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[Oni Jazar]

HD-DVD Absent from High-Def 2.0 Conference
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#blog20

I'm going to post the movie information:

Some new information as to high-def title plans for 2008 - all Blu-ray due to the other camp taking a pass - was offered at the event as well, during a studio panel late in the day. First, Sony revealed that Kevin Smith's Dogma is due to arrive on Blu-ray on 2/12, with Run Lola Run following on 2/19. In addition to the release of Resident Evil: Extinction on 1/1, Sony will street a Resident Evil: The High-Definition Trilogy set on Blu-ray the same day. The Guns of Navarone and A Passage to India are apparently on the way in early 2008, with Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia expected to follow later in the year. Sony also hinted that they're going to experiment with more advanced BD-Java features in 2008. Further down the line, Disney, Fox, Sony and Lionsgate all confirmed that they're going to be expanding their Blu-ray release slate in 2008. Fox revealed that new theatrical titles like Juno, Hit-man, Horton Hears a Who and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium will all be released, as well as many new catalog titles. Lionsgate expects to deliver Saw IV in January, while Disney confirmed that Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will both feature PiP video.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Let's look at them, then. According to High Def Digest:



So while the space is most certainly an issue, so is the lack of interactivity on Blu Ray. It's not just about picture and sound as you just mentioned, right? It's just perspective, and yours is skewed blu. You nonchalantly dismiss the TL51 because it's not out right now, while at the same time giving blu a pass for features THEY DON'T HAVE RIGHT NOW. Blu will have 1.1 next year? Great, how about 2.0? Then how about TL51? I agree about the space issue, but the Harry Potter disc is a PERFECT example of each format's strenght's and weaknesses. To acknowledge one while ignoring the other shows obvious bias. In the same way that blu owners can shrug off the lack of proper interactive/web features by pointing to next year in a vague fashion, so can HD DVD owners when faced with space issues. Both are affecting releases THIS YEAR. And in both cases, what's really important according to everyone here (the actual movie), is identical on both formats.

Profile 1.1 has been confirmed. We know it's coming. A player already supports it. Nothing I've seen suggests TL51 works. It's vapourware unless there's a formal announcement and a shown the final specs. There hasn't been any updates from Toshiba themselves in a year.

And please don't mention Peter Bracke to me again. He has an agenda to sell HD DVDs. Let's look objectively at his ratings. The Blu-ray has 1080p extras and an extra feature that's not on HD DVD. The HD DVD has IME and community sharing thing that Bracke didn't even properly try. By the same token, shouldn't Bracke be giving D-Box enhanced Fox discs a much higher rating, even if he didn't try it to its full potential? Yet he accounts for that in his ratings. How the Blu-ray version is 1/2 star ahead of the HD DVD in extras, but is beyond me. His rating system is overly flawed. He treats HD extras the same as 480p extras.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

HD-DVD Releases:
Method Man: Live from the Sunset Strip (Music Distribution)

Method Man in HD-DVD? how odd.

The only music I would buy in hi-def is Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and They Might Be Giants. Mad Season too but Sony didn't even make a DVD for that one so I'm not exactly holding my breath.

Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia

oh shit...Lawrence of Arabia? awesome. and I hope Dogma has some new special features. It's my favorite Kevin Smith movie.

 

[djkimothy]

HD-DVD Absent from High-Def 2.0 Conference

PS3 1.1 Update Expected this Month

Hooray for the update.

 

[VanMardigan]

Peter Bracke has an agenda to sell HD DVD's?? :lol :lol


And about the 1.1 update, that STILL wouldn't be sufficient to do the special features on Harry Potter for HD DVD. That would require 2.0. You got any info on when that rollout is happening? Or is that vaporware too?


btw, I'm pretty excited about the 1.1 Ps3 update, but what is the first title we can try this stuff out on?

 

[OokieSpookie]

Method Man in HD-DVD? how odd.

The only music I would buy in hi-def is Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and They Might Be Giants. Mad Season too but Sony didn't even make a DVD for that one so I'm not exactly holding my breath.oh shit...Lawrence of Arabia? awesome. and I hope Dogma has some new special features. It's my favorite Kevin Smith movie.

Supposedly they are putting alot of money and time into the Lawrence of Arabia release, it should be epic ( yeah it's a pun )

 

[OokieSpookie]

Peter Bracke has an agenda to sell HD DVD's?? :lol :lol


And about the 1.1 update, that STILL wouldn't be sufficient to do the special features on Harry Potter for HD DVD. That would require 2.0. You got any info on when that rollout is happening? Or is that vaporware too?


btw, I'm pretty excited about the 1.1 Ps3 update, but what is the first title we can try this stuff out on?

