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HDD Deal of the Week: 'America Lost and Found: The BBS Story' Blu-ray $66.99 at Amazon[teaser]Amazon serves up the set of seven films presented by the Criterion Collection for nearly fifty percent off in this week's exclusive deal! [/teaser] Amazon is currently offering 'America Lost and Found: The BBS Story' for $46.99 (46% off suggested list price). The deluxe box set includes: 'Head,' 'Easy Rider,' 'Five Easy Pieces,' 'Drive He Said,' 'A Safe Place,' 'The Last Picture Show,' and 'The King of Marvin Gardens.' Click here to own these great classic films in the absolute best presentations available!Posted Sun Apr 3, 2011 at 02:00 PM PDT by: -
HD Advisor CentennialA Brief Announcement from the Advisor: When I started this HD Advisor column back in early 2009, I had no idea how long it would run. Honestly, I assumed that interest would eventually taper off as we covered most of the commonly asked questions. I'm glad to have been mistaken. Here we are, two years and 100 Q&A sessions (plus a few special reports in between) later. It's been a pretty terrific run. However, although questions keep coming in, it strikes me that 100 is a pretty good stopping point… for now. After this article, the Advisor will be taking a sabbatical. This is not the end of HD Advisor. The feature will return at some point. I just need a little break to catch up on other work. I haven't yet determined how long that will take. Hopefully, not too long. In the meantime, feel free to continue sending your home theater questions to [email protected]. I will continue to monitor the mailbox and save up the questions for the Advisor's inevitable return. Now, on to the latest questions… Answers by Joshua Zyber A/V Receivers and 3D Passthrough Q: I have a 55" 3D Samsung TV and an Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1 home theatre system. I use a Sony PS3 for Blu-ray playback. Since the PS3 has been updated to 3D movie support, will the Onkyo HT-S6100 allow for 3D playback to pass through to the TV? A: In order for an A/V receiver (or any other device) to pass a 3D Blu-ray video signal, it must specifically have HDMI 1.4 inputs and outputs. This is a new feature that only started appearing in receivers last year. Receivers with this type of connection are almost always marketed as being capable of 3D passthough. Look for that bullet point in the owner's manual or on the box when shopping. Unfortunately, receivers with the older HDMI 1.3 standard (such as your Onkyo HT-S6100) will not pass the 3D signal, and cannot be upgraded to do so. 3D Video and Audio Connections Q: I have an excellent Yamaha HTR-6180 receiver, which is of course not capable of 3D passthrough. I bought a Toshiba BDX-3000 3D Blu-ray player that only has one HDMI output. I don't yet own a 3D TV. I have heard that it is possible to send the HDMI signal to a TV directly and also to a receiver at the same time. I assume to do so I will need an HDMI splitter box, not a switch box. Is there any such a thing in the market yet? I want the opportunity to watch a 3D movie with a Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA soundtrack in the future. A: You are correct that, if your receiver can't pass the 3D video signal, you will ideally want to route the video from your Blu-ray player directly to your TV while separately routing the audio directly to the receiver. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a 3D Blu-ray player that has been designed with two HDMI outputs for this purpose. Some Panasonic models have this feature, as does the OPPO BDP-93 player. Other brands may as well. If your Blu-ray player only has one HDMI output, you could try connecting it to an HDMI splitter device, but it will specifically need to be an HDMI 1.4 unit rated for 3D support. It should be a powered model; don't waste your time with any passive HDMI splitters. I haven't tested one of these myself, but a search for "HDMI Splitter" at Monoprice.com pulls in several models that claim 3D support. (Be advised that my own experience with other HDMI splitters was that they are very finicky devices.) All of the item descriptions at Monoprice state that these splitters are intended to divide a 3D video signal to multiple displays. They don't explicitly mention your intended use: to route video separately to a 3D display while audio goes to an HDMI 1.3 receiver. My fear is that the HDMI output on the Blu-ray player will expect to receive a 3D confirmation handshake from both other ends of the chain. When your receiver doesn't confirm 3D, the Blu-ray player may refuse to transmit anything. However, I don't have direct experience with these splitters to know if that's really an issue. In any case, I recommend purchasing from a retailer (like Monoprice) that has a flexible return policy in case the product doesn't work out. Subtitle Fonts and Appearance Q:This may seem nitpicky, but I find it quite distracting how the quality of subtitles seem to be subpar, and almost look pixelated. Is there any reasoning for this? Why can't the Blu-ray/DVD authoring companies use higher resolution subtitles that don't appear to have that "blown up" and "pixelated" appearance on screen? A: I think you'll find that most of the "pixelated" subtitles you're seeing are found on DVD, not Blu-ray. The DVD format stores subtitles as low-resolution bitmap images that often look jagged or blocky on screen, especially if the studio tries to author them to display in an italics font (which is common). Many studios also use a harsh yellow color for the font, which is pretty hard on the eyes as well. Blu-ray subtitles are instead authored in what is known as Presentation Graphics Stream (PGS) format, and should generally have a smoother, higher-resolution appearance without that pixelated, blocky look. However, decisions about what the font should look like are totally at the discretion of the studios. Many times, the fonts used on Blu-ray are larger and take up more screen space than those used on theatrical prints. Sony and Warner Bros. use a particularly large and unattractive font on Blu-ray that obscures a lot of the movie picture. The reasoning for this stems back to a mindset fostered in the early days of home video, when most viewers watched movies from low-resolution sources on small (30" or less) TV screens. Larger subtitles were easier to read at home. Theatrical prints didn't need large fonts, because the projected image on a theater screen was really big anyway. Of course, today's viewers (especially Blu-ray viewers) frequently watch their movies on large, high-resolution screens, and don't need huge fonts to be able to read the text. Nevertheless, big corporate studios are slow to change policies like this unless there's been a major public outcry about the issue – and in this case, there hasn't been. Perhaps the worst example I've seen of subtitles that harm the presentation of a movie occur on the Blu-ray editions of the Russian films 'Night Watch' and 'Day Watch'. Director Timur Bekmambetov explicitly designed English subtitles for the international theatrical releases of these movies that were presented in a comic book style that moved around and interacted with the imagery on screen. The Blu-ray editions do away with this, and instead present the subtitle translation in a generic white font. The director's intended effect is completely lost. Rubbing salt in the wound, the 'Night Watch' Blu-ray includes a featurette (carried over from DVD) that discusses how those missing interactive subtitles were designed and created. Madonna Movies on Blu-ray Q: I was wondering if you had any info why not one Madonna movie has been released on Blu-ray? I know that some of her movies were not great, but as a fan, I think they would sell better than some of the stuff that is released on Blu-ray. 'Dick Tracy', 'A League of Their Own', 'Evita', 'Desperately Seeking Susan', and 'Truth or Dare' were all big money makers. I just don't get it, and don't get me started on releasing past concerts… A: It's funny, but I could have sworn that 'A League of Their Own' had been released on Blu-ray. However, I just checked and it seems that I was mistaken. Looking through her limited filmography as an actress, I can only find 'Die Another Day' currently available on Blu-ray. I don't believe that there's any coordinated conspiracy out there to keep Madonna off of Blu-ray (except maybe for 'Swept Away' – it's in everyone's best interest that that one get buried and never see the light of day again). What this mostly comes down to is that these movies are distributed by separate, unrelated studios: 'Dick Tracy' and 'Evita' are handled by Disney, 'A League of Their Own' is Sony, and 'Desperately Seeking Susan' is MGM. 'Truth or Dare' was last released on DVD by Live Entertainment, which was later swallowed up by Lionsgate. By whatever obscure reasoning that each of these studios uses to decide which catalog titles get released on Blu-ray and which don't, these specific titles have all thus far fallen through the cracks. I imagine that at least 'League' and 'Dick Tracy' will find their ways to Blu-ray eventually, probably sooner rather than later. The concert videos are likely a more complicated matter, unfortunately. The red tape legal nightmare of sorting out music rights has kept many highly-desired concert programs from being distributed on new media. Homework Assignment: You Be the Advisor You didn't think I'd leave you without a Homework assignment, did you? If you can help to answer the following question, please post your response in our forum thread linked at the end of this article. Your advice and opinions matter too! Scratches on LCD Screen Q: My dad was flying his remote controlled helicopter in the living room (terrible idea, right?) and crashed it into the TV. Now he's got a series of light but visible scratches all down his nice new LCD. Do you know of a safe way to get rid of these? Honestly, I think I'm more bothered about it than my parents are. Thank you for all your support these past two years. Know that the Advisor has not given up on you. Although the column will go on hiatus after today, it will return in the future to answer more of your home theater questions. Joshua Zyber's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of this site, its owners or employees.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
