General HiDef News

[dolphinius_rex]

Tartan Video goes exclusively Blu-Ray
Funimation goes exclusively Blu-Ray
Bandai goes format neutral (was HD DVD exclusive)
Blu-Ray exclusive Starz announces first wave of Blu-Ray releases
DVD International goes format neutral (formerly HD DVD exclusive)
BCI enters format war, format neutral
Entertainment in Video (UK) announce Blu-Ray support (not sure if they do or have supported HD DVD)
Harry Potter and BladeRunner slated for HD DVD and Blu-Ray release
Image Entertainment announces Blu-Ray titles (possibly exclusively Blu-Ray)
Universal promises net-connet content amidst some protesting over exclusive HD DVD support
Toshiba claims 60% share of HiDef hardware market in USA
*followed 1 month later by....*
Toshiba claims 55% share of HiDef hardware market in USA and 70% in Europe

According to NPG figures presented today by Toshiba, HD DVD hardware sales are well ahead of Blu-ray with 55 per cent of sales to date in the USA and over 70 per cent in Europe.

BDA claims 95% share of HiDef hardware market in Europe
Razor Digital announces Blu-Ray exclusivity and 4 title

And here are some sales statistics sites:
http://www.dvdempire.com/Content/Featur ... 5848515340
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

Current Nielsen Videoscan Ratings numbers on Blu-Ray and HD DVD sales:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=10996

[Grain]

Harry Potter and BladeRunner slated for HD DVD and Blu-Ray release

Word has it the HP series will be a 5 hidef disc set, with a price of $150. BladeRunner is also supposed to be a 5! disc set, price ~$100.

I'll be interested to see how Warner treats these releases. Not much has been made of it, but to date format neutral Warner has been giving HD DVD preferential treatment, ex Matrix release dates, the 300 HD DVD release will have extra features over the BR release, Batman Begins on BluRay? Granted some of this has been due to BluRay being slow on getting their interactive features to work correctly (yet another example of why this format "war" is happening at all).

[dolphinius_rex]

Harry Potter and BladeRunner slated for HD DVD and Blu-Ray release

Word has it the HP series will be a 5 hidef disc set, with a price of $150. BladeRunner is also supposed to be a 5! disc set, price ~$100.

Yup, that's all there in the link I posted. I'm looking forward to Blade Runner, but not so much Harry Potter... since I'm expecting it'll be a boxset, and then I'm expecting a movies 1-6 boxset, and then a movies 1-7 boxset.... so I'm holding out for the last Harry Potter boxset.

I'll be interested to see how Warner treats these releases. Not much has been made of it, but to date format neutral Warner has been giving HD DVD preferential treatment, ex Matrix release dates, the 300 HD DVD release will have extra features over the BR release, Batman Begins on BluRay? Granted some of this has been due to BluRay being slow on getting their interactive features to work correctly (yet another example of why this format "war" is happening at all).

Well, I suspect that if they are released in November or later, then they will have the same technical specs as HD DVD in every respect. Unfortunately, that also probably means it will be the same encode on Blu-Ray. I'm getting really frustrated with how Warner keeps dumbing down their Blu-Ray releases (in terms of audio/video bitrate) to match the HD DVD technical limitations. Blu-Ray has a lot of capacity and higher maximum bitrates.... USE IT for goodness sake!

[Grain]

I too am looking forward to the Blade Runner release.

Some of the HP series has already been released in Britain on HD DVD, seem like decent if not outstanding releases. I'm sure your right, double dipping will no doubt become commonplace with hidef releases too.

I don't know about Warner "dumbing down" BR's video, the majority of reviews I've read (on dual format release's) have HD DVD's video being equal too(~90%) or greater than BR's, few give BR the video edge. The VC1 codec seems to be able to keep up with all the rest. Paramount however is notorious for releasing audio tracks w/ DD+(1.5Mbps) on HD DVD and only regular DD (640kbps) on BR, which is totally bizarre. Paramount also has released DTS tracks on some BR discs with lower bitrates than on it's HD DVD counterpart, also weird.
I agree though, BR studios should be using it's greater capacity to their advantage, and so far that's not the case.

[Grain]

Starz (Anchor Bay) is releasing some favorites of mine (Romero & Rami flicks) on BR. All of these were released in Europe by different studios, so a HD DVD release over there is possible. If not, I'll grab them on BR and worry about hardware later .

[vinnie97]

OT but Harry Potter and is witchcraft-weaving ass can go to hell also, lol.

I was tired of that fantastical BS before the hype from the first one even died down.

[Grain]

Your not one of the peeps claiming HP is satanic are you Vinnie?

