Adam was under the weather this week, so we were lucky enough to have Matt Paprocki of www.doblu.com pinch-hit as co-host for the show. Thanks again for helping out on short notice, Matt.
We’ve said before on the show any good home theater needs to pay as much attention to audio as it does to video. Pioneer has a pair of new receivers that will let you get 3D, HD audio codecs, and Dolby IIx for less than $300. Denon, meanwhile, released a slew of new receivers that are all Windows 7 certified, meaning the Play To feature will work on it.
While the Xbox 360 has added 1080p streaming, Sony announced this week that they have added HD movies from all six major studios to its PlayStation Network. Microsoft, meanwhile, stated again, very emphatically this time, that it has no plans to add Blu-ray to the Xbox 360.
On the 3D front, Panasonic’s new TVs and packages are making their way around the US. HD Guru does a great review of the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 HDTV and DMP-BDT300 3D capable Blu-ray player. Engadget gets some pricing on additional 3D active shutter glasses – $150 each pair. Yikes.
The rental side of the business is in the midst of major changes. Redbox already said it plans to add Blu-ray to its kiosks, and we have a voicemail from a listener who says kiosks near him already stock Blu-rays occasionally. Coinstar’s CEO said this week that Blu-ray additions won’t mean removing DVDs, since many of the kiosks aren’t full anyhow. Meanwhile, Blockbuster announced it was bringing back late fees in-store. You can call us with questions as well at 877-856-4933. Be sure to say you’re calling for “Seen in HD” when you leave your message.
From the “studios are kind evil” file, the recent release of The Neverending Story on Blu-ray was done so without any consult of the film’s director. That helps explaining the lack of any extras on the disc.
Blu-ray sales accounted for 14% of all packaged disc sales for the week ending March 7. 2012 and Where the Wild Things are helped push sales to $30.6 million, a 188% increase over a year ago.
Since Matt was on-board this week, we asked him to do a guest Blu-ray review. Instead, he did several, looking at a host of box sets released recently.
- The Mel Brooks collection – Full DoBlu review | Amazon.com
- Gone With the Wind 70th Anniversary Limited Edition – Amazon.com
- Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection – Amazon.com
- Terminator T2 Collector’s Set Endoskull – Amazon.com
The Pacific premiered on HBO over the weekend, and Phil has a mini-review of the first episode. In short, there’s a lot to look forward to from the rest of the series and the Blu-ray release on June 15. Great audio, picture and the story is setting up nicely. You can watch the first episode on HBO.com for free for a limited time.
Some premieres to look forward to this week thanks to Geek Tonic. South Park’s 14th season kicks off Wednesday at 10 p.m. and Tiger Woods figures heavily it looks like. Flahs Forward also returns this week at 8 p.m. Thursday on ABC.
Bigger news, however, is the premiere of the BBC’s Life on Discover HD Sunday night at 8 p.m. You could bill this as a follow-up to Planet Earth if you’d like. Early reports out of the UK, where it already aired, were very good. Check out this HD YouTube sneak peek. The Blu-rays are coming out on June 1. Hopefully we’ll be able to buy the UK version with Sir David Attenborough and not be stuck with Oprah, who is doing the US narration on Discovery.
The HD Sportsman will be stuffed full of college hoops this week as the NCAA Tournament starts. We’ve got the full slate of games for Thursday and Friday, and we’ll update the Saturday/Sunday games when the pairings are set, on the full HD Sportsman.
With The Pacific, Life, NCAA basketball and shows coming back from winter hiatus, it’s a great time to have HD.
Blu-ray deals this week:
- $70 Target Blu-ray
- $6.99 Blu-rays at inetvideo.com. (Note: reviews on this site’s reliability are mixed, buyer beware)
- Amazon.com – $12.99 sale, $9.99 sale (I mentioned a $10.99 sale that I can’t find the link to anymore)
Some good stuff in the March 23 release schedule, including Twilight New Moon (out on Saturday 3/20), The Blind Side, Brothers and Toy Story/Toy Story 2.
Click here to download Episode 26!
Matt’s videodisc (not Laserdisc) player mentioned on the show.
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i'm very interested in the Pioneer VSX-520! Thanks for pointing that out!
i'm very interested in the Pioneer VSX-520! Thanks for pointing that out!