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So there is a BD player with awesome upscaling?  I don't keep up with that side as much and haven't heard this before.

Also the HD-XA2 and HD-A20 are not equal in terms of upscaling from what I've heard.  Only the XA2 has the better processor in it.  TheA20 should be the same as the A2 in that regard.

As for the 1080p/24, that's nice and all.  But in reality, almost no one has a TV that will accept and display 24fps.  My TV (Samsung HL-S5687) is 5 months old and has 1080p, but doesn't have 24fps.  From what I understand, there weren't even any at CES except for one or two exceptions.  By the time I have a TV that will display 24fps, it will be time for a new player anyway.

Anyway, reports are now saying that Universal is denying that rumor.

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Fri May 11, 2007 at 07:08 PM ET
Tags: Disney (all tags)

While he was recently quoted as suggesting that his company might support both Blu-ray and HD DVD, Disney CEO Robert Iger appears to have reversed his earlier position, making a new more unequivocal statement of support for Blu-ray this week.

Back in March, Iger seemed to signal that his Blu-ray exclusive studio was considering joining Warner and Paramount in the format neutral camp, telling investors at Disney's annual meeting with shareholders that his company was "excited about next generation DVD formats" and that while it had chosen Blu-ray because it thought it was superior to HD DVD, that Disney would eventually "probably publish in both formats."

This week, however, Iger made a much more firm statement of his company's exclusive support of Blu-ray during Disney's quarterly analyst call, saying "the single greatest thing we can do right now is to not waffle, but to be very, very blunt about it, to continue our support of Blu-ray because we sense a real advantage."

A complete transcript of Iger's Blu-ray comments made during this week's analyst call follows:

"We made our bed with Blu-ray because we believed more in that format for a variety of reasons; some technical in nature, some due to the fact that it simply had broader support from a variety of industries, notably the motion picture studios but also what I’ll call the consumer electronics and the tech industry.

What we are seeing lately is that sales of Blu-ray discs are outpacing HD discs by at least two to one. As more quality Blu-ray product comes on the market, which is going to happen, notably with Pirates on May 22, we actually believe that the difference or the advantage of Blu-ray is only going to widen.

What we are also seeing is that the adoption of the platform right now is being held back a bit by a perception among consumers, really, that there is a format war; and that the hardware or the players are too expensive. We see the players coming down in price nicely, particularly by the Christmas season. We also believe that if Blu-ray continues to outpace HD DVD the retailers are ultimately going to weigh in, because they only have a limited amount of shelf space, and they are going to have to choose a format in order to manage their own shelf space. Once that happens, the advantage is going to go even more in Blu-ray’s direction.

I think the single greatest thing we can do right now is to not waffle, but to be very, very blunt about it, to continue our support of Blu-ray because we sense a real advantage. The best thing that could happen is for the format war to end, which will be very pro-consumer, particularly as hardware comes down.

The other thing I want to note is, if you look across the globe, the only place there is really a format war is in the United States. In other markets where next-gen DVD is starting to penetrate, Blu-ray is winning, and substantially; so much so there isn’t even a perceived format war.

So I think we made the right decision, the trends we are seeing seem to validate the decision. We think long-term, this is going to be a nice growth area for the company, because as you know sell-through DVD is a big business for the Walt Disney Company, even though we believe in things like VOD and the rental model. People want to own a Disney DVD, particularly in the next-generation format."

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Finally, compression artifacts are not an issue. There is not a moment of macroblocking or any noise, even on the many flat surfaces and static shots, which often hold on a particular image for what seems like minutes. And the source itself is beautifully maintained -- there is a bit of grain here or there, but it is clearly part of the intended effect and there are no instances of dirt or blemishes. This is really fantastic stuff -- 'The Matrix' trilogy easily earns an exemplary five-star video rating.

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As was the case for Curse of the Black Pearl, Disney has blessed Dead Man’s Chest with a 50GB Blu-ray disc (BD50) and glorious AVC transfer in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the average bit rate ranges from 35 to 38 Mbps. In short ladies and gentleman Dead Man’s Chest movie gives us the new benchmark in picture quality for HD optical. While on par with Curse of the Black Pearl, this disc surpasses the video quality found on other reference discs such as Crank on Blu-ray and King Kong on HD DVD.

