Paramount Announces Second Wave of Blu-ray Titles

 

Continuing their earlier mea culpa, Paramount has announced the second wave of new Blu-ray titles since they returned to the format, following the death of the HD DVD format.

The new titles announced today are:

• Beowulf - July 29
• Patriot Games - July 29
• Sum of All Fears - July 29
• Top Gun - July 29
• Transformers (2007) - September 2
• Madagascar - September 16
• Shrek the Third - September 16

But, really, you'd think if they were really sorry they could at least bring out an action title or two instead of all this arthouse stuff.

Seriously, though, good job Paramount... now I only have to listen to 3 more months of "Wens teh Transformers comin!!!!!" questions.  Now, if you really want to make it up to me, bring out the restored Godfather Trilogy and Indiana Jones (the first three, not the latest train wreck) later this year... and I'll consider forgiving you.

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New Blu-ray Players on the Horizon

 

Many current Blu-ray owners consider the PS3 the ultimate Blu-ray playback device, with full BonusView and BD-Live capabilities, and decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA audio formats. 

While the PS3 certainly does make an excellent Blu-ray player (it reportedly plays games, too), there are many people who, for a variety of reasons, would prefer to have a more traditional standalone Blu-ray disc player.  Up until recently, those consumers have had to settle for slower players that lacked the latest features available on the Blu-ray format.

Well, all that has finally changed. Standalone players that are capable of Picture-in-picture capability (BonusView) and even internet connectivity (BD-Live) are starting to hit stores now.  For those looking for Blu-ray standalone players with all the latest bells and whistles take a look below at the recently released, and soon to be released, players that can serve all your playback needs.  For more detailed information on existing and upcoming players check out the player database accessible from the top of this page.

 

Released Players

Panasonic BD30: BonusView (Profile 1.1) capable.  MSRP: $499.  A great all-around player with the ability to bitstream all audio codecs to the latest receivers.

Samsung BD-P1500: BonusView capable, with firmware update for BD-Live (Profile 2.0).  MSRP: $399.  Bitstream audio output and the promise of a future BD-Live update make this a potentially excellent player.

Philips BDP-7200: BonusView (Profile 1.1) capable.  MSRP: $399.  Bitstream audio output and fast load times are impressing users of this just-released model.

Also, available now are excellent higher-end BonusView models from Denon and low-cost "house brand" models manufactured by Funai.

 

Upcoming Players

Panasonic BD50: BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capable.  MSRP: $699.  Due in May.  The higher-end sibling to the existing BD30, the BD50 adds BD-Live capability and internal decoding of all audio formats.

Sharp Aquos BD-HP50U: BonusView (Profile 1.1) capable.  MSRP: Expected at $699.  Due in May.  Not much is yet known about Sharp's second Blu-ray player model, although it is confirmed to bitsream all audio codecs and have BonusView compatibility.

Pioneer BDP-51FD and Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD: BonusView (Profile 1.1) capable.  MSRP: $599 and $799.  Due in June/July.  Pioneer's latest generation players are set to add BonusView capability and internal audio decoding of all the advanced codecs, paired with the outstanding build quality Pioneer's Blu-ray players are known for.

Sony BDP-S350 and BDP-S550: BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capable.  MSRP: Expected at $349 and $449.  Due in July and August.  Sony is surprising late to the game with their latest BD-Live capable players, but they look to be making it up with some great prices.  The S350 model can bitstream all the advanced audio codecs, while the S550 can also decode them internally.

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NPD Group Releases April, 2008 U.S. Console Sales Numbers

 

NPD has released their console sales numbers for the U.S., for April, 2008.  The next-gen console sales for the month were:

XBox 360: 188,000 

PS3: 187,100

Wii: 714,200

The Wii continues to sell at an astounding rate, clobbering both Sony and Microsoft's offerings in system sales.  Nintendo has definitely proven themselves the comeback kid of this generation.

Though Microsoft is "officially" excited as they have now passed the 10 million system sold mark in the U.S., both Sony and Microsoft have to be concerned that they didn't get more system sales out of the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.  Of course, this data only includes the first five days of that games' release, so its very possible that a system sales bump will occur next month, but its still rather disconcerting.

The above graph shows how well each of the three next-gen systems sold by month following release.  We're now at the one and a half year mark for both the PS3 and the Wii and we can definitely see some trends emerging.

First of all, all those who predicted that the novelty of the Wii would quickly fade, were shown to be very, very wrong.  The system has sold at an insane rate, trampling the trend lines for both other systems.  The PS3 continues to trail the XBox 360's U.S. trendline slightly, though it has been making a slight comeback lately.

