Blu-ray 2008: The Studio Report Card

[gadgtfreek]

Sound & Vision Magazine - Blu-ray 2008: The Studio Report Card

After two grueling years of Blu blood and HD DVD-struction, the great and fabled Format War is behind us. Countless legions perished and many more were abandoned on the battlefields. We that remain have cast our gaze into the abyss and shivered at what we saw.
And now, the upside. In the wake of this epic conflict, the studios have finally come together under a common banner and turned their focus to a nobler pursuit: taking every last cent of our economically-strained cash.
While some people were worried that a sudden lack of competition would be disastrous for Blu-ray, studios are releasing more titles than ever before. Best of all, as consumers become more educated with each passing visit to Best Buy, technical quality is becoming more of a legitimate selling point for your average consumer.
So . . . which studios should warrant their affections? Which production houses are failing to capitalize on this expanding market? Who's delivering the goods? Who needs to try harder? Check out my report card for each major studio.

 

[navychop]

Interesting article. Can't say I'm surprised at the Sony score. A bit surprised at Disney.

 

[teachsac]

I would give Fox a "D" just for their pricing alone. Fox is just oblivious. Who is going to spend 27.95 for Romancing the Stone?

I would give Universal a "C" just for their new release pricing. At least Universal doesn't charge the same for a catalog title as a new release like Fox does. Their quality is very good, though. Much better than their HDDVD quality control.

I honestly like Warners no frills catalog titles like Eraser. 14.95 for a movie with good PQ and AQ works just fine for me. Their lackluster support on new release Audio needs to stop. I never rented Speed Racer but come on.... a new release deserves a lossless track.

Disney just hasn't released enough to garner anything higher than a "B". They are consistant with their PQ/AQ though.

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

I agree.

Fox has done a good job with the titles ive bought, just cost too much. Warner has irritated me more than once with lackluster audio.

Ive been very happy with Paramounts releases so far, and I do think Disney does very well in the PQ dept.