[vinnie97]

And what if I was? (yes, I'm sure you would laugh me out of the forum...it all comes down to one's worldview basically. If you are of the belief that there is good and evil in this world and subsequently a god and devil, the constant magic powers being manifested in this series have to come from somewhere, not out of thin air...amirite? I know, I know...tell me it's fantasy and tell me to give it a rest ). None of this changes the fact that the series has gone on too long and it's time to put it to rest...it's also curious as to why there is such a fanaticism for this fantastical BS to not put it lightly.

[dolphinius_rex]

And what if I was? (yes, I'm sure you would laugh me out of the forum...it all comes down to one's worldview basically. If you are of the belief that there is good and evil in this world and subsequently a god and devil, the constant magic powers being manifested in this series have to come from somewhere, not out of thin air...amirite? I know, I know...tell me it's fantasy and tell me to give it a rest ). None of this changes the fact that the series has gone on too long and it's time to put it to rest...it's also curious as to why there is such a fanaticism for this fantastical BS to not put it lightly.

I hate to stray off topic into a very VERY flammable discussion, but I have to wonder if you feel the same way about Lord of the Rings, and Starwars?

Regarding making the best of the Blu-Ray format, I think it's mainly the neutral studios guilty of dumbing down releases. Sony and Disney have both put out some incredible quality releases, taking advantage of Blu-Ray strengths. Lionsgate has been not much better then Universal lately though. As for Fox, they need to release content before anyone can tell

[Wesociety]

I'm not a huge Potter fan, but the films have been entertaining. I'll give the new one a rent.

[vinnie97]

Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's idea of good and evil (likewise with Narnia, which is a fantastical biblical allegory)...not witchcraft specifically. Not everyone can flick their wand and cast a spell (those with supernatural powers are viewed more as demigods in LOTR, one possessing evil intentions and the other, good and wholesome intentions). Star wars: New age mumbo jumbo. Harry Potter: School for witches. :|

I hear the latest Harry Potter book is resulting in required counseling for some children...how surprising.

[dolphinius_rex]

Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's idea of good and evil (likewise with Narnia, which is a fantastical biblical allegory)...not witchcraft specifically. Not everyone can flick their wand and cast a spell (those with supernatural powers are viewed more as demigods in LOTR, one possessing evil intentions and the other, good and wholesome intentions). Star wars: New age mumbo jumbo. Harry Potter: School for witches. :|

Interesting, thanks for your views

I hear the latest Harry Potter book is resulting in required counseling for some children...how surprising. [/quote]

I hadn't heard that (I don't doubt it though... I've read the book!).

[dolphinius_rex]

Razor Digital has just announced 4 titles exclusively for Blu-Ray:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=12815

Release schedules seem to be favouring Blu-Ray right now also, with Blu-Ray currently slated to launch 76 titles in North America, and HD DVD is slated to launch 62 titles, all between now and November 13th.

[Phoenix '97]

Just wondering what the state of cheaper blanks is.
This article says that Ritek has received certification for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray blanks: http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Ritek-obta ... discs.html

How long does it usually take between "certification" and the media being available for purchase on the shelf or at an online store?

That 4x Blu-Ray recorder by LG on ncix.com for $310 looks tempting, if only I could get blanks for $2-$3.

[Ian]

Yay.. another website ripping off DigiTimes..

http://www.hdtvinfo.eu/news/hd-video-fo ... discs.html

Anyway, Ritek got their Blu-ray media certified a few months ago. I received a few pieces about the same time so its already in production.

btw.. that LG drive doesn't support 50GB Blu-ray media. That's probably why its so cheap.

[Grain]

Blade Runner is available on Amazon to preorder. The 5 disc hi def set (both formats) is only $27.99! with pre-order price protection. The numbered and limited 5 disc hi def set w/ collectables and briefcase is $69.99. I'm worried that there will only be 1 hi def disc out of the 5 at those prices.

[Wesociety]

Supplementary materials for Blade Runner will be 480p, which means probably on a DVD.

All versions of the film will be presented in full 1080p, which means probably HD DVD/Blu-ray Discs.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... lu-ray/846

[Grain]

Was in a Costco in Calgary yesterday, and they had Phillips 9000 BR player on for $499.99CAD, regular price. Nice to see them coming down, I'm not sure whether that's a decent player or not though. The PS3 is only $50 more(at FutureShop), but has no internal HD audio decoders, so it's a trade off, games vs internal HD audio decoding.

[dolphinius_rex]

Was in a Costco in Calgary yesterday, and they had Phillips 9000 BR player on for $499.99CAD, regular price. Nice to see them coming down, I'm not sure whether that's a decent player or not though. The PS3 is only $50 more(at FutureShop), but has no internal HD audio decoders, so it's a trade off, games vs internal HD audio decoding.

I think that Philips player is actually based on the first generation Samsung player... I wouldn't recommend it personally. The Samsung seems to get better/faster firmware updates.

Also, there will be much cheaper Blu-Ray players in the next couple months, so right now isn't a great time to buy in to the format anyways.