Ask questions to Sony Pictures Entertainment insider "paidgeek"

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by danielpwnz

You're seriously comparing Rescue Dawn to the rest of those titles? Ugh.

I named several panned films... along with several STV releases. I've never seen any of the films I mentioned that you quouted, so comparing them would have been hard.

~Alan

[danielpwnz]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I named several panned films... along with several STV releases. I've never seen any of the films I mentioned that you quouted, so comparing them would have been hard.

~Alan

Rescue Dawn was neither panned nor straight to video, so even with your limited knowledge on it, I fail to see the connection.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rescue_dawn/

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by danielpwnz

Rescue Dawn was neither panned nor straight to video, so even with your limited knowledge on it, I fail to see the connection.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rescue_dawn/

I don't want to argue with you on Paidgeek's thread, but I never said it was panned, I was referring to "Daddy Day Camp", "I Know Who Killed Me", and "Dragon Wars".

As far as "Rescue Dawn" not being a STV release, I apologize for being wrong as I was under that impression due to the fact that I never heard of it before it being announced for release on Blu-ray. Clicking on the link you provided states that the title was in "Limited" distribution, so that helps make a little sense out of why I've never heard of it. It was not available at the theaters locally, nor did I ever see a commercial for it being available in any theater.

While my intention of putting RD on the list was my incorrect assumption that it was a STV release, I still think the fact that it was in "Limited" release makes it a valid part of my question... but since you didn't like it being in there, I edited my post and deleted it from the list.

~Alan

[danielpwnz]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I don't want to argue with you on Paidgeek's thread, but I never said it was panned, I was referring to "Daddy Day Camp", "I Know Who Killed Me", and "Dragon Wars".

As far as "Rescue Dawn" not being a STV release, I apologize for being wrong as I was under that impression due to the fact that I never heard of it before it being announced for release on Blu-ray. Clicking on the link you provided states that the title was in "Limited" distribution, so that helps make a little sense out of why I've never heard of it. It was not available at the theaters locally, nor did I ever see a commercial for it being available in any theater.

While my intention of putting RD on the list was my incorrect assumption that it was a STV release, I still think the fact that it was in "Limited" release makes it a valid part of my question... but since you didn't like it being in there, I edited my post and deleted it from the list.

~Alan

Didn't mean to step on your toes, sir. It just struck me as odd...that's all.

[sean10mm]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well then it is a good thing that Chris Cookson is now working for Sony Pictures, isn’t it?
You might want to check on what division he is President of.

Not sure I follow you. I was just passing on what I read in a Charles de Lauzirika interview about Blade Runner's restoration process.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by sean10mm

Not sure I follow you. I was just passing on what I read in a Charles de Lauzirika interview about Blade Runner's restoration process.

I think he used to work at Warner and was heavily involved in DVD and HD-DVD (and Blu-ray?) Very respected man in the Motion pictures technology field.

[ckenisell]

Alan, I hope you don't mind if I add a #6.

6. How are Blu-Ray replication facilities affecting the quantity of releases? Are they the weak link in the chain due to workload? This is a very big question now that ALL studios will be releasing Blu. Are there enough replication facilities TODAY to handle the workload? If not, I'm sure that has a major implication on which titles receive higher priority.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sean10mm

Not sure I follow you. I was just passing on what I read in a Charles de Lauzirika interview about Blade Runner's restoration process.

Chris Cookson used to work for WB and was the specific “somebody” you were referring to in your last post who made the ultimate technical decisions regarding the recent Blade Runner restoration.

This is an old resume when he was at WB………………
http://www.nab.org/nabshow/conferenc...o.asp?id=15447

He has been a longtime advocate of complete 4K pipelines for theatrical presentations (and archiving) and gave the keynote address at the last pre-NAB Digital Cinema Summit – to which b.t.w. there was some public skepticism expressed among other professionals seated in the audience.

As first cryptically and exclusively reported on this forum (along with a couple follow-up posts), he recently joined SPE………………………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=504

This is the *official* announcement as reported by Carolyn at The Hollywood Reporter………………
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...19f26a8a231ee1

[Blu n Gold]

Paid -

Any word of improvements on the masters of 'Ghostbusters'?

[Razzy]

Originally Posted by Blu n Gold

Paid -

Any word of improvements on the masters of 'Ghostbusters'?

Paid answered that earlier in this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=169

[Blu n Gold]

Originally Posted by Razzy

Paid answered that earlier in this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=169

Why thank you Rzzy for the link to the post. Much appreciated.

