If Universal goes neutral

[vladittude0583]

Assuming Universal does go neutral, would they release their titles utilizing BD's features to the max you think or will it be similar to WB's HD-DVD transfer to BD replica?

What do you guys think?

[LynxFX]

I haven't been that excited about Universal coming based on their track record with HD DVD, but on the plus side it appears they are really starting to utilize lossless audio (TrueHD) on most of their recent titles, so I would suspect that they would take some lessons from Sony, Disney and Fox and perhaps make some optimised transfers for the BD release. A benefit to them is that if they make a better product it gives reason for current HD DVD owners to doubledip.

[Hassoon]

Originally Posted by nyg

I think they'll start by using their HD DVD encodes for the BDs and then hopefully new titles will get better treatment... hopefully.

I hope they won't, actually.

The reason being that I want the EXTENDED version King Kong (read: not gonna fit on an HD-DUD even with black magic), with the video bit-rate cranked up and lossless audio to boot.

I don't mind the rest much, though...they actually don't look half bad as they are .

[BoogalooShrimp]

They would probably port over encodes of their previously released titles. Better that than nothing.

[whoelse]

I recon now they will do a straight swap and not mess about as they know Blu-ray are the winners anyway.

[Zyclone]

Originally Posted by vladittude0583

Assuming Universal does go neutral, would they release their titles utilizing BD's features to the max you think or will it be similar to WB's HD-DVD transfer to BD replica?

What do you guys think?

i think they will port a bunch of titles to bluray and try and get alot of releases out then i think down the track they will fully use what blu ray has to offer.

[Downhere]

I agree with everyone in that studios that were exclusive or neutral to HD DVD are going to just port over existing titles to Blu-ray. It would not make financial sense to redo do all those films and I honestly don't see them taking the time and effort to do so regardless.

[Sweetstache]

Ports are indeed the most realistic scenario.

Now with that being said, does anyone here know how Shaun of the Dead looked on HDDVD? I would buy that instantly on Blu, unless of course they made a piss-poor transfer of it.

[GregBlu5]

I wonder if Universal announces neutrality for only a 6-month period and then goes Blu exclusive well before the year is out. What would be the point of neutrality at this stage for an essentially dead format--except only as a brief transition period?

I mean, unless you're a real diehard Dud supporter, you know the game is effectively over. New buyers coming to the format are going to decline dramatically, no matter how cheap the machines. Early adopters are abandoning the format by selling off or going purple. Retail stores are going to start announcing that they aren't carrying HD titles after their stocks deplete. It's going to be a fast domino effect. Faster than most of us can imagine.

If this war told the studios anything, it was that consumers want the best Hi Def format; otherwise, why bother to make the transition to Hi Def? Sites like this will be significant in letting everyone know which studios are doing the best transfer jobs and which aren't. I won't be surprised if the studios that go Blu will be trying hard to out-Blu the Blu studios, to establish a beach-head in the new format--as much to save face as well as to sell disks. We here, especially, are going to carefully watch what they produce.

-Greg

[The Lurker]

Either way, they need to start doing a better job placing the original soundtracks (such as mono and Dolby Stereo) on their movies, and in PCM, which so far has been beyond abysmal. I don't have any movies on "that other format", but judging by the titles they have released that I would like to have, such as The Thing, Smokey And The Bandit, and Army Of Darkness, I'm not holding my breath. Of course, unfortunately, they're not the only ones who need to massively improve on this front. Blu-ray studios need to start doing way better as well. I have yet to see any Blu studios place a film's original mono or stereo soundtrack in PCM, like in the good ol' days of Laserdisc , at least not in the ones I like. They've all been in lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 and 2.0 at a pathetic 192 kbps, the same we've been suffering from on DVD the past ten years.

[Existentialist]

Originally Posted by Sweetstache

Now with that being said, does anyone here know how Shaun of the Dead looked on HDDVD? I would buy that instantly on Blu, unless of course they made a piss-poor transfer of it.

That and Hot Fuzz.....

[QwikSand]

Dammit I need The Office on Blu. JENNA FISCHER in HD!!!!

[groovyone]

SotD and Hot Fuzz were supposed to be two of the best looking HD DVDs out there, so titles like those I would not mind a straight port.

[Zazou]

Surely now we should be saying 'when'

Lee