Ask questions to Sony Pictures Entertainment insider "paidgeek"

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by spicynacho

What about XBL? What codec do they use for their content? Will they shift to h.264?

You can probably answer this better than I can since I don't have and XBox. Given the MS investment in VC-1, I can't imagine why they would shift in any respect.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Don't know whether it's been asked earlier, since it's more of a BDA question in general. but:
Will dedicated-Blu studios like Sony and Disney continue to use AVC MPEG4 coding without Toshiba, or is there any hint that the BDA members might want to retire Toshiba off peacefully by negotiating a treaty for the patent?

(Oh, we do not "prefer the more abundant VC-1 coding", Warner, and quit making up lame bluffs to save money! )

Sorry, but I am not picking up on the connection here.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by TheLion

I respectfully disagree. The basic principle of "supersampling" is very well established.

A (nominal <> real) source resolution 4 times as high as the output resolution results in VERY obvious and significant benefits.

If you do a little photography you can easily make a test run - shoot a picture with a resolution close to the native res of your monitor - compress it with Jpeg if you like. After that set your camera to max. resolution (likely at least 4 times as high as the res of your monitor) - compress again - and simply let your picture viewer scale it down to the same output size as before (if you want to get sophisticated use a Lanczos scaling filter for example). Compare these two pictures on the fly. "no difference"?

Same basic principle.

I have seen masters from 4K DI and 2K DI that do not look appreciably different.

Your test implies that you can change the capture resolution of a digital camera and I have never seen a camera with this feature since the imager native resolution is what it is.

Further, if you could shoot a native resolution of say 1920 for a 1920 display, it would actually look better than shooting 4k for a 1920 display with respect to filtering/aliasing artifacts.

When capturing from a large format negative, capturing 4K makes a lot of sense, for 35mm, the benefits are presently marginal, but the costs are very significant.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

This is my post earlier in another thread. Is there anything else you may know that could fill in any blank spaces?

Sony will be introducing two new Blu-ray Disc Players. One the first week of July 2008, Model# BDP-S350, which passes all high bit advanced audio codecs (like the Panasonic DMP-BD30) to an outboard decorder (Pre-Amp or Receiver) and will be Profile 1.1 . The other player, coming out the first week of August 2008, the BDP-S550, will incorperate all the high bit advanced audio codec decoders in the player and will also be Profile 1.1. Both are HDMI 1.3a, catagory 2 compliant (output). Load times are faster. Both will play CD's, but not SACD. Both will have 5.1 Analog out as well.

The tentative price points will be:

Sony BDP-S350 $ 349.99
Sony BDP-S550 $ 449.99

Jim Pullan
Audio Excellence
Ocala, FL
http://www.audioexcellenceocala.com

ps: The term Sapphire was dropped from the Model designators!

Looks like you have a lot of good info here. You will have to wait for Sony Electronics to provide anything more. You can't blame them for wanting to deliver the message about their products.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

what are the chances we see mini blu-ray used in psp 2? i think it would be an awesome feature.

Given that the current optical disc is working well for the PSP screen size/resolution, I don't think you will see a Blu drive for that device, but that is just my speculation...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by sean10mm

As a side note, the 70mm elements of Blade Runner got an 8K scan for the restoration process. Apparently somebody thinks there is SOMETHING in all that extra resolution.

I won't say that it's necessarily relevant for a 1080p presentation on a TV of sane size though.

More on topic, I saw the HDnet broadcast of Lawrence of Arabia, and it looked pretty awful IMO. If the Blu-ray looks like that it will be kind of a letdown, never mind what process was or wasn't used to get there. Other old 70mm films on Blu-ray have looked considerably better.

Can you demonstrate/elaborate on what other 70mm films have looked considerably better?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by cobwebb

Hey paidgeek,

Congrats on the recent victory! I wanted to ask, are there certian groups that decide what BD will go to what country first. For exmple I see that Gemany is getting "Snatch" next month and there is nothing shceduled for any other country (at least that I have found)? It seems bizarre since this title did so well in the major countries like US, UK, and Japan. Is there a marketing strategy behind this move or do organizers in each country decide individually what title they want to work on?

Thanks for you help!

There is a strategy to how titles are released in each market, but I don't know what it is on this particular title. If another territory is ahead, it is usually only by a small window in any case.

[Weez_Dawg]

Paid,

How does Sony decide what language subtitles go into a movie?

My wife is Korean and is always pleased when I find a movie with Korean subtitles. Sony is usually good at putting Asian subtitles with most BD releases but it really can be hit or miss.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Moderators: Please take note that while I mention some upcoming DVD releases with no announced Blu-ray releases, I am not asking for information regarding said titles, but simply using examples in my question. I'm posting this question to TWO Insiders (Paidgeek & Maxpower1987) but any insider is welcome to chime in additionally, though they should feel no pressure to comment on any unannounced releases. Also note that while I've read comments before by the insiders and moderators regarding similar questions, I am curious to their thoughts and replies.

