Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Jeff Kleist]

I heard the same thing, the question is more WHEN. Pre or post WB takeover.That part is muddled in my head Like I said, this has been YEARS Unlike the previous attempts though, this one was very direct and by the numbers in terms of how a catalog title usually hits Blu-ray without any super special features

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

That they ran a new master? No.

So, are you convinced that these are indeed new masters on the discs or that something else happened, intentionally or otherwise, which kept the new masters from finding their way to the discs, despite having been prepared for them?

[Jeff Kleist]

So, are you convinced that these are indeed new masters on the discs or that something else happened, intentionally or otherwise, which kept the new masters from finding their way to the discs, despite having been prepared for them?

Neither one. I'm convinced people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to these films, and that they're mistaking noise for grain/detail. Until tomorrow when I'm home and have some time/energy to even looks at the hots on my calibrated 1080p monitor, I can't render anything further than that hypothesis. If PJ stating that he completely approves the Blus isn't good enough for people, I doubt anything will ever change their minds, as they'd rather follow Eric EXE off on another crusade

On the upside I finally got my own copy of the Japanese T2 thanks to Geneon, as well as J-Ponyo, The Crow and Equilibrium. I'll probably update my ponyo review later in the week with the results. I totally scored a first press ponyo with the awesome glossy postcard book in it too

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Neither one.

Hmm... maybe you've misunderstood my question, because unless I've misunderstood this answer, you're saying the masters on the LotR set are neither new nor old?!

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I'll probably update my ponyo review later in the week with the results.

Looking forward to that. I'm curious about the quality of English subs, if it has them.

[Jeff Kleist]

Hmm... maybe you've misunderstood my question, because unless I've misunderstood this answer, you're saying the masters on the LotR set are neither new nor old?!

Timeless space vortex. New masters yes

Ponyo has english subs. All the ghilbi Japanese releases have had them. They're identical to the translation subtitles on the US disc

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

For those with large screens or better yet, front projection set-ups, also look for evidence of halos on the HDTV version, which should be ruled out to make the playing field level.

*If* the screenshots are an honest and accurate reflection of the two versions, then it's the other way round, and the Blu-ray is the one with clear signs of having had sharpening applied. It looks like it was only a small radius unsharp mask, so you have to zoom in close to see the halos, but they're there, whereas they aren't in the HDTV shots. I doubt you'd see the halos during normal viewing.

Also, most of the shots don't show much difference between the two versions, it appears to only be some shots where there is the drastic noise reduction + sharpening effect in the Blu-ray compared to the HDTV broadcast.

Jeff, if you aren't willing to believe me, and it doesn't bother me if you aren't, as you don't know me, then find yourself a professional photographer who you can trust, who cleans up digital images for a living, and send him the two images of Gandalf. Just label them A and B, don't say what each one represents. Ask him for his views on whether or not A can be turned into B and vice versa, and if so, what processing would be used.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

If PJ stating that he completely approves the Blus isn't good enough for people, I doubt anything will ever change their minds, as they'd rather follow Eric EXE off on another crusade.

Jeff, it’s not just “Eric.exe”, I received a PM that our old friend “xylon” the *screenshot scientist* of record for Baraka
https://forum.blu-ray.com/3088438-post12878.html

and other screenshot analysis blunders, is posting his own FOTR screenshot arcade on more provincial audio video forums. They're coming at you from all sides Bud.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

and other screenshot analysis blunders, is posting his own FOTR screenshot arcade on more provincial audio video forums. They're coming at you from all sides Bud.

Is it coincidence that these other forums were major staging grounds for the Red Ants?

Nahhhh.....

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

posting his own FOTR screenshot arcade on more provincial audio video forums. They're coming at you from all sides Bud.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

“xylon” the *screenshot scientist* of record for Baraka
https://forum.blu-ray.com/3088438-post12878.html
and other screenshot analysis blunders, is posting his own FOTR screenshot arcade

Penton, tell me you're not surprised the stage that is LotR is too large for the likes of Xylon to resist!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Penton, tell me you're not surprised the stage that is LotR is too large for the likes of Xylon to resist!

I believe he’s jealous that a screenshot engineer (eric.exe) beat him to the boards with the pics.

You damn right though, I believe there’s competition amongst all *screenshot scientists* to have their 15 min. of fame.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I don't know if it was Ronnie's idea to pull them, given the usual way of these things it probably came from even higher

lol, well I don’t think Ronnee would feel really enthused about reading your ^ comment above. What I was implying was that she would know the ‘real deal’ as to why this forum was asked to pull Ken Brown’s screenshots and she may be amenable to being approached by Bill and openly discussing the matter with him, as he has e-mailed her in the past. Just a thought for you to pass on.

But the upside to Blu-ray.com forum members (if, what you believe is indeed true), is that Senior V.P.’s or even Presidents of WB are reading and responding to what it being posted on Blu-ray.com.

[garyrc]

O.K., I'm rather digitally naive, but I'm getting the impression that, in practice, a significant number of Blu-rays, for whatever combination of reasons, have lower resolution and/or lower acutance than have the same films in at least some of their HDTV airings. Is this true? If so, wouldn't that make Blu, in practice, a step backwards, compared to broadcast HDTV, with exceptions?

