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[Mustaphadamus]

Jesus, you're obnoxious. Sounds like you're not married, either.

This thread is hilarious. Ten people furiously arguing and bickering, with people ignoring each other (but not really). It's a good read for comedy, only every 5-7 days or so.

what he said was a bit much but I agree with him in some regard. My wife has no say so on how I spend MY money. The day my wife thinks she has a says on how I spend the bread I worked hard for is the day we get a divorce. I make sure all the bills are paid and what not but, whats left after my duties as a husband, I do with as I please. No need to knock someone who has a relationship that doesn't work like that. To each their own.

Either way blu ray does seem like it will be the defacto standard and I for one plan to build up a nice sized collection.

 

[XMonkey]

Spoken like a person who isn't married. I can do anything I please, as long as I'm willing to pay the penalty.

Bluray: the HD format of choice for uncompromising men.

 

[captive]

I just got Stargate at Frys, anyone else have it, do you like it?
Cant believe HD digest gave the movie itself 3 stars.

Note to movie companies: STOP PUTTING THREE ****ING SECURITY TAPES ON YOU MOVIES, ONE FOR EACH OPENABLE SIDE IS OVERKILL.
THANK YOU

 

[djkimothy]

So I picked up Fifth Element at Best Buy and noticed they have a $20 for a blu ray film sale going on at the front rows. Was shocked! Almost picked up Last Samurai until I remembered how crappy it was.

Just a FYI for those Canucks interested.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Spoken like a person who isn't married. I can do anything I please, as long as I'm willing to pay the penalty.

And in this case the penalty for buying a $600 BD player would have been having to return it, since you said there's no way your wife would ever let you keep it.

 

[thaivo]

And in this case the penalty for buying a $600 BD player would have been having to return it, since you said there's no way your wife would ever let you keep it.

True enough, but mostly because I don't thing a BD player would be worth the trouble.

 

[VanMardigan]

Robert Zohn (one of the guys involved in that supposed debate at the HME event) on why he prefers HD DVD:

1. I don' see any compelling advantage to BD to force the entire disc replication industry to re-tool their factories to produce BD. The excellent infrastructure of tens of thousands of small, mid and large replicators that are presently in place very easily produce HD DVDs on much of the same equipment, whereas BD production requires a complete re-tooling and new production lines taking up twice the space and cost millions of dollars. BTW, production of BD dual layer discs is very expensive to produce and to date only two facilities world-wide can replicate them.

2. I like strongly prefer the HD DVD mandated standards vs. BD, for example;
A. TrueHD decoders built-into every player
B. Network connection for additional studio applications and firmware
upgrades
C. HDi interactive, menu and PIP features.

3. The lower cost of HD DVD hardware and disc production. It's easier to
author, and produce the discs as well as the hardware.

4. I like Toshiba's hardware offerings of a good-better-best player choices so the consumer can match their budget and system. BD players are made by various manufacturers with different features, but not well planned and more expensive. Like why would Samsung produce a second gen BD player without any lossless audio decoding?

5. Toshiba has a passion to get things right and they listen to the marketplace to develop the features we all want. In fact, recently I was able to convince Toshiba to develop an upgrade to 1080p 24fps from their A20 and XA2 as well as future generation HD DVD players.

In my own home I have several BD and HD DVD players, as I want to be able to watch any title on any of my HDTVs.

In my business when someone comes into our B&M store we demonstrate both formats on all HDTV and carefully explain all of the differences and studios supporting each format.

We have sold far more HD DVD players vs. BD, but don't underestimate our BD sales, as we are one of the nations largest BD retailers.

Finally, I love, embrace and support all forms of HD content, as we sorely need more HD material. I love BD and recognize the large disc capacity per layer potential advantage.

I believe both formats will co-exist for many years, however if one format ends it would be better for the consumers and industry overall and I will happy to whole heartily support the winner.

-Robert

Interesting points.

 

[bigmakstudios]

Could a blu-ray player be used to view movie trailers like an HD-DVD player can? They both are capable of an online connection, right?

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Robert Zohn (one of the guys involved in that supposed debate at the HME event) on why he prefers HD DVD:



Interesting points.

That guy should stick to happily and whole heartedly supporting the winning format.

 

[VanMardigan]

Could a blu-ray player be used to view movie trailers like an HD-DVD player can? They both are capable of an online connection, right?

