High Def Digest Triple Whammy
High-Def Digest has a triple whammy of sorts today. Thier first
article is an interview with Sony that talks about their CODEC choice
and other general topics such as disc sizes and hardware problems. Of
particular interest to me was the talk about studio transfers and how
it is impacting quality of the Blu-ray DVDs.
The second two
articles, which make for a great follow up read, are High-Def's review
of the HD DVD and Blu-Ray versions of Mission Impossible III. These
couple of reviews actually lend some credibility to Sony's words as
both versions of MI:III look great regardless of the CODEC used.
I can't speak for every early adopter, but that may be true.
Expectations have been that Blu-ray and HD DVD releases would naturally
include all of the extras ported over from the DVD, even if they are only
presented in standard definition. And judging from the feedback we've
at least gotten at High-Def Digest, many consumers do feel a bit cheated
if they don't get all of that content on a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc.
How do you feel about that argument?
DE: I'm of two minds on added value. For me, the quality of the picture
and sound of the main program is first and foremost. Everything else is
like a distant second. Because, in my mind, that takes away from the HD
experience and most of the added value for DVD has been produced in standard
definition.
CM: Our first priority in the early stages of our roll-out of Blu-ray titles
has been picture and sound. As the format matures, and as these titles roll
out, they are going to get better and better as far as the value-added content
is concerned.