Ask questions to Sony Pictures Entertainment insider "paidgeek"

[pro-bassoonist]

Dear Paidgeek:

Do SONY-US and SONY/Gaumont France typically opt to share encodes for films they own the rights for in both territories?

Aside from that I don't have any other questions other than kindly ask you, if possible, to relate a note of interest the proper party for more foreign production being considered for BR treatment (I have Run Lola Run added to my library already, thanks).

Thank you again for your contribution,

Dr.A

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Dear Paidgeek:

Do SONY-US and SONY/Gaumont France typically opt to share encodes for films they own the rights for in both territories?

Aside from that I don't have any other questions other than kindly ask you, if possible, to relate a note of interest the proper party for more foreign production being considered for BR treatment (I have Run Lola Run added to my library already, thanks).

Thank you again for your contribution,

Dr.A

Sony does not share its encodes with other studios and as far as I know, we have not been requested to do so.

I am not sure if I undertand your question regarding Gaumont. Either we have the rights to a given title or we don't. If Gaumont has the rights, then they will likely source their own encode for that title.

Thanks for being our customer...

[MrXpress]

paid,

I was wondering, since Blu-ray is such an integral part of the PS3, if there has been an increase in collaboration between SPE and SCEA in terms of possible promotional deals or even movie/game integration? In other words, are Sony's gaming division and movie/TV divisions working together at all and if so, what is the degree to which they are?

[ra1024]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

For example, pressing 11 when you hear the SPHE logo could start a sequence of playing the trailers and warnings, then automatically start main title playback. If there is enough feedback on this approach, I will float it.

That would be great. I would ask that perhaps one code goes to trailers then movie and another code bypasses trailers and goes straight to the movie. I always like to watch trailers on new releases but after the first time or on catalog titles, I just want to go straight to the main feature. You could even give it a cool name like "Instaplay" and tout it as only available on Sony releases

[KStrike]

Hi pg,

I'm sorry if this has been covered and if you have any greater knowledge but what is the deal with region codes on Blu-rays? It just seems bizarre and inconsistant on various titles...

Take 30 Days of Night for instance; region free in the US even though it's not out in Europe till, I believe, some time in April. Yet Dragon Wars is region locked in the US even though again, it's not out in Europe for, well it doesn't have a date as far as I can see.

Again in the instance of Spider-Man 3/Trilogy, region locked in the US, even though the European one came out a little earlier and was region free.

While I'm all for region free Blu-rays, can you shed any light on why certain titles are locked/free?

Many thanks!

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by MrXpress

paid,

I was wondering, since Blu-ray is such an integral part of the PS3, if there has been an increase in collaboration between SPE and SCEA in terms of possible promotional deals or even movie/game integration? In other words, are Sony's gaming division and movie/TV divisions working together at all and if so, what is the degree to which they are?

We work closely with SCE on a number of levels, but know that the game developing community is a different world from the film industry.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by KStrike

Hi pg,

I'm sorry if this has been covered and if you have any greater knowledge but what is the deal with region codes on Blu-rays? It just seems bizarre and inconsistant on various titles...

Take 30 Days of Night for instance; region free in the US even though it's not out in Europe till, I believe, some time in April. Yet Dragon Wars is region locked in the US even though again, it's not out in Europe for, well it doesn't have a date as far as I can see.

Again in the instance of Spider-Man 3/Trilogy, region locked in the US, even though the European one came out a little earlier and was region free.

While I'm all for region free Blu-rays, can you shed any light on why certain titles are locked/free?

Many thanks!

As a rule, if an SPE title has had its theatrical run, and if we have rights in all territories, it will not be region coded. "Dragon Wars" is a rare exception.

[DaViD Boulet]

If this has been asked/answered recently my apologies:

Paid,

are we getting any closer to DTS-HD MA decoding in the PS3? That's much more important to me than a firmware update for 2.0 spec.

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

If this has been asked/answered recently my apologies:

Paid,

are we getting any closer to DTS-HD MA decoding in the PS3? That's much more important to me than a firmware update for 2.0 spec.

If DTS-HD MA ever makes it to the PS3, then yes, every day we are getting closer.

Sorry for the lame joke, but I wish you luck getting an answer to your question. I think a million other people would like to know the same thing, but I don't ever remember reading a reply from pg to the numorous other requests for this information. I'm one of those people.

[D]

Yes, an answer would be nice. Don't understand the drama?

[dazbug]

Originally Posted by db01

Yes, an answer would be nice. Don't understand the drama?

+ 1 000 000 000 other people !!

With FOX giving us DTS-MA and New Line, would be nice to able to play these tracks !!

It's getting beyond a joke now.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Sony does not share its encodes with other studios and as far as I know, we have not been requested to do so.

I am not sure if I undertand your question regarding Gaumont. Either we have the rights to a given title or we don't. If Gaumont has the rights, then they will likely source their own encode for that title.

Thanks for being our customer...

Thank you for the prompt reply Paidgeek. The reason why I inquired about Gaumont is because I am told that they have teamed up with SONY-France on a few upcoming projects. I wanted to know if they would be sharing some of your encodes. Yet, your answer was clear enough.

This being said your French division has leaked a number of upcoming titles and parts of the complete list are all over French and Dutch sites. I think that if our SONY is working on the majority of these there should be plenty of buzz on this forum.

In any event, thank you again for contributing here. And thank you for your prompt reply to my question above.

