OTHER TECH

Sony Grade: A- As far as I'm concerned, the most consistent and dependable studio of 2008 has been Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Strong video transfers, TrueHD audio tracks, and a slew of new releases and catalog classics have allowed Sony to lead the pack. After resolving their 2006 growing pains and exponentially improving their production standards in 2007, Sony has released hundreds of titles to great acclaim. They also have the most diverse releases on the market. Looking for award-winning foreign films? Anime features? Horror? Cult comedies? Re-mastered '50s sci-fi? Cirque du Soleil? Blockbusters? Documentaries? Hard-to-find niche titles? Live concert performances? Sony is single-handedly helping to build any and every fan's Blu-ray collection.

I also appreciate that Sony has refused to soil their films with DNR, artificial sharpening, edge enhancement, and everything else we videophiles harp about. It's nice to know there are studios that seem to have a genuine affection for their films. It's also nice to see that every production gets the same quality treatment, no matter how obscure or unknown a release actually is. Take The Fall, Persepolis, or Standard Operating Procedure - despite the fact that Sony was dealing with an artsy dreamscape, a black-and-white animated feature, and a chatty documentary respectively, all three films look fantastic, sound amazing, and really deliver a compelling high-def experience.

If anything, I really wish Sony would lead the way when it comes to exclusive features. While they've incorporated BD-Live functionality on many of their new releases and have a few exclusive PiP features under their belt, they haven't pushed the industry as much as you might expect (considering their vested interest in the success of the BD format). Ah well, Sony is out of the woods and has established themselves as an industry leader, a reliable production house, and the source of unexpected releases. Honestly, I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year.

Universal Grade: B+ Who would have thought that one of the most impressive Blu-ray workhorses and innovators of 2008 would be Universal Studios - the same company that spent the last three years sinking their time, money, and passion into a rival format. After taking a brief hiatus to reengineer their entire business strategy, Universal rematerialized in July, smeared their faces with Blu paint, and set about trouncing their competition. With sharp, faithful video transfers, a DTS-HD Master Audio surround track for every release, and a commitment to Blu-ray interactivity, functionality, and exclusive content availability, the studio has delivered a nice mix of new day-and-date releases alongside titles that previously appeared on HD DVD.

More to the point, Universal's catalog releases look and sound fantastic (as is the case with The Thing, Casino, and The Mummy films), some of their more recent films are breathtaking (try to keep your mouth closed during Eastern Promises and Doomsday), and even their comedies are presented with style (like Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall). To top it all off, the studio remains determined to utilize Profile 1.1 and 2.0 players to their full potential. Universal's patented "U-Control" interactive PiP tracks are on nearly every release, the studio regularly offers exclusive featurettes, and the discs are generally packed with content.

Nitpicks? Sure. First and foremost, Universal still has a horde of HD DVD releases they'll be porting to Blu-ray, many of which (particularly catalog titles that appeared in the summer of 2007) were severely limited by problematic video. While Universal has generally remixed the old HD audio tracks for their new BD editions, they haven't remastered the old HD transfers. The lackluster BD release of The 40-Year-Old-Virgin is proof positive that this will be a problem in the coming months. Second, featurettes and documentary material are occasionally limited to a title's "U-Control" track. While I appreciate the interactivity, I'd also like to always be able to access individual features from the main menu.

Minor issues aside, Universal is off to a very promising start. With a full slate of exciting, potentially drool-inducing releases on the horizon including Hellboy 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Wanted, I can't help but be incredibly optimistic.

Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema Grade: B- Let me get this out of the way: Warner Bros. and its gaggle of production studios currently have a massive weight hanging around their collective Blu-ray necks: standard Dolby Digital audio. While every other major studio has seen the light and converted to TrueHD, uncompressed PCM, or DTS HD lossless Master Audio, Warner continues to slap 640-kbps audio tracks onto the majority of its releases. Most recently, Speed Racer (a bombastic, style-over-substance extravaganza) was denied a high-end audio mix, while Run Fatboy Run (a conversational comedy) nabbed a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track. Perhaps the studio is eyeballing future opportunities to double-dip and re-release titles with lossless audio (as they did with Superman Returns) or perhaps they just don't see the benefit since most BD owners don't have the equipment to take advantage of high-end audio. Either way, Warner's uninspiring support needs to be resolved.

Other problems with the studio are less detrimental. While Warner has been responsible for releasing some of the finest transfers on the market (The Ultimate Matrix Collection, the aforementioned Speed Racer, 10,000 B.C., and I Am Legend look simply wonderful), they've also released a few too many technical duds. Likewise, aside from bigger 2007 releases like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Warner's hasn't given many of their catalog titles the deluxe treatment they deserve. Don't misunderstand, I'm ecstatic to see a vast assortment of classics being released in high definition, but I wish they were all given the same amount of attention that Universal and Sony bestow on the majority of their older films.

Warner is also one of the more unsupportive studios when it comes to exclusive content. They've announced they have plans for BD-Live functionality, but what about additional special features, PiP interactivity, or other bells and whistles? Sometimes it seems like Warner is all too willing to toss a few pre-existing supplements on a BD disc and call it a day. Thankfully, several developments - their new DigiBook casing for catalog classics, their willingness to release multi-disc editions, and their support of niche titles and television series - is a good sign of their evolution as a Blu-ray studio.

If I sound overly critical of Warner, it's only because they've released so many titles to the market on which to consider and reflect. Despite my concerns, Warner is clearly moving in the right direction. Recent strides in audio upgrades, video quality and catalog remasters, and increased supplemental breadth shows the studio has heard the cries of their fans and are making genuine efforts to address those concerns. The problem is that Warner is such a huge beast of a company, it takes them a long time to implement changes across the board. I'm confident the studio will continue to fix these issues and embrace high definition with more tenacity than we can imagine. Mark my words: Warner will be a far more serious threat in 2009.

Weinstein Company Grade: D- With more upcoming releases than current releases (a promising, albeit disappointing reality), the Weinstein Company finally decided to join their industry brethren. With an opening volley that included The Mist, Lonesome Dove, and 1408, the studio has simply arrived too late to make a meaningful impact on the format this year. The Mist offered above average video and audio, but its strengths lie in its supplemental package more than anything else. 1408 was a decent effort, but left a lot to be desired. And Lonesome Dove had more than a few audio/video issues that prevented it from becoming any sort of memorable catalog achievement.

Hopefully, films Lucky Number Slevin, Awake, and Grindhouse will give us a better glimpse of exactly what Weinstein has to offer Blu-ray fans.

Kenneth Brown is a staff writer and reviewer at High Def Digest.