Here’s another HD movie trailer for you. This ime for a Robin Williams movie called The Night Listener. It’s a thriller!

A psychological thriller based on the international bestselling novel by Armistead Maupin. The story revolves around a celebrated writer and popular late-night radio show host, Gabriel Noone, who develops an intense phone relationship with a young listener named Pete and his adopted mother just as his own domestic life is undergoing drastic changes.

The Night Listener

Mr. Hunter, a reader, dropped me a note about a conversation he had with an LG representative at an audio store. So yeah, this is third-hand, but it’s still interesting.

Supposedly LG is coming out with a universal HD DVD / BD player this fall for the princely sum of…. $1200. Which actually isn’t so bad considering that BD players don’t look to be breaking the $1k barrier anytime soon. For an extra $200 you get an HD DVD player thrown into the mix.

This kind of player looks like a safe bet for all those people sitting on the sidelines in the format war. Though you’ll probably still end up with some software from the losing side, at least you won’t have to replace your player. I hope that this device is a top-quality player with HDMI 1.3.

According to this Audioholics writer, HD DVD and BD have already failed, and he goes on to give 10 reasons why he thinks so. You’ll have to go to Audioholics to read the reasons behind picking them, but here they are:

1. Nobody likes false starts.
2. Format wars don’t sell players.
3. HD DVD and BD are NOT quantum leaps in technology.
4. Studios are conservative, greedy, and unmotivated.
5. PS3 can’t save the world.
6. Those who ignore history… [SACD and DVD Audio]
7. People want technology that’s 15 minutes ahead of its time.
8. Enthusiasts are getting tired (and smarter).
9. A skeptical news media doesn’t help.
10. Broadband and IPTV to compete?

Number 1 I definitely agree with. Both HD DVD and BD have had miserable starts. And that doesn’t look good.

Number 4 is true, but that’s not a reason this won’t work. By all accounts the DVD cash cow is giving less and less milk. Studios want to replace it with something, and they understand an HD version a lot better than internet or cable/satellite distribution.

And while it’s true that the PS3 can’t save the world, it’ll give me a nice BD player!

10 Reasons Why High Definition DVD Formats Have Already Failed

Would you like your very own Blu-ray disc manufacturing facility? Pimera is shipping a box which contains robotic and ink-jet printing magic to spew forth finished BD discs for you. It is powered by Pioneer’s BDR-101A burner, and BD-R’s with a printable surface are provided by TDK.

At first this magic box will only do sleight-of-hand tricks, being able to write 25GB discs only. But not long after launch it’ll upgrade to David Copperfield type magic and actually do 50GB discs.

How much will this magic cost you? You only need to plunk down $5295 to become a BD mage. Actually, that’s not as much as I thought it would be. Cool.

Primera Ships World’s First Blu-ray Disc Duplication System

Peter Putman, the self-proclaimed HDTVExpert, wrote an article about 1080p about a year ago, and it proved to be quite a popular read. Now Mr. Putman has decided to revisit the subject.

First off, he points out one glaringly obvious fact that everybody’s missed. Manufacturers want to sell you 1080p because they can charge more for it! Yup, makes sense, doesn’t it. Of course a 1080p set would cost more than a 720p set. Why wouldn’t it? But that won’t last long when everyone gets on the bandwagon and 1080p sets can be had as easily as 720p sets used to be.

But here’s the important part. It’s been said before, but is worth repeating. Mr. Putman noticed a difference between 1080p and 720p under certain conditions. The screens were 50″ or larger and the viewing distance was no more than 3 times the screen height. Now lots of us have displays 50″ or larger. But how many of us sit within 3 screen heights of the display? Let me go measure my room, I’ll be right back….

… I’m back. I sit about 5 screen heights from my 57″ HDTV. And I think that’s plenty close enough, or my room would look funny. Then again, Mr. Putman did says fifty inches. Larger displays would of course allow you to sit further.

No matter which way you slice it, there are only certain conditions under which you’ll even notice the difference between 720p and 1080p. But bragging rights are another thing entirely!

HDTVexpert — 1080p: A Year Later

Memorex is jumping on the BD bandwagon which, while getting bigger and bigger, also seems to be moving slower and slower.

