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

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Nice of you to stop in Bill!

Bill and/or Jeff:

There seems some confusion in the news post about the ultimate editions of Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, apparently some sources claiming there will be no extended editions on this release. Is this the case or no?

I will confirm. Stand by...

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Taffy

Lets take a closer look at these terms "HT enthusiasts" and "cinephiles" if for no other reason than just to see if I qualify.

Well...I'm sure as hell enthusiastic about my HT...so I'm OK there.

Cinephile is defined as just a devoted moviegoer. Honestly...I checked the dictionary. No where did I see any reference to Blu-ray perfection as being a requirement.

I wish to make it clear that no disrespect is intended by this writer toward Mr Harris. It's just that I see gray where he sees black and white.

Perhaps a better term would be "early adopter". Who I believe are still the driving core of most Blu-ray title sales - particularly on catalog titles. See my other post about BD only averaging 10-15% of all home video sales. You're not getting tons of mass market crossover at those rates.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

I would argue that it's less about making BD to appear to be a technological joke... and more that it simply hurts sales to enthusiasts, who right now are driving the format. Yes, some select new release titles have Blu-ray as high as 30 or 40% of sales, but the weekly sales chart over at Home Media shows Blu-ray to be about 10-15% of all weekly home video sales on average. And let me tell you, at 10-15% there is no doubt it's enthusiasts driving sales. Every time an enthusiasts buys a disappointing Blu-ray, that's going to impact his or her next purchase. And if you string 2 or 3 disspointments in a row, the result will be a negative change in purchasing behavior.

I know there's a whole industry in Hollywood that's grown around interactive Blu-ray features, just as there was a strong DVD-Rom push back in the DVD days. But I'd bet less than 5% of DVD sales were closed because of a DVD-Rom feature, and I'd bet it's about the same with Blu-ray. Hollywood needs to remember that the overwhelming reason people buy movies on disc is to watch a great movie in great quality. Period. And if you don't give them great quality, when you're already into the 3rd, 4th or 5th trip to the well on some of these catalog titles, then what's the point?

Hey Bill I do want to say that its important that we don't completely discount special features. When dvd first came out I was all over it because of special features. It gave me the opportunity to see deleted scenes and making of documentaries that were virtually nonexistant on dvd. I can't begin to tell you how awesome the Abyss SE was when it came to dvd. I thought I was in heaven. At that time I only had a TV with <gasp> RF modulation and I was as thrilled as ever with the features that dvd brought to the table. Eventually I got a TV with component inputs and then I began to appreciate the quality that dvd offered over VHS.

Now I do understand thats its very unlikely that people jump to bluray for other reasons other than an upgrade in video quality since (lets face it) bluray doesn't really special features far beyond what is already offered on dvd. So the special features crowd that might have gotten people for dvd.

In short, don't completely discount special features. I know plenty of people who used that as their justification for jumping into the dvd bandwagon back in the day.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

I will confirm. Stand by...

Thanks as I said it was rumored that these films had quite a bit in the way of deleted footage and Im in favor of seeing it reinstated.

[Bill Hunt]

Confirmed. No extended versions of the film, sadly.

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by Buddy Christ

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Harris
Blu-ray releases should be perfect representations of their cinema counterparts. No ifs, ands or buts. If not, I suggest we shut down Blu-ray production, as it serves no purpose.

RAH
It's purpose is to entertain. I submit that Blu-ray doesn't need to be perfect to accomplish THAT.

I want this to be my sig but it is too long and oh so very very very true!!

I decided to make the first half of Mr. Harris' statement my sig. Long enough, and it still gets the point across .

[garyrc]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

I decided to make the first half of Mr. Harris' statement my sig. Long enough, and it still gets the point across .

Bravo!

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

I decided to make the first half of Mr. Harris' statement my sig. Long enough, and it still gets the point across .

If you're going to use my words, allow me to do a slight edit...

"Blu-ray releases should be, and can be, near-perfect representations of their cinema counterparts."

[Tok]

Bill, has the industry at least come to the realization that people are really not interested in BD-Live, at least at its current kludge-like implementation?

The only reason I use BD-Live is to get my 100 Sony Rewards points for registering Sony discs, but otherwise its just too darn slow even with a fast connection to justify using it. I have fallen asleep in my theater recliner too many times waiting for the interface to load.

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

If your goal is simply entertainment, there are far cheaper ways to be entertained than Blu-Ray. 720p streams/downloads, VOD, DVD, etc.

so true!

RAH is right on with his comments on this point.

i've stopped purchasing day 1 now for catalog titles. it's wait-n-see (well, read, possibly see and hear. you get the point).

