High Definition Media & Technology Thread

[Roy Focker]

Clash? Was one of our favorite movies growing up.

[Uxi]

Can't wait for Heat and Ben-Hur. I'll find the Dirty Harry set hard to resist... I already have Batman Begins and V for Vendetta on HDDVD so will not re buying those right away...

[DJ Loe Kee]

Some more WB Blu-ray titles coming this year, V for Vendetta, Clash of the Titans and the Matrix Trilogy(I won't be buying that awful mess).

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=937

Clash? Was one of our favorite movies growing up.

me too. i would love to see clash and sean connery's james bond's movies on hd...

but wouldn't they look worse on hd since they weren't originally fimed in hd quality film...

[eugimon]

me too. i would love to see clash and sean connery's james bond's movies on hd...

but wouldn't they look worse on hd since they weren't originally fimed in hd quality film...

film is infinite resolution (well, for the purposes of this discussion, anyways)... the only question is the quality of the archived film and how much time and money the studios are willing to spend to restore and master them to digital.

Edited February 8, 2008 by eugimon

[DJ Loe Kee]

film is infinite resolution (well, for the purposes of this discussion, anyways)... the only question is the quality of the archived film and how much time and money the studios are willing to spend to restore and master them to digital.

that makes sense, sorta like music production. i can encode my music usin' my masterin/mixin' software usin' 96kHz or 192kHz but i would just be wastin' hard drive space 'cause it has to be downgraded to 44.1 kHz in order to fit on an audio cd.

[eugimon]

that makes sense, sorta like music production. i can encode my music usin' my masterin/mixin' software usin' 96kHz or 192kHz but i would just be wastin' hard drive space 'cause it has to be downgraded to 44.1 kHz in order to fit on an audio cd.

yeah, so for example, a 1080p picture has like 2 million pixels at any given time, but a frame of 35mm film has something like 20 million pixels (this is debatable because you're doing an analog to digital comparison) for a perfect shot and around 10 million for a "good" shot. That's still WAY more information than needed for "HD".

[Dangard Ace]

Ow. Not a good day for HD DVD.

Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Release...ce/3345206.html

and verified on Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8UOBRDO0.htm

Netflix says chooses Blu-ray format over HD DVD

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsume...WEN388420080211

[eugimon]

Ow. Not a good day for HD DVD.

Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Release...ce/3345206.html

Netflix says chooses Blu-ray format over HD DVD

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsume...WEN388420080211

yeah.. it's time for toshiba to call it a day.

[JsARCLIGHT]

You know what sucks? I'm waiting like a buzzard for HD DVD's to start going on clearance so I can scoop up tons of movies for cheap... and I realized there is like nothing on HD DVD that I want that I don't already own.

[eugimon]

You know what sucks? I'm waiting like a buzzard for HD DVD's to start going on clearance so I can scoop up tons of movies for cheap... and I realized there is like nothing on HD DVD that I want that I don't already own.

I'd pick up zodiac and maybe stardust (if it hits around 5 bucks). Other than that, I think I'm pretty done with HD-DVD now. Well, maybe I'd get the matrix box set if it hits around 5 bucks. hahaha.

[Alpha OTS]

You know what sucks? I'm waiting like a buzzard for HD DVD's to start going on clearance so I can scoop up tons of movies for cheap... and I realized there is like nothing on HD DVD that I want that I don't already own.

I'm circling for the Matrix set myself. There might be some others I'll pick up if the clearance price is cheap enough.

[David Hingtgen]

I want Planet Earth to drop to like 20, and players to 50 or 75...

[Alpha OTS]

Just noticed American Werewolf in London was on HD. I'm going to have to flag that for clearance too. Anyone have that and can comment?

Edit: Geez, and The Thing. Guess there's more to keep an eye on than I thought.

Edited February 12, 2008 by Alpha OTS

[Warmaker]

Ow. Not a good day for HD DVD.

Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Release...ce/3345206.html

and verified on Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8UOBRDO0.htm

Netflix says chooses Blu-ray format over HD DVD

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsume...WEN388420080211

I've been standing in the sidelines waiting to see who was going to come out of this as the winner. I always had this gut feeling Blu-Ray would come out the winner but never had the info as to why.

But I guess all this settles it. Blu-Ray it is.

P.S. - I still remember the last format war in the 80s between VHS and Beta when I was a kid. My Dad had a Beta Tape Player. I used to go with him to the rental shops all the time. I'd pick out a movie that I wanted to see but many of them he said we couldn't. Our Beta player of course couldn't play VHS, which seemed to have such a vast selection compared to the corner of the shop Beta tapes had. Eventually Dad got us a VHS player.

[CoryHolmes]

P.S. - I still remember the last format war in the 80s between VHS and Beta when I was a kid. My Dad had a Beta Tape Player. I used to go with him to the rental shops all the time. I'd pick out a movie that I wanted to see but many of them he said we couldn't. Our Beta player of course couldn't play VHS, which seemed to have such a vast selection compared to the corner of the shop Beta tapes had. Eventually Dad got us a VHS player.

