OTHER TECH

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women," -The Blu-ray format, when asked what's best in life

After two grueling years of Blu blood and HD DVD-struction, the great and fabled Format War is behind us. Countless legions perished and many more were abandoned on the battlefields. We that remain have cast our gaze into the abyss and shivered at what we saw.

And now, the upside. In the wake of this epic conflict, the studios have finally come together under a common banner and turned their focus to a nobler pursuit: taking every last cent of our economically-strained cash.

While some people were worried that a sudden lack of competition would be disastrous for Blu-ray, studios are releasing more titles than ever before. Best of all, as consumers become more educated with each passing visit to Best Buy, technical quality is becoming more of a legitimate selling point for your average consumer.

So . . . which studios should warrant their affections? Which production houses are failing to capitalize on this expanding market? Who's delivering the goods? Who needs to try harder? I can tell you, since I review Blu-ray releases for High Def Digest. Check out my report card for each major studio.

Disney / Buena Vista Grade: B With gorgeous, resonant, and feature-packed heavy-hitters like the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Ratatouille, Cars, and Lost: The Complete Third Season, Disney exploded onto the Blu-ray scene and quickly earned the admiration and adulation of early adopters. In 2008, Disney has proven they still have the ability to impress. Diverse titles like Kill Bill, The Nightmare Before Christmas, No Country For Old Men, Enchanted, and Gone Baby Gone have arrived with crystal-clear video presentations, engaging PCM and Dolby TrueHD audio tracks, and an onslaught of engaging supplemental material, including a few notable Profile 1.1 exclusives.

But 2008 has also proven Disney isn't beyond reproach. While in the minority, a few anticipated releases were wrecked by dehabilitating technical issues, production shortcuts, and the use of recycled masters. Gangs of New York (a personal favorite and just one particular example) suffers from one of the most disappointing high-def transfers I've ever had the displeasure of viewing - edge enhancement, artifacting, texture-blurring Digital Noise Reduction (DNR), and, I kid you not, bizarre vertical stripes that appear atop the image, rendering the Oscar winner unwatchable. The image was so bad, I felt like skipping past Disney and e-mailing my local congressman.

Still, it's tough to really assess the studio's full 2008 performance when so many exciting fall and winter releases are looming on the horizon. Sleeping Beauty looks to be an absolute godsend when it comes to HD exclusive content - it includes PiP commentary, immersive audio interactivity, original recording session experiences, and a reservoir of innovative BD-Live features. Then there's Wall-E, Prince Caspian, and Lost: The Complete Fourth Season, all of which are set to demonstrate Disney's continued commitment to high definition and the online functionality and interactive possibilities of Blu-ray. If November and December is everything they've promised, the studio will easily close out the year with an 'A.'