Author Topic: Blu-ray News (Read 161253 times)

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #720 on:** Jan 22, 2008 at 12:48 PM »

Thousands Sign "Save HD DVD" Petition (UPDATED)
Mon Jan 21, 2008 at 01:00 PM ET

Over six thousand HD DVD supporters have signed an online petition urging Warner Home Entertainment to reconsider its decision to abandon the HD DVD format.

First posted on January 5th, the petition takes issue with Warner's earlier press statements that the "consumer has clearly chosen Blu-ray," pointing to the HD DVD format's lower hardware prices and "better technological capabilities" as more consumer-friendly than its high-def rival.

Supporters hope that the petition will convince Warner to reverse its decision, and that it will help prove to HD DVD-backing studios Universal and Paramount that the format still has supporters.

UPDATE: (Jan 21, 6:00pm ET) Several readers have written in to point out that HD DVD fans aren't the only ones to have set up online petitions in the wake of Warner's announcement. Several other petitions have been set up by early adopters urging Paramount, Universal and Toshiba to drop their HD DVD support, back Blu-ray and bring the high-def format war to a swift end.

At press time, the "Let HD DVD Die" petition had garnered the most signatures of the pro-Blu-ray petitions, with over one thousand signatures.

SAVE HD-DVD
LET HD-DVD DIE

Source: High-Def Digest

darkwing · « **Reply #721 on:** Jan 22, 2008 at 02:08 PM »

The data does NOT include sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 or the HD-DVD add-on drive for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These are stand-alone, set-top players only.

Mouldingo · « **Reply #722 on:** Jan 22, 2008 at 07:16 PM »

But the most striking revelation in the data is the change in the hardware sales ratios between the first and second weeks of January (ending 1/5 and 1/12), reflecting the impact of Warner's announcement (and the mainstream media reaction). The graphs below show player sales for each format both before and after Warner's 1/4 press release...

As you can see, HD-DVD player sales dropped dramatically in the week after Warner's announcement, while Blu-ray Disc player sales nearly doubled over the same period.

darkwing · « **Reply #723 on:** Jan 23, 2008 at 04:10 AM »

Warner Extends HD DVD Release Delay to Catalog Titles

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Street_Date_Changes/Warner_Extends_HD_DVD_Release_Delay_to_Catalog_Titles/1386

"At the time, it seemed that catalog titles would continue to be released concurrently on both next gen formats through May, but the studio now tells us that it's expanding its strategy to include catalog titles too, with the HD DVD versions of all of its remaining titles through the June 1 cut-off also receiving a three-week release delay."

baka Twister na yung last HD-DVD ng Warner ^_^

choy · « **Reply #724 on:** Jan 23, 2008 at 05:27 AM »

there's a rumor that the PS3 will get another price cut between now and end of feb to coincide with the release of some of their top games like Gran Turismo 5 and Grand Theft Auto 4.

this will certainly boost the PS3 sales and increase the install base of bluray players

darkwing · « **Reply #725 on:** Jan 23, 2008 at 07:40 AM »

Quote from: choy on Jan 23, 2008 at 05:27 AM

there's a rumor that the PS3 will get another price cut between now and end of feb to coincide with the release of some of their top games like Gran Turismo 5 and Grand Theft Auto 4.

this will certainly boost the PS3 sales and increase the install base of bluray players

Unfortunately it looks like just some posting on some forums, the source is specifically CheapAssGamer site, which says a specific date on January 28 hehe

anyways back to HD news...

Major Chicagoland retailer drops HD DVD support
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35721/117/

choy · « **Reply #726 on:** Jan 23, 2008 at 11:32 AM »

well, of course PS3 sales will only boost the BluRay market dominance. perhaps that is why the 40GB SKU comes with the Spidey3 BluRay, marketing scheme to get these gamers into BluRay. if they indeed lower the PS3 price, it will not only help them in the console wars, it will also follow the trend of HD players (both bluray and hd-dvd) prices going down

Mouldingo · « **Reply #727 on:** Jan 24, 2008 at 06:31 PM »

