What is the problem w/ Warner and Blu-Ray?? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Glover]

Next on the thread will be Oprah. Did David really say, "excellent points" to both Thomas AND Cees? Wow. I read that and thought....Hey, David can be nice.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Who the heck is this Hastings guy, and whats he doing to our HD???

 

[Cees Alons]

You mean ... my points were actually lousy?




Cees




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I am format neutral - it's many studios, that's who are not.
And a few fanboys and followers.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

hey now,

let's not let a good thing go bad. I'm a nice guy (whether or not Tim knows it)... who just enjoys healthy discussion.

 

[RobertSiegel]

Does anyone know why Warner releases on hd-dvd The Cowboys, Battle of the Bulge, the Superman movies, Phantom of the Opera, Happy feet and on and on and on) all have Dolby True HD or uncompressed or Dolby plus, and on most of the blu-ray discs, it is only regular 5.1 Dolby Digital (compressed).

Blu-ray has more space...so I don't understand this problem. Someone said earlier in the thread that Warner supports hd-dvd more, and I believe they are right with this issue coming to attention. I thought Warner was releasing movies in both formats to please both sides of the fence? There is no reason for this. I am actually shocked at Warner, who care about their transfers. I see 300 has Dolby True HD, but it's among the very few.

If Warner is reading this thread...please start putting either Dolby True HD or DTS hd, even uncompressed 5.1, on your blu-ray releases, but don't just give us what we have before. And remember, even mono movies will sound better uncompressed or in these new formats. Many of us upgraded to blu-ray for the picture AND sound improvements, spending thousands to upgrade including receivers that will play these formats. And I want to add that I am sure I can speak for everyone (or most) here who is a classic movie fan that we also want these soundtracks either uncompressed or in the DTS HD or Dolby True hd format. We have had to live with these classic soundtracks which were beautifully produced, such as Ben Hur, Music Man, ect...for far too long with compressed sound dvd. Let's hear it the best way possible.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I hear you and agree.

Some sources have indicated that WB's refusal to put TrueHD on earlier BD discs was in protest to the BD group not requiring full decoding in BD hardware. The fact that all TrueHD tracks on BD bundled a legacy DD track for backwards compatibility with all hardware didn't seem to matter to them... they were making a statement by their refusal to provide the feature given that not all consumers could access full decoding.

WB has since changed position (maybe due to public criticism or maybe due to greater availability of TrueHD decoding in BD players), and is now appearing to put TrueHD on all new BD releases where the HD DVD has also received it.

BTW, I agree with you that ever older mono movies that might have compromised analog histories STILL SOUND BETTER IN LOSSLESS than they do in lossy. This principle of lossless sounding "better" is true with all audio signals... even those that have noise, crackle, hiss and limited dyanmic range. Anyone who has a laserdisc collection of older films can tell you this plainly: most DVDs of the same titles sound pretty lame in comparison to their PCM laserdisc counterparts.

Disney and Sony provide lossless on every BD title. Why can't (won't) Warner?!?


And let's not forget to remind Warner we mean the *original* historic sound mixes/masters here. Not some remixed-for-home-video digitally processed version that sounds flat as a board and has all the dialogue remixed to the center channel.
:frowning:

 

[RobertSiegel]

Sanjay-I couldn't agree with you more. The sad thing is that all the blu-ray owners so far are being ripped off on the soundtracks. I will not buy a Warner HD movie with regular compressed Dolby Digital 5.1. Hell, I'll just up-convert the old disc and listen to the same soundtrack. I also agree with you about the Matrix. I hated those Matrix movies, but they have a huge fan base, so why not wait a short time and do both formats? And, on thew same day as Disney's Pirates. What upsets me is their statements about "format neutral." Then why are blu-ray fans getting old compressed sounbdtracks, considering there is more room on blu-ray for even Dolby True, 5.1 uncompressed PCM AND DTS hd.

 

[RobertSiegel]

totally correct David. Let's get the original panned dialogue from films like Mutiny on the Bounty please. Forget this center-channel dialogue thing, these movies did not have that back then except for many Disney and a few others.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

BD can't do (at the time) TrueHD so WB doesn't use TrueHD on BD.
Then, BD can do TrueHD & WB does use TrueHD on BD.
And that is WB's fault???

