Galaxy 4 blu-ray & dvd announced

[kirk55555]

But that's the thing: We shouldn't have to be jumping through all these hoops and over all these hurdles. It's so damn absurd.

Yeah, its such an antiquated way of trying to "protect" sales numbers in individual regions. If an American wants Doctor Who on Blu Ray but you won't let them buy it, then the BBC/rights holders are just encouraging people to get it in a way that the BBC/rights holders won't make any money from. I don't care enough to do that if a DVD version exists, but to me if a company refuses to sell something in a region, then there is nothing wrong with getting it in other ways. If they then block importing like in this case, then they have no real right to complain if the product is being acquired in less then legal fashion.

 

[Kor]

Region locking is kind of understandable if a third-party home video company distributing the blu-ray only has a license from the rights holder of the title to sell it in a particular part of the world (and the rights holder licenses a different home video company to release/distribute it in another part of the world).

But in this case, BBC is distributing its own content to both the North American and UK markets. And as far as I can tell, all of their previous Doctor Who blu-ray releases for both of those markets have not been region-locked. The most recent example is "The Web of Fear," which BBC released on blu-ray in the UK just last month, but not (yet) in the US. And the UK blu-ray is indeed playable in all regions.

So, based on that track record, the UK "Galaxy 4" blu-ray might turn out to not actually be locked to Region B, but actually be all-region just like all the previous UK Doctor Who blu-ray releases. We haven't actually seen the back of the packaging, where the region coding would normally be listed (if applicable). Currently it is listed for pre-order on Amazon UK, HMV, and Zavvi. Amazon UK and HMV don't specify region coding for this item; only Zavvi says that it is Region B. And it looks like Zavvi lists all UK releases as Region B, just as a standard for their intended purchasing audience. I notice that they inaccurately list previous Doctor Who blu-ray releases as Region B even though those releases are actually not locked to Region B.

TL;DR, it's likely that the UK "Galaxy 4" blu-ray won't actually be locked to Region B. Let's wait a month or so for more detail, including a look at the back of the package.

Edit: After looking up more of the UK releases, I found that some of them are indeed locked to Region B.

Kor

 

[ATimson]

But that's the thing: We shouldn't have to be jumping through all these hoops and over all these hurdles. It's so damn absurd.

Even without the region locks, not all US players/TVs can handle 1080i50 content.

 

[Kor]

To add to what Kor says, Japan & the US are in the same region (A), so if you were to be importing, say, JP Kamen Rider blu rays for instance, you'd never have an issue

A couple other potential issues, though... from what I understand, Japanese releases of anime on blu-ray and DVD tend to be pretty expensive compared to what similar releases would cost in the US or UK... and then there are no English subtitles or audio on the Japanese releases.

Even without the region locks, not all US players/TVs can handle 1080i50 content.

That's a good point. I think US TVs and players are getting better about that compatibility. I have equipment considered "budget/entry-level" that came out within just the last couple years, and it handles 50Hz content just fine. Interestingly, the TV manual lists all the compatible formats, but the manual and specs for my player don't even mention that (though I did find an Amazon question answered by the manufacturer, which confirmed it).

Kor

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, fair points all around. It's just so...frustrating. Between all of that and retailers in general (particularly film releases) creating bare-bone releases for DVDs and everything on blu-Ray has greatly soured my interest in collecting home media over the years.

 

[zarkon]

A couple other potential issues, though... from what I understand, Japanese releases of anime on blu-ray and DVD tend to be pretty expensive compared to what similar releases would cost in the US or UK... and then there are no English subtitles or audio on the Japanese releases.

Yep. Though Japanese releases tend to have a far higher bitrate which is nice. Packing a ton of eps on one disc is far less common there. Also Rider is tokusatsu not anime

I did once get a very nice blu ray of the complete Columbo from Japan, which had the original audio. Had to save up for a while as it was very expensive, but I've ended up with no regrets because all these years later there is *still* no western release of Columbo on Blu Ray. Everywhere else tried to do it season by season and gave up very early.

 

[zarkon]

I've just finished watching this.
- Animation is decent. It's in the Fury style, so a bit of arm wobble but not exaggerated as in Fury.
- Backgrounds are outstanding. Very psychedelic.
- Story is also decent, though even 4 episodes was probably stretching it - not much meat on this bone.
- "Making of" is excellent.