HD DVD

Halloween reviews special: Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride is a title that I suspect I shall come to view more as a demo disc than as something to sit down and watch, since, while the film has its proponents, I can’t help seeing it as incredibly disappointing given the strengths of The Nightmare Before Christmas. In terms of audio-visual quality, however, this disc is close to being as good as it gets, and as such, gets my recommendation for the quality of the presentation, if nothing else.

For this year’s final Halloween review, I’ve reviewed the recently released HD DVD of Corpse Bride, which features a stellar audio-visual presentation of Tim Burton’s latest stop motion animated feature.

Halloween reviews special: The Machinist

Toshiba have given The Machinist a decent enough high definition release, with a solid transfer. Unfortunately, the audio problems mar the viewing experience somewhat, while the fact that not all of the extras have been transferred over means that many people will want to hang on to their standard definition releases. Ultimately, though, it’s nice to see a slightly more offbeat film getting released on HD DVD, which makes a nice change from the various blockbusters and romantic comedies that are showing up on the format in the US.

Can there be anything more horrifying than the sight of a 120 pound Christian Bale in full high definition? I find out with my review of the R0 Japanese HD DVD of The Machinist.

Halloween reviews special: Constantine

Constantine is no masterpiece - Keanu Reeves’ performance is pretty cringe-inducing, and the combination of po-faced religious themes and gung-ho demon-slaying doesn’t exactly work very well - but, as demo material, this disc has a lot to offer. Fans of the film would certainly appreciate the upgrade from standard definition, while audiophiles and casual viewers alike will get a kick out of the superior TrueHD audio.

I’ve reviewed Warner’s HD DVD release of Constantine, pitting Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz against demons from the very depths of Hell. This R0 US disc features an impressive array of extras, a decent if flawed transfer, and a superb TrueHD audio mix.

Halloween: the countdown begins

I’ve now finalised the list of reviews that will be going live this Halloween at DVD Times. Unfortunately, I’ve had to cut back a little on my original projected list of titles due to a lack of time and, in some instances, motivation, but you should still be seeing six horror-themed reviews from me (plus a few from other contributors), so you shouldn’t want for lack of reading. The schedule looks like this:

• October 30th, 6 AM: Plot of Fear (R0 Italy, SD DVD)
• October 30th, 12 PM: Constantine (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• October 30th, 6 PM: Seven Notes in Black: Collector’s Edition (R2 France, SD DVD)
• October 31st, 12 AM: Corpse Bride (R0 USA, HD DVD)
• October 31st, 12 PM: The Machinist (R0 Japan, HD DVD)
• October 31st, 6 PM: Death Laid an Egg (R2 Japan, SD DVD)

Of these, all but Corpse Bride are written and ready to go.

I also intend to watch several horror-themed films over the next few days, including some old favourites, like Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen, Suspiria and Inferno. Time will tell, of course, whether I actually manage to keep to that, but I live in hope. At any rate, the TV schedules look as piss-poor as usual for October 31st, so it looks as if I’m going to have to provide my own playlist, as usual.

The Exorcist coming to HD DVD

Source: AV Science Forum

It would appear that William Friedkin’s The Exorcist will be making its way to HD DVD at some point. Amazon.com have added it to their catalogue, and they’re generally very cagey about what they include on their site, which suggests that it’s in the pipeline. There’s no release date yet - perhaps this year, perhaps next - and you can’t order it yet, but you can sign up to be notified when it becomes in stock.

As you probably know, I haven’t been this film’s greatest proponent. I’ve seen it three or four times now, and found myself liking it a little better each time, but I’ve never been absolutely wild about it (you can read my most recent throughts on it from back in May 2006), but I’m currently reading William Peter Blatty’s novel upon which the film was based (thanks, Lee!), and two things are quite apparent. One, the film is extremely faithful to the book (I’m not sure whether that’s necessarily a good or a bad thing). Two, it’s a damn good book, and, given the aforementioned faithfulness, I think a fourth (or is that fifth?) rewatch of the film would probably seal the deal for me.

Now, with an HD DVD release seemingly imminent, I’m not going to rush out and by an old-fashioned DVD, but will instead bide my time until the high definition version comes out. Warner have something of a history of not announcing HD DVDs until the very last minute, so it could be mere weeks away… although, of course, it could be much longer. One thing’s for sure: I really hope they release William Friedkin’s original theatrical cut rather than that clumsy monstrosity Blatty hacked together back in 1998, complete with ridiculous CGI “scares” as well as mood- and pace-killing scenes and lines of dialogue that were left out for a good reason. “The Version You’ve Never Seen”? More like “The Version You’ll Wish You’d Never Seen”.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Warner’s HD DVD release of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is pretty good, but disappoints with regard to its transfer and the lacklustre quality of the In-Movie Experience. As such, I’d hestitate to call this a must-buy for those who already own the standard definition 2-disc edition, although it obviously constitutes a considerable improvement in terms of image quality.

