Criterion and UHD

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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nitin
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Re: Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, 2018)

#51 Post by nitin » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:14 pm

Well we haven’t yet seen a B&W film UHD, which is the bulk of Criterion’s catalog. Not saying it can’t happen or that it wouldn’t look spectacular, but the general types of titles released on UHD probably tell you what types of films studios and consumers think should be on the format.

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DarkImbecile
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Criterion and UHD

#52 Post by DarkImbecile » Tue Jul 03, 2018 3:57 pm

KJones77 wrote:
Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:41 pm
Same reason I'm against 4K/UHD releases. The current price point is high enough.
And the image quality is currently high enough as well, I guess?

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knives
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#53 Post by knives » Tue Jul 03, 2018 11:49 pm

Kind of. For practical purposes UHD doesn't make that much of a difference. Hell DVD to Bluray which was a bigger difference is sometimes hard to tell apart without big enough a television.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#54 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:36 am

Blu-ray to UHD with HDR is an absolutely noticable leap. People were making these same straw man arguments about DVD to Blu-ray a decade ago and they weren't true then - they aren't true now, either. Technology is funny that way.

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knives
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#55 Post by knives » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:48 am

For you, but most people seem to genuinely view the leap as negligible to their needs.

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tenia
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#56 Post by tenia » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:41 am

Most people also never saw the quality leap between DVD and BD, but why should we rely on people who can't judge that to assess its intensity ?

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fdm
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#57 Post by fdm » Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:45 am

It's not significant enough for me to dump my plasma before it dumps me. Probably won't mind the pq bump, but will miss the 3D option.

I also have added another 5 inches to my screen size each time I got dumped by my previous tv, so that will be nice too, probably even moreso since I'm thinking at least twice that next time around (if I last that long).

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knives
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#58 Post by knives » Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:04 am

They are literally passing a judgement when they say they can't tell the difference. Just because you can doesn't mean others can.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

#59 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:39 pm

This is sort of like the whole Dual Format discussion: why does anyone begrudge the option being there for people who want it and would use it? If Criterion began releasing films in separate UHD and Blu-ray editions, who would it be hurting?

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knives
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#60 Post by knives » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:53 pm

I doubt anyone is begrudging anyone. If my argument seemed that way it was not intended so except insofar as to say the UHD will remain extremely niche because most people don't appreciate the improvements.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#61 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:56 pm

It isn't even extremely niche now. And Criterion itself is pretty niche as it is.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#62 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:57 pm

How does HDR typically work with older titles? I ask because I actually got to see some newly shot shows in HDR and it was horrible - the colors glowed like they were radioactive. (The lawn alone looked weirdly fluorescent.)

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#63 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:14 pm

I guess the question is would it be financially beneficial for Criterion to start releasing in UHD, at the same time continuing to produce DVDs, which would be three formats? I doubt Criterion would be interested in that, unless that stop producing the DVD.

Not sure why Criterion would want to start a new format with physical media being on the steady decline. When CC went to bluray, DVD was still pretty viable, so the adapting to bluray was a no brainer. (And probably would’ve been sooner if not for the bluray/HDDVD war).

As for myself, I’m not interested in changing to a new format. I’m perfectly satisfied with bluray. Most of what I watch and own are older films. So, not sure how much the new format will make me smack my lips with excitement. I just purchased a TV, so when I watch the old black and white blurays I’m blown away by how great they look. Do I really need more than that?

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#64 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:20 pm

It's high time they did away with standalone DVD releases. Does anyone buy those outside of public libraries and the 3 remaining video rental stores in the U.S.?

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#65 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:22 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:20 pm
It's high time they did away with standalone DVD releases. Does anyone buy those outside of public libraries and the 3 remaining video rental stores in the U.S.?
This would have been my guess, but MichaelB has posted about this before (and not that long ago) - at least in the UK, DVD sales are substantially more than Blu-Ray sales, so apparently the market is bigger.

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FrauBlucher
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Criterion and UHD

#66 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:22 pm

I’m am surprised they haven’t discontinued the DVD at this point. I would love to see their numbers.

