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

[Kris Deering]

Penton,

Watched D9 last night. Jaw dropping video transfer on that one. Kudos to Sony on one of the best presentations I've seen this year. The International is also one of the best I've seen this year and I use it for reference and demonstrations quite a bit.

Also, have a great holiday season everyone!

[Jeff Kleist]

Cliff, good rant

Given the problems NTSC has with reds, to what would you attribute the general red/warm push in late 90s/early 2k color timing that we see being moved away from today? I was watching Rocky last night and Adrian looked like she'd been running laps (the red push accentuated the rouge she had on big time)

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by mark antony

i'm equally amazed that any of the great D9 was shot in 4K (I just remember it not being a pretty film on any level......

That reminds me to post a reminder to all the reviewers all over the internet.
I wrote this tidbit back in October………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ed#post2378194

Add to that ^, the fact that the principal photography was intentionally scheduled and shot during the wintertime in Johannesburg to provide the necessary *look* for the film because summertime in South Africa tends to be more green and lush……not too indicative of a war zone, unless you’re talking about someplace like Southeast Asia.

You vont pretty?
This is pretty…………commercial directed by another Michael –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/1..._n_382412.html

P.S.
Finally, after 14 long years, the tradition continues ………
Virginia are National Champs………again!http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-soccer/...121309aaa.html

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Penton,

Watched D9 last night. Jaw dropping video transfer on that one. Kudos to Sony on one of the best presentations I've seen this year. The International is also one of the best I've seen this year and I use it for reference and demonstrations quite a bit.

Also, have a great holiday season everyone!

Thanks Kris.
And the same to you and your family.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by benes

I use screenshots as a general guide to whether a disc has any massive defects like.......

That ^ is a valid use.
Typically, what goes on in *screenshot science* forums day in and day out is not.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by benes

I agree. Some of the back and forth over minutiae between different versions gets ridiculous. Or trying to analyze every grain particle and make some judgment about the film.

The funny thing is, some of them claim to see differences on the images which don't even exist! (see the Inglourious Basterds compare thread over there).

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

The funny thing is, some of them claim to see differences on the images which don't even exist! (see the Inglourious Basterds compare thread over there).

That thread is absolutely hilarious and I love the post where the “screenshot engineer” loses his patience with the other *screenshot scientists*………
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...3&postcount=39

For once, I agree with the guy (eric.exe) ^ who apparently picked up his screenshot degree from the School of Engineering, in contrast to the others, whom I assume garnered theirs from some College of Arts and Faux Sciences diploma mill.

And not to mention the conveniently ignored basic fact of just what honest percentage of screenshot affectionados have ever had their computer displays properly calibrated………even once?
Something which we discussed here in the past……….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ed#post2480294

P.S.
I've seen the theatrical presentation (not the Blu-ray yet) and the digital grade by Yvan Lucas from EFilm looks quite good.
Tip of the hat to him.
Of course, the way Robert Richardson lights, he probably had very little leeway in how to make everything look 'right'.

Inglourious Basterds is a tour de force in the art of lighting and Robert R. should be a serious contender for at least an Academy Award nomination for his work....in my opinion.

[blindcat87]

Penton,

I am awaiting with great anticipation the arrival of my copy of D9, the early reviews I have read are not helping with the patience quotient. I missed it in the theater because it barely stayed any time in our little 10 screen plex here, so I think I can safely say that this is one of my most anticipated BD releases of the year. I just wanted to ask if the audio track on this release is one of the 96/24 tracks like the excellent 'Leon' soundtrack? From the reviews, the audio is very good, so I am not concerned if it is not, I am just curious.

Thanks, and happy holidays to you and yours,

Chris

[Jeff Kleist]

Inglourious Basterds is a tour de force in the art of lighting and Robert R. should be a serious contender for at least an Academy Award nomination for his work....in my opinion.

The shot beneath the floorboards is really outstanding on the Blu. The work really is fantastic, the pinpoint keylighting

[PeterTHX]

Interesting controversy on screenshot science...

http://criterionforum.org/forum/view...245912#p245912

[Sponge-worthy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The shot beneath the floorboards is really outstanding on the Blu. The work really is fantastic, the pinpoint keylighting

Tarantino's films are interesting with lighting. Often it seems their scenes tend to alternate between using a soft, uniform look across the frame to scenes that use one or two specific sources to blow everything else out. It's been hit-and-miss somewhat in the past. For instance, the way the overheads tended to whiteout Uma Thurman's blonde hair in the House of Blue Leaves (Kill Bill 1) seemed a bit much in some shots. Basterds really seems to hit the sweet spot though--dictating the viewer's attention at times yet encouraging one's eyes to wander a bit at others. Very impressive work.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Interesting controversy on screenshot science...

http://criterionforum.org/forum/view...245912#p245912

Seems to me that DVD Beaver is frequently cited as a source for "troubling" screenshots. Coincidence?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by SpaceDog

Seems to me that DVD Beaver is frequently cited as a source for "troubling" screenshots. Coincidence?

Probably not, but this whole "screenshot science" phenomenon wouldn't exist without the infamous "Xylon"

[iceman]

Originally Posted by SpaceDog

Seems to me that DVD Beaver is frequently cited as a source for "troubling" screenshots. Coincidence?

Beaver states that they are ripping the discs to get the exact frames without quality loss, however, they are then compressing the images to death and thereby ruining the image quality anyway...

Beaver:

[Show spoiler]

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...ce_blu-ray.jpg

Blu-ray.com:

[Show spoiler]

Beaver's screenshots seem to average around 250-300kB in size, while Blu-ray.com screenshots average around 1-1.5MB. And as always, screenshots should not be used to judge image quality

[Jeff Kleist]

Wasn't Beaver doing it before Xylon popularized it?

Ice, if you read the thing from David MacKenzie, he has a hypothesis that in addition to the compression, that there is some kind of resampling/filtering that's enabled on PowerDVD that's causing it

Essentially like so many before him, he's failed to RTFM

[iceman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Ice, if you read the thing from David MacKenzie, he has a hypothesis that in addition to the compression, that there is some kind of resampling/filtering that's enabled on PowerDVD that's causing it

I'm far from a screenshot scientist but I'm inclined to follow that theory, there seem to be more problems than compression only. For example lots/the majority(?) of screenshots look far too pale.

[Jeff Kleist]

I'm betting he's failed to calibrate his software as well

[abintra]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Wasn't Beaver doing it before Xylon popularized it?

Ice, if you read the thing from David MacKenzie, he has a hypothesis that in addition to the compression, that there is some kind of resampling/filtering that's enabled on PowerDVD that's causing it

Essentially like so many before him, he's failed to RTFM

David's brother Michael has a site that made a post about these also.

Even though those that use screen shots as illustrated purposes with the knowledge behind it tend to get lumped in with those that don't and make blanket statements, Michael and David's comments are ones I've come to respect and trust.

[abintra]

Congratulations to Sony Pictures Classics for 3 out of the 5 best foreign film nominations for the Golden Globes.

Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos) (Spain)
The Country of Spain
El Deseo SA; Sony Pictures Classics

A Prophet (Un Prophete) (France)
The Country of France
Chic Films/Page 114/Why Not Productions; Sony Pictures Classics

The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band - Eine Deutsche Kindergeschichte) (Germany)
The Country of Germany
X Filme Creative Pool/Les Films Du Losange/Lucky Red; Sony Pictures Classics

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Wasn't Beaver doing it before Xylon popularized it?

Yes, but I'm referring to the "science" cabal at AVS.

All too often I see the phrase "I'm not buying this until I see some caps by Xylon...".