The Samsung BD-UP5000 to be discontinued in May

While we've become accustomed to Blu-ray players being released every six months, it's a little ridiculous when we're forced to wait for a new player longer than it's on the market. Eventually we expect the cycle to slow down -- like when BD Live players are out for example -- and many believed that the Samsung BD-UP5000 could be one of those players based on promises when announced. Once you have an Ethernet port for internet content, REON video processing, internal decoding and bitstream support for every codec, discrete analog output, as well as HDMI 1.3, what else could possibly warrant a mid year revamp? We suspect the problem is that the player isn't delivering, and on top of that, we don't think it's Samsung's fault. You see, just like the LG BH200, the BD-UP5000 is based on Broadcom's Reference design BCM97440, and the word on the street is that it isn't ever going to deliver. So it'd make sense that Sammy would change the platform for one that's actually able to get the job done. So yeah, this Broadcom bit is just speculation, but we did contact the outfit to figure out what the deal was, and while it was very responsive at first, as soon as we asked about the troubles with the BCM97400, it must'a lost our email address (or maybe its servers have been down for a week). The good news is that Samsung doesn't see the BD-UP5500 as a replacement, and promises a suitable replacement for the high-end dual-format customer in the second half of '08.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/the-samsung-bd-up5000-to-be-discontinued-in-may/

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #728 on:** Jan 25, 2008 at 06:38 PM »

Upcoming content for Blu...

'Hitman' Blu-ray to Include First-Ever "Digital Copy"
Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 01:00 PM ET

Fox has released final specs for the March Blu-ray debut of 'Hitman,' promising a fully stocked supplements package and a format-first "digital copy" of the film.

As we first reported last week, the studio will bring an unrated version of the $100 million-grossing 'Hitman' to Blu-ray on March 11, day-and-date with the DVD.

Full specs are now in, with the set boasting a wealth of additional content. Extras shared between the Blu-ray and DVD versions include four making-of featurettes ("In the Crosshairs," "Digital Hits," "Weapons of Destruction," "Settling the Score"), deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a gag reel.

In a high-def first, the 'Hitman' Blu-ray will also come with a bonus second DVD disc, which contains a standard-definition Digital Copy of the movie, enabling viewers to watch it on portable devices, such as a PC, iPod or iPhone.

Previously announced tech specs include 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video and audio flavors in DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround (48kHz/24-bit) and French and Spanish dubs in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.

Finally, Fox has revealed a first look at the title's high-def box cover art, which touts both the unrated cut and the digital copy:

Source: HighDef Digest

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #729 on:** Jan 25, 2008 at 06:41 PM »

On the red camp...

DreamWorks Unveils Specs, Box Art for 'Bee Movie' HD DVD
Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM ET

DreamWorks has revealed full details for its March debut of 'Bee Movie,' which is due to hit HD DVD with a hive's worth of bonus features and high-def exclusives.

As we first reported last month, the studio previously announced a March 11 HD DVD debut for the $150 million-plus grossing Jerry Seinfeld animated adventure. Now the full specs are in, with Paramount pulling out all the stops for a two-disc HD DVD release, packed with extras.

Shared with the two-disc DVD edition (hitting stores day-and-date) are audio commentary with Seinfeld and the filmmakers, four making-of featurettes ("Jerry's Flight Over Cannes," "Inside The Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie," "Tech of Bee Movie," "Meet Barry B. Benson"), deleted scenes and an alternate endings with optional commentary, a music video, "TV Juniors" shorts that first aired on NBC, and a suite of "DreamWorks Animation Kids" interactive activities ("The Buzz About Bees," "The Ow! Meter," "That's Un-BEE-lievable!", "Pollination Practice," "Be A Bee").

Exclusive to the HD DVD will be several additional features, including "The Animators' Corner" a picture-in-picture storyboard reel that runs the length of the film, "Barry's Trivia Track" pop-up fun facts and "My Menus" which allow users to customize the disc's navigation based on their favorite character. Additional web-enabled content is set to include "The World Of Bees" movie guide with biographies of talent and characters from the film, the "Build-A-Bee Avatar" and "Barry's Digital Coloring Book."

