Warner Bros. has announced that they will support the high definition CBHD format in China, despite Sony’s introduction of Blu-ray in the nation last month.
CBHD, short for China Blue High-Definition Disc and formerly known as CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD) is a next-generation optical disc based on HD DVD standards.
Titles will go on sale beginning in the next few months and will include Harry Potter 1-6, Golden Compass, Speed Racer, and Blood Diamond among others. Warner is the first Hollywood studio to support the format which has backing from local studios such as Chinese Corporation, China Film Group, and Huayi Brothers Company.
Result for: speed racer
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has begun testing simultaneous day-and-date releases of their latest titles on DVD and VOD.
The testing began on October 7th, with the M. Night Shyamalan thriller “The Happening.”
Steve Feldstein, senior VP of marketing communications, added, “We’re looking at a lot of different models and looking at various incremental points of distribution that are available. We’re doing a little experimenting with dating and windows.”
Warner began similar testing last year and continues to do so with movies such as Speed Racer and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Warner senior VP of strategic promotions and communications Jim Noonan added that the studio is expecting to release 4 in 5 films simultaneously on VOD and DVD next year.
“We’re kind of learning as we go here,” Noonan said. “We’re watching very carefully. It has been very good for us in the VOD business. We’re not interested in growing VOD to the detriment of the packaged goods business.”
Result for: speed racer
Vudu has officially announced that it will be rolling out films in a new high-definition format, dubbed HDX which the company claims is the best looking format yet for content delivered via the web, TV or cable VOD.
The launch will have 50 films available in the format, which plays back in full HD 1080p resolution. A few of the releases include the new hits The Spiderwick Chronicles, In Bruges, Speed Racer and a few classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Chinatown.
All Vudu users can watch the content via a purchased set-top box and although Vudu admits Blu-ray will offer a superior video and audio experience, HDX will trump any current HD service.
Although the company did not say how large the file sizes were on average, they did say HDX delivery would take about 4 hours per film for the average user. HDX will cost the same as the current HD films, $3.99 to $5.99 per film.
“We don’t make the claim that this is as good as Blu-ray, but consumers will not think the quality is lacking,” said Prasanna Ganesan, Vudu chief technology officer. “This is better than any other on-demand high-def experience out there.”
From now on all HD film releases on Vudu will also be available in HDX, says the comapny. HDX promises “to enhance details within dark images, preserve film grain and tune the picture for optimal display on current LCD and plasma TVs.”
“Vudu HDX truly raises the bar on picture quality for [high-def] movies delivered on demand, over the air, satellite or Internet and across the entire video landscape,” added Mark Jung, Vudu CEO. “Accelerating consumer adoption of large-screen HDTVs has fueled strong demand for the kind of viewing experience and picture quality that only HDX can deliver.”
