Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007 - (Page 28)

NEWS Sound Reaches New Level With HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com Modulation (PCM) tracks, which deliver the master audio track recorded by the studios. Say what? Adam Gregorich with Home Theater Forum helped clear things up. “Dolby Digital is the equivalent of what was on DVD, but usually at a higher bitrate on HD formats,” he said. “Dolby True HD is lossless audio that is supposed to match the master bit for bit. The trick is both [DD Plus] and True HD can be encoded at 16 bit or 24 bit. Here is where it gets contentious. “A lot of people claim that True HD is better because it is lossless, but some sound mixers [and] designers are saying that they can’t tell a difference between a good (DD Plus) track and the lossless True HD track on a movie that they mixed. “It’s just one more thing for early adopters to argue over at this point.” surround sound. Your typical home theater fan may wonder if it’s worth figuring out. Yet high-def audio is far better than anything DVD can offer, studios and high-def experts insist. Consumers just need a little direction. “You really can’t do better than lossless, master quality, which is what you get with these new audio codecs delivered on high-definition discs,” said Daniel Silverberg, VP of HD media development for Warner Bros. In layman’s terms: High-def audio can deliver almost exactly what was originally recorded for the movie, and little — if anything — is lost when the disc is played at home. High-def players are programmed to decode the various high-def audio options offered, giving consumers a superior sound experience. Blu-ray titles. Both DTS and Dolby Digital have created new audio formats for highdef, using the disc space available on the greater-capacity discs, allowing for less-heavily compressed audio tracks. Kevin Collins, Microsoft’s director of HD DVD evangelism, said every HD DVD player must support two of the advanced audio codecs: Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus. “U.S.-based HD DVD studios always use Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby True HD on all their titles,” he said. “All HD DVD players decode those audio codecs in the player and provide the consumers with a high“When we encode a title, it is bit- lossless multi-channel wherever resolution audio experience that far for-bit identical with the source au- possible, depending on the type of exceeds DVD.” dio,” Silverberg said. “The good release and the source material.” For Blu-ray, DD-Plus, DTS-HD news is that both the Blu-ray and HD He said Warner has “been using and True HD are optional on set-top DVD formats support lossless au- Dolby True HD for HD DVD and are boxes, but both standard DTS and dio, and WB tries to incorporate transitioning to that codec for its DD are required, as are Pulse Code Blu-ray Has Edge Despite Paramount Move Continued from page 1 ‘Beach Party’ in L.A. 1.4 million HD DVD discs. Blu-ray Disc titles began outselling HD DVD titles early in the year and have consistently maintained an edge, week after week. Even Paramount Home Entertainment’s release of the DreamWorks theatrical blockbuster Transformers exclusively on the HD DVD format didn’t tip the scale last week. Even though there was no hot new Blu-ray Disc release, consumers continued to buy more Blu-ray than HD DVD for the week ended Oct. 21, albeit by a slim 51% to 49% edge. Paramount says Transformers sold 190,000 units its first week in stores, but Home Media Research and studio estimates put the actual number of units that sold through to consumers closer to 115,000. HD DVD backers expect to see sales pick up as the fourth quarter progresses, particularly now that Paramount and DreamWorks, which previously supported both high-definition optical-disc formats, announced it would henceforth release titles only in the HD DVD format. Most analysts still see the format war as too close to call and predict both formats will continue to co-exist as the audience for high-definition discs continues to increase, growth that likely would occur faster if there was only one format. Blu-ray Disc continues to enjoy the H I G H-D E F MAR KE T S HAR E Blu-ray and HD DVD Sales Comparison as of 10/21/07 Year-to-Date Since Inception I Blu-ray I HD DVD 35% 65% 61% 39% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data lion’s share of studio and consumer electronics manufacturer support. Among the six major studios, four support Blu-ray, three of them exclusively: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Stu- dios Home Entertainment. Warner Home Video releases titles in both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, while Universal Studios Home Entertainment and now Paramount are exclusively in the HD DVD camp. The cast of National Lampoon’s Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell celebrated the Oct. 19 theatrical release of the film at Club Seven in West Hollywood, Calif. (L-R): Stars Scott Wheatley, director-writer-star Kevin Wheatley and Katie Flynn, with “Dancing With the Stars” cast member Jane Seymour, National Lampoon president of worldwide distribution Tom Daniels and producer Jamie Bullock. Photo by: Krista Kennell/ZUMA Press L AT E F L A S H E S I SONY PROFIT UP, DESPITE LOSING ON PS3 Resurgent consumer electronics sales helped Sony Corp. post second-quarter (ended Sept. 30) profit of $641 million, compared to about $15 million during the same period last year. Sales of PlayStation 3 topped 1.3 million units, which lagged behind unit sales of PlayStation Portable (2.6 million) and PlayStation 2 (3.3 million). Indeed, Sony’s game unit posted an operating loss of $841 million, due primarily to the PS3 markdowns that have resulted in the device selling for less than its production cost. The theatrical success of Superbad helped Sony Pictures Entertainment post operating income of $23 million. I MOVIELINK POSTS LOSS Blockbuster Inc.’s foray into Web-based movie downloads got off to an inauspicious start. Recently acquired Movielink reportedly lost $10.1 million during the first half of 2007, compared to a loss of $11.6 million during the same period last year. Revenue through June was $1.98 million, compared to $1.92 million last year. Blockbuster acquired Movielink in August for $6.6 million. — Erik Gruenwedel Transformers, a DreamWorks title released on DVD and HD DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment, didn’t turn the Blu tide. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published 51 times per year (weekly except 3 issues in December) by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). Add $75 annually for air-expedited service. Single copies (prepaid only): $6.99 in the United States, $8.99 in Canada and Mexico, $13.99 all other countries. Back issues, if available: $9.99 in the U.S.; $15.99 in Canada and Mexico; $26.99 for all other countries. Include $6.50 per order plus $2 per additional copy for U.S. postage and handling. Periodicals postage paid at Duluth MN 55806 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 5064, Brentwood, TN 37024-5064. Canadian G.S.T. number: 840033278RT0001, Publications Mail Agreement Number 40017597. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright, 2007 Questex Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including by photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE welcomes unsolicited articles, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and other materials but cannot be held responsible for their safekeeping or return. Questex Media Group, Inc. provides certain customer contact data (such as customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who wish to promote relevant products, services and other opportunities which may be of interest to you. 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Home Media Magazine - October 28, 2007 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007

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