Blu-ray & HD DVD
DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation have issued a press release detailing the specifications for the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight direct-to-DVD anthology movie.
The all-new, original movie will arrive July 8, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The original movie will also be available OnDemand and Pay-per-View as well as available for download on the same day as release date, July 8, 2008.
Click here to read the press release and see three new pictures.
Posted in Batman, Blu-ray & HD DVD, Movies •
Netflix and Wal-Mart announced their exclusive backing of Blu-Ray last week, and now the high definition format war has officially come to an end with HD DVD pioneer Toshiba conceding defeat.
Toshiba issued a press release today which confirms that the corporation has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.
‘We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,’ said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD •
Why HD?
With the increasing size and affordability of big screen televisions, it’s become pretty obvious that standard definition formats just don’t cut the visual mustard on these new AV behemoths invading our living rooms. What looked perfectly acceptable on your old 28” CRT set can look awful when the limitations of SDTV (Standard Definition TV) are amplified by a monster flat panel.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Commentary, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
Following a turbulent week in the ongoing next generation DVD format war, word has filtered out from Blu-ray.com that Indy might be heading to Blu-ray.
The site writes - ‘Another interesting tidbit of information is about the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As we all know, Paramount’s deal does not cover Steven Spielberg films, and so Indy 4 is being prepped for Blu-ray Disc for release sometime late this year.’
Although this sounds like bad news for HD DVD owners, it should be noted that Paramount will almost certainly honour their contract to provide content for the Toshiba and Microsoft format until the end of 2008 at least, so we should also see an HD DVD outing for Doctor Jones.
Discuss Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull on the X-Boards
Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Indiana Jones, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
Following a strong year in 2007 for 3D cinema, it seems that 2008 could herald the beginning of a similar rollout in the home market.
Popular Mechanics reports that the big theme of the Consumer Electronics Show this year was 3-D in the home, with products on display from Samsung and Texas Instruments amongst others.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
UPDATE JUST IN -
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) — Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures denied a newspaper report that the studio is poised to follow Time Warner Inc. in abandoning Toshiba Corp.’s HD DVD technology. `Paramount’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,” Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in an e-mail today.
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The revelation over the weekend that Warner Bros was jumping ship to Blu-ray was bad news for the HD DVD camp but now it looks like Paramount have dealt the final death blow to the floundering next gen DVD format by abandoning it for its rival.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
The High-Definition format war may just have been decided this weekend with the announcement that Warner Bros. is dropping its support of HD-DVD, opting to release its movies exclusively on Blu-Ray starting this May.
This means that the only studios left supporting HD-DVD are Paramount/Dreamworks and Universal, while Blu-Ray is being backed by Sony, Disney, Fox, MGM, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. Going by the size of the respective movie libraries (with Warner holding the largest), Blu-Ray will now control roughly 70% of the market.
Warners CEO Barry Meyer said in a press release: ‘The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.’
Discuss everything High-Definition on the X-Boards
Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
At both the Holiday Spectacular press event in New York and the CEDIA Expo in Denver last month, Texas Instruments wowed the attendees with 3D footage from Star Wars Episode III and IV on their DLP rear projection HDTV sets.
Bigpicturebigsound reports that the current generation of TI sets all have built-in 3D support but Samsung and Mitsubishi models can be upgraded to stereoscopic capability with the addition of third party software/glasses packs that start at around $200.
‘I’ve seen many 3D demos and films - both on the small and large screen - and this was among the more impressive implementations’ reports the site. ‘It was a very immersive experience’.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games, Star Wars •
Warner Home Video has published details of the DVD, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on December 11th. HD DVD just edges out the Blu-ray version with extra web features and is a combo disk, meaning that it will also play on standard DVD players.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be available for sell-through pricing on Single Disc in widescreen and full frame formats for $28.98 SRP and on 2-Disc Special Edition DVD in widescreen format for $34.99 SRP. The film will also be available on HD/DVD Combo for $35.99 SRP and on Blu-ray disc for $35.99 SRP.
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Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Harry Potter, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games •
On Monday we reported Paramount Pictures’ announcement to exclusively back HD DVD. While this may have garnered the studio financial incentives valued at a reported $150 million, the move seems to have left one particular filmmaker miffed.
Transformers director Michael Bay wrote on his blog: ‘I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!’
By the end of the day, Bay had softened his stance after meeting with Paramount execs. ‘I overreacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard […] So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks! So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!’
Discuss the ongoing Blu-Ray vs HD DVD war on the X-Boards
Posted in Blu-ray & HD DVD, Movies, Sci-Tech & Video Games, Transformers •
I am a little leary of the situation. The truth will come out when, and if the US economy, and the dollar begins to strengthen. If prices remain high, you’ll know someone is lying. Either OPEC doesn’t have the supply they claim they have, or Analysts are incorrect when they say demand has decreased. Personally, I don’t buy the claim that demand has decreased. Population is ever increasing, so, the the demand should always be increasing. 