Right now I have the PS3 and love the quality of the movies being played back in 1080p, I even watched RV and it looked amazing, the movie almost made me throw up though.
Anyways from what I understand LOTR trilogy is only going to be released on HD-DVD because New Line Cinema only supports HD-DVD. I for one will say that these movies, and these movies alone, would make me go out and buy a HD-DVD player so I could watch this in HIGH-DEF!! I would definitely not throw away the blu-ray player at all, but I guarantee that HD-DVD players would be selling by the boat loads if this movie only came out for them. And personally another one of my favorites would be Jurassic park, the original of course. Again I am neutral and just like to watch HD, whatever format it might be, but I only have the PS3 for right now.

As it relates to LOTR, please link the printed statement from New Line that says it will only be released on HD-DVD.....until then it's just rumor.

On anothe note, you've been a busy little beaver with individual threads on wanted titles this morning. A gentle reminder to use the search engine first for information that currently exists in threads would go a long way to finding your answers quickly

As it relates to LOTR, please link the printed statement from New Line that says it will only be released on HD-DVD.....until then it's just rumor.

On anothe note, you've been a busy little beaver with individual threads on wanted titles this morning. A gentle reminder to use the search engine first for information that currently exists in threads would go a long way to finding your answers quickly

Ahh, yes I do apologize, I will utilize the search engine more for future refrences.

I found the post which I was looking at, but it was dated in 2004. Has it been announced if New Line will be supporting blu-ray then, great news.

Even if New Line begins releasing High-Def titles next year, the Lord of the Rings movies won't be coming to either format anytime soon.

Yep, they'll probably show up around the same time as Star Wars will.

And Spiderman too, probaably. And the great Disney animated classics like The Lion King and Beauty and the Breast. And the Indiana Jones trilogy. The treasures of the studios will not be released until there are WAAYYY more players out there.

Likely by the time LOTRs comes out there will only be one format.

New Line has not announced support for either format. Since they are under Warner, it is assumed that they will be releasing for both formats.

This press release (posted on New Line's own website) would seem to contradict that they haven't announced any support:
http://www.newline.com/press/2004/1129_dvdformat.shtml

That's more than an "assumption" since they are under Warner. It's a flat-out statement.

I can't find the equivalent BD announcement, but my understanding is also that they will be supporting both. They are listed on BD's site as a supporting company.

This press release (posted on New Line's own website) would seem to contradict that they haven't announced any support:
http://www.newline.com/press/2004/1129_dvdformat.shtml

That's more than an "assumption" since they are under Warner. It's a flat-out statement.

I can't find the equivalent BD announcement, but my understanding is also that they will be supporting both. They are listed on BD's site as a supporting company.
^^^^^^^^
Thats the exact page that I was speaking of. Its dated 2004 though.
And I guess going by the information with the posts above, since WB has agreed to release in both formats, I guess this obligates New Line to do the same since it is under WB.

A press release from 2004 holds little water when the format got released in 2006, IMHO.

Well, whether it "holds little water" for you personally or not, the fact is that they have announced support for both formats.

There's the HD press release linked above and a BD one here:
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/top/search/Article-14862.html


I'm not sure where the "IMHO" plays into it. They've announced support.

This is all I have seen. Still a long way off too I bet.


http://dvd.ign.com/articles/746/746952p1.html

IGN just interviewed Jackson's DVD producer and documentarian Michael Pellerin last week about the new King Kong extended edition release. Pellerin is Jackson's point man when it comes to DVD, and while he was careful to explain that he doesn't know when or how the high-def LOTR set might come about, he was able to give us a preview of what such a set will likely contain.

"On Lord of the Rings, we have always saved stuff for the inevitable HD box set," says Pellerin. "We've saved some really critical [bonus materials]. A long time ago, we knew that they were eventually going to release this thing as a box set on HD. This is going to happen, so that's that. You know the studio's going to do that anyway, because that's how they make money. So on Lord of the Rings we have this whole treasure chest, war chest, of material. Some of the coolest and funniest stuff we saved for the inevitable box set. Really, Lord of the Rings the final chapter is still waiting to be written."

Chief among those new bonus features will be a documentary directed by Jackson himself.

