Details for Warner's HD DVD Launch Titles

[zombie]

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=60881

Warner Home Video have announced the USA release of their first three HD-DVD titles for 18th April 2006. Million Dollar Baby, The Last Samurai and The Phantom of the Opera are the lucky few, priced at $28.99 SRP each and offering the following content…

Million Dollar Baby

Main Feature:
1080P HD 16x9 2.40:1
Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1 & French 5.1
English, French and Spanish subtitles

Extra Features:
480i Standard Definition
Stereo Sound
James Lipton Takes on Three: Roundtable with Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Moderator James Lipton
Born to Fight: A discussion with real-life boxer/actress Lucia Rijker
Producers Round 15: Behind the Scenes
Theatrical Trailer

The Last Samurai

Main Feature:
1080P HD 16x9 2.40:1
Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 2.0
English, French and Spanish subtitles

Extra Features:
480i Standard Definition
Stereo Sound
Commentary by Edward Zwick
Deleted Scenes
Edward Zwick: Director's Video Journal
History vs. Hollywood: The Last Samurai {History Channel Documentary)
Tom Cruise: A Warrior's Journey
Making an Epic: A Conversation with Edward Zwick
A World of Detail: Production Design with Lilly Kilvert
Silk and Armor: Costume Design with Ngila Dickson
From Soldier to Samurai: The Weapons
Japan Premieres
Imperial Army Basic Training
Theatrical Trailer

The Phantom of the Opera

Main Feature:
1080P HD 16x9 2.40:1
Dolby True HD: English 5.1
Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1 & French 5.1
English, French and Spanish subtitles

Extra Features:
480i Standard Definition
Stereo Sound
Behind the Mask: The story of The Phantom of the Opera
The Making of The Phantom of the Opera in 3 Spellbinding Acts:
Pre-Production
The Director
Production
No One Would Listen: Additional Scene
Singalong
Theatrical Trailer

[thunderhawk]

1080p material on HD DVD?

[Marwin]

Yes, the discs will hold 1080p versions of the movies, but the Toshiba players don't support higher than 1080i output.

[Shadowself]

Each of these movies was shot on film. If I recall correctly, the format ratio for that mode of film is 2.35:1 not 2.40:1. (It's optically compressed with the camera lenses to the "standard" 1.85:1 format.) To get the imagery to 2.40:1 they have to add black bars to the right & left edges or they have to cut off imagery at the top and bottom. I have no idea which they'd do if they really are presenting 2.40:1 formatting.

Additionally 16:9 is not 2.40:1 but 1.78:1. To get to 2.40:1 (or even 2.35:1) they have to add black bars to the top and bottom or cut off on the right & left edges to get to 16:9. Most likely they will add black to top and bottom.

So which is it? 16:9 or 2.40:1 or 2.35:1 ???

(To make matters even worse, the digital cinema standards, "2K" and "4K" have an aspect ratio that is 1.896:1 and the nominal film standard is 1.85:1!)

[GTP]

And there is only one player that can pass the full DD multi channel Tru-HD signal from Phantom onto next years new reveivers and pre/pros.

And that would be the PS3.

[phloyd]

It seems odd that these carry a 480i version - I wonder if there is some implication that the HDDVD player cannot downconvert?

Or are they implying a hybrid disc that will play 480i on DVD players?

[Jodi]

About the specs of the first three Warner HD-DVDs.......
The folks at Warner will NEVER learn!!!!!!
Why??????
I guess it's no surprise to me that their new hi-def discs (just like virtually ALL of their standard DVDs) DO NOT HAVE DTS SOUND!!!!!!!!!
INFURIATING!!!!!!!!!!
The chances of my ever adopting both BD and HD-DVD are fading away FAST!

Jodi

Originally Posted by nyg

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=60881

[thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by Jodi

DO NOT HAVE DTS SOUND!!!!!!!!!

Don't underestimate Dolby Digital-Plus mate

[Rob]

Originally Posted by thunderhawk

Don't underestimate Dolby Digital-Plus mate

Do you mean Doplby True HD? because I thought DD+ was just a extension of DD rather than a hi-def sound format. Also, as both new formats are lossless, will the average person notice a big difference between them.

[AV_Integrated]

Originally Posted by Shadowself

So which is it? 16:9 or 2.40:1 or 2.35:1 ???

All HD material is 16:9 format - but the movie itself is a good question. If they are being space concious, then the actual material may be on the disc at 2.40:1 or 2.35:1 (I'm not sure which is accurate for the description of cinemascope - both?) Anyway, if they only put the 2.40 material onto the disc, it doesn't change that the OUTPUT from the player is 16:9 format HD which puts bars above and below the image.

The advantage of the player adding those bars is multiple:
1. It doesn't waste precious disc space on black bars, but would just include a flag at the beginning that would say "This movie is 2.35:1 - add black bars!"
2. Those with plasmas/CRTs who fear burn-in could change the bar color from black to grey or some other color if they wanted to.
3. Those (few) with anamorphic lenses and top notch projectors can really utilize both the resolution and the brightness of their projector to its full extent.

Or - they add the black bars to the 2.40 content and it is 16:9 format on the disc. Crazy technical questions when it comes down to it. Anyone actually read the entire white paper on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?

[dts.fan]

Do you mean Doplby True HD? because I thought DD+ was just a extension of DD rather than a hi-def sound format. Also, as both new formats are lossless, will the average person notice a big difference between them.