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Oh yeah, DaViD has always been "nice", a little misguided...
butt nice!!! ;-)

 

[RobertSiegel]

Ed, if no Dolby True then what about DTS ES or just a plain PCM uncompressed track to please the customers spending 30.00 on their titles? This is the first time I have been upset at Warner for a long time.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Is there some kind of timeframe for the release of the following...

- Charlie And The Chocolate factory
- The Perfect Storm
- Poseidon
- The Polar Express
- Terminator 3
- The Matrix trliogy

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Ed,

STOP IT NOW. I'm not misguided. Your inappropriate characterization of my posts is all the more ironic given your constant inaccuracies. Allow me to correct the error in your own understanding:


BD Players have been 100% compatible with TrueHD software from day one: every BD player has been able to play TrueHD BD software by providing, at the very least, the 640 kbps DD 'core' audio, which allowed software vendors to provide TrueHD titles from the very start which could then be fully decoded by later-generation/updated hardware. The fact that the first Samsung player couldn't do full decoding is irrelevant to a studio producing software as the software lasts for years and will be purchased by consumers with players that can take full advantage. The PS3 had full decoding and quickly out-stripped the Samsung in sales, yet WB continued to hold back TrueHD on BD for their own internal political reasons.

To compare, the first generation Toshiba HD DVD players couldn't decode 5.1 TrueHD and downmixed everything to 2.0 stereo. That didn't seem to stop Warner from releasing 5.1 TrueHD HD DVD software even when there was no hardware capable of delivering full-5.1 lossless decoding. If the lack of "full decoding" for TrueHD in early hardware was really their primary concern, they could have followed Sony and Disney's lead and supplied PCM audio instead. Clearly there was a different principle governing their decisions in regard to audio quality on Blu-ray Disc.

 

[Patrick_S]

From listening to a Warner employee I don't think you will see the Matrix on BD until they can do the IME.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Neil,

I know that the Matrix is being held back until the new BD profile 1.1 ends up in players on the store shelves (and updates) enabling PIP. WB wants to deliver that title with PIP interactivity as they've done on HD DVD (a decision I support as a consumer) so that's a special case.

 

[Neil Joseph]

OK fine.

What about all the other titles that warner released on hd-dvd. I believe at the end of 2006, they said they would release all of those films on blu-ray yet the months are counting down with no word.

 

[Neil Joseph]

OK fine.... re: The Matrix

What about all the other titles that warner released on hd-dvd. I believe at the end of 2006, they said they would release all of those films on blu-ray yet the months are counting down with no word.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Look for a few more non-IME HD-DVD titles to be released in the fall on BD.

By my count, here are the following HD-DVD exclusive titles from Warner:

With IME

Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Constantine
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Matrix Trilogy
Poseidon
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Troy (new Director's Cut coming in Fall on both formats)
V for Vendetta

Without IME

The Adventures of Robin Hood
Casablanca
Excalibur
Forbidden Planet
Grand Prix
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
The Perfect Storm
The Polar Express
Smallville - Season 5
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

So we have 9 IME releases, and 10 non-IME releases, for a total of 19. We know what's holding up the 9 IME titles. The 10 non-IME titles are simply being staggered for marketing reasons. After all, we're mostly talking about catalog titles that didn't exactly light the HD-DVD world on fire with their sales numbers.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

By "compatable" you mean to say every BD player released so far can output TrueHD, yes. I was addressing current players ability, or lack there of, of passing TrueHD to any device that was on the market when they were indeed released.
Hope you can understand the difference, as WB did.
And believe me, I feel bad for all the BD owners. As I don't think it was fair to them, AT ALL!!!

Of coarse I was speaking in terms of full rez TrueHD & really don't understand why you weren't as well. Being such a BIG supporter of "lossless" et all?!?!

Obviously; "the fact that the first Samsung player couldn't do full decoding is irrelevant to a studio producing software as the software lasts for years and will be purchased by consumers with players that can take full advantage", it was indeed "relevant" to WB.
Asking someone to over-produce a product for you on the hopes that someday, not today, a future product may use it; is a LOT to ask in this day & age of disposable 'everything' (phones, razors, DVD players, heck what ISN'T "disposable"?).
Too badd, for EVERYONE it's like that. Shoot, even HD DVD is already double-dipping!!! :-0

 

[DaViD Boulet]

It's "you're" which is a contraction for "you are". If you're going to falsely characterize the accuracy of my posts, in jest or not, try doing so with good grammer.