first televison series released on Blu-Ray announced

[Xylob the Destroyer]

"Stargate: Atlantis" will be the first television series released on the Blu-Ray format.
"Band of Brothers" rumored to be the first HD-DVD televison show released.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4826

[rr6966]

That doesn't surprise me. Atlantis looks very good on DVD, anamorphic widescreen. I would guess alot of TV shows would not hold up in video quality. Star Trek Enterprise, and Battlestar Galactica were (Trek) or are very good filmed in HiDef.

[whitejremiah]

I know it's not exactly a tv series....but terminator 2 was already announced for blu ray...if/when i get an HDTV, that may be worth checking out

[dvdguy4]

Not to take away from your topic but I have a list of HD-DVDs coming out soon so if I may post them.


3/28 - Batman Begins, Constantine, Million Dollar Baby, Phantom of the Opera, Twister

4/11 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Last Samurai, Lethal Weapon, Training Day, Unforgiven

4/25 - Goodfellas, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Matrix, Swordfish, Syriana (day and date with regular DVD)

5/9 - Blazing Saddles, Dukes of Hazzard, Full Metal Jacket, Rumor Has It (day and date), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

5/16 - Charlie & Chocolate Factory, The Green Mile: Special Edition, Ocean's Twelve, Troy

Warner has also announced that additional titles they expect to release in 2006 will include Superman Returns and Poseidon (both day and date with standard DVD), as well as TV titles, additional catalog films and more new releases throughout the year.

As part of this announcement, HBO confirmed that The Sopranos and Deadwood are among the TV offerings they expect to debut on HD-DVD later in 2006.

Also, Universal has announced that their initial March '06 slate will include 10 HD-DVD titles, among them The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Jarhead, Doom, Cinderella Man, Apollo 13, Serenity, The Chronicles of Riddick, U-571, Van Helsing and The Bourne Supremacy. The exact street dates are still TBA.

[sullen]

Mmmm....The Matrix definately peeks my interest, but Blazing Saddles? I hope the rise or fall of HD-DVD doesn't rest on it's back.

[Ironballs]

yet again we're buying the same flicks......

How many issus of LOTR or Star Wars will we have !

[lordsmurf]

yet again we're buying the same flicks......
How many issus of LOTR or Star Wars will we have !

And at what point will people pull their head out of their butt and realize the new whiz-bang version won't really be any better quality than the last DVD version, as the source quality will always be the limiting factor on how good an end product can look.

[dvdguy4]

yet again we're buying the same flicks......

How many issus of LOTR or Star Wars will we have !

That will be the only reason why I will wait. No need to spend the money until those flicks come out in either format.

[RottenFoxBreath]

same shit,twice the price.
got star wars,got lotr,most of those on that list are shit
sub par watch once popcorn shit,not even having them in higher definition would make me want to part with my cash.
itll take a good price drop to get some punters into them,seeing as some top movies(so called top movies) are £5 in asda,like war of the worlds.
but will they all still come out on dvd,or are we going to get shafted..

[Wile_E]

And at what point will people pull their head out of their butt and realize the new whiz-bang version won't really be any better quality than the last DVD version, as the source quality will always be the limiting factor on how good an end product can look.

The video source. Will the studios take the original films out of their vaults, and scan it at a high resolution for blu-ray/hd-dvd? I'm not talking only 1920x1080, but something higher. Like using the Kodak Cineon which scans up to 4K. Film will only last so long, even in a controlled environment vault. 35mm film definitely has more resolution then even HDTV 1920x1080. And yes I know you can't really compare Analog to Digital resolution. But the detail is there in 35mm and has been proven with many scanners that now offer 4K and 5K resolutions. 1K & 2K scans look like crap compared to the sharper 4K and 5K scans, side by side.

If the studios just upconvert a DVD transfer, then that's worthless. I won't buy anything that is upconverted. I just hope they used something like the Kodak Cineon, and still have the original 4K data scans stored somewhere. That way, they just downconvert to 1920x1080 for blu-ray/hd-dvd.

[ybeard]

Mmmm....The Matrix definately peeks my interest, but Blazing Saddles? I hope the rise or fall of HD-DVD doesn't rest on it's back.

Man, Blazing Saddles is one of the better movies of all time!!! Absolutely one of the best comedy movies.

[dvdguy4]

Heres a pic of the new blue-ray packaging.
http://digitalbits.com/articles/miscgfx2/bluraydiscpackaging.jpg

[dvdguy4]

Microsoft to offer HD-DVD drive as Xbox 360 accessory

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-01-04-xbox360-hd-dvd_x.htm

[painkiller]

Wile_E has a very good point. I couldn't agree more.

I'd only heard of a few studios using these scanners/cameras that they are actually using them for capturing/restoring various movies.

