Saw my first HD-DVD bootlegs today!!

[Greenmatiz2]

I was walking through the Youngsan Electronics Market in Seoul, South Korea and I saw my first HD-DVD bootlegs!

Just a few titles: Batman Begins, Superman Returns, and Serenity. Nothing on BR, but the owner of the shop said it's coming.

I was very sceptical -- the quality looked pretty good, but he was running it on a 17" Samsung laptop. He was playing a demo of Superman. The subs were definitely not movie-screen subs. They didn't look like high-def-quality subs, either -- kind of like standard-def pasted over the movie or something. They were stretched funny, but very readable. Do subs look like that on HD-DVD? I'm guessing they normally don't (they don't on my BR), so they were probably "added-in" somehow.

I tried to snap a photo of the boxes, but the guy wouldn't let me. I'll be sneaking back there soon, and try again when he's not looking (I have a camera in my phone).

I did get a look at the disks inside, though. They were on 15gb Ri-Data HD-DVD-R disks that had no labels. The boxes had color-copied labels of HD-DVD movie boxes on them (look like cheap printed scans stuck in the sleaves).

Does anyone have any idea if these HD-DVD movies could fit on a 15gb disk if it were ripped?

They wanted 10,000 won each for them (about $10). No thanks.

It's worth noting that HD-DVD (and even BR) players in Korea are really expensive, unless you buy the Xbox360 add-on, which is about $180 still. A full HD-DVD/BR combo player is still well over $1,400 US. In fact, I haven't seen anything that plays only HD-DVD (other than some computers with built-in drives that cost over $2000 anyway). BR is more popular here, although still very much a novelty item. You can't get a Korean-made BR player for less than $1,200, even though Samsung and LG are Korean companies (the PS3 is due out next month).

[GasCat]

Very interesting post. Those prices for H/W are crazy.

No wonder Fox has applied the brakes and won't release more. I am not sure but I think you can't see the menus to change things. Anyone know?

[Greenmatiz2]

Oh... an interesting note I forgot to mention.

He also said he'll be selling disks that have two or three semi-high-def movies on them. Two or more movies on one HD disk. Same price.

Smaller file size, but better quality than a standard DVD at fullscreen playback of 960x640 or so. All on an HD-DVD. (That's my guess on the screen size. He said they won't be full quality, but better than DVD).

[phloyd]

Batman Begins and Superman Returns are too big for an HD DVD 15 unless they are recoded iirc.

[jorg]

what about 1080i resolution or 720p i have seen a bunch of those torents

http://btjunkie.org/search?q=hd+dvd

[Greenmatiz2]

Yeah, I thought there had to be something a bit fishy about it. Maybe they took out the menus and features?

I'll go back and take a look this weekend, if I can find the guy. These people sell bootlegs all along the sidewalk in front of the Sunin-in building under little street-tents. Sometimes they move around. Others are sold in the subway (the cheapest crap not worth $2).

I am kind of curious to see how crappy a BR dubbed to an HDTV camera would be, when they come out.

[jbuttler007]

Greenmatiz2,
I'm anti-piracy to the bone. I can't believe that you are stupid enough to post something like this on a public forum. Really think about it. You’re glamorizing that you have committed a crime. Do you follow?
I'm going to assume that you are in the military, Army, Air Force or Navy, in that order. Your English writing skills are pretty good to be a local national especially on this blu-ray forum. Yes, I will report this because of people like you that make companies wary about releasing those much wanted movies.

I see that you have replied to other post on this thread so please, reply to this.

[MrBogey]

Originally Posted by jbuttler007

Greenmatiz2,
I'm anti-piracy to the bone. I can't believe that you are stupid enough to post something like this on a public forum. Really think about it. You’re glamorizing that you have committed a crime. Do you follow?
I'm going to assume that you are in the military, Army, Air Force or Navy, in that order. Your English writing skills are pretty good to be a local national especially on this blu-ray forum. Yes, I will report this because of people like you that make companies wary about releasing those much wanted movies.

I see that you have replied to other post on this thread so please, reply to this.

You do realize they've done nothing illegal in that they haven't bought anything.

[Greenmatiz2]

So I'm going to go to jail for viewing a copied HD-DVD that was being sold on the street?

I didn't buy it. I just saw it on the street.

Wow. And I thought suing 12 year-olds for illegal downloading was bad.

That must be one heck of a root-kit built into that laptop to catch me viewing a copied HD-DVD on the street!

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Greenmatiz2

I was walking through the Youngsan Electronics Market in Seoul, South Korea and I saw my first HD-DVD bootlegs!

Just a few titles: Batman Begins, Superman Returns, and Serenity. Nothing on BR, but the owner of the shop said it's coming.

I was very sceptical -- the quality looked pretty good, but he was running it on a 17" Samsung laptop. He was playing a demo of Superman. The subs were definitely not movie-screen subs. They didn't look like high-def-quality subs, either -- kind of like standard-def pasted over the movie or something. They were stretched funny, but very readable. Do subs look like that on HD-DVD? I'm guessing they normally don't (they don't on my BR), so they were probably "added-in" somehow.