I’ve reviewed Warner’s recently released HD DVD of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sporting an exclusive audio commentary and In-Movie Experience, how does it compare to its standard definition predecessor?

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.

Corpse Bride - Warner finally hits a home run

My review copy of the recently released HD DVD of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride arrived today. You can read my overall opinions of it in the post I made when I rented the standard definition DVD back in February, and they haven’t changed all that much (although I did find myself appreciating the art direction slightly more this time round), but of all the various blockbuster releases that I was offered by DVD Times, it struck me as being one of the more interesting.

Anyway, I’ve been a little critical of Warner’s HD DVDs in the past. Million Dollar Baby and Constantine were both edge enhanced and slightly noise reduced, while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looked noticeably diffuse (a flaw also affecting the HD broadcast master) and suffered from a few instances of compression artefacts, so I was a little apprehensive about Corpse Bride. Luckily, the results are considerably better than I was expecting - indeed, this is one of the best HD DVDs I’ve seen so far, beaten only by the majestic Serenity and the flawless Unleashed in terms of visual pizzazz. Edge enhancement is non-existent, contrast is spot-on, colours (in the saturated “Land of the Dead” sequences) are a joy to behold. This is so close to being a perfect transfer, and is marred only by a few mild instances of digital banding in the colours in the background. I feel slightly bad about knocking a mark off the score for these minor problems, but, with my high definition reviews, I want a 10/10-rated transfer to really mean absolute perfection.

Oh yeah, and I pre-ordered the HD DVD of Wolf Creek from DVD Pacific. It’s due out on December 5th.

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.

Delivery deluge

Today has been quite a day for deliveries, with the HD DVD releases of The Machinist and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the latter a review copy) and the DVD of the 25th Anniversary edition of The Fox and the Hound (again, for review) all arriving.

I’m going to discuss The Machinist first because it’s definitely the most noteworthy of the three arrivals. It constitutes several first for me: my first non-US HD DVD (it’s Japanese), my first HD DVD from a distributor other than one of the major Hollywood studios (it’s a Toshiba release), and my first HD DVD using MPEG4/AVC/H.264 as its compression format rather than VC1.

I was a little wary regarding this release given the mixed reports that have come through so far regarding Toshiba’s Japanese releases, all of which have used MPEG4 rather than VC1. Essentially, MPEG4 has been characterised as an inferior format, and I was expecting to be a bit let down by The Machinist. I needn’t have worried: it looks excellent, and in places is up there with Serenity in terms of detail. For the most part, the image is razor-sharp, and the grain, too, looks excellent. The Machinist is stylistically a very harsh film, with heavily desaturated colours and very pronounced contrasts. All of this is maintained with aplomb on the HD DVD.

Unfortunately, it is slightly marred by a few instances of unsightly edge enhancement. I should point out, however, that this was actually present when I saw the film at the cinema. It was the first time I’d ever seen edge enhancement on a projected film print, and it’s indicative of the move towards using digital intermediates as opposed to conventional chemical colour timing in a laboratory. The fact that the entire film is stored on a computer gives technicians free reign to monkey with the image until their hearts content, and it does seem that they have gone way overboard with the artificial sharpening in some shots here. These are exactly the same shots that were affected when I saw it at the cinema, so it is the filmmakers themselves who deserve the blame for this rather than Toshiba.

The film comes with English and Japanese Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 audio tracks and Japanese subtitles, which can be disabled either on the fly using the remote control function or via the menu. A handful of extras are included - a documentary, deleted scenes, two trailers and some filmographies. For these, the subtitles unfortunately can’t be disabled. Oh yeah, and, oddly enough, this HD DVD comes in a standard amaray case, which is most annoying given that it’s a completely different size from the rest of my collection:

Meanwhile, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is, comparatively speaking, a disappointment. I’m not exactly sold on the film itself (I think Johnny Depp’s interpretation of Willy Wonka is cringe-worthily awful, the musical numbers are atrocious, and the subplot involving Christopher Lee as Wonka’s father one of the worst additions I’ve ever seen in a book-to-film adaptation), and the HD DVD’s transfer is a real let-down. Reviewers and laymen alike have been raving over it - “Best HD DVD yet!” “10/10!” and so on. Unfortunately, this is actually the worst-looking HD DVD I’ve seen so far. Like the other two Warner releases I’ve seen so far, it’s slightly edge enhanced, but, unlike Million Dollar Baby and Constantine, it’s also quite soft. Some of this is intentional - as with The Machinist, it was digitally colour timed, and Tim Burton, it would seem, took the opportunity to add a further touch of artificiality to the movie by cranking up the automated spot remover beyond what most people would consider a reasonable level. A lot of the time, the actors’ faces, even in close-up, look like those of porcelain dolls, and in some scenes, such as the early flashback to when Grandpa Joe worked at the factory, they look waxy and smeared.