Tech specs include 1080p video and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround audio and subtitle tracks in English, French and Spanish (no high-res audio options have yet been announced).

Finally, DreamWorks has revealed the final box art for 'Bee Movie' on HD DVD:

Source: Highdef Digest

darkwing · « **Reply #730 on:** Jan 26, 2008 at 02:45 AM »

US Market - Week Ending 1/20/2008

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #731 on:** Jan 26, 2008 at 10:45 AM »

Blu spike may be attributed to 'other' tactical factors. Nevertheless, there's no denying that the Red camp has been underperforming vs. team Blu. Read on - from HighDef Digest:

NPD: Free Blu-ray Players Contributed to Weekly Hardware Lead
Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 09:00 AM ET

That 93% lead for Blu-ray in hardware sales in the week following Warner's exclusivity announcement? NPD (the research group that tallied the numbers) says don't read too much into it.

That's according to a new article at BetaNews, which quotes an NPD official as saying that a series of free player bundles led to inflated weekly numbers for team Blu.

Explaining that the weekly data had not been approved for release by the research group, Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD, cautioned against making any long-term judgments based on the weekly numbers, explaining that NPD sees large fluctuations in numbers like these each week.

Baker went on to attribute the week's Blu-ray gains to several deals from Sony, Sharp and Panasonic that saw free Blu-ray players bundled with the purchase of new HDTVs. He said that player sales for Samsung (which did not offer a free Blu-ray player deal) were "almost non-existent" for the week.

All of this is not to say that it was a good week for HD DVD hardware sales. Although Baker declined to get into specifics, he did confirm a drop in overall HD DVD player sales for the week.

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #732 on:** Jan 26, 2008 at 10:46 AM »

Well the woes continue for the red camp - here's some HD-DVD news for Jack Ryan fanatics:

'Jack Ryan' HD DVD Set Gets a New Date
Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM ET

After a delay of several months, Paramount has set a March re-launch for 'The Jack Ryan Collection' on HD DVD.

As previously reported, the 'Jack Ryan' set was due to hit HD DVD late last October, only to be derailed at the last minute when early copies shipped to retailers and reviewers listed extras on the box that were not found on the actual discs. Paramount subsequently pulled the set, with no new date in sight.

The studio has now rescheduled 'The Jack Ryan Collection' for March 25, but fans hoping for a bumped up package of supplements will be disappointed. The box again contains all four films in the series ('The Hunt for Red October,' 'Patriot Games,' 'Clear & Present Danger,' 'The Sum of All Fears') but it will come without any announced bonus content.

Tech specs remain consistent with the previous release, including 1080p video and audio flavors in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround.

Suggested retail for the box set also remains a suggested $99.95.

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #733 on:** Jan 26, 2008 at 10:49 AM »

One of my 'fave' movies, particularly because of Julia Ormond. First Knight coming to Bluray this April.
Read HERE.

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #734 on:** Jan 26, 2008 at 10:54 AM »

Another big budget title coming to BD:

New Line Plans 'Golden Compass' Blu-ray

New Line has revealed plans to bring the big-budget fantasy 'The Golden Compass' to Blu-ray this April. Thanks to a splashy, two-page advertisement in next week's edition of Home Media Magazine (which just hit the web), we can tell you that the Blu-ray edition of the Nicole Kidman-Daniel Craig starrer will arrive on April 29, day-and-date with the standard-def DVD.

According to the ad, the Blu-ray will come billed as a "Platinum Edition Two-Disc Set" that contains over two hours of bonus features, including the featurettes "Behind the Scenes," "Lyra's World" and "Origins," plus more to be announced. Exclusive to the Blu-ray will be a picture-in-picture visual commentary.

There were no further tech specs or extras details available at press time, but the studio tells us that the official media release is due this coming Monday, so we'll certainly keep you posted. New Line has set a suggested list price for $39.98 for the two-disc Blu-ray.

darkwing · « **Reply #735 on:** Jan 28, 2008 at 08:40 PM »

Woolworths backs blu-ray format over HD-DVD

http://www.woolworthsmediacentre.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=33

"Woolworths, one of the biggest retailers of DVDs in the UK, has become the first major retailer to solely back one of the new high definition DVD formats.

