Paramount + Dreamworks + HD DVD = $$$$$

Toldja, it's all about the dough. Dollars that is....

Word.

This is getting sadder and sadder by the minute.

Whatever, why anybody even gives a rat's ass is beyond me!

I'm still not convinced Blu-Ray is the "next best thing," especially since most of the stores in my area that sell or rent movies are wall to wall DVDs.

If only Sony would allow other companys to produce Blu Ray discs then I am sure this could be solved.

I have Blu Ray and dont want to have to buy another box, besides I dont have any more HDMI ports on my Tele.

I also know that should I decide to go buy a new player that the instant I paid for it, Paramount would announce that it would support Blu Ray.

Should Blu Ray get into the position of being the obvious winner in the format war then these non supporters will change their tunes as I am sure that the cost of having to use a rivals format would be tiny compared to lost sales.

Its given me an idea for the next TF line "Transformers: The Format Wars".

150 million? C'mon people... that's a drop in the bucket for Paramount... This is a HUGE corporation... Financial incentives don't necessary mean 150 million in cash was exchange, either... you can equate to a tax break or other financial means to spur growth. Like Sony didn't do the same thing for Blockbuster, Disney, etc. It's all about leverage. It's business. I think this is great, personally. Good to see a conglomerate that gets too big for its britches (read Sony) be brought back down to earth.

On a another note - Trust me, you can see the difference between HD-DVD/Blu-ray and standard DVD... it's night and day. I won both players (PS3) and HD-AX2. I've stopped buying standard DVDs, now. personally, I'm an HD-DVD supporter, but I've hedged my bets by purchasing (actually traded in my Xbox360) a PS3 (when it dropeed $100.)

Sound and picture is night and day difference, even with an less than optimal setup. You'll get the best quality using Component or HDMI cables, but watch out for copy protection. the flag hasn't been enforced yet, but it exists for component cables. if the copy protection bit is set, your picture will downgrade to standard 480i/p definition. Only HDMI cables will work, then.

they can conspire and bribe all they want. the clear winner in the format wars will be INTERNET DOWNLOAD. its come to a point where you no longer need to physically own media. with the way internet video is pushing forward (youtube, veoh, joost)... in 5 years all you need to own is a box that will download hd movies from a virtual library you have rights to and play it on your tv. this box will... wait a minute i already own this box, its called a pc.
here's a peak into the future:
http://www.last100.com/2007/07/24/8-int ... n-8-weeks/

HA!

why is there this much of an issue... just release it

Blu-Ray is the better format. The disk itself has more storage capacity. Go to best buy and watch something playing on it. I have a 37" Toshiba LCD HDTV. My cable is brodcast in 1080i. My HD cable looks terrible compared to the Blu Ray player. Blu-ray should win, unless HD-DVD makes a bunch of deals like this to block the market.