Warner Bros. has officially switched to Blu optimized encodes

[AlexanderG]

While this news may recycled for those of you that have been keeping up with the threads concerning the release of Dirty Harry, it's still great news nonetheless. It appears that Blu Ray owners can be relieved to hear that Warner Bros. has not waited in providing Blu Ray owners with high bitrate encodes for their new releases that are not coming to HD-DVD. Contrary to rumors that suggested that we may have to wait until August or so for Blu optimized releases, we're getting them in Warner's first exclusive wave as confirmed in a review for the Dirty Harry Ultimate Collection:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...rs_blu-ray.htm

Technically the three are supported with their original aspect ratios, 2.35-2.40 and 1.85:1 in glowing 1080p with VC-1 compression. I would occasionally check the bitrates and it would be a quite high - in around 34-40bps.

So, there you have it... Warner's fully on board the Blu train. Now bring on Bucket List, Natural Born Killers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and of course... The Dark Knight.

[neo_reloaded]

There may still be some non-optimized encodes on the way, as the order discs are completed is not necessarily the same as the order they are released.

[AlexanderG]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

There may still be some non-optimized encodes on the way, as the order discs are completed is not necessarily the same as the order they are released.

Aside from HD DVD recycles like batman begins, new releases should be blu optimized.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by AlexanderG

So, there you have it... Warner's fully on board the Blu train. Now bring on Bucket List,

I believe the Bucket List only has Dolby Digital 5.1.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by AlexanderG

Aside from HD DVD recycles like batman begins, new releases should be blu optimized.

You are misunderstanding what I just said. Many of the films coming out over the next few months were most likely encoded months ago, possibly even before Warner announced they were dropping HD DVD. It would not surprise me at all if, for example, The Bucket List had a low average bitrate.

It's possible that every future title will be optimized, and that would be great. But we don't know at what point Warner internally made the decision to optimize encodes, nor do we know which titles were encoded on either side of that time barrier.

[BStecke]

While it really shouldn't even be a point of concern when every other studio is pulling their weight, it's still good news to see they're stepping it up. Welcome to the party.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

You are misunderstanding what I just said. Many of the films coming out over the next few months were most likely encoded months ago, possibly even before Warner announced they were dropping HD DVD. It would not surprise me at all if, for example, The Bucket List had a low average bitrate.

It's possible that every future title will be optimized, and that would be great. But we don't know at what point Warner internally made the decision to optimize encodes, nor do we know which titles were encoded on either side of that time barrier.

We know the Matrix will not be optimized.

It was supposedly a solid encode though.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by Woody

We know the Matrix will not be optimized.

Well yes, but we also know when the Matrix was encoded in relation to Warner's internal changes - much much before those changes. Thankfully it was a very nice encode. There were a few problems, but overall it was extremely well done.

Frankly, I'm happy Warner is changing just so people can shut up about it. Most films had perfectly fine encodings - DNR is the real culprit behind substandard PQ. But at least with the bitrate issue out of the way, it'll be one less psychological factor to deal with.

[bkbluray]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

I believe the Bucket List only has Dolby Digital 5.1.

That is dumb. EVERY Blu-ray should have lossless audio on it, regardless if it's PCM, TrueHD, or DTS-HD.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by bkbluray

That is dumb. EVERY Blu-ray should have lossless audio on it, regardless if it's PCM, TrueHD, or DTS-HD.

I honestly think we are moving toward that exact thing. IMO it is just a matter of waiting for WB to do it on all titles, not just action flicks.