The high street firm has announced that it will only stock Blu-Ray high definition DVDs from March, with HD-DVDs being dropped from stores to be sold online.

The move comes after Blu-Ray DVDs outsold HD-DVDs by ten-to-one in Woolies stores over Christmas. "

Mouldingo · « **Reply #736 on:** Jan 28, 2008 at 09:09 PM »

Confirmed: Circuit City’s HD DVD Players On Clearance

We had heard Circuit City was clearancing their stock of HD DVD players, so we went to check for ourselves. We did indeed find all of the third gen HD DVD players on clearance(red tag). With the HD-A3 for $100 and the HD-A30 for $149, which are killer prices that even beat Amazon’s. We do wonder if this this is the beginning of the end of HD DVD players for sale at B&M stores

http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2008/01/27/confirmed-circuit-citys-hd-dvd-players-on-clearance/

darkwing · « **Reply #737 on:** Jan 28, 2008 at 11:00 PM »

Circuit City dropping HD-DVD?

http://www.1080living.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17

Circuit City in a not so surprising move has discontinued the HD-DVD format in favor of expanding it's Blu-Ray lineup.

Circuit City-long a unofficial supporter of Blu-Ray has always carried HD-DVD in limited quantities vs. it's Blu-Ray inventory. Sources say that this move is not a direct response to Warner studios announcements but more related to the lopsided sales makeup of Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD which in the past weeks has been 85:15 in favor of Blu-Ray says several industry sources

1080living.com contacted 7 Circuit City locations. 5 would not comment citing policies against disclosing merchandising changes, while 2 confirmed that the company has discontinued the HD-DVD format. One store manger informed us ," This move is for business reasons only as Circuit City is committed to the next generation of Hi Def DVD viewing. Based on company sales of the two formats which consisted of 87 percent for Blu-Disc and 13% for HD the company felt that now should be the time to fully commit our resources to one format. Circuit City is the leader of technology and this move again reinforces out commitment to offering out customers the very best available. We expect our competitors to follow suit shortly."

As a result, Circuit City stores will be placing all HD-DVD players on clearance and though no specific price has been announced we were told to expect players in the $100 range.

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #738 on:** Jan 28, 2008 at 11:59 PM »

One more time! Links below to Amazon.

New Amazon Sale on Warner Blu-ray, HD DVD Titles
Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 06:15 PM ET

Another week, another Amazon high-def disc sale. This time, the web giant is offering yet another collection of titles from Warner Home Video at up to 53% off list price.

The new promo, which builds on last week's "drama hits" sale, includes more than two dozen Warner titles across various genres on both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Among the titles being discounted on both formats are 'Superman Returns,' 'The Road Warrior,' 'Training Day' and 'Enter the Dragon' (for a complete list, click the links below).

At press time there was no word on how this deal would be offered by Amazon, though Amazon is billing this one as a limited time offer.

As always, you'll find up-to-the-minute information on these and other sales spotted in-store and online in the Blu-ray bargains and HD DVD bargains areas of our forums.

BLU RAY SALE
HD-DVD SALE

Mouldingo · « **Reply #739 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 07:57 AM »

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

So there's more bad news for Toshiba today. To quote a character from the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the manufacturer has been told to "stay out of the Woolsworth!" after their HD-DVD format was booted from the retailer's store locations in the UK. Woolworth announced today that they only plan to carry the format online from now on, citing the 10 to 1 sales results of Blu-ray at the retailer's stores over the holidays. Toshiba quickly responded: “While we're disappointed by Woolworth's decision, it is extremely early to spot which format will eventually win."

You know, Toshiba seems defiantly willing to keep this fight going indefinitely, no matter how bad things get for HD-DVD. One wonders. however, how their shareholders are going to react to all this. Word is the company's quarterly earnings are due out in the next couple days, and given the events of the last few months, they can't be pretty.

To get a better sense of how things are going for Toshiba right now, we suggest you visit your local Best Buy and Circuit City stores. Your own experiences may vary, but we're getting regular reports now of low or no HD-DVD player stock at many locations around the country, and we've now gotten many e-mails from employees at both chains saying that they've been told that the players aren't going to be restocked at their stores. Other sites, like 1080living and Format War Central, are reporting this too. And pictures of HD-DVD player clearance tags in Circuit City stores have appeared in the forums over on Blu-ray.com and at Format War as well.

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #740 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 12:44 PM »

Here's another fatalistic view of HD DVDs predicament. Research firm Gartner says that by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will have won the high-def format war and HD DVD's price cuts are merely "useless resistance."

Gartner: HD DVD price cuts only prolong agony
Dan Nystedt

Price cuts by Toshiba on its HD DVD players in the U.S. earlier this month may prove to be "useless resistance" in the battle against the rival Blu-ray Disc optical disc format, according to Gartner.

The market research company expects Blu-ray Disc to win the battle against HD DVD (high definition digital video disc) in the consumer market by the end of 2008, becoming the next generation replacement for DVDs.

Toshiba's price cuts came after a major Hollywood studio, Warner Bros., announced it would shift from producing in both formats to just Blu-ray alone, expanding the disc format's advantage in the number of movies and other content. Five of the seven major Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc exclusively, while the HD DVD camp has just two, Paramount and Universal.

"Gartner believes that Toshiba's price-cutting may prolong HD DVD's life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format. Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over, wrote analyst Hiroyuki Shimizu in Gartner's Semiconductor DQ Monday Report.

To view the entire article, click HERE.

Clondalkin · « **Reply #741 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 01:13 PM »

From the above article.

"Should HD DVD lose the format war, Microsoft will have to start using Blu-ray Disc on the Xbox 360 in order to allow users to play high definition video games. It's not an outcome the U.S. company would likely want to see. Blu-ray Disc was developed by Sony and is an integral part of the PlayStation 3 game console, a rival to the Xbox 360.

The addition of the high definition drives to the two game consoles has given game makers a new way to add content to their digital games, because both formats have far more storage capacity than traditional DVDs."

Whoever wrote this piece has absolutely ZILCH knowledge of how an Xbox360 actually works as a gaming console...and all other paragraphs written have already been discussed to death all over the forums for the past 3 weeks. Any original thoughts?

DonKB · « **Reply #742 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 04:26 PM »

^^^ He he

I agree with you. Also, I'd rather have Microsoft require game developers install their game to the 360's HDD if a game comes in more that 1 DVD. Granted, not all 360s have Hard disk drives, but then again, it would probably be cheaper installing Hard drives than installing a BD drive. Heck, PC games come "only" in DVDs!

Clondalkin · « **Reply #743 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 05:31 PM »

Personally, I would be happy to see a BD add-on drive for the Xbox360. That would make the Xbox360 a dual format player for movies. Nice. You think Sony would like that idea?

darkwing · « **Reply #744 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 05:51 PM »

I would say BDA would like that, Panasonic holds more BD patents than Sony hehe naging front face lang ang Sony dahil sa BD in the PS3

Mouldingo · « **Reply #745 on:** Jan 29, 2008 at 06:35 PM »

MY TWO CENTS - 1/29/08 - by Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt

First up today, we've obtained the latest NPD Group hardware sales numbers from our industry sources. This would be for the week ending 1/19 - the second week after Warner's announcement, and the first full week reflecting Toshiba's 50% off price reductions. Here's how the numbers look. Note that we've included the previous week (ending 1/12) as well for comparison, and that these numbers reflect sales of stand-alone, non-combo units (game system devices like the PS3 or Xbox add-on drive are not included)...

Here's how the specific unit sales numbers looked for the week ending 1/19...

Blu-ray Disc - 16,496 units
HD-DVD - 8,639 units

So it would certainly appear that Toshiba's price cutting has at least contributed to a modest rebound in the number of HD-DVD units moved, though sources are telling us that Blu-ray earned approximately 83% of all the actual dollars spent on high-def players for the week. Here are those totals...

Blu-ray Disc - $6,033,540
HD-DVD - $1,182,248

Again, that would seem to reflect the fact that Toshiba's prices had been heavily discounted. The dollar volume percentage is key, because that's where retailers are going to see profits. As such, they're obviously making more money on each Blu-ray player sold than each HD-DVD player sold right now.