South Korean Mobile Carrier May Bid on Blockbuster[teaser]It's an odd move, but SK Telcom may pick up the former video rental giant. [/teaser] Time is running out for the folks at Blockbuster. On Monday, the company will be auctioning itself off to the highest bidder. Most of the interested companies make sense, and there are some rumors of bids by Netflix and Amazon. There's one that stands out as a bit of an odd duck. SK Telcom, South Korea's largest mobile phone carrier, is expected to put in a bid. They're a large company and have the means, but the motive is unclear. Analyst David Lee says that the idea is perplexing because "no immediate synergies come to mind and the required restructuring of the company could be very costly." No one from SK Telcom has commented officially, but one anonymous representative did confirm that the company is looking to do business in the States. Source: ReutersPosted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 10:30 AM PDT by: -
'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray![teaser]It's a bird… It's a plane… No, it's a mega 8-disc Blu-ray set coming faster than a speeding bullet this June! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Warner Brothers is readying 'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' for Blu-ray on June 7. This massive collection features 'Superman: The Movie,' 'Superman: The Movie - Extended Edition,' 'Superman II,' 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut,' 'Superman III,' 'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,' and 'Superman Returns' -- all in 1080p video and with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks (except for 'Superman IV' which has DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo). As for supplements, 'Superman: The Movie' includes: Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version); The Making of Superman: The Movie [1978 TV special]; Superman and the Mole-Men [1951 feature]; Warner Bros. Cartoons; and trailers. 'Superman: The Movie - Extended Edition' includes: Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Extended Version); Taking Flight: The Development of Superman; Making Superman: Filming the Legend; The Magic Behind the Cape; Screen Tests; A Selection of Restored Scenes; Additional Music Cues; and Music Only Track. 'Superman II' includes: Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version); The Making of Superman II (1980 TV special); Deleted Scene; First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series; Fleischer Studios' Superman; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' includes: Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Donner Cut); Introduction by Richard Donner; Superman II: Restoring the Vision; Deleted Scenes; and Famous Studios' Superman. 'Superman III' includes: Commentary by Iilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler; The Making of Superman III (1983 TV Special); Deleted Scenes; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman IV' includes: Commentary by Mark Rosenthal; Superman 50th Anniversary Special (1988 TV Special); Deleted Scenes; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman Returns' includes: Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns Multipart Documentary; Resurrecting Jor-El; Deleted Scenes including the never-before-seen original opening to Superman Returns; Bryan Singer's Journals – Video production journals; and Trailers. The eighth bonus disc includes: Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (Hi-Def); You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman; The Science of Superman (Hi-Def); The Mythology of Superman; The Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve; and The Adventures of Superpup (1958 TV pilot). Suggested list price for this 8-disc set is $129.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 7.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
Panasonic is Touring Again With 3D and More[teaser]Fifteen cities will be visited in the tour that runs from April 4th to May 15th. [/teaser] Panasonic knows that the best way to get people interested in something is to let them go hands-on with it. That's why they're launching another tour, entitled "Experience Amazing." It kicks off April 14 and will be hitting malls across the country. Attractions aimed at home theater buffs include 3D Viera TVs and Viera Connect TVs which include a wide range of apps. They'll have 3D Blu-ray Players, 3D eyewear, and programming from n3D, the DirecTV 3D channel. In addition to all that, Panasonic is bringing cameras, camcorders and even some 3D imaging products. Hit the source for the full list of cities and times. Source: PanasonicPosted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
