DailyTech - Paramount Goes Back to Blu-ray Disc

Submit News

Hardware Paramount Goes Back to Blu-ray Disc
Marcus Yam (Blog) - February 22, 2008 9:23 AM

46 comment(s) - last by hoohoo51.. on Feb 24 at 3:51 AM

Paramount moves back into the Blu-ray fold.

Transformers assured to someday hit Blu-ray Disc

As far as Hollywood is concerned, high-definition movies are now Blu. Paramount told the media today that it will soon begin releasing movies again on Blu-ray Disc, a move many expected to happen following Toshiba’s withdrawal from the high-definition format war on Tuesday.

“We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer,” read a statement from Paramount, received by the Hollywood Reporter. “As we look to (begin) releasing our titles on Blu-ray, we will monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plans accordingly.”

Unlike Universal Studios, which already announced it plans to release movies on Blu-ray Disc, Paramount is no stranger to the now-victorious high-definition format. Prior to its exclusive deal with HD DVD – rumored at around $150 million – Paramount released its films on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

While Paramount has yet to announce any upcoming Blu-ray Disc product, it’s only a matter of time before Transformers hits the format to please fans and silence Michael Bay.

Paramount will still honor its pledge to HD DVD owners, as it will continue its promised releases until further notice. Releasing next week only on HD DVD is Beowulf, with Into the Wild the week after. Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood are also confirmed by Paramount for an April release.

Comments

Threshold

Username
Password
remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

Transformers Blu-ray

By rninneman on 2/22/2008 11:00:04 AM , Rating: 3

I hope the Blu-ray version of Transformers will include some form of lossless audio since they will have enough storage space to support it. The DD+ track on the HD-DVD was weak.

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By omnicronx on 2/22/2008 11:41:19 AM , Rating: 3

quote:
I hope the Blu-ray version of Transformers will include some form of lossless audio since they will have enough storage space to support it. The DD+ track on the HD-DVD was weak.

Yes, it sucks the track was not TrueHD, as you would expect it to be that way with a next gen release. But the track was far from weak, many reviews have shown that a lot of time was taken in mastering the audio, and the end result ended up winning awards for being the closest to the studio master.. over TrueHD and DTS MA titles, which is a great accomplishment. So if you think the sound was bad, you don't know what good sound is ;)

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By sweetsauce on 2/22/2008 11:47:44 AM , Rating: 2

Nah hes never heard it. Its just easier to say buzzwords like "true lossless" and claim its superior or inferior because of it, not taking into account the source of the sound or the time put into creating and mastering it.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By rninneman on 2/22/2008 2:05:25 PM , Rating: 2

Do you feel MP3 and AAC sound the same as the LPCM on a CD too?

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By abhaxus on 2/23/2008 11:59:59 PM , Rating: 2

No, however for example the 160kbps OFFICIAL mp3s of the Radiohead - In Rainbows album sound better than many of the 256kbit and 320kbit scene mp3 releases I have heard of albums over the years.

A well mastered, lossy track can be better done than a poorly done lossless track for sure.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By rninneman on 2/22/2008 1:56:49 PM , Rating: 2

I agree; there is no question a lot of time was spent with mastering the soundtrack, but it still lacked depth and dynamics that lossless audio can reproduce. Just because it won awards, doesn't mean a proper TrueHD or DTS HD-MA track won't outperform the DD+ version. Just like a well mastered audio recording will always sound better on CD than even a 320Kbps MP3 or AAC encoding of the same track.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By Tegeril on 2/23/2008 1:36:38 AM , Rating: 2

Oh honestly.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By Oobu on 2/23/2008 2:26:09 AM , Rating: 2

Maybe it's because my hearing isn't great anymore, but I really can't tell any difference between CD audio and an MP3 depending on it's bitrate. Usually after 192kbps I can't tell any difference, but anything lower than 192kbps I can definitely hear the difference. I can't imagine things sounding any better than 320kbps.

One of these days I hope to be put in an ideal situation so I could possibly tell the difference. Then maybe I will never want to hear anything but lossless audio again. Until then I don't see myself spending much time paying attention to the audio tracks and audio quality of a movie. They all seem about the same even when I'm hearing things on highend audio equipment (as far as I know).

I wish I had awesome ears like some people.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By Noya on 2/23/2008 3:45:49 AM , Rating: 2

You must be very head of hearing and haven't truly listened to a high-end two channel system. Think large towers with multiple drivers for low distortion and an amp with a reserve of power (300+ w/per channel) for dynamics and bass response.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By TheNuts on 2/22/2008 12:52:29 PM , Rating: 5

Use something else besides stereo PC speakers

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By deeznuts on 2/22/2008 1:00:51 PM , Rating: 2

I'm Blu-Ray all the way, but you really should have researched this before speaking. The DD+ track on Transformers was awesome. They probably had a great master to start with, and their sound engineers did a wonderful job, but it was far from weak. It was the award at the HD Disc awards for best sound.