"One of the things that Peter has always planned, since the beginning of Rings — this is nothing new — he always planned to someday sit down and do a feature documentary on the making of The Lord of the Rings from his point of view," says Pellerin. "A director's journey, made by Peter Jackson, 'Hey, here's my story. Here's what I did. Here's what happened.' Really the kind of tell-all, sort of blood and guts story going through the entire thing, from how the project got initiated straight through production, but all from Peter's point of view, which I think would be fascinating. I've done tons of making-of work and Costa [Botes] did his fly on the wall documentaries, but to have something directly from Peter… I've heard some of his stories that have never seen the light of day, and some of them are just [amazing]. I know that he'll want to do that."

For naysayers who see such a release as yet another double-dip, Pellerin says that the makers of the original DVD sets couldn't have fit more material on those releases even if they had tried. There was, he says, quite simply not enough room on those sets, and it would have taken something like a six-disc package per movie to fit the bulk of the worthy extras onto just one release. So Pellerin and Jackson both share one mantra when it comes to multiple releases of the same movie: Don't repeat anything.

"When people here about another Lord of the Rings set, they go, 'Oh God, haven't they done it all?'" says the DVD producer. "And then when you start to do the math, you go, 'Did you ever see one deleted scene? Or one gag reel, or anything funny or interesting that's kind of off the beaten path like that? You haven't.' And the reason is we're saving it all. You've never seen the deleted scenes, which are legion. You've never seen the gag reels, which are huge."

As for when the set will arrive, Pellerin can't say. There's no official word on the project, though he says that there's been a bit of talk with New Line about the set, and the studio has had its first initial talks with Jackson about it. Of course, this was all before the LOTR prequel news broke today, and the animosity between the filmmaker and New Line had become so public. Regardless, it seems obvious that any future LOTR set will require Jackson's input.

"It's a matter of timing, and when can Peter [do it]," says Pellerin. "Peter has always been heavily involved with the DVDs. He's always involved in thinking them up, doing the interviews, reviewing cuts every step of the way, giving notes. So these aren't hands-off things. That being said, the HD set is going to be him literally in the editing room every day doing this thing. It's like a Peter Jackson project. So it's really a matter of when he's going to be available to sit down and dedicate the time to do that. I think there's 10 million feet of footage on Lord of the Rings. He wants to have access to all of it to do this, so it'll be pretty epic."

another FUD thread started full of lies in the blu-ray forum.

starting to think that just like certain shady wall street companies will employ paid "stock bashers" to spread lies about a company, we have paid "bashers" here attacking blu-ray with made up FUD.

Ahaha, what are you talking about, if LOTR comes out on BLU-RAY, well then excellent, that means that I will have no need to buy a HD-DVD player since this is by FAR at the VERY TOP of my favorite movie list. Whats up with the accusations here, sorta cracks me up.
One of the main reasons I also went with BLU-Ray believe it or not is the fact that Underworld EVo is out on it, I love that movie too. But the true reason I am watching blu-ray is the fact that I happened to run by a PS3 by chance and am now loving the HI-DEF experience offered by the PS3 BR playback. My wife and I both watched RV last night and were completely amazed by the picture quality, even though the movie was so god awful bad that I was having a hard time believing that a studio actually released the film, that was about the only humor through out the whole movie.

Right now I have the PS3 and love the quality of the movies being played back in 1080p, I even watched RV and it looked amazing, the movie almost made me throw up though.
Anyways from what I understand LOTR trilogy is only going to be released on HD-DVD because New Line Cinema only supports HD-DVD. I for one will say that these movies, and these movies alone, would make me go out and buy a HD-DVD player so I could watch this in HIGH-DEF!! I would definitely not throw away the blu-ray player at all, but I guarantee that HD-DVD players would be selling by the boat loads if this movie only came out for them. And personally another one of my favorites would be Jurassic park, the original of course. Again I am neutral and just like to watch HD, whatever format it might be, but I only have the PS3 for right now.

Here's a funny thing, a few weeks ago, I created a thread saying "Star Wars on Blu-ray Immimnent." I headlined it with a question mark but I forgot to add it after "imminent". HD DVD robots flipped that the thread was misleading and sent numerous coplaints to the mods to shut the thread down. A question mark was added by the mods but not before a fight already took place.

Fast forward to a few days ago, someone posted DVD and OTA HDTV broadcast of LOTR and labeled the HDTV feed as "HD DVD". A blatant misrepresentation! NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN THE HD DVD FORUM CORRECTED THIS. Shows you the kind of hypocrisy that goes on here.

Fact is, New Line is part of Warner, and Warner has stated that any titles coming out in 2007 will be dual format, on the same day.

If you want 90% of the movies available in High Def, you go blu-ray. If you want a small fraction of them, you go HD-DVD. Its pretty simple.

