Sony Ramps Up 50GB Blu-ray Discs, More Interactivity
Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 02:21 PM ET
Tags: Industry Forecasts (all tags)
Blu-ray is about to double its capacity for picture quality and bonus features, with Sony readying the format's first BD-50 (50GB) dual-layer releases for later this year.
That's according to the Sony Pictures worldwide president Ben Feingold, who told Video Business that at least two BD-50 titles will hit the market by the end of 2006.
"All of the fun stuff is going to come," said Feingold, though he declined to give details on any specific titles or features. "We need to get everyone comfortable [with the format]. A lot of it will be spectacular.?
Sony's move comes amid considerable criticism from the media and early adopters for a perceived lack of quality and special features on the studio's first Blu-ray titles, all of which utilize only BD-25 (25GB) single-layer discs.
Sony Pictures executive VP of advanced technology Don Eklund also said that the availability of only a single Blu-ray player currently on the market, the Samsung BD-P1000, was also partly behind the reasoning for the lack of supplemental content on early Blu-ray titles.
"We've been conservative [with the Blu-ray titles so far], focusing on pictures and sound more than anything else," said Eklund. "There is just one player in the market. And when we make a disc, we generally check it on every player for compatibility issues. Absent that ability to do that, we've been reluctant to add in other features."
Other Blu-ray-supporting studios are also planning to ramp up the interactive features on their Blu-ray disc titles, though their release plans will likely be more of a trickle than a flood.
"I would expect you might see something this year [in regard to Blu-ray interactivity], but I wouldn't guarantee it," said Steve Nickerson, senior VP of marketing management for Warner Home Video, which supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD. "The industry needs to gain experience in the new formats."
Watch for more on this developing story next week. High Def Digest recently paid our own visit to the Sony lot to discuss the studio's upcoming plans for Blu-ray, so stay tuned for a full in-depth spotlight report, inclduing an interview with Eklund, in the days ahead.
For those who didn't think 50 GB would be here by end of year ...this looks promising. 4th quarter is certainly going to rock.
Don Eklund also said that the availability of only a single Blu-ray player currently on the market, the Samsung BD-P1000, was also partly behind the reasoning for the lack of supplemental content on early Blu-ray titles.
BS. Samsung shipping "was" your Blu-Ray launch. You mean to tell me you hung Samsung out to dry? You don't have supplemental features because you didn't have your VC-1 or AVC authoring down and had to ship MPEG2 with basic Dolby audio. You HAVE no extra space and we know this.
Quote:
"We've been conservative [with the Blu-ray titles so far], focusing on pictures and sound more than anything else
Focusing on picture and sound quality? ROFLMAO. Perhaps that focus is why you pulled Robocop and The Fith Element. Maybe this focus is why we still have underperforming discs like recent release Silent Hill with has flaky quality.
Promising huh? Sony may ship what two 50GB titles and that's promising. Hehehehehe I remember being told by BR fans that the format was superior in every way. Let's try this one on for size now.
Toshiba as of today.
$499
Supports Lossless TrueHD 5.1
Ethernet port and USB ports
30GB disc working fine. 15GB discs still look as good as today's best Blu-Ray
Excellent backwards compatibility
60 movies available
$999
Quality issues in the Sammy player
MPEG2 discs with no hirez audo options
no ethernet (not coming in the Sony, Panny players either)
No 50GB DL discs so 25GB is the max size
Sammy BD player supports CDs but Sony, Pioneer and Panny units won't
40 movies available
Yeah I'm expecting a Barn Burner 4th qtr for these guys
My bet is that they would cripple the damned BRay in PS3 somehow that you don't get to quite use it in its full glory - knowing their $1000+ players wouldn't stand a chance.
Or perhaps it's just a cheaper player/decoder/whatever.
There are both cheap and expensive DVD players too, and the DVD player in PS2 isn't exactly top notch.
Why does anyone here (or any consumer in general) really care if blu-ray succeeds? From my point of view as an average consumer, HD-DVD players are half the cost, the titles released on the format look better, have better audio and come with more special features. And last but not least there are more titles available right now despite all this talk about BD winning because it has more studios on it's side.
And as far as I've heard the copy protection in HD-DVD is less then BD which is a benefit to the end user for eventually backing up our investments.
