Billu Barber (EROS - Blu-ray Shots)

[Jadoogar]

[gaganspidey]

Can you please list the extra features available in this Blu Ray ?

[vveksuvarna]

not exactly a crisp transfer....the blacks arent deep enough,

and the whites could use some contrast...a lot of color saturation can be easily noticed.

i wish they have strict supervisors for the final master, before they publish sub-par blurays.

its about time india produced stunning material...our movies are known for the colours.

[Dead Rippers Society]

^ this isn't an UPSCALE from SD material. That much is clear.

However, just like the DVD transfer, I will agree...blacks aren't deep enough and contrast is needed.

I truly wish I could work for these companies who are doing the BluRay transfers of these Bollywood movies.

I remember checking out the DDLJ DVD9 print from YASHRAJ frame by frame...easily more than 1000 frames could have been cut due to IMPROPER FILM SPLICING, COLOUR FADES, etc etc...yet they released it. IF they do the same thing for BluRay, I'm afraid that Bollywood just doesn't care to properly look at their films before releasing on ANY MEDIUM.

Let me at them...my god, I know what needs to be done.

[Dead Rippers Society]

Bollywood may be KNOWN for it's colours...just not on a plastic round disc LOL

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by vveksuvarna

not exactly a crisp transfer....the blacks arent deep enough,

and the whites could use some contrast...a lot of color saturation can be easily noticed.

i wish they have strict supervisors for the final master, before they publish sub-par blurays.

its about time india produced stunning material...our movies are known for the colours.

India has already shown the world what can be achieved on blu-ray by releasing benchmark-quality-Sivaji. This is a complete insult to the knowledge and intelligence that India has on blu-ray technology.

[lgans316]

Those facial close-up shots exhibit waxiness. Looks like some degree of DNR has either been applied at encoding stage or its baked in the master which is not uncommon for Indian movies. I hope the OP posted direct screengrabs.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Those facial close-up shots exhibit waxiness. Looks like some degree of DNR has either been applied at encoding stage or its baked in the master which is not uncommon for Indian movies. I hope the OP posted direct screengrabs.

I have Billu Barber and I can confirm that it has excessive DNR which has removed details and made faces plastic and electronic - I really hate that. They have fully messed up the grain structure of the film.

In fact they shouldn't have touched the grain structure without a "valid reason" and "sufficient knowledge" about it. Removing grain means removing details; that means removing HD and pushing it towards SD. As a result we get waxy unbelievably bad picture when viewed at the sweet spot of 1080P HD which is about 2 to 2.5 screen heights.

blu-ray.com members have voted in a recent poll not to interfere with the film original grain structure (just because that means they are really messing up with the HD picture). I really don't understand why these people, most likely, unnecessarily mess up the picture and make it electronic which is the opposite of HD.

blu-ray.com members have overwhelmingly voted for the option: DNR "Removes details, removes grain - Unnecessary. I don't like it." See this poll:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/poll.php?d...ts&pollid=1043


Take Sivaji as an example - it is a brilliant HD picture mostly the original grain structure intact. It has some mild DNR possibly from the DI.

Some of the authoring people do not have a clue.

They are just going against the majority requirements. They did the same for the subtitles. Subtitle poll indicated placing subtitles within the frame as the preferred option (based on many important reasons). That is the Hollywood trend as well.
They went against that. See this poll:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ght=grain+poll


Thirdly, the members voted for DTS HD-MA as the preferred audio option. They did not consistently implement that either. See this poll:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=99791

I am very sorry to say that the production of the latest 4 blu-rays from Eros is in a real mess which shouldn't have happen.

Further, the black levels and the contrast of this are in a real mess. Colours are not right either.

So many things have gone wrong. Why?

[jjh]

Originally Posted by syncguy

Take Sivaji as an example - it is a brilliant HD picture mostly the original grain structure intact. It has some mild DNR possibly from the DI.

Sivaji has DNR from DI and so does Saawariya. But at levels that don't ruin the picture. In Saawariya it's rather subtle.

