Archived: Insiders Thread

[crunchy]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

^^^ I think many of us think it must have been a deliberate strategic move against Blu-ray, out of fear of what the May 22 week numbers might look like otherwise.

Ah well. What happens after May 22? Is Warner going to commit to a bunch more HD DVD key exclusives to counter Spidey 3, Pirates 3, Fantastic 4 - II, etc?

Also, will "300" be an excuse title?

[punchline]..., who needs enemas?[/punchline]

What does Warner stand to gain by propping up HD-DVD? Is it just that they have intellectual property and research $$$ in the TotalHD disc concept?

It seems like there would be more long term profitability for Warner if they help end the format war, and speed adoption by the general public. Also they would no longer have the additional costs of releasing to two different specs.

Anyway it is a slap in the face to Disney and the BDA to release it on May 22, and anyone who says otherwise is maybe being a little disengenuous.


But then Warner comes out and says, "we are neutral, all HD-DVD releases will be day and date with Blu-ray going forward etc etc"

Their actions really tell a different story however.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by crunchy

It seems like there would be more long term profitability for Warner if they help end the format war, and speed adoption by the general public. Also they would no longer have the additional costs of releasing to two different specs.

You sir are on the the few "message board" people I've seen who understand this, and you are exactly right with what you say above. However as a CFO I can tell you that many times the profitability focus is on the "shorter term" rather than the longer term. It's a difficult balance to maintain, and sometimes misguided senior 'product' people under pressure (or in a transition) who don't understand the longer term financial dynamics are able to influence the CURRENT strategy of a company. Many times this is to their own detriment and career, even though they think they are doing the right thing. I've seen this catch up with many people, sooner or later (at least in my business).

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Esox50

paidgeek, if you can do so in a general sense & without ruffling feathers:
I would be curious, given your above statement, what the thoughts within the BDA/Sony are regarding WB "strategically" placing The Matrix on HD DVD only on May 22 (Disney's big Pirates date). To me, that seems like a slap in the face from one BD studio to the other. I'd be pretty pissed if I were Disney. WB should have had some tact and released it May 15 or May 29.


Thanks for a good laugh.

As you would guess, a lot of companies fully supporting BD are bewildered by the actions of WB. They have their reasons for supporting HD-DVD at they level they do, but I don't know what they are.

For our part, we continue to offer whatever support to WB we can to be sure they are satisfied with their BD product. I expect them to change their position as HD-DVD becomes less and less relevant, but it would be great if they helped it to the grave rather than providing life support...

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

For our part, we continue to offer whatever support to WB we can to be sure they are satisfied with their BD product.

Thanks for the response. The above is all you guys can really do. After all, it's better to have them in the BD fold than not.

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I expect them to change their position as HD-DVD becomes less and less relevant, but it would be great if they helped it to the grave rather than providing life support...

Let's hope so. That being said, as long as the "big three" (Sony Pictures, Disney, & Fox) BD exclusive studios hold their ground I think a longer term solution will be "forced"...with WBs involvement or not. Of course, we all need Fox to get back to releasing titles, and at a faster pace than they did before...

[myst420]

Originally Posted by Esox50

Let's hope so. That being said, as long as the "big three" (Sony Pictures, Disney, & Fox) BD exclusive studios hold their ground I think a longer term solution will be "forced"...with WBs involvement or not. Of course, we all need Fox to get back to releasing titles, and at a faster pace than they did before...

The thing that has impressed me is the turnaround by Sony in terms of the quality of the releases.

Question for Paidgeek. What compression ratio do the lossless audio codecs typically achieve?

[WriteSimply]

*puts another US$3 in the cofffer*

To paidgeek: Now that we see the AACS key has been revoked, and I assume that new discs from this point forth have new keys, will Fox has to re-replicate their announced titles like Mr. & Mrs. Smith with the new keys? Have they done so? When will they announce these titles?


fuad
PS - I need singles...

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by myst420

The thing that has impressed me is the turnaround by Sony in terms of the quality of the releases.

Question for Paidgeek. What compression ratio do the lossless audio codecs typically achieve?

The lossless codecs are acheiving about 2:1 compression. This varies with content and bit depth. 16bit can do about 3:1.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

*puts another US$3 in the cofffer*

To paidgeek: Now that we see the AACS key has been revoked, and I assume that new discs from this point forth have new keys, will Fox has to re-replicate their announced titles like Mr. & Mrs. Smith with the new keys? Have they done so? When will they announce these titles?


fuad
PS - I need singles...

It is hard to say what Fox will do, but at this point, I don't expect to see them releasing titles at full speed without BD+. Probably another couple of months out...

[JBlacklow]

Originally Posted by crunchy

What does Warner stand to gain by propping up HD-DVD? Is it just that they have intellectual property and research $$$ in the TotalHD disc concept?

Originally Posted by paidgeek

As you would guess, a lot of companies fully supporting BD are bewildered by the actions of WB. They have their reasons for supporting HD-DVD at they level they do, but I don't know what they are.

Isn't Warner second only to Toshiba in terms of royalties and profits from DVD licensing?

[trueblue]

Are they're any future plans to take advantage of blu-ray capacity in the music industry i.e. you could have say a rolling stones disc with their New album tour footage and the live concert plust the album and music video and interviews as well as interactive quizzes and links to webpages. this would be a full interactive experience.. But would the cost be to great for the music industry to implement this or will this be possible..... SACD and DVD-A didnt seem to revolutionise the audio industry like the dvd did for the movie industry is Blu-ray going to make any difference??

Is blu-ray just a medium for video and will any medium ever be a replacement for CD.