Ethernet port is a requirement for HD DVD but not Blu Ray.

edit:

As if there wasn't enough shameless Blu-ray promoting going on of late, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is now adding fuel to the fire by offering "revenue sharing on Blu-ray Disc releases through Rentrak Corporation." Starting this September, Sony will reportedly make "all of its new releases and select catalog titles on Blu-ray available under the agreement, which expands the studio's DVD revenue-sharing deal with Rentrak." Interestingly, neither firm has been willing to disclose the terms just yet, but SPHE president David Bishop did note that he felt it was important to "make sure that the rental component of the Blu-ray launch was covered." Now, the big question seems to hover around whether or not this move is anti-competitive or not, and as we all know, that's certainly not foreign territory for BD.

 

[p_xavier]

Could a blu-ray player be used to view movie trailers like an HD-DVD player can? They both are capable of an online connection, right?

And this is a genuine question: why would you want that?! They just have to put the trailer on the disc. I see no advantage whatsoever of a online-ready BD player. If you need some extras, they should just have put them on the disc in the first place. It's now like current DVD player owners requested that feature.

 

[VanMardigan]

And this is a genuine question: why would you want that?! They just have to put the trailer on the disc. I see no advantage whatsoever of a online-ready BD player. If you need some extras, they should just have put them on the disc in the first place. It's now like current DVD player owners requested that feature.

Just some reasons off the top of my head:

-keep the trailers current

-maximize the disc's space by not including trailers of old movies

-allows for new featurettes to be included without forcing users to double dip

-allows for unprecedented levels of interactivity

-allows for fans of a film to participate in a community through the web features. Heroes HD DVD is expected to introduce a feature like this.

As Warner, Paramount, and Universal continue to exploit the web-enabled feature, we'll see some really great uses for it.

 

[bigmakstudios]

And this is a genuine question: why would you want that?! They just have to put the trailer on the disc. I see no advantage whatsoever of a online-ready BD player. If you need some extras, they should just have put them on the disc in the first place. It's now like current DVD player owners requested that feature.

So I could watch a trailer of an upcoming movie or recent release in HD without having to buy a new BRD from the studio.

 

[Crayon Shinchan]

Just some reasons off the top of my head:

-keep the trailers current

-maximize the disc's space by not including trailers of old movies

-allows for new featurettes to be included without forcing users to double dip

-allows for unprecedented levels of interactivity

-allows for fans of a film to participate in a community through the web features. Heroes HD DVD is expected to introduce a feature like this.

As Warner, Paramount, and Universal continue to exploit the web-enabled feature, we'll see some really great uses for it.

Thing I don't get is... why can't these web enabled features be put on BD? it's not like it doesn't have a provision for it at all. It's simply not mandated.

When 1.1 comes around, why can't these companies use that tech for BD? Indeed... why is it a pro for THEM? With BD they get a choice... if they get a choice, and see it as a pro, wouldn't that mean they would want to include these features? Get a one-up on their competition on BD?

 

[VanMardigan]

Thing I don't get is... why can't these web enabled features be put on BD? it's not like it doesn't have a provision for it at all. It's simply not mandated.

When 1.1 comes around, why can't these companies use that tech for BD? Indeed... why is it a pro for THEM? With BD they get a choice... if they get a choice, and see it as a pro, wouldn't that mean they would want to include these features? Get a one-up on their competition on BD?

I think the problem is, as we've seen with some of the audio from format-neutral studios and other things like iME: when you don't mandate it, it doesn't become standard or its rarely used. Even with having the ethernet port mandated, its taken a full year for HD DVD studios to realize the potential that exists there. Blood Diamond, Freedom Vol. 1, and 300 are just the beginning. Uni has promised all its future titles will have web-enabled features.

So yeah, I can definitely see a BR manufacturer take advantage at some point. And hopefully Warner and Paramount will port their web-enabled extras, but since it won't be a standard, I don't expect the widespread support. Hopefully, the Ps3 (with its internet connection) proves to be fully capable of executing these types of features, since it'll be the most popular BR player for the foreseeable future.