'Boondock Saints' Blu-ray Double Dip Announced[teaser]Troy Duffy's vengeful crime thriller is getting a double dip in June. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, 20th Century Fox says 'Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition' starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly, and Willem Dafoe will be released on Blu-ray on June 14. Experience the raw power and heart-pounding thrills of 'The Boondock Saints' like never before with this must-own Truth & Justice Edition. An all-new bonus feature takes you deeper into their gritty action-packed world than you ever thought possible. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and audio commentaries with the Duff-Meister and Billy Connolly, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailer, and the brand-new Boondock Saints: The Film and the Phenomenon. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 14.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
Fox Wants Time Warner To Stop Streaming to iPads[teaser] An official cease-and-desist has been sent, but Time Warner isn't stopping. [/teaser] Just a few weeks ago, Time Warner launched an iPad app that allowed customers to stream their content directly to the iPad. There were a few issues at first where channels got taken down, but they went back up shortly after. Time Warner said that the removal of the channels was an issue of functionality, but there's a new problem on the horizon. The folks at Fox don't want their shows streaming to iPads, especially without consent. A cease-and-desist letter has been sent, and the next logical step would be a lawsuit, since Time Warner isn't budging. "The app continues to be available and continues to function the same as the day we launched it," says Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley. Entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel says that the issue is really one of advancing technology. "These cases occur under a cloud where contracts were signed in a pre-existing world when new technologies weren’t around yet," he says. "If they had anticipated the new technology and talked about it specifically, you wouldn’t have the problem." Source: Bloomberg (via EngadgetPosted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The music phenomenon with the legendary hair style will descend on Blu-ray in May. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount will release 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' on Blu-ray on May 13. Fans can probably expect a few double dips down the road as this release apparently only contains the theatrical version, while the film also hit theaters in 3D and an extended "Fans' Choice" cut. The release will be a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack with 1080p video, a lossless soundtrack, and supplements will include: Concert Dance-Off – Justin and his crew showcase their incredible dance moves, Favorite Girl – Live performance from Madison Square Garden, Giving Back – An extended look at Justin's team surprising lucky fans with free concert tickets, and R.I.P. Hair Flip – The cameras were rolling when Justin cut his famous hair. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under May 13.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
'Brazil' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed[teaser]Terry Gilliam's 1985 dystopian dark comedy is getting the high-definition treatment in July. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal Studios is preparing 'Brazil' for a Blu-ray release on July 14. The film stars Robert De Niro, Jonathan Pryce, and Michael Palin and was nominated for two Oscars (Best Art Direction/Set Direction and Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen). The Blu-ray will have 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and the only supplements announced so far are My Scenes, Pocket Blu, and BD-Live. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $26.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Brazil' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under July 14.Posted Thu Mar 31, 2011 at 04:00 PM PDT by: -
'Sanctum' Announced for Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D[teaser] The 3D adventure from executive producer James Cameron will explore Blu-ray in June! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal Studios has announced 'Sanctum' for Blu-ray on June 7. Universal will also release 'Sanctum - 3D' on the same date. The film is about an underwater cave diving team that experiences a life-threatening crisis during an expedition to the unexplored and least accessible cave system in the world. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: Three Commentaries (Director Alister Grierson, Co-writer/producer Andrew Wight, and Actor Rhys Wakefield), Deleted and extended scenes (in HD), and Sanctum: The Real Story – A look at the terrifying real-life adventure that inspired the film, plus a look behind the scenes of the making of Sanctum (in HD). Exclusive to the Blu-ray will be: Nullarbor Dreaming: a documentary that follows a team of cave divers and their fateful exploration of a giant cave system in Western Australia (in HD), Pocket BLU, My Movies, My Scenes, uHEAR™, a Digital Copy, and BD-LIVE. Suggested list price for the Blu-rays is still undetermined at this time. You can find the latest specs for 'Sanctum' and 'Sanctum - 3D' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they are indexed under June 7.Posted Thu Mar 31, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT by:
