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DVD Acquisition and Development Group, Inc. to Release Eight HD Titles in Fourth Quarter

Digital Video Essentials HD To Highlight Line of Programming;
Available For $34.95

Other Titles To Be Distributed Under DVD International’s
HDScape Brand at $29.95 Each

All Releases Available in Dual-Disc Format

FAIRFIELD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The DVD Acquisition and Development Group, Inc., under its DVD International division, will be releasing a collection of high definition titles in the fourth quarter of this year, placing the company as the leading independent producer (and fourth overall) of HD DVD content. Highlighted by the HD version of its unprecedented Digital Video Essentials line, which was produced in conjunction with Microsoft Corp., all eight releases will be available in dual disc format, with the remaining seven titles to be distributed under the HDScape brand. The announcement was made by David Goodman, President, The DVD Acquisition and Development Group, Inc.

“Reminiscent of the transition from video to DVD 10 years ago, we are once again at a crossroads with consumer electronic technology,” said Goodman. “The market has been primed for a high definition transition, and we are prepared to be fully stocked to meet those needs. By offering our titles in a dual-disc format, those consumers who haven’t yet made the complete transfer to the HD DVD format can still enjoy our programming, and then literally flip the disc once they are fully HD compatible.”

All DVDI HD titles have been created in the MPEG-4/H.264 AVC, or VC-1 format, the industry standards for high definition excellence.

The initial line includes:

* DVE HD—Now available in both 1080p and 720p on one disc, DVE HD, created by A/V visionary Joe Kane offers a full range of audio and video test signals for an array of home entertainment tune ups. Includes original Standard DVD version. Produced in conjunction with Microsoft Corp.; fully HDi capable.

HDScape

* Exotic Saltwater Aquarium HD DVD—Shot in 16:9 AVC 1080p, Exotic Saltwater Aquarium HD DVD transforms HD television into a brilliant aquarium filled with exotic fish and marine life.
* Fireplace HD DVD—This HD version of the popular holiday title reduces stress and adds soothing comfort to the home. Shot on film, the HD DVD format brings out all the rich hues and dancing shadows typical of a true wood fire.

* Antarctica Dreaming—A world colored by ice and fire, carved by hurricane-force winds. Wildlife perfectly adapted to freezing conditions. Filmed in HD by Emmy Award winning cinematographer David Hannan, these magnificent natural images are brought to brilliant life in this one-of-a-kind HD DVD program.

* Visions of Sea: Explorations—Emmy Award-winner Anthony S. Lenzo—one of the world’s most renowned underwater videographers, has captured a world of pristine and unspoiled coral reefs previously inaccessible to video cameras.

* Serenity: Southern Seas—Visit Australia’s breathtaking seascapes, golden beaches and spectacular coastline in this mesmerizing HD DVD program that takes you closer to the land down under than ever before.

* HD Window: Hawaii—Experience the exotic, lush and unique landscapes of the Hawaiian Islands, and true tropical paradise only available in HD DVD.

* HD Window: The Great Southwest—The beautiful landscapes of Arizona, New Mexico and California have never looked so good in the comforts of home. Experience all the glory of the Great Southwest in Full Frame HD, or with the unique Art Frame and Color Changing Matte format.

An HD DVD sampler disc, featuring samples of each of the HD titles, will be available at a suggested retail price of $6.95. For more information on the full HDScape line, visit www.hdscape.com.

All the HDScape titles are already up for pre-order at amazon.com for $20 each

.

The sampler is apparently in-stock now, with a price of $0.00, price is probably a mistake, but I wonder if it is really in stock?

http://www.hdscape.com/pd_hdscape_sampler1.cfm

The sampler disc is free. There is only a $3.95 shipping & handling fee.

We will know soon enough. I have already ordered mine :) will give me an idea of which "scenes" discs to pick up to play in my office.

Thanks for the link; ordered one for myself as well.

I ordered one too. I already have the SD version of Hawaii, and stargaze 2, so we'll see.
J

I ordered as well

They just added this to the product page:

"WHOA NELLY! Please note that this is a pre-order link. We have been caught off guard by a huge number of orders in a very short time. As soon as this disc is replicated, it will ship -- however the charge will actually take place when you place the order"

Hehe :)

Hey, thanks for the pointer ........ I ordered one too!

btw: Amazon has pre-order for these @$20

The power of AVS. :D

Ordered. Thanks OP!