BUT, if the same engineers shall work on the Blu-Ray disc, with the extra space they should be able to squeeze in HD sound, at a good bitrate, and exceed their DD+ work.

Another good side effect of the elimination of HD DVD, that nobody really seems to notice, is getting rid of the lowest common denominator. Dual format releases by WB were identical. Because HD DVD and BD are identical? No, because the studio isn't going to spend extra time making two versions of one movie, therefore it made one version of the feature movie that would be compatible with both formats. Now with the 30gb limitation gone, they are free to use higher bitrates and quality. Will we notice the difference?

Some will swear they will, some will swear they don't, but hey, at least we know it's better when looking at specs.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By DigitalFreak on 2/22/2008 2:00:52 PM , Rating: 3

Since the Transformers BR disc was already done when they switched formats, I would suspect that the transfer and audio will be identical to the HD-DVD version. Same with Blades of Glory and a couple other titles.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By goodstuff on 2/22/2008 3:08:28 PM , Rating: 2

Nope, the Blades of Glory BD that was about to get released and then pulled the last second with the Paramount switch, had a lossless audio track on it while the HD-DVD did not due to space issues. Now no one has seen the Transformers BD that was set to come out, but I'm willing to bet it had a lossless track on it as well.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By bfellow on 2/22/2008 3:19:16 PM , Rating: 2

Well the Transformer HD DVD was using HD 30. If it was put on a BD 25 then it would still be more compressed audio since you lose 5 gigs of space.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By rninneman on 2/22/2008 3:31:13 PM , Rating: 5

I've done plenty of research not to mention I have both the HD-DVD and DVD version. The way the soundtrack was mastered was awesome. The compression of DD+ still uses psychoacoutic coding which discards sound information. Thats why CDs still sound better than the highest bitrate MP3, AAC, and WMA files (unless its the lossless version of course).

The award that everyone likes to tout for Transformers is just from a magazine. Other publications have said other movies had better audio. It's a subjective rating. One thing that is for sure is that in all probability, none of you have heard the studio master and you certainly can't know whether lossless audio will make a difference or not because it does't exist. Generally lossless audio benefits great studio masters more than crappy ones because a lossless format will certainly not improve anything, but it can preserve the nuances of a great master.

Most people that have even seen the HD-DVD version have not heard the the DD+ track properly reproduced anyway. It cannot be sent over Toslink or SPDIF and 5.1 analog outputs eliminate proper bass management and time delay control.

For someone using a cheap surround sound system, it won't make much difference anyway. Then again, same with the DD+ not be much better than regular Dolby Digital on a crappy audio system.

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By slacker57 on 2/22/2008 4:05:15 PM , Rating: 5

I hope the Blu-ray version of Transformers will include some form of meaningful plot and script...

Parent

RE: Transformers Blu-ray

By sgtdisturbed47 on 2/23/2008 3:27:42 AM , Rating: 2

Transformers on Blu-Ray would freakin' pwn.

Parent

Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By jhinoz on 2/22/2008 9:26:08 AM , Rating: 5

Seriously?!

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By pomaikai on 2/22/2008 9:30:25 AM , Rating: 5

Why dont we just sum up the existing HD DVD studios in a single article or yet a single sentence.

Every studio has switched over to Blu Ray.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By jhinoz on 2/22/2008 9:34:24 AM , Rating: 5

Because then we'd lose the opportunity to further re-re-re-re-discuss how awesome or not BD or HDDVD or PS3 or Xbox or Monster cables or whatever is.

When that happens I guess I'll have to wait for masher's next global warming article and post my greenpeace membership number in there...

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By PAPutzback on 2/22/08, Rating: -1

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By EntreHoras on 2/22/2008 10:04:59 AM , Rating: 2

Come On!

I'm sure that DT publish the kind of stories that attract the attention of the readers.

And how they measure it? I'm sure that one of their methods is to see how many people post comments on each topic.

So if you want to DT stops posting on Blu-Ray news, you have to stop posting comments on this subject.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By erikejw on 2/22/08, Rating: -1

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By probedb on 2/22/2008 10:17:44 AM , Rating: 1

They seem to be awfully late at publishing stuff like this.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By Chaser on 2/22/2008 11:35:42 AM , Rating: 5

Now that's a surprise. After HD DVD is dead "DT is now releasing too much news about BR".

High def video is an emerging consumer technology. And now that there is one format for disc the focus can be on what's coming down the road for the consumer. Tired of Blue Ray? I hate to break it to you but I don't think Popsci is going to shelter you.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By Polynikes on 2/22/2008 11:15:09 AM , Rating: 3

Wow, this caught me completely off-guard. What a huge surprise.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By theapparition on 2/22/2008 11:44:08 AM , Rating: 4

HD VHS??? Sounds funny.....

