That song is the best when you're gonna go back door on her.

HAHA.

The volleyball scene in its fullest high definition glory? "Danger Zone" with lossless audio?

This might be the Wisconsin cheddar of high definition format cheese.

How about that even without the upscaling, the A2 will still display standard DVDs better than most.

Any idea if it's TrueHD or PCM? Would this release be considered a Summer or Fall release?

It's going to be both. You can probably guess which track will be on HD-DVD and which will be on BD.

Tell the guys at paramount that they have really been earning my dollars when it comes to sales. First the high bitrate AVC encodes and now PCM tracks. Keep it up, seriously, you make it easy to blind buy anything with specs like that.

Will the HD release of 40 Year Old Virgin contain the extra 90 minutes of content that is included on the Special Edition that is getting released this week?

Possibility of Suspiria on HD-dvd?
Weinstein aquires Suspiria

http://www.philly.com/philly/columni...umer_win_.html

Jonathan Takiff | Universal's gamble: Will consumer win?

Universal Home Video's Ken Graffeo is the industry maverick by putting out content only on HD-DVDs.
THE GIZMO: Universal Home Entertainment holds the HD-DVD fort . . . and maybe the keys.
In what's shaping up as an electronics industry trial of the century - between two incompatible, high-definition video-disc formats - the holdout juror is Ken Graffeo, Universal Home Video executive vice president of HD strategic marketing. And he may very well upset the whole case.

Every other Hollywood studio (that would be Sony, Fox and Disney) is either backing the Blu-Ray high-def disc format exclusively or maintaining a Swiss-like neutrality.

In the latter camp are the likes of Warner Bros. and Paramount, issuing titles on both Blu-Ray and its close but incompatible rival, HD-DVD, and calling on other studios to do the same.

But then there's Graffeo's company. Universal Home Entertainment is the one and only "major" exclusively backing the other combatant in this trial, putting out content only on HD-DVD.

That means that if you crave a high-definition disc version of, say, "The 40 Year Old Virgin" or the futuristic thriller "Children of Men," the first season of "Heroes" (out Aug. 28), or any of the other 100-plus HD titles that Universal will deliver this year, then you've gotta accept his vision and buy an HD-DVD player.

What is this man thinking? We had to ask.

Q: I imagine the pressure on you is pretty intense when you talk with your studio peers. Having two rival formats keeps most consumers on the sidelines waiting for a winner. How do you respond to that?

A: I'd argue that this format war is actually beneficial to the consumer. A little over a year ago, the least expensive HD-DVD player was $799. Now, with Toshiba's current rebate promotion (good through June 16), you can get an HD-DVD player for as little as $299.

On the Blu-Ray side, the players started at $1,000 to $1,800 at the end of [2006] and this summer will be down to $599 with new models from Sony and Panasonic. It's the format war that's driving pricing down at such a dramatic, accelerated rate.

Q: Why did Universal opt for HD-DVD?

A: Several years ago, we looked at the technology and decided that this format would offer the better set of mandatory specifications.

From day one, every HD-DVD player made has to have an Ethernet port for online connectivity. And every player had software to support unique, interactive viewing experiences either programmed onto a disc or available online. We're exploiting this on many Universal releases.

In Blu-Ray, the interactive specs are still just an option. The only Blu-Ray player now sold with an Ethernet port is the PlayStation 3.

A lot of their players can't even support the interactive BD-Java software that's running the two new (Blu-Ray-exclusive) "Pirates of the Caribbean" titles.

[Editor's note: The balking Samsung, Philips and Sony players will eventually show the "Pirates" discs but only after a firmware upgrade.]

In fact, the Ethernet and Java specs for Blu-Ray won't be fully firmed up until Oct. 31.

That's why Warner Bros. is putting out a more sophisticated, online-connected version of "Blood Diamond" on HD-DVD, and also why they've put out "Batman Begins" and the new "Matrix" box sets first on HD-DVD.

Q: How about the manufacturing costs?

A: Also very important - and lower for HD-DVD discs and players.

When you can get below $300 for hardware, you open up the mass market. Now people are willing to jump in and buy a player.

Even if the other format were to eventually win, there's no risk. Because that HD-DVD player you buy will still play your regular DVDs and, by upconverting, will actually make the discs look better.

I can't imagine Blu-Ray getting even close to a $300 player this year. I expect their lead dog, PlayStation 3 [now $599], to drop $100, but that's it.

