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

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by mark antony

Excellent News, thanks for confirming.

BTW do you think it's likely that Guns of Navarone may be making an appearence sooner rather than later?

I see Jeff uses that phrase rather often.
Has he ever defined when ‘sooner’ ends and ‘later’ begins?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by wallendo

I guess that explains why is cost $11 more then "Up" on Amazon.

Does this mean that the screenshot scientists will now be critiquing the reduction algorithms?

One moment.
That calls for an internet search. I know what press release link I’m looking for, I just need a few minutes to find it and type something intelligent on this page for the geeks amongst us.

[mark antony]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I see Jeff uses that phrase rather often.
Has he ever defined when ‘sooner’ ends and ‘later’ begins?

Not sure that he has!

For me, a definition could be sooner is in the next 12 months, later is next year and beyond or thereabouts!

M

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by wallendo

I guess that explains why is cost $11 more then "Up" on Amazon.

Does this mean that the screenshot scientists will now be critiquing the reduction algorithms?

Too late.

Several months ago, Marketing already beat ‘em to it, albeit in Japanese, for gross illustrative purposes, with another title………………..
http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/...512/index.html

but some internet folks couldn’t see much of a difference on their …….umm, *calibrated* computer displays at home.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/12...-a-difference/

Clif Notes version of the “SBMV” reduction algorithm-
When you convert 10-bit masters to 8-bit Blu-rays, color banding can detract from superb picture quality depending upon the source (esp. animation movies, but also with things like fades involving live action titles), so,

the “secret sauce” so to speak, achieves a smooooooth color gradation by what’s called ‘noise shaping’. Which, in simplistic terms, means superposing minute quantization errors(noise) in high-frequency areas. Because this process always works on high-frequency areas (and human vision is characterized by low sensitivity to high-frequency signals) perceived noise is far lower than with other conventional gradation conversion processes.

Most importantly, probably to some viewers is the fact that even if you don’t use a PS3 or other Sony Blu-ray player, you should still see the improved results (compared to conventional conversion) with your current display chain on titles that have been produced with this algorithm, meaning this is not the same thing as the Super Bit Mapping for Video feature (8-bit > 14-bit > 8 or 10-bit [depending on your HD panel] which is a feature of some high-end Sony Blu-ray players.

It can get confusing because the same names and acronyms (“SBMV”) have been used by the marketing folks for different processes (one is upstream, the one which I’m talkin about, the other is downstream, utilized exclusively as a feature in some select Sony Blu-ray players, as I just described.

[aygie]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/n...blu-ray-discs/

hey Penton, any tidbits you can share about this? Is it more likely to be just a firmware update or new machines? Good news anyway!

[Penton-Man]

With that(checking all my posts today for spelling errors), I’m out of time for now, as I have to prepare for the show because I’m leaving on Tues. for Vegas (meetings and all, prior to the ‘official’ start).
Peter THX or sharkshark -since “we got the convention. Gotta press the flesh, meet the fans”.

On second thought, maybe I’ll just bow, as you never know who has and who hasn’t had the h1n1 vaccine.

Later folks.

[Jeff Kleist]

I haven’t seen the Blu-ray and party poopers should remember it’s called 'ENTERTAINMENT'.
Plus, I don’t think it’s that often a motion picture creates so much buzz that NASA is compelled to made web site postings about the issue –

Unfortunately, the conspiracy nuts have been going on about it for a hundred years. Same as they do with Nostradamus, astrology and all that other crap. People believe this stuff without questioning it. Check out the section for this stuff at Borders if you doubt the number/maket of suckers out there, it's bigger than the classic lit.

I see Jeff uses that phrase rather often.
Has he ever defined when ‘sooner’ ends and ‘later’ begins?

Nope A good oracle never gets too specific when the inside track isn't a lock

[JimSD]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

The race - been dere, done dat.

Congrats

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Coming to Blu-ray? Heck Jim, honestly, I didn’t even know that they did a movie for the event. What year or year(s) is it captured from?

It's about the 2009 race. It was shown in several hundred theaters a couple of nights in November (many sell-outs) and it's going to be shown in Canada later this month and next. There is a trailer at raceacrossthesky.com. I didn't make it to one of the showings, but a friend of mine back east saw it with his wife and they both said it was very well done.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Have you ever ridden Noble Canyon or the other trails in Cleveland National Forest east of S.D.?