What is this Vee Ech Ess of which you speak?

[Warmaker]

The ones that, back in the day, had all the cool movies that Beta didn't have!

I still remember begging my Dad to let us borrow a VHS copy of "Megaforce" for our Beta deck. I thought its cover was all sorts of "awesome"

[Gunbuster]

wow, I guess porn isn't the deciding factor in this next gen high def media.

"In fact, Vivid is the only company in the adult film industry using Blu-ray Disc right now. Other companies say they were rebuffed by Sony and other companies that replicate Blu-ray Discs."

"Eight companies worldwide can replicate Blu-ray Discs, Hirsch said. Two of those companies are controlled by Sony, which won't allow them to handle pornography. Five other companies have contracts to replicate discs for Walt Disney, which stipulate that they cannot handle adult films if they want to work with Disney. "

Anyways..about pricing..you would think HD-DVD would be able to pull that card, but I'm guessing that will dip into the Studios' sales of DVD

"Blu-ray is extremely expensive to work with," said Hirsch. Authoring in Blu-ray Disc is about four times more expensive than HD DVD, he said, while replicating is three times as expensive."

Well, it's too late for HD DVD now to go with that princing strategy now (I really wish they pass the savings on to us ).....you think porn on the HD DVD will help them?

Edited February 13, 2008 by Gunbuster

[eugimon]

yeah... if the success of blu-ray shows the power of hype and marketing, the failure of HD-DVD is a showcase in corporate greed.

[Necron_99]

yeah... if the success of blu-ray shows the power of hype and marketing, the failure of HD-DVD is a showcase in corporate greed.

Quoted for truth!

[JsARCLIGHT]

Report says Toshiba to "abandon HD DVD"

[Dangard Ace]

Interesting. Much sooner then I was expecting it but interesting.

The article that thread is talking about.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...7d0bfb0c25aa58d

[eugimon]

Interesting. Much sooner then I was expecting it but interesting.

The article that thread is talking about.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...7d0bfb0c25aa58d

at this point, what can they do? Only thing they can do really, is to start giving away players and movies. It's too bad that toshiba doesn't manufacture tv's.. they could have done what sony did and gave away free players with a purchase of an LCD/Plasma TV.

Though, I'm of the mindset that the movies they had in their library just didn't get people's hearts racing. A lot of the movies were slower, more thought provoking movies, while the blu-ray camp had a lot of the summer blockbusters as well as visual spectacle type movies that really showcased what HD video/audio could deliver. I mean, I thought Eastern Promises was one of the best movies in 2007 but you didn't need to watch that in HD... PotC 3 or spiderman 3 though... hell, the only way to slog through it was to watch in HD and enjoy the eye candy.

[Gunbuster]

Report says Toshiba to "abandon HD DVD"

Can someone please post fire sales of HD DVDs links here? I'm hoping they will drop below $10 each.

Thanks

[JsARCLIGHT]

It's not really Toshiba/Microsoft's fault that their stable of studios failed to release their super titles on HD DVD. I am actually kind of suprised that certain Universal movies like the Back to the Future series, Blues Brothers, Jaws, the Jurassic Parks, Gladiator and on and on and on never made it out of the gate. The same goes for Paramount... the HD DVD camp just seems to have drug it's feet.

Then again the same can be said for Blu Ray... the back catalogs are just not getting released... and that is what a great number of people want. New movies are fine and good but folks really want their classics in HD.

And instead of big name catalog titles we get... Streets of Fire. Now, I own Streets of Fire on HD DVD... it's a decent movie to those of us who where teens in the '80s and loved that weird '80s rock opera thing... but come on.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Can someone please post fire sales of HD DVDs links here? I'm hoping they will drop below $10 each.

Thanks

Well, Amazon has been running a 50% off sale on a ton of HD DVDs for a little while now. I keep looking at the list but none of them really jump off the page at me and the others I already own.

Amazon 50% off HD DVD sale

[Dangard Ace]

at this point, what can they do? Only thing they can do really, is to start giving away players and movies. It's too bad that toshiba doesn't manufacture tv's.. they could have done what sony did and gave away free players with a purchase of an LCD/Plasma TV.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not but on the chance that you aren't Toshiba does sell TV's. They just choose not to bundle them like Sony, Sharp, Panasonic...etc did. Could be because Toshiba was already bleeding red by subsidizing each HD DVD player sold. Apparently for each player sold it was costing them a few hundred dollars.

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/products.grp?lg=...el%20Television

I always thought it was funny at my closest three Best Buys that the Toshiba TV's always had Bluray players hooked up to them.

[Warmaker]

Anyways..about pricing..you would think HD-DVD would be able to pull that card, but I'm guessing that will dip into the Studios' sales of DVD

"Blu-ray is extremely expensive to work with," said Hirsch. Authoring in Blu-ray Disc is about four times more expensive than HD DVD, he said, while replicating is three times as expensive."

