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Print 39 comment(s) - last by BenSkywalker.. on Mar 2 at 8:21 AM
Eight titles will be available at launch

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that May 23 is the launch date for the first Blu-ray movies. The May 23 launch date will coincide with Samsung's release of the first commercially available Blu-ray Disc (BD) player, the BD-P1000. It will be available at launch at Best Buy and Circuit City as well as other electronic specialty store. BD players will soon after be released from Samsung, Pioneer (BDP-HD1) and Sony (BDP-S1).

The launch titles will include:
  • 50 First Dates
  • The Fifth Element
  • Hitch
  • House of Flying Daggers
  • A Knight's Tale
  • The Last Waltz
  • Resident Evil Apocalypse
  • XXX
Sony previously announced that Blu-ray titles would appear in late April; the one month setback is discouraging but at least some progress has been made. 

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Vote down this two format nonsense!
By Hulk on 2/28/2006 4:56:07 PM , Rating: 3
I'm not buying any of this crap until they release a player that will play both formats. Until then I'll be fine with DVD's.

Looks how well the high resolution audio formats did. Another two format nightmare. Oh yeah, they're dead. For most people CD's were "good enough." If they screw around with HD formats and copy protection too much the public might find DVD's "good enough" as well.




RE: Vote down this two format nonsense!
By BenSkywalker on 2/28/2006 8:23:24 PM , Rating: 1
There won't be dual format players- BR backers will not allow it. They are pushing for a quick kill which they should have by middle to end of next year. At that point, Q4 '07, BR should be looking at a market penetration of closing in on 20Million units if noone buys a set top player at all. Only chance for HD-DVD at this point is if MS changes the standard drive in the 360 to HD-DVD(which I wouldn't rule out).


Don't understand your reply
By Hulk on 2/28/2006 8:58:07 PM , Rating: 2
You say 20 million "units" by Q4 07. Fine.

What do you mean by units? Can't be players because you state "even if market penetration reaches 20 million if no one buys a set top player."

So you mean BR discs, right? How are 20 millions discs going to be sold with no players?



RE: Don't understand your reply
By BenSkywalker on 3/1/2006 1:38:07 PM , Rating: 1
As masher mentioned, I'm talking about the PS3. Sony has the uber trojan for BluRay, the dominant player in the console market. MS could somewhat negate this advantage if they adopted HD-DVD in their system but it looks as if they intend to go the add on route only for the time being.

As far as dual format players- I would give three to one odds we won't see one. Mainly as the players have vested interests in seeing their format win; not only in terms of pride but also on financial terms. Matsushita and Sony are behind the same standard on this one- when the two of them have worked together on anything like this they have always ended up being the standard in a fairly short amount of time.


RE: Don't understand your reply
By timmiser on 3/1/2006 8:23:52 PM , Rating: 2
Q4 '07 for PS3 is unlikely. It will probably be pushed back further still.


By BenSkywalker on 3/2/2006 8:21:32 AM , Rating: 1
PS3 will hit this year without a doubt. It may end up being a Q4 launch for Japan only- but there is no doubt it will be on the market in mass quantity with a year under its belt prior to Q4 '07. As of now, everything is set with the exception of the BR drive having finalized specs.


By masher2 (blog) on 2/28/2006 9:04:04 PM , Rating: 1
> "There won't be dual format players- BR backers will not allow it."

Um, they can't prevent it. If you pay the licensing fees and adhere to the AACP standards, then you can do anything else you want....up to and including playing alternate formats.


RE: Vote down this two format nonsense!
By Knish on 2/28/2006 10:30:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
There won't be dual format players- BR backers will not allow it.

Cmon! Still on the FRONT PAGE!
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1023



By timmiser on 3/1/2006 8:26:52 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe this whole BR/HD-DVD thing will be history faster than the DVD-R / DVD+R gig.


By ROB G on 3/1/2006 12:05:41 AM , Rating: 2
never say never...anything and everything is possible...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/06/samsung_hd...


