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

[Post Prod]

The next PlayStation?


The Ps4 having a blu-ray player is probably about as certain as the next Nintendo console having a mario game.

Now the Ps5 and Ps6, who knows where the world will be then. Although I'm sure R&D is well under way for both.

Blu-ray isn't going anywhere for at least 5 more years (if not more).
My guess? The writing will be on the wall for the format on or around..oh say..2019. Blu-ray could be the last optical disc format to have such wide adoption. But it won't be the last physical format.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Apple are only trialling 1080p by the way.

If you think iTunes won't have 1080p "in several years", you have bigger issues.

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It doesn’t bother me until it gets boring and it hasn’t yet. I just personally no longer have the patience to keep reassuring steedeel.

You're correct it's not boring. It almost reminds me of the heated Blu-ray debate on the AVS forum several years ago. Now who can play Amir?

[Steedeel]

Not me!

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Rick, Bluray dies. IPTV takes over cable and satellite. Apple takes over film rentals with 720 (in my opinion) fake HD. So you are saying that scenario could not happen in several years?

No true HD source for home cinema enthusiasts. The future, yes, but i think a lot of people would owe me an apology if things panned out like this.

I'll be sure to forward that apology IF/WHEN the event you're so sure will happen, actually happens!
IN the meantime I would suggest watching your BDs as 2011 has been, arguably, one of the best years for releases...both new & catalog.
If that doesn't work, build yourself a bomb shelter...you know, just in case!

[coolmilo]

One thing to remember is Blu-ray or some form of package media (Blu-ray 4K??) can always leap to 4K. That would be tall order for the competing formats to follow for quite some time.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

One thing to remember is Blu-ray or some form of package media (Blu-ray 4K??) can always leap to 4K. That would be tall order for the competing formats to follow for quite some time.

It would also be a tall order to convince anyone to give a rip about. It's difficult enough to get a lot of people to see and understand the difference between DVD and Blu-ray, which is night-and-day to folks like us. The number of people who will be able to tell the difference between Blu-ray and 4K (and then care enough about it to purchase hardware) is miniscule.

[MerrickG]

Penton,

I doubt this is your expertise, but you are the best option.

Anyway, I am curious if it was possible for BD-Java to do frame cropping while watching a film.

The reason I am asking is because there is a debate going on in the Star Trek TNG bluray thread (mainly by me!) about whether they will reframe the episodes for 16:9 similar to what Sony did for Seinfield or whether to keep it in 4:3. One option I suggested was to have a BD-Java program do the cropping for 16:9 instead of just using the zoom button a bluray player since it will only crop on the center of the image while a BD-Java could at least allow cropping to occur in such a way that critical info is preserved.

My personal view is that I want the show to be redone in 16:9 similar to what Sony did to Seinfield in which they go back to the original 35mm film. This is not the purist view, but it is MY opinion.

Here is the thread if you are interested in offering your opinion.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mo...n-blu-ray.html

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Merrick Gearing

Penton,

I doubt this is your expertise, but you are the best option.

Anyway, I am curious if it was possible for BD-Java to do frame cropping while watching a film.

The reason I am asking is because there is a debate going on in the Star Trek TNG bluray thread (mainly by me!) about whether they will reframe the episodes for 16:9 similar to what Sony did for Seinfield or whether to keep it in 4:3. One option I suggested was to have a BD-Java program do the cropping for 16:9 instead of just using the zoom button a bluray player since it will only crop on the center of the image while a BD-Java could at least allow cropping to occur in such a way that critical info is preserved.

My personal view is that I want the show to be redone in 16:9 similar to what Sony did to Seinfield in which they go back to the original 35mm film. This is not the purist view, but it is MY opinion.

Here is the thread if you are interested in offering your opinion.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mo...n-blu-ray.html

I would think in working with 4:3 material the 16:9 framing would almost have to be done in a frame by frame basis to make sure the important information is maintained in the new aspect ratio. So this would have to be done in the remastering the original material not as a Java add on.

[PaulGo]

Here is an interesting bit of information about the "new" Spiderman in the Spiderman comics.

New ‘Spider-Man’ Swinging Into Comic Book Shops Following Death Of Peter Parker

...No, in the Ultimates series, Peter Parker gets killed at the hands of his nemesis the Green Goblin. But, being a comic book series, no hero stays dead for long. While Peter Parker may be gone, a new kid is stepping into the tights: Miles Morales.

Miles Morales is a half-black, half-Hispanic super-powered teen who gets into the hero game after being inspired by Parker’s death.

Full article at:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08/...-peter-parker/

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

I would think in working with 4:3 material the 16:9 framing would almost have to be done in a frame by frame basis to make sure the important information is maintained in the new aspect ratio. So this would have to be done in the remastering the original material not as a Java add on.

TNG was shot "TV Safe" so it had a lot of overscan so it can easily be reframed with minimal cropping.

[Show spoiler]

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

TNG was shot "TV Safe" so it had a lot of overscan so it can easily be reframed with minimal cropping.

[Show spoiler]

Were the special effects also done with overscan?

[Penton-Man]

I notice that a little WWII Blu-ray movie News hit the News Page, ala - https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=6994

lol, not to worry folks, this isn’t a heads-up to go out and buy some Ouza now. Nope, if you desire an oral supplement then sit back and enjoy some Baklava after watching this Blu-ray movie....if, that is, your wife or gf knows how to make it. My mom taught my wife the recipe…..and my Mom was Italian, not Greek, but that’s a story for another day.

