Cool news-

Fox Announces Its Blu-ray Slate

Fox is the one studio that would convince me to also support BD. There's a few of those titles I would love to get. I'm just not sure there are going to be any players out there that will be worth buying this year.

That is awesome news. BD50s will be a plenty come this holiday season, and they're ALL going to be non-mpeg2! BRING IT BABY!

p.s. - CHOO CHOO!

p.s.2. - Heres the rest of the article.

Yay! The true launch!

Good to know they are finally getting it together. However, I still need to see proof they can do anything to surpass HD DVD in quality. I've heard the "Blu-ray is superior" crap for months, now show me at least a single shred of proof.

Titles that interest me, now will they live up to the expectations. Fox is the one studio that might convince me to buy a BD player. I am tired of all the Blu-Ray is superior crap everyone in the BD camp keeps blowing out their ass though because it has proven time and time again that it is not.

You can buy Fox titles in High Def. There, i showed you how Blu-Ray is superior.

$39.98 list price? What does that usually mean for retail?

*yawn*

wake me when there's something to see/hear. None of those titles interest me, luckily.

I'm guessing either AVC or MGM is the big announcement?

No you didn't. You can get Sony titles like The Fifth Element on Blu-Ray. Doesn't mean people will want to buy it. If Blu-Ray's "True Launch because our original launch was a failure" titles look like current BD titles, I'll pass - even if they're from Fox or Buena Vista.

If you have third-party reviews on the picture qualities of these releases, please link them to me. Otherwise, you're just making stuff up.

$20-$30.

"Fox titles with AVC are Behind Enemy Lines, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Speed."

So does this mean the 4-hour Kingdom of Heaven will use MPEG2? WTF?

I imagine that Amazon prices will be hovering around $27-28. And brick and mortar will above $30.

Honestly, this is why it is hard to take you seriously.

This article says there will be ONE title on BD50. And that is still up in the air until it releases (they've still got to get it working after all). Why would you be willing to settle with 95% of your BD movies on BD25 with inferior PQ and little or no extras? Just because they throw you a bone with ONE BD50 (encoded with MPEG-2 it looks like, too!)? The reason there would only be ONE is because it will cost a fortune to make these due to low yields on BD50.

I won't buy into BD until:

• PQ is worth buying (on par with HD DVD that is)
• BD50 is common (i.e. 90-95% of releases)
• Prices for good players equal to HD DVD player prices
• Extras are ported over from the SD version

And I don't understand why a true BD supporter would want any less since that's what the competition delivers. You'd have to be drinking the Blu-laid to demand any less of the BD camp.

here's a little more details on the discs from what I had read over at AVS:

BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Marked as one of the studio's first three BD-J releases, BEHIND ENEMY LINES features DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and MPEG 4 compression. The disc also includes commentaries by Director John Moore, Editor Martin Smith, and Producers John Davis and Wyck Godfrey, as well as selectable HD trailers of upcoming BD releases.

FANTASTIC FOUR: Presented with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, the HDMV Blu-Ray Disc of FANTASTIC FOUR boasts commentaries by Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis and Julian McMahon, and selectable HD trailers of upcoming BD releases.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director's Cut): To accommodate the full 3 hour and 42 minute run time of Ridley Scott's Director's cut version of his epic masterpiece, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is one of the industry's first dual-layer BD releases and is authored in HDMV presented with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio.

KISS OF THE DRAGON: Authored in HDMV with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, KISS OF THE DRAGON includes commentaries by Chris Nash, Bridget Fonda, and Jet Li, as well as selectable HD trailers of upcoming BD releases.

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: One of the industry's most advanced BD releases, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN is authored in BD-J with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and includes commentaries by the cast and crew, a unique search index which allows the viewer to sort scenes from the movie into 72 categories ranging from actor (e.g., Shane West, Sean Connery) to character (e.g., Allan Quarterman, Agent Tom Sawyer) to locations (e.g., Paris, Venice), among others. Additional features include an interactive first person shooter game boasting 12 unique play modes, up to 99 bookmarks, an animated pop-up trivia track, and HD trailers of upcoming BD releases.