War, Shootem up, and Resident Evil: Extinction, Sunshine should all be the first batch.

 

[Oni Jazar]

btw, I'm pretty excited about the 1.1 Ps3 update, but what is the first title we can try this stuff out on?

I believe Resident Evil 3 out the first week in January will be the first title to use 1.1 Pip. Not 100% sure though. If not RE3 then definitley Fox's Sunshine which comes out a week after.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

What is the High-Def conference, and is it significant that HD-DVD wasn't there? I mean, it sounds importandt, but is it?

Seems like an odd thing for them to skip if it's as important as it's made out to be.

 

[maynerd]

Let's look at them, then. According to High Def Digest:



So while the space is most certainly an issue, so is the lack of interactivity on Blu Ray. It's not just about picture and sound as you just mentioned, right? It's just perspective, and yours is skewed blu. You nonchalantly dismiss the TL51 because it's not out right now, while at the same time giving blu a pass for features THEY DON'T HAVE RIGHT NOW. Blu will have 1.1 next year? Great, how about 2.0? Then how about TL51? I agree about the space issue, but the Harry Potter disc is a PERFECT example of each format's strenght's and weaknesses. To acknowledge one while ignoring the other shows obvious bias. In the same way that blu owners can shrug off the lack of proper interactive/web features by pointing to next year in a vague fashion, so can HD DVD owners when faced with space issues. Both are affecting releases THIS YEAR. And in both cases, what's really important according to everyone here (the actual movie), is identical on both formats.

These are the supplemental differences between HD-DVD and BR versions of HP

In-Movie Experience (HD) - By now, most are probably familiar with Warner's "IME" tracks, which use the HD DVD format's picture-in-picture capabilities to offer true interactive video commentaries. 'Order of the Phoenix' is more diverse than usual in terms of its material, combining traditional PiP with additional elements. Activate the track, and you can view three sets of footage. The first is a standard PiP commentary, featuring "Dumbledore's Army," aka a group of younger actors from the film, who pop up sporadically to add random (and often rambling) comments on the film. I can't say this is the most incisive ommentary I've ever heard, but younger fans will probably enjoy it. Also interspersed throughout the film is pop-up trivia -- there's nothing here that will surprise even casual Harry Potter fans, but it's fun nonetheless. Finally, the IME track also branches off to a series of "Focus Points," which are a series of short making-of vignettes, described in detail below...

Live Community Screening - A true high-def first, this new feature allows multiple owners of the 'Order of the Phoenix' HD DVD to simultaneously watch the film via their own individual web-connected players. Playback is controlled by a single "host" user, who initiates the invitation-only viewing, and can control the film by pausing and playing the feature on everyone else's machines. Participants can also text between their remote devices, creating a virtual "live chat" environment while they watch. Unfortunately, since 'Order of the Phoenix' has not yet streeted as I write this, I couldn't try out this feature as no one I know actually has the disc, but it certainly looks cool.

Share Your Favorite Scenes - Using Warner's standard HD DVD bookmarking function, you can assemble a list of your favorite scenes from the film, and share them with other registered users online.

Downloadables - Since no Harry Potter experience would be complete without the hawking of products, here you can buy various downloadables, including ringtones for your phone, and various desktop patterns and widgets.

The in-movie experience sounds cool but the online stuff sounds weak.

This is also where the two next-gen editions begin to vary, with some obvious (and some not so obvious) differences between the Blu-ray and the HD DVD/DVD combo. The biggest is that these features are formatted in full high-definition on the Blu-ray, while the HD DVD gets only standard-def video. Also of note, both the standard-def DVD and the Blu-ray include a 44-minute TV special that has been been excised from the HD DVD.

 

[OokieSpookie]

What is the High-Def conference, and is it significant that HD-DVD wasn't there? I mean, it sounds importandt, but is it?

Seems like an odd thing for them to skip if it's as important as it's made out to be.

Not really significant but it is kind of odd.
It was a neutral event and was seen as a lead in to CES, even Warner had reps there.
The ones putting it on went out of their way to make sure all sides were represented.

 

[Flo_Evans]

Uh I just read the HD-DVD harry potter review. If this kind of shit is what we are waiting for for profile 1.1 or 2.0 or whatever, they can just skip it. Let someone else play/pause my movie while they text chat on top of it? WTF kind of feature is that?!