Memorex yesterday announced the availability of 25GB BD-R and BD-RE media.

Blu-ray, of course, is a blue laser disc based format that… you know the rest. What you really want to know is: how much do the discs cost?

Pricey!

The BD-R will retail for $19.99 and the BD-RE will go for $29.99. I’m glad I’m not an early adopter on this one!

Memorex Announces Blu-ray Discs

Recently Sony got lambasted for delaying their player to August from a previous delay. Now it looks like they’re at it again.

SonyStyle.com is now listing the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray player as being available “On or About October 25, 2006″.

Sony: this is not the way to launch a format! If anything, Sony should be first!

[Edit: I’ve since learned that the SonyStyle often gets products up to two months after brick & mortar stores. Let’s hope that this is the case here.]

Blu-ray Disc™ Player

OK so if you have more money than brains this is the package for you.

Absolutely every station, PPV event, 10 HD DVR’s, and your own concierge support line.

I guess the terms says single dwelling, but I bet that can be negotiated if one person owns multiple places.

This is perfect for the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world. He has Directv in his Florida home and office, plus his home and office in New York. He could easily use up the 10 HD DVR’s.

Anyway, signup here to part with your $7500/year

DIRECTV20-20TITANIUM

Yesterday was the official launch of several BD (Blu-ray Disc) titles from Sony, and one from MGM (The Terminator). Like I said I would, I went shopping after work to see if I could pick me up some blue laser goodness. Before leaving I looked over the list of titles that were supposed to be available and decided that The Terminator was my best bet. After all, I’m picking up this disc for no reason except to have it. I don’t have a BD player, nor do I plan to for some time for financial reasons. So I thought I’d pick up a title with some power. Besides, I didn’t much care for the other titles. As well, I saw a review of The Terminator BD, and it was pretty good.

Anyway, I walk into Best Buy. No BD display to be found. A salesman in the DVD section sends me to the home theater section, where he says there’s a small selection. So I wander on over and see a small selection… of HD DVD titles. I never realized how much smaller the HD DVD packaging is than DVD packaging. I kept looking around, trying to find some BD movies. Nope, nothing. I ask another salesman, he says that they don’t have any yet, and he didn’t give me an availability date. So I wander over to Future Shop, which is right next door, and they don’t have any either. Though the salesman there tells me that they’ll have some next week. At least somebody supposedly knows something at one of the two stores I visited.

Ah well, so I wound up empty-handed. My wife would probably have mocked me anyway for buying a movie that I can’t play for months yet. Or maybe not, who knows. Maybe next week I’ll try again. Or maybe not, who knows?

Edit: I’m so cheap! I decided to buy it from Amazon.com for $11.99. Even with shipping and the exchange rate, it’s still a lot cheaper than FutureShop’s price of $32.99 Cdn.

Yesterday Toshiba featured its REGZA lineup of LCD displays which includes 1080p models. The sizes range up to 47″ inches, and the displays also include 12-bit processing. I assume that means 12-bit per colour channel. The XHD models are the ones with 1080p support. They also include CableCARD support and TVGuide OnScreen. No mention is made of whether or not the 1080p models can accept 1080p signals.

Here is the lineup and the prices:

REGZA LCD TV

* 26HL66 ($1199.99, Available Now)
* 32HL66 ($1599.99, Available Now)
* 37HL66 ($1999.99, August, 2006)

REGZA LCDVD (with integrated DVD players):

* 26HLV66 ($1299.99, Available Now)
* 32HLV66 ($1699.99, Available Now)
* 37HLV66 ($2099.99, July, 2006)

REGZA XHD

* 42HL196 ($2999.99, July, 2006)

Cinema Series REGZA

* 37LX96 ($2399.99, July, 2006)

Cinema Series REGZA XHD

* 42LX196 ($3299.99, July, 2006)
* 47LX196 ($4299.99, July, 2006)

Toshiba’s New REGZA LCD HDTV Line Features 1080P Resolution and 12-Bit Video Processing\

The Man Room (those lucky dogs) got a chance to take a look at the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray disc player before it was (supposed to be) made available to the general public. (I tried getting an advance version for review, but Samsung Canada told me that they don’t do that. Hmmmmm.)

