Archived: Insiders Thread

[OokieSpookie]

Another question for Paid Geek that you may be able to answer or not.
Is there any serious thought being put into ways to get rid of the Blu ray = PS3 = Blu Ray conception that may be seen as a stumbling block to the success of the format?
I can understand the perceived value of that mentality to Sony, maybe more so since the gaming side is still just finding its feet.
But I do think I am the only one that sees it as a two edged sword.

[user friendly]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

Another question for Paid Geek that you may be able to answer or not.
Is there any serious thought being put into ways to get rid of the Blu ray = PS3 = Blu Ray conception that may be seen as a stumbling block to the success of the format?
I can understand the perceived value of that mentality to Sony, maybe more so since the gaming side is still just finding its feet.
But I do think I am the only one that sees it as a two edged sword.

Once player prices come down, I believe that mentality will start to fade away. Right now though, the PS3 is definitely helping BD penetrate homes so unfortunately, HD DVD fans like to use this as evidence against BD having a chance without the PS3. I'd still wait for PG response.

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by user friendly

Once player prices come down, I believe that mentality will start to fade away. Right now though, the PS3 is definitely helping BD penetrate homes so unfortunately, HD DVD fans like to use this as evidence against BD having a chance without the PS3. I'd still wait for PG response.

I agree with you

[akbungle]

Bill Hunt at the digital bits has the in context transcript of the Stringer interview here:
http://thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

[NoQuestion]

Insiders, do yall know of a website or a phone number to call to check the status of the newest 5 free movie promotion that is going on? i know there is a website for the first promotion but im looking for one for the fall/winter promo.

Thanks!

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Bill Hunt at the digital bits has the in context transcript of the Stringer interview here:
http://thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Thanks for posting that.

Very enlightening.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Bill Hunt at the digital bits has the in context transcript of the Stringer interview here:
http://thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

see attachment

[jdc115]

Question for Paidgeek,

I know it was asked before about if the PS3 could be region free on the DVD side but the response came back that this would violate the licensing agreement for the DVD player. Does this mean that every region free DVD player is not technically legal?

Also, what are the restrictions on the actual sales of the DVDs by region? I live in a region 3 country but if I go into the local music/DVD stores they sell both region 1 and region 3 DVDs and these are international chains so I assume it is not an issue for them.

thanks

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

My choice for hottest forum of the day ……………
https://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

That Amazon BOGO deal is amazing!

[desmond]

paid,

i just noticed that dracula and spideys contain xmb icons and titles. any plans to add game like rollover functionality (splash screen with audio) for the future realeases?

great job on all these titles. cant wait to get my copy of cetk.

thanks.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by spreeguy

I would prefer OAR, but just for my own curiousity, would it be possible to author the show open matte 16x9 and use bd-j to turn on/off the black pillars (via an overlay)?

I am not following your suggestion, can you elaborate a little more?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Logan00

paidgeek, would it be possible for you to pass this suggestion on to those working on the PS3 and see if it can be done?

In relation to the PS3, would it be possible for Sony to allow users to prioritorize their audio preferences when it come sto movies?

For example I could list:
1. pcm
2. True HD
3. DTS-MA
etc.

This way once a Blu-ray is inserted, the audio is already selected for me and I can just start watching the movie.

I like this idea, but what about dubbed audio tracks? Would this work on SM3 for instance?

[Josh]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I am not following your suggestion, can you elaborate a little more?

I believe he means having the show authored in 16x9, and then have a function which would place black bars on the screen similar to matting for 4x3 content. Much like a pop-up menu will cover the image, except this would be solid black and cover the edges.

The problem I see with that, would be that it wouldn't take into account pan-and-scan used to compose the 4x3 image from the source. Thus, you wouldn't get the actual 4x3 representation of the picture.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Paidgeek-

I think I have a couple questions that will help us understand the market forces and you can answer publically.

1. What are the production setup costs not including reproduction for BD vs DVD?
I mean, what is the cost to author (scan, program) a simple movie on a DVD with just a few simple menu choices? Now, suppose I was to do the same thing for a BD release (new scan, better soundtrack capture, but otherwise same content/programming). What is the BD cost?

2. How big does a movie have to be to make it worthwhile to come out on BD?
If it is a new movie, what is the minimum US boxoffice take? If an old film from the catalog library, what is the guideline? I realize an answer to this is probably somewhat fuzzy, but stuff comes to DVD all the time, so it must be possible to ballpark the DVD answer, then by extension, get a BD answer?


I'm trying to understand (for all) what are the current economics. Everything pretty much comes out on DVD these days, but not so for BD, hence why we all ask, "Is movie xyzzy coming to BD?" "When will independent films come to BD?" "Any plans for this back catalog title?" etc. which are all questions you can't answer. However, maybe you can answer the above so we can make our own guesses. I'm also hoping that these are the sort of questions you would receive from any potential customer, hence why it would be possible to answer in this forum.