The very idea that shit popping up on the screen and other people play/pausing/ff/rw is a 'feature' to be excited about is utterly baffling to me.

 

[VanMardigan]

The very idea that shit popping up on the screen and other people play/pausing/ff/rw is a 'feature' to be excited about is utterly baffling to me.

um, nobody's doing nothing without your prior consent. It's remote community screening, I don't think the concept has sunk in yet for your. Yes, it can be considered lame, but not for the absurd reasons you posted.

"someone else controlling my movie and texting?!?!? wtf, i want to watch the movie by myself?!!?"

:lol

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

While I don't care much of the extras are in HD, I'll take that over the remote-stopping feature or games/trivia in the movies.

Just my opinion.

 

[VanMardigan]

While I don't care much of the extras are in HD, I'll take that over the remote-stopping feature or games/trivia in the movies.

Just my opinion.

Would you take that over an IME track? I wouldn't. My opinion.

 

[orio7]

Seems to me that only HD DVD fanboys would think the HD DVD version is better. What's the point of a HD format if you think SD content is ok?

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Uh I just read the HD-DVD harry potter review. If this kind of shit is what we are waiting for for profile 1.1 or 2.0 or whatever, they can just skip it. Let someone else play/pause my movie while they text chat on top of it? WTF kind of feature is that?!

The very idea that shit popping up on the screen and other people play/pausing/ff/rw is a 'feature' to be excited about is utterly baffling to me.

My buddy, who lives a state away, is probably the only friend I have that likes to discuss film on a deeper basis than what you get beyond "did you like it?" type of stuff. I think it would be awesome to be able to pause a film, point out something neat in the composition, and then start it back up. Even being hundreds of miles away we could have a really cool experience with the films (and others that use this in future).

 

[Flo_Evans]

Oh understand that you have to set it all up with your friends to do it. Why you would want to in the 1st place I don't get.

 

[VanMardigan]

Peter Bracke has now been called an HD DVD fanboy three times in this thread. WOW.

Oh understand that you have to set it all up with your friends to do it. Why you would want to in the 1st place I don't get.

If they're your neighbor, then yeah, it's pretty retarded. If they live in another state.........not so much. Now it takes on some of the qualities of online gaming, where you can share experiences remotely. If you both have the equipment/software (like in online gaming), then it's just another feature you can take advantage of. Otherwise, it's just there.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Van, that depends on what exactly the IME track is. Is it pop-up trivia or life-bars on transformers or whatever? Or something else?

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Peter Bracke has now been called an HD DVD fanboy three times in this thread. WOW.

Can you come up with an objective reason as to why the Blu-ray version got only a 1/2 star upgrade in the extras department of Harry Potter?

Peter Bracke is a HD DVD fanboy. Chad Varnadore of Hometheaterspot is a Blu-ray fanboy. Fanboys on both sides.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Sony confirms PS3 will be BD-Live (2.0) updated.

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6509942

As mentioned, 1.1 update is coming later in Dec.

 

[Flo_Evans]

Peter Bracke has now been called an HD DVD fanboy three times in this thread. WOW.



If they're your neighbor, then yeah, it's pretty retarded. If they live in another state.........not so much. Now it takes on some of the qualities of online gaming, where you can share experiences remotely. If you both have the equipment/software (like in online gaming), then it's just another feature you can take advantage of. Otherwise, it's just there.

Yeah except that a movie is a linear non-interactive thing. Trying to shoehorn interactive features into films is counter to the idea of films. If some dude was at my house and wanted to pause a movie and talk about it in the middle of it I would tell him to GTFO. I buy DVDs and blu-rays so I can watch them in my house without outside interruptions and the annoyance of others at the theater. Talk about it when the credits roll.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Sony confirms PS3 will be BD-Live (2.0) updated.

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6509942

As mentioned, 1.1 update is coming later in Dec.

From what I understand as soon as the PS3 gets the 1.1 update it is 2.0 ready.
I thought that 2.0 was just 1.1 with network capability and 1 gig of onboard storage?

 

[Oni Jazar]

Sony confirms PS3 will be BD-Live (2.0) updated.

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6509942

As mentioned, 1.1 update is coming later in Dec.

I wouldn't be surprised if the PS3 jumps 1.1 and goes straight to 2.0. The only difference is more hard drive space and network capability which the PS3 has.