By timmiser on 3/1/2006 8:21:52 PM , Rating: 2
You never owned a VCR eh?


OH BOY !!
By kattanna on 2/28/2006 5:10:41 PM , Rating: 2
a mostly crappy line up of movies to compliment something i have no interest in.

What im going to love is watching those poor bastards that bought their HD TV over a year ago come in, buy one of those players and a couple of movies, take it home and find out "hey..you just got screwed!!" because it willnt work on your "old" HDTV

i might have to get my lawn chair and some popcorn and sit out front of best buy the day after they start selling them..

cause we all know that the sales people will be completely honest about that it willnt work with most older HDTV's...





RE: OH BOY !!
By masher2 (blog) on 2/28/2006 5:15:11 PM , Rating: 2
It's "complement", not compliment. And those older HDTVs will still work with those discs...though the lack of HDCP handshaking will force the player to downconvert the signal to quarter-1080p (about 50% higher resolution than a standard DVD).


RE: OH BOY !!
By Maintenance on 3/1/2006 2:42:45 AM , Rating: 2
I'm sorry, but I think you are wrong. A 1080p signal (1920x1080) reduced to one quarter its original resolution (aka reduced by 75%) would be equal to 480x270. DVDs play back at a resolution of 480p (640x480). As you can see the reduced Blu Ray resolution is far less than that of a standard DVD. Moreover, it has been reported that some Blu Ray/HD DVD discs will simply not play at all when "HDCP handshaking" is lacking. Perhaps you should fact check your own statements before you start pointing out the trivial spelling errors of other posts.


RE: OH BOY !!
By Maintenance on 3/1/2006 3:07:23 AM , Rating: 2
I stand corrected. I failed to realize that resolution is, in fact, a measurement of area. The correct resolution of a reduced signal is 960x540, which is above that of a DVD. Nonetheless, the rest of my post was factual.


RE: OH BOY !!
By masher2 (blog) on 3/1/2006 9:19:18 AM , Rating: 2
Two other corrections-- DVD resolution is 720x480, not 640x480. Ssecondly, there are indeed numerous reports of HDCP devices failing to synch up and/or handshake properly, and thus failing to display a signal. However, these are problems, and not behaviour by design.


multipass!
By pepsimax2k on 2/28/2006 4:32:58 PM , Rating: 5
multipass!




RE: multipass!
By Gil554 on 2/28/2006 7:52:31 PM , Rating: 2
big badda boom


RE: multipass!
By timmiser on 3/1/2006 8:20:48 PM , Rating: 2
I wonder about the quality of the original film? Is it true high definition if not originally taken with a high def camera?

(There is only one movie I'd pay for from that list.)


-Corbin Dallas


flying daggers
By alphaaa on 2/28/2006 9:14:51 PM , Rating: 2
house of flying daggers is a great title to showcase the new disc... the other titles seem to be poor choices though




Unless you find pimples romantic...
By Fricardo on 2/28/2006 11:36:52 PM , Rating: 2
Chick flicks simply will not benefit from HD. That's not what they're about. Fast action movies and sci-fi/fantasy with panoramic cinematography are the only things that even make it worth considering shelling out the price for early adoption on such an evolutionary product. If Sony thinks Hitch and 50 First Dates are going to sell their tech, they have another thing coming.

That said, I'm hoping Blu Ray pulls out the win fast in the name of superior technology and mostly just to have a single standard. These constant standard wars for royalties are simply ridiculous.


RE: Unless you find pimples romantic...
By Thanato on 3/1/2006 12:33:03 AM , Rating: 3
Chick flicks are to aid in convicing the wife that its a valid purchase. Smart guys leave the wife at home, or benefit from other stores in the mall (still usually not the wisest move), for the rest of them, they need a lil touch of love and romance in a select title or 3 to smoothen the wrinkles through the "wasted paycheck" process.


By timmiser on 3/1/2006 8:31:50 PM , Rating: 2
Good point!