If you want 90% of the movies available in High Def, you go blu-ray. If you want a small fraction of them, you go HD-DVD. Its pretty simple.

So you are saying that BD tittles out number HD DVD tittles 10:1? OR are you staying in line with the BD "just wait and see theme" which has been kicked in the teeth to date.

So you are saying that BD tittles out number HD DVD tittles 10:1? OR are you staying in line with the BD "just wait and see theme" which has been kicked in the teeth to date.


With only 1 studio exclusive to HD-DVD and 4 exclusive to Blu-Ray, with 2 making films in both, with all future releases SAME DAY on both formats, what about those #s dont you agree with?

If you want 90% of the movies available in High Def, you go blu-ray. If you want a small fraction of them, you go HD-DVD. Its pretty simple.

I don't understand your post, there are more HD DVD movies out to date than Blu-ray titles. Are you projecting into the future?

I don't understand your post, there are more HD DVD movies out to date than Blu-ray titles. Are you projecting into the future?

i recall seeing slides that included pie charts for studio percentage of movies distributed...between warner, paramount and universal alone i believe that comprised over 46% of all movies distributed.

I love the LOTR Movies but I own both the theatrical and extended versions on DVD and as much as I love them,.. I think I've bought them enough times. The DVD's do a good job of presenting the stories.

Of course If I passed it by on the shelf in HD there's really no telling just what I would do.

-Brian

p.s. Someone mention-ed the likelyness of a long wait for Disney movies such as the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast but Disney seems to be suggesting these will be on Blu Ray early next year (at least with B+theB.)

Even if New Line begins releasing High-Def titles next year, the Lord of the Rings movies won't be coming to either format anytime soon.

why josh? what is their reasoning on this...you seem to know something behind the scenes...

This question is actually addressed on the official site:
http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_400_hv_limiteddvd.html

WHEN IS THE LORD OF THE RINGS GOING TO BE RELEASED IN HIGH DEFINITION (EITHER HD-DVD OR BLU-RAY)?

The high definition formats that have recently launched offer exceptional picture and sound quality in addition to new interactive bonus feature capabilities. New Line Home Entertainment is committed to the high definition format and is very excited about the idea of releasing the Trilogy in the format. However, New Line is also committed to maximizing the capabilities of the technology to deliver a cutting edge high definition experience. This will take more time as well as the participation of the filmmakers to achieve. It is currently not scheduled for release until, at the earliest, 2008.

With only 1 studio exclusive to HD-DVD and 4 exclusive to Blu-Ray, with 2 making films in both, with all future releases SAME DAY on both formats, what about those #s dont you agree with?

So tell me where I can buy Clerks II and Lucky#Slevin on Blu-ray?

You're missing an HD-DVD exclusive studio.

This question is actually addressed on the official site:
http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_400_hv_limiteddvd.html

WHEN IS THE LORD OF THE RINGS GOING TO BE RELEASED IN HIGH DEFINITION (EITHER HD-DVD OR BLU-RAY)?

The high definition formats that have recently launched offer exceptional picture and sound quality in addition to new interactive bonus feature capabilities. New Line Home Entertainment is committed to the high definition format and is very excited about the idea of releasing the Trilogy in the format. However, New Line is also committed to maximizing the capabilities of the technology to deliver a cutting edge high definition experience. This will take more time as well as the participation of the filmmakers to achieve. It is currently not scheduled for release until, at the earliest, 2008.

ah, it seems that they are planning a highly "interactive" and unique release...i wouldn't mind if they release the titles now and then double-dipped later :D

This question is actually addressed on the official site:
http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_400_hv_limiteddvd.html

WHEN IS THE LORD OF THE RINGS GOING TO BE RELEASED IN HIGH DEFINITION (EITHER HD-DVD OR BLU-RAY)?

The high definition formats that have recently launched offer exceptional picture and sound quality in addition to new interactive bonus feature capabilities. New Line Home Entertainment is committed to the high definition format and is very excited about the idea of releasing the Trilogy in the format. However, New Line is also committed to maximizing the capabilities of the technology to deliver a cutting edge high definition experience. This will take more time as well as the participation of the filmmakers to achieve. It is currently not scheduled for release until, at the earliest, 2008.

In layman's terms, "We won't release LOTR unless there are MILLIONS of people who are going to buy it". Neither Blu-ray nor HD DVD is remotely close to million installbase yet. And you know what, I'd much rather wait. Looking at early DVD releases vs what came later, it's pretty obvious that what look reference now will be be "average" by late next year. I'd much rather want LOTR looking as best possible.