So really is that extra 20gig BD's are supposed to hold really worth holding out for and hoping BD wins? Seems to me HD-DVD's aren't really suffering by not having that extra 20 gig's.
I mean on one hand HD-DVD is here today and delivering what it promised. BD on the other hand is telling us 50gig disks are coming soon, more titles are coming soon and better encoding is coming soon. But in the mean time please buy this player that is twice as expensive and faulty and please buy these early release movies that have worse picture quality, less surround sound options and not as many special features.
And all of this is coming from somebody who doesn't really care which format ultimately wins. I'm just making a genereal observation based on common sense right now.
With the exception of firmware updates (which are supposed to be non existing if the players are finished when released) I don't see a need for it.
And if there is a firmware update, what's wrong with downloading and burning it onto a DVD?
Both formats support persistent storage which eventually will include HDD. In addition to the firmware updates this means in the future you will be able to download content that is synchronized with your discs. I can't tell you how annoyed I get watching old discs and being forced to watch equally old trailers. In a network connected system new trailers can be downloaded and played in lieu of the older and outdated trailers on disc. You should also be able to download additional language tracks or extras. iHD handles the syncronization and networking functionality to allow this. Content that constantly evolves is the hidden killer feature here. I can see plenty of uses for this because the old paradigm is a locked disc that cannot be modified appreciably. We musn't forget that Managed Copy is going to give is the ability to store movies to persistent storage and likely modify those stores in ways we are simply unaware of right now.
Ethernetless BD players can still do these functions but will authors be quick to support the functions if they cannot guarantee that all players have ethernet? Ethernet is mandatory on HD DVD. You can author in confidence because of this.
Why does anyone here (or any consumer in general) really care if blu-ray succeeds? From my point of view as an average consumer, HD-DVD players are half the cost, the titles released on the format look better, have better audio and come with more special features. And last but not least there are more titles available right now despite all this talk about BD winning because it has more studios on it's side.
And as far as I've heard the copy protection in HD-DVD is less then BD which is a benefit to the end user for eventually backing up our investments.
So really is that extra 20gig BD's are supposed to hold really worth holding out for and hoping BD wins? Seems to me HD-DVD's aren't really suffering by not having that extra 20 gig's.
I mean on one hand HD-DVD is here today and delivering what it promised. BD on the other hand is telling us 50gig disks are coming soon, more titles are coming soon and better encoding is coming soon. But in the mean time please buy this player that is twice as expensive and faulty and please buy these early release movies that have worse picture quality, less surround sound options and not as many special features.
And all of this is coming from somebody who doesn't really care which format ultimately wins. I'm just making a genereal observation based on common sense right now.
QFT!
I'm not a Blu-Ray hater but I've been here before. The grandiose promises from Sony and then the final product is less than stellar. I reserver the right to change my mind at anytime because I want what's best for movies. If BD can do this then bring it on, right now however things have decidely slided in HD DVDs advantage.
How is evolving content going to be useful? I mean, if there was room on the disc for extras, they should have stuck them on there in the first place. I don't want to do extra work to get stupid extras I don't watch. I mean, when the DVD is out, the filming has been over for like 6-8 months, at least. There can't be that many extras showing up between when I get the DVD and when it was pressed. That's not something that Hollywood will do. It's like the game industry. They want you to see the movie, maybe buy it on DVD, then never look at it again until right before the sequel comes out. They don't want to waste time and money adding value to something that you already bought, especially since they want you to be watching their newer movies - adding stuff to older movies lowers demand. And there's no way anybody's paying more on top of the DVD to download extra crap (unless it's footage from the hot actress's dressing room). Besides, how do I take it with me when I use it on another HD-DVD player? If I'm getting another language track, I want it on all my players, and I want it when I go to my friend's house with it. Are all HD-DVDs gonna be RW?
Um, if I want trailers, I'll look them up somewhere. If I rent or buy a disc, I shouldn't have to deal with trailers. I mean, I paid money to see the damn movie, not some ads. I can deal with TV ads where I didn't just pay for the show, but I get pissed about ads on DVDs. I don't see "new trailers" as a plus, since I either try to skip the trailers or just go make popcorn. So really, that's a great "feature": "Hey, we force you to watch our ads, but at least their current!!"
