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

[johndoyle123]

i was just looking threw the digital bits rumor mill posts from 2008 onwards

do we know if titles like sunset blv ... breakfast at tiffanys are still in production for blu-ray ..

seeing as 99percent of the titles you mention see release at some point or another

also are there any plans for a new rumor mill to give us a taste at what 2010 onwards has in store for us

"chinatown" ...... begs

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by garyrc

The average movie theaters in my two areas (San Francisco Bay Area, and Corvallis, Oregon), whether using photochemical or digital, display far greater PQ than I see on BD, in all ways except brightness. The increased resolution and acutance I usually see in the theaters is especially obvious since I sit fairly close to both theatrical and (most) home screens (about one screen width away). The color values also seem better in the theater.

I've visited a lot of movie theaters across the United States over the years, everything from 70mm-equipped premiere class theaters in New York City to little shoe-box houses in tiny towns. I've seen film done right in some of those flagship theaters and even a few theaters in smaller cities and towns. More often I see theaters show film done wrong unfortunately. On average, picture quality is not all that great and certainly not good enough to serve as a color reference for mastering Blu-ray titles.

Regarding perceived superior resolution of 35mm film projection, that can only occur if the 35mm print is sourced from a 4K digital intermediate or it is a 2.39:1 anamorphic 'scope originated movie using old school color timing processes. Most new movies use a 2K digital intermediate in post production. 2K rendered movies at best will only have a negligible difference in image detail with 2K digital projection versus a 1080p Blu-ray. 2K digital projection can look better than Blu-ray since it uses JPEG2000 files with lower levels of compression and higher bandwidth color but that's only good if the projector installation and maintainance is all good. 35mm prints sourced from 2K material may actually show less detail than the Blu-ray due to generational loss in the print making process. The high speed release prints are at least one extra step removed from the laser recorded 35mm prints.

2K digital projection has its limitations, but overall has made a big improvement in a lot of theaters across the country. 35mm projection done right (and sourced from something better than a 2K master) is better than 2K digital projection. Unfortunately most commercial theaters don't know how to handle 35mm. It's a scary thought to allow today's current standard of theater staff to handle something like 70mm, which is yet another reason why we don't see 70mm being used (even though it desperately needs to be used in some theaters).

Originally Posted by garyrc

Was the theatrical print of Gladiator you saw noticeably worse than average?

My favorite local theater didn't get to play it. So I just waited for the DVD.

[Arkadin]

Has Paramount abandoned releasing catalogs on blu-ray?
I mean their own films, not Dreamworks titles.
I have looked over all the release dates through December, and found only one film--a george clooney film from 1997--that wasn't a catch-up HD DVD port.
I do see a few tv series releases, but not actual older films.
I know that Lionsgate recently completed a deal to distribute some Paramount American Zoetrope films, but what about anything else?
I have noticed that Paramount also seems to be deleting their older dvd catalog releases at a record pace if online retail sites are to be believed.
Do ya'll think this is the end of physical media of older films for Paramount?
on blu-ray and dvd.
I'm very worried that the Audrey Hepburn and John Wayne classics they have will never come to blu-ray, and that would be a real travesty.
what are you guys hearing?
Has anyone inquired what in the world is going on?
thanks in advance.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Has Paramount abandoned releasing catalogs on blu-ray?
I mean their own films, not Dreamworks titles.
I have looked over all the release dates through December, and found only one film--a george clooney film from 1997--that wasn't a catch-up HD DVD port.
I do see a few tv series releases, but not actual older films.
I know that Lionsgate recently completed a deal to distribute some Paramount American Zoetrope films, but what about anything else?
I have noticed that Paramount also seems to be deleting their older dvd catalog releases at a record pace if online retail sites are to be believed.
Do ya'll think this is the end of physical media of older films for Paramount?
on blu-ray and dvd.
I'm very worried that the Audrey Hepburn and John Wayne classics they have will never come to blu-ray, and that would be a real travesty.
what are you guys hearing?
Has anyone inquired what in the world is going on?
thanks in advance.

Catalog titles have not been selling well and older black and white films are likely to sell even less.

Thats why they're not getting released, which is kinda sad since you can't sell what you don't release.

[that1guystudios]

Bill, have you heard anything from Warner Bros in regards to the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors being released to Blu-ray next year? It's 25th anniversary is in 2011, and I keep hoping that somehow we'll get a restored original ending. I know it's unlikely, but I wonder if anyone at Warner has even considered doing that now...cause if they are going to, they'd better get the ball rolling now!

