Blu-ray, in General

[Darth Lavender]

Looks like Paramount may be able to get out of its HD-DVD exclusive commitment sooner than expected.

Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD DVD after Warner Brothers' recent backing of Sony's Blu-ray technology, in a move that will sound the death knell of HD DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, which makes the Shrek films, came out in support of HD DVD last summer, joining General Electric's Universal Studios as the main backers of the Toshiba format.

However, Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner Bros backing Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.

According to Hi-Def Digest:

Paramount has announced they are "still supporting HDDVD" The phrasing does, however, raise the possibility of them going format neutral.
Someone in another thread pointed out that Paramount's escape clause would presumably involve them returning the 1.5 million they got for HD exclusivity, and with HD being such a niche market, it might be in Paramount's interests to remain exclusively HD to the end of the contract (after next holiday season) and switch to Bluray later.
Universal has said "no comment"

In other, breaking, news, Darth Lavender remains with his original intention to stay HDDVD exclusive for at least another year (even if it means no new releases, there's plenty of older releases worth getting (probably a lot cheaper now, too, if HDDVD is officially killed by Paramount & Universal) he's gone this long without Lord Of The Rings in HD, and he doubts there'll be HD releases of Doctor Zhivago or The Leopard anytime soon, anyway)

[patrick]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Criterion steps into the Blu-Ray game sooner rather than later, even if it's in a very limited way - if they wait too long to sort things out, it seems like they would probably lose things like Wes Anderson's films - I'm pretty certain that those would be their biggest high-def sellers out of their entire catalog. Of course, I'm not privy to their business dealings - it could be that they've already lost them in some way, like The Rock being released with Criterion supplements on a non-Criterion branded disc or Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas being released in a beautiful high-def transfer.

[unclehulot]

I did notice the Tartan Blu-Ray of The Seventh Seal presents the Swedish soundtrack in 2.0 which sounds like a bad sign, or at least a sign of Tartan continuing their DVD policy of releasing everything in at least 2.0 stereo!)...

It's 2.0 mono. There's nothing wrong or unusual about encoding a mono soundtrack to use the two main front speakers instead of a 1.0 center speaker configuration.

Agreed. Not meaning to sound obvious, or flippant, but Compact discs of mono recordings are 2 channel stereo. Whether those 2 channels are identical is the question, and I'm certainly no fan of fake stereo effects. Personally I prefer 2 channels of mono on dvds with mono soundtracks, because I don't have to jump through the hoop of changing my processor from routing the signal from JUST the center channel to another setting to get the front L & R channels activated.

[Antoine Doinel]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Criterion steps into the Blu-Ray game sooner rather than later, even if it's in a very limited way - if they wait too long to sort things out, it seems like they would probably lose things like Wes Anderson's films - I'm pretty certain that those would be their biggest high-def sellers out of their entire catalog. Of course, I'm not privy to their business dealings - it could be that they've already lost them in some way, like The Rock being released with Criterion supplements on a non-Criterion branded disc or Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas being released in a beautiful high-def transfer.

I would imagine for titles licensed from other studios, Criterion will have to enter new contracts to re-license them. Usually these kinds of licenses are media and time specific. If/when Criterion moves into high defintion they will more than likely start on the films Janus owns outright.

[Ben C]

My wishlist is to see criterion start revisiting their earlier flawed releases like the non anamorphic Andrei Rublev and the shortened Kwaidan. And I want to see them buck the trend of those ugly blue (or red) transparent boxes and remind everybody what well designed packaging looks like.

[denti alligator]

Rublev is near the top of my Criterion HD want-list, but at the very top is Playtime, which would benefit from HD unlike any other title. Sure the new transfer is nice (if at times too soft), but it just doesn't capture the detail of the 70mm print, which only an HD could come close to replicating.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Dents have you seen this?

That's the USD price.

AUS RRP is $799. Screwed again.

[subliminac]

Dents have you seen this?

I just recently built a home theatre PC and can confirm this player is truly excellent; picture quality is top notch, installation smooth, and it runs very quietly. From what I've read its load times compare favorably to the most recent set top boxes as well. Many users have issues with the bundled Power DVD software, however, complaining that it won't play certain titles, although I have yet to experience this. Apparently there is no HD alternative as of yet, but competition is soon on the way from Arcsoft, who has a Japanese trial version currently available for a test run.

[Nothing]

Rublev is near the top of my Criterion HD want-list, but at the very top is Playtime, which would benefit from HD unlike any other title. Sure the new transfer is nice (if at times too soft), but it just doesn't capture the detail of the 70mm print, which only an HD could come close to replicating.

HD doesn't come close to Playtime projected onto a large screen from the 70mm. But yeah, a disc would be nice.

As much as I hate Blu-ray right now, I'd buy into it if they put out Rublev. Scrap that - I'll buy into it WHEN they put out Rublev, not before.

[denti alligator]

With my standalone, region-free HD DVD player, I'm not looking for an HD/BD combo drive. When the day comes--at least a year or more--when I really want a region B Blue-ray DVD, I'll buy me what will by then surely be a less than $100 Blu-ray drive and pop it into my HTPC.

