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[VanMardigan]

Yep, the 70/30 figure mirrors what we've seen from software sales.

In other news, Big Lebowski and Meet Joe Black look/sound awesome, so it seems that Uni is done with whatever issues marred their recent catalog releases.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

In other news, Big Lebowski... Uni...

$#@!

grblmblgrmbl

 

[VanMardigan]

$#@!

grblmblgrmbl

lol, continue to grumble away:

More HD DVD Titles Released in Q2 Than Blu-ray

Following a dryspell in the first quarter of this year, the HD DVD camp rebounded in Q2 to release more high-def titles than its next-gen rival.

According to industry tipsheet The DVD Release Report, 70 HD DVD titles hit store shelves during the period from April 1 through June 30, compared to 63 Blu-ray titles in the same timeframe.

That's quite a jump for HD DVD, which got trounced in the same metric by Blu-ray over the first three months of the year, releasing only 29 titles (compared to Blu-ray's 69). HD DVD backers have pointed to the format's dearth of new releases in the early part of the year as a primary reason for what quickly became a widening sales lead for Blu-ray.

But while Blu-ray continues to lead in overall disc sales (VideoScan numbers for the week ending June 24 indicate a continued 2:1 sales lead for the format), the good news for HD DVD fans is that Blu-ray's once-growing sales lead appears to have at least stabilized.

Primary HD DVD backer Universal Studios led the Q2 HD DVD push, releasing a total of 33 HD DVD titles on its own. Although the studio has been accused of rushing some of its more recent HD DVD catalogue titles to market at the cost of picture quality, it shows no signs of slowing down with another 23 HD DVD titles already announced for release from now through September.

 

[Forsete]

When will Fox start releasing titles again? They have a few new titles I'm interested in.

Edit: Damn, Uni is trying so hard. :lol

 

[captive]

lol they released more titles yet they still managed to get outsold, thats pretty rich.
Wasnt that supporters of HD DVDs reasoning in the first quater "well blu-ray has released more titles so of course they are outselling."

 

[Matrix]

Smallville season 6 hitting Blu-ray and HD DVD sept 18th,Blu ray comes on 4 discs,HD on 5.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7588

 

[djkimothy]

Smallville season 6 hitting Blu-ray and HD DVD sept 18th,Blu ray comes on 4 discs,HD on 5.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7588

Bah! I'm still pissed that Planet Earth Blu-ray was released on 4 25 GB discs. Two dual layer discs would have been better!

 

[DarkJediKnight]

lol they released more titles yet they still managed to get outsold, thats pretty rich.
Wasnt that supporters of HD DVDs reasoning in the first quater "well blu-ray has released more titles so of course they are outselling."

No. HD DVD is going to win in the 4th quarter with these exclusives:

Heroes
Battlestar Galactica
Evan Almighty
Bourne Ultimatum


vs Blu-ray's

Pirates 3
Die Hard 4
Spiderman 3 w/ Spider 1 and 2 boxset
F4: Silver Surfer
Simpsons
Ratatouille
Surf's Up
Aliens Vs Predator 2

I'd really love to have what Super Happy Jolly Ken Graffeo of Universal is smoking. I wonder if it's the same stuff he had when he saw how much Evan Almighty made back. :lol

 

[StoOgE]

big lebowski does in fact look very good.. with the exception of the half second shot when the daughter has him knocked out. looks pretty blurry.

Also, Universal didnt have any problems with their encodes. Their transfers were fine. The discs that dont look good are because they didnt get new masters. Lebowski and Frighteners (which look good) both had recent masters done.. Lost in Translastion is a new movie, so it looked good. The ones that looked bad are older and havent been recently remastered. So, you have an old, poorly done master.. no matter how well you do the encode, its gonna look bad...

and is it really worth it to remaster Mystery Men? Not likely :lol

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Universal's desperation is a good thing for those wanting back-catalog releases.

I wouldn't pick up HD-DVD for that reason, but it sure would be nice if the other studios were doing the same.

What's even odder is the selection of back-catalog stuff that is coming out. Universal, by virtue of quantity, has a good assortment, but the BD discs are still seemingly is the realms of this-or-that VP's favorite old movie.

 

[Zen]

SO when will we be getting the numbers for the week where BR has like 2 releases versus a gabillion from HD-DVD

 

[Oni Jazar]

Friday most likely.

 

[terrene]

Universal, by virtue of quantity, has a good assortment, but the BD discs are still seemingly is the realms of this-or-that VP's favorite old movie.