Laugh all you want. But while all these formats were bickering back and forth, I've been recording at up to 1080p for close to 5 years now. What's the format???

DVHS (or HD VHS if you will).

You can record up to 2 hours 1080p, or close to 60hrs standard definition on one tape.
Yes, it still has all the drawbacks of tape, but I can always transfer them to hard drive or some other future recordable media.

Parent

RE: Where else were they going to go? HD VHS??

By walk2k on 2/22/2008 12:54:18 PM , Rating: 1

1080i

you can't transfer to hard disk (or anything) unless the program is coded for copy-free. most are coded for copy-once.

Parent

Hmmm...

By Sparke on 2/22/2008 10:13:36 AM , Rating: 5

Do they still get to keep their $150 million?

RE: Hmmm...

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 2/22/2008 12:08:49 PM , Rating: 2

There was no cash exchanged. The $150 mill was in the form of advertising and marketing incentives.

Parent

RE: Hmmm...

By daftrok on 2/22/2008 1:25:16 PM , Rating: 2

Of course not, they have to give it back like how insurance companies give our money back when nothing happens...wait...

Parent

BD 2....

By drk1980 on 2/22/2008 1:12:37 PM , Rating: 2

Can someone please tell me what is the difference between blu-ray now, and the "new" Blu-ray 2 that is coming out ? And will the ps3 be able to upgrade to this ?

RE: BD 2....

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 2/22/2008 4:34:19 PM , Rating: 2

The "new" BR will be called Blu-Ray Live. On the players it will say Live Enabled or Blu-Ray Spec 2.0. It makes standard the requirement for 1024MB (1 Gig) of Flash storage on the device. It also makes standard the requirement to have an ethernet port. This will enable multiplayer games, dynamic previews, firmware updates (straight from the web) and new special features to take advantage of these new options.

The PS3 will be able to upgrade to the 2.0 spec. None of the stand alone players currently on the market will be able to though.

Parent

RE: BD 2....

By jamdunc on 2/22/2008 7:45:41 PM , Rating: 2

Right, I don't get this and so can someone please explain it to me?

The PS3 has a hard drive (not flash memory) and 512Mb Ram (not flash memory). So how is it Blu-Ray 2.0 compatible? What did I miss?

I'm so confused :(

Parent

RE: BD 2....

By leexgx on 2/22/2008 8:29:53 PM , Rating: 2

256mb ram 256 video and an 40 up to 80gb hdd

Hard Disk or Flash same thing its space to store stuff

Parent

Its crystal clear !

By crystal clear on 2/23/2008 6:06:05 AM , Rating: 1

The format wars officially over but have exposed many disturbing facts.

We will see some serious/negative after effects of this war

Content producers & retailers will pay the ulitmate price for their B.R. support.

Remember the results of the format wars was decided/ upon, not by buyers or consumers but by format promoters & content producers plus reatilers .

The B.R. promoters+content producers+retailers conspired together to wipe out free market competition .
They wanted a swift/fast solution in the belief that a single format(B.R.) would bring them huge sales/revenues to boost their already sluggish sales.

You will see this stratergy will fail.
Consumer response will be negative & sluggish at its best.

Buyers want quality contents & low prices & not formats.

Consumers/buyers were simply ignored with total disregard for their choices or preferences.
All they were concerned about were their own profits & revenues .

As for those fanatics on websites/forums supporting B.R were either paid to do so or had their own personal gains or plain stupid/ignorant fools .
Those harsh & insulting responses I used to get in the past proved just that.

A single format will not bring about lower prices in the short/medium term,all those claiming otherwise are wrong.

All the talk about consumer confusions is plain Public Relations trash/spin.
They never bother to ask the consumer or buyer.

Example-

The B.R. promoters Sony is a classic example & you learn from this example,but Sony doesnt want to do so.

PS3 have all along been over priced & all that tech jargon did not help improve sales.

All this when the low tech/previous generation PS2 priced very low was breaking all records in sales & revenues & continues to do so.

Sony had no choice but to cut prices ! & will have to cut down even more.

Back to the formats-Look at worldwide & not only the N American market.

1) The E.U will not back down in its investigations & will ultimately impose fines.
Countries like France & others will also impose their laws-just like they did with Apple.

2) In the USA expect a class action suite,no shortage of greedy lawyers & users to make a few millions .Great opportunity why loose it.

The above two items will wreck havoc & drive them into a serious financial crisis.

3) All those HDDVD players owners -

Toshiba, which began sales of HD DVD players in March 2006, has sold 1 million players and recorders, including sales of drives for another supporter, Microsoft Corp, for its XBox 360 game console. Another roughly 700,000 HD DVD drives have been sold for PCs.

