Netflix goes Blu-ray Eliminates HD DVD Titles
Blu is the new red
Reuters is reporting today that the online DVD rental company Netflix has announced that they will only stock Blu-ray discs. Until now, Netflix has supported both high definition formats. Members could indicate which (or both) of the new format players they own and the priority they would like to receive movies. If someone owns all three types of players, they can select their preference of disc. So if a movie (like Transformers or 300) is released on all three formats, and they prefer HD DVD (or Blu-ray), they can set that as their first priority with the other two as they wish. From their queue, they can switch their preference on a movie by movie basis. Here's the official Email:
You're receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.
While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.
Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don't worry, we will contact you before this happens.
You can click here to change your format preferences.
We're sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.
With four of the big six movie studios now in the pocket of Blu-ray, it seems more and more companies are abandoning the HD DVD format. Netflix will phase out their stock of HD DVDs by the end of the year. For those of you with HD DVD players, this may be an excellent opportunity to pick up a few used discs on the cheap.
See also:
Recent Forum Posts:
westcott;374113
I have run across several BR discs that will not play in my BD-P1200 player.I have yet to have a disc not work in my HDXA2. As others have said, BR was rushed to market with way too many shortcomings for consumers to have to deal with. I too was hoping to use NetFlix so that I would not have to buy either discs.
Ran across a Samsung lawsuit for that player.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/02/08/BluRayNewark.pdf [courthousenews.com]
rgriffin25;373777
THe point that most people miss is that we are in a huge transition right now with TV. While music may be portable, having the best quality source for our new bigscreen tvs at home is important. The fact of the matter is once you spend a few days watching HD content, DVDs just dont look as good anymore. With that being said, people like to own their movies which has been proven over the last decade with DVDs. Once the price of Blu-ray discs fall to $15 to $20 (DVDs used to be $20-30 a pop) adoption will increase substantially.
The statement about profile 1.0 players not playing movies is totally bogus! I have yet to play a movie in my Sony BDP-S1 with a glitch. The later profiles are for extra features ONLY. Besides, most if not all players can be updated via firmware to address any issues with playback.
I have run across several BR discs that will not play in my BD-P1200 player. I have yet to have a disc not work in my HDXA2. As others have said, BR was rushed to market with way too many shortcomings for consumers to have to deal with. I too was hoping to use NetFlix so that I would not have to buy either discs.
In the meantime, I will keep checking for the latest firmware updates, making a list of all the movies I wanted to watch but couldn't, and hating Sony just as much as I ever did. And for what? A marginal difference in video quality that is more dependant on transfer effort than the technology.
So Clint, you don't want a better picture and lossless audio? I'm confused??
Now, will netflix add the option for "I prefer BD 1.0 because my player won't work with 2.0 discs".
I seriously doubt Sony payed them.
I almost kept it for the sole purpose of renting HD-DVDs on netflix!! I figured as cheap as they players have become, it would make a nice compliment to my BD player. I did return it but only because it seemed like my queue was filled mostly with BDs anway, so I didn't think it was worth keeping.
With both BBuster and Netflix now abandoning the format.......geez. Those players have become all but useless unless you're willing to purchase every single movie you watch.
