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[Shepherd]

hd-dvd 51gb more official:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/15/dvd-forum-approves-51gb-triple-layer-hd-dvd-spec/

Will current players be able to play these 51GB discs?

 

[OokieSpookie]

Don't really care much about the extra features the PS3 has over the stand alone unit, but I just prefer the look of the stand alone unit. It looks classy to me.

And seriously, web browser? Do people pimp that feature? Really?

I used it a bit before I got my laptop.
Never discount laziness :lol

 

[OokieSpookie]

Well, it's a belief, not a fact. So, IMHO.

If no PS3, there may have been some price deflation on standalones, but still, the cheapest player at the time of PS3 release was a grand, and HD-DVD was starting to get some traction in mindshare. A standalone Blu player even close in price (that wasn't closeout) didn't come out until what, 6 months ago? And that was also one of the best quality standalones, some of the others had issues.

Sony would still be holdouts, but I wold guess that at least one other studio would have supported HD-DVD if Blu hadn't shown immedeate traction upon PS3 release. I'm not sure what would have driven adoption faster than HD-DVD other than selction, and that was also slow coming.

I agree, but I also think that if the PS3 was not involved then Microsoft would not have become quite so involved either which has helped hd along the way.

 

[Fëanor]

Never discount laziness :lol

Quite true.:lol

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Don't really care much about the extra features the PS3 has over the stand alone unit, but I just prefer the look of the stand alone unit. It looks classy to me.

And seriously, web browser? Do people pimp that feature? Really?

No, but it's there. It's hardly a negative!

 

[Kleegamefan]

We'll all just have to wait and see, but with the piddly-ass numbers HDM is doing overall right now, there's no convincing me that anything is settled or close to being settled.

Get back to me when Blu-ray standalones are $199 or $249 and selling on par or better with HD DVD players. Because PS3, though doing a fine job at propping up the format, is not going to have the final say in this format war.

The fact is that we didn't see the overwhelming Blu-ray dominance most of us expected these past couple of weeks. It may come with next-week's numbers, but all the BOGOs make that a less compelling argument for me. Studios aren't in this business to give away their movies.

I thought the "we are losing, but they should be kicking our asses so much harder" argument got old a long time ago...

 

[The Elite]

Yes. And on HD DVD too (identical transfers, same codec, blah; for once BRD and HD people cant flame eachother, as all these Kubricks are identical on both formats). Anyways, I have the HD DVD, not BRD, but I just walked into my local brick and mortar Futureshop and picked it up, no problem. Im in Canada, BTW, if that helps. Although Futureshop probably gave that away.

Yeah, this has been a really confusing situation. FS and other stores keep saying January 29th but it appears to be available if you look hard enough.

I've put in an order on amazon.com but the ship date isn't December 10th so hopefully I find one before then.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Enhanced picture in picture ability as well as other add ons

Not just PIP, but 1080p PIP, which means 1.1 can do movies in 3D like Beowulf. You can bet Disney is looking forward to this. This is something HD DVD cannot (PIP window is 480p) and will never be able to do. And Blu-ray success in the minds of film studios hinge on how well 1.1 works.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Not just PIP, but 1080p PIP, which means 1.1 can do movies in 3D like Beowulf. You can bet Disney is looking forward to this. This is something HD DVD cannot (PIP window is 480p) and will never be able to do. And Blu-ray success in the minds of film studios hinge on how well 1.1 works.

Tim Burton is doing a 3D Alice in Wonderland as his next project, I can not wait.

 

[StoOgE]

Not just PIP, but 1080p PIP, which means 1.1 can do movies in 3D like Beowulf. You can bet Disney is looking forward to this. This is something HD DVD cannot (PIP window is 480p) and will never be able to do. And Blu-ray success in the minds of film studios hinge on how well 1.1 works.

1.1 mandates 480p pip.

good luck getting beowulf in 3d on brd :lol

 

[gkryhewy]

Not just PIP, but 1080p PIP, which means 1.1 can do movies in 3D like Beowulf.

Oooooh.. I would buy a Blu Ray player instantly if they started releasing the newer 3D titles at home (Meet the Robinsons, Nightmare Before Xmas, Polar Express, Beowulf).

