Virgin Media have secured the rights to broadcast the new
Film4 HD channel, as well as E4 HD.
It's a big coup for Virgin Media subscribers, as Film4 HD offers one of probably the best catalogues of films outside of Sky Movies and Sky Movies Premier.
"Channel 4 has a great track record in delivering innovative and compelling content and we're delighted to bring some of their very best films and most popular programmes to our customers in stunning HD", said Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media.
"As more and more households become HD-ready, we're lining up content that makes the most of High Definition and are making HD available to all our of customers for no extra fee."
As well as Film4 HD and E4 HD, Virgin Media's HD line up also includes BBC HD, C4HD, ESPN HD, FX HD, MTVN HD, National Geographic HD, LIVING HD and Eurosport HD, with Discovery HD also on its way.
Sony don't like to feel the odd ones out of the tech-playground games, so, in an attempt to keep up with the pack here come's their first go at video streaming. You've had iTunes, you've had Netflix; the next contestant in the great "Battle of the Online Movie Services" is Sony's Qriocity.
Heading to anything with a Xross Media Bar on it (be it your PS3 or soon-to-be-released web-connected Sony sets) in February, you'll be able to stream video in standard-definition or 720p straight to your screen.
Theres already a load of film publishers backing the service, and Sony promise "hundreds" of films ready to go at launch.
Inspired use of the letter "Q" aside, it's a pretty dumb name for a rather important service. Here's hoping more thought went into the service than the moniker it wears heavily around its neck.
Nvidia's Ben Berraondo has announced that 3D Blu-ray movies may be hitting stores as early as summer 2010.
The Nvidia PR manager for the UK and Northern Europe confirmed that after months of discussion, the Blu-ray Association had finally settled on "proper parameters [for] what constitutes a 3D Blu-ray" and stated that movie fans would be able to pick up the 3D flicks "towards the end of Summer 2010".
Nvidia's 3D Vision Technology will be one way of viewing the newly agreed upon standard, with Berraondo stating that bit rates of around 60Mbits will be used in the new flicks. HDMI 1.3 should be capable of smooth playback, with the MVC-AVC format used for encoding.
However, Berraonodo did hint that many people may have to upgrade their existing hardware to be able to watch the new 3D flicks. A 120 Hz TV would be necessary to view the films (double the 60 Hz standard widely available now) and also a Blu-ray drive capable of reading at 2x speed.
PS3 owners may stand to be the best prepared for viewing 3D Blu-ray content. Thanks to the console's discrete Nvidia GPU (based on the GeForce 7800), a mere firmware upgrade may be all that's necessary to go 3D. They'll still have to shell out for Nvidia's dorky shutter glasses however.
Via: PC Pro
With over four months' notice, here's news that Terminator Salvation will be available to buy on Blu-ray from 23rd November 2009.
As well as the high definition movie, bonus material available on the Blu-ray disc includes:
- "Re-Forging the Future" - Go behind the scenes of Terminator Salvation with an exclusive set tour.
- "The Moto-Terminator" - See how the Terminator Salvation visual effects crew and Ducati partnered to create the slick and deadly Moto-Terminator!
Maximum Movie Mode featuring director McG deconstructing the film's key moments.
- Picture (PiP) commentary with cast and crew interviews, storyboards, still galleries, timeline and more.
- 11 mini featurette focus points spotlighting how the ground-breaking special effects were created.
- "Resist Or Be Terminated" Tech Com videos (nine viral videos from the theatrical campaign and four new videos from the Home Entertainment campaign)
- "The Final Resistance" video - access the secret plans of Skynet
- CINECHAT - BD-Live technology that lets viewers around the world chat live about this, or any other CINECHAT enabled Blu-ray disc.
Plenty of advanced warning for fans of the Final Fantasy series, with news that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete on July 27th.
The release features 26 minutes of additional footage, over 1,000 revised scenes recorded with the original voice cast including Rachel Leigh Cook and Mena Suvari.
Microsoft, Warner Brothers UK and Pathé UK have partnered to bring more exclusive UK-produced films to Xbox LIVE! customers in high definition.
Details of the exact titles that will be available, and when, are sketchy, but it could include Slumdog Millionaire, The Duchess and Hunger.
Naturally, executives from all companies concerned are very happy about the deal.
(Via Electronic Theatre)
Fans of the Terminator genre can start to get excited, with news that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines will be available to buy and rent on Blu-ray disc in the UK in a forthnight's time - Monday 25th May.
