Region B Suckers

[Seiko1]

I thought that would get your attention.
A couple of us in Aus have embarked on an "anti rip off" campain against Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
We have complained about 3.10 to Yuma and Rambo 2008 Audio content in Aus (B) not being the same as in the US.
If we look for Audio before any release and want to pre-order all we find it available on is Amazon.com and it's usually PCM7.1 (YUMA) and DTS HD Master 7.1 (Rambo). Of course after delivery from ezydvd or dvdorchard and the like we find they are both DTHD5.1
Two of us have recieved two free blu-ray's of our choice as compensation (an admission of guilt on Sony's part)
Join the fight for equility!!!!
Steven Bromwich was SPHE contact in Aus and he forwards messages from "Dario" at Sony US
Dolby licensing fee's are obviously lower than DTS otherwise why would you bother changing the audio on a region free Lionsgate release?????
But we are more than paying for the right to have the choice between Dolby and DTS on the same disc aren't we? The only way we will win a fight like this is to bombard the companies involved in this type of shenanigan with complaints on a release by release basis.
I will be buying my Lionsgate releases on amazon until they change because I like 7.1 and region free and above all "CHOICE" Long live consumer POWER

[Got2LoveGadgets]

I agree as a fellow region B sufferer (UK). Unfortunately one of the reasons we get poorer audio tracks is due to the fact that region B films often contain multiple language tracks more so then the region A release. This obviously takes up more room on the disc so we suffer with reduced audio

On the plus side allot of films are region free and cheaper from the states hence over half my films are imports

[paul0908]

i bought a ps3 from renchi.com as they are the japanese and hong kong machines( region A BD playback), even though im from uk i will not buy any movies from uk
never have never will because of stuff like this

[gamer4eva]

how did u get 2 free bd's even i've got Yuma and was gonna get rambo(is dat out???) i know the audio sucks and it doesnt even have the digital copy which the US consumers get from lionsgate and sony

[aygie]

Originally Posted by paul0908

i bought a ps3 from renchi.com as they are the japanese and hong kong machines( region A BD playback), even though im from uk i will not buy any movies from uk
never have never will because of stuff like this

I am actually thinking of doing this. How was the process of buying the unit? Smooth?

[Zyclone]

Originally Posted by gamer4eva

how did u get 2 free bd's even i've got Yuma and was gonna get rambo(is dat out???) i know the audio sucks and it doesnt even have the digital copy which the US consumers get from lionsgate and sony

its out already i got mine on tuesday.

[WickyWoo]

Dolby licensing fee's are obviously lower than DTS otherwise why would you bother changing the audio on a region free Lionsgate release?????

That has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sony does their disc, Lionsgate does theirs. There is no resource sharing between the two companies aside from having access to the same pool of source material. Sony as a rule does not use DTS MA (except by Spielberg's request on CE3K). The fees are never the factors in those choices. The multiple language thing would definately stand out as a culprit to me, also is it on a BD25?

[paul0908]

Originally Posted by Aygie

I am actually thinking of doing this. How was the process of buying the unit? Smooth?

it was very easy got it within a couple of days through DHL, you wont need a step up/down converter either, and these consoles are about £75 cheaper than uk models and you get the choise of silver/white/black consoles

[Seiko1]

Originally Posted by gamer4eva

how did u get 2 free bd's even i've got Yuma and was gonna get rambo(is dat out???) i know the audio sucks and it doesnt even have the digital copy which the US consumers get from lionsgate and sony

We got the two freebies by compaining to Sony Aus that we had pre-ordered 3.10 to Yuma and since the audio was not listed on any aus site had to rely on Amazon.com for the audio content which was listed as pcm7.1
They came back with "check out the audio on 310toyumathefilm.com"
pointing out that it was listed as Dolby5.1 but the dummies were looking at the DVD release not the blu-ray which is listed as pcm 7.1.
They were a bit red faced and came back with "Sony Pictures wishes to keep the Audio on it's Blu-ray releases as it was originally intended for it's Theatrical release" My Trump card was "well then where is the f*****g DTS and SDDS".
The next e-mail was an offer of two free Blu-ray's of my choice from the Sony catalogue.
The other member did the same and got the same result!

[Seiko1]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

That has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sony does their disc, Lionsgate does theirs. There is no resource sharing between the two companies aside from having access to the same pool of source material. Sony as a rule does not use DTS MA (except by Spielberg's request on CE3K). The fees are never the factors in those choices. The multiple language thing would definately stand out as a culprit to me, also is it on a BD25?

