Blu-ray, in General

[domino harvey]

Is it not the newer track that they recorded for the MGM?

[Donald Brown]

The Blu-ray will have both the MGM and Criterion tracks:

* Commentary by Spinal Tap
* Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer

Can't remember off hand which is which.

[domino harvey]

The MGM is the only one I've seen and it had them in character

[Luke M]

Amazon already has for pre-order at $25.95. Seems reasonable compared to other Blu-ray releases.

[cdnchris]

* Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
* Commentary by Director Rob Reiner, Producer Karen Murphy and Editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda

Both of these commentaries were on the Criterion. The Criterion also had different deleted scenes than what the MGM DVD had. I wonder if they'll fit all of them on to the Blu release.

[CSM126]

* Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer

Maybe they are going to be more free about licensing commentaries for Blu.

Am I the only one thinking this is a way for Criterion to extend their relationship with MGM? If I'm not mistaken, the current MGM licensing agreement started with MGM making an offer for the Raging Bull commentary from the Criterion LD...

[sopordave]

I understand, for instance, that there's a specific type of "aliasing" that can be heard by the most sensitive users, and the only reason for 96khz and 192khz encodes is that it's believed (still not quite definitive) that such an approach removes that type of aliasing. (Based on the actual theory at work, a calculation I can't remember the name of, Human's shouldn't be able to appreciate an increase in quality beyond "twice the human hearing range" Humans have a hearing range of (at best) 20hz - 20,000hz, hence CDs having a sample-rate of 44,100hz (or, over twice the maximum pitch audible to humans*) Anyway, my point was, the only reason 96khz and 192khz are even worth considering, is that some participants (with very well-practiced ears) in double-blind testing have repeated an absence of the mild "aliasing" that can occasionally occur in lower samples-per-second. The issue being not an increase in quality, but an absence of certain digital flaws that only the most practiced of audiophiles will notice.

Hertz in reference to sample-rate and Hertz in reference to pitch, btw, are two different things. But, they are mathematically related.

To be able to successfully recreate a signal (avoid aliasing), you have to sample it at at least twice its frequency. I'm not going to go into it here, but if you want to know more (and can handle the math), google "Nyquist's theory". You're right about the twice-the-human-range, but for the wrong reason.

The 44.1kHz make sense, because like you said, the typical limit to human hearing is 20kHz. The added 4.1kHz isn't to capture frequencies above 20kHz, but more due to the real world limitations of electronics compared to the mathematical formulas.

I can see an argument for 96kHz - some people can hear beyond the typical 20kHz max, but realistically, not far enough to warrant a 96kHz sampling rate. 192kHz is simply ridiculous unless somebody figures out how to grow better human ears.

[swo17]

Now that this thread has changed names, I consider the format war officially over.

[dx23]

Sony launches Blu Ray rewards program:

Sony Launches BD Rewards Program
Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 03:00 PM ET

Sony has just announced the launch of its BD rewards program, set to begin with the debut of this week's 'You Don't Mess With The Zohan.'

The free program, entitled the Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club, rewards consumers for purchasing BD-live enabled Sony Pictures Blu-ray titles. Customers accumulate points which are tallied through BD-Live-accessible players, giving them the opportunity to earn Sony products and prizes, as well as the chance to become members of the greater Sony Rewards program.

Consumers join the program by creating user profiles via their network connected Blu-ray players. They can also create these memberships online at www.sonyrewards.com/bluray. They will then accrue points as applicable titles are purchased and registered, thereby automatically crediting the user's rewards balance and progress toward various rewards and prizes.

“Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is dedicated to providing consumers with the most dynamic Blu-ray Disc experiences possible,” said Lexine Wong, Senior Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. "The Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club, made possible by the new interactivity of BD-Live, provides a unique incentive for our consumers who have embraced our Blu-ray high definition movies.”

To learn more about the program, go to the program's homepage at www.sonyrewards.com/bluray

It's better than nothing. We get a $10 coupon everytime we register 10 Blu Ray titles and a free BD after purchasing 40.

[Darth Lavender]

Now that this thread has changed names, I consider the format war officially over.

Pretty sure it's been over since late February (although, a look at Amazon's HDDVD prices the last few months, and it certainly has taken them a while to catch on)

Although, just as a pointless little curiousity; I actually bought 2 new HDDVDs only a few weeks ago (Casablanca & Sky Captain of the World of Tomorrow)

[Antoine Doinel]

Steve Jobs on why there's no BluRay in the Apple line of computers yet:

"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."

[peerpee]

I was gobsmacked that the new MBP didn't have Blu-ray. Aren't Apple an original partner in Blu-ray? Haven't they been for years? Blu-ray should have been standard in Leopard, but we're STILL waiting.

Sounds a real mess.

It's things like 'getting Apple onboard' that will precisely allow Blu-ray to "take off in the marketplace". Sony can be such idiots.

