• Disney does DVD
  Time: 19:31 EDT/00:31 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  Walt Disney Co.'s home entertainment unit said Tuesday it plans to offer, for a limited time, classic animated film titles like 'Pinocchio' on digital video disk (DVD). "It's a market that's ready to bust loose," Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, told Reuters. Buena Vista Home Entertainment said it will release nine popular Disney animated features on DVD over the next four months as part of a "once-in-a-millennium celebration."

• Menu screens to My Favorite Martian on DVD Review
  Time: 14:34 EDT/19:34 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  On September 28, Buena Vista Home Video will let My Favorite Martian loose on DVD enthusiasts across the country. Starring Jeff Daniels, Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Hurley and Daryl Hannah, "My Favorite Martian" is a hilarious comedy based on a classic television series. Ambitious television reporter Tim O'Hara stumbles upon a martian whose spaceship has accidentally crash-landed on Earth. Thinking this is the story of the millennium and his ticket to a Pulitzer Prize, Tim makes plans to expose the martian, who, posing as Tim's Uncle Martin, takes human form and has plans of his own. Obviously, Uncle Martin doesn't want to be identified.

  You can see the Menu screens here.

   

• NetTV High-Resolution DVD and Digital Television to be Demonstrated by Microsoft at DVD PRO Conference & Exhibition in San Francisco
  Time: 13:42 EDT/18:42 GMT Source: Yahoo Posted By: Alex H

  NetTV, a leading provider of DVD-ROM Digital Entertainment set-tops and progressive-scan digital televisions, announced today that Microsoft Corp. will demonstrate NetTV's High-Resolution DVD and digital television at the DVD PRO Conference & Exhibition, August 16-17, at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco (booth No. 412).

  At DVD PRO, the largest-ever gathering of DVD professionals will see NetTV's ExtremeDVD Entertainment System.

  NetTV president Ron Perkes said, ``NetTV is pleased to be associated with Microsoft at DVD PRO. NetTV was founded in 1996 on the concept that computing technology will eventually take its rightful place at the core of the living room entertainment center. In the digital age, many consumers want the highest quality and variety of digital entertainment possible, at affordable prices.

  ``At DVD PRO, NetTV's digital entertainment system will display razor sharp high-resolution DVD playback, and today's entire range of digital content, in one easy-to-use set-top.''

  ``Microsoft selected NetTV to demonstrate the outstanding picture quality that can be produced with a DVD PC and an affordable big-screen monitor,'' said Jim Taylor, DVD Evangelist for Microsoft. ``When the decoder is tightly coupled to a progressive digital display, the true potential of DVD-Video can be realized.''

  NetTV's Perkes said, ``Anyone who has seen ExtremeDVD is awestruck by the clarity of the image and the quality of the Dolby Digital 5.1 Channel audio. The high resolution capability of DVD is wasted when displayed on a conventional TV. In contrast, ExtremeDVD is a digital entertainment PC that performs the function of a very expensive line doubler.

  ``This system has the intelligence to de-interlace content that originates as video in so-called 'bob' mode and display film in so-called 'weave' mode. In both instances, the system steps up the resulting output to a progressive-scan monitor at a horizontal frequency of 47KHz, instead of stepping down the resulting display to a slow, interlaced 15.75KHz.

  ``The improvement in on-screen quality is breathtaking. The resulting 480- or 600-line progressive display closely resembles the clarity of HDTV at 720 lines progressive.''

   

• 27 DVD's on a single disc?
  Time: 14:34 EDT/19:34 GMT Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron

  Lucent and Imation Corp. today announced a joint agreement to collaborate on developing Bell Labs holographic data storage technology for the enterprise storage market.

  Recent research advances at Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent, in both disk drive and storage materials technologies indicate that the commercialization of holographic storage is possible. Imation, a leading provider of data storage media, will work jointly with Bell Labs to develop holographic disks.

• Who will win the DVD standards fight?
  Time: 03:36 EDT/08:36 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Wrangling over standards threatens to stall the adoption of DVD rewritable drives, even as peripheral manufacturers prepare new products for market. In a chapter taken out of the videotape wars of the 1980s, where major electronics companies lined up behind either VHS or Beta, the standards standoff could leave consumers once again holding useless chunks of plastic.