I can't tell if it's a BD25 or 50, it's nowhere on the cover or the disc.
Lionsgate is on the cover 5 times and the only thing you could relate to Sony is the "Playstation 3 Compatible" sticker, so where do they get off changing the Audio? English and German are the only two audio tracks.
How do you know "The fees are never the factors in those choices"
Region 4 DVD's have always been re-released with DTS down the track so us poor sucker's have had to buy the Movie a second time if we want DTS,
so of course we are more than a little paranoid of their motives!!!!
I don't give a toss what Sony's rules are for Audio! The whole point of this thread is to get them to change their rules and give us English speakers the choices in Audio that we demand. You should work for Sony as you defence of them is a lot better than those who actually do work for them!
No offence

[HumanMedia]

You may have missed a point in WickyWoo's post- Sony never had the 7 track audio mix for Rambo (2008), only Lionsgate did. Lionsgate have all their mixes done for them at a particular audio studio. Sony do theirs elsewhere in parallel and usually only do 5.1 mixes with the source materials they have.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by paul0908

it was very easy got it within a couple of days through DHL, you wont need a step up/down converter either, and these consoles are about £75 cheaper than uk models and you get the choise of silver/white/black consoles

Thanks dude, i was researching this the other day, its nice to hear someone who has actually done it and it went ok.

[Seiko1]

Originally Posted by HumanMedia

You may have missed a point in WickyWoo's post- Sony never had the 7 track audio mix for Rambo (2008), only Lionsgate did. Lionsgate have all their mixes done for them at a particular audio studio. Sony do theirs elsewhere in parallel and usually only do 5.1 mixes with the source materials they have.

No I didn't miss the point, my point is that the Movie is a lionsgate originally and is region free and has DTS HD master 7.1.
Sony is the Aus distributor, the cover makes no mention of Sony but has Lionsgate on it 5 times. Now if I'm looking on the net for a movies Audio all I can see is what Lionsgate have on it and thats what I expect to get.
If Sony wish to change the Audio they should have SONY plastered all over the cover so I know the difference between it and the Lionsgate version because the audio is never listed on Aussie sites prior to the release date.
The biggest question of all still remaining for me is, if you are only the distributor of a movie and it is already region free and you aren't going to claim it as yours by placing Sony on the cover, WHY change the Audio and region code it and cause all this frustration for region B buyer's

[HumanMedia]

You are still missing the point. Sony are not the distributors for that disc only the movie "Rambo". To release Rambo outside the USA they have to go to the original elements, in this case probably a 1080P 4:4:4 digital master, create a new compressed video file, create a 5.1 sound mix, author the disk, get designers to create the menu graphics, get java programmers to create the menus, see what extras they have the rights to (which is different to what Lionsgate have the rights to, test and final master their product.

They have to do their own version and cannot use what Lionsgate have created. It would be like you getting the rights to perform and release your own version of a U2 song, and then going and selling U2's already existing recording. You are not legally allowed to do it.

Furthermore, for Sony to even have the rights to release outside the USA, they would have had to agree with Lionsgate that their version would be region coded so it wasn't gray marketed back into the USA and rob Lionsgate of their domestic sales, which would be based on a different profit structure.

I dont like any of this either but this is the reality of the situation and gets even more complex with various titles which have different distribution arrangements in multiple countries, not just Region A and B territories.

[Seiko1]

Originally Posted by HumanMedia

You are still missing the point. Sony are not the distributors for that disc only the movie "Rambo". To release Rambo outside the USA they have to go to the original elements, in this case probably a 1080P 4:4:4 digital master, create a new compressed video file, create a 5.1 sound mix, author the disk, get designers to create the menu graphics, get java programmers to create the menus, see what extras they have the rights to (which is different to what Lionsgate have the rights to, test and final master their product.

They have to do their own version and cannot use what Lionsgate have created. It would be like you getting the rights to perform and release your own version of a U2 song, and then going and selling U2's already existing recording. You are not legally allowed to do it.

Furthermore, for Sony to even have the rights to release outside the USA, they would have had to agree with Lionsgate that their version would be region coded so it wasn't gray marketed back into the USA and rob Lionsgate of their domestic sales, which would be based on a different profit structure.

I dont like any of this either but this is the reality of the situation and gets even more complex with various titles which have different distribution arrangements in multiple countries, not just Region A and B territories.

One of us must be missing something! If I had the rights to release a U2 song, it would say something like "Angel of Harlem" "by Steve" wouldn't it?
Rambo is "Rambo by Lionsgate" on the cover NOT "RAMBO BY SONY" as is 3.10 to Yuma and I have both releases, one from the US, pcm 7.1 and the Aus DTHD5.1 and they are both 3.10 to Yuma by Lionsgate no mention of SONY at all! They are identical except for the audio.
If they are going to change the audio thats their decision, but ultimately they will lose business in region B because we can get Lionsgate region free from Amazon. At this stage all I would like to see is a cover that says "Rambo BY SONY" "3.10 to Yuma BY SONY" etc etc etc.

[Seiko1]

Funny I just recieved another copy of Rambo reloaded in the post and it is Labelled on the back and spine "Sony Home Pictures".
At least we know they are listening!
Now it's just an Audio issue, Dolby AND DTS please
I wonder if I'll end up with a relabelled 3.10 to Yuma and have three copies?
NOT!!!