Smallville Season 6 Finally!!!

[XanderAE]

Title says it all!

How great is this?!? special Blu-ray encodes as well!!! 4 discs... must be 6 episodes per disc... GOTTA be 50GB discs!!

Hell yeah!!

Come on Warner, season 5 an'all!! and make sure you re-encode those transfers

[goodstuff]

Woohoo, guess Warner is finally seeing the light with simultaneous BD releases. No IME crap this time around. Maybe they're learning their lesson. Also 4 discs vs 5 for HD-DVD

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7588

We started getting emais asking about HD releases almost immediately after we posted news that <I>Smallville</I> season 6 would be released on <B>September 18</B>. Now we have some exclusive info from Warner Bros - they'll release season 6 on Blu-ray and HD DVD on <B>September 18</B>, the same day as the DVD.<BR>
<BR>
Both sets retail for $79.98, and contain the same content:

<UL>
<LI>Green Arrow: The Legend of the Emerald Archer
<LI>Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom
<LI>Smallville Big Fans
<LI>Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles
<LI>The Making of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles
<LI>Deleted Scenes
</UL>

Both sets will contain 1080p video (1.78:1), with the Blu-ray release sporting a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and the HD DVD release containing a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio track. Blu-ray flexes its additional capacity on this set; the Blu-ray release is 4 discs while HD DVD is 5. Here's a look at the artwork:<P>

[u_nick]

This is GREAT news! I was kinda depressed about not getting season 5, but after the spectacular season 6, I was dying to hear this news! and now it's here and SO close! I couldnt be happier right now.

[XanderAE]

Originally Posted by u_nick

This is GREAT news! I was kinda depressed about not getting season 5, but after the spectacular season 6, I was dying to hear this news! and now it's here and SO close! I couldnt be happier right now.

Ditto bud, i felt exactly the same!!

I'm a little worried now though, in case Warner make the same mistake now that they did with season 5 on HD DVD... resulting in truly aweful compression from fitting 5 episodes on a disc. Seeing as the HD DVD is using the same amount of discs as s5, this may happen again, and what if we get the same ported over, instead of new ones just for Blu?

I swear, they better make a better job of this!

[u_nick]

Thats true.

The fact that they are actually using BRD's extra capacity to give it to us on a smaller number discs makes me optimistic that they have their head in the right direction, but you're right, I think we still have a right to be worried about the content.

[Xerious]

this is the news i've been waiting to hear!!!

i truely cannot wait until they get the rest of the seasons on blu...

[XanderAE]

Right there with you Xerious!

Of course, there's the whole "problem" with season 1 (being post-produced in sd) but we can always hope that one day Warner will go back and redo all 21 episodes for HD release.

As for Season 2 onwards... feckin bring 'em on!

[MasterXeus]

Yes finally a TV Show I'm interested in buying that as an actual date.

Now if only we can get Fox and MGM to give us a date for 24 and Stargate Atlantis.

[assur191]

Originally Posted by MasterXeus

Now if only we can get Fox and MGM to give us a date for 24 and Stargate Atlantis.

YES, please. Stargate SG-1, too.

[MasterXeus]

Originally Posted by assur191

YES, please. Stargate SG-1, too.

oh, I agree. I only said Stargate Atlantis since it was the one already announce for Blu-ray.

I’m hoping Season 6 of Smallivlle sells well on Blu-ray. If there’s enough demand I’m sure will see the rest of the Seasons in no time.

[XanderAE]

Buy, buy buy!

[DaveFi]

And once more Warner short-shrifts us on the sound format. I'd rather have it on 5 discs and have superior sound. There's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have at least identical sound to the HD-DVD version.

[supergp17]

I'm definately getting this.

[vercity]

Cant wai for this now we need Heroes or Prison Break and lost on blu ray

[Chad Varnadore]

It's great news that they're supporting BD this time. But I'm not optimistic about the decision to use 4 discs instead of 5. Sony used 4 whole discs for Rescue Me, offering high bitrate AVC and PCM audio for every episode. Warner's going to 4 discs with almost twice as many episodes as Rescue Me, implying that the video encodes and audio will likely be the same or have much more in common than they would if they followed Sony's recipe.

Season 5 on HD DVD was very inconsistent in detail, bit starved (very badly at times), and sounded like they used 384kbps for the audio instead of Warner's usual 640kbps. The PQ was dramatically improved over DVD. But that's not exactly a qualifier of effort. The AQ was like listening to DVD, poor DVD - harsh - overly stressed - lacking body, spaciousness, and detail.

This announcement doesn't indicate that Warner learned anything from their first release or implies that they simply don't care. I'll still buy it on Blu as well, as I'm sure it'll be a leap above DVD. But, based on this annoucement, I'm not all that excited at the prospects of presentation quality.

[Chad Varnadore]

Originally Posted by vercity

Cant wai for this now we need Heroes or Prison Break and lost on blu ray

Fox mentioned Prison Break and 24 coming to BD at CES - the first seasons at least.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Lost on BD in the fall. But, since ABC has put a cap on the series, I wouldn't be surprised if BVHE waited and released a complete set once it's finished also.

[Apollo 18]

I'd like to see some other TV shows released on Blu Ray. Prision Break would be good, as would X-Men the Animated Series (from the 90's). Smallville is a start though...

[Dark_Prince]

Hopefully this will either a) turn up in the UK, or b) be region free like Warner's other discs. Suspect it will probably be region free as most Warner TV DVD's are region free.

[bubs]

HBO shows would be the best on BD

entourage, curb, deadwood, sopranos

[XanderAE]

It should be noted (Davefi) that the sound will be identical on both formats, its just called something different for HD DVD, thus the "plus" monika.

I too was under the impression we were getting worse sound, til i was told otherwise. But BOTH ARE THE SAME SOUNDTRACKS!

For more information, see thread titled "Difference between Dolby Digital 5.1 & Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Tracks"

As for PQ, i really do hope they've learnt their lesson! There have been advances with VC-1 since season 5 i hear, so even if we do get shitty port-overs, hopefully the encoding will be a lot tighter with better compression and quality control!