Paramount to Ride Blu-ray Wave

[Applefiend]

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news...u-ray_Wave/186

Following on the heels of 'Mission: Impossible III,' Paramount Home Entertainment has announced it will release its first two full waves of Blu-ray disc titles, due in stores beginning this Fall.
Arriving September 26 are 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,' 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow,' 'Four Brothers' and 'Sleepy Hollow,' to be followed by 'Aeon Flux,' 'The Italian Job,' 'Sahara' and 'U2: Rattle and Hum' on October 10.
The studio had previously released ten titles on HD DVD last month; all but two, 'We Were Soldiers' and the 2004 remake of 'The Manchurian Candidate,' are yet to be announced for Blu-ray.
Paramount now follows Warner Home Video as the second studio to begin release most if not all of its HD DVD titles on rival Blu-ray. Both have pledged to support both formats, letting consumers ultimately decide who will when the next-gen high-def war.
Though no technical specs or supplemental features are yet available for Paramount's latest announcements, new listings for each title have been added to our Blu-ray Release Calendar

[ProvenFlipper]

Damn... Just as I thought I was going to get a break from purchasing Blu-ray titles... these get announced.

I'll be getting Sahara, Four Brothers, Italian Job, Aeon Flux, Sleepy Hollow, and most likely Tomb Raider while I'm at it.

[Jazar]

So when will the number of BR titles surpass HD DVD's?

[ProvenFlipper]

Originally Posted by Jazar

So when will the number of BR titles surpass HD DVD's?

Well, HD-DVD has had quite a bit of a head start and both Warner and Universal are being really agressive with the amount of titles they are putting out. But as soon as Disney and Fox begin to get agressive with releases and Warner and Paramount continue to do day and date releases, as well as constant releases of catalog titles, the gap will begin to close.

Disney has at least announced 10 titles and Fox is definately fully supporting the BD camp but has yet to announce any titles. Warner is bringing us about 4 titles a month and the same with Paramount so far. One of the best things I feel however, is the release of The Lake House and M:I3 on both formats the same day. Releases like these are going to help blu-ray catch up.

As the other studios put out quality titles and they start to get better reviews, hopefully Sony will get the point and switch to a more efficient codec and do the BD camp a huge favor.

[Zvi]

Originally Posted by Jazar

So when will the number of BR titles surpass HD DVD's?

I'm more concerned with BD PQ surpassing HD DVD PQ than the number.
With HD DVDs out it's unbelievable how studios can still push the subpar quality releases onto the consumer Especially Sony, who should be the most interested party.

[ProvenFlipper]

Originally Posted by Zvi

I'm more concerned with BD PQ surpassing HD DVD PQ than the number.
With HD DVDs out it's unbelievable how studios can still push the subpar quality releases onto the consumer Especially Sony, who should be the most interested party.

The next wave of Warner titles are supposed to be VC-1 and so are the Paramount and Disney titles that are on the horizion. There have been reports that when a VC-1 test disc was played on a BD player and a HD-DVD player, differences were non-existant. So I believe that within the next month or so, we'll see if BD can finally catch up with HD-DVD on the picture quality front.

When these titles release, hopefully they will blow the PQ of the Sony BDs and Sony will get the message that they need to change something and change it fast.

[Zvi]

Yeah, st least they have hardware right I woubdn't expect video encoded @ equal bitrates to look dirrerent on HD DVD or BD. So, the hope is for now they switch to VC-1 and then somehow they make the damn DLs processing work right so we can have 40mbs bitrates.

P.S. Also, I am all for ditching PCM sound, I simply don't understande why waste space/bandwidth on PCM when there are lossless audio codecs available.

[Chad Varnadore]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

The next wave of Warner titles are supposed to be VC-1 and so are the Paramount and Disney titles that are on the horizion. There have been reports that when a VC-1 test disc was played on a BD player and a HD-DVD player, differences were non-existant. So I believe that within the next month or so, we'll see if BD can finally catch up with HD-DVD on the picture quality front.

When these titles release, hopefully they will blow the PQ of the Sony BDs and Sony will get the message that they need to change something and change it fast.

Paramount just informed me that they will be switching to MPEG2 for their BD releases, citing Sony's lab only using MPEG 2 as the reason why.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Chad Varnadore

Paramount just informed me that they will be switching to MPEG2 for their BD releases, citing Sony's lab only using MPEG 2 as the reason why.

How concerned should that make us?

I'm thinking of those 3 Mission Impossible films, for starters...

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by JTK

How concerned should that make us?

I'm thinking of those 3 Mission Impossible films, for starters...

ahh yes the beauty of having both formats...whats ever is the better value, i buy =)

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

ahh yes the beauty of having both formats...whats ever is the better value, i buy =)

That's one perk.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by Chad Varnadore

Paramount just informed me that they will be switching to MPEG2 for their BD releases, citing Sony's lab only using MPEG 2 as the reason why.

Yikes!

I second JTK's question.

