Blu-ray

British HD DVD pre-orders outselling Blu-ray

Source: AV Science Forum

An online retailer taking pre-orders for high definition disc players and content has claimed that UK consumers are spending more on HD DVD than they are on Blu-ray.

Play.com says that pre-orders made on its website favour HD DVD over Blu-ray by 2 to 1, whilst content leads by 3 to 1.

Good news to be sure. I had worried that, with Blu-ray launching before HD DVD in the UK, the punters would be suckered into buying it instead, but it seems that people have more sense than that.

More Sony lies

The Sony Bullshit Machine is fully operational today as, in an exclusive interview with High-Def Digest, Don Eklund, Executive Vice President of Advanced Technologies, and Claire McKittrick, Director of Worldwide Publicity, spew a load of garbage as they attempt to excuse their lacklustre Blu-ray releases, lack of extras and refusal to adopt modern codecs. As always, everything is someone else’s fault - the reviewers don’t understand what they are reviewing and need to be educated about it, people are using crap TVs, Samsung put out a Blu-ray player with a faulty noise reduction chip, filmmakers are making poor stylistic choices… oh, and the corker:

We as a studio have a responsibility to educate the people who are reviewing our discs; but they also have a responsibility to their consumer to look at our discs on the right kind of equipment. So they can say, “Oh, maybe I could have been wrong? Is it possible that the MPEG-2 delivers a better and more accurate picture than VC-1? And, oh, yeah, what are those funny amoeba-like artifacts that VC-1 can produce, where it looks like there is a jellyfish on the wall that’s moving around?”

Bollocks, bollocks, and more bollocks. You blew this one, Sony, and yet you’re still not listening. Because admitting you’ve made mistakes is just out of the question. No, instead you try to tell people that they’re not seeing what they think they’re seeing. To quote one fan, “I could barely finish the article, I felt disgusted by their patronizing attitude.”

The hammer falls: Sony Blu-ray player delayed again

Source: High-Def Digest

Well, who could have seen this coming? Sony has delayed their Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1, yet again, this time pushing it back from late October to early December. Just in case you’ve forgotten, this is the player that I originally had pre-ordered for a June 30th release date.

Over at the AV Science Forum, the mood is not pretty. The general consensus is that Sony has backed itself into a corner, attempting to dominate both the game market (with the PS3) and the film market (with Blu-ray movie discs), but, thanks to a lack of blue laser diodes, has had to choose between pushing stand-alone players and pushing the PS3. The gaming market it clearly more important to them, so they’re electing to support it and screw Blu-ray. Mark my words: this could be the beginning of the end. Expect Disney and Lions Gate to announce HD DVD support by the end of the year.

This really isn’t a good year for Sony, with the news of this delay coming hot on the heels of yet more battery recalls and a predicted net profit drop of 38%. Oh, and they may not hit their PS3 shipment target. Seriously, at this stage, is Sony ends up crashing and burning, I won’t be shedding a tear for them. They’ve strung their loyal customers along for too long and seem content to screw them again and again. The lack of diodes can’t have come as a surprise to them. They must have known that they wouldn’t have enough for both the PS3 and the Blu-ray player for some time, and yet neglected to say anything until the last minute. If I still had a BDP-S1 pre-ordered, this would be the point when, like many people, I’d say “fuck ‘em”.

Oh yeah, and the PS3 won’t upscale standard definition DVDs. The Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on will.

Update, October 20, 2006 22:41 PM: Sony Computer Entertainment America co-chairman Jack Tretton admits that the PS3’s November 17th release date is “more of a target” than something that’s set in stone.

Update, October 20, 2006 10:48 PM: And the Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player has been delayed until January due to “technical issues”.

Universal announces initial slate of UK HD DVD releases

Source: DVD Times

Looks like the first batch is nothing that we haven’t already seen from the US. Still, the cover art of certain titles, especially Serenity and The Bourne Supremacy, looks considerably better than their American counterparts, and this announcement, as well as the November 13th release date, should please those that don’t like the thought of importing.

In other news, Warner has announced the release of an HD DVD version of Casablanca for November 14th. Not to be outdone, though, the Blu-ray camp has responded by announcing another equally lauded World War 2 classic for December 5th… that Michael Bay meisterwerk, Pearl Harbor.