One in particular that I recall reading recently is over in the UK - I believe they are using this process to restore the classic Doctor Who Series.

[BJ_M]

first movies to be released in blu-ray have been anounced ;

"Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment have recently announced the release of the first titles on the Blu-Ray media coinciding with the Blu-Ray hardware release in the spring. Some of the films to be released include classics such as "The Fifth Element" and "Robocop" to more modern films such as "Black Hawk Down." Other corporations, such as Fox, have announced similar plans."

Movie enthusiasts who can't wait for the first high definition films will have upwards of 60 titles to choose from later this year, as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Fox, Lionsgate and Paramount are preparing to introduce their first ever Blu-ray Disc titles. More within...

The first titles for Sony's Blu-ray Disc high definition format, which will be the format employed by the PlayStation 3, have been revealed, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) president, Benjamin S. Feingold, announced today. The initial slate of 20 titles will be released by SPHE and MGM Home Entertainment this spring in conjunction with the launch of hardware manufacturers' first Blu-ray Disc products at retail.

High-def movies this spring
"Beginning this Spring, SPHE will support the rollout of BD-compatible players, PCs and drives from a variety of consumer electronics and computer companies by offering a wide-breadth of high-definition movies and other promotional materials," said Feingold.

Some of the films set for BD include The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT and XXX. Most of the movies will be pressed on the 25 GB (single-layer) discs, while Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai will be available on 50 GB, dual-layer Blu-ray Discs this summer.

[ "Our strategy is to release new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD to drive consumer awareness, excitement and sales of high-definition movies," Benjamin S. Feingold, SPHE president ]


"With the announcement of these first 20 titles, I am delighted to say that the age of Blu-ray has truly arrived," Feingold continued. "BD delivers the most advanced high-definition experience available to entertainment enthusiasts today, while offering filmmakers a limitless canvas to express their artistic vision."

In addition to SPHE's titles, Fox will introduce its own lineup of about 20 titles (including movies such as Fantastic Four, Ice Age and Behind Enemy Lines), while independent distributor Lionsgate announced its own support for the Blu-ray format with ten titles to start hitting shelves this spring such as Lord of War, The Punisher, Devil's Rejects, Saw, T2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Dune, Rambo: First Blood, and See No Evil. Lastly, Paramount (which is backing both Blu-ray and rival HD DVD) is offering a lineup of ten titles, including Aeon Flux, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Four Brothers, The Italian Job, The Manchurian Candidate and We Were Soldiers.

BD titles will offer consumers 1920x1080p HD resolution, as well as "enhanced menu navigation, increased added-value and new interactive capabilities."

Spreading awareness
Although standard DVD will be hard to replace for the average consumer, SPHE has plans to help spread adoption of the new format. Starting Summer 2006, the company will begin adding bonus BD Java games and other features to new titles including the upcoming Underworld Evolution that will release street day-and-date with DVD. Currently, SPHE intends to ship four catalog titles per month beginning this Summer, and that will then ramp up to 10 titles per month by the fourth quarter of 2006. There are also plans to bring popular TV series like Stargate Atlantis to BD.

"Our strategy is to release new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD to drive consumer awareness, excitement and sales of high-definition movies. We will also release a continuous slate of catalog titles that film enthusiasts love to own, to further maximize consumer interest," explained Feingold.

Of course, the launch of the PS3 itself should be a huge boon to spreading BD awareness, just as the PS2 aided in the adoption of DVD. For many, the PS3 will be their first high-def movie players—something that Sony and many movie studios are counting on.
Pricing for the first BD titles has not been announced yet.

[BJ_M]

And at what point will people pull their head out of their butt and realize the new whiz-bang version won't really be any better quality than the last DVD version, as the source quality will always be the limiting factor on how good an end product can look.

The video source. Will the studios take the original films out of their vaults, and scan it at a high resolution for blu-ray/hd-dvd? I'm not talking only 1920x1080, but something higher. Like using the Kodak Cineon which scans up to 4K. Film will only last so long, even in a controlled environment vault. 35mm film definitely has more resolution then even HDTV 1920x1080. And yes I know you can't really compare Analog to Digital resolution. But the detail is there in 35mm and has been proven with many scanners that now offer 4K and 5K resolutions. 1K & 2K scans look like crap compared to the sharper 4K and 5K scans, side by side.

If the studios just upconvert a DVD transfer, then that's worthless. I won't buy anything that is upconverted. I just hope they used something like the Kodak Cineon, and still have the original 4K data scans stored somewhere. That way, they just downconvert to 1920x1080 for blu-ray/hd-dvd.

actually in higher res., the Cineon is superseded by many other scanners that are faster (but all do superb correction on the fly) -- but non the less, 1000's of films are being scanned at 2k, 4k and even 6 and 8k .... 2k scanning or lessor quality telicine is common place now .....