Ethernet being mandatory is a pain in the ass. I mean, maybe I don't want to buy a bigger router, or run wires from my router/computer to my TV (although I'm in an apartment, so it's not that hard...). But everyone on dial-up (because of living in a rural area) is gonna be screwed.
We musn't forget that Managed Copy is going to give is the ability to store movies to persistent storage and likely modify those stores in ways we are simply unaware of right now.
Ah. Someone else sees this too. I don't feel so alone anymore.
If Apple gets going by January on an easy yet sophisticated (i.e., not stupidly crippled) way to managed all this on your comp, then I believe this will be the killer app of the next few years.
Also, I'm fine with Apple being a member of the BRDA, but I want to be able to work with both formats on my Mac, even if I have to buy a 3rd party HDDVD drive because Apple only gives us a BR/DVD/CD superduperdrive.
I personally think this whole format war thing is one of the heights of stupidity of the modern corporate system. So... A plague a both your houses!
The better question is "How isn't evolving content going to be useful?" I'm all for watching a movie but if there is additional content available for the movie whether they be trailers or commentary or whatever I want that opporunity to view them. I don't want to see trailers from a decade ago when I put in a classic movie.
Quote:
mean, if there was room on the disc for extras, they should have stuck them on there in the first place. I don't want to do extra work to get stupid extras I don't watch. I mean, when the DVD is out, the filming has been over for like 6-8 months, at least
That's the point I'm addressing. You're not going to get away from forced trailers. So...if we must watch them I'd rather they update automatically. This isn't something you'd always have to manage it may happen automatically where every few months your player downloads new trailers. Pop in your old disc and the new trailers play prior to the movie. I'm a movie lover I'm interested in seeing the newest trailers on my system.
Quote:
There can't be that many extras showing up between when I get the DVD and when it was pressed. That's not something that Hollywood will do. It's like the game industry. They want you to see the movie, maybe buy it on DVD, then never look at it again until right before the sequel comes out.
This isn't true at all. Hollywood has perfected the art of the "Double Dip" How many "Directors Cut" editions have you seen? Have many remastered movies have you seen? What about Special Editions? Hollywood is keen on updating their content if people are keen on purchasing. With the downloadable features if a Directors Cut comes out eventually we expect to be able to modify our existing content to add the new content.
Quote:
And there's no way anybody's paying more on top of the DVD to download extra crap (unless it's footage from the hot actress's dressing room). Besides, how do I take it with me when I use it on another HD-DVD player? If I'm getting another language track, I want it on all my players, and I want it when I go to my friend's house with it. Are all HD-DVDs gonna be RW?
So people will buy different versions of the same movie but they won't spend extra on downloadable content that suits them? I'm not sure i'm buying into that one. Managed Copy downloads are locked to your machine. The extra stuff won't be on the disc. I'm fine with that as the main movie on disc will have the movie and plenty of extras. Of course if you had a laptop with a player then you wouldn't have this issue of course.
Quote:
Ethernet being mandatory is a pain in the ass. I mean, maybe I don't want to buy a bigger router, or run wires from my router/computer to my TV (although I'm in an apartment, so it's not that hard...). But everyone on dial-up (because of living in a rural area) is gonna be screwed.
It's there but you don't "have" to use it. The player is going to play movies just fine without the ethernet connection. I can't help the people in rural areas it's their choice to live there and they are the vast minority of users will be in more populated areas with broadband. There's really far less downsides to upsides with having ethernet. Even something as simple as a firmware update is easier with an ethernet connection and the improvements will keep coming featurewise.
The better question is "How isn't evolving content going to be useful?" I'm all for watching a movie but if there is additional content available for the movie whether they be trailers or commentary or whatever I want that opporunity to view them. I don't want to see trailers from a decade ago when I put in a classic movie.
Not I. I prefer the simple devices with no internet and a "PLAY THE GADDAM MOVIE" button.
Whenever I buy a DVD with trailers, I pop it in my machine, make a copy without trailers, and use that instead.
I don't like getting crap I don't need. That's why I buy macs, and that's why I'm not upgrading to HD DVD or Blu Ray if the player requires the internet or there's no way of ever being able to back up the media.
Optimally, I'll get a BR or HDDVD drive in my Mac Pro, rip the content somehow, and burn it onto a dual layer DVD (after compression) for usage in regular players. 480P is still pretty good
Tags: Disc Announcements, Fox, Buena Vista (all tags)
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has issued a few more tantalizing Blu-ray release tidbits ahead of a major format announcement scheduled for this Thursday, including a sneak peek at Fox's first Blu-ray disc titles.
