An Observation: Blu-ray and Digital Distribution

Earlier this week IGN Gear reported that numerous Hollywood Studios have announced their support for digital distribution through the use of iTunes, resulting in movie and television support for iTunes. While iTunes already supports these formats, there is usually a huge delay for when a movie goes up onto its database, but because of these deals with those studios iTunes would have the ability to release a digital version of the movie on the same day as the DVD or Blu-ray hits stores, for a fixed rate.

This is a huge step for digital distribution, which many call the future of all media. This is already apparent with the music industry, where record sales have dramatically declined and CDs are slowly becoming obsolete. I mean, why go to the store and buy the CD when you can just download it, usually at a cheaper price, and have it on your iPod in a matter of minutes? The same thing is occurring in the world of movies and television.

Which brings me to the topic of Blu-ray. Disks with so much space that studios can give us versions of the film in glorious high definition. While many cool kids support the Blu-ray format, the general public still isn't exactly onboard, even with the fall of the HD-DVD. This has me asking, will Blu-ray end up have a sort of niche market while the rest of the world jumps straight ahead to digital distribution?

The world was able to go from VHS to DVD because it was such a drastic difference in quality and efficiency; no more tapes to accidentally record wrestling over, no more rewinding, and much better visual quality. But with Blu-ray, some people can't even tell the difference, and to really capture the full extent of it all you need a high definition screen, Blu-ray player, and a high end sound system, and generally that may be too much for people.

For the typical media viewer, say, my mom, she is just now getting used to the features on the DVR. She doesn't know about high definition, nor does she really care. All she needs is TFC and the ability to record it, and to her that's more than enough. My dad can't even operate the TV correctly, and throwing him into an environment with a Blu-ray player, a high end A/V receiver, and so on might not be worth the hassle.

So if Blu-ray involves so much work to really achieve its full capabilities, then why bother? Obviously the answer is quality. To entertainment fiends like myself, the pure beauty in high definition is seriously irresistible. There's nothing more eye catching than watching football games in HD, or watching a well-transfered Blu-ray movie. But this is once again relevant to the music industry. Many people are happy with their iTunes downloads, or even the radio, but to the audio elite, the CD is still the best way to go because of the full bitrate you achieve. Plus many people like having a hard copy with artwork and lyrics, as well as additional pamphlets. And then there are the hardcore vinyl folks, who love the authentic crackling when their favorite song record is spinning.

The real question I'm asking is will Blu-ray be something of an elitist market, or will digital distribution take the mainstream just like it has with the music industry? Only time will tell, once again it's just something to think about.

Warner Bros Goes Blu

Barry Meyer, CEO of Warner Bros

I know many of our readers have been following the ongoing high definition format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and another recently announced report just made the battle a bit steamier. Warner Bros announced that they will be releasing HD content exclusively for Blu-ray starting later this year, so PS3 owners rejoice! Here's the press release.

(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

“Warner Bros.’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” said Meyer. “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 Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

“Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices,” said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. “Today’s decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner.”

“A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,” said Tsujihara. “Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future.”

Pushing Daisies on Blu-ray here we come!

From Deadline Hollywood Daily, an awesome blog that you should all check out.

UPDATE on 1/5/08: Sister company New Line has also gone Blu-ray exclusive. This war really seems to be closing up, time to daydream about Lord of the Rings in glorious blu-ray high definition.