"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by mhafner

Apart from one frame = statistically irrelevant sample size this Tiger frame looks so so. It looks sharpened and too harsh for my taste.

I have the entire cap, it looks really good most of the runtime.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by benes

And since the demise of HDDVD he has now completely changed his story. Now he is telling us how VC1 is great for Blu-ray because it will take advantage of the higher bitrates better than the other codecs.

Of course, a complete 180.

Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by scott1256ca

So he can tell the difference between "hand tuned DACs", but he can't tell the difference between a lossless and a lossy soundtrack?

One of those claims would seem to be BS.

Originally Posted by scott1256ca

This is why people like me want to see double blind testing for claims like lossy vs. lossless. Otherwise there is just so much opportunity to make nonsense claims and never be called on them. Even Roger Dressler from Dolby stated that going to 1.5 mbps on DD+ from 640k wouldn't provide that dramatic an improvement.

I don't believe RD's claiming near transparency at 640K, but rather that the DD/DD+ codec does NOT aggrade to lossless with more bits.

Gary

[Logan00]

I have a question, when advertising for a movie being released, why don't studios say:

"Available on Blu-ray and DVD on......"

Instead of "Available on DVD and Blu-ray on......."

To me, the first one seems like they are pushing Blu-ray more instead of it being an afterthought, like the second one.

Thanks

[Woody]

Originally Posted by CraigW

It still surprises me how much they convinced/brainwashed some AVS members that lower bitrate and more compression is better.

A-man's current crusade is to convince people that lossy audio is just as good as lossless. He sure likes to brag about his 'hand tuned' DACs from Mark Levison. I sure would like to see a scientific test experiment if anyone could actually pick out a 'hand tuned' DAC over the BurrBrowns in my 805.

A-man is as usual protected over there and as usual full of you know what. He is marketing guy with a little engineering background.

FWIW it doesnt take a "hand tuned" DAC to improve on a DAC in a receiver.

[scott1256ca]

I don't believe RD's claiming near transparency at 640K, but rather that the DD/DD+ codec does NOT aggrade to lossless with more bits.

That is my recollection as well. I didn't intend to imply otherwise. If there was confusion, I apologize.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Logan00

I have a question, when advertising for a movie being released, why don't studios say:

"Available on Blu-ray and DVD on......"

Instead of "Available on DVD and Blu-ray on......."

To me, the first one seems like they are pushing Blu-ray more instead of it being an afterthought, like the second one.

Thanks

Well, one thing I have noticed is some of the studios testing a release of the Blu-ray version of a movie a week in advance of the DVD, I think that will make a lot more impact than simple stating Blu-ray first when advertising the product. But it makes sense, since that is the way the industry should be going.

[WickyWoo]

Well, one thing I have noticed is some of the studios testing a release of the Blu-ray version of a movie a week in advance of the DVD, I think that will make a lot more impact than simple stating Blu-ray first when advertising the product. But it makes sense, since that is the way the industry should be going.
__________________

It's not happening. It was a typo

Seriously, it'll probably never happened, I was shocked even at the possibility

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's not happening. It was a typo

Seriously, it'll probably never happened, I was shocked even at the possibility

Were DVDs ever released ahead of the VHS version? I wasn't an active movie purchaser until later in DVD's lifespan, so I don't really remember.

Do execs expect Blu-ray to eventually phase out DVD? Or is this seen as another tier of the market (similar to 2-disc collector's editions and the lesser 1-disc just-movie editions), and DVD will continue to be released indefinitely? I understand that DVD phase-out would be a long, LONG time away (if it ever happens), but I'm just curious what the industry feels (or at least hopes) will happen.

[Penton-Man]

Just a quick note ……………….

I got a chance to see some footage in the DI suite that I was quite, quite pleased about.
It was shot on the new Kodak Vision3 5219 stock.
Guys, this stock is the first truly DI friendly stuff that I think has been produced.
I believe Kodak may have hit a home run here.