In a press release issued late yesterday, the BDA revealed that Fox's initial Blu-ray wave will include such tasty titles as 'Fantastic Four,' 'Ice Age,' 'Behind Enemy Lines,' 'Kiss of the Dragon' and 'The League of Extraordinary Gentleman.'
More titles due to be announced soon include another Blu-ray batch from Buena Vista Home Entertainment by year's end, including 'Kill Bill Vol. 1,' 'Armageddon' and 'Ladder 49.'
Also hinted: a new studio format partner for Blu-ray. Given that the only two major remaining studios yet to formally announce Blu-ray support are Universal and New Line, the official news should be exciting indeed.
The BDA had previously hinted at these major Blu-ray developments via an announcement released to the media late last week.
Expect specifics to be unveiled this Thursday when the IFC convention kicks off in Berlin, Germany. We'll certainly be there for the big announcements, so stay tuned for full details as soon as they come in.
Here's the bottom line folks. My dad and I were watching a commercial for an upcoming DVD movie. He looked at me and said, "I know what HD-DVD is. It's high definition DVD. But what the hell is Blu-Ray?"
That's my dad. 68 years old. Understands that adding HD to the front of DVD (something he's already familiar with) is logical. Therefore, I think the simple marketing aspects of HD-DVD is going to always have the edge over BD.
Here's the bottom line folks. My dad and I were watching a commercial for an upcoming DVD movie. He looked at me and said, "I know what HD-DVD is. It's high definition DVD. But what the hell is Blu-Ray?"
That's my dad. 68 years old. Understands that adding HD to the front of DVD (something he's already familiar with) is logical. Therefore, I think the simple marketing aspects of HD-DVD is going to always have the edge over BD.
A much more likely scenario is that when consumers-- and I'm not talking about earlier adopters-- are confused, they don't buy either format. An additional possiblity is that in their confusion, not only won't they embrace either format, they'll also stop buying the existing DVD format. By not agreeing on a format studios may have shot themselves in the foot, so to speak.
It is by no means official, but I'm venturing to say that the big announcement slated for Thursday could indeed be news that Universal plans for Blu-ray releases which would give Blu-ray 100% studio support in terms of the big studios. A huge blow to HD DVD IF indeed this is what is to happen come Thursday.
My biggest problem with ethernet being standard is if it becomes part of some annoying DRM scheme where your player has to phone home so you can electronically beg for permission to play your movie.
My biggest problem with ethernet being standard is if it becomes part of some annoying DRM scheme where your player has to phone home so you can electronically beg for permission to play your movie.
No AACS is not tied to the ethernet port in anyway. Toshiba puts ethernet ports on some of their TVs as well.
Comments
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news...eractivity/194
Sony Ramps Up 50GB Blu-ray Discs, More Interactivity
Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 02:21 PM ET
Tags: Industry Forecasts (all tags)
Blu-ray is about to double its capacity for picture quality and bonus features, with Sony readying the format's first BD-50 (50GB) dual-layer releases for later this year.
That's according to the Sony Pictures worldwide president Ben Feingold, who told Video Business that at least two BD-50 titles will hit the market by the end of 2006.
"All of the fun stuff is going to come," said Feingold, though he declined to give details on any specific titles or features. "We need to get everyone comfortable [with the format]. A lot of it will be spectacular.?
Sony's move comes amid considerable criticism from the media and early adopters for a perceived lack of quality and special features on the studio's first Blu-ray titles, all of which utilize only BD-25 (25GB) single-layer discs.
Sony Pictures executive VP of advanced technology Don Eklund also said that the availability of only a single Blu-ray player currently on the market, the Samsung BD-P1000, was also partly behind the reasoning for the lack of supplemental content on early Blu-ray titles.
"We've been conservative [with the Blu-ray titles so far], focusing on pictures and sound more than anything else," said Eklund. "There is just one player in the market. And when we make a disc, we generally check it on every player for compatibility issues. Absent that ability to do that, we've been reluctant to add in other features."
Other Blu-ray-supporting studios are also planning to ramp up the interactive features on their Blu-ray disc titles, though their release plans will likely be more of a trickle than a flood.