Q: Sales figures for Blu-Ray movie discs are significantly higher this year than for HD-DVD. How do you counter the argument that the tide has turned in Blu-Ray's favor?

A: We didn't have many hot releases in the first quarter, or many releases at all. They had some real biggies, like "Casino Royale." The fourth quarter will be telling. Our releases will be stronger, and we're looking for a big attach rate [that's disc sales per player] when people jump for an inexpensive HD-DVD machine to show off their new high-def TV set.

To that end, we're doing a lot to educate the retailers and the consumers. You know, there are now HD sets in probably 25 million households. But more than half of those owners still believe, incorrectly, that anything they plug in - including basic cable and standard-definition DVD - is going to be in "high definition" on those sets. We've got to show them what they're missing. *

E-mail Jonathan Takiff at takiffj@

phillynews.com.

Good read. I don't like the format war either, but I definitely appreciate Universal sticking to their guns and being HD DVD exclusive. If both formats live on and Universal only produces HD DVD, I have no problem keeping a HD DVD player just for their content. Their exclusiveness really pisses off some of the AVS BD-cheerleaders because they are constantly looking for articles that try suggesting Universal will go neutral. If they don't ever go neutral, it won't be costly to get a player. You'll be able to get a Toshiba player for probably $200 or less this year and certainly next year.

Graffeo is very vocal for HD DVD. They needed someone like that.

Wasn't the HD-A1 $500 from the start?

Go Universal!

They can end the war right now by releasing Brazil on HD DVD.

Truth.

Yep. But maybe he means MSRP or something, I dunno.


<3 Universal

Great read. Thanks for sharing.
I hope Universal sticks to their game plan being exclusive to HDDVD. Ultimately, it's the competition I enjoy the most.

Yeah, I think he does...because we can actually get the A2 for under $299 and he doesnt say that.

My brother's birthday is in July and I just purchased the A2 for him. He has a 46" Sharp 1080p LCD, so he definitely needs HD DVD. Amazon has sold out of the A2 and some of my local retailers are out, so that's a great sign for HD DVD. I can't wait to see the aggressive deals both sides give us this Fall. Christmas '07 should be a big push from both formats.

I need to have a brother like you...

The MSRP was $499 from the start.

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/new...archived=False

Toshiba to enlist laptops to push HD-DVD format
Tue Jun 5, 2007 7:39 AM EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. aims to put disk drives for high-definition DVDs on all its laptops next year as it strives to gain an edge in the high-stakes next-generation DVD format battle, a Toshiba executive said on Tuesday.

Sony Corp. equips its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game consoles with Blu-ray drives to win people to the rival high-definition DVD format, and Toshiba should use a similar tactic, said Toshiba Senior Vice President Hisatsugu Nonaka.

"The demand is there: people want to watch their favorite movies in high-definition on the road," he told reporters at a news conference.

Toshiba, which research firm IDC said shipped 9.2 million notebook PCs in calendar 2006, is seeking to land a knock-out blow against the Sony-led Blu-ray camp, but adding high-definition drives to PCs would mean higher prices and could hurt sales.

Sony shipped 5.5 million PS3s in the year ended March, of which 3.6 million were sold, as the PS3's $600 price tag scared away would-be buyers and convinced others to opt for lower-priced rival consoles, such as Nintendo's Wii.

Toshiba, the world's No. 2 maker of NAND flash memory chips, also said it would sell laptops using flash memory for storage starting June 22, as it seeks new consumer demand for NAND chips.

NAND prices have fallen far enough to make feasible notebooks with 64-gigabytes of flash, needed to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system, Toshiba said.

"We think flash laptops are about ready to break into the consumer market, and will start to catch on around next summer," Nonaka said. The new flash laptops are priced at around 400,000 yen ($3,286).

Flash laptops are lighter and quieter, but higher-priced than PCs with hard drives. Toshiba hopes such laptops would help double sales of its mobile laptops to 1 million units next year.

fixed that for you.

Not even a big LOTR fan either.

^Except that New Line, being part of Warner Bros., will likely release on both formats when they get around to it. That certainly won't end a format war.

I'm with ya. Im just stating that LOTR is probably one of the only titles available that really has a chance to "end the war"

pun intended??

Eh, not over 800 replies, but I guess I'll close this one too since it's dormant for the moment. Feel free to start up a part 2.