1080p extras? Very few, just as with HD DVD. As the other chap said, I'd love to hear why Blu-ray is so much better than HD DVD. I'm not talking about on-paper specs, I'm talking about real-world applications like audio and video quality, bonus material and interactive features.
LOL! Yes, the three minute load times for BD-J titles are so much quicker than HD DVD load times... How many BD titles have 1080p extras? Very few, just as with HD DVD. As the other chap said, I'd love to hear why Blu-ray is so much better than HD DVD. I'm not talking about on-paper specs, I'm talking about real-world applications like audio and video quality, bonus material and interactive features.
Go Blu-ray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sure Blu is a little better than HD-DVD, but HD-DVD... it's still a great format. I agree though there should be only one Hi-Def media to go along with just plain old DVD's which remain the industry standard.
So we may wind up with DVD (SD) and Blu-Ray (HD). That's how I think it should be. Go Blu if you want your movies in HD, and stick with DVD if you don't really care or cannot afford it.
So we may wind up with DVD (SD) and Blu-Ray (HD). That's how I think it should be. Go Blu if you want your movies in HD, and stick with DVD if you don't really care or cannot afford it.
Go standard DVD!!! I am such a rebel.
Best Buy too:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Industry...
p.s - HD-DVD is better as it's Region Free, simple. Not that a format without region coding would ever win. It's very important to Europeans and Australasians.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Industry...
p.s - HD-DVD is better as it's Region Free, simple. Not that a format without region coding would ever win. It's very important to Europeans and Australasians.
[Edited] Beat me to it Bradavon!
And the hits just keep on commin'!
Good Stuff.
And the hits just keep on commin'!
Good Stuff.
Too slow 
Jersey Jedi wrote: And the hits just keep on commin'!
Good Stuff.
Agreed. The sooner BD wins it's the better for all of us.
Jersey Jedi wrote: And the hits just keep on commin'!
Good Stuff.
Agreed. The sooner BD wins it's the better for all of us.
I must admit that it's only a matter of time now until HD DVD dies. However, I will continute to buy both regardless since I have the players for both anyway, but I will only get HD DVD titles when they are on sale like now, I won't spend $27 on them unless they releases 'The Godfather' individually or Box Set. Both Blu-Ray and HD DVD makes me happy with 1080p, no need to choose side for me - both are great within their own respects. Big Kudos to Sony this time around though, seems like they finally got it right this time around.
superior? Please. BLu-ray will NEVER be superior. End of discussion. You will never prove why. Because there was never a 'why'. HD DVD had 99percent of the specs FIRST. Why blu-ray's better? space. all it ever was. All people ever say. So why is Blu-ray better? I don't know why. Can't find a single reason.
Mark Lim wrote: Bouncy X wrote: instead of taking sides, had every studio just supported both in the first place, i'm sure a clear winner woulda risen way earlier. because then you'd be able to compare every movie on each format and truly see who was the better format. but hey, it seems HD is going away so we're on the cusp of one format only but yeah..just my thoughts. lol
That was exactly what I was thinking about that they should have done from the very beginning. Now they will never know the true potential of HD or Blu Ray.
The problem with having a studio release on both formats in order for the consumer to tell which has the better quality might work in a perfect world where the studios would due a separate video encode based on the specs of each format, but as we've seen with Warner they've used the same encode for films released on both HD DVD and Blu-ray to save money. If they were to use the the same encoding algorithm for each format the Blu-ray version would come out on top because it is capable of higher data transfer speeds than HD DVD. But like I said, in Warner's case they primarily used the same video encode for each which hampered the Blu-ray versions because they had to encode the video to be usable by the lowest common denominator, which in this equation is HD DVD.
As far as the load times of each format I think your point of views are going to vary based on the players used. I've found both the XBOX 360 HD DVD drive and PS3 to have decent load times--I've never had to wait longer than 20 seconds for a disc to start on either. On the other hand the load times on my stand alone HD DVD player are atrocious--just turning the thing on seems to take forever--and the same can be said for a friend of mine's stand alone Blu-ray player. Judging from what I've seen I think both formats released players that met only the bare minimum requirements for horsepower to function, something the XBOX and PS3 have in abundance.
That was exactly what I was thinking about that they should have done from the very beginning. Now they will never know the true potential of HD or Blu Ray.