  The players are strikingly similar. Beta backers Sony and Philips support one standard, DVD+RW, and VHS victors Hitachi, Panasonic, and Toshiba support the other, DVD-RAM.

  "Do you want to bet on the guys who did VHS or the guys who did Beta?" asked Jim Porter, president of Disk Trend. "We see the same foolishness being repeated over and over again here and the inability to sit down in a smoke-filled room and agree what a single standard should be." DVD+RW writes disks that most DVD drives and players can read. DVD-RAM, on the other hand, stores optical disks in caddies that won't work in older DVD devices. DVD rewritable's main advantage over the more popular CD rewritable is capacity, 4.7GB versus 640MB.

• Columbia TriStar Home Video adds SLC Punk and The Inheritors to their release lin
  Time: 18:12 EDT/23:12 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  Do you believe it? Columbia TriStar Home Video has just sent another press release our way, adding another two titles to their fall release roster. This time its SLC Punk and The Inheritors slated for release on October 12. "SLC Punk" is a special edition featuring a commentary track with director James Merendino and members of the cast. The disc will also contain an isolated Music Soundtrack and an original Comic Book Presentation. The release will contain the film's widescreen presentation, enhanced for 16x9 TV sets, and soundtracks in Dolby Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1. In their line-up of foreign films, Columbia is also releasing the German movie "The Inheritors" to their release schedules. It is a suspenseful drama sprinkled with light-hearted humor. The film will come in its widescreen presentation in a 16x9 enhanced transfer and include the original German soundtrack in Dolby Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English, French and Spanish will be also available on this disc.

   

• Aquaria from DVD International could be the first DVD-18 in the market
  Time: 18:09 EDT/23:09 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  The race is on, it seems, to be the first company to release a DVD-18 product into the market. DVD-18 is the technical term used for double-sided dual-layer discs and currently there are a number of companies preparing releases using this new DVD format, including of course Artisan Entertainment with their release of the Stephen King TV-min sieries The Stand. We now have information from DVD International, one of the smaller publishers of the format, with plans to release the first DVD-18 into the market on September 28. It is a title called Aquaria, a peaceful video wallpaper featuring 20 hours of footage of tropical fish combined with four different audio trakcs, including two 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks. "Aquaria" will carry a suggested retail price of $24.98, not a bad price for a 'virtual aquarium' that doesn't need cleaning or scrubbing. "Aquaria" should make great relaxation and meditation material with its hours of continuous footage and imagery, combined with the soundtracks that range from mediation music, relaxation music, gentle beach surf and aquarium bubbles. And, no, this is not a joke!

   

• York Entertainment cuts loose the action in Diamondbacks
  Time: 18:06 EDT/23:06 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  On October 5, York Entertainment will release Diamondbacks on DVD through their Maverik label. "Diamondbacks" is a pulse-pounding anti-government action thriller starring Miles O'Keefe and Chris Mitchum. The disc will contain the film's unrated version with a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack at a suggested retail price of $24.98. "Diamondbacks" is the name of a Montana right-wing militia-group that is anti-government for its spending on the space program. After bombing the Federal Courthouse they sabotage and reprogram a multibillion dollar communication satellite, placing a space-bound shuttle mission and two astronauts in jeopardy.

   

• Recognizing The Value Of The DVD
  Time: 07:53 EDT/12:53 GMT Source: DVD Insider Posted By: Alex H

  Just days after the official release date of "Ironman" on home video, Tone Home Video announced that the film will be available on DVD on October 1, 1999.

  The DVD will include the theatrical trailer of the film, as well as "a few other goodies", which may include a behind the scenes look at how the film was made, and interviews with the films stars - Bernard Fox ("Titanic", "The Mummy") and Tim Rossovich ("Looker and "Night Shift") as well as Stefan Rudnicki ("1999 Grammy Award Winner for Best Spoken Album").

