Shoot 'Em Up - New Line delivers a great high bitrate VC-1 encode

[AlexanderG]

Just finished watching Shoot 'Em Up on Blu Ray, as my local Wal Mart decided to sell it early along with War and Resident Evil 3.

Note: I'm using a Playstation 3 2.10 firmware with a calibrated Samsung LNT-4066F 40" 1080p HDTV with a viewing distance of about 5-6 feet.

The movie looks fantastic. Apparently New Line Cinema is doing different encodes for each format or doesn't intend on releasing this title on HD-DVD anytime soon, as frequent checks to the PS3 bitrate meter revealed that New Line didn't skimp on the bit budget whatsoever. I constantly saw Bitrates in the upper 20 mbps region, with it going to 35 frequently and even over 40 mbps on occassion.

The result is an extremely sharp transfer. The movie is VERY stylized with strong, bold colors that some may not really care for. Lots of greens/yellows/reds. Regardless, the colors pop like crazy, and for those of you that are familiar with the movie Clive's carrot is a strong vivid eye popping orange and the "Fuk u/Fuk u Too" scene at the beginning of the movie provides some nice strong reds. There is a light veil of grain that is revealed in shadows or areas with low light, but the grain is preserved VERY well with no banding or macroblocking.

As far as sound quality is concerned, New Line provided a DTS-MA track, which unfortunately my PS3 is unable to decode. But based off of the the 1.5 mbps DTS core track, it sounds great and it felt really nice to hear Nirvana's Breed through my system. Gunshots sound really full and deep as well.

Haven't had a chance to check the bonus features, but according to the back of the box, they are encoded in 1080p/1080i, so I can't wait to sit down and watch them too.

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask.

[cajmoyper]

I'm looking forward to getting this one. I hope they don't skimp on the action. I've been a little dissappointed with New Line movie's storys so far. But if they can deliver on the action enough to compensate for a bad story, I'll like it just fine.

[darkblueme]

Wish they would have used a high bitrate for Pan's Labyrinth. It looks good, but not 'WOW' good.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by AlexanderG

Just finished watching Shoot 'Em Up on Blu Ray, as my local Wal Mart decided to sell it early along with War and Resident Evil 3.

Note: I'm using a Playstation 3 2.10 firmware with a calibrated Samsung LNT-4066F 40" 1080p HDTV with a viewing distance of about 5-6 feet.

The movie looks fantastic. Apparently New Line Cinema is doing different encodes for each format or doesn't intend on releasing this title on HD-DVD anytime soon, as frequent checks to the PS3 bitrate meter revealed that New Line didn't skimp on the bit budget whatsoever. I constantly saw Bitrates in the upper 20 mbps region, with it going to 35 frequently and even over 40 mbps on occassion.

The result is an extremely sharp transfer. The movie is VERY stylized with strong, bold colors that some may not really care for. Lots of greens/yellows/reds. Regardless, the colors pop like crazy, and for those of you that are familiar with the movie Clive's carrot is a strong vivid eye popping orange and the "Fuk u/Fuk u Too" scene at the beginning of the movie provides some nice strong reds. There is a light veil of grain that is revealed in shadows or areas with low light, but the grain is preserved VERY well with no banding or macroblocking.

As far as sound quality is concerned, New Line provided a DTS-MA track, which unfortunately my PS3 is unable to decode. But based off of the the 1.5 mbps DTS core track, it sounds great and it felt really nice to hear Nirvana's Breed through my system. Gunshots sound really full and deep as well.

Haven't had a chance to check the bonus features, but according to the back of the box, they are encoded in 1080p/1080i, so I can't wait to sit down and watch them too.

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask.

If this is accurate, this is a really good sign. Bitrates this high could not be used on HD DVD.

[statikcat]

Originally Posted by darkblueme

Wish they would have used a high bitrate for Pan's Labyrinth. It looks good, but not 'WOW' good.

Yes.. this is very interesting. The bitrate on Pan's Lab rarely went above 20.. and the poster says Shootem Up went above 30 frequently (like most avc encocdes). Now.. maybe Shootem Up required more than Pan's because of colors.. but still. It is good to see VC-1 encodings getting better!

Why couldn't New Line use this encoding for HD-DVD though.. it supports VC-1?

[jorg]

thell probly just lower the bit rates for hd dvd version and lower audio quality

[mykevermin]

Can anyone confirm if Hairspray uses BD-level bitrates?

It's tempting to want to read much more into Shoot 'Em Up's bitrates, but if it's a trend NL has been using for their "pseudo-neutral" (delayed HD release) movies, then I don't think it's something to cling to and say "WB/NL is going Blu for certain."

One thing I think we can draw from this is that, if they're putting the effort into making BD releases conform to the higher capabilities of BD, it's perhaps, at worst, a good sign that NL doesn't intend to drop Blu-Ray support anytime soon.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by statikcat

Yes.. this is very interesting. The bitrate on Pan's Lab rarely went above 20.. and the poster says Shootem Up went above 30 frequently (like most avc encocdes). Now.. maybe Shootem Up required more than Pan's because of colors.. but still. It is good to see VC-1 encodings getting better!

Why couldn't New Line use this encoding for HD-DVD though.. it supports VC-1?

The maximum bitrate allowed under HD DVD specs would not permit bitrates this high.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by mykevermin

Can anyone confirm if Hairspray uses BD-level bitrates?

No, it definitely DOES NOT.

[mykevermin]

Originally Posted by patrick99

No, it definitely DOES NOT.

Well, that's actually quite pleasant to know, as it suggests that this is a reversal from previous standards NL used for their BD releases.

No to go see what the next few staggered NL releases will be, and to see if they continue this positive trend.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by mykevermin

No to go see what the next few staggered NL releases will be, and to see if they continue this positive trend.

"Mr. Woodcock" is the only New Line title (announced) that has yet to be released.

Hopefully CES will bring us more announcements (now that they are FINALLY providing better video bitrates).

~Alan

[mykevermin]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Hopefully CES will bring us more announcements (now that they are FINALLY providing better video bitrates).

Precisely what I was thinking. Nevertheless, it's good to see BD's capabilities being used, instead of being hindered by a neutral studio trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[hollywoodguy]

Originally Posted by darkblueme

Wish they would have used a high bitrate for Pan's Labyrinth. It looks good, but not 'WOW' good.

AFAIK, it's not the low bitrate per se that's the culprit there, but the DNR they applied before encoding.

[xwingsct]

Originally Posted by jorg

thell probly just lower the bit rates for hd dvd version and lower audio quality

That means they have to re-encode the video again at lower bit rate to fit 30GB HD-DVD and might have to get rid of a lot of extra on the disc.
Unless they use their new 51GB disc.

[bhampton]

Quote " thell probly just lower the bit rates for hd dvd version and lower audio quality"

Changing the compression (lowering the bit rate) sounds like going back to square one. In other words another full encoding job.

[bhampton]

Love that pic.

That's great!

-Brian

[KingDeezie]

Awesome!! I think I am going to pick this up tommorow along with War and Rush Hour 3 and have a wank action movie fest for the new year...

[phansson]

xwingxct,

That pic is way to funny, I wonder if that will be compatible with current hd dvd players?

[kaliraver]

Originally Posted by phansson

xwingxct,

That pic is way to funny, I wonder if that will be compatible with current hd dvd players?

I really doubt it

[sowecrazy]

i'm sure the movie looks great and sounds amazing( after all it is on blu-ray) but is the movie itself any good?




blu-rays so far: 55