However, the whole purpose of this advanced 3D was to once again set theaters apart from the home experience, so I can't imagine that the studio/theater/industry complex would have any interest in pursuing home technology. Unless you've seen statements to the contrary, I'd say that's rather a crazy pipe dream.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

1.1 mandates 480p pip.

good luck getting beowulf in 3d on brd :lol

PIP for Blu-ray is 480p mandatory and 1080p as optional. This has nothing to do with the Player actually. It either does PIP or it doesn't. It's up to the software maker to balance bandwidth and disc space for PIP. 1.1 can do 1080p in dual streaming window. I think initially, we'll see 480p PIP or even 720p. But knowing Sony, Disney and Lionsgate, they will at least attempt a 1080p PIP sometime. For PIP, 1080p is really redundant. 480p looks fine for such a small window. For 3D effects however, you have the PIP window in original aspect ratio.

Beowulf won't be on Blu-ray, but some Disney stuff will use 3D technology.

EDIT: I'm not 100% sure about 1.1 doing 1080p PIP. Because I believe the 256mb might be a restriction. We'll see next year when the titles come out. BD 2.0 players mandates 1gb of memory. This should be fine for 1080p PIP.

 

[OokieSpookie]

1.1 mandates 480p pip.

good luck getting beowulf in 3d on brd :lol

It is Warner outside of the US, it will be easily imported in whichever format it is released it.
I do not think you really want to go through the limited bandwitdth thing on this fine sunday right?

 

[gkryhewy]

some Disney stuff will use 3D technology.

Again, why do you keep saying this? Do you have a link? Otherwise you're just getting my hopes up unjustly with some sort of anti-FUD.

EDIT: The more I think about it, the more unreasonable this seems. Notwithstanding the fact that it would defeat the whole purpose of the recent trend toward 3D releases (keeping asses in theater seats), even with 1080p PIP (i.e. alternating frames at 1080p), I think there'd be enough TV compatibility issues (in terms of refresh rates, etc), that it'd be a mess. Hopes dashed.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Again, why do you keep saying this? Do you have a link? Otherwise you're just getting my hopes up unjustly with some sort of anti-FUD.

No links. It's common sense. This is what Disney does: push the level of interactivity. Look what they did on Cars.

It's the same as saying PS3 will be BD Live 2.0 compatible. There's no 100% proof, but it's as worse-kept a secret as the 40gb PS3 with Spiderman 3 packin.

 

[StoOgE]

i thought the second video encoder in the machine determined the pip windows resolution... also, brd has more bandwidth so would be more capable of 2 1080p streams than hddvd, but i still think it would effect the quality of the encode.

we also have no idea if you can overlay 2 1080p frames over each other for 3d with brd, would certainly be cool, but its all speculation right now.

 

[StoOgE]

No links. It's common sense. This is what Disney does: push the level of interactivity. Look what they did on Cars.

It's the same as saying PS3 will be BD Live 2.0 compatible. There's no 100% proof, but it's as worse-kept a secret as the 40gb PS3 with Spiderman 3 packin.

wow... that stuff might happen.. but common sense?

 

[gkryhewy]

No links. It's common sense. This is what Disney does: push the level of interactivity. Look what they did on Cars.

Are you comparing the stupid cars game to a major evolution in the home theater experience? Really? See my post above - I think that hoping for advanced 3D releases is rather foolish for a variety of reasons. I'm not getting my hopes up anyway. There's certainly no reason to pretend it's as likely as the PS3 getting updated to 2.0. I mean, come on.

wow... that stuff might happen.. but common sense?

Exactly.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I thought the "we are losing, but they should be kicking our asses so much harder" argument got old a long time ago...

I think I accidentally started it this time.

I think Blu-ray is winning and will win, but I thought HD-DVD put up good numbers for the week, considering.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

How does the 3D stuff work in the new releases? Tech-wise?

Becuase it's possible that both can do it, if it's alternating frames like they did in the 3D movies of the 80s.

 

[gkryhewy]

How does the 3D stuff work in the new releases? Tech-wise?

Becuase it's possible that both can do it, if it's alternating frames like they did in the 3D movies of the 80s.