When Blu-ray first started out, the pressure to release "demo material" was certainly high, and the pressure didn't die down when the PS3 was released as studios needed to release movies aimed at attracting the "gamer" crowd who were accessible via the PS3. During that time, we've managed to get some classics like "Rocky", "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", "The Searchers", "Viva Las Vegas", "Bullitt", "The Shining", "2001: A Space Odyssey" to the upcoming "A Passage To India" as well as smaller less known new releases like "Paprika", "The Lookout", "Black Book", "The Lives Of Others" and more. We've even managed to get a few TV seasons out pretty early in the game, but some new releases still get the Blu-ray shaft.

Some releases last year went straight to DVD only like "Rise: Blood Hunter", "In The Land Of Women", "Waitress", and titles like "Martian Child", "Rendition", "Stargate SG-1: The Ark Of Truth", "The Seeker", "Southland Tales", "In The Name Of The King", "The Final Season", and TV series/season sets like "Torchwood: Season One", "Blade: The Complete Series", "Painkiller Jane: The Complete Series", "My Boys: Season One" and more. As someone who is now Blu-ray only (other than the occasional TV series made before HDTV... I've been enjoying "Buck Rogers In The 25th Century" recently), this is somewhat disappointing given that I would have purchased some of the above discs, but have/will pass on them due to the lack of a Blu-ray release. Now, I can understand the reluctance to release some of these titles given the cost associated with preparing a disc for sale... especially the TV series with multiple discs, and some the above titles given their less than Grade A status (though I'm kind of surprised by the lack of release for "Waitress" and SG-1), but my questions are these:

1. What is the thinking behind which Day & Date titles to release and which to hold back on? I mean, obviously titles like "Spider-Man 3" and "The Simpsons Movie" make sense to release over some of the above mentioned titles. I'm interested in what makes a studio release "I Know Who Killed Me", "Dragon Wars", "Daddy Day Camp", "Home Of The Brave", "Return To The House On Haunted Hill", "Appleseed Ex Machina", "Steep", etc., over some of the above titles? Does a studio sell more releasing a catalog title like "Hoosiers" or "Me, Myself & Irene" on Blu-ray than a new lesser known Day & Date title? Does a studio sell more titles like "The Lives Of Others" and "Black Book" than they would titles that gets more exposure and more theater releases? How does multiple region releases come into play when releasing these titles, other than the money savings?

2. While I can understand the wait to release certain titles like LOTR or the Star Wars series, and I'm amazed at the abundance of riches we've already received, are the studios really not wanting to invest the money to get these titles out now and have them on the shelves, and instead wanting to wait until there are more consumers? Will this force some movies to simply be put on the backburner for years... or in the cases of some, simply be put to pasture on DVD and cable TV?

3. I have always resented the PS3 owners only buy movies aimed at gamers dig at Blu-ray, as I purchased a PS3 for Blu-ray movies (though I have 6 games now as well) and am over 100 Blu-ray movies now of multiple genres, decades, styles and demographics. I have said this theory was shot down by New Line Home Video's release of "Hairspray" in the Top 10 HDM sales for two or three weeks as I don't see the gamer mentality having a thing for John Travolta in a dress. While I have no doubt that the end of the format war will solve this problem, my question is, are we truly past the "demo material" stage, or are we (at the moment) still stuck in that rut?

4. I read an article earlier this week about the war being over will bring more titles to Blu-ray. While I have no doubt this is true, is this referring to all HD-ready titles released concurrently, or is this referring to more catalog titles along with a few more D&D titles being released, but still leaving some HD-ready titles out?

5. With the war (effectively) over, what is your thinking when studios will start to release more TV titles? This year? Or will we have to wait until next year, or until a certain amount of consumers buy into Blu-ray?

~Alan

Alan,

Most (all?) of the titles you mentioned as un-released are not ours, so any reasoning I give you as to why they are un-released to date is speculation.

For our part, we will release just about everything new on Blu-ray. Catalog releases are decided on a wide range of factors, but no matter what titles we release, someone will notice that the one they really are waiting for has not appeared yet.

Honestly, it does not serve the retailers, studios, or even the consumers for us to attempt a flood of titles all at once, because that is not generally the way people buy them and there is only so much retail space to sell and market them.

If you read some of my earlier posts, you will also note that some of our best catalog titles have not performed that well at retail while many new titles have done better than expected. Have a look at some of the sales numbers for the Blu-ray titles on the market and I suspect you will quickly be able to answer your own question....