 

[Ponn]

Just some reasons off the top of my head:

-keep the trailers current

-maximize the disc's space by not including trailers of old movies

-allows for new featurettes to be included without forcing users to double dip

-allows for unprecedented levels of interactivity

-allows for fans of a film to participate in a community through the web features. Heroes HD DVD is expected to introduce a feature like this.

As Warner, Paramount, and Universal continue to exploit the web-enabled feature, we'll see some really great uses for it.

Now for the million dollar question. How many users and even publishers will really use these features?

 

[Oni Jazar]

I wouldn' t want to put in my movie disc and have to wait for it to download a new trailer.

 

[drohne]

In my own home I have several BD and HD DVD players, as I want to be able to watch any title on any of my HDTVs.

gee, i think we'd all like that. and you know what would make it more feasible for people who aren't total home theater loonies? ONE ****ING FORMAT

 

[VanMardigan]

I wouldn' t want to put in my movie disc and have to wait for it to download a new trailer.

That's not how it works. It's an option. For example, on Freedom Vol. 1, I go to the extras menu, and then navigate to the web server, where I get a list of things I can download and store on my player (in my case xbox 360). I can just download all of these and they'll be available the next time I boot up the disc, or I can ignore the feature altogether.

Also, Chuck & Larry debuted at No. 1, and Evan Almighty has shown good legs (still in the top ten) and so has Knocked Up. With Bourne coming up, Uni has had a better year than I expected. Plus Harry Potter, Transformers, etc. are format neutral.

edit:

gee, i think we'd all like that. and you know what would make it more feasible for people who aren't total home theater loonies? ONE ****ING FORMAT

While I agree, the situation could be worse. If you spent $600 plus on your Blu Ray player, spending $238 for an HD DVD player (or around $150 if you already own an Xbox 360) isn't going to kill you. By this holiday, HD DVD's price of entry will be in the $150-200 range. You don't have to be a home theater loonie to afford that. Again, I know one format would be better still, but in the absence of that, the current situation isn't too bad.

 

[XMonkey]

Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware Hardware

 

[karasu]

I'm watching Rescue Me on Blu-Ray, and it is glorious!

 

[djkimothy]

I'm watching Rescue Me on Blu-Ray, and it is glorious!

I've just seen Fifth Element and that was glorious!

 

[rc213]

1. I don' see any compelling advantage to BD to force the entire disc replication industry to re-tool their factories to produce BD. The excellent infrastructure of tens of thousands of small, mid and large replicators that are presently in place very easily produce HD DVDs on much of the same equipment, whereas BD production requires a complete re-tooling and new production lines taking up twice the space and cost millions of dollars. BTW, production of BD dual layer discs is very expensive to produce and to date only two facilities world-wide can replicate them.


3. The lower cost of HD DVD hardware and disc production. It's easier to
author, and produce the discs as well as the hardware.

http://wesleytech.com/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-replication-costs-analyzed-again/113/

GTFO!

 

[p_xavier]

Just some reasons off the top of my head:

-keep the trailers current

-maximize the disc's space by not including trailers of old movies

-allows for new featurettes to be included without forcing users to double dip

-allows for unprecedented levels of interactivity

-allows for fans of a film to participate in a community through the web features. Heroes HD DVD is expected to introduce a feature like this.

As Warner, Paramount, and Universal continue to exploit the web-enabled feature, we'll see some really great uses for it.

All things that can already be done on other devices, and why maximize the disc space? Isn't why we have new discs in the first place? To have extra capacity, the requirement for storage media is 256MB, you can't do much with that space... I just think it's this whole HD web interactivity thing is a gimmick. Give me PiP, that's a real feature.

 

[AgentOtaku]

well...even though I said I was done with HDDVD purchases, I couldn't hold out and had to preorder 300 and Hot Fuzz.....was gonna preorder Shaun of the Dead as well, but waiting for reviews, as I already own it on SDVD

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Wow what a drag this has turned out to be. Apparently my Sony DG710 receiver does not accept Linear PCM thru 5.1 with the PStriple. It only takes it to two channels with HDMI.

This was a major selling point for me in getting a PS3 and I've had my receiver for over 45 days, so I can't return it for the 810 which does 5.1 PCM and beyond.

I guess I can try taking the receiver back to Best Buy hoping for an exchange (with me paying the difference of course), but I don't think they'd be willing to bend on their 30-day return policy. Does having a warranty for the thing help? I mean, could I just lie and tell them the thing's busted or something?

