The world as frankps sees it!
Posts tagged HD DVD
Firefly coming to Blu-ray
0Fox is planning to bring my favourite TV-series, Firefly, to Blu-ray. An online rumor mill started buzzing a couple of weeks ago, after ‘Firefly’ cast member Jewel Staite revealed to an Australian convention crowd that she’d recently been contacted by Fox in regards to contributing to a new box set release of the complete ‘Firefly’ series.
A Fox representative confirmed the rumor with “news travels fast”, and that the Blu-ray release currently was in early development stages. I bought Universal’s Firefly spin-off Serenity on as one of my first HD DVD disc, and I will sure by Firefly on Blu-ray, even though I already have it on DVD.
I cannot wait!
Paramount CTO Speaks Out On Switch to HD DVD
0In a new interview, Paramount’s chief technology officer offers up the most detailed explanation yet of the studio’s technical rationale for switching to HD DVD.With reports swirling that Paramount and sister studio DreamWorks received up to $150 million dollars in incentives to drop Blu-ray, Alan Bell, executive vice president and CTO for Paramount Pictures says there’s more to his company’s decision to dump Blu-ray than simply business dealings.
HD DVD vs. Blue-ray
1Untill now only Universal has been releasing their movies on HD DVD, all others have either been releasing their movies exclusively on Blue-ray (FOX and Disney) or on both formats. That led to Blue-ray outselling HD DVD. Many already thought the winner of the format war was Blue-ray. With right reason, Blu-ray title sales were outpacing HD-DVD sales by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. But out of the blue, Paramount and (sister studio) Dreamworks Animation announced (press release) that they will be releasing new movies exclusively on HD DVD, which is a major set back for Blu-ray.
I already have chosen my format, and for once it seems that I have done the right choice. I chose HD DVD, and can now look forward to also see Paramount and all of its subsidiaries (including DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films) publishing movies for this format, including ‘Shrek the Third’. Excluded are all movies directed by Steven Spielberg. The article is not mentioning Aardman, which have been working closely with Dreamworks Animation on productions like the Wallace & Gromit movie and Flushed Away. Will they also be releasing their movies (for instance Chicken Run) exclusively for HD DVD? The news is top-news on all the web sites that I daily read, for instance Betanews, Engadget, Golem and High-Def Digest.
There are technical reasons to choose HD DVD instead of Blue-ray, such as for instance picture-in-picture and network capabilities. Both the HD DVD and Blu-ray version of “300” include a “blue screen” extra that allows the viewer to see how the complex battle scenes were actually filmed. But only the HD DVD version lets you watch the blue screen version alongside the actual movie, and the comparison is what makes the extra actually interesting to watch. HD DVD’s networking (Blu-ray is network capable, but it’s not required) opens the door to quite a few possibilities. On 300, one of the first films with such capability, viewers can set bookmarks and upload their favorite scenes to a central location, where other 300 owners can watch them. Ringtone and wallpaper downloads are available as well, which get sent to a cell phone automatically. Well, I don’t care about favourite scenes uploads, ringtones and wallpapers, but about HD DVD owners eventually being able to download new subtitle languages, trailers, and other extended content for films. I mostly buy U.K. imports of my HD DVD movies, being able to later get Norwegian subtitles for my movies is not a sales gimmic. These downloads are kept on the player’s built-in storage, another requirement of HD DVD.
HD DVD: Letters from Iwo Jima
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On Saturday I bought my first hybrid HD DVD / DVD disc. Yes, you read correctly, and that is one of the reason why I find HD DVD superior to Blue-ray. There are two types of hybrid formats which contains standard DVD-Video format video for playback in regular DVD players, and HD DVD video for playback in high definition on HD DVD players. The Combo disc which is a dual sided disc with one side DVD and the other HD DVD, each of which have up to two layers. The Twin disc which is a single sided disc containing up to three layers, with up to two layers dedicated to either DVD or HD DVD. Letters from Iwo Jima comes on a combo disc.
The movie is probably the best war movie I have ever seen. The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, both Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.
Letters from Iwo Jima is said to be the twin movie of Flags of Our Fathers, both directed by Clint Eastwood and both are out on HD DVD. A comparable Blu-ray edition is also available. I guess I can highly recommend both of these movies.
The picture quality is impressive. The movie is practically in black and white, except for the faintest hint of coloration in things like sepia flesh tones or the subtle blue sky. Specific colors do creep in for effect, such as the red sun in the Japanese flag or the blue of the ocean. The movie’s soundtrack is provided in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 or lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 formats. During the action scenes the soundtrack roars to life with stunning vibrancy. The crack of rifle fire, growl of engines, and thunder of explosions fill the soundstage with immersive directionality and excellent fidelity.