More Blu-Ray yield woes rumblings

[vinnie97]

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/shanebuettner/100507spin/

But Paramount went exclusively HD DVD, and Paramount's CTO Alan Bell looked me in the eye and stated that he recommended this path in part because he believed HD DVD replication was more viable as the format moves into mainstream production numbers.

Time will tell if that's just the money talking in relation to Alan Bell...especially if Warner goes one way or another (hopefully sooner rather than later).

[dolphinius_rex]

The whole yield thing has already been shown to be utter garbage...

[vinnie97]

Not really...the recent report from the Sony DADC apparently showed no improvement based upon a report released by the same organization a year ago, which means someone fibbed the numbers. Coming from Sony Corp, I'm hardly surprised.

[dolphinius_rex]

Not really...the recent report from the Sony DADC apparently showed no improvement based upon a report released by the same organization a year ago, which means someone fibbed the numbers. Coming from Sony Corp, I'm hardly surprised.

I don't think Sony DADC even produces a majority of the BD-Video discs on the market. I'm pretty sure that Cinram still retains most of the contracts. At least they have Warner Brothers, Fox, MGM, and formerly Paramount's Blu-Ray discs were all made by them. Disney I believe goes elsewhere (Panasonic I believe), Sony of course goes through Sony DADC, and I don't know where Lionsgate goes (but let's face it, their volume is not that significant... although currently I think they're beating Paramount in sales).

I still can't believe how much fanboy spin is being put on this garbage information. HD DVD / DVD combo discs probably have a much worse yield rate than anything else on the market right now actually, but no one's bitching about that

[Ian]

I think the yield rates and manufacturing numbers are hyped a bit too much by the HD DVD backers. As Wesleytech showed a number of months ago, the difference in manufacturing costs is very small.. if anything.

[Wesociety]

I still can't believe how much fanboy spin is being put on this garbage information. HD DVD / DVD combo discs probably have a much worse yield rate than anything else on the market right now actually, but no one's bitching about that

Supposedly Warner is dropping combo's starting next year, so it will be somewhat of a moot point since Paramount already doesn't do combos. Universal may drop them as well since everyone else has.

I think the yield rates and manufacturing numbers are hyped a bit too much by the HD DVD backers. As Wesleytech showed a number of months ago, the difference in manufacturing costs is very small.. if anything.

Sure, with that article, I took a look purely at replication costs.

But please note that the article in question did not take into consideration other variables such as Blu-ray vs HD DVD authoring costs (supposedly BD-J is more "difficult" to program in compared to HDi, leading to longer project timelines and more costs), replication facility capacities and availability (there are many more HD DVD replicators than Blu-ray replicators), etc.

[Ian]

But please note that the article in question did not take into consideration other variables such as Blu-ray vs HD DVD authoring costs (supposedly BD-J is more "difficult" to program in compared to HDi, leading to longer project timelines and more costs), replication facility capacities and availability (there are many more HD DVD replicators than Blu-ray replicators), etc.

Maybe with more advanced stuff, but there are authoring packages that can take say a menu and spit out code that will work with HD DVD or Blu-ray.

[dolphinius_rex]

But please note that the article in question did not take into consideration other variables such as Blu-ray vs HD DVD authoring costs (supposedly BD-J is more "difficult" to program in compared to HDi, leading to longer project timelines and more costs), replication facility capacities and availability (there are many more HD DVD replicators than Blu-ray replicators), etc.

Don't forget 2 very very important things....

1) Warner Brother and Universal (and I'm 95% sure Paramount as well) all get their replication done through Cinram International. They have exclusive contracts, so all the HD DVD replicating companies in the world don't matter as far as availability is concerned.

2) Authoring HD DVD is very very difficult because you can't create burned copies of the discs in order to test them. Currently small replication runs are done to create test samples, and if something isn't done properly and the glass mastering has to be re-done with a new master from the studio, then there are penalties to pay, as well as a much longer time frame for manufacturing the discs. DVD9 used to be done like this also, but the authoring tools were much further along and the options less complicated for the format.