"I would expect you might see something this year [in regard to Blu-ray interactivity], but I wouldn't guarantee it," said Steve Nickerson, senior VP of marketing management for Warner Home Video, which supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD. "The industry needs to gain experience in the new formats."
Watch for more on this developing story next week. High Def Digest recently paid our own visit to the Sony lot to discuss the studio's upcoming plans for Blu-ray, so stay tuned for a full in-depth spotlight report, inclduing an interview with Eklund, in the days ahead.
For those who didn't think 50 GB would be here by end of year
Don Eklund also said that the availability of only a single Blu-ray player currently on the market, the Samsung BD-P1000, was also partly behind the reasoning for the lack of supplemental content on early Blu-ray titles.
BS. Samsung shipping "was" your Blu-Ray launch. You mean to tell me you hung Samsung out to dry? You don't have supplemental features because you didn't have your VC-1 or AVC authoring down and had to ship MPEG2 with basic Dolby audio. You HAVE no extra space and we know this.
"We've been conservative [with the Blu-ray titles so far], focusing on pictures and sound more than anything else
Focusing on picture and sound quality? ROFLMAO. Perhaps that focus is why you pulled Robocop and The Fith Element. Maybe this focus is why we still have underperforming discs like recent release Silent Hill with has flaky quality.
Promising huh? Sony may ship what two 50GB titles and that's promising. Hehehehehe I remember being told by BR fans that the format was superior in every way. Let's try this one on for size now.
Toshiba as of today.
$499
Supports Lossless TrueHD 5.1
Ethernet port and USB ports
30GB disc working fine. 15GB discs still look as good as today's best Blu-Ray
Excellent backwards compatibility
60 movies available
$999
Quality issues in the Sammy player
MPEG2 discs with no hirez audo options
no ethernet (not coming in the Sony, Panny players either)
No 50GB DL discs so 25GB is the max size
Sammy BD player supports CDs but Sony, Pioneer and Panny units won't
40 movies available
Yeah I'm expecting a Barn Burner 4th qtr for these guys
With the exception of firmware updates (which are supposed to be non existing if the players are finished when released) I don't see a need for it.
And if there is a firmware update, what's wrong with downloading and burning it onto a DVD?
My bet is that they would cripple the damned BRay in PS3 somehow that you don't get to quite use it in its full glory - knowing their $1000+ players wouldn't stand a chance.
Or perhaps it's just a cheaper player/decoder/whatever.
There are both cheap and expensive DVD players too, and the DVD player in PS2 isn't exactly top notch.
And as far as I've heard the copy protection in HD-DVD is less then BD which is a benefit to the end user for eventually backing up our investments.
So really is that extra 20gig BD's are supposed to hold really worth holding out for and hoping BD wins? Seems to me HD-DVD's aren't really suffering by not having that extra 20 gig's.
I mean on one hand HD-DVD is here today and delivering what it promised. BD on the other hand is telling us 50gig disks are coming soon, more titles are coming soon and better encoding is coming soon. But in the mean time please buy this player that is twice as expensive and faulty and please buy these early release movies that have worse picture quality, less surround sound options and not as many special features.
And all of this is coming from somebody who doesn't really care which format ultimately wins. I'm just making a genereal observation based on common sense right now.
Why is no Ethernet a bad thing?
With the exception of firmware updates (which are supposed to be non existing if the players are finished when released) I don't see a need for it.
And if there is a firmware update, what's wrong with downloading and burning it onto a DVD?
Both formats support persistent storage which eventually will include HDD. In addition to the firmware updates this means in the future you will be able to download content that is synchronized with your discs. I can't tell you how annoyed I get watching old discs and being forced to watch equally old trailers. In a network connected system new trailers can be downloaded and played in lieu of the older and outdated trailers on disc. You should also be able to download additional language tracks or extras. iHD handles the syncronization and networking functionality to allow this. Content that constantly evolves is the hidden killer feature here. I can see plenty of uses for this because the old paradigm is a locked disc that cannot be modified appreciably. We musn't forget that Managed Copy is going to give is the ability to store movies to persistent storage and likely modify those stores in ways we are simply unaware of right now.
Ethernetless BD players can still do these functions but will authors be quick to support the functions if they cannot guarantee that all players have ethernet? Ethernet is mandatory on HD DVD. You can author in confidence because of this.