[Taffy]

Originally Posted by chris0

The movie is supposed to entertain. As the delivery mechanism, Blu-ray is supposed to offer a perfect copy of the movie.

...and if the Blu ray isn't perfect...throw the movie away???

[Monkey]

I'm in the gray area camp. Sure, I always want the best but often transfer are not perfect. I'll still buy if they are very good, etc.

It does help sometimes to wait and read reviews or rent. Reading reviews is tricky as you have to have faith in the reviewer.

We all have different priorities, some don't care about the best sound, some don't care about the best PQ. In the end Blu is usually the best option even if it isn't 100% faithful..

[chris0]

Originally Posted by Taffy

...and if the Blu ray isn't perfect...throw the movie away???

I wouldn't but you can if you want to.

[Taffy]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

The purpose of our AV media is to be as transparent as possible to the source. That's true for all media given the potential of each media type and this has been the guiding philosphy behind recording technology since before the 1960s. Given BD's 1080p video and lossless audio capability, "perfection" is a label that can arguably be applied to its potential for transparency to the source.

Yeah....I get all that. Each plateau of media that I bought over the years was better than the last one and closer to the source (film). But...today, studio techs now have it within their power to go beyond the source and perhaps offer something better...something more modern...something different!!!
Now THAT may sound sacrilegious to you but I'm tired of buying the same ole movie over and over again. Example: Lets take Titanic. I still have a VHS, a LD, 2 DVD versions, a HD recording off TNT, of this movie. I say juice it up...give it a fresh coat of 3D paint, run it up the flag pole and see if anyone salutes it.
I don't mean to sound flippant...that's not my purpose. I just want my socks blown off by some of that new Hollywood technology.

[Taffy]

Originally Posted by garyrc

No, DVDs can merely entertain, and they fulfill that need nicely. We have the right to expect distinctly higher quality (i.e., higher fidelity to the original) from Blu-ray, and we don't always get it.

Not entirely true. Every Blu-ray title I've bought has been clearly superior to the DVD version. In that regard, I am a happy camper and feel I've gotten my monies worth.

It would be tolerable for some manufacturers to make crappy players, and whatever is left of the Adam Smith market check might eliminate them soon enough. But it is not tolerable to make lousy Blu-ray versions of films some of us have seen in all their glory, particularly when we really don't know they are so bad until we play them, and when the bad ones displace the possibility of getting a good version of that particular film anytime soon.

So don't buy 'em. All you need to do is look up Mr Harris review of these titles or rent them first...than act accordingly.

[johndoyle123]

after the american beauty announcement im curious is chinatown blu-ray still coming ?

[badboi]

Originally Posted by badboi

While reading over at "another" site I saw a post or two from members there that report recent rental copies of movies from Netflix (specifically "The Last Station" and "Crossing Over") had only 5.1 audio, no HD audio on the discs. Just wondering if this is correct, and if this is something that's going to be common with rentals. Sucks if it does, but nothing would surprise me anymore.

Ok. Finally got my rental copy of Crossing Over from Netflix, and yes, it does only have DD5.1 as the audio. Now, that being said, I'm not sure if that's the only option available on both rental and retail versions. It's not really a blockbuster title, and pretty much nobody has heard of it (by box office sales it didn't appear to do so hot either). I've checked a few sites that have the disc for sale but nothing clear about any HD audio being available.

FWIW, the movie is ok. Kinda like Babel meets Crash and they have a really ugly and boring off-spring. I wouldn't buy it.

[spartanstew]

Originally Posted by badboi

Ok. Finally got my rental copy of Crossing Over from Netflix, and yes, it does only have DD5.1 as the audio. Now, that being said, I'm not sure if that's the only option available on both rental and retail versions. It's not really a blockbuster title, and pretty much nobody has heard of it (by box office sales it didn't appear to do so hot either). I've checked a few sites that have the disc for sale but nothing clear about any HD audio being available.

FWIW, the movie is ok. Kinda like Babel meets Crash and they have a really ugly and boring off-spring. I wouldn't buy it.

Supposedly it's DTS-HD 5.1

[badboi]

Originally Posted by spartanstew

Supposedly it's DTS-HD 5.1

Guess someone forgot to tell Netflix and whatever the studio was that released it. (Weinstein, I think). Not that it matters on this particular title (because it wasn't something worth watching twice), but I do worry about future releases if this is going to continue.

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

MPEG-2 was not the problem. A poor master from the production company was. MPEG-2 was pretty much not the problem with any of the early Blu-rays.

Hi Jeff,
I was aware that Mpeg-2 was not the problem at a high bit rare however in its infancy most of bad masters used mpeg-2 - the studios wanted to quickly put out titles without doing the work to make it look good.