The good news is that boot times, while still long, aren’t as long as the boot times the first HD DVD player owners had to endure. Some people think this isn’t such a big deal and that waiting for a BD or HD DVD player to boot is a good time to go pee. But I don’t like it. I want to be able to turn on my machine, pop in a disc, and be watching the movie ASAP.

Anyway, the Samsung player includes both component and HDMI cables, which is nice. The power cable is attached, though I don’t see this as a big deal in a player this price.

The player seemed to give The Man Room’s reviewer some problems switching to 1080i. First off, there was no button on the remote to do so. So he had to go into the setup menus. That’s somewhat annoying. The menus were also smaller and flickered when in 1080i mode. This is on his LCD display.

The real problem, though, is that the reviewer didn’t have any BD movies to review, so was relegated to reviewing upconverted DVD’s, which he found a tad bit softer than on a Toshiba HD-A1 player.

I guess we’ll have to wait for a real review of a BD in a BD player.

Hands-On First Impressions: Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc player

With yesterday’s launch of the first BD titles ever, I thought it might be nice to list some upcoming releases. But first, here are the titles that were launched yesterday. (At least, they were supposed to be! I haven’t seen any evidence of it.)

- The Fifth Element (Sony)
- 50 First Dates (Sony)
- Hitch (Sony)
- House Of Flying Daggers (Sony)
- The Terminator (MGM)
- Underworld: Evolution (Sony)
- xXx (Sony)

And one week later on June 27th, we can expect to see:

- Crash (Lions Gate)
- A Knight’s Tale (Sony)
- The Last Waltz (MGM)
- Lord Of War (Lions Gate)
- The Punisher (Lions Gate)
- Saw (Lions Gate)
- Terminator 2 (Lions Gate)
- Ultraviolet (Sony)

The next titles are due 11jul06, 25jul06, 15aug06, and 22aug06. For details on those details, follow the link below.

Official BD Release Dates (June 19 update)

Today is the official release day for the first batch of BD movies. Have you picked one up? If not, here’s the list you have to choose from:

- The Fifth Element (Sony)
- 50 First Dates (Sony)
- Hitch (Sony)
- House Of Flying Daggers (Sony)
- The Terminator (MGM)
- Underworld: Evolution (Sony)
- xXx (Sony)

Personally, I think I’ll try to pick up The Terminator after work today. I don’t even have a player yet, but it’ll be cool to have a disc!

Official BD Release Dates (June 19 update) - Blu-ray Forum

[Edit: no, HDMI doesn’t need new connectors. See the comments section.] You know what it means to assume. But I assumed anyway, and I may have done that in error. What’s that? Well, I knew that the new-fangled HDMI 1.3 was coming down the pike, and that it would allow Dolby True-HD, DTS-HD, and higher bit-depth video. I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that this could all be done inside the electronics components. That is, I thought that the HDMI cables themselves, and their connectors, would remain the same.

CE products with new HDMI 1.3 connectors will be available in stores before Christmas […]

The new connector offers the potential for enhanced audio and video performance in future CE products, a mini connector for camcorders and other small devices, and automatic synchronization of audio with video when audio is transported to a surround-sound processor from a video source but video is delivered directly to the display.

The first product incorporating an HDMI 1.3 connector is expected to be the Blu-ray-based PlayStation 3, due in November from Sony. HDMI 1.3 connectors could appear later on next-generation HDTV displays, next-generation Blu-ray and HD DVD players, A/V receivers, surround-sound preamp/processors and PCs.

That sounds to me like I’ll need to buy a new cable if I want to use the new features. Which makes me wonder - I can’t really use the new features yet. Does that mean I still need to buy a new cable? I wouldn’t think so, but you can never be sure. Maybe an HDMI 1.3 device can only accept HDMI 1.3 cables with their HDMI 1.3 connectors. That wouldn’t be fun.

That issue aside, this is a very informative article about HDMI, in case you were at all interested in this new technology.

HDMI 1.3 Connections Due By Year End