Ditto....cant wait for the studio canal releases.

As far as the sony PS3 problem. Im loving it. I cant wait to make some money on these like I did with the 360s. Shortages are good for me (as long as I can get them through my channels).

Are the Japanese HD DVDs of decent quality? I've not heard good things about them for some reason. Though Studio Canal generally put out a high quality product - Brotherhood of the Wolf is a fine DVD and should look great in HD.

I have Finding Neverland (which is in AVC/MPEG4) and it looks very good but not on par with the VC1 releases. Others have said The Brothers Grimm looks absolutely fantastic.

The rest that are coming out in Europe in the fall will be in VC1 (AFAIK).

The japanese version of Equilibrium looks stellar in my opinion. Its MPEG4.

As far as the euro studio canal releases, supposedly (according to Amir), MS worked with them on their releases. He confirmed they will be encoded with VC-1 and similar quality to the US releases. They will also be using the shorter boxes for hd-dvd unlike the japanese releases.

These will be the ones that I get (of the reported titles that will be coming out this fall).
Le Pacte De Loups
T2
Stargate
Total Recall

Yeah, I'm all over those European releases. I caught T-2 HD on cable the other day and it looked good, so a well done VC-1 HD DVD release should be amazing.

Do we know if any of the StudioCanal releases will have DolbyTrueHD?

Edit: Rock, I thought they said Brotherhood of the Wolf won't have English subtitles.

Who said that?

Since its coming out in the UK, I dont see why it wouldnt.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...vd/movies.aspx

There would be no excuse for leaving english subs off this title.

Okay, my bad. Must have misread something or other.

Do we know when we'll be able to buy these European releases?

The really cool 3 or 4 disc french dvd version that came out years ago didnt have english subs or dub track. Thats probably where the speculation came from. I would think with this release, leaving off the english subs would be a HUGE mistake.

I think its Nov 20 for the initial titles.

Its my understanding that they will be announced in the next couple weeks during IFA in Berlin.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62420

No, I'm neutral. But to someone blindly obediant to their "Master S" of course I'm an HD-DVD backer. As I have said for months and months and months, if BD can get it's shit together then they can win. Sony is screwing the pooch at every turn. IF they get BD 50 working and produced, and IF they can make the picture and sound better on their releases and IF they can release quality players at a competitive price then BD can, and probably will win. Problem with that is there's a whole lotta if's.

Were there to be a lower priced BD player in the Tosh range, we'd all benefit. The two formats would get competitive with the pricing and we'd see prices on both drop a lot faster.

For the record, I try like hell to find nice things to say about BD, but the real actual fact is that HD-DVD is cleaning the floor with them.

So you are saying that you think there are more 35 and older people playing video games than people under 15? Come on.

What about us "middle" people? :) the 15-35? :)

Btw...QGJ...where did you get your sig?

I wouldn't doubt that people 18-25 are the largest group of game players. But surely it is not a stretch to imagine that all the kids in the country playing games soundly trounce the number of 35+ year olds playing games. Toy companies are in crisis because traditional toy sales are slipping because kids want video games rather than toys.

My sig is from "Clerks II"

ALOT of 18-35 year olds play video games AND have money to spend on them. BUT, I think kiddos play games more frequently (my opinion).

That said, a huge percentage of video games are played by kids and I just dont think their parents are going to plop down $600 for the PS3.

In the end, it will all come down to games though, not BD titles to sell the PS3. If the PS3 can release some stellar games that addict people (like GTA 3 did), then it will do well. After all, it is a GAMING system.

Im 31 and I have a shitload of friends my age and up to 40 that play computer games (like WOW and Everquest). They dont play as much console games though.

I would be curious as to what the percentage of CONSOLE gamers are above 25.

I have to agree. I remember being EXTREMELY addicted to video games when I was younger and probably still could be. But unfortunately, i love movies too much and i need to keep paying my bills so that would leave very little time to devote to video games.

I can't see parents spending over $700 one a system and ONE game. i couldn't even believe it when my parents got me a nintendo and a couple of games for christmas. My, how times have changed.

Hmmmm.....





Ya sure you want to shout that on an internet forum that EVERYONE can see?




:)

While the theatrical editions of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 still belong to Miramax and hence Disney, "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair" belongs to The Weinstein Co., which has sided with HD DVD.