[lgans316]

It was confirmed by Shahran who supervises Ayngaran Blu-ray transfers and encoding that most of the Tamil movies have some degree of DNR and EE baked in the master. He also confirmed that no tampering is being done at the encoding stage though the team is unable to do anything to mitigate the baked in ill effects. Maybe they add a degree of fake grain to remove waxiness.

I am not surprised how poor Eros Blus are turning out to be. Instead of wasting money, time and mood, we can continue buying the $2 pirated DVDs or the 4-in-1 / 6-in-1 legal UNCOMPRESSED DVD sold by Moser Baer which looks holy grail in 14" TVs.

[vveksuvarna]

Originally Posted by lgans316

It was confirmed by Shahran who supervises Ayngaran Blu-ray transfers and encoding that most of the Tamil movies have some degree of DNR and EE baked in the master. He also confirmed that no tampering is being done at the encoding stage though the team is unable to do anything to mitigate the baked in ill effects. Maybe they add a degree of fake grain to remove waxiness.

I am not surprised how poor Eros Blus are turning out to be. Instead of wasting money, time and mood, we can continue buying the $2 pirated DVDs or the 4-in-1 / 6-in-1 legal UNCOMPRESSED DVD sold by Moser Baer which looks holy grail in 14" TVs.

adding a layer of fake grain, is ruining something that is already bad.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by vveksuvarna

adding a layer of fake grain, is ruining something that is already bad.

Exactly. I am very happy and glad to see someone who undestands this business. Adding fake grain will NOT remove the waxiness of the picture. It will only further ruin it by adding rogue grain on top of wax.

You see, once grain is removed, the details of the filmic picture are removed. The "details" have gone for ever - cannot get it back. This is the "evilness" of DNR.

The filmic look of a movie is partially due to the "details" embedded in the picture. The details have been made out of the grain - the grain is fundamental to the film. Once grain is touched - the details will be altered - then the filmic look is gone for ever. For example, Billu barber blu-ray is not filmic, it is cartoonish to me.

I know in some rare cases, e.g. 300, have injected grain for the sake of grain (perhaps may be to give grittiness) - I am not happy and not comfortable with that concept.

If Shahran has injected artificial grain into Sivaji, it is a big mistake, IMO. I do not think he has. I didn't see any rogue artificial grain in Sivaji. I will check this carefully when I watch a movie again.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by lgans316

...
I am not surprised how poor Eros Blus are turning out to be. Instead of wasting money, time and mood, we can continue buying the $2 pirated DVDs or the 4-in-1 / 6-in-1 legal UNCOMPRESSED DVD sold by Moser Baer which looks holy grail in 14" TVs.

This is the BIG issue that Eros, YRF and other studios should worry about. At all costs they should avoid giving the wrong message for people to conclude that Indian blu-rays are all most similar to a good quality DVD. Pirates can match DVD quality in mass production. Therefore, the studios should demonstrate a day and night difference between blu-ray and good-quality DVD. Eros completely failed on this with the latest blu-ray releases.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by syncguy

This is the BIG issue that Eros, YRF and other studios should worry about. At all costs they should avoid giving the wrong message for people to conclude that Indian blu-rays are all most similar to a good quality DVD. Pirates can match DVD quality in mass production. Therefore, the studios should demonstrate a day and night difference between blu-ray and good-quality DVD. Eros completely failed on this with the latest blu-ray releases.

Maximum AV quality should be the motto and prime focus of Indian studios who are releasing their movies on Blu-ray. BDA should act as a watchdog and ensure that their benchmarks aren't compromised.

Also the Indian junta needs to be educated on capabilities of Blu-ray and the true home theater experience they are missing and compromising due to price factor and this-is-enough mindset.

In the end pricing is the king. If Studios and CE manufacturers are going to follow current pricing trend for HDTV, Blu-ray players / media and Home theater equipments then High Definition will never become mainstream in India.