[Chad Varnadore]

We'll know in a week or two. Warner's MPEG 2 releases were hardly a farcry from their VC1 counterparts, but Warner seems to be being selective of what they release on BD at the moment, as if saving their more demanding titles (ie lengthy or feature laden) for BD50. Assuming that the HD DVDs maximize available disc space, it only stands to reason that a disc holding the identical content (actually DD on BD probably takes a bit less space than 5.1 DD+ on HD) with 5 GB less disc space, using what seems to be a clearly less efficient codec would have to compromise somewhere. But, they are very different technologies that obviously can't be judged on specs alone And I'm still trying to give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they have a ligitimate concern with VC1s capabilities despite their not being forthcoming as to exactly what it is about VC1 they feel inferior or unquestionably prooving it so in disc performance. Sony has invited me to the studio a couple times in the past month to find out first hand from Executive VP of Advanced Tech, Don Eklund, which shows good intent on their part. They definately seem to feel confident in their approach. Alas, I'm on the wrong coast for such a trip to be practical right now.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Chad Varnadore

We'll know in a week or two. Warner's MPEG 2 releases were hardly a farcry from their VC1 counterparts, but Warner seems to be being selective of what they release on BD at the moment, as if saving their more demanding titles (ie lengthy or feature laden) for BD50.

Warner deserves a hearty salute for their efforts! Hopefully Paramount and others will be able to follow suit.

Assuming that the HD DVDs maximize available disc space, it only stands to reason that a disc holding the identical content (actually DD on BD probably takes a bit less space than 5.1 DD+ on HD) with 5 GB less disc space, using what seems to be a clearly less efficient codec would have to compromise somewhere.

Troubling, except from what I've read, the only compromise, if any, might be on extra features and such.

But, they are very different technologies that obviously can't be judged on specs alone And I'm still trying to give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they have a ligitimate concern with VC1s capabilities despite their not being forthcoming as to exactly what it is about VC1 they feel inferior or unquestionably prooving it so in disc performance.

Besides being MS's baby?

It would be interesting to know what their concerns are, specifically.

Sony has invited me to the studio a couple times in the past month to find out first hand from Executive VP of Advanced Tech, Don Eklund, which shows good intent on their part.

I wish you'd go. Hell, I'm halfway ready to help get a fund together to pay your way.

They definately seem to feel confident in their approach. Alas, I'm on the wrong coast for such a trip to be practical right now.

Thanks for your efforts as always, Chad!

[Psiweaver]

I think that based off the tears of the sun release that this wouldn't be a horrible thing as long as the pq is on par with tears of the sun.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by Psiweaver

I think that based off the tears of the sun release that this wouldn't be a horrible thing as long as the pq is on par with tears of the sun.

Let's hope for the best.

[ProvenFlipper]

As I've said before, I don't care what coded is used as long as the picture looks good. I do wonder why Paramount is using Sony's labs though... Are video mastering labs limited in number? I thought Sony expanded the mastering tools to include VC-1? I can understand if Sony doesn't want to pay Microsoft, but if Paramount doesn't care, then why stop them?

[zombie]

Warner is using VC-1 for their BDs, why can't Paramount?

I do agree though that if the image looks great, the codec doesn't matter. It's just that most MPEG2 BDs are seriously lacking in the PQ dept.

[Chad Varnadore]

I don't think the codec has as much to do with some of Sony and LGs releases looking below par as it seems to be getting credit for. In other words, if Sony released House of Flying Daggers on HD DVD using VC1, I think it would look 95% the same. As with some of Paramount's and Warner's VC1 titles on HD DVD, I think the problem stems back to the master. Using older masters that were done with DVD in mind and done before recent advancements in the technology just isn't going to cut it for a new high def format anymore than using older 4:3 letterboxed masters done for LD didn't cut it compared to anamorphic DVD. There should be not short cutting the technology.

Unfortunately, if history repeats itself, we'll probably see a lot of compromises in the first couple years on both formats from some studios more than others. It may be awhile before sales are seen to justify the added expense of remastering a title, especially for smaller studios or those on a tighter budget like New Line, LG, MGM, Criterion, Anchor Bay, etc. Even Sony may be a bit strapped for cash right now considering all they've got invested in the technology and their financial troubles. Not to mention studios may be more interested in getting a volume of product on shelves to support their format as fast as they can right now. It doesn't matter if the movie tanks, the most important part is that they promoted it well enough to get you to buy the ticket.

We're still seeing regurgitated efforts on DVD even today, even from major studios. Buena Vista just re-released Ransom, a pretty big film for the second time in 2004 in its rehashed non-anamorphic fidelity. And even Warner and Fox, both who arguably have the best and most consistent DVD output, still put out some real stinkers from time to time and cut corners on smaller releases especially. For some foreign films the elements available for domestic release may not even be of suitable quality for a reference high definition presentation.

Studios need to be made aware that cutting corners is not going to cut it with the new demands of high definition. But, just as some studios were able to fool most consumers by taking 4:3 letterboxed presentations and encoding them on disc anamorphically, but with no physical increase in resolution, essentially just bypassing the need for quality aspect correction in the player or display, I suspect some studios will try to take the easy way out for a lot of older titles if they can or just focus on releasing newer titles until the market justifies more.

[JTK]

^^ Gotchya.