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For this transfer Disney went with 50GB Blu-ray disc (BD50) and glorious AVC transfer in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the average bit rate ranges from 35 to 38 Mbps. In short ladies and gentleman this Pirates movie gives us the new benchmark in picture quality for HD optical. Up until this point, both Crank on Blu-ray and King Kong on HD DVD were the films to beat in HD optical picture quality. I was fortunate enough to watch the new Matrix Collection HD DVD box set yesterday, and not even it rivals this Curse of the Black Pearl disc. At no point in viewing Pirates did I experience any macro blocking or any noise of any type. I could not believe this considering the amount of both bright and dark scenes and also the amount action sequences. Also the film was extremely sharp and clear and free of any film debris and I mean zero debris whatsoever. I have not experienced this as of yet on HD optical until the viewing of this disc. This disc also contained little to no film grain. Colors (and this is a very colorful film) were extremely vibrant and flesh tones were spot-on. This disc is truly an AMAZING benchmark in picture quality.

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Hitachi floats 200GB Blu-ray disk

Layer player

By INQUIRER staff: Friday 18 May 2007, 11:14
JAPANESE GIANT Hitachi reckons it will be able to bring a 200GB Blu-ray disk to market by 2009.

According to a report on nikkei.net, it will be able to do this by accessing eight recording layers on a single side of the platter.

The only question being is whether there's anything sufficiently good on the telly to record a whole day of broadcasting. µ

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Hitachi Says 200GB Discs Should Be Available In 2009...

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Hitachi floats 200GB Blu-ray disk

Layer player

By INQUIRER staff: Friday 18 May 2007, 11:14
JAPANESE GIANT Hitachi reckons it will be able to bring a 200GB Blu-ray disk to market by 2009.

According to a report on nikkei.net, it will be able to do this by accessing eight recording layers on a single side of the platter.

The only question being is whether there's anything sufficiently good on the telly to record a whole day of broadcasting. µ

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AnimeonDVD.com reports that Bandai Visual Japan has revealed the schedule for the high-definition disc releases of several of its biggest titles. Wings of Honneamise and the first Patlabor movie will be released on both Blu-Ray and HD DVD on July 27. On the same date, Akira will be released in Blu-Ray only. Patlabor 2 (Blu-Ray and HD DVD), Ghost in the Shell (Blu-Ray) and Steamboy (Blu-Ray) will follow almost a month later, on August 24. Another month later, on September 25, the Blu-Ray releases of Avalon and Jin-Roh will conclude the slate.

According to Bandai Visual's website, Akira, Wings of Honneamise, Ghost in the Shell and both of the Patlabor movies will each have an English dub and English subtitles on the disc. The specifications for Steamboy, Avalon, and Jin-Roh do not list an English dub, although Steamboy does list English subtitles. The corresponding DVD listings of these movies also list the same language options for dubbing and subtitles.

Update: The Bandai Visual website now lists Avalon and Jin-Roh with English subtitles, and Steamboy with just Japanese subtitles.

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Bandai Visual Is Now Neutral...

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AnimeonDVD.com reports that Bandai Visual Japan has revealed the schedule for the high-definition disc releases of several of its biggest titles. Wings of Honneamise and the first Patlabor movie will be released on both Blu-Ray and HD DVD on July 27. On the same date, Akira will be released in Blu-Ray only. Patlabor 2 (Blu-Ray and HD DVD), Ghost in the Shell (Blu-Ray) and Steamboy (Blu-Ray) will follow almost a month later, on August 24. Another month later, on September 25, the Blu-Ray releases of Avalon and Jin-Roh will conclude the slate.

According to Bandai Visual's website, Akira, Wings of Honneamise, Ghost in the Shell and both of the Patlabor movies will each have an English dub and English subtitles on the disc. The specifications for Steamboy, Avalon, and Jin-Roh do not list an English dub, although Steamboy does list English subtitles. The corresponding DVD listings of these movies also list the same language options for dubbing and subtitles.

Update: The Bandai Visual website now lists Avalon and Jin-Roh with English subtitles, and Steamboy with just Japanese subtitles.