[Antoine Doinel]

Yes, Sony can be idiots and I'm sure their licensing fees are probably outrageous (although, HP has several laptops that are shipping with BR standard). That said, Apple certainly has a vested interest pushing their customers to buy HD content from iTunes.

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

It's things like 'getting Apple onboard' that will precisely allow Blu-ray to "take off in the marketplace".

I'm waiting for the likes of you to start releasing the good stuff!

[MichaelB]

I was gobsmacked that the new MBP didn't have Blu-ray. Aren't Apple an original partner in Blu-ray? Haven't they been for years? Blu-ray should have been standard in Leopard, but we're STILL waiting.

I was more than gobsmacked - I'm now seriously facing the prospect of having to buy a non-Apple laptop for the first time ever, which is a less than enticing prospect.

At the moment, I get so little Blu-ray stuff to review that I can do it all on my PS3 and domestic telly at home, but if the trickle turns into a flood I'll need something else, as there's no way my wife will stand for it otherwise: to say she's not a fan of the kind of stuff I write about is a major understatement. So I was really hoping - assuming, in fact - that the new MacBooks would have Blu-ray at least as an option.

(Even if it wasn't for the lack of Blu-ray, the lack of Firewire makes the new models unsellable to me - all my video equipment and most of my hard drives are Firewire based.)

[domino harvey]

Blu-ray players to hit $149 on Black Friday

[nsps]

Blu-ray players to hit $149 on Black Friday

The fancy Matrix box is bundled with the Samsung for $222 on Amazon, so that works out to pretty cheap. I still haven't finished watching all my HD DVDs, though, so I'm still gonna wait a while before adopting.

I was considering upgrading to the new MacBook Pro if it had BD, but I use enough stuff with Firewire 400—hard-drives and audio and video interfaces—that I'd likely rather keep what I have. (Plus, I prefer matte screens—never know if I'll be working where there's a big glare.)

[Antoine Doinel]

Blu-ray players to hit $149 on Black Friday

Future Shop in Canada currently has a Sharp BR player for $199.

[Harry Shearer]

* Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
* Commentary by Director Rob Reiner, Producer Karen Murphy and Editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda

Both of these commentaries were on the Criterion. The Criterion also had different deleted scenes than what the MGM DVD had. I wonder if they'll fit all of them on to the Blu release.

Warning about this release: for the first time in the quarter-century history of "Tap" on VHS and DVD, this product contains material neither created by, or even seen by, those of us who created the film--Rob, Chris, Michael and me. The "game" was created by ???, features ???? as "us", and, judging from the screen grabs I saw at Gizmodo, it looks like a fourth grader trying to do "South Park". Bravo, MGM.

[Antoine Doinel]

Thanks for heads up Harry, and welcome to the forum. You've got a quite a few fans around here and we're pleased to have you!

[dx23]

* Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
* Commentary by Director Rob Reiner, Producer Karen Murphy and Editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda

Both of these commentaries were on the Criterion. The Criterion also had different deleted scenes than what the MGM DVD had. I wonder if they'll fit all of them on to the Blu release.

Warning about this release: for the first time in the quarter-century history of "Tap" on VHS and DVD, this product contains material neither created by, or even seen by, those of us who created the film--Rob, Chris, Michael and me. The "game" was created by ???, features ???? as "us", and, judging from the screen grabs I saw at Gizmodo, it looks like a fourth grader trying to do "South Park". Bravo, MGM.

I also saw the screencaps at Gizmodoand the game you talk about seems to be part of the new BD-Live interactive experience, where you can download additional features using the Internet connection on your player and in this case "create" your own Spinal Tap-like band. The premise and screencaps look really bad.

It really sad also that MGM didn't contact any of you for the Blu Ray release, but it seems that all they wanted to do was cram all the extras from the laserdics, Criterion and MGM dvd into one disc.

What do you guys think of this:

Blu-ray is dead - heckuva job, Sony!
Posted by Robin Harris @ 12:31 pm

Categories: Disk drives, Marketing

Tags: Job, Sony Corp., Time Warner Inc., Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc Association, Agent Smith, Blu-Ray, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

665 TalkBacksPrintEmailThumbs UpThumbs Down+97155
Blu-ray is in a death spiral. 12 months from now Blu-ray will be a videophile niche, not a mass market product.

With only a 4% share of US movie disc sales and HD download capability arriving, the Blu-ray disc Association (BDA) is still smoking dope. Even $150 Blu-ray players won’t save it.

16 months ago I called the HD war for Blu-ray. My bad. Who dreamed they could both lose?

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
Delusional Sony exec Rick Clancy needs to put the crack pipe down and really look at the market dynamics.

In a nutshell: consumers drive the market and they don’t care about Blu-ray’s theoretical advantages. Especially during a world-wide recession.