Obviously, the XBox 360 has been out a year longer than the other consoles, so in the interests of fairness, here is a chart that shows the total sales of the consoles over their lifetimes.

As I mentioned before, the Xbox 360 has now passed 10 million units sold in the U.S., but with the Wii literally right behind it, that bulletpoint won't mean much by next month.  The PS3, meanwhile, has passed the 4 million system mark in the U.S., but has a long way to go to catch up with the other two.

While having 4 million PS3s in the U.S. is GREAT for the Blu-ray format, as a gaming machine Sony still has some work to do convincing U.S. gamers that the PS3 is as great a gaming machine as it is a media player.  With the first AAA title of the year for the PS3 just released (GTA IV), sales should be picking up in upcoming months, with the release of platform-exclusive titles such as Haze, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Final Fantasy XII.

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Criterion and Other Small Distributors Embrace Blu-ray

 

While all six major Hollywood studios have officially thrown their weight behind the Blu-ray format, the situation with smaller studios has been a bit more troubling. It's no secret that the entry price to put a title on Blu is higher than for DVD, while the potential revenue is currently lower.  However, as many consumers, especially home theatre afficionados, have started buying their titles on Blu-ray disc exclusively, there is still a good amount of additional revenue to be earned from a Blu-ray transfer.

This, of course, leaves smaller distributors in a fairly awkward position.  They want to make the move into Blu-ray, in order to start building a customer base among those who have already made the transition, but they don't want to pay the mastering costs for a title that will not sell.

With the format war over, though, many of the smaller distributors are starting to make the plunge. Over the last week, both Kino International (an independent and foreign film distributor) and Genius Products (distributor of Weinstien Co films on video) have announced their intentions to support the Blu-ray format.  Kino intends to bring "Fallen Angels" out as their inaugural title, while Genius has oddly decided to launch into the Blu-ray format with "Lonesome Dove."  Some may remember that initially Genius/Weinstien Co. were HD DVD backers though they haven't released any titles on that format in close to a year.

Perhaps even more exciting, at least for those who enjoy classic and avant garde films, The Criterion Collection has also announced their plans for the Blu-ray format.  Criterion first made a name for themselves by essentially creating the "special edition" laserdisc... and is often credited with the "invention" of director's commentaries, director/D.P.-approved transfers, and many other features that became commonplace on DVD years later.

While Criterion was able to release a number of high profile titles as Special Edition laserdiscs, their access to major films has deteriorated somewhat over the years as studios saw more revenue potential in releasing special edition DVDs themselves.  While Criterion does still have agreements to release selected major studio fare, the majority of their releases now are special editions of mainly smaller films that they deem important.  While Criterion's DVD releases almost always have an MSRP of at least $39.99 due to the extreme amount of bonus materials and costs involved in the remastering process, Criterion has surprised everyone by stating that their upcoming Blu-ray releases will be released at identical prices to their DVD counterparts!

The initial slate of Criterion Blu-ray discs is due to hit stores in October.  The scheduled titles are:

• The Third Man
• Bottle Rocket
• Chungking Express
• The Man Who Fell to Earth
• The Last Emperor
• El Norte
• The 400 Blows
• Gimme Shelter
• The Complete Monterey Pop
• Contempt
• Walkabout
• For All Mankind
• The Wages of Fear

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Site News: I'm Back

 

Just a head's up to those who've noticed and sent messages about the fact that I've been gone for awhile.  With the format war coming to an end, the Blu-ray news has been considerably slower than it was before, and with my school schedule being more hectic I definitely let the site slide a bit.

Although the title, player, and drive lists (accessed from the top menu) have all been kept up to date), I really haven't been posting news.  I just finished finals, and am looking at updating the design of the site.  If you have any ideas for new types of content, etc, to report on, please send me an email or add a comment to this post. 

As for now, I'm back and will be trying to get a lot of news up in the next few days.  Stay tuned!

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Universal Announces Blu-ray Audio Plans

 

For those worried that formerly HD DVD-exclusive studio Universal planned to limit their Blu-ray audio to the Dolby Digital+ found on many of the company's HD DVD offerings, have no fear.

Universal announced today that they intend to use DTS-HD MA on ALL Blu-ray releases, providing both lossless audio for those so set up and 1.5Mbps DTS tracks for those without the equipment.

Universal didn't specifically mention what video codec they would be using for their Blu-ray releases, or if the initial titles would be direct ports of their HD DVD releases, but the inclusion of lossless audio certainly bodes well for viewers.

Source

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Paramount Back in the Blu!