P.S., Jeff, as someone a couple of years older than the lovely Sigourney Weaver, I want to see her natural aging, unless the director or Sigourney herself doesn't want me to see it. And if I see it in the theater, I want to see it at home. The same goes for facial detail in younger (and older) actors. I wonder if the hiding of facial detail, or the outright "wax museum" treatment, is some weird result of a bit of ageism, projected narcissism on the part of the technicians or their supervisors, and wanting to obscure the grand stories that older, and even younger faces can reveal. In a very old article, the journalist McEvoy wrote that he was sitting with Walt Disney toward the end of the filmmaker's life, reviewing footage of Disney's intros to his television show. Walt turned to an assistant and said something like, "Tell them not to use that soft lens on me -- it makes me look out of focus." Exactly.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Is it coincidence that these other forums were major staging grounds for the Red Ants?

Nahhhh.....

Which is hilarious in retrospect, because the limited capacity of HD-DVD allowed for generally for worse encodes of HD films.

[wallendo]

Originally Posted by garyrc

...

P.S., Jeff, as someone a couple of years older than the lovely Sigourney Weaver, I want to see her natural aging, unless the director or Sigourney herself doesn't want me to see it. And if I see it in the theater, I want to see it at home. The same goes for facial detail in younger (and older) actors. I wonder if the hiding of facial detail, or the outright "wax museum" treatment, is some weird result of a bit of ageism, projected narcissism on the part of the technicians or their supervisors, and wanting to obscure the grand stories that older, and even younger faces can reveal. In a very old article, the journalist McEvoy wrote that he was sitting with Walt Disney toward the end of the filmmaker's life, reviewing footage of Disney's intros to his television show. Walt turned to an assistant and said something like, "Tell them not to use that soft lens on me -- it makes me look out of focus." Exactly.

Men grow distinguished.
Women grow old.

I think part of the issue is that there is a Hollywood Ideal, which is rampant among the Hollywood elite, and also expected by the general population, that film should be better than reality. For example, think of all the attractive women in Hollywood who get gaudy tattoos, and when questioned about them, replay "Well I'll just spend a little more time in make-up every day while they cover up my tattoos." And to be honest, many moviegoers would be quite upset if the love interest in Transformers 3 had normal sized breasts and a zit on her forehead.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by wallendo

And to be honest, many moviegoers would be quite upset if the love interest in Transformers 3 had normal sized breasts and a zit on her forehead.

Not really a fan of Megan Fox but she's fairly "normal" for her size frame.
And replace "zit on forehead" with "odd thumbs"...

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

But the upside to Blu-ray.com forum members (if, what you believe is indeed true), is that Senior V.P.’s or even Presidents of WB are reading and responding to what it being posted on Blu-ray.com.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Not really a fan of Megan Fox but she's fairly "normal" for her size frame.
And replace "zit on forehead" with "odd thumbs"...

I have nightmares about those thumbs


I'd say the teenage boy in movie goers would be disappointed
I actually go to see a movie called Transformers for...you know...the Transformers.
me

[DenonCI]

Gross...you guys made me look:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CA4Q9QEwBA

[Jeff Kleist]

lol, well I don’t think Ronnee would feel really enthused about reading your ^ comment above. What I was implying was that she would know the ‘real deal’ as to why this forum was asked to pull Ken Brown’s screenshots and she may be amenable to being approached by Bill and openly discussing the matter with him, as he has e-mailed her in the past. Just a thought for you to pass on.

No no, that was not my intention. All I'm saying is that I'm not sure it was her idea, and that there may have been something sent down the chain of command. WB has never been a fan of screenshots, and like I said, to get anyone moving on a weekend usually takes some major ants in the pants This would not be the first time this happened BTW. Mind you this is pure speculation, as I just got home after 24 hours of travelling

Jeff, if you aren't willing to believe me, and it doesn't bother me if you aren't, as you don't know me, then find yourself a professional photographer who you can trust, who cleans up digital images for a living, and send him the two images of Gandalf. Just label them A and B, don't say what each one represents. Ask him for his views on whether or not A can be turned into B and vice versa, and if so, what processing would be used.

The question is not that you CAN clean it up. The question is WHAT you're cleaning

P.S., Jeff, as someone a couple of years older than the lovely Sigourney Weaver, I want to see her natural aging, unless the director or Sigourney herself doesn't want me to see it. And if I see it in the theater, I want to see it at home. The same goes for facial detail in younger (and older) actors. I wonder if the hiding of facial detail, or the outright "wax museum" treatment, is some weird result of a bit of ageism, projected narcissism on the part of the technicians or their supervisors, and wanting to obscure the grand stories that older, and even younger faces can reveal

I totally agree with you. but I think it's as much a reflection of the reality that Hollywood is a youngin's game, and I'd rather see them softened than Joan Rivers'd

And don't worry, Meghan Fox will soon be replaced by another butt that looks better in Daisy Dukes, and she too can take her "acting" to making $800 a weekend in Russian theaters with Jessica Simpson, cause MTV will be giving another "actress" an award for a performance that barely qualified as phoning it in while suffering from swine flu

EDIT: Just checked out the OP of Ponyo, and I can report identical fidelity to the English dub DTS MA track, definately codec crunch on the DD 5.1

[Cinema Squid]

Why was the thedigitalbits.com PQ review score for The Fellowship of the Ring BD changed from 17.5 to 17.0? I don't see an explanation of this in the editor's notes.