I was wondering if anybody knows anything about Multiplexing of audio in blu-ray, what advantages does the blu-ray medium offer compared to dvds AC3 and DTS. is there any new formats for multiplexing the sound and does this solve any phase problems or downmixing problems that dvd had?

[blublublu]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

It is hard to say what Fox will do, but at this point, I don't expect to see them releasing titles at full speed without BD+. Probably another couple of months out...

Does BD+ require firmware upgrades on the players?

[Rob Tomlin]

Paidgeek-

I don't have a question, but rather a comment for you and everyone at Sony:

Thank you for doing such a fabulous job on Casino Royale! The picture quality is absolutely fabulous, and simply looked stunning on my JVC RS1 projector.

It appears to me that Sony has done an excellent job of turning around the initial complaints regarding PQ in some early releases. In fact, I think Sony is moving towards obtaining the reputation of having the best picture quality releases of any studio currently releasing titles on either HD format.

And that isn't even mentioning what you guys are doing with sound quality!

Keep up the great work!

[crunchy]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Paidgeek-

I don't have a question, but rather a comment for you and everyone at Sony:

Thank you for doing such a fabulous job on Casino Royale! The picture quality is absolutely fabulous, and simply looked stunning on my JVC RS1 projector.

It appears to me that Sony has done an excellent job of turning around the initial complaints regarding PQ in some early releases. In fact, I think Sony is moving towards obtaining the reputation of having the best picture quality releases of any studio currently releasing titles on either HD format.

And that isn't even mentioning what you guys are doing with sound quality!

Keep up the great work!

I really second this sentiment. Also the offer to let us trade our old Fifth Element for one of the new ones is really first class and appreciated.

[azure_blue]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I was involved in SACD before coming to work for Sony Pictures so I am very interested in it. Even so, things look bleak at the moment for SACD and DVD-A.

I think the music industry is looking forward to leveraging Blu-ray as a readily available format for a large base of consumers. The LPCM capabilities are very good and the tools to master audio in a compatible format are available.

Not good news for SACD, but good news for those that appreciate great sounding audio.

paidgeek,What does this mean for the future of DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
Will future BD music discs also incorporate DSD?
Surely they have the room for both a SACD/DST program and a 96/24 LPCM program
The reason many "audiophiles" went with SACD/DST is because of its "closer to analog" fidelity:

Note that high-resolution PCM (DVD-Audio, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc) and DSD (SACD) may still differ in terms of fidelity at high-frequencies since DSD, thanks to its high sampling frequency, does not show the typical ringing effects of reconstruction filters used with PCM

-wiki

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

Isn't Warner second only to Toshiba in terms of royalties and profits from DVD licensing?

I don't know the exact numbers, but in any case we are talking a few pennies per disc at most. Not very significant in comparison to selling titles for real dollars.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by azure_blue

paidgeek,What does this mean for the future of DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
Will future BD music discs also incorporate DSD?
Surely they have the room for both a SACD/DST program and a 96/24 LPCM program
The reason many "audiophiles" went with SACD/DST is because of its "closer to analog" fidelity:

-wiki

I also have an appreciation for SACD, but it is not a mandatory codec in BD. There are several reasons for this, but the most obvious has to do with the competing postion that some of the BD companies had with DVD-A and SACD. I cannot speculate on the future of DSD, but I don't expect Blu-ray to be its salvation.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by blublublu

Does BD+ require firmware upgrades on the players?

No, the players are supposed to fully support it as they are.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by trueblue

Are they're any future plans to take advantage of blu-ray capacity in the music industry i.e. you could have say a rolling stones disc with their New album tour footage and the live concert plust the album and music video and interviews as well as interactive quizzes and links to webpages. this would be a full interactive experience.. But would the cost be to great for the music industry to implement this or will this be possible..... SACD and DVD-A didnt seem to revolutionise the audio industry like the dvd did for the movie industry is Blu-ray going to make any difference??

Is blu-ray just a medium for video and will any medium ever be a replacement for CD.

I was wondering if anybody knows anything about Multiplexing of audio in blu-ray, what advantages does the blu-ray medium offer compared to dvds AC3 and DTS. is there any new formats for multiplexing the sound and does this solve any phase problems or downmixing problems that dvd had?

There is no technical reason why BD cannot become a primary music format except that it is cheaper to manufacture CD's.

Since BD can support high bit rate LPCM, it should be able to provide very good fidelity on par with the best professional recording equipment (leaving aside DtoA conversion).

I think the music industry will come around to leveraging this as soon as more players are available in the market. Sony BMG has already released some strong titles.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Paidgeek-

I don't have a question, but rather a comment for you and everyone at Sony:

Thank you for doing such a fabulous job on Casino Royale! The picture quality is absolutely fabulous, and simply looked stunning on my JVC RS1 projector.

It appears to me that Sony has done an excellent job of turning around the initial complaints regarding PQ in some early releases. In fact, I think Sony is moving towards obtaining the reputation of having the best picture quality releases of any studio currently releasing titles on either HD format.

And that isn't even mentioning what you guys are doing with sound quality!

Keep up the great work!

Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. It is my pleasure to hear your comments, but there are many people working behind the scenes to get the job done. I think many of them have had good feedback from the press and forums reflecting some of our new practices and it encourages all of us to continue with more of the same.

I'll have a chance to see the final LOA master probably next week. Given the many hundreds of hours put into it, I'm expecting great things...

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. It is my pleasure to hear your comments, but there are many people working behind the scenes to get the job done. I think many of them have had good feedback from the press and forums reflecting some of our new practices and it encourages all of us to continue with more of the same.

I'll have a chance to see the final LOA master probably next week. Given the many hundreds of hours put into it, I'm expecting great things...

Music to my ears!