 

For those shocked that Universal actually got onboard the Blu-ray train before Paramount returned, well there's some good news today... Paramount has not only announced their return, but will be streeting new titles even before Universal joins the Blu-ray ranks.

New titles announced by Paramount:

May 20:

• Bee Movie
• Face/Off
• Next
• Blades of Glory

June 3:

• There Will Be Blood
• Cloverfield

June 24:

• The Spiderwick Chronicles

 

Also, being reannounced on May 20 are several titles that became officially out of print when Paramount went HD DVD only last fall:

• Aeon Flux
• Babel
• Bee Movie
• Black Snake Moan
• Coming to America
• Disturbia
• Dreamgirls
• Four Brothers
• The Italian Job
• Next
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Sleepy Hollow
• Trading Places
• The Untouchables: Special Collector's Edition
• The Warriors: Ultimate Director's Cut
• U2: Rattle and Hum
• We Were Soldiers
• World Trade Center

Interestingly, "Shooter", the hardest to find Paramount Blu-ray title wasn't reannounced, presumably because that title is completely sold out even from Paramount's warehouses, and has to be replicated again.

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Universal Announces Initial Blu-ray Line-up!

 

Well, the day everyone has been waiting for is here!  Universal Pictures has finally announced their initial slate of Blu-ray Disc releases, starting later this summer.

The first Universal titles to hit Blu-ray are currently scheduled to be The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King, all to be released on July 22.  The first day-and-date title announced is Doomsday.  The hit TV series Heroes is scheduled to make it's Blu-ray debut on August 26, with the simultaneous release of seasons 1 and 2.

Additional day-and-date titles announced for release this year include The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Wanted, Mama Mia!, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer.

Catalog titles promised for release this year include American Gangster, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Miami Vice, U-571, and Land of the Dead.

Making today's announcement was none other than Universal Studios Home Entertainment President (and former HD DVD shill) Craig Kornblau... who undoubtedly is getting a stomache ache from having to eat so much crow.

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PS3 DTS-HD HR and DTS-HD MA Decoding Arrives!

 

If there was any doubt that the PS3 is the most capable Blu-ray Disc player currently on the market, the latest System Software Update (version 2.30) has enabled DTS-HD HR and DTS-HD MA decoding within the the system.

This update allows for lossless decoding of titles (primarily Fox titles) that use the DTS-HD MA compression algorithm within the PS3.  The sound is converted to uncompressed PCM to be sent via HDMI connection to compatible receivers.

This update makes the PS3 far-and-away the most capable Blu-ray player on the market, allowing for the decoding of ALL advanced audio codecs while retaining BonusView (Profile 1.1) and BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capabilities already released in previous updates.

While standalone Blu-ray players will be coming out with competing features later this year (Panasonic BD50 and Sony S550 among others), at the moment, only the PS3 supports all the advanced features available on the Blu-ray disc format.

The new System Software Update 2.30 also enables access to the new and (vastly) improved PlayStation Store that now functions as a much better integrated system, as opposed to the old, HTML based system.

The System Software upgrade can be updated from an internet-connected PS3 directly using the included software update feature or the update can be downloaded to a PC and transferred via memory card or USB drive by\ following the directions here.

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Interview with SCE Engineers

 

In case you weren't convinced that the PS3 was the Blu-ray disc player to get, AV Watch has a new interview with SCE engineers where they discuss the current system software release as well as features that will be upcoming in the major summer update due to hit around June of this year.

As for the current release, 2.20, support was added for LTH (low-to-high) BD-R discs, which should enable cheaper recordable discs to be released soon.  The update also added BD-Live (profile 2.0) functionality to the PS3's already excellent list of Blu-ray features.

For DVD upscaling, mosquito noise reduction was added to allow better scaling of noisy sources, and the other existing filters were improved to allow for better scaling of DVD discs.

The most exciting news, though, was of what is now expected to come.  The engineers confirmed that both DTS-HD MA decoding and 1080i deinterlacing would be coming in a future update.

As for gaming functions, 2.20 freed up additional RAM to be available to game developers... something badly needed in the PS3's RAM-starved gaming environment.  Even with the reduction in RAM usage, there is still substantive talk at Sony about providing the oft-requested in-game XMB access, though the engineers gave no timeframe as to when such a feature would be able to be implemented.

Certainly, there is a case to be made for the additional video quality provided by certain standalone players (especially high-end models such as the Denon DVD-3800BDCI), but for anyone looking for a BD player with with support for all the features available on the format, the PS3 just looks better and better.  Congrats to the SCE team responsible for the Blu-ray implementation... as it truly is WAY above and beyond what one would expect from a "gaming console."

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