My guess is that it's more likely that we're seeing BRDs for stuff where 1) the studio kept most of the rights and is able to quickly crank out a disc without a lot of legal hurdles and 2) market research indicates favorable demographics.

 

[methane47]

we need to find out who Vanmardigan really is... Because he is working over time to win over NeoGaf...

seriously..

 

[TAJ]

Yeah I was wondering about this... if you're indy, are you really shooting in HD?

Delays aside, this should be the best thing to happen to indie in a long, long time:

http://www.red.com/

 

[TAJ]

My purchases this week reflect the current sales trends almost exactly, but only because of the Fry's Bluray sale. I've never seen a B&M sale like that for HDDVD, but I see them every couple months for Bluray. The closest thing I've seen is the WBHV sale, but that was online, and included Bluray also.

 

[distantmantra]

FLAG (anime TV series) Director's Edition cover art. Comes out in August in Japan. Looks great.

 

[VanMardigan]

Has anyone here seen HD anime? I'm not a huge anime fan, but if they look much better, I'll probably build a collection. Freedom Vol. 1 just shipped to me from Amazon, so I guess I'll have a better idea of how much improvement there is by next week or so.

 

[distantmantra]

Has anyone here seen HD anime? I'm not a huge anime fan, but if they look much better, I'll probably build a collection. Freedom Vol. 1 just shipped to me from Amazon, so I guess I'll have a better idea of how much improvement there is by next week or so.

I own Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence on Blu Ray. Looks pretty damn good.

Anime (and animation in general) that was made on cels will look great in high definition. The more recent digitally drawn stuff, will not.

 

[YYZ]

When is Paprika coming out in NA on Blu-Ray? I saw the french version on google.

 

[distantmantra]

When is Paprika coming out in NA on Blu-Ray? I saw the french version on google.

Sony has yet to announce a release date, but I'm guessing before Christmas.

 

[mollipen]

The more recent digitally drawn stuff, will not.

And... why is that?

 

[terrene]

Anime (and animation in general) that was made on cels will look great in high definition. The more recent digitally drawn stuff, will not.

No way, it looks great! You should watch A Scanner Darkly on BRD. It's really beautiful, dude. Me & Whitey rented it from Scarecrow just last week.

 

[distantmantra]

No way, it looks great! You should watch A Scanner Darkly on BRD. It's really beautiful, dude. Me & Whitey rented it from Scarecrow just last week.

I have A Scanner Darkly on BRD, actually. And yeah, it looks awesome.

And... why is that?

I should restate what I said then. Most anime coming out of Japan in the last few years has been drawn on a computer, doing away with hand-drawn cel animation. This computer drawn stuff is what won't show much of an improvement, if any at all, in high definition. Someone over at the AOD forums explained it to me once, and it made sense, but if only I could explain it. It has to do with the definition at which it what "filmed/encoded." The original source material was made with TV resolution in mind, so you're already getting all that it can offer in terms of picture quality. We have started to see a lot of shows going to HD broadcast on TV in Japan, so they'll benefit. A good example of stuff that won't benefit from being in HD would be Gundam SEED or Fullmetal Alchemist.

 

[Maxwell House]

Van. Just give it up. This Amazon deal is not going to be HD-DVD's blockbuster deal no matter how much you want it to be.

So please stop flooding this thread with text walls of Amir's quotes.

Why? I find Amir's comments and insider knowledge very interesting. Keep posting them Van.

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Why? I find Amir's comments and insider knowledge very interesting. Keep posting them Van.

Your posting history makes your agenda rather transperant.

Suffice to say; Amir is a master of spin, and a champion for HD-DVD delusion. His stuff might fly on a forum full of HD-DVD fanboys... but the desperate spin by HD-DVD fanboys, and the constant quoting of Amir, as if he were actually reputable and without bias in this format war is laughable and more a reflection of the HD-DVD fanboy's delusion.
Wouldn't be surprised if Van Mardigan was Amir himself! Especially more amusing when he upholds Amir's words while chastising Bill Hunt for been too blu-ray, someone decidedly more neutral than Amir.

 

[captive]

Why? I find Amir's comments and insider knowledge very interesting. Keep posting them Van.

Haha after seeing you post just yesterday this is certainly not a surprise.

 

[Days like these...]

Your posting history makes your agenda rather transperant.