Thanks in advance,
-Jim

The cost of preparing a title for BD is dependent on a number of factors. First and formost is whether or not a suitable HD master is available. The compression and authoring costs are similar to the DVD compression and authoring costs when that business was at the same point from its inception. It is costly to make a title available in all markets worldwide in order to provide dubs / subs / regionalized menus.

The decision of what to release and when cannot be captured with flow-chart logic. There are too many factors to be considered and it is a constant topic of discussion in our marketing group. You can usually count on new release titles coming out at the same time as the DVD, but for catalog releases, it is much more complicated. We do listen to our customers, and titles have been brought forward occasionally because of input from the outside.

Why don't you start a sticky poll with the top 50 titles everyone is interested in and let everyone vote for their favorite 3. We may be able to use the results to justify scheduling some releases we have not prioritized.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

Another question for Paid Geek that you may be able to answer or not.
Is there any serious thought being put into ways to get rid of the Blu ray = PS3 = Blu Ray conception that may be seen as a stumbling block to the success of the format?
I can understand the perceived value of that mentality to Sony, maybe more so since the gaming side is still just finding its feet.
But I do think I am the only one that sees it as a two edged sword.

As you can see from earlier posts, there are two schools of thought on this. I think we are still coming up a bit short on consumer awareness of the BD capabilities of PS3.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by NoQuestion

Insiders, do yall know of a website or a phone number to call to check the status of the newest 5 free movie promotion that is going on? i know there is a website for the first promotion but im looking for one for the fall/winter promo.

Thanks!

It is an independent company that is handling this program. I'll see what details I can find.

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

....

We do listen to our customers, and titles have been brought forward occasionally because of input from the outside.

Why don't you start a sticky poll with the top 50 titles everyone is interested in and let everyone vote for their favorite 3. We may be able to use the results to justify scheduling some releases we have not prioritized.

This is awesome.

Someone please take Paidgeek up on this offer and start this poll!

Once again, Sony shows a willingness to listen to the enthusiasts/customers. Let's take advantage of it!

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by jdc115

Question for Paidgeek,

I know it was asked before about if the PS3 could be region free on the DVD side but the response came back that this would violate the licensing agreement for the DVD player. Does this mean that every region free DVD player is not technically legal?

Also, what are the restrictions on the actual sales of the DVDs by region? I live in a region 3 country but if I go into the local music/DVD stores they sell both region 1 and region 3 DVDs and these are international chains so I assume it is not an issue for them.

thanks

It is not legal to make a "region free" DVD player.

I don't believe there are any restrictions on what retailers sell, but naturally the studios hope they are carrying the localized product so that the consumers get the benefit of the localized menus and other region specific features that we prepare for them.

[Balian]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

It is an independent company that is handling this program. I'll see what details I can find.

I believe he can look up the status of his order on this site:

https://portal.archway.com/run/Lookup?key=BVISTA

[sphdle1]

Originally Posted by sphdle1

I know this idea was posted on another thread, but I think it is quite important, especially for the HD-DVD side to get to it first, so I wanted to put it out for all insiders in hopes that one or more might be able to make things happen.

Someone mentioned that:
"All the BD camp needs to do is have Oprah add it to her "must buy" list (or whatever it is she sells) or give a PS3 to each member of her studio audience (with a mention that it is for playing Blu-Rays) and the war would be over. All you need is Oprah's endorsment and chicks will be wet with anticipation over their PS3 purchase. She could even have an actor in the studio who's just about to have a movie release on Blu-Ray just yucking it up over Blu-ray.
I'm telling you, Oprah is the key..."

At first a few people responded thinking it wouldn't help, but more people than not thought it was a great idea, and would help. I know this would definitely help to give away a couple of hundred PS3's & Blu-ray titles on Oprah's show, and have 100's of thousands buy into it this Christmas!!!

My thoughts on this are that it's better if some Insider/BDA can get to her first before Toshiba/Microsoft do! (Think what it would do if HD-DVD players or an XBox360 with the HD-DVD add on is given away with HD-DVD titles instead...?)

Are there any insiders here that have the right connections with the BDA, studios,? to help make this happen? Her big holiday "Best of Oprah's Favorite Things" must-buy give-away shows are the highest rated shows she puts out, and Millions of people see what they get and then want it for the Christmas season. When iPod's were just new, she gave them out, and iPod sales that Christmas went through the roof. I'm sure her show helped those numbers. This is off her Favorite things Web site: "Oprah's Favorite Things show is the most watched Oprah show all year"
http://www.oprah.com/presents/2006/h...fts_main.jhtml
http://www.oprahs-favorite-things.com/

Who has connections to get on "Oprah's Favorite Things" holiday give-away show list?

PaidGeek, do you have any connections or contacts to make something like this happen?