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Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

#1
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I AM GOING TO BE WRITING A LETTER OF COMPLAINT TO WARNER ABOUT THESE RECENT BLU RAY RELEASES AND THE LACK OF LOSELESS AUDIO. IF ANYONE ELSE CARES TO WRITE HERE IS THE ADDRESS.

WARNER BROS.
4000 WARNER BLVD.
BLDG # 154 , RM # 3104
BURBANK , CA. 91522
ATTN: BLU RAY DEPT.

not having loseless audio again now on journey was the last straw for me. something has to be done about this. in my opinion if they have a problem with the HD audio , then sell your films to another studio who will use the proper audio, case closed.
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#2
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

I sent an email several days ago sharing my disappointment with them after I'd heard that Journey to the Center of the Earth would not be getting a lossless audio track. I stated that I will not buy any Blu-ray disc that does not have a lossless track and that I will encourage others to do the same.

Thanks for the addy, I'll copy my email and send off a hard copy.

Sometime's you reach what's real by making believe.

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#3
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

I think this is actually a really good idea. Warner is generally pretty good about listening to fan concerns, which is why this whole thing is surprising. I would be all for getting a letter together and having a bunch of electronic signatures, too.

And hey, what are online forums for if not to scheme about complaining to big companies. (I'd also add in a where the hell are the features on the Beetlejuice SE?)
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#4
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

This has been a very disappointing practice from Warner.

Their home video division has long been the example that the industry has followed, yet in this they have managed to fall behind every single other studio. Lossless audio has become the standard, with only Warner standing stubbornly as the exception.

Just this week, I purchased Pushing Daisies: Season 1 from Warner. TrueHD audio was clearly listed on the back of the box, yet as I popped in the first disc I was treated to a standard 640kbps Dolby Digital track. Not only do they announce title after title without lossless, but now even if their packaging lists lossless audio it may not be there.

Not to mention their infuriating practice of labeling so many lossy discs with the "High Def Picture, High Def Sound" banner at the top of the packaging.

I hate to sound so negative about a studio that usually provides such loving attention to its catalog, but this needs to stop. Going forward I will be checking reviews to confirm the presence of lossless audio before I purchase any Warner blu-ray titles.
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#5
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Patrick, I'm curious: did you check the menus to see if there is a TrueHD option available? I know that any TrueHD titles I have on HD DVD defaulted to the DD+ track and you have to manually select the TrueHD track. This is true of both Warner and Uni titles with TrueHD on HD DVD.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

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#6
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

it's been reported by others on at least one different forum that the
Daisies is missing the truehd track.

Brian this is a good idea.
just be polite and don't use bad language or call them idiots or
any names because they will discount you note otherwise.

plus isn't lossless spelled "lossless" or is
'loseless" correct?
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#7
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

it's "lossless", although right now we are losing lossless..lol.
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#8
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

I will be sending WB an email as well. There are a number of Bluray releases that I wanted but they had lossy audio track. So I did not buy them and I will not buy any future Blu-ray releases that do not include a lossless audio track! If I didn't care about audio/video quality I would just buy the SD-DVD, why would I want the same lossy track on Bluray? I hope that WB hears this and corrects it by offering lossless audio on there Blu-ray releases.

1080p High Definition SupporterLossless Audio Supporter Current Library: 221 DVD's / 70 HD-DVD's / 181 Blu-ray's (251 HD Titles)

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#9
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Perhaps a copy of that letter should be sent to Sony, to urge them to make more BD50 slots available.
That would help the studios to plan more releases that can carry the lossless tracks when 25Gb isn't enough.


Cees
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#10
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

The only thing I can think of why no Loseless is price,maybe it would
rasise the price ,don't see how this could be,but I ratter not have titles
list for 40$ Loseless or not
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#11
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

The funniest aspect of this whole lossless situation is that Warner includes lossless tracks on titles that don't even call for it (for example I received in 'Rest Stop' on Thursday and that has a TrueHD track) but doesn't include a lossless track on titles that cry for it ('Speed Racer' anyone)???

Makes absolutely zero sense to me.

----
Brendan Surpless
Reviewer/Editor for HighDefDiscNews
A quickly growing news site maintained by 2 folks who simply love film in ALL formats.