Suffice to say; Amir is a master of spin, and a champion for HD-DVD delusion. His stuff might fly on a forum full of HD-DVD fanboys... but the desperate spin by HD-DVD fanboys, and the constant quoting of Amir, as if he were actually reputable and without bias in this format war is laughable and more a reflection of the HD-DVD fanboy's delusion.
Wouldn't be surprised if Van Mardigan was Amir himself! Especially more amusing when he upholds Amir's words while chastising Bill Hunt for been too blu-ray, someone decidedly more neutral than Amir.

Here we go again... I'm not sure I'm understanding you so help me out here. Any positive news for HD DVD is basically delusional 'spin' and thus should not be posted here by desperate fanboys? I am far from desperate I don''t think Van is either.
I'm quite enjoying all the movies I've bought as opposed to some in the blu-ray camp who apparently can't enjoy their format cause they are to busy obsessing over HD DVD's imminent demise.
Van = Amir? I think if anyone here is delusional it's you. Didnt you learn from last time when even those in your own camp were coming down on you for your last rant?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I can't really distinguish between Crayon and Days, apart from which format they support. Am I alone?

Days, the shot at BluRay owners in general is uncalled for, trollish, and proves again you're an ass.

Why don't the two of you go off and start your own thread, and take petrarca and a few others with you?

 

[AstroLad]

Caught this in the journal this morning. Apologies if it's already been posted.

In a move that could be key to determining the future of home cinema, European antitrust regulators are stepping up their probe into possible anticompetitive practices in the format war over high-definition DVDs.

Hollywood's studios are racing to dig up files, emails and records of telephone conversations related to the competing Blu-ray and HD DVD formats after the European Commission sent out letters last month demanding evidence of their communications and agreements on the new generation of DVD formats.

The European Commission, the European Union's executive body, appears to be particularly interested in the activities of the Blu-ray group because of its dominance in Hollywood, according to people familiar with the situation. The commission is investigating whether improper tactics were used to suppress competition and persuade the studios to back their format.


Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for the commission, confirmed that it had sent letters to the studios in mid-June trying to establish whether they have restrictive agreements to use one or the other of the standards.

Full article.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Sounds like political smoke to me, based on the stories we've heard about who's in which camp and why. Unless there has been some pressure on Paramount and WB to support both, which hardly seems anti-competitive.

 

[jjasper]

I don't think there was any pressure put on the hollywood companies. Disney, Fox, MGM are so hardcore against preventing piracy that they would have chosen whichever they believed had the best piracy prevention system.

 

[Days like these...]

I can't really distinguish between Crayon and Days, apart from which format they support. Am I alone?

Days, the shot at BluRay owners in general is uncalled for, trollish, and proves again you're an ass.

Why don't the two of you go off and start your own thread, and take petrarca and a few others with you?

I'm an ass? Ok thanks. Go back and reread my post I said "some in the blu-ray camp" so how was that a shot at blu ray owners in general? Reading Comprehension FTMFL!

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I'm an ass? Ok thanks. Go back and reread my post I said "some in the blu-ray camp" so how was that a shot at blu ray owners in general? Reading Comprehension FTMFL!

What's the point of saying "some" then, and not just saying who? Why not direct it at Crayon, as long as the two of you are sniping? How about avoiding generalizations (limited or otherwise) altogether and stop giving a rat's ass about what you *think* other people are enjoying or not enjoying? Yes, an ass.

 

[Days like these...]

That hit a nerve? A little close to home perhaps? Sounds like a plan ignatz as soon camp Blu ray stop obsessing over HD DVD's imminent demise

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

That hit a nerve? A little close to home perhaps? Sounds like a plan ignatz as soon camp Blu ray stop obsessing over HD DVD's imminent demise

More generalizing....

Whose nerve exactly was hit here?

 

[captive]

That hit a nerve? A little close to home perhaps? Sounds like a plan ignatz as soon camp Blu ray stop obsessing over HD DVD's imminent demise

Bluray/HD-DVD: Bluray takeover watch
While im at it, why dont i go into a church, and yell satan rules, **** you dumb priests, im sure they wont mind.

If you want pure unaldulterated HD DVD love go to AVS hd dvd section found here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=152
And Yes EVERYTHING Amir says should be taken with a huge grain of salt, he works for microsoft...
Just like everything from anyone at Sony, Toshiba, Disney, FOX, Universal, should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[VanMardigan]

Hay guys!! Amir...erm...I mean.........Vanmardigan here. :lol

Ok, I hope we're all done with the stupid bickering again. I think this thread would go over more smoothly if we just don't respond to crayon, petrarca, and possibly methane. Feel free to add names. Just don't reply. I know I won't (unless it's not an insult and the user wants to have a real discussion).