Bonus features on the high definition disc include:
- Digitally Mastered Audio and Video
- "Terminator Vision": Picture-in-Picture feature which provides a unique user experience. Fans can join Director Jonathan Mostow and his Creative Team as they take them on a Behind-the-Scenes tour of the making of Terminator 3
- Cinechat: Viewers can experience the film whilst interacting with each other via this Blu-ray exclusive feature
- Blooper Reel: Terminal Flaws: Gag Reel
- Commentary: Director & Cast
- Commentary: Director Commentary
- Deleted Scenes: Sgt Candy Scene
- Featurette: Documentary
- Featurette: Dressed to Kill
- Featurette: Making of the Video Game
- Featurette: Storyboards
- Featurette: Toys in Action
Classic films Trainspotting and Shallow Grave will be available as Blu-ray special editions on 1st June.
The Trainspotting Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray disc will feature over two hours of bonus materials including:
- A brand new, specially filmed 40 min feature 'Memories of Trainspotting' with Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, John Hodge, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Kelly Macdonald and Robert Carlyle.
- Deleted scenes with commentary
- The Look of the Film - Then and Now
- The Sound of the Film - Then and Now
- The Beginning
- Archive Interview with Irvine Welsh
- Behind The Needle
- Danny Boyle on Trainspotting
- Ewan McGregor on Trainspotting
- Cannes Snapshot
- Cannes Vox Pops
- Trailers
- Gallery
- Feature commentary
Ahh, a four-day weekend beckons. Here's a look at some of the high definition highlights available across the UK channels this weekend.
Don't forget, you need Freesat in order to watch ITV HD, and either Sky or Freesat to watch BBC HD or Channel 4 HD.
Animation
Good Friday
10 April | Chicken Run
Classic Aardman Animations comedy with the voices of Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha and Imelda Staunton | 4.20pm | BBC HD |
Good Friday
10 April | Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Follows the plasticine pair running their own bakery business. | 8.30pm | BBC HD |
Easter Saturday
11 April | Finding Nemo
Animated underwater comedy | 5.10pm | BBC HD |
Easter Saturday
11 April | Persepolis
Animated drama based on graphic novel of Marjane Satrapi. | 11pm | Channel 4 HD |
Over the weekend, Apple announced that its US customers can now rent and buy a selection of high definition movies including "Quantum of Solace" and "Twilight", with prices starting at US$4.99 for rentals within 30 days of the film's release, and US$19.99 for purchases.
As usual, UK customers will have to wait an unspecified amount of time before high definition versions arrive here, but given that most things drift across the Atlantic eventually, it's a fairly safe bet we'll get them sometime this year.
"Movie fans are going to love being able to buy and rent films including 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Twilight' in stunning HD from the iTunes Store," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services.
"Customers have made HD content on iTunes a hit, with over 50 percent of TV programming being purchased in HD when available."
www.itunes.com/movies/hd
Related posts: Lost now available as HD iTunes download | Apple sells one million high definition TV shows on iTunes | iTunes Store movie downloads finally come to the UK | More HDTV via the Web news...
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Comedy
The usual trio of comedy continues tonight from 10pm on Channel 4 HD, with Shameless, The Big Bang Theory (11.05pm) and My Name is Earl (11.35pm).
Documentaries
Horizon (9pm, BBC HD) follows comedian David Baddiel has he surveys the latest scientific research on how parents can best educate their children. After examining unconventional approaches such as hot-housing maths prodigies and rewarding good grades with cash, Baddiel undergoes a simulation of what it is like to struggle at school and discovers the neurological basis for teenage truculence.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Comedy
That Mitchell and Webb Glimpse (9.45pm, BBC HD) is a fifteen-minute highlights programme from series two of the sketch show.
Drama
Doctors (6pm, BBC HD) sees Julia helping a distressed gypsy with a skin problem.
Law & Order: UK (9pm, ITV HD) sees a pensioner's grisly discovery forcing the retrial of a man found guilty of murder.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Documentaries
Darwin's Dangerous Idea (9pm, BBC HD) sees Andrew Marr looking at how the naturalist's theory has been used for more sinister practices such as justifying imperial expansion with the oppression of indigenous peoples, selective breeding in the United States and the Nazis' plans for an Aryan race.
