Happy belated fireworks day for everyone in the US, happy belated Canada day to everyone up north, and all that jazz. And my thanks to all for indulging me last week about my gripes with DirecTV. As I lube up the ole’ bunghole and prepare to get screwed out of another service call, I celebrate the news, notes and announcements of the past week’s high definition forum.
The big news this week is that Samsung started to leak out some more news about their dual format player, including a release date sometime i… October or November. The BDP-UP5000 is apparently set to support HDi (unlike the LG player out now) and BD-Java, along with the web-based content on discs now (Blood Diamond) and in the future. If it really is the bee’s knees and it upconverts well, it sounds like I might be freeing up shelf space in the near feature, which is a good thing.
Release wise, nothing too earth shattering has been broken. This week the BBC documentary Galapagos was announced for a 10/2 release on both formats. Not many people say that the title rings any bells, but it’s made by the same people who put out the Planet Earth miniseries, so there’s a reason for the anticipation. More accessible television projects include the recently completed sixth season of Smallville (a favorite in the house), which arrives in both formats on 9/18. Blu-ray exclusive folk get to see The Replacement Killers on 9/11, the Disney thriller The Invisible on 10/16 and Delta Farce on 9/4. HD DVD exclusive kids see Patch Adams, Cat People and the remake of The Getaway on 9/25. This week’s releases are fairly light, as HD DVD buyers can see if they want Billy Madison, Dante’s Peak, The War or The Wedding Date to pick up this week.
That’s it for me this week, and as always high definers, keep the brightness low and the resolution high!