I hope, by 2008, HD-DVD is gone so we don't have to worry about everything fitting into a 30GB disc. I'm pretty sick of Warner making everything for the least common denomonator. And before you knock the Blu-Ray releases of Warner titles for not having the HD audio track, keep in mind that it's not Blu-Ray's fault. It's Warner's.

I hope, by 2008, BD is gone so we don't have to worry about watching everything with some crappy PQ and no True HD audio. I'm pretty sick of Sony, Fox, Disney, Lion's Gate, etc making everything their every HD release on the least common denomonator PQ, feature, and sound wise. And before you knock the HD-DVD for not getting any of the Fox or Disney releases, keep in mind its not HD-DVD's fault they want to support a format that allows them more leverage in screwing over us the consumer with its copy protection rountines.

I hope, by 2008, HD-DVD is gone so we don't have to worry about everything fitting into a 30GB disc. I'm pretty sick of Warner making everything for the least common denomonator. And before you knock the Blu-Ray releases of Warner titles for not having the HD audio track, keep in mind that it's not Blu-Ray's fault. It's Warner's.

Please stop derailing threads with this kind of responses. :rolleyes:

I hope, by 2008, BD is gone so we don't have to worry about watching everything with some crappy PQ and no True HD audio. I'm pretty sick of Sony, Fox, Disney, Lion's Gate, etc making everything their every HD release on the least common denomonator PQ, feature, and sound wise. And before you knock the HD-DVD for not getting any of the Fox or Disney releases, keep in mind its not HD-DVD's fault they want to support a format that allows them more leverage in screwing over us the consumer with its copy protection rountines.

If you don't mind me asking: How many HD DVDs have lossless audio, and how many Blu-rays have lossless audio? :cool:

I was just mocking the poster above me, don't take it too seriously. I was just showing how quickly what he said could be turned around.

WHEN IS THE LORD OF THE RINGS GOING TO BE RELEASED IN HIGH DEFINITION (EITHER HD-DVD OR BLU-RAY)?

The high definition formats that have recently launched offer exceptional picture and sound quality in addition to new interactive bonus feature capabilities. New Line Home Entertainment is committed to the high definition format and is very excited about the idea of releasing the Trilogy in the format. However, New Line is also committed to maximizing the capabilities of the technology to deliver a cutting edge high definition experience. This will take more time as well as the participation of the filmmakers to achieve. It is currently not scheduled for release until, at the earliest, 2008.

For what it is worth, keep in mind that this information was put out there just before New Line released the new editions of the DVDs this year. This information was actually attached to the listing of these new DVDs at amazon.com.

I think it is likely that New Line didn't want people thinking The Lord of the Rings was coming soon on a high definition format (later this year or early next year) and passing on the new DVD because of that.

So it may not come out until 2008 or later, but don't assume that this "PR piece" means that their plans are etched in stone. I'd bet it is still entirely possible that they could decide to get it out for the Holidays next year (though I wouldn't expect it any sooner than that).

I don't understand your post, there are more HD DVD movies out to date than Blu-ray titles. Are you projecting into the future?
Just ignore her posts, as she ALWAYS has her facts askew. Check her post history for some giggles!! :D

I'm pretty sick of Warner making everything for the least common denomonator.

Opinion, based on NO factual info. Nice try though...

If you don't mind me asking: How many HD DVDs have lossless audio, and how many Blu-rays have lossless audio? :cool:

If you don't mind ME asking, IF hi def becomes mainstream(a big if), do you really think the VERY HIGH percentage of consumers even care about lossless audio?? The very folks buying into hi def eventually are the ones right now using MP3 ipod tunes. Audio on hi def discs only matters to geeks who inhabit this place(me included). You're cracked if you believe otherwise!! IMO

If you don't mind ME asking, IF hi def becomes mainstream(a big if), do you really think the VERY HIGH percentage of consumers even care about lossless audio?? The very folks buying into hi def eventually are the ones right now using MP3 ipod tunes. Audio on hi def discs only matters to geeks who inhabit this place(me included). You're cracked if you believe otherwise!! IMO

I don't care about others. I care about myself and my equipment. How many people use 5.1 on DVDs? 10% maybe at best? Should they stop making surround sound part of the DVD package because most people will be listening in stereo?

I don't care about others. I care about myself and my equipment. How many people use 5.1 on DVDs? 10% maybe at best? Should they stop making surround sound part of the DVD package because most people will be listening in stereo?