There's some discussion of that here:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6212112.html

Real D and Dolby rely on the same basic idea to give an audience the illusion of depth: show images that differ slightly in vantage point to each of a viewer's eyes. The viewer's brain will reconstruct the third dimension, just as it does in the real world.

Both companies require glasses to ensure each eye gets only the correct view; Real D uses circular polarization while Dolby uses a color-filtering technology licensed from Infinitec. The light is separated into the left-eye and right-eye views at the projector, switching back and forth 144 times per second.

With the new method, "there's no eye fatigue like in the 1950s and 1970s," said Tim Partridge, Dolby's head of products and technology.

In Dolby 3D, a spinning CD-size wheel between the lamp and the digital projector alternately lets through one set of light frequencies or another--two slightly different versions of the red, green and blue primary colors for each eye. The wheel spins six times for each movie frame, with the digital projector synchronized to show the appropriate eye's image.

In contrast, Real D uses an electronic filter called a Z-screen that circularly polarizes the light two different ways after it leaves the projector, also switching back and forth six times per frame to avoid flicker. Circular polarization--a complicated transformation of light's electromagnetic properties--requires the use of a special silver screen that retains the polarization as the light reflects back toward the audience.

Obviously, any comparable home implementation would have to function differently.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

So to work the same exactly, the player would not have to pump out double the number of frames, but 6 times (and at a higher frequence as well).

In other words, not possible, and any home implementation is going to be come sort of conversion anyway-- which means that the theorectical discussion here is just that.

I t think it's most likely that any home implementation is just going to alternate frames at the regular frequence in order to be compatible with all sets, in which case either format could handle it easily.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

wow... that stuff might happen.. but common sense?

I'm talking about BD 2.0 for PS3. Not 3D stuff. That's speculation at best.

 

[gkryhewy]

I'm talking about BD 2.0 for PS3. Not 3D stuff. That's speculation at best.

Uh... you replied "common sense" when I asked for a link on the 3D stuff, and mentioned the 2.0 stuff afterward. Whatever, thanks for clarifying.

 

[mrklaw]

one small point to add to this nonsense.

While some of you quote 'piddly numbers', I thought the numbers were actually pretty good for a format in its infancy? And tracking well compared to DVD. We can't expect them to do modern DVD numbers right away.

Even a few percentage points of overall Home Video revenue shows up on your accounts, so I think next year HDM will start to be relevant to studios in terms of revenue.

And thats when the 2:1 will start kicking in IMO. 2:1 while you're still playing with loose change doesn't mean anything. But 2:1 when you're talking about 2% of your home entertainment revenues instead of 4% starts to make people focus on things.


Do we have any forecasts of HDM revenue as a percentage of total Home entertainment revenue from the studios? I thought I remember one of them forecasting 4% next year, but I can't remember.

 

[HocusPocus]

Well I love my recent Blu-Ray Pixar movies and it makes me glad I got the PS3 for sure. Love the HD-DVD's I have too. It's good to be able to enjoy both formats. I feel bad for those that can't . Fight the good fight though here.

 

[VanMardigan]

Finally, a good software deal for HD DVD owners. Good titles too. Amazon 47% off sale

All these titles are $15.99:


Shaun of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated)
Pitch Black (Unrated)
The Deer Hunter
Waterworld
Happy Gilmore
Mercury Rising
Spartacus
Meet the Parents
Van Helsing
Unleashed
Billy Madison
Hulk
End of Days
U-571
Daylight
Jarhead
The Nutty Professor
Friday Night Lights
Assault on Precinct 13

Bolded the ones I'd be interested in.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

Finally, a good software deal for HD DVD owners. Good titles too. Amazon 47% off sale

Shit, I've been waiting on Hulk for a while, but there's nothing else I want. If I have to pay shipping, it pretty much invalidates the sale.

