Blu-ray puts the heat on HD DVD

[bear]

Just read this in the July issue of Maximum PC:

"According to Home Media Magazine, first quarter sales of high-definition discs favored the Blu-ray format by a wide margin. Of the 1.2 million discs sold between January 1 and March 31, 832,530 have been Blu-Ray units."

Very nice!

[Deciazulado]

Which makes for 367,470 HD DVD units?

[jorg]

hey thats a good number? lol just wait untill the big hd dvd titles come out they might reach 400 000 units u know with great titels like The Skeleton Key?lol

[movies3]

Originally Posted by jorg

hey thats a good number? lol just wait untill the big hd dvd titles come out they might reach 400 000 units u know with great titels like The Skeleton Key?lol

hahah so true lmao

[saljr]

I live Northern Calif. Both Hollywoodvideo and Blockerbuster are having close out on rented dvd. To replace with Blu-Ray and HD dics. The Hollywoodvideo store that I go to have increase by double there High Def movies. Blu-Ray- 3.5 to 1-HD Dics. Blu-Ray still wins!!!!!

[ussrelativity]

Good to see solid numbers on Blu-Ray. I will be more ready to throw my finances at Blu-Ray when the numbers are even more in favor of Blu-Ray.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by jorg

hey thats a good number? lol just wait untill the big hd dvd titles come out they might reach 400 000 units u know with great titels like The Skeleton Key?lol

Well, at least The Skeleton Key is an attempt to put out a decent looking title. For the catalog stuff MS-NBC Universal seems to have begun phoning in the effort. (3 and 3.5 from Mr. VC-1 at HDD).

Gary

[The Don]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Well, at least The Skeleton Key is an attempt to put out a decent looking title. For the catalog stuff MS-NBC Universal seems to have begun phoning in the effort. (3 and 3.5 from Mr. VC-1 at HDD).

Gary

yeah, but the movie itself was weak...

[David Vaughn]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Well, at least The Skeleton Key is an attempt to put out a decent looking title. For the catalog stuff MS-NBC Universal seems to have begun phoning in the effort. (3 and 3.5 from Mr. VC-1 at HDD).

Gary

Gary,

It isn't the fault of VC-1 that these titles don't look very good, it is the masters themselves and the effort that is going into them. As has been shown in numerous movies, no matter what the coded used (MPEG-2, AVC, or VC-1), they all have the capability to look outstanding when the source element (master) is in good shape with excellent resolution. Unfortunately, Universal is not remastering catalog titles and it is hurting the quality of the releases. If or when Universal decides to release on BD, if they use the same master that were released on HD DVD and choose to use either MPEG-2 or AVC, they will still look average at best because they are the weakest link (the masters themselves, not the codecs).

I have had the benefit of seeing almost every HD DVD and most BD releases since each format launched and in every case of a poor release, it is always the source element that is the issue, not the codec. Look at Deja Vu on BD...that is a VC-1 encode and an outstanding looking title.

Best,

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by David Vaughn

It isn't the fault of VC-1 that these titles don't look very good, it is the masters themselves and the effort that is going into them. As has been shown in numerous movies, no matter what the coded used (MPEG-2, AVC, or VC-1), they all have the capability to look outstanding when the source element (master) is in good shape with excellent resolution.

I actually was refering to the overall effort being show by Universal myself. I agree 100% that the three codecs, with sufficient bits, should be able to create near equivalent results.

As you say, Deja Vu is amazing. One of the best VC-1 releases yet, and that was by a studio inexperienced in the codec.

At this critical point for HD DVD, I was expecting Universal/MS to really pull out all the stops. Quantity with mediocre quality isn't going to help things, is it?

Gary

[Knight-Errant]

Originally Posted by jorg

hey thats a good number? lol just wait untill the big hd dvd titles come out they might reach 400 000 units u know with great titels like The Skeleton Key?lol

Don't forget their secret weapon......Sgt Bilco with Steve Martin!

[jubaiweaponx]

Originally Posted by Knight-Errant

Don't forget their secret weapon......Sgt Bilco with Steve Martin!

I love it now if we can just get a slew of queen latifa movies this format war is as good as over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[POOPonYOU]

Originally Posted by jorg

hey thats a good number? lol just wait untill the big hd dvd titles come out they might reach 400 000 units u know with great titels like The Skeleton Key?lol

Nice!

[GoldenRedux]

Originally Posted by bear

Just read this in the July issue of Maximum PC:

"According to Home Media Magazine, first quarter sales of high-definition discs favored the Blu-ray format by a wide margin. Of the 1.2 million discs sold between January 1 and March 31, 832,530 have been Blu-Ray units."

Very nice!

But, according to TVPredictions.com, 'On a percentage basis, HD DVD is far outselling Blu-Ray.' Yeah, I see what they mean now.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by GoldenRedux

But, according to TVPredictions.com, 'On a percentage basis, HD DVD is far outselling Blu-Ray.' Yeah, I see what they mean now.

That piece really should be recanted and withdrawn. So many credible sources, like the Nielsens, blow that to hell right of the bat...

Who do they think they're kidding?

[ussrelativity]

Nielsens sure seem to be more accurate in sales figures, not because of my personal reactions to the favorable Blu-Ray numbers, but with the reliability of the sales figures, and how they are gathered, as opposed to TV ratings.