 

[VanMardigan]

All things that can already be done on other devices, and why maximize the disc space? Isn't why we have new discs in the first place? To have extra capacity, the requirement for storage media is 256MB, you can't do much with that space... I just think it's this whole HD web interactivity thing is a gimmick. Give me PiP, that's a real feature.

What devices? A pc? Does that somehow make it less valid? And about maximizing disc space, many people who are moving to these formats care very much about using every last bit of space to minimize audio/video compression. Moving the extras accomplishes that to some degree. It's fine if you think its a gimmick, but it doesn't detract from the format anyway. PiP is already here.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Has any date been given yet for the Advent Children Bluray?

 

[duckroll]

Has any date been given yet for the Advent Children Bluray?

It's been delayed because S-E deems the Blu-ray market too small at the moment according to Nomura. :/

 

[drohne]

spielberg, lucas, nomura -- your really big film industry figures never release their stuff on fledgling formats

Spoiler

what

 

[mrklaw]

I think the problem is, as we've seen with some of the audio from format-neutral studios and other things like iME: when you don't mandate it, it doesn't become standard or its rarely used. Even with having the ethernet port mandated, its taken a full year for HD DVD studios to realize the potential that exists there. Blood Diamond, Freedom Vol. 1, and 300 are just the beginning. Uni has promised all its future titles will have web-enabled features.

So yeah, I can definitely see a BR manufacturer take advantage at some point. And hopefully Warner and Paramount will port their web-enabled extras, but since it won't be a standard, I don't expect the widespread support. Hopefully, the Ps3 (with its internet connection) proves to be fully capable of executing these types of features, since it'll be the most popular BR player for the foreseeable future.

Except that, despite hd-dvd having more mandated audio support, blu-ray currently has way more discs with uncompressed audio

 

[VanMardigan]

Except that, despite hd-dvd having more mandated audio support, blu-ray currently has way more discs with uncompressed audio

That's probably because HD DVD newer releases have TrueHD, which sounds at least as good, while saving space. I'm not getting into a PCM vs. TrueHD debate, but PCM is not mandated on HD DVD.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I think after 137 pages, everyone is a bit tired of going around in circles.

"Hey look! BD is winning sales!"

"Lol! HD-DVD not dead yet!"

"Still too early in the game to tell guys!"

"Whateva!"

"BD + HD-DVD sell basically nothing togetha!"

"Lol, you guys are arguing over ded formatz. Download 4tw."

"lo, you guys are arguing over a none-starter! DVD 4tw."

Throw in a few ad-hominens, a few bruised egos, a few release updates, and a random assortment of other media related stuff and you have this thread in brief.

/thread!

 

[Oni Jazar]

Wow what a drag this has turned out to be. Apparently my Sony DG710 receiver does not accept Linear PCM thru 5.1 with the PStriple. It only takes it to two channels with HDMI.

This was a major selling point for me in getting a PS3 and I've had my receiver for over 45 days, so I can't return it for the 810 which does 5.1 PCM and beyond.

I guess I can try taking the receiver back to Best Buy hoping for an exchange (with me paying the difference of course), but I don't think they'd be willing to bend on their 30-day return policy. Does having a warranty for the thing help? I mean, could I just lie and tell them the thing's busted or something?

I feel your pain. My XR57 kind of sucks with the PS3 as well with no bass management or post DPLII Processing. XMB movies and music and some games like Motorstorm sound like shit. I just got it last christmas and it's already obsolete.

 

[Oni Jazar]

On another note, here are numbers that we missed last week:

Week 61/39
YTD 67/33
SI 60/40

 

[djkimothy]

On another note, here are numbers that we missed last week:

Week 61/39
YTD 67/33
SI 60/40

That's for the week ending on the 15th? It looks like the catalogue titles are finally having some effect.

 

[Oni Jazar]

That's for the week ending on the 15th?

Yep.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

That's the best showing by HD-DVD in a while.

On the whole internet-enabled stuff-- if people and studios want it, players will include it. Look at the rise and fall of DVD internet features to see what kinds of creative things studios will do with the foramt.

One thing people who tout the features of the the HD-DVD internet connection seem to miss is that the PS3 (the most popular BD player) is also a web browser, and also has d/l-able trailers already. I realize that not every BD player has that, but most of the ones sold do. It's not really that exciting a feature-set. I'd rather have *more movies* and less functionality, really.