Yes, quite a few times although it's been a long time since I've done much riding in the east county. Not the best descender - I almost like the long climbs getting to the top of Noble better. One of the most epic rides we did out there was starting from Cuyamaca and taking the East Mesa trail over to Deer Valley and up the Indian Creek trail, down the back side of that, up to Noble, recovered a bit on the Big Laguna trail, down Noble Canyon, up that ridiculously steep road back towards Indian Creek and East Mesa, and then back west on East Mesa. A hot day, a crash on Noble, and my legs were revolting big time at the end. We used to do a lot of riding at Lake Morena/Corral Canyon too. Riding closer to home these days until my son is ready for the big climbs. He's very good descending and is a good climber, but I learned at Daley Ranch that 12 year olds don't like one steep climb after another and another, repeat.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I received a couple PM’s about this announcement on the News page–
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3975

I haven’t seen the Blu-ray and party poopers should remember it’s called 'ENTERTAINMENT'.
Plus, I don’t think it’s that often a motion picture creates so much buzz that NASA is compelled to made web site postings about the issue –

You'd be surprised how many people take this stuff seriously.

Take for instance how many times have people talked about California "sliding into the ocean". Even the most severe of earthquakes won't cause California to sink. Indeed, California is sliding North, and won't sink until it starts subducting beneath Alaska millions of years from now. Now, I dabbled in geology in my youth but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look up the information for themselves. But people don't do it, see 2012, and think that's going to happen.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

With that(checking all my posts today for spelling errors), I’m out of time for now, as I have to prepare for the show because I’m leaving on Tues. for Vegas (meetings and all, prior to the ‘official’ start).
Peter THX or sharkshark -since “we got the convention. Gotta press the flesh, meet the fans”.

On second thought, maybe I’ll just bow, as you never know who has and who hasn’t had the h1n1 vaccine.

I've had my shots.

But unfortunately I'm going to miss the show this year. Bummed about that.

[FourToedStatue]

Hey has there been any news on blu-ray enabled Macbooks?

[Jeff Kleist]

"Let them eat iTunes" is the last word unless there's been a major breakthrough.

<begin rant>Honestly, don't play Blu-ray on a laptop, ANY laptop. They're not designed for that kind of load (no matter what the packaging says), and Blu-ray discs don't travel well in rough and tumble luggage anyway Just load up the digital copy on your existing system.

And if you never take your laptop anywhere (SUV owners and laptop users have a lot in common), no matter how sexy you think it looks on your desk, buy a desktop, you'll save a pile and get a better computer that will last longer and save a bunch of money at the same time. If you want something to take around the house, a netbook is cheap and works great</rant>

[micks_address]

agreed completely with this.. dont know why anyone would buy a laptop to leave it sitting on the same desk for all its life.. for the same money you'd get a very nice widescreen monitor with an upgradable tower solution....

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

"Let them eat iTunes" is the last word unless there's been a major breakthrough.

<begin rant>Honestly, don't play Blu-ray on a laptop, ANY laptop. They're not designed for that kind of load (no matter what the packaging says), and Blu-ray discs don't travel well in rough and tumble luggage anyway Just load up the digital copy on your existing system.

And if you never take your laptop anywhere (SUV owners and laptop users have a lot in common), no matter how sexy you think it looks on your desk, buy a desktop, you'll save a pile and get a better computer that will last longer and save a bunch of money at the same time. If you want something to take around the house, a netbook is cheap and works great</rant>

[Deciazulado]

Well, I'd like to watch some Blu-rays on my 12 hour flights...

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I must say that even for cinemas that don’t have those special shaky seats, it was a very good year for the motion picture industry.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/..._news#34666237

^ shark, who does Jeff (Amy’s partner, not Kleist) remind you a little of, in terms of looks and expression, for which, by the way, he is sometimes teased about?
Run the trailer for Cable Hogue from imdb.
Heck, it’s well worth a look-see just to see Stella Stevens in her prime.

Wow, he really does look like Robards... That's super amusing. Well, Robards meets Santa.

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

sharkshark -since “we got the convention. Gotta press the flesh, meet the fans”.

Eek.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265208/

Do you wear a hood while at the event, or do you attend in your secret, "I'm not Penton man and have no idea what you're talking about" costume?

Bonus marks for anyone going to CES that wishes to "out" our dear Penton... I'd suggest questions to every Sony rep you run into about Motorcycles, Arsenal Football games, esoteric camera technologies, and, naturally, porn.

