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Topic: Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray?

Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 05-01-2008 10:38 PM

The Fry's here still had a full HD DVD section going the last time I was there (a week or so ago)... still listing almost everything at full list prices. [Roll Eyes]

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-02-2008 02:29 PM

Bobby is certainly hopeful on sales... he is no where near correct though. Just ask your local Best Buy and Circuit City how they have been selling.... Here in local SLC area we have a population of 1.2 million and the Circuit City I was just at has sold three Blew Ray players in the last month. Pathetic at best.

Mark

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-02-2008 06:43 PM

Mark is a bitter "red ant" who can't seem to get over the failure of his beloved HD-DVD format.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Bobby is certainly hopeful on sales... he is no where near correct though. Just ask your local Best Buy and Circuit City how they have been selling....

I got a good chuckle from that stupid statement.

There's lots of evidence showing Blu-ray sales did indeed increase this year, with the upward sales trend beginning with Warner's announcement to back Blu-ray exclusively.
Blu-ray sales up 351%

quote: Hollywood Reporter
The nascent Blu-ray Disc saved the day for the sellthrough business, per Nielsen VideoScan sales data, with DVD unit sales in the first quarter down 1.2% from the first quarter of 2007 but Blu-ray Disc sales up a whopping 351%.

There's lot of other news articles showing that Blu-ray disc sales have tripled in the first quarter of this year.

Before Warner's announcement sales levels of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs were accounting for 3% or less of total units moved for most any given movie title. Now Blu-ray is cracking the 10% overall level, which isn't bad compared to the huge market base of DVD.

DVD sales overall are down from a year ago, but Blu-ray is more than making up for that difference.

If someone (like Mark) wants to rely on very questionable heresy comments from sales clerks at Best Buy (who likely don't know any better or more likely don't give a shit about the topic) then I guess that's their deal. I'm still going to feel free to laugh at comments based on that "evidence."

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Here in local SLC area we have a population of 1.2 million and the Circuit City I was just at has sold three Blew Ray players in the last month. Pathetic at best.

Of course, that made up figure is likely not including any PS3 consoles.

You know what's pathetic? Toshiba's profit plunging 95% in 1Q 2008.

Profit rises at Samsung, plunges at Toshiba

quote: Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea - Samsung Electronics said Friday its profit rose 37 percent in the first quarter as strength in mobile phones and liquid crystal displays offset weakness in semiconductors.

But Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said its profit plummeted 95 percent in the January-March quarter due to costs of its exit from next-generation video HD DVD business.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-07-2008 08:34 PM

Kind of been waiting for Criterion to create some movie discs in high definition. Today the company announced they will indeed start releasing Criterion Collection movies on Blu-ray this October.

Among the releases:
The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

No word yet on specs for those titles. But Criterion has said they will be priced similar to their DVD counterparts. FWIW, the average Criterion Collection DVD isn't cheap either.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 05-07-2008 09:06 PM

At least with Criterion dvds, you get a transfer that looks something like it would have in the theater (grain and all) vs this highly glossed edge enhanced stuff we're accustomed to (not attacking your comment on their prices though).

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 05-07-2008 09:18 PM

Wow, I'm not sure I've even heard of a single one of those titles. I guess Criterion doesn't have the clout to get the titles they used to.

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Tom Mundell
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 120
From: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 05-08-2008 10:55 AM

How about titles they have done in the past, do they still have the rights to those or would many/most have lapsed by now?

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-08-2008 01:44 PM

I'm suspecting the latter. That's just going by all the legal hassles that have come up with so many previous movies when DVD was just getting started. So many different things have to be legally cleared for a movie to be released on a new video format.

It would be nice if Criterion could make Blu-ray versions of movies they've previously handled on DVD. For instance, the current Blu-ray version of Robocop apparently has really bad video quality. I bought the Criterion version of the DVD, which was pretty good but unfortunately not anamorphic. The other DVD versions that followed had lackluster video quality. It would be nice if the movie could have its best surviving elements scanned and then digitally restored. I don't think Robocop has ever had a really good quality video transfer made for it.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 05-08-2008 01:48 PM

The Last Emperor has never had a particularly good video transfer to DVD. Not sure why. Always been a little smeary and lacking in detail. Yet it got the 70mm blowup treatment for its original theatrical release and won the Best Picture Oscar for 1987. You'd think there would be better elements to work from for DVD and now Blu-ray, but maybe not.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-08-2008 02:11 PM

Not only did The Last Emperor get 70mm blow-up treatment and win the Best Picture Oscar, DP Vittorio Storaro won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for that film. Just on that point alone it would seem as though the movie would be worthy of a high quality scan/DI treatment for transfer onto Blu-ray.

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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 05-08-2008 03:28 PM

Wasn't THE LAST EMPEROR just released on DVD by Criterion a few weeks ago? How's the transfer on that?

The only movie in that list that I'm interested in is GIMME SHELTER.

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Galen Murphy-Fahlgren
Master Film Handler

Posts: 405
From: Canton, MI, USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 05-08-2008 03:52 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
I bought the Criterion version of the DVD, which was pretty good but unfortunately not anamorphic.

I thought all Criterion releases were in their theatrical aspect ratios? That is one of the reasons I always recommended Criterion to friends, since I can't personally stand to watch a movie if I even suspect that it has been cropped from the theatrical aspect ratio.

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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 05-08-2008 03:58 PM

He means that it was not enhanced for widescreen TV's. This is something that Criterion didn't do for a really long time for no good reason.

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 05-08-2008 11:05 PM

Seriously. They're bothering to release Bottle Rocket but NOT The Royal Tenenbaums?

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 05-08-2008 11:22 PM

IIRC That recent Criterion DVD release of Last Emperor has an aspect ratio of 1.99:1 and it's not a very good video transfer. That's according to Widescreen Review. I don't have the article right in front of me but I think they said Vittorio Storaro or someone associated with the production wanted it presented on DVD at roughly 2:1. Anyway if the DVD doesn't look that great, I don't have high hopes for its Blu-ray version.

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