Warner's first Blu-ray catch-up title due in December
Although Warner is officially format neutral, some of their biggest titles are HD DVD exclusives. Warner has never came out and stated that it was due to Blu-ray's less than complete interactive layer, but it's been the general consensus. Now it seems those speculations were dead on, as the first Warner Blu-ray title with their "In-Movie Experience" will come to Blu-ray on November 3rd -- Terminator 3 has been available on HD DVD since September 2006. At this point it seems that only owners of the LG BH200 will be able to enjoy the new feature, but we'd expect there to be at least a few other profile 1.1 complaint players by then. Blu-ray fans can only hope that this is the first of many otherwise exclusive HD DVD Warner titles -- yes we're talking about the Matrix, which was promised this year -- to make it to Blu-ray this holiday season.






















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TJ @ Oct 16th 2007 3:10PM
Screw Terminator 3 and Matrix, I want Batman Begins!
reddplague @ Oct 16th 2007 12:12PM
Just a matter of time before WB goes Blu-ray only.
TrentD @ Oct 16th 2007 3:15PM
We shall see :)
Jack @ Oct 16th 2007 12:21PM
I guarantee that if matrix or batman were on blu-ray they would sell more of both those titles in the first week than hd dvd has the whole time they have been out.
TrentD @ Oct 16th 2007 3:17PM
That's just dumb - you should step outside blu-ray.com's forums sometimes and drink in some reality.
JeffDM @ Oct 16th 2007 12:25PM
Is the interactive stuff really that important? I really don't understand the drive to add it to Blu-Ray. I'm considering HD-DVD, due to Fox's little fiasco, not because of the interactive fluff. I mean, I've never seen picture in picture as worthwhile. The only kind of commentary I ever watch is the MST3K/RiffTrax kind, something that's not showing up in any current or announced HD movie that I've seen.
Cam @ Oct 16th 2007 12:25PM
Come on Warner...why are you forcing the issue? Why don't you just drop Blu-ray already like the bad habit that it is and get it over with?
James @ Oct 16th 2007 12:46PM
Isn't The Polar Express the first WB catch-up title?
domerdel @ Oct 16th 2007 1:39PM
Cam:
HD-DVD 103, blu-ray 73. Warner is making money on both.
Cam @ Oct 16th 2007 4:44PM
@domerdel
Yes, I know they are and they parade it. BUT...you can either have a disc that is so-so when released on both, or allocate that time/money/resources that they are spending on BD and make kick-arse HD DVDs like '300'.
TK101 @ Oct 16th 2007 2:26PM
And, don't forget, that T3 is sucktastic. I'd hardly consider that a must-buy like the Matrix titles. Blech.
TK
The Jeremy @ Oct 16th 2007 4:23PM
Count me also in for *Batman Begins* on Blu-ray.
But considering how long they've made me wait for that title - and for features I consider useless like PiP commentary - why couldn't they have taken that time to crank out a new transfer using high bit rate AVC instead of handing us the same low bit rate VC-1 encoding job found on the HD DVD version?
Oh that's right...can't show off Blu-ray's superior video and audio capabilities because that would be unfair and damaging to Warner's own DVD patent portfolio intersts that they'd like to carry over for another disc generation which an HD DVD victory would ensure. My bad!
At this rate, they probably won't release it until we get closer to the theatrical release of its sequel.
TrentD @ Oct 17th 2007 9:03AM
This comment shows your ignorance on how VC-1 and other new codecs work.
VC-1, according to the very people who do disc encodes at AVS Forum's Insiders Thread, is transparent to the source at only 15-20 mbps. Encoding at a higher rate is useless, and a waste of space.
In a double blind test, no one would be able to pick out the difference in a high bitrate AVC encode and the current VC-1 encode, since the law of diminishing returns has already come into effect. Sit and watch your bitrate meter if you want, but bitrate and codec choice are interactive - with VC-1, you simply don't need as many bits.
If you'd like to disagree, perhaps you should take it up with the compression professionals that actually work with the products, at AVS.
domerdel @ Oct 16th 2007 5:32PM
Cam:
indeed 300 was a great product for HD-DVD, but with all that time spent, BD still came on top (more 300 sales). That "so-so" disc is better than you think.
Warner is probably the most profitable neutral studio (right now), by staying neutral.
Cam @ Oct 16th 2007 5:52PM
@domerdel
Have you seen the commentary on the HD DVD? Like dayum! I'd love to see more of that stuff on all their titles instead of them spending that money on BD.
yes, you're right, they are by FAR the leader in HD titles overall. Not sure about net profits tho consider how much it takes to develop a BD vs. an HD DVD (authoring, manuf, dealing with the pain that is Sony, etc...). I'm just guessing, I don't know for sure.
NoK610 @ Oct 17th 2007 11:00PM
It's Terminator 3... who cares? Now if it were Terminator 2, that would be a different story.
SmartConsumer @ Oct 24th 2007 1:38PM
Blu-Ray has more space, and like it or not when HD-DVD doesn't give the extras due to lack of space you will start whining. I rather have a computer that can burn a Blue-Ray than one with a HD-DVD.
Review your history, any of you still use floppies...