Well, it's too late for HD DVD now to go with that princing strategy now (I really wish they pass the savings on to us ).....you think porn on the HD DVD will help them?

As a buyer who sat and watched from the sidelines, this is humorous to me. So, HD DVD was cheaper to work with and replicate, but I noticed no appreciable differences in pricing between Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats. Brilliant.

Too late now

[mikeszekely]

As a buyer who sat and watched from the sidelines, this is humorous to me. So, HD DVD was cheaper to work with and replicate, but I noticed no appreciable differences in pricing between Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats. Brilliant.

Too late now

That's what I've been saying. HD-DVD could have locked this thing up if they would have released all of their HD-DVDs as the dual-format discs with the regular DVD on the other side, and for maybe $5 over the price of the regular DVD, not $5 over the price of a Blu-ray or a standard HD-DVD.

[eugimon]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not but on the chance that you aren't Toshiba does sell TV's. They just choose not to bundle them like Sony, Sharp, Panasonic...etc did. Could be because Toshiba was already bleeding red by subsidizing each HD DVD player sold. Apparently for each player sold it was costing them a few hundred dollars.

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/products.grp?lg=...el%20Television

I always thought it was funny at my closest three Best Buys that the Toshiba TV's always had Bluray players hooked up to them.

huh, woops... I never noticed toshiba brand TVs... my bad. Well, it's not like sony was/is turning a profit on each PS3 sold, yet they still did multiple bundle sales at differing major big box stores.

[Uxi]

3x would be a great exaggeration for anyone who followed the threads at AVS, with the commentary from the relevent insiders.

The biggest additional expense of Blu-ray was the requirement for AACS for pressed titles. IIRC the rule of thumb was roughly $1.50'ish for a 30GB HDDVD and about $1.75-1.90 for a 50GB Blu-ray. We never did get pricing or yields on HDDVD combos...

[mikeszekely]

huh, woops... I never noticed toshiba brand TVs... my bad. Well, it's not like sony was/is turning a profit on each PS3 sold, yet they still did multiple bundle sales at differing major big box stores.

Dude... I'm reading this post from my HTPC, which ironically enough, is hooked up to my 52" Toshiba DLP HDTV.

And for what it's worth, I don't know how their other TVs are, but my TV is hands down one of the better projection TVs I've encountered.

3x would be a great exaggeration for anyone who followed the threads at AVS, with the commentary from the relevent insiders.

The biggest additional expense of Blu-ray was the requirement for AACS for pressed titles. IIRC the rule of thumb was roughly $1.50'ish for a 30GB HDDVD and about $1.75-1.90 for a 50GB Blu-ray. We never did get pricing or yields on HDDVD combos...

Could the 3x number being tossed around be an older figure? The fact that HD-DVDs could be manufactured with minor mods to existing DVD manufacturing equipment would have made HD-DVD cheaper initially, but as studios invested more in Blu-ray equipment and that upfront cost is spread over the millions of discs that have been manufactured, the difference would become negligible.

[Gunbuster]

3x would be a great exaggeration for anyone who followed the threads at AVS, with the commentary from the relevent insiders.

The biggest additional expense of Blu-ray was the requirement for AACS for pressed titles. IIRC the rule of thumb was roughly $1.50'ish for a 30GB HDDVD and about $1.75-1.90 for a 50GB Blu-ray. We never did get pricing or yields on HDDVD combos...

I was just quoting what Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment stated in the article in the below link..I would think someone as high in the business like him would know a thing about cost...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128742-c...ia/article.html

the point I was making was that this article was posted Feb 2007 (a year ago) when HD-DVD had a major price advantage and they didn't use it ;;

Edited February 15, 2008 by Gunbuster

[Gunbuster]

Well, Amazon has been running a 50% off sale on a ton of HD DVDs for a little while now. I keep looking at the list but none of them really jump off the page at me and the others I already own.

Amazon 50% off HD DVD sale

Thanks! there are a couple I want, however the lowest price is something like 14.95, still too high to buy on a dying tech, I'll wait a little longer for it to drop lower to the 9.99 area. i would love to get Children of Men, Fearless, etc..

[eugimon]

Dude... I'm reading this post from my HTPC, which ironically enough, is hooked up to my 52" Toshiba DLP HDTV.

And for what it's worth, I don't know how their other TVs are, but my TV is hands down one of the better projection TVs I've encountered.

Could the 3x number being tossed around be an older figure? The fact that HD-DVDs could be manufactured with minor mods to existing DVD manufacturing equipment would have made HD-DVD cheaper initially, but as studios invested more in Blu-ray equipment and that upfront cost is spread over the millions of discs that have been manufactured, the difference would become negligible.

the funny thing is, my wife is related to someone who works for toshiba... hahaha. getting senile in my old age.

in other news, Warner Bros is only going to restock HD-DVD if the demand is there:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/14/warne...and-necessitat/

Edited February 15, 2008 by eugimon

[eugimon]

the fire sale has started, deepdiscount.com selling off a bunch of titles for 13 bucks:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewcategory.h...e&count=500