Another order for the sampler here... I haven't seen any of the shows they offer but I'm interested. Wonder when the sampler will be ready for shipping?

Originally it said "in stock", now its saying"preorder".
J

Hi All,

HDScape (DVD International HD Division) production manager here.

We expect to begin shipping the sampler in approximately one to one and a half months. Authoring for HD DVD without big boy studio power behind us is a daunting task...

I'll try to check in if you have other questions here.

Just ordered the sampler. All of these titles sound promising.

1 1/2 months?

I just got 2 confirmations.
One from HDscape, one from David Goodman about the sampler.
A glitch?
J

They added another note to the product page:

"Note #2: We have now deactivated LIVE credit card processing. This means for orders placed as of this notice (12:36PM EDT), you will not be charged until your order is ready to ship. (We are going to email the first batch of early adopters ;-) and ask them if they want us to cancel the order or keep it (with the $3.95 charge)"

Big J, I guess the second email is becouse you ordered before they disabled live credit card processing?

I ordered when they still said In stock.
I got different ID#s. It may be a glitch-it took a long time for it to proccess. I may end up with two whenever they come out.
J

Hi Windsok (and everybody else)

I sent out an automated email to everybody who ordered before we deactivated live credit card processing. We did this so that you wouldn't be charged until we are ready to ship the sampler. I gave anybody who had ordered prior to the change the opportunity to cancel that order and order again (to avoid the card charge hitting today).

A couple of international customers ordered before I had a chance to edit the rates for international shipping, so when the cards do process, I will adjust the shipping fee for those international customers.

In the meantime, if you order now, you won't be charged until we ship.

If you have questions about your order you can email me at customercare-at-hdscape-dot-com

Questions from press, etc. should go to jeffrey-at-dvdinternational-dot-com

Thanks!
Jason

This reminds me of where I work: some jag in Marketing/PR decides to put out a press release for a new product or service and doesn't bother to tell IS about it. No one is prepared for the sudden demand that's created and a whole of people end up getting ticked off. The result is that the whole company looks like a bunch idiots. Good to know I'm not alone in my suffering...

I just ordered the sampler but if it's as good as I hope the satlwater reef videos will be regular viewing on my 106" screen, way better than the 130 gal reef tank I had and a lot easier to maintain

wow great info. I am really looking forward to the exotic saltwater aquarium DVD! Plus a HD DVE sounds great, just what we need.,

I see the HDScape discs on Amazon but not the HD digital video essentials...

Great news for HDers but some crappy news for me.

Recently just made the move to HD and after reading hundreds of posts on this forum purchased the DVE SD version just one week ago. :eek: .

Oh well, I'm sure in a few months I'll pick the new HD version up as well.

I'm surprised there was no announcement on AVS to let us know to just hold on for a few months and the HD version would probably be out.

Ordered the sampler myself after reading about it over at endgadgetHD. Looking forward to the Antartica release (my wife loves penguins).

These and the Discovery HD discs...gonna be a lot of HD love. :D

Took the plunge and ordered the sampler as well. Thanks for the link.

So is DVE HD available for order, or is "DVE HD—Now available..." just marketing speak for all the cool stuff it will have when it IS available?

I ordered my sampler this morning and I also got the 2 emails. I don't mind having $3.95 charged to my credit card today but will they all ship out in a month and a half or do you guys have some inventory to send out to those who ordered early enough?

All I can say for DVE is that they better have improved the user interface from the DVD version! That was a major PITA. Totally counter-intuitive.

Will it have test signals encoded in either Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio and for 8 channel discrete tracks?

I just ordered the sampler from the HDScape site and preorderd Antarctica Dreaming and Visions of the Sea from Amazon.

I ordered the sampler - it's stock status now shows -

Coming Soon. This Disc is still being authored. You can order today, and we will ship it as soon as it is replicated.

Looking at the larger image of thesampler cover, it says it includes -

"DVE HD Test Materials

Shostakovich Piano Quintet Op57 in True HD"

as well as clips from the other HDScape titles.

Should be worth a look,

DE

I ordered the sampler as well, hopefully something will catch my interset. With the HD DVD player, I seem to find it necessary to feed my TV better and better content, no matter how much I've spent already.

