"Total HD" from Warners (re: Blu-ray/HD-DVD hybrid disc) (1 Viewer)

[ppltd]

Again, this has not proven out in 3/4 year of releases. This is a none issue that has proven to be a red herring.

 

[Edwin-S]

Isn't it a little early to be making proclamations like the preceding one? These HD formats are in their infancy and studios have barely scratched the surface on what features may be included in future releases. Who knows what plans studios have for extra features or how much space those extra features may take up. Lots of people probably thought that the 4.7GB capacity of SD DVD would never be filled, but the studios managed to figure out ways to do it. I see the very same thing eventually happening to these formats.

Now the problem I see with Total discs is that they are going to cost more than standard HD discs. First Warner helps to create the confusion of the format war, and now they are going to charge "just a few dollars more" to help alleviate the anxiety caused by the format war. I'm not interested in giving Warner more money to solve the format conumdrum. If they want to release films on Total disc that is fine. Just don't charge me more to combat a problem that they helped to create.

The second problem I see with these discs is that Warner is all ready indicating that the feature sets on both sides are going to be exactly the same. That means that the capacity of the HD DVD side is going to dictate what shows up on the Blu-ray side. If, and I repeat IF, the 30GB barrier on the HD DVD side is reached then the extra 20GB on the BD side will never be used because Warner has all ready decided that neither side will contain more than the other.

 

[ppltd]

As it should be. Warner has made it quite clear that they do not want to show any preference to either format. I am in agreement with them on that point. I feel it is a problem that they have released HD-DVD with DolbyHD, but not included it on their BD releases.

 

[Tim Glover]

Regarding King Kong, there are many....many regular folks & reviewers who feel King Kong is the best HD disc out there. For whatever space issues the format might struggle with...hasn't occured yet.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Warners already does this with out the Total HD disks. The Warner BD releases have exactly the same content as the HD-DVDs, including the same VC-1 movie file.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Warner has choosen a preference when they offered Dolby True HD on a few of there titles and not offering DTS-HD. I have seen no Dolby True HD on Bluray and no DTS-HD on Bluray ether. So just the fact that there are some HD-DVD's with Dolby True HD means they have choosen a side. They just do not want to come out a admit it.

Hell Fox is going DTS-HD only so whats the big deal if WB was to go Dolby True HD only? Personally DTS-HD is one of the reasons I am buying alot more Blu-rays instead of HD-DVD's. And plus the great picture and there being more storage for more HD content and higher bit rates.

 

[Cees Alons]

Oh, no, Dave!
Don't tell me there's another "war" we need to get involved in, and have to "choose sides"! Lossless = lossless for all I care.
If the codec is sufficiently supported, that's it. We certainly won't want TWO lossless tracks on a disc, carrying the movie's audio!


Cees

 

[MarekM]

the only problem I see here, they were unable to put DolbyTrueHD on Kong :frowning:
with DolbyTrueHD it could be absolutly TOP DISK....

on some thread on AVS, Amir wrote that with DolbyTrueHD it will cut to the picture....

Marek

 

[MarekM]

I picked up Superman Returns only for one reason on HD DVD, for DolbyTrueHD !! even if it is combo disc, even if it is more expensive than SR on BR disk,... and this is not the one case when BR lacked on audio part..

Marek

 

[MarekM]

Cees, I am sure he don't want two lossless tracks, like DolbyTrueHD and DST HD Master on same disk..!
Marek

 

[Edwin-S]

Maybe it would be more correct to say that they helped to continue the confusion of the format war. Warner had to be fully aware that the majority of major studios were going to be releasing on BD only. If Warner had announced that they were going to release on a single format, in this case the format supported by most other majors, then the format war would have effectively been over. The other two studios, Universal and Paramount, would most likely have gotten on board as well, since it would have been financially riskier to be the only two studios supporting HD DVD. Warner chose, for their own reasons, to support both and that has helped to sustain the confusion, IMO. Now Warner wants to charge more for Total discs supposedly to alleviate the confusion that they helped to perpetuate by not choosing to go with the majority. The reason I say that Warner is going to charge more for these discs is due to a study of theirs that they brought up in a press release. That study supposedly indicated that people were willing to pay a few dollars more for a disc that would eliminate worries over format obsolescence. The fact that Warner quoted that study indicates to me that they intend to charge more for Total discs.