I dont play computer games....i only play games on my 360. Never got into online gaming even though my friends have tried to coax me into it.

Good to know. I hope they release it soon!

EE Times: Semi News
Blu-ray hardware makers mum on plans


Yoshiko Hara

Page 1 of 2


EE Times
(08/29/2006 5:40 PM EDT)


TOKYO — A gathering of Blu-ray Disc companies here revealed an avalanche of content coming from content providers, but a dearth of available hardware on which to play the titles.

The meeting and demonstration were attended by 14 content providers and five hardware suppliers. The Blu-ray Disc content suppliers showed off nearly 100 BD-ROM video packages, but hardware suppliers clammed up about their hardware introduction plans.

"We want to bring a high quality of content in BD-ROM video disks—movies, music and animations that are better than HD broadcasting to homes," Kiyoshi Nishitani, deputy president of the Sony TV and Video Business Group, said in his introductory comments at the demonstration.

Digital media critic Reiji Asakura predicted that the next-generation optical-disk systems will mark the biggest advancement "in 25 years, since the advent of VHS, in enabling audio/video content that makes a real emotional impression on people."

But thus far the cheerleading is coming largely from the software providers. Only Samsung Electronics is selling a BD-ROM video player, the BDP-1000, in the United States. Matsushita is expected to introduce a player in the States in September, followed in October by a Sony introduction.

In contrast, Japanese consumers won't be able to buy Blu-ray Disc players in Japan until November, when Sony launches its oft-delayed Playstation 3, which incorporates a built-in BD player. Other Japanese consumer electronics vendors are not divulging their product introduction plans for Blu-ray.

The prevailing thinking among Japanese hardware vendors is that a recording function is essential for Japanese consumers. Looking to the current DVD market for insight into trends for follow-on formats, vendors note that DVD players have dominated U.S. hardware sales for that format, whereas the Japanese market has been more focused on the sales of DVD recorders.

"We are selling DVD hardware in Japan at a ratio of 10 DVD recorders to every DVD player," said Sony's Nishitani.

But none of the hardware suppliers—Sony, Matsushita, Pioneer, Hitachi or Sharp —clarified its marketing plans, saying only that BD recorders could be released by year's end.

More than 10 million units of high-definition TVs for terrestrial reception are in use in Japan, and more than 50 percent of digital video recorders can record terrestrial DTV programs, said Masayuki Kozuka, general manager of the Matsushita Storage Devices Business Strategy Office. The Blu-ray Disc supporters hold about a 75 percent collective share in the digital HD video recorder market in Japan, he said.

Sony's Nishitani said the company would introduce a BD recorder first for the Japanese market, since there are plenty of HDTV programs available for recording in that market.

Page 2 of 2


EE Times
(08/29/2006 5:40 PM EDT)



Disc production issues
Also facing the Blu-ray camp are disc production issues.

For BD-ROM disc production, Sony's disc manufacturing group DADC set up the production system (see article). The BD group claims the 50 Gbyte capacity disc realized by the dual-layered structure is an advantage over competing HD DVD, but the difficulty of producing the discs has been regarded as a big hurdle.

Matsushita's Kozuka stressed that Matsushita has already established a volume production system at its BD Replication Task Force (BDRT) at PDMC (Panasonic Disc Manufacturing Corp. of America) in Torrance, Calif. Matsushita now lacks a disc replication business in the U.S., so is considering turning the replication line into a commercial line.

"By the Christmas season, dual-layered discs will be on market," Kozuka said. Matsushita is offering the disc production technology to other replicators through its affiliate company Origin Electric.

Sony also plans to begin producing dual layered discs at its Shizuoka plant.

http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/sh...cleID=192500151

Well of course there are always people in the neighborhood who happen to have 360s just laying around...They even have family who work for EA and MS so they have a shit load of games as well :D

http://www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php

For Computer Gamers...

* Thirty percent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Twenty-six percent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Forty-four percent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.

For Console Gamers...

* Forty percent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Thirty-five percent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Twenty-five percent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.

Wow....GREAT article!

You guys should definitely check this out.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62615

Yeah, some good (and some potentially not so good) stuff in there.

Hmm, that is some very interesting reading material there.

potentially not so good? such as?