Remember Betamax? SACD? Minidisk? Laser Disk? DVD-Audio? There are more losers than winners in consumer storage formats.

It’s all about volume. 8 months after Toshiba threw in the towel, Blu-ray still doesn’t have it.

The Blu-ray Disc Association doesn’t get it
$150 Blu-ray disc players are a good start, but it won’t take Blu-ray over the finish line. The BDA is stuck in the past with a flawed five-year-old strategy.

The original game plan
Two things killed the original strategy. First the fight with HD DVD stalled the industry for two years. Initial enthusiasm for high definition video on disk was squandered.

Second, the advent of low cost up-sampling DVD players dramatically cut the video quality advantage of Blu-ray DVDs. Suddenly, for $100, your average consumer can put good video on their HDTV using standard DVDs. When Blu-ray got started no one dreamed this would happen.

Piggies at the trough
The Blu-ray Disc Association hoped for a massive cash bonanza as millions of consumers discovered that standard DVDs looked awful on HDTV. To cash in they loaded Blu-ray licenses with costly fees. Blu-ray doesn’t just suck for consumers: small producers can’t afford it either.

According to Digital Content Producer Blu-ray doesn’t cut it for business:

Recordable discs don’t play reliably across the range of Blu-ray players - so you can’t do low-volume runs yourself.
Service bureau reproduction runs $20 per single layer disc in quantities of 300 or less.
Hollywood style printed/replicated Blu-ray discs are considerably cheaper once you reach the thousand unit quantity: just $3.50 per disc.
High-quality authoring programs like Sony Blu-print or Sonic Solutions Scenarist cost $40,000.
The Advanced Access Content System - the already hacked DRM - has a one-time fee of $3000 plus a per project cost of almost $1600 plus $.04 per disk. And who defines “project?”
Then the Blu-ray disc Association charges another $3000 annually to use their very exclusive - on 4% of all video disks! - logo.
That’s why you don’t see quirky indie flicks on Blu-ray. Small producers can’t afford it - even though they shoot in HDV and HD.

The Storage Bits take
Don’t expect Steve Jobs to budge from his “bag of hurt” understatement. Or Final Cut Studio support for Blu-ray. I suspect that Jobs is using his Hollywood clout from his board seat on Disney and his control of iTunes to try to talk sense to the BDA.

But the BDA won’t budge. They, like so much of Hollywood, are stuck in the past.

A forward looking strategy would include:

Recognition that consumers don’t need Blu-ray. It is a nice-to-have and must be priced accordingly.
Accept the money spent on Blu-ray is gone and will never earn back the investment. Then you can begin thinking clearly about how to maximize Blu-ray penetration.
The average consumer will probably pay $50 more for a Blu-ray player that is competitive with the average up-sampling DVD player. Most of the current Blu-ray players are junk: slow, feature-poor and way over-priced.
Disk price margins can’t be higher than DVDs and probably should be less. The question the studios need to ask is: “do we want to be selling disks in 5 years?” No? Then keep it up. Turn distribution over to your very good friends at Comcast, Apple and Time Warner. You’ll be like Procter & Gamble paying Safeway to stock your products.
Fire all the market research firms telling you how great it is going to be. They are playing you. Your #1 goal: market share. High volume is your only chance to earn your way out of this mess and keep some control of your distribution.
Time is short. Timid incrementalism will kill you.

Like Agent Smith delivering the bad news to a complacent cop: “No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead.”

This article has caused huge debate all across Internet forums. To me, he does have some valid points, but at the same time, he speaking out of his ass in some aspects, like comparing Blu Ray to Laserdiscs and Harrs also seems causing an overeaction by stating in the title of his blog the "death" of blu ray.

[Antoine Doinel]

Well, I think it's definitely this Christmas season or bust for BluRay becoming adopted by a large number of people. I'm not sure how healthy it will be for the format to spend another year as a niche player. That said, if Sony is smart, with the economy in the tank, this might be the best time for them. As the NY Times recently reported, LCD/plasma TVs are expected to drop substantially between now and the end of the year. I fully expect there to be some great prices on LCD/BD bundles and I will definitely be keeping my eye open around Thanksgiving and beyond. I also expect that if TVs are dropping in price, it's inevitable that BD players are going plummet as well. Manufacturers are going to be doing all they can to keep the drop in sales this season manageable at best.

Guardian's film bloggers continue to offer up nuggets of gold.

A good quality video cassette, played on a decent VCR and television, is as near to the calibre of a DVD as makes no odds.

[Magic Hate Ball]

Fortunately, the post was pretty much ripped to shreds.

[Perkins Cobb]

Guardian's film bloggers continue to offer up nuggets of gold.

A good quality video cassette, played on a decent VCR and television, is as near to the calibre of a DVD as makes no odds.

In other news, horseless carriages are the spawn of the devil.

[domino harvey]

One day we will ably harness the illumination of pixies to create an artificial source of light