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Has Paramount abandoned releasing catalogs on blu-ray?
I mean their own films, not Dreamworks titles.
I have looked over all the release dates through December, and found only one film--a george clooney film from 1997--that wasn't a catch-up HD DVD port.
I do see a few tv series releases, but not actual older films.
I know that Lionsgate recently completed a deal to distribute some Paramount American Zoetrope films, but what about anything else?
I have noticed that Paramount also seems to be deleting their older dvd catalog releases at a record pace if online retail sites are to be believed.
Do ya'll think this is the end of physical media of older films for Paramount?
on blu-ray and dvd.
I'm very worried that the Audrey Hepburn and John Wayne classics they have will never come to blu-ray, and that would be a real travesty.
what are you guys hearing?
Has anyone inquired what in the world is going on?
thanks in advance.

Paramount is not in great financial shape right now.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

Paramount is not in great financial shape right now.

Despite the fact that they will make tons off of Transformers.

The Last Airbender must have been a true bust.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Thanks Meckel - sounds like a tablet computer of some kind if definitely in my future. I'm using a tiny little netbook now - I love the light weight and very easy portability of it. But a tablet would just perfectly bridge the gap for me between smart phone, book reader and netbook. I personally think the category is really going to take off over time.

I won't support a company that goes out of their way to snub the Blu-ray format...

Besides, you wouldn't want to join the d-bag brigade:

http://mytype.com/blog/?p=109

Myself I'm intrigued by these protypes that are becoming increasingly common:

http://www.neowin.net/news/ui-centri...blet-interface

And it supports Flash!

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

I wish this were strictly true. But in the case of Patton, it literally was a situation where the company that did the digital mastering originally cut their teeth in video/broadcast TV work - rather than film restoration or preservation - and as a matter of principle the owner of the company simply doesn't like film grain. So they made the choice to remove it entirely on their own, and did so not while checking their work on a large projection screen to really see in detail what the impact of that was, but rather on standard studio HD monitors. And afterwards, when lots of people rightly complained, the owner of the company still swore that the master looked great and there should be no reason for anyone to complain. I know, because I spoke with him at the time. Absolutely good point about the need to educate consumers - that's always been the challenge going back to the pan and scan vs. letterbox debate.



Good link and I'll check it out. UPDATE: Make that GREAT link. Talk about increasing esotheric but fascinating art restoration debates!



Truly. Definitely a good debate, and an important one to have. I'm not familiar with the genesis of this whole new Gladiator BD color timing controvery, though I will admit to being somewhat susprised the issue was raised based on an examination of screenshots rather than the actual discs. I thought I'd read somewhere that "screenshot-ology" was frowned upon around here. Though that particular bit of text may have disappeared down the memory hole, I don't know...

So the question is why would any studio allow mastering houses to make changes without asking the studio first, like in the case of patton. WE have talked about this before , why isn't there any standards yet with blu-ray mastering. seems like sony is the only one that has standards.

[Arkadin]

I understand that Paramount isn't in great financial state, but MGM is in legal bankruptcy and they are still managing to release titles.
I'm just trying to figure out if the bits' team thinks Paramount has given up on catalog titles as far as physical media because of something other than their financial situation.
Is their philosophy now to embrace download and streaming only or are they planning to release all these titles on bd when their financial situation improves?
I mean if the John Wayne catalog, and other prominent Paramount catalogs never get released on blu-ray and remain trapped on some pretty poor dvds--other than the Centennial Collection--it will be a severe blow to cinephiles and a stunning disappointment to a lot of people around the world.
They can always license these films to studios that ARE interested in releasing these titles, and they can make some money at the same time since that seems to be the major factor in play.

[Esox50]

Sorry to be a pessimist guys, but this is what I was saying last week...big titles we were suppose to get are still MIA cause catalog titles aren't selling. The answer, don't release catalog titles. LOL.

Oh well, the studios don't get it. Just buy what they release that interests you and has received proper treatment. Nuttin else you can do.

Maybe we'll get Indy and Jurassic Park next year, though with the way things are going...who knows.