Such as the engineer's assertion that current players may not be able to handle TL45 media, even if it becomes an official part of the spec.

as per avs...

Amir said at least a month ago that the NEC drive in the Toshiba will read TL discs. He got that information directly from NEC engineers. Even the NEC brochure shows TL45 http://www.de.nec.de/brochure/hd_dvd_e.pdf

I figured that console gamers were younger in age.

Some of those numbers make sense on that site and some dont though. I wonder if they include a grandma who plays computer solitaire in their research. My girlfriend plays it and doesnt play ANY other video games on the computer or console.

Also, I wonder if they include parent's who buy their kids video games as game players since its based on sales data.

This association is dedicated to pushing the video game companies agenda, so its in their benefit to make it look like the whole country plays video games.

That article affirms what i always said. Triple Layer HD is not in the spec and being added in. Even then, i doubt the A1 will play it properly. The engineer states its a hardware limitation. I dont trust much of what amir says anymore. hes Captain FUD.

The article certainly undermines what Amir's been saying for some time now. As to the NEC PDF, that's just marketing copy. I'll take an engineers word over advertising any day of the week. Or does anyone on here really believe the drive plays 90Gb HD DVDs that haven't even been created yet?

Well, to be fair, he says that its his opinion. He very well may be right, but he also says he doesnt know if current drives will be able to read them.

That said, I dont care if I have to upgrade my player. TL45 discs are a possibility and we very well may see them before the end of next year.

Hell, we might see them before regular production of BD50 discs. ;)

Amir is an insider with very good information and he has been reliable, but its understandable that a Sony fanboy wouldnt want to believe anything from a MS svp who basically heads up the hd-dvd department. :rolleyes:

You do realise BD100 (and 200 for that matter) are as close to commercial viability as HD DVD45? There's been no interoperability testing, no manufacturability testing, no spec, just a lab prototype. It seems little more than a concept at the moment. And judging by Alex's response to certain of the engineers comments on PRML it's questionable how much we should invest in any of what he said: non-compatability of current hardware, TL next summer, all of it.

It's time for another one of these:
 

http://www.fantasticdamage.com/blog/hdchart6.gif

On the hardware side, Toshiba's HD-A1 is still selling well, by HD/BR standards. It has been consistently selling, on average in the Top 500 of electronics, a broad Amazon category that includes other DVD players, cameras, memory cards, GPS navigation units, phones, iPods, and any number of other items.

If we were to look only at DVD players, then the landscape changes a bit. If we were to look at today's Top 100 Electronics list, you'd see DVD makes up a small fraction of that: there's only 3 DVD players. That's likely to put the HD-A1 on a consistent Top 10 to 20 list for DVD players sold on Amazon; a list that would include the XA1 and Samsung's BR player if expanded to the top 50 or 100.

On the software side, Blu-Ray's recent best selling title Silent Hill dropped off the charts a few days after release, while still maintaining it's $16.99 price (it is now higher). Other new releases failed to create any big jump in sales.

HD-DVDs top sellers were mixed between a temporary price-drop (Ray), a strong catalog release (The Searchers), and day-and-date pre-orders (Mission Impossible).

Thanks, Bus! Great job!

Phillips announces stand alone Blu-Ray player with 1080p and all the usual goodies. Also Triple PC writer (writes Blu-Ray, DVD and CD). Info here:

http://www.techdigest.tv/2006/08/ifa_2006_philip_2.html

My point is that TL45 is possible for the future (Amir confirms this). Hardcore BD supports act like the limitation of HD-DVD being 30gb is unchangeable. When in fact, TL45 is an option and is possibly being explored soon.

Makes me wonder if they're going through with TL45 so that they'll be ready should Fox/Disney/other want to switch over.

Why the PS3 won't be considered a "real" player
 

Here's why the PS3 won't be considered a "real" BD player.

Check out the interface:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/images/.../original.jpeg

http://www.highdefdigest.com/images/.../original.jpeg

Honestly, its not a big deal to me. I guess some studios want it, but seriously when will it actually be fully utilized? Probably not for another year or 2.

Right now, if there is not enough space on a 30, then just make it a multiple disc set with the HD docs and special features on the second disc (like MI3).

I dont see any huge apps being added in the near future that need to be on the main feature disc that would exceed 30gb.