To follow up on Hearthesilence, Criterion’s statistics may be different from what MichaelB mentioned. I would bet the vast majority of CC titles sell in bluray. If you go to the B&N store in Union Square you see many more blurays on display than DVDs in the Criterion section, especially at the start of the sales.
Last edited by FrauBlucher on Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#67 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:28 pm

DVD outsells Blu-ray in the US, at roughly 2/3 to 1/3

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#68 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:30 pm

Also, UHD is about 2-3% of the market. So, again, don't get your hopes up for Criterion to extend out into the format

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colinr0380
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#69 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:22 pm

I'm out in a rural area but have been doing my own casual survey of what films my local stores (and supermarkets) think is worthwhile to take the chance on putting out on display with a Blu-ray version. They usually have many of the new releases for a week to two on DVD but so far over the last eighteen months or so I have only seen Blu-rays 'in the wild' for: Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Lego Batman Movie, Jumanji 2, The Last Jedi , Rogue One and of course inevitably the Winston Churchill bio film The Darkest Hour. And recently Black Panther but only because I asked if there were any in that format being held in storage!

So Star Wars and Marvel films seem safe bets to get Blu-rays out everywhere (though Thor: Ragnarok never appeared) as well as more family adventure and children's animation titles. Although even there there are a few strange omissions - I was fairly confident that Early Man would turn up in the local shops on Blu-ray, being an Aardman Film, but never did. Though it did not appear on shelves in DVD form either!

So if it is that patchy for Blu-rays outside of big cities and Amazon, I'm unsurprised that I have not seen a UHD disc at all yet!

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#70 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:52 pm

I forgot to mention this many months before, but when I was in Paris, I visited a few stores like Potemkine and the shop inside the Cinémathèque, and I was surprised that most films were on DVD, probably because they were released on that format and not Blu-Ray. These were mostly art films (new titles and older releases) but regardless it makes me wonder if the DVD-to-BD ratio is even greater in France and perhaps other European countries.

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tenia
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#71 Post by tenia » Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:59 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:30 pm
Also, UHD is about 2-3% of the market. So, again, don't get your hopes up for Criterion to extend out into the format
It's also way less of a successful launch that what the industry is (of course) claiming in terms of sales. I especially don't know where they got that UHDs are selling more now than what BDs were selling after the same post-launch period, because more BDs were sold at that time in the UK alone. The 2017 UHD players sales are behind the expectations by 30% and UHD TVs by 25%.
hearthesilence wrote:
Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:52 pm
it makes me wonder if the DVD-to-BD ratio is even greater in France and perhaps other European countries.
It is greater : here, BD has a 15 to 20% market share in volume. At best, it reached 25%. HD TVs, and now UHD TVs, however have sold / are selling pretty well.
I'm not sure about the other countries exactly, but I believe they're similar.
In any case, the US DVD-to-BD ratio always seemed quite high from our European and French perspective.

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Saturnome
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#72 Post by Saturnome » Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:03 pm

Two friends of mine got into Criterion recently and they only buy dvd, but they also mostly rent from librairies. I'm the only one in my circle who bothers with blu-ray, but then we're all poor artists. But most people don't really care about HD 1080p stuff even when they can appreciate good, well restored editions of films. Also nobody knows that UHD is a thing

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mfunk9786
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#73 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 4:57 pm

Why do general sales percentages or a general vibe from "the average consumer" matter in the slightest to a boutique label that is marketed to film buffs and home video enthusiasts? Criterion isn't trying to win elections, they sell niche films to a niche audience.

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knives
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#74 Post by knives » Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:02 pm

Blind buys keep the ship afloat.

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion and UHD

#75 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:06 pm

Let's say the overall sales figures are unrepresentative of the potential sales for Criterion. Let's be ridiculously generous and say Criterion's market would be four times better than the general market. That's still only 8-12% of total sales for a given title for a release that costs more to produce. Criterion may have art house cachet, but they are also in the business of making money...

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