Anyway, the News piece, given the flight of ideas which passes thru my mind, reminds me.

To anyone reading, Whose hands and feet be these in the cropped pic? (Deci do your mod thing to the pic). Here’s a hint for festival folks. The ceremony took place in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the ‘cementized’ was in town to attend the 2nd Annual TCM Classic Film Festival which exhibited a bunch of flicks, among which was the planned world premiere of the new restoration of The Guns of Navarone (not that said cementized person was in, or associated with, ‘Guns’) but, it just provided me a nice segue to 'Guns'.

b.t.w., y’all will notice that the cement looks a little unusual. I fear if I revealed the reason as to exactly why this is so, then it would give away the answer to the ‘cementized’ person rather too easily.
Are the shoes ruined now.jpg

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

Were the special effects also done with overscan?

I dont know and it doesnt really matter because they will have to be redone anyway.

[Alan Gordon]

I'm a PC.

That being said, I'm about to be a "Mac".

A couple of years ago, my PC died. I purchased a new one, and 13 months later (AKA, earlier this year), it died as well. Since then, I've been using my laptop (also a PC) which is in the process of going bad (though, unlike the desktops that went bad, this laptop has given me YEARS of good use), so I've recently switched to my netbook until I get the money together to purchase a new desktop. I was planning on getting another PC, but...

Last year, a few relatives visited here, one of whom was telling me how he (in a sure sign of the apocalypse) switched to a Mac due to a friend's urging, and how happy he was after the switch. After purchasing my iPad 2 earlier this year, and absolutely loving it (seriously, it's among the two CE products I would never want to do without...a DVR being the other), and reading more about Macs due to me trying to keep up with all the new iOS and iPad going ons, I've decided to get me a Mac Mini this Christmas.

Apple recently unveiled this year's model of the Mac Mini without an optical drive. Some people might have issues with this, but I actually like it. I rarely use an optical drive on my computers... the only exceptions are when I make MP4s of newly purchased CDs. You can use an external optical drive with the new Mac Mini, and with the $100 price cut on the new model vs. the old, you can purchase an external optical drive, and still save money. Plus, should the external optical drive go bad (like mine in my laptop, or in many other computers I've owned over the years), replacing an external is a lot easier than replacing an internal drive... and a heck of a lot cheaper to replace one on a Mac.

I don't agree with everything Apple does, but I don't agree with everything Windows does either.

People like to bring up that iOS 5 brings several features currently available on Android phones to iOS, but Android phones (of which I have one) owe a lot of their design to iOS. People like to bring up that iCloud is copying Amazon, Windows, Google, Best Buy, Dropbox, etc., etc., etc. is correct, but I suspect that iCloud will most likely be the one that really makes "cloud computing" break out (here's a demo of Apple's cloud).

As to whether or not Apple is innovative?! Well, I think they ARE innovating things right now. Whether or not those choices are the right ones... well, that's a matter of opinion, and only history will prove one side right.


As for whether or not downloads will spell the end of Blu-ray?! Perhaps by the time I have considerably more gray hairs, but at this point of time, I'm not concerned about downloads taking over for Blu-ray a bit.

As for the quality of Apple's "HD"? Well, it looks pretty good to me. If given a choice between a Blu-ray copy of a movie or an iTunes version, the Blu-ray will win hands down. The reasoning is both for the physical copy as well as the difference in PQ. However, not every movie is available on Blu-ray, and at this point in the game, certainly not every TV show is available on Blu-ray, so if given the choice between DVD and an iTunes "HD" download, I would take the iTunes "HD" download.

No, the quality isn't up to Blu-ray's PQ/AQ, but then neither is cable/satellite/OTA, or DVD. If you want quality, Blu-ray is where you spend your money.

~Alan

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I notice that a little WWII Blu-ray movie News hit the News Page, ala - https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=6994

lol, not to worry folks, this isn’t a heads-up to go out and buy some Ouza now. Nope, if you desire an oral supplement then sit back and enjoy some Baklava after watching this Blu-ray movie....if, that is, your wife or gf knows how to make it. My mom taught my wife the recipe…..and my Mom was Italian, but that’s a story for another day.

Anyway, the News piece, given the flight of ideas which passes thru my mind, reminds me.

To anyone reading, Whose hands and feet be these in the cropped pic? (Deci do your mod thing to the pic). Here’s a hint for festival folks. The ceremony took place in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the ‘cementized’ was in town to attend the 2nd Annual TCM Classic Film Festival which exhibited a bunch of flicks, among which was the planned world premiere of the new restoration of The Guns of Navarone (not that said cementized person was in, or associated with, ‘Guns’) but, it just provided me a nice segue to 'Guns'.

b.t.w., y’all will notice that the cement looks a little unusual. I fear if I revealed the reason as to exactly why this is so, then it would give away the answer to the ‘cementized’ person rather too easily.

Penton,
Any word on a US BD release?

[Doctorossi]

Alan, I think you're going to love the new Mini.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Any word on a US BD release?

I've had an Amazon pre-order on it for months now. Every few weeks, they apologize profusely that they haven't secured a release date yet.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Alan, I think you're going to love the new Mini.

ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Alan, I think you're going to love the new Mini.

Yep!

I'm anxious to get it... but I told myself back when I was getting a PC, that I'd wait until December and put my Christmas bonus toward part of the cost. Now that I'm planning to get a Mac Mini... an even more expensive purchase, that bonus will handle an even SMALLER percent of the cost, so the timing is even more important as I should have additional working hours around then, and I can put that toward the purchase.

Yep... anxious!

~Alan