Buena Vista Unveils First Blu-ray Specs

With only days to spare, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has at last released the full specs for its first wave of Blu-ray titles streeting this Tuesday.

As previously announced early last month, Buena Vista will release its first four titles on September 19 -- 'Dinosaur,' 'Eight Below,' 'The Great Raid' and 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.' With fellow Blu-ray-supporting studios Sony, Warner, Paramount and Fox all utilizing a variety of different sound formats and video codecs on their disc releases, early adopters have eagerly awaited news on what approach Buena Vista was going to finally choose. Turns out the studio's first batch is just as varied...

Though all four discs will feature 1080p video transfers in their original theatrical aspect ratios, Buena Vista has split them up into two codec camps: 'Dinosaur' and 'Jay and Silent Bob' are encoded in MPEG-2, with 'Eight Below' and 'Great Raid' going AVC/MPEG-4.

Each title will also be presented in 48kHz/16-bit uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround, though 'Dinosaur' gets the added bonus of a full 48kHz/24-bit PCM track plus a DTS 5.1 surround option. All four releases also include standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks (encoded at 640kbps).

As for extras, all four discs sport the same audio commentaries as found on their standard DVD counterparts, while 'Dinosaur' also gets a making-of featurette. There are no theatrical trailers on any of the releases.

Exclusive HD bonus content on 'Eight Below' and 'Dinosaur' includes a new "Blu-Scape" short film produced in 1080 high-definition. Buena Vista is also touting the Movie Showcase feature on all four discs, which provides "instant access to select movie scenes that showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound."

Retail for each Blu-ray disc is a suggested $34.99, except for 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,' which lists for $29.99.

Full specs for all four titles, including box art, has been added to our Blu-ray Release Schedule.

Buena Vista has also been kind enough to send us final product of their first Blu-ray wave for review, and due to an online embargo of all reviews until street date, we'll have full reviews of all four on Tuesday. Stay tuned!