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

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

The key question is going to be, how quickly does a broader audience start embracing Blu-ray and what features do they care about most? I'm not convinced Blu-ray is really going to take off until the holidays and into next year, when prices drop more and really BIG titles that people want (both catalog and this summer's blockbusters) start arriving in stores. The most important feature is high-quality HD video that truly represents the original theatrical experience. If it's an older title shot on film, I want it to LOOK like film, not video. That means there needs to be grain. The key is the need to impress upon the studios that they can't dumb down the format for the mass audience. Video and audio quality come first, extras second. Advanced extras are a distant third in my mind. I do think advanced extras will have appeal to mainstream consumers, but I think the greatest appeal to that audience will be lower prices and title selection.

I agree entirely and please try to convince the studios not to use DNR. That is one of the worst things they could do.

[lgans316]

When Warner releases these catch up titles BB & V you will soon recollect this phrase "Expectations bring Disappointments".

[MerrickG]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for printing those words of reason on thedigitalbits today. I am consistently shocked how short sighted and idiotic some sore losers have become towards bluray and Im glad someone can set the record straight.

[horseflesh]

Bill, are Warner bothered that, with Universal & Paramount confirming lossless audio as standard, they are the studio now seen among early adaptors as lagging behind and even "lazy"?
Which of course is ironic considering they were the ones that brought HD DVD crashing down.

Off-topic; do you have a beard?

[darkblueme]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Off-topic; do you have a beard?

[Mr. Cinema]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Bill, are Warner bothered that, with Universal & Paramount confirming lossless audio as standard, they are the studio now seen among early adaptors as lagging behind and even "lazy"?
Which of course is ironic considering they were the ones that brought HD DVD crashing down.

Off-topic; do you have a beard?

They were never praised for their dvd audio either. I believe their Dolby Digital mixes were at a lower bitrate than other studios and they rarely used DTS. Doesn't seem like much has changed going to BD.

[Alan Gordon]

Bill,

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

A few of you may be wondering why there's no Blu-ray Disc of Stargate: Atlantis - Season Four. There are a couple reasons. First, it takes time for the market for TV titles to develop on a new format, and as Blu-ray is still fairly new to most people, it isn't quite there yet. Also, as we've mentioned previously, TV sets gobble up a lot of production resources in terms of authoring, QC and replication. Hollywood is working hard to ramp up their Blu-ray capacity, and right now most of those resources are being dedicated to film titles, both new and catalog. So you're probably not going to see a lot of TV titles on Blu-ray until next year. There's definitely a few coming (including some that are not yet announced), but next year you're going to start seeing a lot more.

You, WickyWoo, and other people have been very clear on this issue in the past, and most of us understand this... however:

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

And on the Blu-ray front, Warner has set the animated Justice League of America: Season One for release on 8/19 (SRP $59.96 - 3 BD-50 discs)

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to this release. I have it on DVD, and it will definately be a double-dip, and I understand that WB has the whole 3Q "Superhero" theme going, but I'm still slightly puzzled by this move. I would assume that the fact that WB can fit all these episodes on three discs might have something to do with it, but with the strike, WB had several new shows ("Chuck", "Pushing Daisies", and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") without many episodes (PD had 9, "Chuck" with 13, and SCC with 9) the first two of which will both be getting new pushes this Fall (not to mention shows like "Moonlight", "Supernatural", or even "The Big Bang Theory" (which I understand is a comedy which isn't really a big seller right now but with only four and half hours of episodes, it certainly wouldn't cause replication problems).

A couple of these shows (SCC wouldn't be a shock) might make it to Blu-ray anyway, and I'm not trying to hint for any information regarding them, but rather to understand WB's train of thought in picking JL over some of their other shows?

Also, I asked this question before, but it was probably lost to you in a reply to WickyWoo, and I was going to let it go and wait for the specs, but after asking Kris Deering about it on another thread, my curiosity is eating away at me. Do you know if Universal is planning on converting their HDi "Interactive" features from their "Heroes: Season One" set on HD DVD to BD-Java for their BD release? I don't care much for interactive features, but I thought Universal put some thought into the ones for this set, and I sure would like to have them on the BD release. My only worry is that they might not have enough experience with BD-Java to do so?

~Alan

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Bill, Paramount's announcement of BD titles contained a mix of the old (Face/Off) and the new (TWBB, Bee Movie, Spiderwick)
Are we likely to see a similar mix for subsequent announcements?
Something like Transformers (old), and Sweeney Todd (new)?

* I'm not a huge fan of either of those 2 titles, so I'm genuinely not fishing for specific information, just wondering if that's the way you think (or know) it will pan out

If I had to guess, probably yes. At least for the next few batches of announcements.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by GarettP

Bill,
Thanks for taking the time to post here in the very busy day or so since Paramount finally announced their Blu Plans.

No question, just wanted to say thanks for posting all that you can here, I think you owe yourself at least time to sit and drink a beer or whatever drink you like! Thanks for all the info.!

