Many "Sony titles" (Total Recall e.a.) on HD-DVD in Europe from Studio Canal (1 Viewer)

[Member 323668]

On HD-DVD available in Germany 11/20 with no region coding: (Canal Plus)

1080p/24 VC-1 encoded (output at 1080i/60, same as US encodes)


Total Recall

The Fog (Carpenter)

First Blood (Stallone)

The Elephant Man

King Kong (Jeff Bridges)

The Pianist

La Haine


Early 2007


Terminator 2

Mullholland Drive

Traffic


LINK

 

[RobertR]

Very interesting. Would be fascinating to compare these to the BR versions.

 

[TonyD]

so now like sd dvd, titles are being released in non reg 1 areas.

 

[Member 323668]

Well, the irony is that low quality Sony "BD exclusives" in the US probably will get stellar VC-1 encoded HD-DVD releases in Europe with full compatibility with US HD-DVD hardware.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I'll probably hold off on the TOTAL RECALL BD in order to get the HD DVD import. KING KONG '76 is a must too(for the cheesy nostalgia factor).

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I, for one, wouldn't mind not supporting Sony BD, while still getting Sony titles.
As long as the quality & price are similar or better, that's a "win win" for me! ;-)
Now, does Sony, or anyone else besides Studio Canal, get to distribute these titles in BD in Europe???
Thanks.

 

[Manus]

The only downside to this is the liklihood that subtitles will be forced throughout Europe away from UK :frowning:

See post No.3 :

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=241372

~M~

 

[Harminder]

Are these PAL encoded? or NTSC? I'm still confused about compatibility here in North America with these Studio Canal releases. Can someone fill me in, thank you.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

The titles will be HD.
So, not NTSC or PAL.
There was a problem with Europe going for 25 frames, as apposed to 'our' 24 frames. However, this has been cleared up (for now) and both 'systems' will be based on 1920 x 1080p 24.
Although, you will see some Pacific Rim titles, like Japan, at 1080i.

The BIG hurdle will be; "Forced Subtitles".
I'm hoping MS & specifically Amir, can clear this hurdle as well!

 

[Harminder]

That's AWESOME! Looks like I CAN get Terminator 2 (my favourite movie of all time!) on HD-DVD! Thanks for your help Ed!

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Not really, if they have forced subtitles, we are still forced to import.

 

[Rob_Walton]

The main feature on these Studio Canal HD DVDs should be encoded at 1080i60 (hopefully) which can be output by the Tosh at 1080i24. The extras are a different kettle of fish, and I'm not sure it's been anounced yet how they will be stored on the disc. Since they've all been standard def up till this point they should probably be in PAL, but time will tell.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I'm unable to grasp your post. Maybe it would help if I knew where your posting from, therefore I might have a clue about your stating; "import".
Thanks.

 

[Rob_Walton]

I'm fairly sure Amir was attempting to asuage those who thought the HD movie itself might be encoded at 25fps. It would be very odd for Studio Canal to use NTSC (SD) extras when they've probably used the same featurettes in PAL for their DVD releases. Why would they go for lower quality video than they need to for the extra content?

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Good point!
At this point (pi) will just have too see (pi).

Does Europe or HD DVD in general, included PAL?

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Well it's obvious. We are in this topic talking about Europe. If the movies are released in 24p (here in Europe) but with forced sub-titles, we still need to import (from US) to get a proper presentation (here in Europe!).

 

[MarekM]

I can't believe it hmm, WHY ON EARTH FORCED SUBTITLES ???? why ?

Marek

 

[Paul_Scott]

because in a way, that is region coding. Its marking territory.

Along the same lines as many native French releases on dvd which purposefully decline to include an English sub track. Obviously having the sub track on these would open up the potential audience for the release- but it would also impinge on the foreign distributors potential revenue.

 

[MarekM]

Paul I am OK with regional CODING, but forced subtitles ??? that means I can't switch them OFF ? Am I right ? I really can't believe that same movie released here in EUROPE will have forced subtitles as regional coding ?? So they will force people to buy them from US, I am speechless :frowning: :frowning:

Marek