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#12
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by HighDefDiscNewsB
The funniest aspect of this whole lossless situation is that Warner includes lossless tracks on titles that don't even call for it (for example I received in 'Rest Stop' on Thursday and that has a TrueHD track) but doesn't include a lossless track on titles that cry for it ('Speed Racer' anyone)???
Was Rest Stop single-layer or dual-layer?

Given that to WB Speed Racer's theatrical intake only justified a BD-25, it seems like they basically went with a 5.1 track so they could go balls-to-the-wall with making the video look as great as it possibly can; they chose to sacrifice those extra ~3.5 Mbit/s to the picture quality.

Was only going with a BD-25 the ideal solution? Not as consumers. But if that was WB's business choice, I think that the disc is the best possible compromise given the situation.

"Niceness is the greatest human flaw, except for all the others."
--Brendan Moody

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#13
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Double dip
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#14
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by ATimson
Given that to WB Speed Racer's theatrical intake only justified a BD-25, it seems like they basically went with a 5.1 track so they could go balls-to-the-wall with making the video look as great as it possibly can; they chose to sacrifice those extra ~3.5 Mbit/s to the picture quality.

Was only going with a BD-25 the ideal solution? Not as consumers. But if that was WB's business choice, I think that the disc is the best possible compromise given the situation.
I agree, but there are other approaches.

When Universal released U-571 on Blu-ray, it was immediately noted that the image was less detailed than it had been on HD-DVD. But the Blu-ray did have a lossless track, even though the disc was only single layer. Obviously Uni decided to satisfy the lossless fans at the expense of image quality.

I don't think that was the right decision, but opinions vary. Personally I hope Warner continues doing what it's doing until such time as there's sufficient production capacity for BD50s, when this whole issue should go away.

M.
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#15
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

They're being penny wise and pound foolish. It's a mistake to continue disappointing the loyal core. We're not the Walmart horde, but most of the horde know someone like us, and they hear us talk.

Amazon has had some of these lossy titles for as low as $13.95. I've had no difficulty saying "no", and will continue doing so. How does that square with their cost saving measures? Is this part of the price cutting strategy that they announced a few months ago? Poor math, poor strategy. It's as if, disappointed by Blu-ray sales (if indeed they are), they're taking measures that are certain to assure that their disappointment will continue.

To quote Dear Leader: "It's fuzzy math."
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#16
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons
Perhaps a copy of that letter should be sent to Sony, to urge them to make more BD50 slots available.
That would help the studios to plan more releases that can carry the lossless tracks when 25Gb isn't enough.


Cees
Question, is it a matter of availability of BD50 discs? Also, what's the cost of two BD25's vr one BD50. Maybe studios can put the film and lossless audio on one BD25 and all the extras on second BD25.

Sometime's you reach what's real by making believe.

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#17
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-P
Question, is it a matter of availability of BD50 discs? Also, what's the cost of two BD25's vr one BD50. Maybe studios can put the film and lossless audio on one BD25 and all the extras on second BD25.

Depending on the running time of the film, its likely that a lossless track would cut into the quality of the image on a BD25. It maybe that because there is still a some what limited production ability for BD50s, Warner chose to have the best picture quality possible on a BD25, so the lossless track had to go.

Speed Racer may have an image that is particularly challenging and may need a fairly high bit rate to maintain the image quality. It is also a little longer than the average movie.

I don't know for sure that these are the factors that figured into Warner's decision, but it seems logical.

Doug
"I'm in great shape, for the shape I'm in."
Bob Hope in The Ghostbreakers
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#18
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-P
Question, is it a matter of availability of BD50 discs? Also, what's the cost of two BD25's vr one BD50. Maybe studios can put the film and lossless audio on one BD25 and all the extras on second BD25.
Not so much availability of BD 50 discs as pressing facilities that can produce the discs. All the studios have to make judgment calls in terms of what films will get the BD 50 treatment and what films will be "good enough" on a BD 25. Cost may come into the equation, but it's ultimately about replication availability. We've known about this for awhile.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

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#19
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

I think writing a polite and constructive letter is a good idea.
Anything beyond that, including littering any more threads with
complaints is not.