Thanks Garett! Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Drewza89

Bill,

I'm sorry if I overlooked it, but how come the Mission: Impossible trilogy and Shooter aren't being re-released like the other Paramount titles? If they will be, do you have any idea on a time frame for release?

Thanks!

They may be coming on 5/20, like the other titles, but just aren't on the press site yet. I'm sure they'll be back in stores shortly.

[SBrooks1]

Bill, What do you think the production process has been like for Paramount behind the scenes going from making Blu/HD DVD to only HD DVD and now ramping up for 100% Blu?

What do you think it's been like for Universal who was 100% HD DVD and now having to go Blu?

I guess I'm just curious about how hard or easy that would be for a company to do in regards to replication and resources involved.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I think that is where you make a mistake. With internet features "intent to use" = "perception of value". A studio will know if it is one person that went 20 times or 20 people that went once. If people don't use it then why will studios maintain the infrastructure for it. so that dichotomy does not exist here where a studio asks "do you like XXX" and everyone responds yes even though they don't use it because they don't care if it is there.

It remains to be seen how long the studios WILL maintain the infrastructure. How many DVD-Rom connected sites are no longer available. I think we have yet to see how (or even if) people will embrace BD-Live content. But the simple fact remains that the more features are listed on the back of the packaging, the more value consumers think they're getting.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Hah, that means I better Warn-A-Bruther that big bad Bill will be knocking on their front gate rather soon.

Yep... I'm going to start on this next week. Quietly and behind-the-scenes at first, because I know they really are struggling with it. But if the trend continues, it may become something we take up as a cause on The Bits, a la anamoprhic enhancement of DVD back in the day. In fact, if you know of anyone specifically I should approach over there, you know where to find me.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I think people should sometimes be reminded that a great looking tree (Blu-ray disc) is often dependent upon how solid the roots are (primary photography).....whether they consciously recognize it or not while watching the movie.

You probably are aware but, for those that are not, I think The Professionals has been announced by some major studio – which was shot by Connie……..actually got an Academy Award nomination for it, if memory serves.

THAT should be a treat. Anything Hall did should be a treat on BD.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by blu-suedeshoes

Hey Bill or other insiders,

I came across this quote from Jeffrey Katzenberg after the Paramount announcements, ``We haven't made a decision yet beyond the release on `Bee Movie,''' , Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg said yesterday on a conference call. ``But stay tuned.''
Is he just being an ahole with sour grapes just to be one, or is he seriously basing their plans for future blu-ray releases depending on the sales of one of Dreamworks' weakest movies? One would think they'd release the 1st Shrek to see how that does on blu if they are going to base anything off sales. He can't be going off of Bee Movie after it's been released on DVD for awhile, nor the weak sales of Shrek the Turd (pathetic movie compared to the other two) on hd-dvd. What does his comment say for the future commitment to blu-ray? Thanks for any insight.

Source of the article, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...OU&refer=japan

Katzenberg has always been behind the curve on high-def, disc-based media. In January of 2007, he was saying it would never fly - that downloading would be the future. So frankly, I don't take much of what he says on this score very seriously. Spielberg has a better handle on it.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Yep... I'm going to start on this next week. Quietly and behind-the-scenes at first, because I know they really are struggling with it. But if the trend continues, it may become something we take up as a cause on The Bits, a la anamoprhic enhancement of DVD back in the day. In fact, if you know of anyone specifically I should approach over there, you know where to find me.

Really, really glad to hear this!

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Bill, are Warner bothered that, with Universal & Paramount confirming lossless audio as standard, they are the studio now seen among early adaptors as lagging behind and even "lazy"?
Which of course is ironic considering they were the ones that brought HD DVD crashing down.

Off-topic; do you have a beard?

They're definitely aware that people want lossless. I do believe this is the direction we're going. Off topic: What in the world do you want to know that for?! That just might be the strangest question I've ever been asked.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Bill,

A couple of these shows (SCC wouldn't be a shock) might make it to Blu-ray anyway, and I'm not trying to hint for any information regarding them, but rather to understand WB's train of thought in picking JL over some of their other shows?

I think it's a little bit of, let's throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks. It's fewer discs, the masters are newer, and superhero stuff does sell. The audience ties in nicely with the younger portions of the early adopter audience.

[MerrickG]

Bill,


Honest question:

How would you rate the "splash" that Paramount and Universal made with their bluray support?

Im inclined to give Paramount an edge because they will be in stores sooner rather than later, but it seems like Universal, overall, has a much more impressive line up throughout the year if they follow through with releasing the titles mentioned.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Yep... I'm going to start on this next week. Quietly and behind-the-scenes at first, because I know they really are struggling with it. But if the trend continues, it may become something we take up as a cause on The Bits, a la anamoprhic enhancement of DVD back in the day. In fact, if you know of anyone specifically I should approach over there, you know where to find me.

I know……………with these guys.