Standard DVDs
Dolby Digital: bitrate = 640kbps, Max Channels = 5.1
DTS: bitrate = 1.524 Mbps, Max Channels = 5.1

HD DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs
Dolby Digital Plus: bitrate = 4.736 Mbps, Max Channels = 7.1
Dolby TrueHD: bitrate = 18.64 Mbps, Max Channels = 2 (LOSSLESS)
DTS HD: bitrate = 24.5 Mbps, Max Channels = 8 (LOSSLESS)
LPCM: bitrate = 27.648 Mbps, Max Channels = 8 (LOSSLESS)

[Knight-Errant]

So Dolby True HD will only ever have 2 channels?

[dts.fan]

So Dolby True HD will only ever have 2 channels?

Actually, I was incorrect about TrueHD having a maximum of 2 channels.

TrueHD, DTS HD and LPCM have a maximum of 6 channels @ 192kHz or 8 channels @ 48kHz or 96kHz.

Note: According to DolbyDigital.com, "Dolby TrueHD can support more than eight audio channels. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc standards currently limit their maximum number of audio channels to eight."

http://www.dolby.com/promo/HD/trueHD.html

[thunderhawk]

So then the summary becomes:

Standard DVDs
Dolby Digital: bitrate = 640 kbps, Max Channels = 5.1
DTS: bitrate = 1.524 Mbps, Max Channels = 5.1

HD DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs
Dolby Digital Plus: bitrate = 4.736 Mbps, Max Channels = 7.1
Dolby TrueHD: bitrate = 18.64 Mbps, Max Channels = 6 channels @ 192kHz or 8 channels @ 48kHz/96kHz (LOSSLESS)
DTS HD: bitrate = 24.5 Mbps, Max Channels = 6 channels @ 192kHz or 8 channels @ 48kHz/96kHz (LOSSLESS)
LPCM: bitrate = 27.648 Mbps, Max Channels = 6 channels @ 192kHz or 8 channels @ 48kHz/96kHz (LOSSLESS)

Next-Generation High Definition Disc Players are Compatible with Current A/V Receivers
Whether you own an older audio/video (A/V) system equipped with Dolby® Digital, or a newer A/V receiver equipped with an HDMI™ connection or external line-level multichannel inputs, you are assured of a compatible, high-quality playback path.

Right?

[dts.fan]

Correct.

[Jodi]

I like you, "dts.fan"!!
Now if only there were DTS-encoded BDs and HD-DVDs to play on those fancy new players.

Jodi

Originally Posted by dts.fan

Standard DVDs
Dolby Digital: bitrate = 640kbps, Max Channels = 5.1
DTS: bitrate = 1.524 Mbps, Max Channels = 5.1

HD DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs
Dolby Digital Plus: bitrate = 4.736 Mbps, Max Channels = 7.1
Dolby TrueHD: bitrate = 18.64 Mbps, Max Channels = 2 (LOSSLESS)
DTS HD: bitrate = 24.5 Mbps, Max Channels = 8 (LOSSLESS)
LPCM: bitrate = 27.648 Mbps, Max Channels = 8 (LOSSLESS)

[AV_Integrated]

Jodi...

Why DTS??? You mean DTS-HD? DTS is limited to 1.5Mbs. DD+ is 4.7Mbs. That's over 3 times as much audio data that will be on the first Warner HD disc releases. Seems like regular DTS is not even close in comparison for quality.

What we all are waiting for are the HD formats from everyone - but then we would need players that could handle them and receivers as well.

[thunderhawk]

Just compare on disc definition level

[Jodi]

What I mean is, at the minimum, DTS 5.1 at 1.5+ Mbps.
A lot of good studios like Universal, DreamWorks, and, of course, Warner Bros. (Warner never supported DTS anyway) have fallen out of favor with DTS over the past 2 years. It is especially sad to see Uni and DreamWorks abandon support for DTS because, during the first several years of DVD's existence, these two studios released a LOT of films with DTS sound. Today, the ONLY new DVDs from Uni and DreamWorks that you will EVER see with DTS sound is any film directed by Steven Speilberg. Why? Because Speilberg IS DTS...He helped create DTS...he holds a lot of stock in DTS....it's his baby.
Meanwhile, studios like Fox, New Line Cinema, Lionsgate and the Buena Vista umbrella (Disney, Touchstone, Miramax, and Dimension) have always been, and still are, pretty good (not perfect) for releasing their share of good quality films in DTS.
I'm not sure I necessarily need DTS-HD (even if it is lossless bitstream) with the next generation (BD and HD-DVD) players. Some people, like myself, need only 2 front speakers, 1 center-channel speaker, 1 or maybe even 2 good powered subwoofers, and only 2 surround speakers. Why only 2 surround speakers? You don't need 4 or more surrounds to achieve a believable sounding holo-sonic field (aka the home theater). You just need 2 good surrounds, like Thiels, driven by good electronics, like Ayre Acoustics, to deliver jaw-dropping sound....and that's just with a DTS 5.1 (1.5+ Mbps) signal!!!
With that said, all I see so far is unanimous support for Dolby (a truly inferior and far less powerful sound source for movies), with DTS (even DTS-HD) being treated like red-headed stepchildren! I'm afraid that DTS, of any form, is sadly falling out of favor with studios more and more. A horrifying neglect of superior digital audio technology.

Jodi

Originally Posted by AV_Integrated

Jodi...

Why DTS??? You mean DTS-HD? DTS is limited to 1.5Mbs. DD+ is 4.7Mbs. That's over 3 times as much audio data that will be on the first Warner HD disc releases. Seems like regular DTS is not even close in comparison for quality.

What we all are waiting for are the HD formats from everyone - but then we would need players that could handle them and receivers as well.

[thunderhawk]

How come you're so sure?
I'm sure Dolby TrueHD will surprise you as well. Ah c'mon, how can we judge when you haven't heard the difference? I'm looking for a demo in some store...