Expect then to continue using their player to watch DVD & HDDVD formats & will not be in a big hurrry to buy B.R. players.

4)The mainstream buyers adoption rate to B.R.will be slow & torturous one.

The end of the format wars will be the start of more developments from the legal point of view & negative consumer responses/sales in the future.

They solved one problem to create many more new problems !

RE: Its crystal clear !

By TerranMagistrate on 2/23/2008 11:24:44 AM , Rating: 2

You're whole post is laughable and sounds like the whining of a early adopter of the HD-DVD format but this portion is particularly stupid:

PS3 have all along been over priced & all that tech jargon did not help improve sales.

Overpriced? Sony has consistently sold the PS3 at a substantial loss up until a couple months ago.

Oh well too bad for you, loser.

Parent

RE: Its crystal clear !

By crystal clear on 2/23/2008 8:20:55 PM , Rating: 1

If you are so naive & ignorant to believe what Sony says, then....Oh well too bad for you.

Dont believe them !

You do not know yet how japanese companies trade business/market amongst themselves, to ensure the high flow of revenues & profits.

Wake up ! read this

Tokyo, Japan, February 20, 2008--Toshiba Corporation(Toshiba), Sony Corporation(Sony) and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a new joint venture among the companies for the production of high-performance semiconductors, including products for SCEI's PlayStation computer entertainment systems. Toshiba, Sony and SCEI started discussing the possibility of entering into a joint venture last year, and today's agreement follows an October 18, 2007 memorandum of understanding between the parties.

follows an October 18, 2007 memorandum of understanding between the parties

So it was decided way back in OCT 07 that Toshiba gives up one market namely HDDVD format & in return gets manufacturing for PS3 & other digital products of Sony.

Semiconductors to be manufactured by the joint venture include the "Cell Broadband EngineTM" (Cell/B.E.) processor, the "RSX" graphics engine and other high-performance semiconductors for Sony Group, as well as Toshiba's leading edge SoCs (System on Chip) for applications in digital consumer products.

Ownership: 60% Toshiba, 20% Sony, 20% SCEI

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_02/pr200...

This announcement was made on 20 February, 2008-note !
A day after they announcement the end of HDDVD.

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_02/pr190...

I have repeatedly said in the past that I own a PS3 & Toshiba HDDVD- I loose nothing rather happy have it all !.

If anybody looses its the mainstream buyers/consumers who will now pay the usual high prices-courtsey SONY !

You're whole post is laughable and sounds like a B.R. fanboy or some stupid response filled with ignorance & stupidity.

Parent

RE: Its crystal clear !

By mikeyD95125 on 2/23/2008 8:50:45 PM , Rating: 2

Well it is a good thing Sony is not the only Blu-Ray hardware and software provider.

Like any market all the competing companies will form budget, mid-range, and high-end price points.

It's not a conspiracy it is just how buisiness works.

Parent

such slime

By semo on 2/22/2008 9:39:31 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer

it's easy to say that after all the commotion. why didn't they try to get together with other studios or do more from the beginning. a year ago it was all about profits and trying to get on the right bandwagon but it's easy to talk about the consumer now.

RE: such slime

By Maskarat on 2/22/2008 9:57:06 AM , Rating: 2

Actually it's easy to be a consumer too .. especially if like me .. sent them both to a fairy populated place and did not purchase anything. Now once the dust settles .. I'll purchase.

Parent

RE: such slime

By semo on 2/22/08, Rating: -1

RE: such slime

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 2/22/2008 12:10:40 PM , Rating: 1

Likely it was that the studios liked the options on Blu-Ray. Better DRM (if desired) and region coding, among other things were big pulls on many of the studios. HD DVD didn't offer much over DVD in the form of DRM and region coding was eliminated entirely.

Parent

Chances of Michael Bay shutting up...

By dflynchimp on 2/22/2008 12:15:05 PM , Rating: 3

...is but a figment of your imagination

hd vhs does exist

By hoohoo51 on 2/24/2008 3:51:13 AM , Rating: 2

back in the 80's there was somthing someone tried to launch called svhs, it had a higer resultion the problem was u had to totally switch over, they even made svhs camcorders. i have one of those shoulder riding monstrosity's

also a couple years ago i was a commercial a/v installer and EVERYTHING is still on a magnetic tape that is about 2/3 bigger than a vhs tape. and one of the last couple jobs i did was the new soldier field for the bears and a tv station and they still use 1/2" beta tape. the last vtr i had my hands on was a sony hd modle and i looked at the invoice after i installed a couple racks of them and proceeded to poop my pants rite there, cost of each unit $250,000 as in a quarter million dollars for a single vtr unit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betacam