   

• Following The Leader
  Time: 07:52 EDT/12:52 GMT Source: DVD Insider Posted By: Alex H

  The Home Electronics Division of Hitachi America releases its first-ever consumer DVD player (model number DVP250U). The new Hitachi DVD player will strengthen the company's entire family of digital display products including HDTVs, M2 recorders and digital cameras. Along with state-of-the art audio and visual technology, the DVP250U will provide an exceptional viewing experience. DVP250U will be shipping to distributors in July with retail availability nationwide in August. The DVD player will have a MAP price $449.95.

   

• DVD Review posts new covers for upcoming releases
  Time: 07:42 EDT/12:42 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  DVD Review has been able to get hold of  cover artwork for some upcoming titles from Warner Home Video and MGM Home Entertainment. Warner's titles includes films like the knight-in-shining-armor movie "Excalibur", Doris Day's "The Pajama Game", the animated feature "Thumbelina" and others. Please click here for a look at these covers. They have also been able to get our hands on the covers for some of MGM Home Entertainment's upcoming titles, like killer-doll Chucky's first strike "Child's Play", but also George Romero's "The Dark Half" and others. Make sure to click here to check out these covers from MGM.

   

• Site News
  Time: 07:33 EDT/12:33 GMT Source: ActiveDVD Posted By: Byron

  It has been a while since we updated any site news on ActiveDVD, so here goes. We are currently on the look out for new ActiveDVD staff members for both news and reviews sections. So if you are interested - get in touch with us ASAP.

  DVD Reviews: 8MM, Ghostbusters, Affliction, A Simple Plan

   

• Wireless DVD on TV
  Time: 05:47 EDT/10:47 GMT Source: Wired News Posted By: Alex H.

  One company has a solution for all of those DVD-enabled PCs looking to move to a bigger screen -- a wireless TV transmitter.

  X10's DVD Anywhere Kit can broadcast DVD movies to a television anywhere in a home, a boon for those who don't want to watch Saving Private Ryan on a tiny computer screen.

  The DVD hardware market has been a peculiar phenomenon. Despite the existence of only a dozen or so DVD-ROM movie titles for computers compared to 2,000 for home entertainment players, the outfits for PCs are far outselling the VCR-like models.

• The Matrix flies into your living rooms on September 21
  Time: 15:27 EDT/22:27 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  Much wild guessing has been going on around the Internet for the past weeks and hardly any title has created as much advance buzz as The Matrix which will finally hit DVD and VHS on September 21. While the film will be released for rental only on VHS, DVD will once again have the benefit of being the first format that allows you to actually own the film at an attractive sell-through price of $24.98. The futuristic thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne remained at the top of the box-office charts this early summer for several weeks and was the first true blockbuster of 1999. Now DVD owners will have the chance to learn more about the film, its origins and the wizardry behind-the-scenes in Warner Home Video's upcoming DVD special edition. The disc will contain a 16x9 enhanced transfer with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and will also feature audio commentaries by actress Carrie-Anne Moss, editor Zach Staenberg and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta. The release will also feature a large number of supplements like the documentary "Follow The White Rabbit", a multi-angle presentation that is dedicated to show off the art of the movie.

  The disc will also initiate viewers in the secrets of the special effects from the movie in a number of featurettes like "Making The Matrix", "What Is Bullet-Time" and "What is the Concept?" where you will be able to take an in-depth look at the many special effects of the film. Another novelty of "The Matrix" DVD will be a movie-themed quiz which will show you selected scenes from the film and then asks trivia questions. A feature "From Script To Screen" will give you a better understanding of the movie as it analyzes the film's meaning and background. Rounded up with an isolated Music Score with Commentary by Composer Don Davis, a still photo gallery containing 700 images, this DVD will certainly make every fan of "The Matrix" awaiting this DVD release in anticipation.