Anyway, I doubt the anti-competitive stuff is true. For one thing, Sony is doing the encoding for Paramount titles.

Also:

Fantastic Four
Underworld
Silent Hill
Hannibal
Ghost Rider
Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Saw Trilogy

have been announced for HD DVD in Europe. So, with all HD DVD players being region-free, that's good news. I don't know if all will have English tracks, but I don't see why most if not all will. I know FF will have an English DTS track.

 

[StoOgE]

All US releases have English tracks on them when released in EU.

The only thing you may run into is forced subtitles on the movies.

I have no interest in any of these movies.. but Sin City should be out this year in Europe... that I have interest in.

 

[AstroLad]

Sounds like political smoke to me, based on the stories we've heard about who's in which camp and why. Unless there has been some pressure on Paramount and WB to support both, which hardly seems anti-competitive.

Yeah, they're inquiring is all, currently. I think the article is a bit more sensationalistic than necessary, but what are you gonna do? Interesting from a U.S. context to have an inquiry at all as competition law is basically dead letter in most areas here, whereas as everyone knows, in the E.U. it's quite a different story. I doubt anything will come of it, but crazier things have happened.

 

[ManaByte]

Sounds like political smoke to me, based on the stories we've heard about who's in which camp and why. Unless there has been some pressure on Paramount and WB to support both, which hardly seems anti-competitive.

The ONLY, and ONLY, reason Fox and Disney are Blu-Ray exclusive is because of the region coding. You can believe it's BD+ copy protection or whatever makes you happy, but it's due to region coding (and the lack of region lock out on HD-DVD) that they only support BRD. If HD-DVD bent over for them like BRD did and added region lock out, they wouldn't have been exclusive. Not many people posting in this thread remember back when BRD was originally going to be region free like HD-DVD, but then they caved in and added Regions A and B just to make Fox and Disney happy.

 

[Raistlin]

The ONLY, and ONLY, reason Fox and Disney are Blu-Ray exclusive is because of the region coding.

Not necessarily.


Especially Disney, makes A LOT of money on video releases. They have a vested interest in HD movies taking off.

It isn't a stretch to assume some studios feel that long-term, two formats could end up being the death of both.

 

[mollipen]

I should restate what I said then.

Still don't agree. I mean, the idea behind what you're saying makes sense: if digitally-produced anime is created to a set sub-HD resolution, versus older cel-based anime that wasn't, then yes, it has the potential (not assurance) of not looking as good when going HD, due to having to be blown up resolution wise.

The problem I have with that idea is that, who is saying for sure what resolution the source material for these digitally produced titles is at? Some guy on the AOD forums? Who is he, and how do we know what he knows for sure? The difference between producing anime at 720p or 1080p versus 480p really isn't huge, and it doesn't make much sense for a production company to lock their master in at 480p or whatever unless they're seriously tight for cash. Unless you've got somebody from an action production company weighing in on this, there's no way I'd believe that most digitally-produced anime has their masters created at sub-HD resolution.

Even if that's true, more and more digital anime IS being produced with high definition in mind. Stuff like THIS or THIS is going to look crazy beautiful on high-def formats, and I think only the best of old-school anime titles are going to be able to come close to looking as good.

 

[Petrarca]

Blu-ray VS HD-DVD sales chart for UK- June 2007

 

[AZ Greg]

Forgive the off-topic question but I figure many of the regular posters in here would be able to answer me. Am I better off calibrating my HDTV with AVIA through one of my dvd players like the PS3? Or am I better off calibrating it through the test patterns on one of the Sony Blu-ray movies being that those test images are off an HD source and then waiting for a Blu-ray AVIA or DVE?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I don't know for sure, but I would think that you'd want to use an HD source, since any DVD is going to be upscaled and therefore altered-- not to mention not having the resolution of the set.

 

[Eggo]

Contributed to the Blu Pac-Man again. Picked up Layer Cake and House of Flying Artifacts from Circuit City for $24 something tax included (wanted Big Fish instead of House of FA, but they were sold out). I price-matched the Frys 2 for $25 Blu-Ray deal and got the 10% extra off for the price difference.

On a separate note, I have a question for the next-gen audiophiles out there. I'm currently using a PS3 as my Blu-Ray player. It's hooked up to my TV via HDMI cables, and I have an optical cable connected to my receiver, a Sony STR-DE995

(http://www.epinions.com/pr-Sony_STR-DE995_Home_Audio_Receiver/display_~full_specs).

