Warner goes PCM for Blu-Ray: The Departed
 

Warner's own first Blu-Ray with a PCM uncompressed track will be The Departed, which will be a BD-50 :up:. The HD-DVD will be a Combo disc with True-HD and has the same extras.

full pics here: http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releas...-departed.html

http://www.dpags.com/images/temp/thedeparted.jpg

Great Movie Great Music. If only I had a Blu-Ray player.

I'll probably get the Blu-ray release since it will be cheaper.

Slam dunk for Blu on this one. Cheaper with LPCM. :thumbsup:

I'm going to take a time out from buying HD-dvd software for the next month and see where WB goes with regards to having PCM on every Blu-Ray title from here on out. If they add it to multiple releases I'll buy their titles on Blu-Ray from here on out.

Frankly, I'm also sick of buying the combo discs.

wow, that's sweet. Thanks, Warner!

Wow. I guess I'll be buying this one on Blu-ray. Big score for them.

Is there really a difference between TrueHD and PCM? I thought there wasn't supposed to be?

Wonder if there will be a different transfer for this one as a result.

In terms of what your ears hear, no, but that's the point. Warner's Blu-ray releases haven't offered lossless audio until now.

I imagine the transfer will be the same but the bitrate should be higher on the BD-50.

I'm pretty sure both versions will look and sound identical (with THD matching the PCM) but I guess a lot of the dual formaters will go Blu for the sake of skipping the combo disc.

I was told at the HD DVD meet that all WB releases will feature the exact same transfer on both formats.

I was just wondering if something had changed.

I'm not in a hurry to jump on BD and I haven't bought a single combo disc yet, but I may have to give in this time. Great film and it should be stunning in HD.

I'd imagine the transfer will be exactly the same. I may pick this up on BD, though, to skip the combo.

I want to keep supporting HD-DVD, but if the two releases are identical, it's gonna be hard justifying the extra 5 bucks for the combo title.

Anything I can do to impress upon the studios how stupid combos are is something worth doing.

And it's strange...because if you pick it up from another country: no combo.

When a studio such as Warner Bros. releases a film on both formats, I too have read that they each contain the same 1080p video file. Higher bitrates on Blu-Ray discs could easily be accounted for by their persistent use of less efficient encoding, which would of course require larger video files.

Looks like it will be the Blu-Ray version for me as well.

I don't care what anyone says, I have yet to hear a TrueHD disc that sounds as good as the best LPCM's like BHD. Maybe it's the A1 & not the software, I don't know... but I much prefer & will buy LPCM over TrueHD in a heartbeat, & I'm not alone in feeling this way.

If I was BD-capable, I'd probably swing towards that for this release since I hate paying the combo price. Still, I'm just grateful to be getting this title in HD at all!

Yes, for love of god stop the combo. I hate combo disc and now that I am dual format, I will probably get this in BD.

I'm actually torn, 1080p Blu-Ray vs 1080i Combo HD-DVD. While I don't prefer that all HD-DVDs be combo (certainly not catalog titles), it is useful to allow my parents to borrow to watch.

I have to agree with some here: I've always said that if something's available on both formats, and all things being equal, I'd get the HD DVD version. But here...I don't hate Combo discs like some people, but I'd prefer not to have them. Plus, with identical sound, picture and extras on both, but a lower price and no Combo version on Blu-Ray, I may have to go with the Blu-Ray disc this time. Oh well, still excited to see this in HD one way or another.

So is this the first movie that is available on both formats, where one can actually compare TrueHD and PCM? I know others on AVS have agreed, my ears always preferred PCM over TrueHD, which I could never distinguish from DD+.

:hscratch: Both transfers will be 1080p.

Hmm, I wonder if this means Batman Begins will have PCM whenever they get around to putting it on Blu-Ray...

I'm going for the Blu-Ray on this....give me my picture disc. I hate those combo disc!

You have Black Hawk Down on HD DVD and you've compared it to the same movie on Blu-ray? Really, where did you get this HD DVD disc that doesn't exist?

The Departed will be our first opportunity for a direct apples-to-apples comparison and can finally put an end to this stupid "PCM is better than TrueHD" myth once and for all. I greatly look forward to that.

I think he might have just meant that he cant watch the hd-dvd at 1080p if he owns the a1 or a2? Not sure.

As for me, im torn, since there is no IME on the hd-dvd, I think ill go with the BD for PCM. A bit cheaper, PCM and no combo. First time for me getting something on BD over HD-DVD.

If there were a place cheap enough (or at least around the same price), I'd just import it and not deal with the flipper.

Does the foriegn language on the cases bother you, like on the ones from Spain? I would hate it. Bruce Almighty and Scary Movie are/will be available on Blu Ray in Japan, but if the have Japanese characters all over them, its a deal breaker.

Nevertheless, my best looking discs are in HD-DVD (VC1) and my best sounding discs are in Blu (LPCM), and that's just the way it is. I shall not be comparing The Departed at all, I will just get the BD. :cool:

People who care more about artwork than the movie scare me ;)

You can just print out a different artwork if you want.

And I'm not talking about Japanese/Spanish releases.

If you get a US combo title in any other location, it's not a combo. It's a regular single-sided disc.

Sorry, right, I own the HD-A1 and the Sony PS3 feeding my 1080p Pearl. The blu-ray path is pure 1080p, where as the HD-A1 is 1080i. Even the newer XA2 isn't true 1080p either, is it? I thought it interlaces then line doubles internally, so you'll get 1080p->1080i->1080p processing.

Blu-ray for me. Don't wanna deal with those shit combos.

HD for me - I'm only buying exclusive BD titles.

When did this come up? Is this actually going around?

Following on Josh Z's comment....It would be hard for PCM to be better than TrueHD (assuming same bitrates) considering TrueHD is PCM. Oooh, but with a brand name.

There were several comments upthread about PCM on BD sounding better than TrueHD on HD DVD (different titles, of course). I would guess it is either something to do with the user's audio setup or a placebo effect. Or perhaps there is a bitrate difference that is noticeable.

Can the PCM track be passed through using HDMI to a receiver that processes the audio part of HDMI or can you only access it through analog outs?