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

[WickyWoo]

A ton of movies can fit on a BD-25 and still look good with AVC and THD. Until foreign territories increase BD-50 capacity, it makes sense to be able to press as much as possible locally

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

To Max, Esox, PaulGo , Rob Tomlin, anyone –
“Lowry” hasn’t been called “Lowry” for years. Can somebody tell me what we’re supposed to refer to DTS Digital Images, Inc. now as ?
Or,have they retained their name as a subdivision of sorts in “Reliance”.

http://msnmoney.brand.edgar-online.c...2rrWohsnUQX0s9

Oh, so you loop the CFO's into this whole DNR thing now?

I have no idea what we're supposed to call "DTS". Ask Tomlin, he's the lawyer and they're always involved in "tricky questions" somehow (though they don't necessarily definitively answer them). I've been "busier than Rosie O'donnell at the Old Country Buffet", working with my own legal department on "other" things...as we try to keep some things from happening in a few industries so as to avoid further panic within and deterioration of the broader economy...

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

What happened ?
Did somebody (at Fox) forget to “turn the DNR knob up to eleven” on Jumper ?
For cripes sakes, Jumper has as much or more of a sales potential than does Patton.

New movies don't need to be "restored" from age and abuse, necessary or not.

Who knows what it would have looked like if the powers that be gave the instructions and had to spend that extra money. At least before the current reactions.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Paul H

New movies don't need to be "restored" from age and abuse, necessary or not.

Does Warner Bros/New Line know that?

~Alan

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Does Warner Bros/New Line know that?

~Alan

Different powers that be, different agendas?

[MerrickG]

Penton,

Im certainly aware that Sony Pictures has not officially announced that Ghostbusters is coming to bluray, but it has been mentioned many times before and I wanted to know if both films or just the first one was getting released.

I want BOTH of them!!!!

Thanks.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Esox50

I have no idea what we're supposed to call "DTS".

Speaking of "DTS"... or Lowry Digital Images... I noticed this "blurb" from a magazine article linked on the front page:

John Lowry, founder of Lowry Digital Images, says his company is working on an ever-increasing number of "important" titles, in preparation for a Blu-ray release. The list includes a number from Fox and Paramount, though Lowry declined to name names. The good news is that Lowry is scanning from the original camera negatives, not a duplicate, which should make for the best image quality you can get. And isn't that why you plunked down hundreds of dollars for that Blu-ray player in the first place?

Source: Sound and Vision Magazine

~Alan

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

But……….but, what about that conspiracy theory repeatedly touted ad nausea over some regions of the internet that this studio is purposely catering to the hoards of uneducated Joe6Packers that love a silky smooth video look in keeping with some popular HD television programs?

What happened ?
Did somebody (at Fox) forget to “turn the DNR knob up to eleven” on Jumper ?
For cripes sakes, Jumper has as much or more of a sales potential than does Patton.

Prior to Patton, and since their hiatus from BD, Fox (through PHL and Deluxe) had been turning out the most consistently outstanding PQ on BD in my opinion (Mr. Brooks, Man on Fire, I Robot). This is part of the reason why the Patton thing was so disturbing. The Jumper trailer on the Patton BD looked outstanding to me, btw.

[Squozen]

Originally Posted by saprano

Penton can you enlighten me on why disney is going the route of TruHD? I Always expected PCM from them. I know there (sic) all Lossless, but PCM was the only thing we had that was Raw data, untouched, i think its the most compleat (sic) sound thats all.

So you admit that 'lossless is lossless' and your preference for PCM is purely subjective and in no way reflects an actual improvement in quality, while measurably reducing the amount of storage available to the rest of the disc?

Alright, then.

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

But……….but, what about that conspiracy theory repeatedly touted ad nausea over some regions of the internet that this studio is purposely catering to the hoards of uneducated Joe6Packers that love a silky smooth video look in keeping with some popular HD television programs?

What happened ?
Did somebody (at Fox) forget to “turn the DNR knob up to eleven” on Jumper ?
For cripes sakes, Jumper has as much or more of a sales potential than does Patton.

I haven't seen enough rampant DNR from Fox to think that. I imagine it is hard for studios to figure out exactly how they want older titles like Patton to look, and obviously based on the comments on most forums a good number of enthuasists are quite happy with Patton. My Dad is a huge fan of Patton and when he came to my place and looked at it he thought it looked incredible. Since 70mm doesn't have that much grain to begin with I didn't mind the clean look but I thought fine object detail could have been better. But the image does have great dimension to it.

