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Univeral Studios Blu-ray rumor is false

Yesterday, we wrote about a report from German news source Heise online, which stated that Universal Studios had broken the HD DVD exclusivity agreement, leaving room for them to start producing their movies on the rival format, Blu-ray. Now Engadget is reporting that the president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment has contacted them and stated that the rumors are “totally false”. Heise online also has a followup piece on this fiasco, which contains the following excerpt (translated via Google Language Tools).

“In a statement opposite it communicated heise on-line that this rumor was “completely wrong” and universal will not change the sides, in order to support in the future the competition format Blu ray Disc.”

Well, it looks like I won’t be running out to buy a Blu-ray player after all, as there is still hope for HD DVD. But still, with only one major studio staying exclusive to HD DVD and Blu-ray title sales outpacing HD DVD title sales, things are not looking so good for the HD DVD camp. If they want to stay in this war, we are going to have to see some drastic action from them in the near future, especially this holiday season. This news found via CDRLabs.

Universal Studios to go HD DVD and break Blu-ray contract?

Heise online, a very popular and reputable German news source, is reporting that Universal Studios has decided to end the HD DVD exclusivity contract. If this holds true and is confirmed by Universal Studios, this could have a MAJOR impact in the Blu-ray versus HD DVD next generation format war. In fact, this could effectively end the blue laser format war. Universal Studios is the last standing major Hollywood studio that is exclusive to the HD DVD format. All other major Hollywood studios support both HD DVD and Blu-ray or they are exclusive to Blu-ray Disc. Here is an excerpt from the Heise report, translated via Google language tools.

“In the context of a press meeting representatives of the Blu ray advocate maintained Pioneer that universal Home Entertainment stepped out of the exclusive contract with the Hp-DVD-camp and/or its largest representatives on the hardware side Toshiba. Thus the Studio quit the agreement, the notice is not only not effective allegedly already. If this report should be confirmed, thereby the way would be free for film publications on the competition medium Blu ray Disc for universal (in the long run). Above all however the hp DVD graduation Group would lose their only remaining exclusive supporter after Paramount and Warner under Hollywood Studios.”

Blu-ray representatives making the claim
From the Heise report, it appears that Blu-ray representatives are making the claim, which still leaves room for Universal Studios to deny the reports. We’ll have to wait to hear from Universal Studios directly before anything is 100% official. If Universal Studios confirms this news, there will be little to no reason for anyone to buy into the HD DVD format. With all major studios supporting Blu-ray and some exclusive Blu-ray content, the Blu-ray Disc format will be the obvious choice. Personally, I will probably go out and buy myself a Blu-ray Disc player if Universal confirms this news. I imagine this news is going to make a lot of early HD DVD adopters plenty mad. News on Heise via CDRLabs.

HDCP Stripper AnyDVD HD
AnyDVD HD is a software program that allows users to rip (copy) Blu-ray and HD DVD disks to their computer hard drive. And while ripping/copying is probably the most famous and well known feature of AnyDVD HD, the playback features of the software might be even more useful. AnyDVD HD can act as an HDCP stripper, removing the requirement for you to own an HDCP compliant graphics card and HDCP compliant monitor in order to playback your Blu-ray and HD DVD disks at full resolution. Many people already own graphics cards and LCD’s that support High Definition video, but without the HDCP support. That’s where the HDCP stripper functionality of AnyDVD HD comes in handy. Let’s take a look at the product description from the Slysoft website itself:

Allows you to watch movies over a digital display connection, without HDCP compliant graphics card and HDCP compliant display. No need to buy an expensive monitor. Sweet!

Playback your discs on your PC with PowerDVD Ultra, which otherwise do not run (titles released by Studio Canal, The Weinstein Company, Kinowelt, Optimum Releasing).

AnyDVD HD is the “must have” utility for the serious home theater enthusiast using a media center / home theater PC.

HDCP Stripper software
Even the software manufacturer (Slysoft) has realized that some of the best features of AnyDVD HD are the HDCP stripper and playback features! Whether you have a media center PC, a home theater PC or you just want to watch your Blu-ray or HD DVD movies in full resolution on a standard PC monitor, AnyDVD HD could be a must have for you! Luckily, Slysoft offers a full demo version of their software for free. Get the free AnyDVD HD demo from here.

Star Wars Blu-ray Disc trilogies at Amazon
We have heard the rumors before, but up until now there has been no concrete evidence or official statements made that would confirm whether or not the Star Wars trilogies will appear on the Blu-ray Disc format. Many fans and enthusiasts have been speculating that Star Wars would appear on either HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc in celebration of the 30th year anniversary of Star Wars, which is this year. Looking at the past history of Star Wars releases, many claim that George Lucas has a track record for cautiously and slowly adopting new formats. After all, the original Star Wars trilogy took quite a long time to appear on the DVD format.

But it could all be different for the next generation, blue laser DVD formats. Right now, Amazon.com has product pages up for BOTH the Star Wars trilogies in the Blu-ray Disc format. The first and second trilogy each have their own page, with a current status of “we will e-mail you when this title becomes available”.





Blu-ray fans and Sony PS3 owners rejoice! It appears that the worlds’ most famous intergalactic saga is coming your way. If the Star Wars trilogies do appear on the Blu-ray Disc format soon, could this be a catalyst that triggers even larger adoption rates for Blu-ray over HD DVD? Only time will tell. Found via CDRLabs.

A pictoral explanation of high definition
Last week, 20th Century Fox launched a new website dedicated to Blu-ray Disc technology, PerfectHiDef.com. According to a recent press release, Amazon had been previously linking to a Blu-ray informational page located on a Fox website and the decision was made to create a dedicated website to house this Blu-ray format information. This website has one particular image that I believe does a good job at explaining the concept of high definition within a single, easy to comprehend graphic.



Note that the smallest rectangular area in the image (labeled as 480 - Standard Definition) is being used to represent the picture quality of a standard DVD video. The larger 720P and 1080P rectangular areas are being used to represent High Definition picture quality and provides a quick, easy to understand representation of how superior a high definition image will be compared to other resolutions.

The Museum of low resolution?

A member of the Blu-ray Europe promotions group also contacted me to let me know that they have launched “The Museum of Low Resolution“.



I took a quick look at the Museum of Low Resolution website, which primarily contains interactive Adobe Flash media content. The “resolution timeline” starts by discussing the ancient argument on whether the earth is flat or round, then jumps to talking about golf vs miniature golf and then finally lands on standard definition vs high definition. My guess is that this is a sorry attempt at humor, but in my opinion it falls painfully short of even basic amusement. The background sounds are extremely annoying with little bells and chimes going off all over the place and the site is sluggish and does not always flow smoothly. At least the PerfectHiDef website is decent.

PerfectHiDef.com launch news found via CDRLabs.