Same here. However, my point is that way too many people overemphasize lossless this and True HD that. Regardless of which format has more lossless tracks, the audio on both is superb and will be superb for 99% of hi def adopters. The other 1% are here battling it out! :)

On the audio front, the one thing I'm looking forward to is getting back to high quality 2.0 tracks on older films. Many of the PCM tracks on Laserdisc blow away the DD 2.0 192 tracks. Whether it be PCM, True-HD or whatever, it'll be nice to have that quality back. In terms of 2.0 audio tracks, standard DVD was a big step backwards from Laserdisc.

Opinion, based on NO factual info. Nice try though...
What are you talking about? WB is using the SAME VC-1 encoding for their movies released on HD-DVD as they are for their Blu-Ray movies. So the max amount of data they could possibly be putting on a 50GB disc is 30GB (for video). The audio is a different story. I would suspect that the compressed audio tracks on the Blu-Ray version is smaller than the lossless encoding on the HD-DVD discs.

It's no secret that WB isn't using all 50 GB's on their dual layer Blu-Ray releases. It's not an opinion. It's fact. Nice try though to you... :rolleyes:

With only 1 studio exclusive to HD-DVD and 4 exclusive to Blu-Ray, with 2 making films in both, with all future releases SAME DAY on both formats, what about those #s dont you agree with?
How about the fact that those #s are not a reality any time soon.
You said: f you want 90% of the movies available in High Def, you go blu-ray. If you want a small fraction of them, you go HD-DVD.

I wonder: how long will it take until 90% of all movies are available in HD? And will Blu-ray still be around? I don't know, but it'll take a while, like 10 years or so.

And until this has happened all you can do is compare how many movies are out at the moment, maybe how many are announced. But either way your strange "90% vs. a fraction" example doesn't hold up the least bit.

When will we get LOTR on Blu Ray ????

Any word of when we may see the extended LOTRs on Blu Ray ???

For me these may be the 'killer-apps'.

-- Cain

Scroll down a few posts to read a thread on the exact same subject.

Considering New Line hasn't even released anything in HD yet and the fact that these are huge movies, I wouldn't expect it anytime soon. New Line will probably want to wait for both HD formats to be in homes in a much greater number than they are in now. So I would think that the absolute earliest would be 2008 and that may be a stretch.

Tomorrow.

Do we need another one of these threads?!

I'm glad they're waiting. The longer they wait, the higher the chance they'll be using H.264... Let them use less good material (I wouldn't buy even 5 discs currently out, over both camps, even if they were encoded well)

Do we need another one of these threads?! topics merged.

What are you talking about? WB is using the SAME VC-1 encoding for their movies released on HD-DVD as they are for their Blu-Ray movies. So the max amount of data they could possibly be putting on a 50GB disc is 30GB (for video). The audio is a different story. I would suspect that the compressed audio tracks on the Blu-Ray version is smaller than the lossless encoding on the HD-DVD discs.

It's no secret that WB isn't using all 50 GB's on their dual layer Blu-Ray releases. It's not an opinion. It's fact. Nice try though to you... :rolleyes:

My point about OPINION is that do you know for FACT that Warners did not do tests with 50gb discs with different encodes like MPEG2? Perhaps, if they did test encodes other than their VC1 found on HD DVD, they then determined that PQ was a wash and opted to use the VC1 encode on the BR disc as well. Also, the other 'least common denominator' factor is Warners saving $$$$ by not having to re-encode their titles for BR with the higher bit rate because they found that the PQ was identical. Just my opinion. Sorry I didn't make it clear. I knew Warners titles were VC1 on both formats, but I've never heard a specific reason for it. Just trying to throw out some possibilities......Peace

topics merged.

Thx....

So, no new word eh ??

all the reason to have both players and enjoy format neutrality. dont have to worry about any war and wether or not your format will get the movies you want. you just get them all.

My point about OPINION is that do you know for FACT that Warners did not do tests with 50gb discs with different encodes like MPEG2? Perhaps, if they did test encodes other than their VC1 found on HD DVD, they then determined that PQ was a wash and opted to use the VC1 encode on the BR disc as well. Also, the other 'least common denominator' factor is Warners saving $$$$ by not having to re-encode their titles for BR with the higher bit rate because they found that the PQ was identical. Just my opinion. Sorry I didn't make it clear. I knew Warners titles were VC1 on both formats, but I've never heard a specific reason for it. Just trying to throw out some possibilities......Peace

I am guessing that the reason for the same transfer/encode on both formats is cost and speed to market. I personally am happy they are doing this because it makes comparing the two formats player's easy (it appears the better BD players are pretty much identical to the Toshiba HD-DVD players).

