Strand Releasing not using lossless audio consistently (1 Viewer)

[McCrutchy]

Hi all,

I thought I'd just post a heads up to those interested that Strand Releasing are being inconsistent with their use of lossless audio. Strand have released a handful of titles sporadically since 2011, but even though a December 2012 release of the documentary Comic Book Confidential contains DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio, their next release in December 2013 did not. This release was the film Post Tenebras Lux, which contains only Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

In the UK, Post Tenebras Lux had already seen a Region B locked release, which had lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 (and LPCM 2.0) tracks.

On another forum, I was assured by someone who claimed to work with Strand that they were "working to make sure future blu-ray releases contain DTS-HD [sic] audio".

In March 2014, Strand released the film Mysterious Skin, and included DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio, as well as an isolated score track in DTS-HD MA, so I thought all was well.

But now I see from a review, that the forthcoming Strand Blu-ray of Stranger By the Lake again has only Dolby Digital 5.1 (and here, also 2.0) audio.

In the UK, Stranger By the Lake is being released by Peccadillo Pictures, who have a strong record of lossless audio on their releases since 2011. I have gone ahead and pre-ordered the UK BD, (which releases later in the month) from Amazon.co.uk, and will report back to confirm if it is region-free. Historically, Peccadillo's releases appear to be mainly, if not entirely, region-free.

Strand (and Amazon.com) charge a rather princely sum for their discs, and while they have only released a handful of titles on Blu-ray, it is quite ridiculous that, in 2014, they continue to release feature films without lossless audio tracks.

 

[schan1269]

Not an issue at all.Be happy we get what they offer. No one else touches the type of movies they do. If they have to cut a corner, so what.Strand also knows they are butting heads against region-free buyers.And oh yeah,PTL is old news. I'd like to know how Strand botched it so bad. Theirs is absolute garbage. The UK is gorgeous.

 

[McCrutchy]

Not an issue at all.Be happy we get what they offer. No one else touches the type of movies they do. If they have to cut a corner, so what.Strand also knows they are butting heads against region-free buyers.And oh yeah,PTL is old news. I'd like to know how Strand botched it so bad. Theirs is absolute garbage. The UK is gorgeous.

It is absolutely an issue, and to say otherwise is nonsense.

Quite strange, as your other comments would only seem to bolster the idea that Strand aren't worth supporting at all.

Lossless audio is part and parcel of Blu-ray, and just because you can have lossy audio on a high-definition disc, that hardly means it's proper, especially this late into the format. You can also have 720p video in the Blu-ray specification, but I haven't seen US labels cramming a season of a TV series onto one Blu-ray Disc at 720p resolution.

 

[schan1269]

And expecting only "1080P and lossless" is elitist.I'd gladly take 1080i and 720P on BD. And "this late in the game" is a pointless argument...Or CD would have lost out to DVD-A/SACD and those would lose out to BD Audio.Point being...There are so many movies that deserve better than 480i/P. Maybe RAH can jump in(somewhere) and tell us if authoring at 720P costs less...

 

[Jari K]

"I'd gladly take 1080i and 720P on BD."C'mon. Seriously, IF some company is going to release a film on BD, why would they transfer the film in 1080i or (the horror the horror) 720p?It should be 1080p/24fps on BD (movies shot on film) - or they should stick with DVD. Leave 1080i for HDTV channels and 720p for games.