FYI, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that two weeks of data points does not equal a trend, just a very small line. We're sure that all parties involved (including the NPD Group) will make their own comments shortly.

Meanwhile, after yesterday's photos of Circuit City clearance sales on HD-DVD players, we've got more pictures this morning along the same lines. Our friend Dave over at TV Shows on DVD sent over these shots of Toshiba HD-A3s he spotted in the clearance isle at a Wal-Mart store in Memphis

And here's something interesting - it seems that at the German retailer Saturn, Sony is offering consumers 150 Euros off the price of their BDP-S300 Blu-ray player (effectively making the price 349 Euros), with the trade in of an HD-DVD player. Plus you get 8 free Blu-ray movies. This ad scan was posted over at HiFi-Forum.de (credit to "heimkino-fan")...

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

juneaki · « **Reply #746 on:** Jan 30, 2008 at 07:28 AM »

I am sensing that Sony is luring (buying or whatever) appliance store worldwide. Here in the Pinas, at SM North EDSA, SM appliance Audio/Video store was renovated recently and when it opened again, whoa, it is Sony exclusive already displaying only Sony products. What caught my attention are their bluray players. How do they retail them? Make a guess. . .

Mas mahal pa sa 32" na branded LCD HDTV. He he he!

Mouldingo · « **Reply #747 on:** Jan 30, 2008 at 07:46 AM »

Quote from: juneaki on Jan 30, 2008 at 07:28 AM

I am sensing that Sony is luring (buying or whatever) appliance store worldwide. Here in the Pinas, at SM North EDSA, SM appliance Audio/Video store was renovated recently and when it opened again, whoa, it is Sony exclusive already displaying only Sony products. What caught my attention are their bluray players. How do they retail them? Make a guess. . . Mas mahal pa sa 32" na branded LCD HDTV. He he he!

Mas mura pa nga mag import ka galing US kaysa bumili dito. 110v at walang warranty lang.

darkwing · « **Reply #748 on:** Jan 30, 2008 at 03:50 PM »

Sonic's Scenarist now Blu-ray, digital distribution format only

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/30/sonics-scenarist-now-blu-ray-digital-distribution-format-only/

"Sonic Solutions has announced it will no longer sell the HD DVD version of its Scenarist professional authoring software, focusing instead on Blu-ray and digital distribution. Sonic -- provider of consumer authoring software under the Roxio brand (still w/ that sweet HD DVD flavor, at least for now) -- plans to expand its features to ease creation of BD Live features, and package high definition video for delivery on any of the many platforms popping up. It's not all bad for red fans, Sonic promises to continue customer support and product updates "where appropriate" for its HD DVD package, and a special promotion for users to switch to Blu-ray, although the terms aren't mentioned."

Marl☆1 · « **Reply #749 on:** Jan 30, 2008 at 11:40 PM »

Early Details For 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets' Blu-ray
Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 11:00 AM ET

Disney says it's planning to bring the blockbuster 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets' to Blu-ray this Spring in a fully-loaded special edition.

Although the studio stopped short of issuing an exact street date for $200 million-grossing Nicolas Cage adventure, it's telling retailers to expect a Blu-ray edition sometime in late Spring, day-and-date with a matching standard-def DVD.

Extras shared between both versions already look quite impressive, with an audio commentary from director Jon Turteltaub, a suite of eight making-of featurettes ("Secrets of a Sequel," "The Book of Secrets: On Location," "Street Stunts: Creating the London Chase," "Inside the Library of Congress," "Underground Action," "Cover Story: Crafting the Presidents' Book," "Evolution of a Golden City"), deleted scenes and "The Treasure Reel" bloopers & outtakes.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray will be the "Book of History: The Fact and Fiction of National Treasure 2" featurette, and a pair of additional deleted scenes.

Tech specs for the Blu-ray are set to include a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer, and an uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround track (at 48kHz/24-bit).

Disney has set a suggested list price of $34.95 for the Blu-ray.

Source: Highdefdigest