Ask questions to Sony Pictures Entertainment insider "paidgeek"

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

Paidgeek,

Thank you for responding. If I could clarify... if a title is released in 50i, are U.S. Blu-ray players designed to do the framerate conversion (frame blending, etc) that is required to allow the disc to playback on U.S. televisions (even if it is with artifacts)? The title in question is the upcoming Tiesto (a DJ) title which is due next month IIRC. A member of the production company was posting on here, and when he provided specifics about the title he mentioned that the video would be presented in 1080i50. I've yet to see any Blu-ray discs released that way, but its a title a number of people on here were excited to see.

BTW, kudos on Across the Universe coming out tomorrow. My girlfriend hasn't been this excited about a new title... ever. It's great to see Sony push out some non-PS3-demographic titles. As a question, without asking about any specific titles or studios, do you see the various studios continuing to move further from demo-targeted releases now that Blu-ray was won the format war?

Thanks, as always.

P.S. --- I saw the HDNet promo for LOA. Wow! It looked fantastic. The team really seems to have outdone themselves.

You will not be able to play a 50i title in the US unless you have bought your equipment abroad. Sorry for the bad news...

The short answer to your second question is that the studios will provide whatever you are buying. If the market for specialty titles is there, they will go for it..

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by juanleche

Would Sony ever consider putting out its own Calibration BD? Or perhaps a Calibration and BD HD sampler with high quality high bit rate screens to show off the fruits of your calibration labor? One that is optimized for players and could contain a deeper set of patterns than what can be put on a disc, though I very mush like the idea of every disc having a user friendly calibration test patter option.
I know other companies are releaseing BD calibration discs soon, but an official Sony approved one might be a nice addition to peoples' collections.

To be honest, a company who is devoted to producing a test disc will do a better job than we will at building it. We want to include something to help the average user, but for a really comprehensive solution, I would buy a dedicated disc. It's hard for us to justify putting all the descriptive info on each and every disc we sell...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

What about some music playing and the background changing on the PS3 XMB as well? See any PS3 game.

I don't think this is supported, but hey, you are supposed to be watching the movie, not goofing off with the menus right??

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

Will Sony be combining the two?

Is it possible, according to the BD-Live spec, to stream video (over IP) into the PiP box? If so, I'd like to make some recommendations for streamed content into those boxes. Who would I need to talk to about those recommendations?

Streaming is possible, but dicey given the state of broadband in the U.S. As for a streaming PiP, I don't know, I have to check on that...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by MarekM

welcom back paidgeek

I would like to ask you if audio specs for The 6th DAYare same for US and UK relase...(if the czech language is also on US release)

UK release:
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=66970

1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
English and Spanish Dolby True HD 5.1 Surround
Czech, Hungarian, Polish (VO) and Russian DD5.1 Surround

and is DolbyTrueHD 24bit on both versions ?

thank you,
Marek

Hi Marek,

The audio specs are not the same, because the US disc will be for Asia and LAM.

[Uxi]

Who gets the credit for putting in the "easter egg" on the original/current SPHE Blu-rays? Is it a nod to the enthusiasts or an inside joke (or a mixture)?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by blu2

Paidgeek:

Any updates on Sony plans for a portable copy of a movie to be included via Sony BD discs?

Fox is already rolling this out.

Thanks.

Fox is not rolling it out on BD AFIK. We are working on it... No news yet.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by fitprod

I thought Sony was going to introduce some time of coversion process that would allow the PS3 to covert the file into a usable format with the PSP? I remember some type of hype about that from CES.

fitprod

No, we never talked about a conversion which would be clumsy and time consuming. What works better is a dedicated file on the disc that can be transferred to a PSP.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Razzy

Hi Paid,

This was your response to the Ghostbusters question:



I remember reading a few months ago in the old insiders thread that the master for this title was in hard shape. How much work is involved cleaning up a movie like this, especially with all of the old school special optical effects. Are we talking a herculean effort on SPE's part or is it not as bad as most think? Of course for such an oldie I'm not expecting miracles, I'll just be happy to see it in on Blu.

Thanks.

We are using the latest greatest tools for dirt and scratch work. There is only so much you can do if a shot is very grainy, so the best we can do is make sure you get everything that is in the master. If you want less grain, dial it up on your display equipment...

[bangy38]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Fox is not rolling it out on BD AFIK. We are working on it... No news yet.

Hi Paid, just FYI Fox is actually rolling it out on blu-ray starting with their Hitman 2-disc release (the digital copy is on a DVD).

