Cinemax going 100% high-definition on September 1st
by Darren Murph 
posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 3:02PM
We already knew that Home Box Office was champing at the bit to rid itself of anything less than pure, unadulterated (okay, maybe just a little bit) HD, and now the outfit is announcing that its Cinemax channel will be going 100% high-def on September 1st. Granted, we're talking about the main channel only here, but this fall / winter is shaping up to be a good one for Cinemax HD. Subscribers will see the pay-TV premieres of The Bourne Ultimatum, Rendition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Darjeeling Limited, and in the near future, viewers will see I Am Legend, Juno, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem and In The Valley of Elah. Of note, the release states that "true HD (1080i)" won't begin until September 6th -- odd, but we suppose a few extra days won't kill us. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
owl @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:12PM
Doesn't Cinemax crop 2:35 and 2:40 ratio movies to fill 16:9 with no "black bars?" At least they did last time I was subscribing. If they still do, it would be hard to get excited about this.
-Owl
Trent D. @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:55PM
Original Aspect Ratio > Cropped HD > SD.
So I'm still excited.
DJ @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:11PM
Gee, this is great, But as a TWC subscriber in SE Wisconsin, I won't have Cinemax HD or Starz HD or TMC HD or Disney HD or GOlf HD or CNN HD or ABC Family HD or The Weather Channel HD or Food HD or FOXNEWS HD or many, many others unless I drop TWC for DirecTV or U-Verse.
By the way, you forgot to mention that Engadget and Cinemax have the same parent.......
Kiwi616 @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:18PM
What happened to the whole "Part of the TW Family disclaimer"???
TW ---->owns HBO and Cinemax
:)
squiggleslash @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:33PM
This is good news, though of the five Cinemax channels that Dish Network gives you, only one is SD these days.
owl: it does that with most movies though I've seen a few where the black bars have been put in. Money Train is currently on circulation on those channels and that had black bars when we DVR'd it recently. Hopefully that's the start of a trend.
UnnDunn @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:56PM
Nice. I get Cinemax (and Cinemax HD) for free, so this news excites me. A lot.
squiggleslash @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:58PM
Ok, the story actually requires some more explanation, I just re-read it and it didn't make any sense. What I believe is actually happening is that the main channel is going to be 1080i from September. Which I assume means, right now, it's 720p.
Whoopee-freekin'-do.
UnnDunn @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:06PM
No, it means that every show on Cinemax will be in HD. Cinemax is already 1080i.
Currently, there are a handful of shows (mostly the "after dark" stuff) that are still in SD.
squiggleslash @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:19PM
Ok, wierd. I'd never come across a single show on the HD versions of Cinemax that weren't HD. So their porn isn't? Well, what's the point in that?! Geez...
Jon @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:44PM
No the were using stretch o vision before , upconverting everything SD to HD .. i think it was in WIRED this month
Jon @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:43PM
What about HBO , SHOWTIME u know channels people actually want (not thrown in a package deal) .. I know people will enjoy some late night HD skin-amax but damn
TrentD @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:57PM
There are quite a few "legitimate" movies on Cinemax that are either new or good.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Aug 23rd 2008 12:47AM
Ok, maybe I'm a little slow on this.. I have Comcast in Houston and have HBO, Showtime, Stars & Cinemax in HD (Each channel has one HD station while the other 4 or 5 are SD) what does that mean to me?
GhostDoggy @ Aug 23rd 2008 9:40AM
But when will they go 100% OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) and quit chopping off the sides of movies?