 

[VanMardigan]

Blu Ray didn't have any releases that week, iirc. The new numbers, in which HD DVD didn't have any releases, should be another rout. After that, HD DVD has a pretty good lineup for the rest of the month.

 

[jjasper]

Man I am proud of myself, I haven't bought a single movie all month even though there were some I have wanted (Waiting, 5th Element) so that I can go all out at the end of the month with:
Weeds Season 2
Hott Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead
300 (still undecided on which format to get it on)

 

[VanMardigan]

I'm with you. I'll be in Chicago next week and I plan to pick up at least 3-4 movies. I also hope I find a Blockbuster there that rents HD DVD. So far, my list includes Hot Fuzz and 300 (both blind buys), but I hope to find some deals.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I'm with you. I'll be in Chicago next week and I plan to pick up at least 3-4 movies. I also hope I find a Blockbuster there that rents HD DVD. So far, my list includes Hot Fuzz and 300 (both blind buys), but I hope to find some deals.

Where will you be?

My local mom-and-pop shop rents both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

 

[VanMardigan]

Where will you be?

My local mom-and-pop shop rents both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

The shop you mentioned is in Chicago? What's the name? I'm staying at my mother-in-law's apartment near Humboldt Park. Do you rent from Blockbuster? I have a total access account so I should be able to score a few free movies, and I'm hoping I can find one that rents HD DVD.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

The shop you mentioned is in Chicago? What's the name? I'm staying at my mother-in-law's apartment near Humboldt Park. Do you rent from Blockbuster? I have a total access account so I should be able to score a few free movies, and I'm hoping I can find one that rents HD DVD.

It's called Select Video, and it's pretty far from where you'll be-- 5500-ish N. Clark St. I don't rent from BB, I use netflix and then this store for impulse rents/with friends/etc.

 

[jet1911]

Anyone know a canadian store with good prices on HD-DVD/BR movies? I want to buy Hot Fuzz but it's 40 ****ing dollars. 300 is around 35$ almost everywhere..

I bought A Scanner Darkly (only 24$ woo!) and the picture quality is insane! The movie is not too bad either.

 

[VanMardigan]

It's called Select Video, and it's pretty far from where you'll be-- 5500-ish N. Clark St. I don't rent from BB, I use netflix and then this store for impulse rents/with friends/etc.

hmmm, yeah, I doubt my brother in law would have a card to that place, but I'll ask him anyway. I'll be up there for two weeks, and I really just plan on bumming it out by playing Xbox 360 and watching HD DVD's. It's my hard-earned vacation.

Where do you buy your movies from? I'll be looking for movies starting next Tuesday.

 

[djkimothy]

Anyone know a canadian store with good prices on HD-DVD/BR movies? I want to buy Hot Fuzz but it's 40 ****ing dollars. 300 is around 35$ almost everywhere..

I bought A Scanner Darkly (only 24$ woo!) and the picture quality is insane! The movie is not too bad either.

Futureshop and bestbuy is the only place to be. BestBuy has a 20$ sale for blu-ray films.

 

[The Main Event]

Anyone know a canadian store with good prices on HD-DVD/BR movies? I want to buy Hot Fuzz but it's 40 ****ing dollars. 300 is around 35$ almost everywhere..

I bought A Scanner Darkly (only 24$ woo!) and the picture quality is insane! The movie is not too bad either.

I just buy them from Amazon, HDaddicts, DeepdiscountDVD, DVD Pacific, etc...you'll pay a lot less especially with the current strong CAN dollar.

I mostly only buy catalog titles here.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Where do you buy your movies from? I'll be looking for movies starting next Tuesday.

Nowhere special. Amazon, or wherever I happen to be for impulse buys. I'm in Target a lot, but they almost never have what I'm looking for. Ohter times, Best Buy.

 

[VanMardigan]

Nowhere special. Amazon, or wherever I happen to be for impulse buys. I'm in Target a lot, but they almost never have what I'm looking for. Ohter times, Best Buy.

Ok. I hope to hit up the usual spots (Best Buy, Target, Virgin in downtown) and hopefully find some bargains. I'll let you know if I do, and please let me know if you find any.