Dr.A

MAI/MAY 2008
Midnight Express
Le Mariage de mon meilleur ami (My Best Friend Wedding)
Rent
La Vie de Brian (Life Of Brian)
Bienvenue dans la Jungle (The Rundown)
Godzilla

JUIN/JUNE 2008
Raisons et Sentiments (Sense and Sensibility)
Cow Boy Bebop Le Film
Lancelot (First Knight)
Légendes d'Automne (Legends of the falls)
Truman Capote
Ennemis Rapprochés (The Devil's own)

JUILLET/JULY 2008
Un Jour sans fin (Groundhog day)
Larry Flint
Panic Room
Big Daddy
The Bone Collector
Men In Black

AOUT/AUGUST 2008
Mort ou Vif (The Quick and the Dead)
Erin Brokovich
Espion et demi (I, Spy)
De Sang froid (Cold Blood)
Stand By Me
Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children

OCTOBRE/OCTOBER 2008
Wolf
Sur les quais (On The Waterfront)
SOS Fantômes (Ghostbusters)
Taxi Driver
XXX

NOVEMBRE/NOVEMBER 2008
Das Boot
Desperado
XXX : The Next Level

[kjacobs03]

Hello Paid,
Lionsgate does it, New Line does it, Disney is moving to it. What I am asking is will Sony soon move to using 7.1 audio tracts an all their Blu-ray releases? I have had a 7.1 surround sound system for about 8 months now and there are just not enough movies to quinch my thirst for 7.1 HD audio.
Thanks for taking the time to read my question.

[klac]

paid,

When a studio does a production run do they try to make enough to last for a specific amount of time? (e.g. 1 month) Also can you give a min. and max. # of discs that would be produced in a single run? How does this compare with DVD?

Thanks

[Bullseye]

paid, i noticed in this months edition of DVD Review it had a release date of 25th Feb (region 2) for Crouching Tiger.. can you confirm this as i cannot see it up for pre-order anywhere?

[Donnie Eldridge]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

My department observed that at the same time the firmware update added this function to the S1, it was also added in the firmware release for the 300. The Sony website information must be based on older information.

Paid,

I've made no less than 7 calls over the last couple of days to Sony support trying to confirm TrueHD decoding in the S300. Of the 7 calls, 6 stated no and 1 stated it was decoding to LPCM. Can you double check with your engineers?

Please view the following post for additional details.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post13111229

[monkyman]

This is why I asked the question about TrueHD audio, according to audiophiles HDMI can only output decoded TrueHD through HDMI 1.3, which the S300 does not have, but the S300 COULD output decoded TrueHD through 5.1 analog outputs if a firmware has come out to allow this, as the original version 2.0 did not.

(Not to be confused with the firmware 2.0 on the S1 that did allow the unit to decode TruHD internaly, but not output through HDMI.)

[djOS]

Originally Posted by monkyman

This is why I asked the question about TrueHD audio, according to audiophiles HDMI can only output decoded TrueHD through HDMI 1.3, which the S300 does not have, but the S300 COULD output decoded TrueHD through 5.1 analog outputs if a firmware has come out to allow this, as the original version 2.0 did not.

(Not to be confused with the firmware 2.0 on the S1 that did allow the unit to decode TruHD internaly, but not output through HDMI.)

The s300 can easily decode TrueHD internally and output multi-channel LPCM via HDMI if Sony choose to enable it.

I have owned a Toshiba HD-A1 & EP10 (A20) both of which were not equipped with HDMI v1.3 and they could internally decode TrueHD and send it out as LPCM just like the BDP-S1 can.

[djOS]

pg, I've tested this on my s300 as follows:

My s300 (FW 3.7) is connected via HDMI to my Marantz SR8001 AVR + Krix Neuphonics Mains, Epicentrix Center, Equinox Rears and Seismix 5 SubWoofer.

When playing the TrueHD track from 5th Element Remastered:

If I set HDMI Audio to Auto it throws out a stock DD5.1 track to the AVR.

If I set HDMI Audio to PCM it throws out an LPCM 5.1 track to the AVR.

To my ears I cant tell any difference, however when playing the native LPCM 5.1 track that is on the disc, it sounds much more detailed than the "TrueHD" track. Im pretty certain that my s300 is only decoding the core DD5.1 track contained in the TrueHD track.

[monkyman]

Originally Posted by djOS

The s300 can easily decode TrueHD internally and output multi-channel LPCM via HDMI if Sony choose to enable it.

I have owned a Toshiba HD-A1 & EP10 (A20) both of which were not equipped with HDMI v1.3 and they could internally decode TrueHD and send it out as LPCM just like the BDP-S1 can.

This is the responce I got from Sonystyle about the S1:

Since the BDP-S1 does not have HDMI 1.3 you can not use HDMI for Dolby True HD or Dolby Digital Plus. The only way to get Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby True HD to a reciever is by using the 5.1 analog outs. It will only send out the core Dolby® Digital Stream via HDMI.

I'm not sure what to believe anymore, maybe I should just get the Panny.

Here is the Specs for the S1:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...rtNumber=BDPS1

PCM Output(s)
Linear PCM Decoding; Linear PCM out via HDMI™ bitstream

Dolby® Digital
Yes (Decoding); Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
dts® Output
Yes
dts® Decoding
Yes
Dolby® Digital plus Decoding
Yes (after firmware upgrade higher than ver.2.00); HDMI™ bitstream out: No (Dolby® Digital Stream Only)

Dolby® TrueHD Decoding
Yes (after firmware upgrade higher than ver.2.00); HDMI™ bitstream out: No (Dolby® Digital Stream Only)

LPCM
Yes (multi channel decoding); Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)

So to me it seems like both PCM and LPCM are sent out bitstream through HDMI, but TrueHD and DD+ can not be sent bitstream. Therefor LPCM can not carry either through HDMI.

Is this wrong?

Sorry Paid, This is probibly the wrong thread for this unless you can provide conclusive proof about this very muddy issue. Sony seems to contradict themselves every time I contact them.