Archived: Insiders Thread

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by JTK

Quick request: Do we have any Apple folks in the house or people that kind of have some knowledge or connections thereof? It'd be kind of nice if we could get a little Apple presence thrown in the mix of the ever growing and impressive ensemble we have.

I have a few Apple related questions I wouldn't mind asking. Great thread!

I don't work for Apple, never have. But I have had (and hope to continue to have) significant dealings with them. (Note a couple of my responses to hmurch a while back.) I deal with them on a very different level than consumer products, but I may have some insights -- just don't count on it. I won't violate any NDA's I've signed with them, and as with anyone who has significant dealings with Apple, I don't want to get "Steve'd".

Apple is notoriously closed about what it intends to do. The AppleTV (iTV) was a notable exception. Even "rumors of rumors" are taken seriously at Apple and management moves to kill them quickly often putting out a mixture of fact and fiction tailored to different organizations so they can track information flow.

All that said, I will immediately defer to anyone who is actually an insider at Apple who is also willing to go on the record with any facts.

[diddlyD]

hey paidgeek

Its great that sony has decided to rerelease The Fifth Element after all the negative feedback the title got. Now, 99% of sony's other releases i've been perfectly happy with, but one movie in particular, Silent Hill, got a lot of bad reviews and word of mouth. I love this movie, and it would have been one of the first titles i purchased, but i've avoided it due to those reviews as i did TFE. Being such a vivid and especially visual-reliant movie, is there any chance that this title is being considered for a nice upgrade like TFE, be it codec, disc size, or both (my guess is this movie, being mpeg 2 on a BD25, just needs more space to thrive)?

[BTBuck1]

To PaidGeek

I am curious, on the rescent release "Gridiron Gang" the picture is generally top notch, however in some scenes I notice this weird grid pattern in backgrounds, generally when it's a lighter/whitish background. I see it only temporarily in about 5 or 6 scenes but it was rather distracting for my "picky eyes" I was just wondering if that is some type of compression artifacting, or just in the original film. Aside from this unusual "I don't even know what to call it" the movie looks great (near referance if it weren't for this) and was an inspirational film to watch.

PS, I did watch it on my ps3 on one tv, and my samsung on another tv and saw this anomoly on both setups.

THanks,
Brian

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by phloyd

A followup for Keith...

Should it be possible for the players using the Sigma SoC to be firmware updated to do dual stream PiP or is it too early to be sure?

And a little 'off BD' pair of questions for paidgeek - I understand this may be beyond your scope but I would love to know the answers...

Why is it that there are Warner up coming movie trailers on the PS3 internet site but no SPE titles? There are lots of SPE BD trailers... just no new movies from anyone but Warner.

Secondly, do you have any idea why so few SPE movies are shown in HD on Starz HD? Recent movies like Zathura and Fun With Dick and Jane have aired on Starz HD but not actually in HD ... this seems strange to me and I have been wondering for some time why this is...

Thanks for any insights you can offer!

I'll see what I can find out about the PS3 site. That is strange...

A different division handles the sales of HD/SD titles to cable/satellite/broadcast. I don't have many contacts there, so I don't think I can come up with an answer on that. HBO carries a lot of our titles in HD though. I have also seen them on TNTHD.

[dialog_gvf]

Paidgeek

The Digital Bits is reporting March 20 for new DVD releases of The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone and Lawrence of Arabia.

Any chance we should be preparing to get EXTREMELY excited?

Gary

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by diddlyD

hey paidgeek

Its great that sony has decided to rerelease The Fifth Element after all the negative feedback the title got. Now, 99% of sony's other releases i've been perfectly happy with, but one movie in particular, Silent Hill, got a lot of bad reviews and word of mouth. I love this movie, and it would have been one of the first titles i purchased, but i've avoided it due to those reviews as i did TFE. Being such a vivid and especially visual-reliant movie, is there any chance that this title is being considered for a nice upgrade like TFE, be it codec, disc size, or both (my guess is this movie, being mpeg 2 on a BD25, just needs more space to thrive)?

I don't think this title deserves a bad review. I saw the master and it is very dark throughout, but I think it came out well. If you buy it and are unhappy, please return it to the shop you get it from for a refund (check their policy first of course). Also, if you buy it and find problems, I would like you to let me know so I can find out what happened.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by BTBuck1

To PaidGeek

I am curious, on the rescent release "Gridiron Gang" the picture is generally top notch, however in some scenes I notice this weird grid pattern in backgrounds, generally when it's a lighter/whitish background. I see it only temporarily in about 5 or 6 scenes but it was rather distracting for my "picky eyes" I was just wondering if that is some type of compression artifacting, or just in the original film. Aside from this unusual "I don't even know what to call it" the movie looks great (near referance if it weren't for this) and was an inspirational film to watch.