The problem is when watching Blu-Ray movies such as Phantom of the Opera and Curse of the Golden Flower, the receiver displays the audio signal as being PCM and only shows sound channels in the front speakers. The rears are outputting sound, but it doesn't sound like they're getting their own channels. It's like I'm getting stereo sound via 5 speakers. Is there something I'm doing wrong or an adjustment I can make in the PS3 settings somewhere so I can get proper 5.1 sound?

I'm not much of an audiophile, so forgive me if this is a noobish question. The PS3 is running on the latest firmware, BTW. Also, since the TV is hooked up with HDMI cables, shouldn't the TV's speakers be outputting sound as well? They're silent, though I suspect that may have to do with the optical cable being read as the sole sound source from the PS3. By way of comparison, the Xbox 360 is also using an optical cable for sound, and I get 5.1 just fine with that when playing DVD's or HD-DVD's.

 

[captive]

Contributed to the Blu Pac-Man again. Picked up Layer Cake and House of Flying Artifacts from Circuit City for $24 something tax included (wanted Big Fish instead of House of FA, but they were sold out). I price-matched the Frys 2 for $25 Blu-Ray deal and got the 10% extra off for the price difference.

On a separate note, I have a question for the next-gen audiophiles out there. I'm currently using a PS3 as my Blu-Ray player. It's hooked up to my TV via HDMI cables, and I have an optical cable connected to my receiver, a Sony STR-DE995

(http://www.epinions.com/pr-Sony_STR-DE995_Home_Audio_Receiver/display_~full_specs).

The problem is when watching Blu-Ray movies such as Phantom of the Opera and Curse of the Golden Flower, the receiver displays the audio signal as being PCM and only shows sound channels in the front speakers. The rears are outputting sound, but it doesn't sound like they're getting their own channels. It's like I'm getting stereo sound via 5 speakers. Is there something I'm doing wrong or an adjustment I can make in the PS3 settings somewhere so I can get proper 5.1 sound?

I'm not much of an audiophile, so forgive me if this is a noobish question. The PS3 is running on the latest firmware, BTW. Also, since the TV is hooked up with HDMI cables, shouldn't the TV's speakers be outputting sound as well? They're silent, though I suspect that may have to do with the optical cable being read as the sole sound source from the PS3. By way of comparison, the Xbox 360 is also using an optical cable for sound, and I get 5.1 just fine with that when playing DVD's or HD-DVD's.

For the optical cables, go to Settings -> BD/DVD settings -> Optical settings and set it to bitstream.
It cant send 5.1 PCM over optical.

 

[Raistlin]

Blu-ray VS HD-DVD sales chart for UK- June 2007

pwned

 

[Argyle]

Contributed to the Blu Pac-Man again. Picked up Layer Cake and House of Flying Artifacts from Circuit City for $24 something tax included (wanted Big Fish instead of House of FA, but they were sold out). I price-matched the Frys 2 for $25 Blu-Ray deal and got the 10% extra off for the price difference.

On a separate note, I have a question for the next-gen audiophiles out there. I'm currently using a PS3 as my Blu-Ray player. It's hooked up to my TV via HDMI cables, and I have an optical cable connected to my receiver, a Sony STR-DE995

(http://www.epinions.com/pr-Sony_STR-DE995_Home_Audio_Receiver/display_~full_specs).

The problem is when watching Blu-Ray movies such as Phantom of the Opera and Curse of the Golden Flower, the receiver displays the audio signal as being PCM and only shows sound channels in the front speakers. The rears are outputting sound, but it doesn't sound like they're getting their own channels. It's like I'm getting stereo sound via 5 speakers. Is there something I'm doing wrong or an adjustment I can make in the PS3 settings somewhere so I can get proper 5.1 sound?

I'm not much of an audiophile, so forgive me if this is a noobish question. The PS3 is running on the latest firmware, BTW. Also, since the TV is hooked up with HDMI cables, shouldn't the TV's speakers be outputting sound as well? They're silent, though I suspect that may have to do with the optical cable being read as the sole sound source from the PS3. By way of comparison, the Xbox 360 is also using an optical cable for sound, and I get 5.1 just fine with that when playing DVD's or HD-DVD's.

As captive pointed out, set your PS3 to bitstream. Also, for the movie you are watching, make sure you select the Dolby Digital soundtrack, not the PCM soundtrack if you want 5.1 surround...