[bluseminole]

Paid,

Here is the poll (now concluded) that I ran two weeks ago about the authoring features for Blu titles that hanser brought up.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=35807

[WriteSimply]

Not specific to paidgeek but just to Hollywood studios.

Most of the time, people have no chance to watch the Oscar-nominated short films/animation or even the documentary features in theaters. Can the studios at least work out a way to distribute these films like how the music industry have the Grammy's compilation albums?


fuad

[tvted]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

Not specific to paidgeek but just to Hollywood studios.

Most of the time, people have no chance to watch the Oscar-nominated short films/animation or even the documentary features in theaters. Can the studios at least work out a way to distribute these films like how the music industry have the Grammy's compilation albums?


fuad

Seconded.

ted

[blu2]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

Not specific to paidgeek but just to Hollywood studios.

Most of the time, people have no chance to watch the Oscar-nominated short films/animation or even the documentary features in theaters. Can the studios at least work out a way to distribute these films like how the music industry have the Grammy's compilation albums?


fuad

From Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Collection-Aca...3654274&sr=1-2

Forthcoming:

http://www.magpictures.com/profile.a...1-262e040173ef

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by TheLion

Dear paidgeek,

about "thrilling us" with HD...

Right now is probably not the right time for discussing "critical issues" (A big THANK YOU and congratulations is in order) but here it goes...

After watching the recent Lawrence of Arabia airing which is supposed to be "minted" from the same master as the upcoming BD release I cannot help but to be pretty underwhelmed (borderline appalled) with the overall quality of this transfer (not talking about the encoding which will be much better with the BD).

I have done 70mm projections of this movie (IMO SP(HE)s crown jewel) myself and the level of detail and definition with this transfer (judged by the airing) is nowhere near what this particular film deserves nor what is possible.

Which brings me to my next question - WHEN can we expect SPHE to follow Warner's lead with all new 4k transfers? Bladerunner is an marvelous example of a classic transfer done right.

Thank you - and I hope this isn't sounding too critical - I am aware that you more than anybody want LOA to look as good as possible. After my first contact with the "newly remastered" transfer I just don't think this is it.

Lots of (critical) discussion going on over at AVS (including direct screen caps):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...827529&page=50

Well... actually... yes, it does sound very critical. This title has never looked better than it does on this master. Granted that satellite system compression may be softening it a bit, but it still looks good. A new film scan might give a slight improvement, but I suspect you will have to wait a while to find out given the enormous cost and issues to handle a large format IP. Have you compared this to another title? "Grand Prix" maybe? It is easy to make an assumption that because it was shot with a larger negative that the title will be proportionally sharper, but this is not the case.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Grubert

paidgeek,

Kris Deering has posted this on avs:



Can you confirm that? In that case, what will the repercussions be for BD studios that use the codec?

As far as I know, VC1 is still a viable coding tool and has had a recent update. We are not using it at this time, but other studios may continue to pursue it.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by gettin' bodied

I second the Beyoncé question (about it being delayed) -- I was really looking forward to that one (I saw the actual live show 3 times this summer, lol).

Sorry, but this is a Sony/BMG question (and their on the other coast) and I can't speak for what they may be doing with this title.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

Dear Paidgeek,

Now that the format war is over, can you tell us who you really are? Your name and such.

With all due respect, I will remain officially anonymous if you don't mind...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by jason_grumpy

Paid,

Could you please pass on the word to the PS3 firmware guys to re-fix the TrueHD decoding audio preferences?

Previously on other firmware, even if you had "Dolby 5.1" selected in the PS3 audio options, the PS3 would automatically switch to internal decoding For TrueHD pass it via PCM when using HDMI. For those titles with Dolby 5.1 it would bit stream it to the receiver as normal. We never had to switch anything in the audio menu.

Somewhere along the lines, a firmware changed this. Now if you select TrueHD on a Blu Ray, and Dolby 5.1 is selected in the PS3 audio menu, the PS3 will bitstream the core of the TrueHD track as Dolby Digital instead and display Dolby Digital in the bitrate meter @ 448kbs (Across the Universe for example). To get TrueHD playback, you have to exit the movie, deselect Dolby 5.1 from the PS3 audio menu, re-enter the movie, and then the PS3 will decode TrueHD via PCM and show TrueHD on the bit rate meter.

It would be nice if this is fixed so we don't have to turn off Dolby Digital 5.1 in the audio preferences to enjoy TrueHD without the extra steps when using HDMI.

I asked about this when it first came up and there was some sort of rationale for the change. I honestly can't remember what it was.

Would you mind running a poll to see if there is a strong preference overall for the old system? That may have greater impact on making a change back, than me bringing it up alone.