[Jeff Kleist]

Bonus marks for anyone going to CES that wishes to "out" our dear Penton... I'd suggest questions to every Sony rep you run into about Motorcycles, Arsenal Football games, esoteric camera technologies, and, naturally, porn

Oh like it's that easy Trust me, it's not I suggest donning a "society for coyote abuse" T-shirt and see who gives you dirty looks

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Oh like it's that easy Trust me, it's not I suggest donning a "society for coyote abuse" T-shirt and see who gives you dirty looks

You know me too well.
That provocation might actually produce much more than a “dirty look”……..more like an Encounter of the Fourth Kind.

However, my feelings are not exclusive to my coyotes. For instance, because of the animal cruelty during the production of Red Cliff, I personally could never recommend that Blu-ray movie for watching to my friends, no matter how good the storytelling or PQ might be. Additionally, there should be a special place in hell reserved for the wrangler who used the trip wire on the horses during that motion picture.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

Well, I'd like to watch some Blu-rays on my 12 hour flights...

I’m all with you Deci, especially considering the next stage may be not letting us use the bathrooms during a flight because of holes in security at various airports……..before people get on the darn plane.

However, I just hope that we never really get to this point with the mainstream…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTwRDqlelLI

Don’t laugh, it should be interesting to see what some companies offer in terms of *mobile technology* with “tablets”( Hello ‘Adam’), new apps with mobile phones, etc. at CES.
Welcome to the new generation of "new media".

With that, I’m off to the airport and an oasis in the desert.
I haven’t checked any of my PM’s (no time) so please, nobody take it personally if you didn’t get a reply from me on some matter.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

You know me too well.
That provocation might actually produce much more than a “dirty look”……..more like an Encounter of the Fourth Kind.

However, my feelings are not exclusive to my coyotes. For instance, because of the animal cruelty during the production of Red Cliff, I personally could never recommend that Blu-ray movie for watching to my friends, no matter how good the storytelling or PQ might be. Additionally, there should be a special place in hell reserved for the wrangler who used the trip wire on the horses during that motion picture.

Am I right to assume there isn't quite as much oversight outside the US for animal treatment in film? I've grown so accustomed to the "no animals were harmed tag" that I've never even noticed if they aren't present in foreign productions.
This should be a standard worldwide.

[Bobby Henderson]

Anyone else see the new "Blu-ray 3D" logo unveiled today?

Anyone else find the design less than impressive? Honestly, my reaction was YAWN.

Anyway, regarding the notebook computer topic:

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Honestly, don't play Blu-ray on a laptop, ANY laptop. They're not designed for that kind of load (no matter what the packaging says), and Blu-ray discs don't travel well in rough and tumble luggage anyway Just load up the digital copy on your existing system.

Jeff, are you suggesting all notebook computers across the board lack the processing horsepower to play a Blu-ray movie properly? If that's the case, I disagree.

An entry level notebook with the minimal amount of RAM and integrated graphics may have some issues with Blu-ray playback. However, a well-equipped notebook with a current dual-core or quad core CPU, 4GB or more RAM and a real video card is not going to have a problem. Blu-ray playback is not the most compute-intensive task one can throw at a notebook.

That being said, if I were going to play a Blu-ray movie on a notebook computer I would do so with the notebook placed on a stable surface. Not my lap. And I would have it plugged into wall outlet power. I do that anyway when using professional graphics applications.

Originally Posted by micks address

dont know why anyone would buy a laptop to leave it sitting on the same desk for all its life.. for the same money you'd get a very nice widescreen monitor with an upgradable tower solution.

Yeah, it is ridiculous for anyone to buy a notebook computer only to leave it on a desk 100% of the time. I don't know anyone personally who does this. I only seem to see that syndrome displayed in movies.

I used to be a militant desktop-only computing guy. I was never going to buy a notebook PC. But over the years the various sticking points I had against them vanished one by one. Certain negative feelings about desktop PCs grew.

Nearly my entire work day is spent in one place: at a desk using a big desktop PC. I know I'm going to use a computer another couple hours when I get home. But I don't feel like being stuck back in a bedroom with my leg chained to another computer desk.

A notebook computer doesn't take up much space on a living room coffee table. It can be put away quickly and easily when not in use. And if the need arises many notebook computers will allow you to use a big HDTV set as a second monitor.

Notebook computers still have their drawbacks. They do cost more. Their hard discs don't last as long on average as a HDD in a desktop PC. And it can be a real pain if the integrated LCD screen fails for whatever reason. But those are penalties you pay for the convenience of portability.

The next computer I buy will probably be another notebook PC equipped with a Blu-ray burner. Obviously that means it will not be a Mac.