Why does anyone here (or any consumer in general) really care if blu-ray succeeds? From my point of view as an average consumer, HD-DVD players are half the cost, the titles released on the format look better, have better audio and come with more special features. And last but not least there are more titles available right now despite all this talk about BD winning because it has more studios on it's side.
And as far as I've heard the copy protection in HD-DVD is less then BD which is a benefit to the end user for eventually backing up our investments.
So really is that extra 20gig BD's are supposed to hold really worth holding out for and hoping BD wins? Seems to me HD-DVD's aren't really suffering by not having that extra 20 gig's.
I mean on one hand HD-DVD is here today and delivering what it promised. BD on the other hand is telling us 50gig disks are coming soon, more titles are coming soon and better encoding is coming soon. But in the mean time please buy this player that is twice as expensive and faulty and please buy these early release movies that have worse picture quality, less surround sound options and not as many special features.
And all of this is coming from somebody who doesn't really care which format ultimately wins. I'm just making a genereal observation based on common sense right now.
QFT!
I'm not a Blu-Ray hater but I've been here before. The grandiose promises from Sony and then the final product is less than stellar. I reserver the right to change my mind at anytime because I want what's best for movies. If BD can do this then bring it on, right now however things have decidely slided in HD DVDs advantage.
Ethernet being mandatory is a pain in the ass. I mean, maybe I don't want to buy a bigger router, or run wires from my router/computer to my TV (although I'm in an apartment, so it's not that hard...). But everyone on dial-up (because of living in a rural area) is gonna be screwed.
We musn't forget that Managed Copy is going to give is the ability to store movies to persistent storage and likely modify those stores in ways we are simply unaware of right now.
Ah. Someone else sees this too. I don't feel so alone anymore.
If Apple gets going by January on an easy yet sophisticated (i.e., not stupidly crippled) way to managed all this on your comp, then I believe this will be the killer app of the next few years.
Also, I'm fine with Apple being a member of the BRDA, but I want to be able to work with both formats on my Mac, even if I have to buy a 3rd party HDDVD drive because Apple only gives us a BR/DVD/CD superduperdrive.
I personally think this whole format war thing is one of the heights of stupidity of the modern corporate system. So... A plague a both your houses!
How is evolving content going to be useful?
The better question is "How isn't evolving content going to be useful?" I'm all for watching a movie but if there is additional content available for the movie whether they be trailers or commentary or whatever I want that opporunity to view them. I don't want to see trailers from a decade ago when I put in a classic movie.
mean, if there was room on the disc for extras, they should have stuck them on there in the first place. I don't want to do extra work to get stupid extras I don't watch. I mean, when the DVD is out, the filming has been over for like 6-8 months, at least
That's the point I'm addressing. You're not going to get away from forced trailers. So...if we must watch them I'd rather they update automatically. This isn't something you'd always have to manage it may happen automatically where every few months your player downloads new trailers. Pop in your old disc and the new trailers play prior to the movie. I'm a movie lover I'm interested in seeing the newest trailers on my system.
There can't be that many extras showing up between when I get the DVD and when it was pressed. That's not something that Hollywood will do. It's like the game industry. They want you to see the movie, maybe buy it on DVD, then never look at it again until right before the sequel comes out.
This isn't true at all. Hollywood has perfected the art of the "Double Dip" How many "Directors Cut" editions have you seen? Have many remastered movies have you seen? What about Special Editions? Hollywood is keen on updating their content if people are keen on purchasing. With the downloadable features if a Directors Cut comes out eventually we expect to be able to modify our existing content to add the new content.
And there's no way anybody's paying more on top of the DVD to download extra crap (unless it's footage from the hot actress's dressing room). Besides, how do I take it with me when I use it on another HD-DVD player? If I'm getting another language track, I want it on all my players, and I want it when I go to my friend's house with it. Are all HD-DVDs gonna be RW?
So people will buy different versions of the same movie but they won't spend extra on downloadable content that suits them? I'm not sure i'm buying into that one. Managed Copy downloads are locked to your machine. The extra stuff won't be on the disc. I'm fine with that as the main movie on disc will have the movie and plenty of extras. Of course if you had a laptop with a player then you wouldn't have this issue of course.