Right
By Desslok on 2/28/2006 4:11:40 PM , Rating: 2
And the SZ laptop was supposed to ship this month too.




RE: Right
By JazzMang on 2/28/2006 4:27:06 PM , Rating: 2
SZ Laptop? Do you know what you are talking about?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7684... In stock at my local store.

The configurable SZ is shipping @ sonystyle as well.


RE: Right
By Desslok on 2/28/2006 5:19:56 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe you need to take some of your own advice there guy, or better yet READ the page you link too, dumbass.

Straight from the Sony website

Production begins on or about Mar 06, 2006. Please allow 5-7 days after this date for production to complete.

From the BestBuy website that you link too.

Backordered. Usually ships within 1-2 weeks.


bleh
By acejj26 on 2/28/2006 5:14:53 PM , Rating: 4
Anyone else find this scenario funny? They wait to do high definition optical discs until the market is saturated enough with HDTV's and then they will only allow the new players to play the high def content via HDMI, which an overwhelming majority of the HDTV's already sold do not have such a port. Even today, quite a few of the lower end HDTV's being sold do not have an HDMI port.

I'm not a fan of these companies treating the common consumer as a criminal. Pirates are still going to find ways around the copy protection. Off the top of my head, I can imagine someone buying a high-def camcorder, aiming it at a high def tv, and recording the high-def movie. Will it be just as good as the original? No. Will it be better than DVD resolution? Probably.

Rant over.




an indication of the wonderful PS3 launch to come?
By Nekrik on 2/28/2006 8:45:08 PM , Rating: 2
50 First Dates
The Fifth Element
Hitch
House of Flying Daggers
A Knight's Tale
The Last Waltz
Resident Evil Apocalypse
XXX

hope the same guy picks out the game launch titles too! :)




By Jellodyne on 2/28/2006 9:20:36 PM , Rating: 2
It's like the same criteria Columbia Tristar uses to decide what to do Superbits discs for -- so that means Johnny Mnemonic, Anaconda and The One should be along shortly.


That's quite a lineup there...
By jskirwin on 2/28/2006 4:14:54 PM , Rating: 2
They're debuting a new technology with "Hitch"? What, did they lose the rights to Turner & Hooch?




Titles
By spindoc on 2/28/2006 5:57:24 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe Sony doesn't have rights to many good movies. I know I don't usually keep track of the production company when I watch movies. Still, there's only one... maybe two good movies on that list. Their trying to sell a new technology that is not standardized and that's the best they can come up with? Bah! I'll stick to playing DVDs in my PS2.




Too bad...
By bunnyfubbles on 2/28/2006 7:58:44 PM , Rating: 2
I don't think any of those titles will be able to properly show off 1080p. Something filmed for IMAX or digital screens please...Batman Begins please?




wow
By shabby on 2/28/2006 8:46:21 PM , Rating: 2
I cant wait to see hitch in 1080p, will smith is soooooo dreamy...

Seriously wtf is sony thing with a crap line-up like that?
HD-dvd is launching with goodfellas, matrix, batman begins, constantine, last samurai and training day. Now thats a line-up, not hitch for crying out loud.




RE: wow
By masher2 (blog) on 2/28/06, Rating: 0
By fanbanlo on 3/1/2006 3:13:20 AM , Rating: 2
as titled.

isn't that how VHS won over beta?

or how Internet involved?




Blu-ray seems like a bad deal
By ATWindsor on 3/1/2006 4:50:08 AM , Rating: 2
Blu-ray is a bad deal because of all the restrictions, I can't play it from my computer for instance (thanks to HDCP). And whats the deal with the trusted keys? If somebody obtains the key my type of blu-ray-player uses, then they'll ban it? And my player is useless? Beeing an honest customer really isn't tempting, when they punish the people who actually buys the original product so hard.




Two months behind HD-DVD...
By masher2 (blog) on 2/28/06, Rating: 0
"If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." -- Scientology founder L. Ron. Hubbard











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