Like I said earlier, If they want to release on Total disc fine. Just don't charge me a "format insurance premium", since there would have been no need for their lame Total disc if they had gone along with the majority and released only on Blu-ray.

 

[Mark Butler]

I like this quote about Warner's THD:

"49% of all consumers surveyed said they would be more likely to adopt high-definition on disc given the choice of THD".

Basically what that 49% are saying is if their was only 1 format and they didn't have to worry about 2 different incompatible formats they would buy HD discs (doesn't matter if they were THD,Blu-DVD,HD-Ray or not, just one disc that worked in every HD player from every manufacturer).

 

[Dave Moritz]

I was just commenting that WB had picked a side and that they where IMHO not taking the neutral stance. I was not suggesting that they offer both lossless formats. And I did not want to suggest another format war. But I am sure it will come up sooner or later. One of my gripes about HD-DVD titles was the low number of lossless titles. I hate watching the HD-DVD trailer at the begining of the HD-DVD discs. Where they say lossless sound, what lossless sound? There are very few lossless titles on HD-DVD and alot more on Blu-ray so far.

And as far as the Total HD discs go IMHO I feel it will only prolong the format war and create confusion. But if it helps more consumers adopt an HD disc format then .

 

[Cees Alons]

Are you sure about that?
As far as I know, there isn't even any on BD that you'd be able to play now. But perhaps I'm missing a few?


Cees

 

[Hartwig Hanser]

I think he includes the uncompressed PCM titles from Sony etc. which in fact are lossless.

 

[Shawn Perron]

In fact everything I've ever read from people that actually listen to the PCM tracks is that they sound superior to "lossless" tracks in general. To claim that Blu-Ray doesn't have "lossless" when the goal of "lossless" is to try and sound exactly like the original PCM file is disingenuous.

Why everyone lets the studio's off the hook for not delivering "lossless" 96/24 or at a minimum 48/24, I'll never know. We were promised high def sound, and they have not delivered at all. Outside of a few 48/24 PCM soundtracks on Blu-Ray, HD audio has been a complete no show. Now is the time when a few customer can demand features and still have a say. Instead people actuall say "DD+ is great, who needs TrueHD". This attitude does neither format any favors. Universal should be raked over the coals for not delivering TrueHD, as should a release from any studio that doesn't deliver a TrueHD, DTS-MA or PCM track. What we allow the studios to get away with now sets the tone for what we expect in the fututre.

It's funny that all the people that used to complain about double and triple dipping aren't complaining about this issue. We all know that "lossless" is a feature that could entice people to rebuy movies. That so many movies are missing such a major feature that had been promised, and almost no one is complaining about it on a home theater forum is just astounding.

 

[MarekM]

there are quite few from Sony and Disney out..... with PCM

after quick check on highdefdifest site... all Disney are with uncompressed PCM 5.1 and all Sony titles are with uncompressed PCM5.1, maybe I missed some titles but I hope I checked all of them....

Marek

 

[ppltd]

Warner has stated at CES that they will show no preference. What they have done before is not at issue as they were originally an exclusive HD-DVD studio. I guess we would all be happier if Warner never decided to release in BD at all.

 

[Cees Alons]

True! The PCM uncompressed tracks are certainly supposed to be lossless. Forgot about those.

But surely those weren't referred to in this "Warner choosing audio sides" discussion?


Cees

 

[Shawn Perron]

Well, there was no reason Warner could not have included a PCM track on thier BD50 releases since the space was there. It's especially annoying since the HD-DVD releases had a TrueHD soundtrack. They couldn't have created the lossless TrueHD soundtrack with a PCM track to start out with, so it's not like they didn't have one they could have included.