THE OMEN (666): Authored in HDMV with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, THE OMEN (666) includes commentary by John Moore, Glenn Williamson and Dan Zimmerman, two featurettes and two extended scenes plus a BD-exclusive animated pop-up trivia track entitled "The Devil's Footnotes," which explores the history of the triple sixes (666).

SPEED: This BD-J release boasts DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and MPEG 4 compression. Special features include commentary tracks and commentary chapter selections by Jan De Bont, Graham Yost, and Mark Gordon, as well as an animated pop-up trivia track, up to 99 bookmarks, a 56-category search index (see description on THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN) and a java game entitled, Speed: Take Down, touting six game play modes. The title also includes HD trailers for upcoming BD releases.

THE TRANSPORTER: Authored in HDMV and presented with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, THE TRANSPORTER Blu-Ray Disc features commentaries by Actor Jason Statham and Producer Steven Chasman, in addition to host of selectable HD trailers of upcoming BD releases

Wait a second. Is this the big announcement of the "new format partner?" I suggested, half-joking, the other day that it might just be Fox announcing their titles, and not really a "new" partner after all. Was I actually right about that?

Sweet. Titles finally coming out how they should be.

For reference, HDMV is panasonics new encoder, otherwise known as H264.

http://hdmv.net/

Really. Maybe for you.

They're, again, leaving off extras available on SD DVD.

Sad.

Neat, although, does the Samsung player decode DTS-HD MA? Or will it only extract the 1.5mb core?

If i seem like i go over the top at times, its just due to how extreme in nature this forum is in biased torwards hd-dvd. I feel like so many on here are taking crazy pills.

1 from Fox. 2 from Disney. 2 from Sony. And this is in its infancy. And you dont need 50 gigs to put a 90 minute movie onto a disc if you're using advanced codecs, the entire point of BD50 is so studios can go over the top for special releases and long movies now can look absolutely stellar with insanely high bitrates and using a ton of space with lossless codecs. KOH is a PERFECT example of how the technology is actually being applied like it was designed to be.

1. PQ will be equal or better. The recently reviewed MPEG2 warner titles looked 95% of the HD-DVD VC-1 films. The rest from here on out are the same codec and same movies on both formats. They will look the same, other then studio films from BD only companys who so far are looking like they're on track to be at the very least on par with hd-dvd and with the BD50 titles, surpass it.

2. BD50 being common place wont happen till years in. Thats how i see it at least. You just need it for the blockbuster titles and the long movies. As long as you use a good codec, a 90 minute movie doesnt need 50 gigs.

3. PS3.

4. Being done with the advanced codec titles.

Ill add a #5, sony is stupid to stick mpeg2. Bad choice, but they'll also make the switch.


Everythings being addressed. I dont drink Blu-Laid. I am just seeing the Blu-Ray group actually getting its act together and going for this all important holiday season market. With all this great news, im more then willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If all these promises are unfulfilled by jan 01 2007, then HD-DVD might have a chance.

Question: If demands 1 & 4 could be met with regularity on a BD25, would you require demand #2?

Actually, HDMV refers to the standard authoring mode of Blu-Ray, compared to the advanced authoring mode which is BD-J

Christ.

The BD people and their "if's."

Blitz, do you even own any BD equipment? Or are you on their bandwagon because of their spec sheets or the PS3? You are quick to call everyone a fanboy, but damn man, can't you realize that that's all you are? Especially if you don't even know what the hell you are talking about, by not owning the equipment, and just keep spouting the spec sheets over and over, anybody that can read can do that. The people here that enjoy the HD video format, are doing so because at THIS current time and state, it's the better choice. Even you can admit to that.

Before you go all out and start screaming that i'm a fanboy as well, i'll let you know i'll own whichever format is better in the end. I won't own either until this little pissing match between the two companies are settled. I will NEVER own a BD if they keep producing inferior products though.

Having said that, i'm looking forward to seeing MP4 in action, but it just stirs me that they continue to leave out content from the SD versions of the film.