Displaying items by tag: High Dynamic Range

All right, there’s not a lot of news today, but there are a couple things worth mentioning, so let’s get to it...

First, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Orion Pictures (a division of MGM) have announced the Blu-ray release of Greg McLean’s The Belko Experiment on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/27, with the Digital HD release expected on 6/13. Extras will include a pair of featurettes (Rules of the Game: The Secrets Behind The Belko Experiment and Lee Hardcastle’s Survival Tips), deleted scenes, and an image gallery. The film was written and produced by James Gunn (he of Guardians of the Galaxy fame). [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you today...

First, as promised, we’re very proud today to present Michael Coate’s latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Digital Bits, entitled Still Boldly Going: Celebrating “Star Trek” on its 50th Anniversary! In this lengthy piece, Michael moderates a great roundtable discussion on the history of the beloved franchise with Trek luminaries Mark A. Altman, Jeff Bond, Robert Meyer Burnett, Marc Cushman, Daren R. Dochterman, Dorothy Fontana, Gary Gerani, David Gerrold, Edward Gross, Bill Kraft, Herbie J. Pilato, and Melinda Snodgrass. It’s a terrific discussion and a rare opportunity to hear from so many leading Treksperts all in one place. We hope you enjoy it and, as always… “Live Long and Prosper!”  [Read on here…]

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This has been an interesting couple of months for me, to say the least. As you may be aware, I’ve just spent the last eight weeks completely immersing myself in all the various ins, outs, and nuances of the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. I’ve watched disc and after disc, and have reviewed nine of them so far (you can find them here, with more on the way). I’ve put the format’s first player, the Samsung UDB-K8500 (which I’ll review more fully soon, but about which I’ve got some key things to say below) through its paces. I’ve spoken with many of the leading studios, engineers, and content producers (who are really starting to work with the format) about the format. And I’ve come to a number of what I believe are well-informed conclusions about it, based on my nearly two decades of experience doing what I do. [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a couple exciting things for you today, including some long awaited 4K Ultra HD news…

But first, our own Tim Salmons has kicked off another week of Pick-Ups Blu-ray reviews (in his Dailies column), featuring great titles you may have missed on disc. First up today is a review of Warner’s new Strange Brew Blu-ray. Also, Jim Hemphill has checked in with a look at Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory, now available on Blu-ray from Twilight Time. Do check them both out.  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to follow us on Twitter @thedigitalbits @BillHuntBits and on Facebook here and here. And you can help support The Bits by pre-ordering Blu-rays and other items from Amazon through this link.]

Welcome to a new week here at The Bits!  You may have noticed that we didn’t have a My Two Cents post on Friday and there was a very good reason for that, which I’ll good into in a moment. We did, however, post a pair of new disc reviews for you in case you missed them.

First, I offered my thoughts on Warner’s San Andreas in 4K UHD Blu-ray format. Also, Tim posted his thoughts on Arrow Video’s Society: Special Edition on regular Blu-ray Disc. And just today, our own Jim Hemphill has tuned in his two cents on the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, a magnificent film that I appreciate a little more every time I watch it, as delivered to Blu-ray by the fine folks at The Criterion Collection. All three titles are worth a look, so do check them out.  [Read on here…]

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All right, I’ve finally had a week or so to process my experience of Ultra HD Blu-ray at CES 2016, so I wanted to offer a few thoughts and insights on it all – perspective filtered through my 20 years of experience working in and around this industry here at The Bits.  [Read on here…]

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This morning, I had the chance to participate in a virtual roundtable discussion featuring Victor Matsuda, the Blu-ray Disc Association’s Global Promotions Committee Chair, Paul Erickson, Senior Analyst for IHS Technology, and TK Arnold of Home Media Magazine. The session started with a video presentation in which the group discussed the outlook for UHD BD and confirmed that licensing of the format spec is going to begin very soon, which means the first official UHD BD players and movie titles could appear by year’s end.  [Read on here…]

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First up today, we’ve got a little follow-up on the BDA’s Ultra HD Blu-ray announcement, specifically a few additional technical clarifications...

The video resolution is 3840x2160, with disc capacity at 66GB (dual-layer) and 100GB (triple-layer) – at data rates of 108 mbps and 128 mbps respectively – using the HEVC codec (H.265) via HDMI 1.2 and 2.0, as well as HDCP 1.4 and 2.2. The “digital bridge” system (for Digital Copy) is optional and consists of copy features that enables local playback. What that means for each disc/player is up to the manufacturer and although the Ultra HD Blu-ray spec is complete, the BDA is waiting to hear how manufacturers will implement these features.  [Read on here…]

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All right, we’ve got the text of the BDA’s official press release announcing the completion of the Ultra HD Blu-ray spec for you to check out. We also have a look at the official logo for the format.

And we’re working on getting the technical details too.  [Read on here…]

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The big news today, without a doubt, is this: The Blu-ray Disc Association has just announced the completion of the technical specification for the Ultra HD Blu-ray format. Consumer electronics manufacturers will be able to license the spec in July, which should lead to the first players arriving in stores either just in time for the holidays this year or (more likely) in Q1 of 2016, with a big rollout at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas in January.  [Read on here…]