 

[OokieSpookie]

If you have an hd player and you do not have Shaun of the Dead , it is Seppuku timel

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Finally, a good software deal for HD DVD owners. Good titles too. Amazon 47% off sale

All these titles are $15.99:


Shaun of the Dead want
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated) want
Pitch Black (Unrated) want
The Deer Hunter
Waterworld
Happy Gilmore
Mercury Rising
Spartacus
Meet the Parents
Van Helsing You couldn't pay me to watch this crap.
Unleashed
Billy Madison
Hulk crappy movie, but want for the tank scene
End of Days
U-571 want, for audio alone
Daylight
Jarhead want
The Nutty Professor
Friday Night Lights
Assault on Precinct 13

Bolded the ones I'd be interested in.

Lots of titles I want and will get. I goffed at Shaun of the Dead at first, but I rented the hotfuzz DVD and loved it, so I bought the HD DVD. Now I have to have Shaun.

 

[djkimothy]

I wasn't too thrilled with Shaun of the Dead. Which was odd since I like British humour. Hot Fuzz is on my zip list but is taking forever to get here. I have Close Encounters though on Blu-ray though.

Spoiler

btw, you have some red on your shirt

 

[DJ_Tet]

Sweet, thanks for the heads up! Grabbed Shaun, Jarhead and Hulk.

I'm loving the hdm wars. Cheap movies for all


edit: Grabbed the NIN Concert as well, $16.95 was by far the cheapest I've seen yet, but not sure if it's a part of this sale or if it's just regular price.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

A European Paramount exec mentions that the Godfather and Indiana Jones trilogies are coming to HD-DVD next year.

 

[vdo]

I'm talking about BD 2.0 for PS3.

BD 2.0 players mandates 1gb of memory.

How can PS3 become 2.0 with that mandate?

 

[OokieSpookie]

How can PS3 become 2.0 with that mandate?

Storage, not ram

 

[Beer Monkey]

Just picked up Shaun at the Amazon sale. I'm so freakin' happy to be dual-format now.

 

[vdo]

Storage, not ram

OK, thanks, makes much more sense. I was wondering how it was going to be feasible to make stand alones start having to have that much RAM.

 

[StoOgE]

A European Paramount exec mentions that the Godfather and Indiana Jones trilogies are coming to HD-DVD next year.

yes please

 

[OokieSpookie]

A European Paramount exec mentions that the Godfather and Indiana Jones trilogies are coming to HD-DVD next year.

Godfather I think is a given.
Indiana Jones, no chance in hell

Spoiler

on hd-dvd

 

[Kolgar]

Storage, not ram

Thanks, that clarifies things a bit for me, too.

On another note, my girlfriend and I saw Crank last night. I had pretty low expectations going in, but we got some laughs out of it and it really was different from anything we'd seen recently.

I was also surprised by how good it looked. I know it's gotten rave reviews for PQ, but seeing it for myself was a pleasure indeed. Definitely among the best-looking HD films I've seen so far.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Thanks, that clarifies things a bit for me, too.

On another note, my girlfriend and I saw Crank last night. I had pretty low expectations going in, but we got some laughs out of it and it really was different from anything we'd seen recently.

I was also surprised by how good it looked. I know it's gotten rave reviews for PQ, but seeing it for myself was a pleasure indeed. Definitely among the best-looking HD films I've seen so far.

Yeah I was confused about the same thing until I did some digging.
As far as Crank I didn't think that I would like it, I can not wait until the sequel.

 

[MechDX]

Godfather I think is a given.
Indiana Jones, no chance in hell

Spoiler

on hd-dvd

...sigh....

I know what you are referring to but you seem to be forgetting one thing:

Speilberg is about to move Dreamworks away from Paramount and head to Universal. DO you really think that Paramount will give a damn what SS has to say when that happens? They are going to release the 3 movies on HD DVD to help build up hype for IJ4.

Not releasing them up to this point was just a courtesy to SS. The same way Universal is just ebing courteous to him by not releasing any of his movies they own the rights to.

 

[OokieSpookie]

...sigh....

I know what you are referring to but you seem to be forgetting one thing:

Speilberg is about to move Dreamworks away from Paramount and head to Universal. DO you really think that Paramount will give a damn what SS has to say when that happens? They are going to release the 3 movies on HD DVD to help build up hype for IJ4.

Not releasing them up to this point was just a courtesy to SS. The same way Universal is just ebing courteous to him by not releasing any of his movies they own the rights to.