Will our preorders be eventually cancelled? I ask because of this:

The HDScape sampler is free for dealers (a $3.95 S&H fee applies)

I doubt it. Its hard to say though. That page has changed so many times in the last 24 hrs., who knows.
J

seems the HD DVD of DVE comes out 11/14, is this correct? I really need that copy of DVE to calibrate for HD, been the weak point of my HT for many years.

I just placed an order also.

Just ordered one as well!

Order the sample Thur. and Stargazers Fri. Cant wait.

Just ordered the sampler. Some of the other titles look promising as well. Now just need to get a copy of HD DVE and we will be ready to go.

The sampler will included some test materials from DVE. Don't know how useful they will be?

Latest info:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DVD_International/Disc_Announcements/DVD_International_to_Release_Video_Essentials,_Seven_Other_H D_DVD_Titles/275

FYI, I emailed them about the sampler disc, and in particular what DVE tests it contained. This was their answer:

"This disc will only contain a very small sample from DVE -- literally a
few patterns. It will not include a filter and it will not be a
replacement for the actual disc, but true to the name of the disc, it
will allow you to sample the difference in video quality between the HD
and prior NTSC version."

On another matter, I don't quite understand why an HD-DVD disc is required... Can someone explain to me why DVE HD-DVD will calibrate my system better than my AVIA SD-DVD? Thanks.

The disc was also produced in conjunction with Microsoft Corp. and authored in the HD DVD format's proprietary HDi environment, allowing for a full range of interactive features.

Hopefully that means a totaly new interface for DVE HD DVD.

If you have an HDTV with a good ATSC spec. processor, the test patterns will use the BT709 standard rather than the old NTSC BT601 standard. It will be accurate for HD video as long as the test patterns supplied are encoded correctly. You aren't getting the best calibration using NTSC test signals.

Dan

OK, so did anyone else get a "delay notice" from amazon.com on the DVE disc? Mine got pushed from November 14th to early December!

I just got the same "delay notice" from Amazon as well with a shipping estimate of November 30 and a delivery estimate of December 4.

Same here.

Got the email as well. Also got one delaying Antartica Dreaming until Nov 30.

Yeah, I got the delay notice.

It sounds like they don't have their act together yet. Any word on the sampler?
J

OK, so did anyone else get a "delay notice" from amazon.com on the DVE disc? Mine got pushed from November 14th to early December!

Yes. Dec. 4th arrival (Nov. 30th ship). Man, I need this disc to color calibrate for HD.

Well I just ordered the sampler. U only pay 3.95 for the shipping. Any one have their sampler yet?

Was this a type-O? lol maybe he meant Q4 2007! Waiting for HDMI 1.5 maybe? Where's the Hawaii Window disc I ordered???

Well I just ordered the sampler. U only pay 3.95 for the shipping. Any one have their sampler yet?
Still no disc. Their having problems with the authoring.

Still no disc. Their having problems with the authoring.


Maybe Joe Kane is trying to unravel that stupid menu system !! :p

Still no disc. Their having problems with the authoring.
Hopefully they are NOT waiting until the Bluray version is ready! :p

The following titles were supposed to be released today:

Antarctica Dreaming
Fireplace: Visions Of Tranquility
HDScape Sampler
HD Window: Hawaii
Serenity: Southern Seas
Visions of the Sea

Also, HD Window: Great Southwest was supposedly released a month ago, but it has never been in stock anywhere.

Any info?

I think everything is on hold pending the release of DVE.

The following titles were supposed to be released today:

Antarctica Dreaming
Fireplace: Visions Of Tranquility
HDScape Sampler
HD Window: Hawaii
Serenity: Southern Seas
Visions of the Sea

Also, HD Window: Great Southwest was supposedly released a month ago, but it has never been in stock anywhere.

Any info?

Grubert, FWIW I just added Antarctica Dreaming, Fireplace: Visions Of Tranquility (not sure why), and Visions of the Sea to my Blockbuster Queue. They also had Serenity: Australian Dreams but not Southern Seas.

To my surprise CoM and HF were also available.

So DVE has finally been postponed to more than a year after I ordered it. I knew it would be, just didn't think it'd be this soon. Oh well, maybe I'll get it in time to calibrate my system for the HD DVD release of Spiderman 3. :p

The following titles have been reentered on dvdempire and dvdpacific for June 5:

HD Window Hawaii
HD Window Great Southwest
Serenity: Southern Seas
Visions of the Sea: Explorations


Also it seems that Fireplace: Visions of Tranquility and Stargaze II will be released on June 26.