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Weez_Dawg

Paid,

How does Sony decide what language subtitles go into a movie?

My wife is Korean and is always pleased when I find a movie with Korean subtitles. Sony is usually good at putting Asian subtitles with most BD releases but it really can be hit or miss.

It depends on whether or not that particular version of the disc will be released in Korea. Sometimes we don't have rights, and sometimes we make a localized version.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I have seen masters from 4K DI and 2K DI that do not look appreciably different.

Your test implies that you can change the capture resolution of a digital camera and I have never seen a camera with this feature since the imager native resolution is what it is.

Further, if you could shoot a native resolution of say 1920 for a 1920 display, it would actually look better than shooting 4k for a 1920 display with respect to filtering/aliasing artifacts.

When capturing from a large format negative, capturing 4K makes a lot of sense, for 35mm, the benefits are presently marginal, but the costs are very significant.

I hope you don't mind me chipping in here, paidgeek, but as I have some expertise about these things...

There are two main reasons why the analogy with a digital camera is invalid:

1. When you take a photo of the real world, the subject has effectively unlimited resolution to give you. Capturing at higher and higher resolution will reveal more and more detail. When you scan a negative, the amount of detail available was already set when the negative was exposed, and no amount of increased resolution when scanning it can change the level of detail that is available from the negative.

2. Digital cameras use a GRGB bayer matrix of pixels which means that there is not a full colour sample for each pixel. This means that when you take a digital camera image and resample it down to 50% of its original size (25% of the original number of pixels) you get an image which unlike the original, now has a full colour sample for each pixel, and hence the quality is greatly improved. This issue doesn't apply when scanning, because a scanner can obtain a full colour sample for each captured pixel.

From the many Blu-ray discs I've looked at vs what I know a 1920x1080 image can look like from my Canon 1Ds II still camera, I would say that current Blu-ray discs are generally limited by the detail available in the master rather than the 1920x1080 resolution. Indeed one thing that excites me about Blu-ray is how much better I think the format can look in the future as filming technology improves.

I've just been searching IMDB for films shot with a RED ONE, and can't see that any Blu-rays have been derived from such a master yet.

So to finish with a question for paidgeek; have you seen any masters from a RED ONE yet, and do you think people will be able to see a difference when such movies appear on Blu-ray?

[sean10mm]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Can you demonstrate/elaborate on what other 70mm films have looked considerably better?

2001, for one. But that's comparing Blu-ray to broadcast so I don't know if the bad image was just because the broadcast was poor for some reason rather than the source.

Put another way, I'm not assuming the restoration of Lawrence of Arabia was screwed up, just observing that the broadcast I saw on my TV from HDNet Movies on Verizon FIOS on that day looked bad. Below the level of other older films on the same station watched on the same hardware.

[Joe Cain]

Paid, in your experience have you encountered a sup-par BD feature presentation you would say resulted from an overabundance of extras and bonus material?

Originally Posted by patrick99

Exactly. Prime example: Across the Universe. More than 90 minutes of HD extras, and the PQ of the movie itself suffers as a result.

[JasonR]

Paid,

A lot of people are saying the firmware upgrade didn't upgrade the S300 to do TrueHD. Is this an absolute? I am wanting a new receiver, but not if I can't do TrueHD. I know you said it did, but people are saying otherwise.

Thanks,

Jason

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by JasonR

Paid,

A lot of people are saying the firmware upgrade didn't upgrade the S300 to do TrueHD. Is this an absolute? I am wanting a new receiver, but not if I can't do TrueHD. I know you said it did, but people are saying otherwise.

Thanks,

Jason

If by asking if it is an absolute you are asking if I am sure of my facts, yes, I am absolutely sure.

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

How are Blu-Ray replication facilities affecting the quantity of releases? Are they the bottleneck 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?

paid, any thoughts on this?

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

If by asking if it is an absolute you are asking if I am sure of my facts, yes, I am absolutely sure.

Thank you sir.

[Weez_Dawg]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

It depends on whether or not that particular version of the disc will be released in Korea. Sometimes we don't have rights, and sometimes we make a localized version.

Thank you for answering my question twice...

In an earlier post you were talking about downloading subtitles and other extras for bd. I doubt it will happen but I really hope it does.

[mhafner]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

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. .

So we are getting basically the master made in the 90s from very outdated equipment compared to what we have now, EE and telecine noise included?

[mhafner]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Further, if you could shoot a native resolution of say 1920 for a 1920 display, it would actually look better than shooting 4k for a 1920 display with respect to filtering/aliasing artifacts.

That is incorrect. The best possible 2K or 1080p is derived from > 2K sources by digital decimation. Direct scanning to 2K or 1080p with a sensor with 2K or 1080p resolution is NOT optimal.