I know he is, but Dreamworks can not even legally start shopping around until April, and then there will be adjusting periods after he does move in with whoever.
As far as Universal it is not a done deal yet, Spielberg has alot of respect for Fox.
Spielberg has full control over his movies and can do what he wants with them, it has nothing to do with courtesy.
Not only that, but Spielberg could also be the catalyst that could make Universal go neutral if it did go that way
Either way, Indy is one of those projects that is huge and I would think he wouldn't play on bringing it home until the new one is ready to hit home video.

 

[knicks]

Just picked up Weeds Season 1 BR at CC for $15! 1-day sale. Looks nice.



And Snah got banned? ) :

 

[MechDX]

I know he is, but Dreamworks can not even legally start shopping around until April, and then there will be adjusting periods after he does move in with whoever.
As far as Universal it is not a done deal yet, Spielberg has alot of respect for Fox.
Spielberg has full control over his movies and can do what he wants with them, it has nothing to do with courtesy.
Not only that, but Spielberg could also be the catalyst that could make Universal go neutral if it did go that way
Either way, Indy is one of those projects that is huge and I would think he wouldn't play on bringing it home until the new one is ready to hit home video.

You have Speildberg confused with Lucas. Go look, its just a courtesy thing. Universal and Paramount own full rights to his movies. They just dont want to upset him because his name sells box office tickets. He is already unhappy with Paramount and they know what is coming next do you think they wont just do it?

Sony had nothing to lose by releasing Close Encounters. Speilberg will never do a movie with Sony Pictures so they had nothing to lose.

 

[OokieSpookie]

You have Speildberg confused with Lucas. Go look, its just a courtesy thing. Universal and Paramount own full rights to his movies. They just dont want to upset him because his name sells box office tickets. He is already unhappy with Paramount and they know what is coming next do you think they wont just do it?

Sony had nothing to lose by releasing Close Encounters. Speilberg will never do a movie with Sony Pictures so they had nothing to lose.

Spielberg created a special interview and documentary for the blu ray release if I am not mistaken.
It was not "nothing to lose" it was with his full consent and blessing.
Either way, this whole format "war" is too polluted with "what ifs" and rumors.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

so anyone else wishing the Nirvana: Unplugged In New York release coming up this tuesday was going to be on a hi-def format?

While the album of the same name made its first appearance in 1994, and went on to become Nirvana's second best selling CD of all time, nearly 15 years have passed since that memorable initial broadcast. Now, fans will finally get the chance to see the release of the entire, unedited performance...with neverbefore- seen footage...on DVD...and in Dolby Stereo and 5.1 Surround sound. Mixed in surround sound by legendary surround mixing engineer Elliot Scheiner, this DVD allows fans to experience this performance like never before, completely unedited including the two songs not originally broadcasted ("Something In The Way" and "Oh Me" ), and with the best sound ever available (to anyone not in the studio for the original taping.) For the purists, also included on this DVD is the original 44 min broadcast version of the show, plus never-before-seen REHEARSAL performances. As an extra bonus to the DVD, a 14-minute interview segment called Bare Witness produced by MTV focuses on the recollections of those who experienced this magical moment in music history, those who produced it and interviews with the band from the day of the taping.

 

[ImNotLikeThem]

so anyone else wishing the Nirvana: Unplugged In New York release coming up this tuesday was going to be on a hi-def format?

while that would be awesome yes, Unplugged was film on VIDEO for tv. at best you are only ever going to get a 480p quality video. It wasn't on film, so there would be no way to do a high-def transfer.

 

[The Main Event]

Finally, a good software deal for HD DVD owners. Good titles too. Amazon 47% off sale

All these titles are $15.99:


Shaun of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated)
Pitch Black (Unrated)
The Deer Hunter
Waterworld
Happy Gilmore
Mercury Rising
Spartacus
Meet the Parents
Van Helsing
Unleashed
Billy Madison
Hulk
End of Days
U-571
Daylight
Jarhead
The Nutty Professor
Friday Night Lights
Assault on Precinct 13

The ones that are bolded are 18.49 though, not 15.99.

I'll probably pick up Jarhead, thanks for the heads up.

 

[rc213]

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