Providing five times more capacity than DVDs, with unprecedented storage capacity of 25GB (single-layer) and 50GB (dual-layer), the Blu-ray format promises to deliver the best viewing experience.
Sony says the selection of Blu-ray titles from Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment (SPHE) and MGM Home Entertainment will be released in conjunction with hardware manufacturers’ delivery of the first Blu-ray Disc products at retail.
The first slate of Blu-ray Disc titles includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Desperado, Resident Evil Apocalypse, and Sense and Sensibility. Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai will also be available on 50GB dual-layer discs in summer 2006.
In addition to 1920x1080p high-definition (HD) master quality, Sony says consumers will benefit from Blu-ray Disc’s immense improvements over current DVD technology including enhanced menu navigation, increased added-value and new interactive capabilities.
SPHE president Benjamin Feingold said, With the announcement of these first 20 titles, I am delighted to say that the age of Blu-ray has truly arrived. BD delivers the most advanced high-definition experience available to entertainment enthusiasts today, while offering filmmakers a limitless canvas to express their artistic vision.
Commencing Summer 2006, SPHE expects to begin adding bonus Blu-ray Java games, and other features, to new release titles including Underworld Evolution. The studio also says it will deliver four catalog titles per month beginning this summer, growing to 10 titles per month by Q4 2006.
Mr Feingold explained, Our strategy is to release new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD to drive consumer awareness, excitement and sales of high-definition movies. We will also release a continuous slate of catalog titles that film enthusiasts love to own, to further maximize consumer interest.