These are not, however, the fault of the HD DVD. What is, however, is the overall diffuse look of the film. Throughout, it looks ill-defined and almost outright blurry, but for one occasion: the first Oompa-Loompa musical number after Augustus Gloop has been sucked into the pipes of the chocolate river. Suddenly, the softening disappears and, for a few brief moments, it becomes a 10/10 transfer. The grain that was sorely missing comes back, the individual blades of grass stop being merely a swathe of poorly-defined green, and it all seems much more three-dimensional. It doesn’t last, though, and, almost as soon as the song has finished, it goes back to its murky, diffuse look, which remains for the rest of the film.

Also problematic is the encoding. This is the first time that I’ve seen noticeable compression problems on an HD DVD, but they are here for all to see. I don’t have the specific time code references to hand (I’ll make sure to note these down when I come to do my official DVD Times review), but on at least three occasions, parts of the screen disintegrate into mushy macroblocks. One occasion involves swirling melted chocolate, while the other takes place in the midst of a series of explosions as Charlie, Wonka and Grandpa Joe right the Great Glass Elevator. These can’t have been easy scenes to compress, but this is the first time I’ve seen an HD DVD encode slip up so badly, and I genuinely hope it’s not the start of a trend. Although, given the rave reviews the transfer has been getting, even from so-called experts, I have my fears.

Finally, The Fox and the Hound, and it’s the least impressive of today’s deliveries by far. Actually, it’s a downright disgrace. Despite being promoted and packaged as some sort of 25th anniversary special edition, Disney have done a really crummy job with it. In terms of extras, there seems to be nothing here that wasn’t already present in the underwhelming line-up for the previously-released UK version of the film - we’re talking a rudimentary behind-the-scenes featurette, a couple of bonus shorts, a sing-along and a narrated “storybook”.

Of course, what really counts is the audio-visual presentation, and I’m sorry to report that it’s a complete disaster. First, the original mono mix of the film is nowhere to be seen. In its place is a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, which sounds weak and clumsy, and very clearly wrong. Worse still is the transfer, which is nothing more than a recycle of the pan and scan LaserDisc master used for the previous DVD. That Disney would put out something so shoddy in this day and age is an absolute joke, and I am very strongly recommending that anyone thinking about picking up a copy of this seriously reconsider before plonking down a wad of cash for this lazy botch-job. This is 0/10 for video, 0/10 for audio - who are they trying to kid?

Update, October 17, 2006 03:55 PM: Regular Disney DVD reviewer Dave Boulet, whose comments about The Little Mermaid’s transfer were right on the money, has given The Fox and the Hound’s DVD an absolute savaging at DVD File - and, for once, I actually find myself nodding my head in agreement as I read a review.

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.

V for Vendetta coming to HD DVD

Source: High-Def Digest

Against my better judgement, I bought the standard definition release of V for Vendetta back when it was released in August, knowing full well that an HD DVD version, probably with an exclusive In-Movie Experience feature, would be coming out shortly. And it turns out I was right: Warner has announced that they will be releasing it on October 31, with “an In-Movie Experience interactive video commentary track, plus the exclusive ‘Director’s Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century’ featurette”, in addition to all the extras of the 2-disc standard definition release. Naturally, I’ll have to pick it up. The film is flawed but definitely interesting, and rather unique for a Hollywood product.

Under Siege and Excalibur are also hitting shelves on the same day. I may pick up Excalibur too, as it’s a film I’ve been curious to see for a while.

Update, October 12, 2006 09:30 PM: Front and back cover art now available at The Man Room.

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.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I must confess that, ultimately, I’m undecided on how I feel about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There are times when it annoys me so much that I want to put a brick through my television, and yet at the same time it holds a perverse fascination for me. I’m not sure I’d go as far as to say I like it, but it’s certainly unique among films: an amoral, anarchic binge of a movie that, despite its cast of Hollywood A-listers, could never truly be described as mainstream. As such, it’s very much one of those titles that everyone has to experience for themselves. Unashamedly a work of style over substance (which is no bad thing), I’m sure everyone’s reaction to it will be different. Who knows? You may like it a lot more than me. Or a lot less.

A surprise candidate for an HD DVD release, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas arrives in high definition courtesy of Universal, whose R0 US release constitutes a massive improvement in image quality over its standard definition releases, but disappoints in terms of extras. Review at DVD Times.

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.

Wolf Creek HD in December

Source: High-Def Digest

The Weinstein Company have confirmed a release date of December 5th for the already announced Wolf Creek. While I don’t think the film is any sort of masterpiece, I did consider it to be a reasonably effective horror movie, and the fact that it was itself shot in 1920x1080 high definition (the same resolution as HD DVD) should make it an interesting title, because, barring lossy compression, it should essentially be a 1:1 copy of the original source material. Another one for the list, then.

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…