The problem with having a studio release on both formats in order for the consumer to tell which has the better quality might work in a perfect world where the studios would due a separate video encode based on the specs of each format, but as we've seen with Warner they've used the same encode for films released on both HD DVD and Blu-ray to save money. If they were to use the the same encoding algorithm for each format the Blu-ray version would come out on top because it is capable of higher data transfer speeds than HD DVD. But like I said, in Warner's case they primarily used the same video encode for each which hampered the Blu-ray versions because they had to encode the video to be usable by the lowest common denominator, which in this equation is HD DVD.
As far as the load times of each format I think your point of views are going to vary based on the players used. I've found both the XBOX 360 HD DVD drive and PS3 to have decent load times--I've never had to wait longer than 20 seconds for a disc to start on either. On the other hand the load times on my stand alone HD DVD player are atrocious--just turning the thing on seems to take forever--and the same can be said for a friend of mine's stand alone Blu-ray player. Judging from what I've seen I think both formats released players that met only the bare minimum requirements for horsepower to function, something the XBOX and PS3 have in abundance.
Will Paramount finally give up now?
I'm still liking my dvds for now. Sure blu-ray looks pretty sweet but the packaging and special features are lacking and that is oddly important to me.
Just think of the crankiness when the next format comes... judt digital downloaded files. I'll be all: blu-ray forever!
Looking at the blu-ray and hd-dvd libraries I find that blu-ray has more current movies I would purchase but those behind hd-dvd have more of the classics I would go for including my favourite movie of all time. Universal sure doesn't release as many classics like they used to.
Just think of the crankiness when the next format comes... judt digital downloaded files. I'll be all: blu-ray forever!
Looking at the blu-ray and hd-dvd libraries I find that blu-ray has more current movies I would purchase but those behind hd-dvd have more of the classics I would go for including my favourite movie of all time. Universal sure doesn't release as many classics like they used to.
Good. NOW RELEASE TRANSFORMERS YOU F**K-HEADS AT PARAMOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!
jp orestes wrote: I'm still liking my dvds for now. Sure blu-ray looks pretty sweet but the packaging and special features are lacking and that is oddly important to me.
Just think of the crankiness when the next format comes... judt digital downloaded files. I'll be all: blu-ray forever!
Looking at the blu-ray and hd-dvd libraries I find that blu-ray has more current movies I would purchase but those behind hd-dvd have more of the classics I would go for including my favourite movie of all time. Universal sure doesn't release as many classics like they used to.
I understood that WB will release a ton of classics on blu.
Just think of the crankiness when the next format comes... judt digital downloaded files. I'll be all: blu-ray forever!
Looking at the blu-ray and hd-dvd libraries I find that blu-ray has more current movies I would purchase but those behind hd-dvd have more of the classics I would go for including my favourite movie of all time. Universal sure doesn't release as many classics like they used to.
I understood that WB will release a ton of classics on blu.
Go banana!
Well, as blu-ray will probably be obsolete in a matter of years, doesn't make much difference to me.
HagenDarth wrote: I understood that WB will release a ton of classics on blu.
The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray would be sweet!
The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray would be sweet!
John wrote: HagenDarth wrote: I understood that WB will release a ton of classics on blu.
The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray would be sweet!
It's coming in 2009...
Still waiting from the original Blu-fan to tell me why it's so superior...
I'll tell you why it's "superior", Sony paid off enough people to get all the support, end of story.
The disc has more space, that's not enough to win a format war.
Not too mention if you bought a first gen player for all that money, you can't even access stuff on newer discs... I don't see any HD-DVD Profile 2.8391939.
But hey, Blu-Ray is superior.
The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray would be sweet!
It's coming in 2009...
Still waiting from the original Blu-fan to tell me why it's so superior...
I'll tell you why it's "superior", Sony paid off enough people to get all the support, end of story.
The disc has more space, that's not enough to win a format war.
Not too mention if you bought a first gen player for all that money, you can't even access stuff on newer discs... I don't see any HD-DVD Profile 2.8391939.
But hey, Blu-Ray is superior.
Blu-Ray is superior because it's easier to say. If HD DVD had just called itself Red-Ray, we'd have a whole 'nother situation altogether.
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