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...ital_Copy/1395

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Dear Paidgeek,

I apologize if I sound a bit confrontational, but I am a bit confused. I do not understand the problem with the quality of the master of Ghostbusters and other popular movies. The Ghostbusters was made around 1984. How bad is the condition of the master?

Many great movies that were made before Ghostbusters have been restored effectively. For example, Nosferatu (1922), King Kong (1933), Gone with the Wind (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), ET (1982), Star Wars, and many more.

I realize that it costs money and time to restore a movie, but a few of the old classics like Vertigo and Lawrence of Arabia were also released in the theaters. According to Christian Science Monitor (April 22, 2005, http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0422/p15s01-almo.html): “Columbia Pictures made a reported $2 million when it reissued Lawrence of Arabia in a meticulously tweaked version supervised by director David Lean himself.”

I understand that Ghostbusters is not in the same league as the movies mentioned above, but I am sure many people, particularly younger adults, will buy copies of the Blu Ray Version.

I thank you in advance for your response.

You are indirectly asking a good question, and one that I have spent some time on. There are films that are decades old that have well controlled color and film grain. There are films that are months old that have inconsistent/heavy grain and dramatic color correction choices. The title and the age of a film is less a factor in the 'look' than the intentions and technical choices that go into the making of it. You will see this over and over again.

[Sith]

Is Almost Famous only coming out in Japan?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Uxi

Who gets the credit for putting in the "easter egg" on the original/current SPHE Blu-rays? Is it a nod to the enthusiasts or an inside joke (or a mixture)?

If you are talking about the test signal, I will take the blame for those. It's just supposed to be a tool for those that want it and not be a distraction for those that don't. As mentioned earlier, we will update them soon. If you want to start a poll on the signals most useful for your calibration needs, I will consider all...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by bangy38

Hi Paid, just FYI Fox is actually rolling it out on blu-ray starting with their Hitman 2-disc release (the digital copy is on a DVD).

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...ital_Copy/1395

Thanks...

[kaliraver]

Hey Paidgeek, welcome back. I had a question about why Sony decided to put Dolby T-HD on their BD's instead of DTS-MA? I thought Dolby T-HD has dialog normalization and isn't as great as DTS-MA? Thanks for being a part of this forum you are greatly appreciated along with the other insiders.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by kaliraver69

Hey Paidgeek, welcome back. I had a question about why Sony decided to put Dolby T-HD on their BD's instead of DTS-MA? I thought Dolby T-HD has dialog normalization and isn't as great as DTS-MA? Thanks for being a part of this forum you are greatly appreciated along with the other insiders.

Dial norm is optional and there were many more products supporting Dolby THD than DTS MA (still are).

I find this topic facinating because lossless is lossless right? There are some differences that are relevant to the CE companies, studios and so on, but for the consumer it should be no worries...

[Big Daddy]

Dear Paidgeek,

I have had this question in my mind for many years. Why did Sony decide not to make SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) available for home audio? In my experience, SDDS is superior to both Dolby Digital and DTS.

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

If you are talking about the test signal, I will take the blame for those. It's just supposed to be a tool for those that want it and not be a distraction for those that don't. As mentioned earlier, we will update them soon. If you want to start a poll on the signals most useful for your calibration needs, I will consider all...

Thanks to you, then. I was happy with my 60" SXRD settings for a long time but tweaked them off of the SPHE settings for my "Pro" mode.

Previously I had used the THX optimizer on the Star Wars DVD's.

I bought DVE (standard def) but never got around to finishing.

I created a poll:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=35471

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Dear Paidgeek,

I have had this question in my mind for many years. Why did Sony decide not to make SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) available for home audio? In my experience, SDDS is superior to both Dolby Digital and DTS.

My question too.

Why aren't SDDS designed for home system?

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by bangy38

Hi Paid, just FYI Fox is actually rolling it out on blu-ray starting with their Hitman 2-disc release (the digital copy is on a DVD).

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...ital_Copy/1395

The reaction that some of us have when we hear about "added value" like this is to think this is just another source of potential compromise to what we really care about, namely the PQ and AQ of the movie itself. Of course, anything that's on a separate disc is no problem in this regard.

In terms of a question to paidgeek, I assume there must be ongoing tensions between what seems like "added value" to some and how this "added value" may in fact represent "reduced value" to others to the extent the "added value" takes up space on the disc that would otherwise be used to give the best possible PQ and AQ for the movie itself. Can you give us any insight on issues like this? Many thanks once again for your very valued participation here.