But that's a long way off. For now I just want some more good titles on either format. Of course a 1080p 4000k transfer of Playtime can't compete with a projected 70mm print, but that Criterion disc (yes, the re-issue) is crying out for improvement. It just doesn't do the film justice. A properly transferred HD version would. (I think the Criterion was transferred from a 35mm, wasn't it?).

[denti alligator]

Let us know how it works with Slysoft, Dave.

[miless]

(I think the Criterion was transferred from a 35mm, wasn't it?).

I thought the new one was transferred from 70mm and that the old edition was from 35mm... although I could very easily be wrong.

[pro-bassoonist]

Michael Bay loves Blu-Ray.

So does Ridely Scott. As does another S-gentleman.

Pro-B

[kevyip1]

Is anyone outraged that Slysoft charges 79 euro (that's $115 USD, the higher new price since 1/1/08) for AnyDVD HD, which performs ILLEGAL activities that should be done for FREE like DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter, DVD Genie and other freewares?

It seems that in order to get region-free DVD (not just region-free BD & HD) playback on Windows Vista, AnyDVD HD is the ONLY solution, because other DVD region-cracking tools like DVD Genie and DVD43 DO NOT WORK on Vista. That's how Slysoft has the gall to gouge us for its illegalware.

My PC has an HDCP-compliant video card and monitor so I don't need AnyDVD HD to decrypt the video.

[Magic Hate Ball]

Can anyone tell me how good the Kubrick blu-ray box set is? I mean, image-quality-wise. We all know the packaging is shit.

[denti alligator]

They don't come in a box, that I know of. Quality-wise: I'd say these releases are reason enough to go HD. 2001 is stunning. Full Metal Jacket and The Shining look very good. Haven't watched Clockwork Orange or Eyes Wide Shut yet.

["membrillo"]

Can anyone tell me how good the Kubrick blu-ray box set is? I mean, image-quality-wise. We all know the packaging is shit.

2001 is a reference. Clockwork is close to reference

However they were not released in a box set on either Blu-ray or HD-DVD

[cdnchris]

I saw parts of 2001 and it looked stunning, but haven't seen any of the others. I may still pick them up on HD DVD since I'm not getting a Blu-Ray player anytime soon. I'm hoping for a fire sale on the discs at some point in the near future.

[dx23]

As expected, New Line Cinema will go Blu-Ray. It's last HD-DVD title will be Pan's Labyrinth and next releases such as Rush Hour 3 and Hairspray are canceled.

[fdm]

Apart from the framing issues EWS looks great - remembering it is a finely grained picture to begin with, and its remarkable lighting scheme.

Shining looks fine also - the 1.78 framing in this doesn't bother me (it does others) but it definitely bothers me in EWS.

2001 is of course reference level for color, image and sound.

(I own all these on HD DVD not BD but they are obviously identical transfers.)

Having seen EWS in a movie theater during its initial run, it is quite welcome to me to no longer have to deal with full-frame; now I can watch the film the way I originally saw it. (Don't care what Kubrick may or may not have intended...)

[Ben C]

I just got a PS3 today along with 2001, A Clockwork Orange and several other non Kubrick BDs. 2001 was the first thing I popped in and I saw lots of serious edge enhancement. It could be that I'm watching it in 720 component or it could be some other obscure setting that's not right. I'm sure I'll get it all figured out, but I gotta say - all the options and settings don't seem very friendly to the average joe schmoe consumer. Not many people are going to be too happy when they have to go to the menu - device settings - register new device, and then hold down Start and Enter simultaniously until the screen changes in order for the PS3 to recognize the friggin remote. Maybe normal blu-ray players are less complicated but someone told me today that PS3s are currently the cheapest blue-ray players

[Nothing]

now I can watch the film the way I originally saw it. (Don't care what Kubrick may or may not have intended...)

Unlike the multiplexes, Mann's Chinese (where the premiere was held) were playing Eyes Wide Shut at what looked to be around 1.66:1 during its original theatrical run.

It could be that I'm watching it in 720 component or it could be some other obscure setting that's not right.

Will a Warners disc like 2001 even playback 720 via component? Get an HDMI connection pronto!

[Gigi M.]

The end off HD-DVD?

Universal dropping HD DVD exclusivity

[Belmondo]

The end off HD-DVD?

Universal dropping HD DVD exclusivity

"It is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but, it is the end of the beginning". Winston Churchill

By which I mean that we will soon find out whether or not we are dealing with a niche market - and my opinion is that it will remain a niche market until somebody wakes up and puts out some good and less than recent movies in hi def.

[patrick]

2001 was actually the disc that sold my boss on Blu-Ray after months of saying he couldn't tell the difference between high-def and upconverted DVDs. I suppose this should go in the "best high-def discs" thread, but he also said that Sunshine is absolutely incredible on Blu-Ray since (according to him) high-def is better suited to handle the extremely bright scenes.

I'm sure Paramount will honor their agreement (unless HD-DVD tanks so hard that they start losing money hand over fist) but I wish they'd hurry up and jump ship so I can get Zodiac on Blu.