I tried to snap a photo of the boxes, but the guy wouldn't let me. I'll be sneaking back there soon, and try again when he's not looking (I have a camera in my phone).

I did get a look at the disks inside, though. They were on 15gb Ri-Data HD-DVD-R disks that had no labels. The boxes had color-copied labels of HD-DVD movie boxes on them (look like cheap printed scans stuck in the sleaves).

Does anyone have any idea if these HD-DVD movies could fit on a 15gb disk if it were ripped?

They wanted 10,000 won each for them (about $10). No thanks.

It's worth noting that HD-DVD (and even BR) players in Korea are really expensive, unless you buy the Xbox360 add-on, which is about $180 still. A full HD-DVD/BR combo player is still well over $1,400 US. In fact, I haven't seen anything that plays only HD-DVD (other than some computers with built-in drives that cost over $2000 anyway). BR is more popular here, although still very much a novelty item. You can't get a Korean-made BR player for less than $1,200, even though Samsung and LG are Korean companies (the PS3 is due out next month).

aaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggh, who goes there it is a PIRATE?????? no offense what are you trying to say? You are contradicting yourself!!!!!! being a pirate........

[Greenmatiz2]

The next thing they'll be telling us is that people who buy DVD-R's or CD-R's should be prosecuted for illegal downloading.

The guy lambasts me for being "stupid", but fails to read my post in the first place to realize that what he's saying makes no sense in this situation.

Classic.

[WriteSimply]

This is another reason why Warner and Paramount, and other BD studios, should put the main feature at least on BD50 discs. It'll be harder to copy for HD-DVD15 and BD25 without some major loss to the quality. But then again, people who buy pirated movies are not really fussy about the quality of those discs.


fuad

[Greenmatiz2]

Yeah. Or not make the larger-sized blanks available at all.

Heck, they'd probably stick 5 movies on a BD-50!

I don't even own an HD-DVD player, so it would be kind of difficult to play the pirate disks they were selling, anyway.

[Unkn0wn47]

Originally Posted by Greenmatiz2

Yeah, I thought there had to be something a bit fishy about it. Maybe they took out the menus and features?

I'll go back and take a look this weekend, if I can find the guy. These people sell bootlegs all along the sidewalk in front of the Sunin-in building under little street-tents. Sometimes they move around. Others are sold in the subway (the cheapest crap not worth $2).

I am kind of curious to see how crappy a BR dubbed to an HDTV camera would be, when they come out.

I must admit, this has got to be the most pathetic post I have seen. You must be completely incompetent. Go back to the hole from which you came.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Greenmatiz2

The next thing they'll be telling us is that people who buy DVD-R's or CD-R's should be prosecuted for illegal downloading.

The guy lambasts me for being "stupid", but fails to read my post in the first place to realize that what he's saying makes no sense in this situation.

Classic.

you are what every citizen should be , I am a manager at a movie theatre, and you have no idea how many people we have gotten arrested for a piracy issue. as a matter of fact while directing my employees to clean an auditorium, i saw this old lady filming the credits for Mission impossible 3. when apprehendid her excuse was her son was part of the production and she wanted to get his name during the credits my bosses response, was and I quote "I don't care either she deletes the footage of the credits or CALL THE POLICE!"

[Greenmatiz2]

I can believe it.

The problem is, however, that a large number of pirated movies for sale on the streets in Korea have a line that says, "For your consideration" at the bottom. The movie is a demo movie sent to the theaters "for consideration", I am told.

Guess who is copying those? The people working at the theaters.

I don't buy pirated movies. They look like crap. I didn't buy a $600 Blu-ray machine to play crappy movies.

[Greenmatiz2]

Originally Posted by Unkn0wn47

I must admit, this has got to be the most pathetic post I have seen. You must be completely incompetent. Go back to the hole from which you came.

Why so?

I would like to see the bootleg places closed down. All it does is take money away from the USA. And I'm American.

They sit right in the middle of all of the legit computer hardware stores. Why are they still there? Now that the USA has an FTA agreement with Korea, they should clamp down on this rabid selling of illegal DVDs in the open. No one seems to care if they sell pirated movies from the USA (or sell their computers with pirated/cracked versions of Windows -- which most shops in Yongsan do).

It's time to close these shops down. Not a penny goes back to the USA.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

It's not just the US losing money. Everyone that put a lot of effort into making a good movie is losing out. MS is a different story to me. They made a lot of their money through illegal and thugish practices anyways. I wouldn't mind if they lost half their fortune (you do dirt...you get dirt).

[Greenmatiz2]

As someone who is interested in producing DVD titles for profit, I am all for Blu-ray over HD-DVD from a developers standpoint.

I do find it newsworthy to report when these things are being bootlegged, however.

I'm sorry if some people are upset by that.

[Zvi]

Originally Posted by jbuttler007

I'm anti-piracy to the bone. I can't believe that you are stupid enough to post something like this on a public forum. Really think about it. You’re glamorizing that you have committed a crime. Do you follow?

Actually, I am not following. How and where was he glamorizing? Post says it was crappy and not worth it. So, I don't quite see how he condoned or glamorized piracy.
It was a report about pirated movies. There is tons of that sort of posts, articles and even news reports on TV. Do they all glamorize piracy?