PS, I did watch it on my ps3 on one tv, and my samsung on another tv and saw this anomoly on both setups.

THanks,
Brian

It could be a compression artifact, or it could be a scaling artifact. From the main menu type 7669 on your remote and pause on the monoscope pattern. Can you see the tips of the triangles for 1.78?

If you give me the time for the spot you are talking about, I will check it when I get to the office.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Paidgeek

The Digital Bits is reporting March 20 for new DVD releases of The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone and Lawrence of Arabia.

Any chance we should be preparing to get EXTREMELY excited?

Gary

This does not sound right to me, but I'll check.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

This does not sound right to me, but I'll check.

Thanks!

Meanwhile today [1/18/07], Sony has added Big Fish to its 3/20 Blu-ray slate, along with repackaged 2-disc DVD versions of The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone and Lawrence of Arabia (see cover art below).

Gary

[Banjo]

Just wondering if there's any plans to bring Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth' to the Blu-Ray format? It's one of my childhood favourites.

If it is being planned, are there any plans to clean up a particular scene where the matting is poorly done. For instance, the scene where all these creatures with detachable heads. It was one of the worst matting I've ever seen and that's saying something. While it was pretty noticeable on the DVD format, I'll hate to see how much of a sore thumb it is on the Blu-Ray format.

A movie like 'Labyrinth' deserves a great Blu-Ray release.

[JTK]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=44655

My Apple related questions/comments/whatever.

[DaDane]

I am wondering what is going to be the 'normal' recordable discsize?

For DVD it's single layer, single side. A 4,7 GB disc is significant less than a 9,4 GB disc even though the difference is getting smaller.

I would love to get big discs more than anything. And 200 GB just sounds like heaven to me!!!
But I am quite afraid that the prices would be something like 25 GB o.k. price, 50 GB expensive, 100 GB+ very very expensive (like in not something you would consider for home use).

Can you elaborate a bit on this, - am I right or wrong, what decisions have been taken etc.

Also, - what will the price difference be on BD-R and BD-RE? And are the RE as durable as R?

[mbslrm]

The guy who cracked HD DVD has apparently done the same to BD. What's your take on this?

[shug7272]

Paidgeek: If this question has been asked and I missed it I appologize. What is your take on the lack of movie announcments for HD DVD at CES and the rumors of (is it Universal or Warner that is in HD DVDs camp) going neutral/Blu Ray? Any info you can provide would be great.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by shug7272

Paidgeek: If this question has been asked and I missed it I appologize. What is your take on the lack of movie announcments for HD DVD at CES and the rumors of (is it Universal or Warner that is in HD DVDs camp) going neutral/Blu Ray? Any info you can provide would be great.

It is hard for me to speculate. I do think there is pressure on Universal to release on Blu-ray, but they could still have announced more HD-DVD titles.

[dialog_gvf]

paidgeek,

Could you go over the region coding rules dictated by the BDA, and Sony's policy on how they will deal with region coding?

There are many UK and European members in these forums, so it would be helpful to them (and us) to have an official word on this.

Gary

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

paidgeek,

Could you go over the region coding rules dictated by the BDA, and Sony's policy on how they will deal with region coding?

There are many UK and European members in these forums, so it would be helpful to them (and us) to have an official word on this.

Gary

SPE has announced that we will not region code catalog title (those that are not running in theaters). We will region code titles in the theatrical window, but the licensing for Blu-ray mandates that such a disc can only be manufactured for one year. So after one year, SPE and any other studio has to remaster any title with region coding to be region free. If discs are still on the stores after 1 year from the original manufacturing run, those can be sold, but they should be marked on the package accordingly.

[GoldenRedux]

paidgeek,

I'm not sure if you can answer this or not, but are there plans by Sony or any other labels to release any audio-only, high-res music titles on Blu-ray?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by GoldenRedux

paidgeek,

I'm not sure if you can answer this or not, but are there plans by Sony or any other labels to release any audio-only, high-res music titles on Blu-ray?

I don't know of any audio-only titles at this time. I also don't think any audio-only players have been announced...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I don't know of any audio-only titles at this time. I also don't think any audio-only players have been announced...

Would they need to introduce audio-only players? Simple fixed video (cover art, title info) along with the standard BD audio would be an audio format. Don't turn on your HDTV and you're using an audio deck.

About the only thing I could imagine being needed would be car audio decks.

Gary