Criterion and UHD

[bluesforyou]

I was afraid Criterion was going to throw Raging Bull on Blu-ray but it will almost certainly be a UHD now.

[Ribs]

I was afraid Criterion was going to throw Raging Bull on Blu-ray but it will almost certainly be a UHD now.

Forget Raging Bull, look forward to Isle of Dogs!

[swo17]

Someone please recommend a good 4k projector thank you.

None of them. You want an OLED apparently

[dwk]

What a great slate.

Is The Piano still with Lionsgate? If, so, maybe The Limey will also get a UHD.

[Ribs]

What a great slate.

Is The Piano still with Lionsgate? If, so, maybe The Limey will also get a UHD.

It is a Miramax-owned title so should be coming from Paramount.

[dwk]

What a great slate.

Is The Piano still with Lionsgate? If, so, maybe The Limey will also get a UHD.

It is a Miramax-owned title so should be coming from Paramount.

I don't know, its home video has always been Lionsgate (well Artisan then Lionsgate.) But, looking at the production companies on IMDB, and I think Miramax's rights might have expired and the film is back with the original producers.

[Luke M]

I'm guessing Mulholland Drive on account of the Studio Canal 4K being released.

This would not be consistent with what we’ve been told seeing as that title is no longer licensed, it’s owned by Janus.

Haters gonna hate.

[Ribs]

What a great slate.

Is The Piano still with Lionsgate? If, so, maybe The Limey will also get a UHD.

It is a Miramax-owned title so should be coming from Paramount.

I don't know, its home video has always been Lionsgate (well Artisan then Lionsgate.) But, looking at the production companies on IMDB, and I think Miramax's rights might have expired and the film is back with the original producers.

If you go to rent the film online it is through Miramax so they should still have ownership.

[Ribs]

I'm guessing Mulholland Drive on account of the Studio Canal 4K being released.

This would not be consistent with what we’ve been told seeing as that title is no longer licensed, it’s owned by Janus.

Haters gonna hate.

I was right, though - it isn’t licensed, but the wrinkle I didn’t anticipate was the studio in fact being an international rightsholder rather than the domestic one.

[EddieLarkin]

Someone please recommend a good 4k projector thank you.

None of them. You want an OLED apparently

It's true that projectors are definitely the worst performers when it comes to HDR (offering around 300 nits of light output), but ultimately it comes down to personal preference. One may prefer to sacrifice some HDR performance for a vastly bigger screen (which will of course offer the most noticeable resolution benefits). Even OLED is a compromise in HDR respects, as they offer half (600-900 nits depending on model) of what some top end LCDs can do (but hugely make up for it with their true black ability).

If I was buying a 4K projector, I would go for a JVC DLA-NX7, combined with a madVR renderer to ensure best performance of HDR. That's about the best "reasonable" money can buy...

[jedgeco]

JVC DLA-NX7, combined with a madVR renderer to ensure best performance of HDR. That's about the best "reasonable" money can buy...

JVC NX5 is reportedly almost as good as the NX7 and ~$3K less. Epson 5050 looks good for something in the sub-$3,000 price range, but uses pixel-shifting instead of native 4K.

[jedgeco]

Each title will be available in a 4K UHD+Blu-ray combo pack including a 4K UHD disc of the feature film as well as the film and its special features on Blu-ray.

Dual format lives!

[movielocke]

very nice balanced slate. Two top sellers for fans (Beatles and Lynch), two canonical classics (in B&W and Color) and two from filmmakers from groups that typically under-represented in format advances.

[FrauBlucher]

Any guesses at what will the price point be?

[Boosmahn]

I hope these aren't too expensive.

[criterionsnob]

In addition to price point, I'm curious if they'll continue to do standalone DVDs for the new to UHD titles. They've been dipping their toe into retiring DVD with their Blu-ray only big box releases.

[jedgeco]

I hope these aren't too expensive.

I would bet on a US $49.99 MSRP, although the announcement suggests there won't be a Blu-only option, so maybe they keep the price the same so as not to dissuade sales to customers without UHD capabilities.

[therewillbeblus]

I hope these aren't too expensive.

I would bet on a US $49.99 MSRP, although the announcement suggests there won't be a Blu-only option, so maybe they keep the price the same so as not to dissuade sales to customers without UHD capabilities.

I'd be thrilled if you're right, but with the little I know about UHD costs for production, I doubt this very much. Maybe they'll return to dual format across the board and release two options - UHD/Blu and a Blu/DVD at $50 and $40 respectively

[tenia]

I doubt it'll be the end of DVD-only releases but I can be wrong.

[domino harvey]

DVD sales still outnumber their Blu-ray sales (due in large part to libraries), I would be stunned if they stopped

[willoneill]

Just go triple-format, as Jesus would want.

[therewillbeblus]

There's no way they'll discontinue DVDs but the question is whether they'll continue to issue DVD-only editions of their releases. If that's the case, it would be pretty frustrating and questionably-conducive to their consumers' desires to package DVDs separately but pair blu and UHD together without separate options for blu as well. Plenty of people have upgraded to blu-ray technology without taking the extra step to UHD, and assuming that those folks who made one jump will eventually succumb to the new technology again isn't strong logic.

[mfunk9786]

[ShellOilJunior]

DVD sales still outnumber their Blu-ray sales (due in large part to libraries), I would be stunned if they stopped

You might have a different source than I for the Blu/DVD numbers. As far back as August 2013 the split was Blu 60/ DVD 40.

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts ... ual-format

[tenia]

I think it's also a question of how Criterion are looking at things on their end. It might be that they believe DVD consumers really are aside while BD customers are OK being lumped with UHDs as "premium formats purchasers".

I do wonder however how future proofing works for indies as it doesn't seem to work on the overall market (just like BD/DVD DF releases didn't push BD much). I'm also extremely curious of sales figures for separate releases like Arrow are doing.

As for Criterion sales figures, 2013 is quite a long time ago for what we're looking at. However, I seem to recall Peter Becker talking about it at Lyon in 2019, and my memory of it is that the market split for them heavily depends on whether you factor institutions in, something like 80/20 without them but 50/50 (DVD/BD) with them.