Drama
In today's Doctors (6pm, BBC HD), Archie's adherence to the rule of patient confidentiality is stretched to the limit.
The Da Vinci Code Extended Cut will be launched on Blu-ray on 4th May this year, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced.
Plenty of features come packed on to this BD-Live compatible disc, including 28 minutes of never-before-seen footage plus a range of interactive options.
There are no less than 17 featurettes plus an exclusive five-minute scene from Angels and Demon introduced by Ron Howard.
The complete contents is listed over the jump. Pricing details are to be confirmed. The pack shot is of the US version.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Documentaries
Nature's Great Events (9pm, BBC HD) looks at the annual flooding of Botswana's Okavango Delta, which turns miles of arid plains into waterholes. Millions of animals are drawn to the water, including herds of elephants and buffalo, zebra, giraffes, birds and vast clouds of dragonflies.
Drama
Doctors continues tonight at 6pm on the BBC HD channel. Jimmi gets involved in a student film.
Desperate Housewives continues at 10pm on Channel 4 HD. Susan and Edie find themselves locked in a basement.
Mad Men is repeated tonight at 11.20pm on the BBC HD channel. Don finds himself caught in the middle of marital issues between TV comedian Jimmy and his wife Bobbie. Meanwhile, Joan gets engaged.
There's also another chance to see Law & Order: UK at 10.35pm on ITV HD. The team look into the killing of a former vice cop after his body was found in an underpass.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Comedy
The final part of The Green Green Grass airs tonight at 8.30pm on BBC HD, as Marlene receives shocking news when she plans to renew her marriage vows on her 40th wedding anniversary.
Documentaries
In Darwin's Dangerous Idea (9pm, BBC), Andrew Marr traces the development of evolutionary theory from its beginnings to the present day, showing how it has influenced virtually every area of modern life. He begins by exploring the impact of Charles Darwin's ideas on religion and morality, revealing why many Muslims, Jews and fundamentalist Christians still regard his theories as heresy.
Alternatively, on ITV HD at 9pm, Billy Connolly: Journey to the Edge of the World sees the comedian travelling on board a cruise ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the fabled Northwest Passage.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Documentaries
Nature's Great Events (9pm, BBC HD) follows the spectacular feeding frenzy that takes place along South Africa's east coast each winter when the greatest gathering of predators on the planet hunt down billions of sardines.
Drama
Doctors at 6pm (BBC HD) sees Ruth getting caught up in a waitress's struggle to deal with her oppressive relationship.
Desperate Housewives (10pm, Channel 4 HD) follows the inevitable competition when Bree meets Andrew's future mother-in-law for the first time.
Mad Men continues at 11.20pm on BBC HD. In the run-up to Easter, Peggy's family hosts lunch for a visiting priest. Don and Betty argue about parenting and the Sterling Cooper employees have to work overtime.
There's also another chance to see Law & Order: UK at 10.35pm on the ITV HD channel.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Comedy
Comedy from 10pm tonight on Channel 4 HD with Shameless followed by The Big Bang Theory (11.10pm) and My Name is Earl (11.40pm).
Drama
Damages continues at 11.35pm on the BBC HD channel. Patty pursues a case against a polluting company.
Mad Men continues on the BBC HD channel at 10pm. Peggy's family hosts lunch for a visiting priest.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Documentaries
The final Who Do You Think You Are (10pm, BBC HD) follows Kevin Whately, who finds that business acumen runs in his family. Discovering his grandfather's fishing empire leads him back to an 18th-century turkey trader and on to the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange. Delving further, he discovers two brothers who helped fund the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.
Drama
Heroes continues at 9pm on BBC HD. The heroes are forced to go on the run from one of their own.
Up against that, the new series of Law & Order: UK continues on ITV HD. The search for a teenage boy's killer leads to a defence strategy that challenges the whole nature of the British legal system.
Here's a selection of the best high definition content available on UK TV today.
Chat
Guests on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (10.35pm, BBC HD) include Sir David Attenborough, Emily Blunt and Clive Owen, with music from U2.
Comedy
Not Going Out continues at 9.30pm on BBC HD, as a new and noisy neighbour annoys Lucy. Will Tim and Lee rustle up the courage to complain to him?
Free Agents (10pm, Channel 4 HD): After Helen finds Alex sleeping in his car, his day gets even worse when their boss tells them that an old friend and rival agent has died, and that they must attend the funeral.
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