All right, this is going to be a busy week.  As most of you know, the annual Consumer Electronics Show has kicked off in Las Vegas, so there should be some interesting announcements related to new Blu-ray players, HD, 3D and 4K displays.  We’ll check in off and on all week with the latest news and announcements.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of big new title announcements to report today…

Summit and Lionsgate have just revealed plans to release The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Extended Edition on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on 3/2 (SRP $29.99 and $22.98 for the disc formats).  Director Bill Condon has restored some 8 minutes of new and extended scenes back into the theatrical cut of the film (which will also be included) for this release.  You’ll also get optional audio commentary by Condon. You’ll get a look at the BD cover artwork below.

Also, Universal has set The Man with the Iron Fists: Unrated Extended Edition for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 2/12. Extras are TBA.

Sony has set The First Time and Mob Doctor: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 3/12, followed by Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People on DVD only on 3/19.

Nickelodeon and Paramount have set Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles for DVD only release on 2/26.

And Image will release All Superheroes Must Die on BD and DVD on 1/29.

Now then… Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders for P.T. Anderson’s The Master and Silver Livings Playbook, both Weinstein Company titles.  SRP for each is $39.99. Click the links to pre-order.

Now then… we’ve got an update for you on the audio problems with Sony’s Total Recall Blu-ray Disc.  As I reported last we asked the studio for an update on the nature of the issue and what their plans were to address it.  We’ve now gotten two responses from them.  The first is a statement and information from the technical team on how to get around the issue:

“The complex branching on initial shipments of the Blu-ray Disc for Total Recall has caused a few unexpected dropouts in the lossless audio streams during disc play only on select player/receiver combinations.  This issue only occurs if the lossless audio is decoded through an audio receiver or home theater system.  If the Blu-ray player is connected directly to the TV, or if the lossless audio is set to decode directly through the Blu-ray player, there should be no issue.

 SPHE is working with manufacturers on a possible firmware upgrade solution meanwhile, the playback in the affected player combinations can be resolved through a simple fix by changing the player’s audio settings to decode directly through the Blu-ray player by changing the settings as outlined below.”

 PS3 Slim - From PS3 crossbar, go to:

1. Settings
2. Video Settings
3. BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI)
4. Change to Linear PCM

Sony BDP-S360 / Sony BDP-S460 / Sony BDP-S560 – From player crossbar, go to:

1. Setup
2. Audio Settings
3. BD Audio Setting
4. Change to Mix

Sony 790 – From player crossbar, go to:

1. Setup
2. Audio Setting
3. BD Audio Mix Setting
4. Change to On

Oppo BDP-83  / Oppo BDP-93

1. Goto Setup
2. Audio Format Setup
3. HDMI Audio
4. Select LPCM

LG 370

1. Goto Setup
2. Audio
3. HDMI
4. Select PCM Multi-Ch

Panasonic BD-35 / Panasonic BD-55

1. Goto Setup
2. Audio
3. Digital Audio Ouput
4. Dolby Digital / Dolby Digital + / Dolby TrueHD
5. Select PCM

Panasonic BD-110

1. Goto Setup
2. Player Settings
3. Audio
4. Digital Audio Ouput
5. Dolby Digital / Dolby Digital + / Dolby TrueHD
6. Select PCM

As you can imagine, those are the specific models of player that seem to be encountering issues.  Now then… at the same time we’ve also heard back from SPHE Customer Support through e-mail inquiries (to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) by a number of readers.  Here’s what they say:

“Sony is reprinting this title without the defects.  We will ship you a replacement when we receive the new disks.  In order to send you a replacement we do ask that you send us your copy.  First we do need the following information:

What is the UPC # under the barcode of the movie case?

Your Name?

Mailing address (No PO Boxes)?

Once we receive this information, we will send you information on how to return your disk to us.

Regards,

SPHE Consumer Affairs - 800-860-2878 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.”

So there you go: Sony is attacking the problem from both ends by trying to work with manufacturers to update firmware and by manufacturing replacement discs.  If you’d rather not wait for firmware updates, free to use the SPHE contact information above to arrange your own replacement copy.

Now then… we’ll leave you with at look at the BD cover artwork for Summit and Lionsgate’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Extended Edition, Universal’s The Man with the Iron Fists and Fox’s How Green Was My Valley (due 1/15)…

Stay tuned.

- Bill Hunt