[Arkadin]

the real tragedy in the end is all the less than stellar catalog films that have been released on bd that anyone would know right away weren't even high mid shelf releases.
I mean don't get me wrong--there are some great catalog releases, but imo the studios have wasted too many releases on some very unworthy films.
and then they act so surprised that many haven't sold.
they really should have focused on the cream of the crop catalogwise from the very beginning for every release.
I'm honestly really concerned now that we will never see literally 100's of films that I thought would have been guaranteed bd releases.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Thanks Meckel - sounds like a tablet computer of some kind if definitely in my future. I'm using a tiny little netbook now - I love the light weight and very easy portability of it. But a tablet would just perfectly bridge the gap for me between smart phone, book reader and netbook. I personally think the category is really going to take off over time.

I agree once Android and Microsoft starts releasing their OS for tablet this category will start eating into netbook sales.

What I'm not sure about is how good they will be for productivity. It is a nice replacement for a netbook as far suring the net, checking e-mail and it is pretty good as an e-reader, so far. As far as doing work I still perfer using a larger screen and having a mouse. I just really don't think I could use a tablet for building spreadsheets and PowerPoint.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

the real tragedy in the end is all the less than stellar catalog films that have been released on bd that anyone would know right away weren't even high mid shelf releases.
I mean don't get me wrong--there are some great catalog releases, but imo the studios have wasted too many releases on some very unworthy films.
and then they act so surprised that many haven't sold.
they really should have focused on the cream of the crop catalogwise from the very beginning for every release.
I'm honestly really concerned now that we will never see literally 100's of films that I thought would have been guaranteed bd releases.

The other reality is the economy sucks and most people have cut discretionary spending. Furthermore, many have curbed their buying habits because discs are so easy to get now through Netflix, On Demand, or Netflix streaming (and other services).

To add insult to injury, most of the public wants to hawk movies from the Walmart $5 bin and won't pay the premium for HD because their TV set isn't big enough to notice the difference or even if they have a BD player, it's hooked up via composite cable!

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

I understand that Paramount isn't in great financial state, but MGM is in legal bankruptcy and they are still managing to release titles.

what has MGM released recently?

[DenonCI]

Fox is releasing MGM titles and they've slowed to a trickle until the sale of the studio is completed.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by tvine2000

seems like sony is the only one that has standards.

I suspect it's more likely that Sony is the only one that has standards which meet your standards.

[Jeff Kleist]

Hey Jeff, how was the weekend?

Is anything concrete known about the evac on Saturday? I heard some things, but I think they were made up.

It was either a kid pulling the alarm, or the snack bar in the dealer's room having some kind of smoke issue with their grill from what I heard. All I know is that it torpedoed my guys's autograph session and I had to walk celebs through 30,000 people lining the streets half a mile around the convention center (instead of using the much faster paths we usually take)

Had a great time at HMK. I know they want to come back, but I suspect in the interest of variety it can't be next year.

Micro started asking me to come back on Friday We'll see what happens in the future. The Yoshida Brothers were equally enthusiastic, they were really impressed with the packed house and the huge respect the audience showed them. I'll see if I can make some of the pictures that were taken public, but I need the label's permission first. There will be a DVD almost certainly at some point, probably bundled with the next album or maxi-single.

It's nice to get the kudos from you, almost no one on the HT side of things ever sees that part of my life

The guys really appreciate the extra sound quality of Blu-ray (I think they were one of the first J-concert discs to get a 48/24 PCM track and it really improves things), and they're going to be picking up some of the music titles before they go home (I pushed Dave Matthews)

You probably saw me there, depending on how full the room was at your point of entry i was either panicking or very happy

The universal favorite Blu from the band and management is Blade Runner BTW, congrats Charlie if you're reading Now to take a day or two off to recover...

[johndoyle123]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

the real tragedy in the end is all the less than stellar catalog films that have been released on bd that anyone would know right away weren't even high mid shelf releases.
I mean don't get me wrong--there are some great catalog releases, but imo the studios have wasted too many releases on some very unworthy films.
and then they act so surprised that many haven't sold.
they really should have focused on the cream of the crop catalogwise from the very beginning for every release.
I'm honestly really concerned now that we will never see literally 100's of films that I thought would have been guaranteed bd releases.

looks like we are going to have to wait a while until they start releasing them again ..... once everything picks back up

but i can wait . im sure they will get round to them when they have the sales

[Q?]

Nobody seems to know, you guys know anything about this? Country?

[Show spoiler]