Will is quite correct that the studio is very good about responding
to consumer concerns. In fact, I guarantee this thread will be read
by the studio. Perhaps they will address the issue in an upcoming
chat with the forum.

Continue the polite discussion -- the studio deserves nothing less
even though you may not agree with this problem.
Ronald J Epstein
Home Theater Forum co-owner
Email me at: repstein@hometheaterforum.com 
To View My Massive DVD Collection Click Here
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#20
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Not so much availability of BD 50 discs as pressing facilities that can produce the discs.
Correct. Getting the blank discs isn't the problem.
At the moment all Blu-ray producers are competing for a way too little amount of production slots. So they have to make tough decisions - will we bring it out later, or produce a BD25.
Also, time schedules have become more unpleasant: you wouldn't want to miss your reserved slot!
Hopefully that will be history soon, but currently this seems to be a major and very serious concern.

They're between the proverbial hard place and a rock.


Cees
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#21
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

If the BD25 issue is an industry wide problem, then why does WB continually feature lossy audio more often than other studios. They obviously place little value on hi-res audio. True, WB has been a great studio for hi-def software, but the current trend is obvious, seems to be growing, and their decision making as to which titles get hi-res audio is sometimes baffling.

I've always been in favor of cutting studios slack, when it comes to adjusting to a new marketplace, format, or whatever. I've spoken out in favor of being patient about many issues in the past, but this particular issue at this particular point in the game, seems to be a regressive step deliberately taken. It flies in the face of everything we've been sold on, about the BD format.

You say WB is choosing higher fidelity video over audio? Raw bit-rate doesn't always translate into a noticeably superior video transfer, when deciding how best to use disc space for presentation of a given title.

Patience is a fine virtue, but this particular problem continues to spread...where WB is concerned. Other studios seem to be less afflicted. Continuing to complain about it is perfectly legitimate.

As a side note: BD must be doing well, if they're bumping up against production capacity. They've had a decent chunk of time to make assessments and implementations.
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#22
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xylon
Double dip

That's my guess which is why I'll rent "Speed Racer" for the time being. Writing a letter might do some good, but I doubt it. I'm sure WB read plenty of the bitches that occurred on websites like this one and still went ahead with a lossy track.

Also if the space constraint of a 25G BD is going to result in degraded video or audio then I would rather have slightly less than perfect audio, rather than degraded video. The effects of lower video quality are much more noticeable than slightly downgraded audio.

When you have to shoot...shoot. Don't talk!

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#23
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

There are 4 types of Warner releases that get lossy audio only from what I can tell:

1. TV shows
2. New films that performed under box-office expectations
3. Catalog titles that had the disc image finished prior ~June 2008 (having been prepped for both formats)
4. Catalog titles with Mono 1.0 original audio

#3 is not an issue as most of these have now been scheduled; however, a few more may still need to make their way into the market.

#4 is a problem only for those with absolutely amazing hearing (The Adventures of Robin Hood is an example of one of these releases).

#1 is a matter of paying for a higher quality mix.

#2 is the most frustrating, and needs to be corrected ASAP.

I think the big problem is that Warner is so huge that the different home video production lines are likely working with different standards. Catalog is a different division than TV, TV is a different division than TV Animation/Kids, New Releases is different than Catalog, etc.
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#24
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edwin-S
That's my guess which is why I'll rent "Speed Racer" for the time being. Writing a letter might do some good, but I doubt it. I'm sure WB read plenty of the bitches that occurred on websites like this one and still went ahead with a lossy track.

Also if the space constraint of a 25G BD is going to result in degraded video or audio then I would rather have slightly less than perfect audio, rather than degraded video. The effects of lower video quality are much more noticeable than slightly downgraded audio.
Quite so. As such, I will continue to weigh the odds, for films I want to own, of a future release with lossless vs the likely time frame for such a release vs how often I plan to watch the film. With Speed Racer, I'm more than willing to live with the less than perfect current edition. With other films, it'll be case by case. But plain ol' vanilla DD/DTS have served me well for quite some time now--it's not the best available option, but is is far from "crap". The jump from 480p to 1080p (or even 720p) is far more significant than the jump from "lossy" to "lossless".

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes time, and it annoys the pig.