For the colorist, it’s much easier and faster to work with compared to other 500T stock.
There is much less grain in the underexposed shots which translates into………..mhafner alert……..mhafner alert – less need for DNR when you pull the image back up.
There’s also inherently greater resolution in the shadows as well as the highlights compared to Vision 2.

I’m thinking this film stock may just eventually translate into a more pleasurable viewing experience for theatrical as well as Blu-ray movies, just in the fact that it is so digital intermediate friendly.
We shall see.

Anyway, a yet to be released major motion picture (still in post) that used this stock is David Mackenzie’s Spread.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186370/

^
Watch for it at your local Cineplex.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Were DVDs ever released ahead of the VHS version? I wasn't an active movie purchaser until later in DVD's lifespan, so I don't really remember.

Yes but it didn't happen until dvd had been on the market for several years. Gladiator was released on dvd long before the vhs.

[WickyWoo]

OT: But for those who didn't believe me about the water content being important in a good pizza,

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifesty...05/ps_pizzasci

"Water," (Mario)Batali says. "Water is huge. It's probably one of California's biggest problems with pizza." Water binds the dough's few ingredients. Nearly every chemical reaction that produces flavor occurs in water, says Chris Loss, a food scientist with the Culinary Institute of America. "So, naturally, the minerals and chemicals in it will affect every aspect of the way something tastes."

Batali himself encounters the water problem at his upscale New York restaurant Del Posto, where he makes traditional Italian food. The tap water in Manhattan is far different from that of the motherland. His solution: create his own mineral-water composite. Working from a chemical analysis of l'acqua italiana, Batali's team basically clones the H2O that gives the food in Italy its — well, its gestalt.

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

OT: But for those who didn't believe me about the water content being important in a good pizza,

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifesty...05/ps_pizzasci

I thought it was widely known that NY's pizza and bagels were better than Los Angeles' because of the pH of the water... My dad's from New York and he's been tellin' me this since I was a young lad. But it's always nice to have someone like Batali to back you up.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Were DVDs ever released ahead of the VHS version? I wasn't an active movie purchaser until later in DVD's lifespan, so I don't really remember.

VHS had a rent 1st model. Meaning for the 1st 4-6 months of a VHS release they were "priced" to rent most were around $80-$100 (a rental window). Major blockbusters and most Disney were the exception.

When DVD was launched there was not a rental window and were priced for sale on the release date. It was the same as the VHS just a different pricing model. It was the same for LD but DVDs were priced lower.

I was working at a Suncoast around the time DVD was launched.

[WickyWoo]

DVDs were released on the same day as the rental VHS cassette. The sell-through priced VHS would come 5-8 months later, and usually to little or no fanfare

The first movie to be released priced to own from the get-go was tim Burton's Batman movie. From then on, only the tippy top mega blockbusters would skip the rental window

[savage1984]

yeah, when I was a kid, my dad and I used to go to the local Wherehouse video and rent cartoons for me and... well the point being we rented a lot and didn't buy very many VHS's. It didn't seem odd to me at the time, but I was only a kid. I guess it was just cheaper to rent a movie ten times then to purchase it once. Of course, my dad may have had ulterior motives, but that's for another thread.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

DVDs were released on the same day as the rental VHS cassette. The sell-through priced VHS would come 5-8 months later, and usually to little or no fanfare

The first movie to be released priced to own from the get-go was tim Burton's Batman movie. From then on, only the tippy top mega blockbusters would skip the rental window

But Wicky, do you remember the 1st "priced to own" day and date VHS release? At an affordable 49.95

Beverly Hills Cops

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by meckel

But Wicky, do you remember the 1st "priced to own" day and date VHS release? At an affordable 49.95

Beverly Hills Cops

Nope, actually it was "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

[WickyWoo]

Peter is correct, it was Khan.

I should amend that to "priced to own at an actual affordable price"

Thanks for the reminder that Paramount was once actually ahead of the curve in home video trends rather than being dragged kicking and screaming on a tow rope behind

[mhafner]

Where is paidgeek? Awful long vacation...