First wave of Criterion Blu-ray Discs to tout plain packaging, ship December 19th
The long wait for Criterion's break into the world of Blu is just about over, and we're assured that our patience will not have been in vain. According to Criterion technical director Lee Kline: "If our Blu-ray discs are going to come out, then they'd better look right." Presumably addressing the delays, he noted that "we had to make sure that the compression was right, that the audio encoding was up to par, and we had to make sure that the discs played on all players, particularly the older generation models, as well as [the] PlayStation 3." Possibly the most exciting news is that the first wave of releases will be available for purchase on December 19th. Also of note, each title will "not be housed in the traditional blue-colored Blu-ray boxes that the major studios have adopted, nor will they carry the Blu-ray Disc logo. Rather, the Criterion titles will carry a small credit on the back of the box indicating that the title is in the Blu-ray format, and there will be a blue sticker on the shrink wrap indicating the same." Way to go your own way, Criterion.