   

• Columbia TriStar Home Video adds five more titles to its September line-up
  Time: 15:27 EDT/22:27 GMT Source: DVD Review Posted By: Alex H

  Columbia TriStar Home Video just added a number of other titles to their release roster, scheduled for release on September 21 and September 28. The City Of Lost Children, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's highly underrated film will come in a special edition, containing a commentary track with Jeunet and actor Ron Perlman, a costume design gallery, a production sketch gallery as well as talent biographies. "The City Of Lost Children" will be presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer and contain a stereo Dolby Digital soundtrack in French, English and Spanish with subtitles in the same languages. Someone To Watch Over Me is also coming to DVD on September 21 in a release that contains the pan & scan version as well as the film's 16x9 enhanced widescreen presentation. Featuring a Dolby Surround soundtrack in English, Spanish and Portuguese, the disc will also contain a large number of subtitles. Heavy, starring Liv Tyler, Shelly Winters and Blondie's Debbie Harry will feature an audio commentary track with the film's director. The release will come in a letterboxed transfer with a stereo Dolby Digital soundtrack in English and feature English, French and Spanish subtitles. That's not all, though. On September 28, Columbia will unleash the Living Dead on DVD audiences with Tom Savini's remake of the George A. Romero classic Night Of The Living Dead. The special edition will contain an audio commentary with Savini, a "Making Of" featurette called "The Dead Walk" and cast biographies. Presented in full screen and anamorphic widescreen, the 1990 version of "Night Of The Living Dead" will contain a stereo Dolby Digital soundtrack in English and Portuguese and a large number of subtitles. Day and date with the VHS version we will also see Desert Heat on September 28. The disc will contain a featurette called "Jean-Claude Van Damme: Looking Back, Moving Forward" and biographies, and will be presented in full screen and anamorphic widescreen with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack.

   

• MGM Announces Carrie 2 For DVD
  Time: 15:23 EDT/22:23 GMT Source: DVD Den Posted By: Alex H

  MGM Home Entertainment has just announced "Carrie 2" for release on DVD and we have the details as well as the disc's cover artwork. George A. Romero's horror classic Night Of The Living Dead has seen a rework in the past year as many of you certainly know and the new 30th Anniversary Special Edition will come to DVD in August. We have been able to obtain some exclusive screenshots from the upcoming DVD and are also giving people some more information what this new version of the classic film actually involves.

   

• Liar, Liar, Frankensteins Bride, Xena and Hercules
  Time: 15:21 EDT/22:21 GMT Source: DVD Den Posted By: Alex H

  DVDfile.com has some news on coming Universal DVDs. First, they report that the long awaited "Liar, Liar" special edition will finally hit shelves on 10/19/99 with a new 16:9 transfer. we also get a director's commentary, a original Featurette with Jim himself and behind-the-scenes footage, production photos and trailers, bios, etc. MSRP is $34.95. DVD File also reports on "Bride Of Frankenstein", which will feature a audio commentary by film historian Paul M Sensen and an original documentary. MSRP is $29.95. Lastly Universal will release a Hercules Collection set of four discs of previously released material. The four discs are: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, The Xena Trilogy, Hercules & Xena - The Animated Movie and Young Hercules.

   

• The Kubrick Collection mysteries
  Time: 17:19 EDT/22:19 GMT Source: DVD File Posted By: Alex H

  Like the best of rumors, stories began to surface on a Kubrick Collection recall, canceled Region 2 launch, legal battles, et al., and then traveled like wildfire on the 'net. Since this site only deals with Region 1 news (which is hard enough!), I haven't really paid too much attention to all these stories, until they ended up here on the forum, which certainly made me stand up and take notice. However, as talk is now surfacing of a Region 1 recall, it is clear that all this has become a hot topic of conversation to be sure. And it points up one of the difficulties of the web, in that it truly is an international resource, making it very difficult to verify or deal with information on a global scale.

  However, according to Warner themselves, there simply is no truth to these stories. Like most films, there are different timetables in different parts of the world, and the Collection is simply being released in different regions at different times to coincide with the release theatrically or on video of Eyes Wide Shut. There discs will be released in Region 2, and there is no recall or repressing of the discs here in the US, either. Any talk on legal battles, etc., as well are just not true. I'm not sure where this all stems from, but there isn't much more to say about it. (Of course, now let the inevitable rumors begin on the DVD release of Eyes Wide Shut itself, eh eh...)

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