That article is excellent news if War will be the first BD Live title. I didn't expect them to arrive so soon.

 

[YYZ]

What does profile 2.0 have over 1.1?

 

[Oni Jazar]

What does profile 2.0 have over 1.1?

Internet capabilities.

 

[VanMardigan]

Van, that depends on what exactly the IME track is. Is it pop-up trivia or life-bars on transformers or whatever? Or something else?

The iME track is RARELY EVER that sort of crap. I hope you haven't been thinking this whole time that you were missing trivia on HD DVD. :lol Even on Transformers, that life bar thing is a download complement to the actual iME.

For Harry Potter, here's the iME content as per HD DVD Extreme Fanboy Peter Bracke:

In-Movie Experience (HD) - By now, most are probably familiar with Warner's "IME" tracks, which use the HD DVD format's picture-in-picture capabilities to offer true interactive video commentaries. 'Order of the Phoenix' is more diverse than usual in terms of its material, combining traditional PiP with additional elements. Activate the track, and you can view three sets of footage. The first is a standard PiP commentary, featuring "Dumbledore's Army," aka a group of younger actors from the film, who pop up sporadically to add random (and often rambling) comments on the film. I can't say this is the most incisive commentary I've ever heard, but younger fans will probably enjoy it. Also interspersed throughout the film is pop-up trivia -- there's nothing here that will surprise even casual Harry Potter fans, but it's fun nonetheless. Finally, the IME track also branches off to a series of "Focus Points," which are a series of short making-of vignettes, described in detail below...

So you see, while there's the trivia element, it's mostly a vehicle to in-context video commentary and in-context vignettes.

Can you come up with an objective reason as to why the Blu-ray version got only a 1/2 star upgrade in the extras department of Harry Potter?

You mean other than that paragraph I quoted? I thought he made it pretty clear there.

Sony confirms PS3 will be BD-Live (2.0) updated.

Awesome. So glad I picked the Ps3 as my blu ray device.

Yeah except that a movie is a linear non-interactive thing.

On Blu Ray it is. And only for now. With the advent of all these interactive features on both formats and branching content, that's no longer the case.

 

[dallow_bg]

Awesome. So glad I picked the Ps3 as my blu ray device.

Yes! Same!

 

[Flo_Evans]

On Blu Ray it is. And only for now. With the advent of all these interactive features on both formats and branching content, that's no longer the case.

Yeah chose your own adventure books are far superior to old crusty novels!

Fuck that shit. Give me the film. I would no sooner want to re-edit kubrick than I would want to rip pages out of catch-22 and re-write them myself.

All of these 'web features' are better as a separate product on the 'web' want to chat with other fans of the movie? Go to the movies forums. Put stupid interactive games and trivia on the web all you want, I don't care.

I realize that these features are bullet points to convince stupid people that blu-ray/HD-DVD are better, but honestly I am here for the picture and sound. Everything else is 'extra' and I could care less.

 

[Chiggs]

Fuck that shit. Give me the film. I would no sooner want to re-edit kubrick than I would want to rip pages out of catch-22 and re-write them myself.

What?! Have you not heard about Return to House on Haunted Hill? You, the viewer, get to make choices that affect the characters. It's amazing!

 

[Gary Whitta]

Yeah chose your own adventure books are far superior to old crusty novels!

Fuck that shit. Give me the film. I would no sooner want to re-edit kubrick than I would want to rip pages out of catch-22 and re-write them myself.

All of these 'web features' are better as a separate product on the 'web' want to chat with other fans of the movie? Go to the movies forums. Put stupid interactive games and trivia on the web all you want, I don't care.

I realize that these features are bullet points to convince stupid people that blu-ray/HD-DVD are better, but honestly I am here for the picture and sound. Everything else is 'extra' and I could care less.

This.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

From what I understand as soon as the PS3 gets the 1.1 update it is 2.0 ready.
I thought that 2.0 was just 1.1 with network capability and 1 gig of onboard storage?

Not necessarily. There still has to be a software implementation telling the PS3 how to use the network in accordance with the Blu-ray spec. Just because it has storage doesn't mean it'll be 2.0 as soon as it's 1.1 capable. It will probably need another update to the networking functions.

You mean other than that paragraph I quoted? I thought he made it pretty clear there.

According to HDD's stupid 'HD extras' rating system, I'm not questioning the 4 1/2 stars for the HD DVD Potter. And I can understand the lower rating for Blu-ray in that section. What I challenged was the Extras rating. It makes absolutely ZERO sense for Blu-ray to have 1/2 upgrade here when the actual content is quite substantial.

