Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[WickyWoo]

Enough. Further discussion results in infractions/suspensions

[blitz6speed]

And people were worried we wouldnt have anything to argue about after the war is over! This thread is proof positive theres plenty to argue on the internet about!

[Mr. Spiffy-Pants]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

And people were worried we wouldnt have anything to argue about after the war is over! This thread is proof positive theres plenty to argue on the internet about!

NO THERE ISN'T!!!

[Bill Hunt]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I've been absent. I promise I'll be back tonight to answer lots of questions. Wrapping up our coverage of the war, snooping into upcoming BD titles and this damn flu bug have been keeping me busy the last few days.

In the meantime, I thought some of you might get a kick out of this piece I wrote in the "It's Blu" supplement in next week's issue of Home Media:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...hp?startid=S14

Enjoy and see you this evening!

[SBrooks1]

Bill, first off thank you for answering questions for us. Great to see you have an article in the latest Home Media Magazine. Question.....When do you think we will hear from Universal/Paramount/Dreamworks announcing some big Blu-ray titles? Also, why was Paramount's "going Blu" announcement so subdued?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Hey Guys,

Sorry I've been absent. I promise I'll be back tonight to answer lots of questions. Wrapping up our coverage of the war, snooping into upcoming BD titles and this damn flu bug have been keeping me busy the last few days.

In the meantime, I thought some of you might get a kick out of this piece I wrote in the "It's Blu" supplement in next week's issue of Home Media:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...hp?startid=S14

Enjoy and see you this evening!

Awesome. Cant wait to hear what you have to say.

The question I have to ask is why did Universal and Paramount make such lame announcements instead of doing full blown press releases?

Are they still trying to save face? Is Paramount afraid to face the wrath of the bluray crowd?

Were they caught off guard by Toshiba's announcement? Very unlikely.

Any word on what Universal's first bluray titles could be?
Despite the high demand for bluray optimized encodes, there are PLENTY of titles they could port over to bluray and would look good enough.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by SBrooks1

Bill, first off thank you for answering questions for us. Great to see you have an article in the latest Home Media Magazine. Question.....When do you think we will hear from Universal/Paramount/Dreamworks announcing some big Blu-ray titles? Also, why was Paramount's "going Blu" announcement so subdued?

Soon. They have many titles already in the works. Some already pressed, some being pressed, some in authoring, some planned. Watch for announcements to begin in the next few weeks. As to the announcement, I think they want to have more details ready to offer before they really make their big announcement. I also think there is some negotiating still being done with Toshiba over whether or not they have to give back the $50 million...

More later tonight. Gotta get some food.

[Sporty]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Hey Guys,

Sorry I've been absent. I promise I'll be back tonight to answer lots of questions. Wrapping up our coverage of the war, snooping into upcoming BD titles and this damn flu bug have been keeping me busy the last few days.

In the meantime, I thought some of you might get a kick out of this piece I wrote in the "It's Blu" supplement in next week's issue of Home Media:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...hp?startid=S14

Enjoy and see you this evening!

Can't wait for the announcements on the Paramount titles from your twocents today.

BTW Good article on HM. I tried to read it from your link on the bits today but pg 14 wouldn't load for some reason. Link here worked fine.

[SBrooks1]

Thanks for the reply. Quick follow up.....Do you think it's possible we may never see some already released HD DVD titles released on Blu-ray due to low sales? Do you think Uni/Para/Dream may say to themselves "_____ didn't sell well on HD DVD so there's no reason to release it on Blu-ray."

[p1rates]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Well, I can tell you guys pretty conclusively that Paramount will be...

This could end up in the law courts, I hope it doesn't, if it does Paramount won't be able to release anything on BD until any court case is settled.

OMG, Thank you Maxpower1987 and Bill Hunt!

That is some juicy information! You know what? I hope Paramount has to give back that money because they chose greed over their customers. It would suck if they can't release anything on BD until it get settled. Didn't they hear that money is the root of all evil?

I do want Mean Girls on Blu-ray.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Well, I can tell you guys pretty conclusively that Paramount will be...

This could end up in the law courts, I hope it doesn't, if it does Paramount won't be able to release anything on BD until any court case is settled.

I assume they are looking for their money from Toshiba and are getting no where. I hope this does not delay BD releases.

[Jim L]

Hi Bill!

Great article in Home Media today. A nice summary of things and what lies ahead.

While reading it, I kept thinking about a question related to "what's next" for Blu-ray that has been in the back of my mind. In the early days of DVD, you and The Bits were my greatest resource and teacher about that format. The more I learned, the more I could enjoy and appreciate my favorite films in a new way. Now I see consumer education to be in need of some sort of push that will help us all enjoy this new-fangled Blu-ray format.

Who's task is it to educate the consumers? (retailers, CE companies, studios, the media?)
And what would you recommend for them to do about it?

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this.

As you know, there are a lot of misconceptions about codecs, lossless sound, HD resolutions, and some folks still don't know the difference between widescreen and 4:3 pan & scan!

Also, do you plan to write another book, this time about Blu-ray?

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Soon. They have many titles already in the works. Some already pressed, some being pressed, some in authoring, some planned. Watch for announcements to begin in the next few weeks. As to the announcement, I think they want to have more details ready to offer before they really make their big announcement. I also think there is some negotiating still being done with Toshiba over whether or not they have to give back the $50 million...

More later tonight. Gotta get some food.

Bill -

Do these studios realize we want to see encodes taking advantage of blue and are they willing to re-do some of what they have already done for HD-DVD? I won't spend my dollars on something this is just "ported over". Curious if you have any insight into this.

Thanks and hope the flu is passing...

[Paradiso]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Hey Guys,

Sorry I've been absent. I promise I'll be back tonight to answer lots of questions. Wrapping up our coverage of the war, snooping into upcoming BD titles and this damn flu bug have been keeping me busy the last few days.

In the meantime, I thought some of you might get a kick out of this piece I wrote in the "It's Blu" supplement in next week's issue of Home Media:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...hp?startid=S14

Enjoy and see you this evening!

Great read!

[OokieSpookie]

Hey Bill, I usually hate questions like this but I like to this this is not the usual "is this title coming" post.
Fox is releasing a new 24 set as I found out on your site, May I think it is...
There is already one set on dvd of course, so my question is that if they are going to double dip what is keeping them from putting it on Blu also?
This would be the ideal time to put season one out and to build hype for the return of 24.
Any input?

[LeoneFan]

I'm very disappointed that the special edition 24 season 1 is not coming to Blu-ray. Fox continues to drop the ball every chance they get as far as releases go. Not to mention they are holding the entire MGM catalog hostage as well.

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Well, I can tell you guys pretty conclusively that Paramount will be...

This could end up in the law courts, I hope it doesn't, if it does Paramount won't be able to release anything on BD until any court case is settled.

This certainly was one of my fears about Paramount in my crystal ball post months ago. I had a feeling it might end up in courts. The question is will 2008 pass faster than a court case..

[Spankey]

If Toshiba tries to prohibit Paramount from releasing on Blu, they would look even worse than they do now.

The only question I have is whether or not money actually changed hands. If I remember correctly the money was supposed to be for promotion, etc. Almost as if it would be payed with time on a title by title basis.

Oh well. 6 months of an 18 month contract. Two companies that deserve each other.

[Grisle]

It would be poetic justice if Paraamount/DW either never received any money or had to give some or all back...they we can just backhand that bieech and set them straight.

[GJN]

Bill, Is there enough capacity in the BD production network to absorb titles from Universal and Paramount without slowing down releases from old-line Blu-ray studios?