Onkyo TX-SR607 - $900
Panasonic DMP-BD60 - $500
Sony Bravia W series 46" - $2200, 52" - $5000 (WTF????)
Pioneer Kuro 50" - $6000
Panasonic Viera V10 - $3500

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Maximum AV quality should be the motto and prime focus of Indian studios who are releasing their movies on Blu-ray. BDA should act as a watchdog and ensure that their benchmarks aren't compromised.

Also the Indian junta needs to be educated on capabilities of Blu-ray and the true home theater experience they are missing and compromising due to price factor and this-is-enough mindset.

Absolutely, the key in blu-ray is picture and audio quality. blu-ray means quality. That is what you sell. If not, nothing to sell. The key problem with Indian home entertainment industry is the piracy. Indian studios should do their best to attract people to blu-ray (starting from the west) based on quality and steer them away from the pirated $2 DVDs. In order to achieve this they should present a day and night diffrence with blu-ray over and above high quality DVDs (which can be mass produced by the pirates). Pirate's market could easily add up to billions. So this is an extreamly important business aspect that they cannot afford to overlook.

In the end pricing is the king. If Studios and CE manufacturers are going to follow current pricing trend for HDTV, Blu-ray players / media and Home theater equipments then High Definition will never become mainstream in India.

Onkyo TX-SR607 - $900
Panasonic DMP-BD60 - $500
Sony Bravia W series 46" - $2200, 52" - $5000 (WTF????)
Pioneer Kuro 50" - $6000
Panasonic Viera V10 - $3500

It is expected for the hardware prices to reduce. blu-ray players were selling for less than $100. 50" 1080P HDTVs can be purchased for less than $1400

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

It is likely that 1080P 50" will go below $1000 mark soon.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by syncguy

It is likely that 1080P 50" will go below $1000 mark soon.

Its is likely to go below $1000 in other countries but not India. I ordered 4 BLUs from amazon. Was shipped on Sep 10th and yet to be delivered. This is the kind of pathetic situation one has to bear with in this cursed country. I hope the guy who stealed my Blu-rays first knows what Blu-ray is.

Lesson: Never import BLUs to India. You go abroad and buy them yourselves or ask your friends staying abroad to deliver it when they visit India.

[kailashu]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Its is likely to go below $1000 in other countries but not India. I ordered 4 BLUs from amazon. Was shipped on Sep 10th and yet to be delivered. This is the kind of pathetic situation one has to bear with in this cursed country. I hope the guy who stealed my Blu-rays first knows what Blu-ray is.

Lesson: Never import BLUs to India. You go abroad and buy them yourselves or ask your friends staying abroad to deliver it when they visit India.

Is there an option for registered post. That will be your best bet. Amazon is pretty good at refunds if you dont receive the product.

[syncguy]

YRF has set a good direction by positioning blu-rays at an affordable price for the Indian residents. Thanks Yash Raj.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by kailashu

Is there an option for registered post. That will be your best bet. Amazon is pretty good at refunds if you dont receive the product.

I know but feeling really bad and embarrassed to request for refund as I still feel its not their mistake. Going forward, I would NEVER import anything to India fearing some greedy morons who pry on others property

[bluindia]

Originally Posted by lgans316

Maximum AV quality should be the motto and prime focus of Indian studios who are releasing their movies on Blu-ray. BDA should act as a watchdog and ensure that their benchmarks aren't compromised.

Also the Indian junta needs to be educated on capabilities of Blu-ray and the true home theater experience they are missing and compromising due to price factor and this-is-enough mindset.

In the end pricing is the king. If Studios and CE manufacturers are going to follow current pricing trend for HDTV, Blu-ray players / media and Home theater equipments then High Definition will never become mainstream in India.

Onkyo TX-SR607 - $900
Panasonic DMP-BD60 - $500
Sony Bravia W series 46" - $2200, 52" - $5000 (WTF????)
Pioneer Kuro 50" - $6000
Panasonic Viera V10 - $3500

+1
Picture is very much blurred, And AQ is also not upto the BD specs.