 

[Fëanor]

So I was watching Master and Commander a while ago, and I thought it was really weird seeing the Fox intro, Miramax and finally Universal before the movie starts!:lol

I can't wait for a high def version of this film, the DTS track was just ridiculous for the dvd release and I can't imagine what it would sound like for the high def release. Who gets to distribute Master and Commander?

 

[Cold-Steel]

I love how venomously people seem to hate Michael Bay when at the end of the day he's just a crazy director who loves money.

Anyone who doesn't hold him up to be one of the best action directors of our time is completely biased.

Does that put him in the category of Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Jackson, etc? Hell no.

The guy is an awesome action director. His movies in general are just popcorn movies though, you don't watch them if you are looking for logic or plot.

If you generally like lots of explosions and gunfire, then Bay is IT.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Who gets to distribute Master and Commander?

It's already out in England. We'll get it in Feb 08.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Nice Circuit City ad next week
LINK

The 399 Sony Stand Alone with Spiderman 3 + Pirates of the Caribbean AWE + 5 by mail is not a bad deal.
The hd-dvd for 299 with ten free movies of your choice (2/3/5).
Some movies from each side on sale, and blu Potter gets some face time.

 

[maynerd]

Transformers on HD-DVD online has been updated.

In-movie menubar options.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee - Extras / WEB menu selection

Megatron

Megatron - Extras / WEB menu selection

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime - Extras / WEB menu selection

 

[VanMardigan]

I wanted to download the Transformers stuff last night, but with all that wonkiness going on with XBL last night, I didn't get a chance to.

I realize that these features are bullet points to convince stupid people that blu-ray/HD-DVD are better, but honestly I am here for the picture and sound. Everything else is 'extra' and I could care less.

That's fine. I'm different. For all the netflix movies I rent, I don't care about all the extras, but it's nice to have all that extra content on movies I already own. Makes subsequent viewing much better.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Slow week for high definition media in general.
Looks like Live Free or Die Hard took the first slot and of course number 1 for blu and Planet Earth took hd-dvd's top slot.

 

[maynerd]

Slow week for high definition media in general.
Looks like Live Free or Die Hard took the first slot and of course number 1 for blu and Planet Earth took hd-dvd's top slot.

No charts? Terrible.

 

[OokieSpookie]

No charts? Terrible.

That would be on friday.
I assure you that I would not miss a chance to post the blu pac man.

 

[Mifune]

Any word on the quality of Master and Commander's transfer?

I really don't want to buy it again since I already have the multidisc collector's DVD set (and what a set it is), but it IS one of the best movies of the last five years and beautiful to boot, so...

 

[KZObsessed]

Planet Earth was top for HD-DVD? huh? Was it in some kind of deal at retail or something?

 

[MoxManiac]

So i just picked up Pirates 3 Blu Ray at walmart and the case (not the outer slip) has french prominently displayed on the front and back. Closer look indicates it's the canadian (?) version?? Why the hell would an american walmart have the canadian version? Or should I take it back? I'll admit, i'm a boxart whore and the french logo above the english one is really tacky.

 

[VanMardigan]

Planet Earth was top for HD-DVD? huh? Was it in some kind of deal at retail or something?

My guess is people new to the HD DVD fold. Perhaps folks who got the standalones on sale. Unless there was a sale I didn't know about.

 

[Killthee]

So i just picked up Pirates 3 Blu Ray at walmart and the case (not the outer slip) has french prominently displayed on the front and back. Closer look indicates it's the canadian (?) version?? Why the hell would an american walmart have the canadian version? Or should I take it back? I'll admit, i'm a boxart whore and the french logo above the english one is really tacky.

Same thing happened to poly.

I say take it back.

 

[OokieSpookie]

My guess is people new to the HD DVD fold. Perhaps folks who got the standalones on sale. Unless there was a sale I didn't know about.

Actually Oprah or someone like that mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and after that it jumped.

( I would also give some anecdotal evidence as to why hd-DVD picked up too after the DVD version was shown but that would be redundant and not really accomplish anything)

 

[michaeld]

Call me crazy but I don't want to see a bunch of shit on my screen while I'm watching a movie or hear directory commentary.

 

[MoxManiac]

Same thing happened to poly.

I say take it back.

I think I will. I'm glad i didn't open it. Thanks for the link.

Goddamn walmart.