Blu-ray: Lyris goes undercover

No, we didn’t buy a Blu-ray player - how daft do you think we are? A store in town did, however, and this afternoon, armed with the copy of Underworld: Evolution I so rashly purchased before the Blu-ray scandal broke, Lyris headed out to give Samsung’s BDP-1000 the once-over. It’s not exactly the most scientific investigation of the century, but it is a reliable report from someone who knows what they’re talking about having viewed what is supposedly one of the better Blu-ray releases on properly set up equipment. The word of the day, it would seem, is “meh”.

The DVD Wars

Okay, so the name of the site is a little misleading because only one of the high definition video formats has any claim to the name of “DVD”, but this is still a fascinating site nonetheless. Essentially, it charts various statistics relating to HD DVD and Blu-ray, using Amazon.com as its primary source, including the number of titles currently available, the average sales rankings, and the number of Google searches for each format.

Some interesting titbits: HD DVD has never had more than one title with a sales rank of under 100 at any given time (last week it was Batman Begins, this week it’s V for Vendetta); Blu-ray has never had a title with a better sales rank than 1000; consistently more people run searches for Blu-ray on Google than HD DVD when it’s (incorrectly) spelled as “HD-DVD”, but when properly spelled as “HD DVD”, it jumps right ahead. (Although, of course, that may include searches that inaccurately use “HD DVD” as a catch-all for any high definition optical media.)

Interesting results however you look at it, and well worth keeping the site bookmarked if you’re interested in seeing how this whole format war plays out.

V for Vendetta and Miami Vice specs unveiled

The cover art and full specs for the upcoming HD DVD releases of V for Vendetta (October 31st) and Miami Vice (December 5th) have been unveiled (see here and here respectively).

V for Vendetta:

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
• Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1, French 5.1
• English, French and Spanish subtitles
• In-Movie Experience - Director’s Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century - Director James McTeigue (joined by stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving and other creative team members) traces in detail the V saga from graphic novel origin through the movie’s execution.
• Designing the Near Future
• Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
• England Prevails: V For Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics
• Freedom! Forever!: Making V For Vendetta
• Saturday Night Live Digital Short
• Cat Power Montage
• Theatrical Trailer

Miami Vice:

HD DVD side (HD30):

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
• Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1
• English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann
• Miami Vice Undercover
• Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location
• Visualizing Miami Vice
• Behind the Scenes Featurettes

DVD side (DVD9):

• 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English, French & Spanish DD5.1 Surround
• English DVS DD2.0 Stereo
• English SDH, French & Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann
• Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location
• Miami Vice Undercover

Additionally, it should be pointed out that the HD DVD side contains the unrated director’s cut of the film, whereas the DVD side features the R-rated theatrical cut.

Looks as if both are going to be fantastic packages. In the case of Miami Vice, I’ve no idea whether or not the extras themeselves will be in high definition on the HD DVD side (similar to the recent Blu-ray release of Click), but either way, having all the extras on the HD side (and indeed, more than there are on the standard definition side) is indeed convenient. This, and the inclusion of a Dolby TrueHD track, shows the major benefit of having been able to get dual-layer HD DVD/dual-layer DVD combo discs working.

I’m looking forward to seeing this film, by the way. I’ve never seen the TV series on which it’s based, and the only Michael Mann films I’ve come into contact with are Manhunter and The Last of the Mohicans, but I’ve heard so much about Miami Vice, both good and bad, that I’m itching to make up my own mind about it.

Update, December 19, 2006 05:47 PM: Fixed dead link.

Warner becoming more selective about Blu-ray?

Well, it seems as if Sony have finally made good one one of their blustering promises: after considerable delay, the first 50 GB dual-layer Blu-ray title has arrived: the, er, classic Adam Sandler vehicle Click. Yep, looks like they picked a winner to launch their high-capacity media.

It’s not all fun and games at camp Blu-ray, though. Warner and Universal have announced their initial slate of HD DVD titles for release in France, among them some high-profile titles like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. These are the same titles that are already available, or will soon be available, in the US, so nothing on the list is particularly surprising. What is insteresting, however, is that a number of major Warner titles, including Harry Potter and Batman Begins, are listed as being HD DVD exclusives.