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#25
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Wilkins
If the BD25 issue is an industry wide problem, then why does WB continually feature lossy audio more often than other studios. They obviously place little value on hi-res audio. True, WB has been a great studio for hi-def software, but the current trend is obvious, seems to be growing, and their decision making as to which titles get hi-res audio is sometimes baffling.

I've always been in favor of cutting studios slack, when it comes to adjusting to a new marketplace, format, or whatever. I've spoken out in favor of being patient about many issues in the past, but this particular issue at this particular point in the game, seems to be a regressive step deliberately taken. It flies in the face of everything we've been sold on, about the BD format.

You say WB is choosing higher fidelity video over audio? Raw bit-rate doesn't always translate into a noticeably superior video transfer, when deciding how best to use disc space for presentation of a given title.

Patience is a fine virtue, but this particular problem continues to spread...where WB is concerned. Other studios seem to be less afflicted. Continuing to complain about it is perfectly legitimate.

As a side note: BD must be doing well, if they're bumping up against production capacity. They've had a decent chunk of time to make assessments and implementations.


I haven't looked at the actual numbers but its likely that Warners releases more titles than just about any other studio, and as such has to make hard choices about what releases will get a BD50 and which won't. (assuming that each studio gets an equal allocation of BD50 scheduled slots)

Other studios with a lighter release schedule may not have to make those choices.

Doug
"I'm in great shape, for the shape I'm in."
Bob Hope in The Ghostbreakers
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#26
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
As a side note: BD must be doing well, if they're bumping up against production capacity.
No, this thread proves it's hindered by it. Both, in volume of total releases and in quality.

Warner received options on an alotment of slots when they decided to go one-format. Apparently, the capacity still hasn't been increased much beyond that.


Cees
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#27
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

aren't there ONLINE petitions where u can get issues resolved? i can't remember which now, but u can goto that cause site and create a cause and email it many people and they will sign it. doing it on physical pen and paper is a huge hassle and many people are way too lazy to do so. I AM ONE OF THEM .

so if som1 creates an online petition and links it here, I WILL SIGN IT!!! bring it on! i luv this idea. let's get the movement going! =P. i refuse to buy BD's without lossless on movies THAT HAVE TO HAVE IT!!! i saw speed racer opening night. blew me away, i remembered making a mental note to buy the BD when it came out and was about to pre-order it when online sites reported non-lossless. it's not the first time too, superman returns and happy feet didn't have that when they first came out. superman returns has just been re-issued, i bought it straight up from WHV on release date. if happy feet and speed racer and many movies that REQUIRE it gets re-released with lossless i am SO THERE.

but please remember also that releasing EVERYTHING on lossless doesn't make 100% sense unless studios (not just WB) go back to original sountrack and remaster THAT too. sometimes they dump the same print on both lossy and lossless for pre surround sound/hi-fi days and it'll make no difference. but if they HAVE remastered original audio, we want lossless no matter how new or old the films are. i believe Dolby includes TrueHD 1.0 spex AS WELL. so even casablanca can include lossless TrueHD 1.0!!!

to the edge of eternity and depth of infinity, stupidity knows no bound.

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#28
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Online petitions are largely ineffective, as there is no way to verify the information contained in them, including the signatures of the signees to the petition.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

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#29
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

VERY embarassing for a format to be limited in picture and sound quality by production capacity when its major claim to fame is superior picture and sound.

Warner allready voiced disappointment on how the Blu-Ray format develops at the IFA this year and I hope that things will change for the better soon. It is incredible that more than 2 years into the life of the format DL production capacity is still a problem.

This is not intended as a belated format war post as I consider Blu-Ray to be the right HD format for several reasons but it is about time that studios should not be forced to release compromised SL discs just because DL production capacities are still not what they should be.

Regarding how this affects only/mainly Warner: They release and sell more titles than any other studio so it is probable that their allotment of DL capacity cannot keep up with their demand more so than with other studios.
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#30
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re: Writing a letter to Warner about lack of lossless audio on their BRD

Quote:
Warner allready voiced disappointment on how the Blu-Ray format develops at the IFA this year
That's very encouraging news in this whole matter. It means they are aware of the problem, and look to change things for the better rather sooner than later.

It also means they really want to bring out richer releases more often if only they could.
Of course we support that!


Cees
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