Ethernet being mandatory is a pain in the ass. I mean, maybe I don't want to buy a bigger router, or run wires from my router/computer to my TV (although I'm in an apartment, so it's not that hard...). But everyone on dial-up (because of living in a rural area) is gonna be screwed.
It's there but you don't "have" to use it. The player is going to play movies just fine without the ethernet connection. I can't help the people in rural areas it's their choice to live there and they are the vast minority of users will be in more populated areas with broadband. There's really far less downsides to upsides with having ethernet. Even something as simple as a firmware update is easier with an ethernet connection and the improvements will keep coming featurewise.
The better question is "How isn't evolving content going to be useful?" I'm all for watching a movie but if there is additional content available for the movie whether they be trailers or commentary or whatever I want that opporunity to view them. I don't want to see trailers from a decade ago when I put in a classic movie.
Not I. I prefer the simple devices with no internet and a "PLAY THE GADDAM MOVIE" button.
Whenever I buy a DVD with trailers, I pop it in my machine, make a copy without trailers, and use that instead.
I don't like getting crap I don't need. That's why I buy macs, and that's why I'm not upgrading to HD DVD or Blu Ray if the player requires the internet or there's no way of ever being able to back up the media.
Optimally, I'll get a BR or HDDVD drive in my Mac Pro, rip the content somehow, and burn it onto a dual layer DVD (after compression) for usage in regular players. 480P is still pretty good
ps... DVD Player 5.0 (from leopard) includes HD-DVD disk support... but no Blu-Ray support...*
Both current versions of DVD Studio Pro and DVD Player support HD-DVD and not Blu-ray right now. Certainly they will support Blu-ray by spring '07.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news...ray_Titles/200
More Sneak Peeks at Upcoming Blu-ray Titles
Tue Aug 29, 2006 at 03:45 AM ET
Tags: Disc Announcements, Fox, Buena Vista (all tags)
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has issued a few more tantalizing Blu-ray release tidbits ahead of a major format announcement scheduled for this Thursday, including a sneak peek at Fox's first Blu-ray disc titles.
In a press release issued late yesterday, the BDA revealed that Fox's initial Blu-ray wave will include such tasty titles as 'Fantastic Four,' 'Ice Age,' 'Behind Enemy Lines,' 'Kiss of the Dragon' and 'The League of Extraordinary Gentleman.'
More titles due to be announced soon include another Blu-ray batch from Buena Vista Home Entertainment by year's end, including 'Kill Bill Vol. 1,' 'Armageddon' and 'Ladder 49.'
Also hinted: a new studio format partner for Blu-ray. Given that the only two major remaining studios yet to formally announce Blu-ray support are Universal and New Line, the official news should be exciting indeed.
The BDA had previously hinted at these major Blu-ray developments via an announcement released to the media late last week.
Expect specifics to be unveiled this Thursday when the IFC convention kicks off in Berlin, Germany. We'll certainly be there for the big announcements, so stay tuned for full details as soon as they come in.
Ahhhhhhh, yeah!
That's my dad. 68 years old. Understands that adding HD to the front of DVD (something he's already familiar with) is logical. Therefore, I think the simple marketing aspects of HD-DVD is going to always have the edge over BD.
Here's the bottom line folks. My dad and I were watching a commercial for an upcoming DVD movie. He looked at me and said, "I know what HD-DVD is. It's high definition DVD. But what the hell is Blu-Ray?"
That's my dad. 68 years old. Understands that adding HD to the front of DVD (something he's already familiar with) is logical. Therefore, I think the simple marketing aspects of HD-DVD is going to always have the edge over BD.
A much more likely scenario is that when consumers-- and I'm not talking about earlier adopters-- are confused, they don't buy either format. An additional possiblity is that in their confusion, not only won't they embrace either format, they'll also stop buying the existing DVD format. By not agreeing on a format studios may have shot themselves in the foot, so to speak.
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=4513
and here...
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/92727/ho...ds-bluray.html
It is by no means official, but I'm venturing to say that the big announcement slated for Thursday could indeed be news that Universal plans for Blu-ray releases which would give Blu-ray 100% studio support in terms of the big studios.
My biggest problem with ethernet being standard is if it becomes part of some annoying DRM scheme where your player has to phone home so you can electronically beg for permission to play your movie.
No AACS is not tied to the ethernet port in anyway. Toshiba puts ethernet ports on some of their TVs as well.