Warner is, as you probably already know, a format-neutral studio, along with Paramount, both of whom so far have a decent record of releasing material of similar quality on both formats. The suggestion that Warner are going to become more picky regarding which titles they port to Blu-ray, however, is pretty noteworthy. Warner recently announced that it was lowering its high definition software sales forecast from $500 million to $150 million. The reason? It’s speculation, but the theory is that its Blu-ray sales have been a fraction of what they had been expecting. That they now seem to be withholding some of their most prized titles from Sony’s format would seem to suggest a considerable shift in their faith in it. Another theory, of course, is that, as the titles marked as HD DVD exclusives are all fairly long and/or feature significant bonus materials, Warner don’t want to have to pay for the more expensive (and currently in short supply) dual-layer discs.

Time will tell how this pans out, of course, but on the face of things, this would seem to be major news for a studio that, not long ago, was espousing the merits of complete format neutrality.

EIV not supporting HD DVD

Back in September, I reported, based on the pre-order catalogue at Play.com, that British DVD distributor Entertainment In Video was planning to release a number of HD DVD titles, among them films owned by studios that are currently Bu-ray supporters, including Saw, Basic Instinct 2 and Gangs of New York. Thoroughly disappointed by the standard definition release of the latter, I pre-ordered the HD DVD, with the expectation that it would be my first European high definition purchase.

Unfortunately, I must now report that I have it on good authority that Entertainment In Video are, for the present time at least, a Blu-ray exclusive studio. This comes direct from EIV themselves, which means that, for the time being, these titles are not going to be available in HD DVD. Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t be released at a later date, if and when EIV’s Blu-ray sales are disappointing or they see the sense in supporting both formats, but it’s incredibly disappointing news nonetheless. I’d recommend contacting EIV and letting them know what you think, but unfortunately they are extremely difficult to get a hold of. They don’t even have a web site, for crying out loud!

Play’s Blu-ray bias

I received a copy of the latest Play.com catalogue this morning. A brief flick through it reveals that this UK supplier, at least, is actively advertising the high definition video formats that are due to debut in this country very soon. Oh, wait a minute, that’s not quite right. They’re advertising high definition video alright, but it turns out that they’re only advertising one of the two formats. Care to guess which one?

Apparently,

[t]he Samsung BD-P1000 is the next generation in disc players. Designed to accomodate our High-Def lifestyle, it will let you watch all discs containing your HD favourites […] These give the best-quality picture for HD recordings and each one will hold up to 25GB on a single side (or, in the case of a dual-sided* disc, 50GB!).

So, Play, what’s your game? Have you never heard of HD DVD? I’m guessing you have, given that you have the Toshiba HD-E1 up for pre-order at less than half the price of the BD-P1000, but I’m guessing you’ve got a good enough reason for not bothering to advertise it. (So come on, how much is Sony paying you?) One thing’s for sure, Play, you’re going to have quite a few angry customers at your door when they discover that, in actual fact, the Blu-ray machine doesn’t “let you watch all discs”.

* I think they mean dual-layer, not dual-sided.

Blu-ray to begin region coding; HD DVD remains region free

Source: AV Science Forum

From Variety (subscription required, so I’m quoting it in full):

To keep a lid on piracy, the Blu-ray Disc Assn. has decided to use regional codes for film discs released in the format. The coded discs will debut this fall.

New code system differs from the one in place for standard DVDs in that Japan, the Americas and East Asian countries other than China all share Region 1. Europe and Africa are grouped in Region 2, while China, Russia and any remaining territories are lumped into Region 3.

New system will be used for pics and games including Sony PlayStation 3.

To thwart the use of all-region players, Blu-ray regional codes will be burned into the optical discs.

The rival HD DVD camp, led by Toshiba, will not use regional codes.

Decision to using a coding system emerged from talks between Advanced Access Content System members who belong to the Blu-ray Disc Assn. Warner Bros. reportedly opposed the system, citing the ineffectiveness of the current coding setup for conventional DVDs, but was outvoted.

So they’re pulling out the “piracy” argument again to justify their anti free trade restrictions? Yawn! What has regional coding got to do with combating piracy? Importing a disc from a different country is not piracy in any shape or form… and, if they’re worried about people buying cheap bootleg copies from China and Russia (which they specifically grouped into the “pirate” region of Region 3, as it happens!), then I have to ask what self-respecting pirate would even consider applying regional codes to his wares?