Juno had a nice grain structure to it and it was a Fox release. I haven't looked at Meet the Spartans yet () but I've been pretty happy with the majority of the Fox releases on Blu-ray except for some of the low bitrate catalog titles like the Arnold movies.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Well, I don't think that anyone thought it was necessarily policy, but certainly an effort on old catalog titleswith fairly mainstream appeal to see what happened

While I believe it was certainly mandated by someone, it was more of an experiment rather than a trend (and that gentle reminders are needed not to make it one)

Wicky, now you’re making wild guesses.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Paul H

New movies don't need to be "restored" from age and abuse, necessary or not.

Who knows what it would have looked like if the powers that be gave the instructions and had to spend that extra money. At least before the current reactions.

I don’t understand what you are trying to say.
Are you implying that a studio (in this case Fox) is more predisposed to using *extreme* processing for home media editions, the more $$ that have to invest in the restoration of the original elements or whatever is usable near the front of the pipeline?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

Speaking of "DTS"... or Lowry Digital Images... I noticed this "blurb" from a magazine article linked on the front page:



Source: Sound and Vision Magazine

~Alan

Always good stuff on our News page.
Which is one of the reasons this forum is expanding membership rather than stagnating or even contracting into a niche clubhouse like some other venues.

20th Century Fox has been a long-term client of Lowry Digital Images ->DTS Digital Images --> ? Reliance Entertainment Digital Imaging Services (how’s that Esox?).

Restoration of such classic films in the Fox library (which I would venture a great many film elitists are totally unfamiliar with) such as Leave Her To Heaven and Drums Along The Mohawk which screened at last autumn’s New York Film Festival were accomplished by using the Lowry process.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

I haven't seen enough rampant DNR from Fox to think that. I imagine it is hard for studios to figure out exactly how they want older titles like Patton to look, and obviously based on the comments on most forums a good number of enthuasists are quite happy with Patton. My Dad is a huge fan of Patton and when he came to my place and looked at it he thought it looked incredible.

That’s nice to hear.
A father and son enjoying a mutual hobby together. Those moments will forever be cherished in later memories.
How large is your screen again?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Always good stuff on our News page.

Like Stephen Nickerson coming through with the Blu love!

Never Back Down Coming to Blu-ray

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Leave Her To Heaven

My Grandmother used to have that on VHS (may still do), and though I've seen a few minutes here and there, I don't think I've seen the whole thing...

~Alan

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

That’s nice to hear.
A father and son enjoying a mutual hobby together. Those moments will forever be cherished in later memories.
How large is your screen again?

My Dad loves coming over to watch movies. My parents have always been cinema fans and are the reason I do this today. We watched LOTS of movies growing up. They have a decent little family room system I put together at their house but he loves coming over to watch stuff at my place.

I have a 120" diagonal screen. I sit 1.5x screen widths away and my second row of seating is at about 2x.

[WickyWoo]

Wicky, now you’re making wild guesses

They're informed speculation based on prior experience, but I'm very happy to be wrong. Maybe I have been a bit cynical, but I've seen the music industry ruined already by some of the same kinds of activity so I think I'm naturally a bit paranoid

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

They're informed speculation based on prior experience, but I'm very happy to be wrong. Maybe I have been a bit cynical, but I've seen the music industry ruined already by some of the same kinds of activity so I think I'm naturally a bit paranoid

Reminds me of a great song that Porcupine Tree did about the music industry:

Hear the sound of music
Drifting in the aisles
Elevator prozac
Stretching on for miles

The music of the future
Will not entertain
It's only meant to repress
And neutralise your brain

Soul gets squeezed out
Edges get blunt
Demographic
Gives what you want

Now the sound of music
Comes in silver pills
Engineered to suit you
Building cheaper thrills

The music of rebellion
Makes you wanna rage
But it's made by millionaires
Who are nearly twice your age

One of the wonders of the
world is going down
It's going down I know
It's one of the
blunders of the world
that no-one cares
No-one cares enough

[desmond]

Mr. P.,

Just got through 'The Professionals'. Looks really good...



Congrats.

[Rob Tomlin]

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