It also will make it easier for Warner to keep their DB and HD-DVD release schedules in sync.

I would suspect that the compressed audio tracks on the Blu-Ray version is smaller than the lossless encoding on the HD-DVD discs.



FUD, if there ever has been. :rolleyes:

Take this for what its worth: http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Trilogy-HD-DVD/dp/B000E1MTX6/sr=1-1/qid=1166268010/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9590304-7437648?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Amazon has a HD-DVD listing for LOTR, but they don't have a Blu-Ray listing. Now I know that this is not the most reliable of sources since they had Seinfeld on DVD listed a good 4 years before they were released. Like I said, take it for what its worth.

Saw Return of the King last nite on TNT-HD via Comcast Cable.
Terrific audio and video.
BTW, it is on tonite as well. ;)

Although I have the first 2 sets, I would in a heartbeep buy a BD set.

Seeing it again reinforces my opinion that the trilogy is one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema. :cool:

2008 sounds good to me. Things will have a chance to improve and the chance of using H.264 is much higher in 2008.

By the way, here's a comparison of the LotR FotR DVD vs a HD downsample. Even downsampled, the "HD" version kicks ass.
http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html (not my site, I do not claim credit for this comparison)

Saw Return of the King last nite on TNT-HD via Comcast Cable.
Terrific audio and video.
BTW, it is on tonite as well. ;)

Although I have the first 2 sets, I would in a heartbeep buy a BD set.

Seeing it again reinforces my opinion that the trilogy is one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema. :cool:


I saw some of it too, but I think the two towers looked much better last week then return of the king looks.

I saw some of it too, but I think the two towers looked much better last week then return of the king looks.

Didn't see 2 towers last week. :(

However, RotK didn't seem to have less color than the first 2 (if my memory is correct).
Regardless, the detail was good. :)

Didn't see 2 towers last week. :(

However, RotK didn't seem to have less color than the first 2 (if my memory is correct).
Regardless, the detail was good. :)


Well I watched the whole thing again last night, and I must retract my previous statement, it did look pretty good on ROTK. The only thing is that it had alot of scenes which did not look like they transferred over good at all. It would be super sharp and vibrant, then it would cut to a scene that looked like SD-DVD stuff, that was a bit odd. This was the reason I made the statment above, because I only watched a bit of it and it was the mediocre tranfer parts, the rest looked amazing. I don't remember the two towers having any soft parts though.

why josh? what is their reasoning on this...you seem to know something behind the scenes...

This is because they are saving the big releases for when the said format has a larger install base. Why release it now when you could release it next year to 2 to 3 times the amount of people (made that # up)

On the audio front, the one thing I'm looking forward to is getting back to high quality 2.0 tracks on older films. Many of the PCM tracks on Laserdisc blow away the DD 2.0 192 tracks. Whether it be PCM, True-HD or whatever, it'll be nice to have that quality back. In terms of 2.0 audio tracks, standard DVD was a big step backwards from Laserdisc.
Yeah, 192 Kbps for a 2.0 soundtrack was pretty darn light for AC-3, especially a decade ago. I normally do at least 224 Kbps for 2.0 today, with a modern encoder. And would push up to 256 for content like a jazz concert.

I know its not Blu-Ray quality

but these movies, or at least Return of the King ( I saw for myself ) have aired on TNT-HD on DirecTV

It was no-less than uh-mazing

except for that it was about 5 hours after you add in comercials, that part wasnt so great.

This probably doesn't bode too well for a quick release no matter what format it is released on (I believe that these epic blockbusters are going to be saved until there's a sufficient audience). I'm also thinking there's a delay to determine a decisive winner in this battle.

Jackon Blacklisted by New Line (http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/news/article2145205.ece)

This probably doesn't bode too well for a quick release no matter what the format ends up being (I believe that these epic blockbusters are going to be saved until there's a sufficient audience).

Jackon Blacklisted by New Line (http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/news/article2145205.ece)


Jackson being blacklisted doesn't matter as far as a LOTR release. New-Line holds all the rights. Only thing it means is it's unlikely they will do any new commentary or edits, but they have plenty of source material to work with anyways.

Besides this thread is pretty out-dated since the whole which format will LOTR's get released on has been answered already. THD so both when it does get a date