In other news, with only a month to go before they’re due on shelves, Playstation 3 units at the recent Tokyo Game Show were apparently overheating. Yep, the future’s looking pretty blu…

UMD outselling Blu-ray at Amazon

Source: AV Science Forum

Actually, Sony’s UMDs are selling at a better clip than BR right now!! Check out the bestseller’s for UMD:

#1 Xmen 3 — #2,148
#2 Pirates 2 — #6,894

Blu-ray:

#1 Click — #4,154
#2 Tears of the Sun — #4,706

Please permit me a moment of immaturity. I just find this very funny.

Major HD DVD announcements from Warner

Source: High-Def Digest

One of the biggest criticisms levelled against both high definition formats has been the relative lack of “triple-A” movies. This is not in itself particularly surprising, as the studios, always keen to make a buck, have initially been releasing less successful titles in the hope that, given the dearth of available films, AV junkies will buy titles they otherwise wouldn’t consider simply because there isn’t anything else on offer. The run-up to Christmas was always going to be the point at which the studios really kicked into gear, and it seems that Warner, who have been unusually sluggish when announcing new releases (often very close to the release date), have finally decided to kick things up a notch with the following releases on October 10th:

- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971 version)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005 version)
- Corpse Bride
- Batman Begins
- The Polar Express

These titles will be encoded in VC1 at 1080p, with 640 Kbps Dolby Digital-Plus audio. The extras will be the same as those of the standard definition DVD releases, apart from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Batman Begins, which, in addition to the standard definition extras, will both gain an “In-Movie Experience” interactive feature.

Warner also announced two Blu-ray releases for the same date - Syriana and 16 Blocks, both of which are already available on HD DVD. They too will be using the VC1 format, unlike Sony, who continue to insist on using the outdated and bloated MPEG2. This should mean that image quality will be identical to the HD DVD versions (unless they need to be re-encoded in order to fit on the lower capacity Blu-ray discs), although the higher price tag of $34.99 (versus $28.99 for the HD DVD releases) means that, once again, there is nothing appealing about the Blu-ray versions.

PS3 games to come with free Blu-ray movies?

Source: High-Def Digest

Industry insiders are suggesting that Sony will be bundling free Blu-ray movies along with game releases. No, you didn’t read that wrong: they’re not bundling them with the console itself, but along with games. I’m starting to smell the strench of desperation. “Buy Sonic the Hedgehog and get a free copy of the classic Little Man!” as Lyris put it.

On a related note, Engadget is reporting that Warner Home Video have apparently come up with a means of creating a triple format HD DVD/Blu-ray/DVD disc. This doesn’t mean that the same data can be read by both players, but rather, much like the HD DVD/DVD combo discs being offered by Warner and Universal for some titles, that multiple differently formatted layers are included. This is certainly an extremely interesting development, but I have to wonder how many studios are likely to pay the licensing costs for three formats, as well as the unavoidable increase in manufacturing costs.

Universal boss takes swipe at Blu-ray

Source: AV Science Forum

Recently there has been some speculation from the Blu-ray camp that Universal, currently the only one of the big-name studios exclusively committed to HD DVD (as opposed to Paramount and Warner, who release for both formats, and Sony, Disney and Fox, who are currently Blu-ray exclusives), would begin releasing Blu-ray material as well. A comment from Universal Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau, however, has pretty much put the final nail in that coffin:

“The reviews are in and HD DVD is hands down the leader in picture quality, audio experiences and interactive capabilities that have never been seen before,” said Kornblau.

“Look at the blogs, look at the reviews by the early adopters and even look at the mainstream media - HD DVD has maintained its first-to-market advantage and delivered on the promises of providing the best high definition image and sound quality at the best value for consumers today. Take today’s announcement of new players from Toshiba, new PC hardware from Niveus and new titles like ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,’ and add the hardware and movies that are coming this Fall and you can see why HD DVD is poised for a strong holiday.”

Given that, in order to succeed, HD DVD is going to need all the support it can get, this should certainly be welcome news for backers of the format.