Archived: Insiders Thread

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by Neo65

28 Days Later was shot in DV. I think it's PAL DV which has 720x576, still far from HD res. I'm struggling with the idea of buying it just to complete a collection, but so far, I'm going to skip it.

The last scenes are shot on 35mm. Thought that is not much comfort...

I got this on BD since I was already waiting foir HD disc and never bought the DVD on this title

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

To my knowledge, nothing has changed with respect to bitstream output over HDMI with the 40/80GB product.

Paidgeek, do you have any info on which cell is used in the 40/80gb PS3's? Whether it is the 90nm or 60nm? Sorry if this has already been asked.

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by FFObsessed

To any Blu-Ray Insiders,

There are currently rumours, strong rumours, of Toshiba working with Microsoft on an Xbox Entertainment Box, a 360 with built in HD-DVD. It will be a while, most likely late 08/early 09 but I hope the BDA/Sony are aware of this and maybe are able to counter.

It seems MS will stop at nothing to screw Sony, and if the format war isnt over by that time (which it most likely wont be) this could cause some trouble for Blu-Ray.

I understand the BD Insiders most likely cant comment on this.

Thank you.

I would politely like to ask insiders not to comment on the above rumour.

Besides, we already know gamers don't watch movies.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Rio

paidgeek, are you sure that HD DVD can't do seamless?

I suspect HD DVD also can do at least the spec. stand point, since every DL titles are splitted in 2 parts at the layer change point and connected seamlessly, also top menu movie loops seamlessly, same as BD. My understanding is that clips can be played seamlessly if all clips are designated in a playlist, and clips are MUXed with proper seamless conditions, with consideration of which clips are connected each other, just as same as BD and DVD.

Challenging point is, I think, that whether the authoring tool can MUX clips for seamless branching (like director's cut ver./ theatrical ver.) or multi-angle with proper condition. BD tool already proved it can do those, but HD DVD's one is unknown so far.



Selecting non-default story causes change of the playlist, unless all stories are authored as a multi-angle which limits all of clips in the angle must have exactly same run time. Change of the playlist causes pause.

For clarity, I did have never claimed that HD-DVD cannot do seamless, just that HHH was not seamless. As with DVD, seamless should be possible, but it is technically difficult to implement. We have gone to a good deal of trouble to make sure that the authoring system we developed can do seamless for Blu-ray with a reasonable effort so that we can offer it on appropriate titles.

[degas]

Paidgeek:
With Close Encounters coming up, could you share your thoughts and impressions of the master of this one?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by L or S of Perfect?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just tried the new Spiderman 2 BD in the Samsung BDP-1400. At the first branching point at the end of chapter 2, the player hard-locks with a black screen. Only powering down then back up can get the player to respond. Selecting chapter 3 from the "scenes" menu give normal playback until the next branch point. Same thing.

Will be interested if others encounter same problem.

BTW, the PS3 plays it fine.



Robert George posted this in the AVSforum. I'm wondering if we'll see similar issues with the other standalone players. Perhaps someone can pass the info on to the appropriate people so a firmware fix can get issued quickly?

Check to see if your player is set to output the Dolby THD bitstream. If so, try turning it off (switch to internal decoding) and try again.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by degas

Paidgeek:
With Close Encounters coming up, could you share your thoughts and impressions of the master of this one?

The production quality of CE3K is not a the same level as our best titles. That said, a great deal of attention has been paid to getting everything possible out of this title and it meets our standards and Steven Spielberg's.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Dogdvr

You should really see his latest diatribe !
He really has it in for Richard

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post11954728

If you want me to copy and paste it into a PM for you, let me know

Well it seems to me that since there are no insiders left on their forum, he has decided to venture out onto other threads to track them down and confront them……all in a day’s work at MS.

I didn’t get thru the whole rant because it began sounding like the Unabomber's Manifesto but, I’m wondering how many times he bashed Richard Casey, Sony and Blu-ray in that one post by the end of it all.

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I didn’t get thru the whole rant because it began sounding like the Unabomber's Manifesto but, I’m wondering how many times he bashed Richard Casey, Sony and Blu-ray in that one post by the end of it all.

WoW! What can I say but wow?!

[degas]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

The production quality of CE3K is not a the same level as our best titles. That said, a great deal of attention has been paid to getting everything possible out of this title and it meets our standards and Steven Spielberg's.

Thanks a lot Paidgeek.
And I must say - I really feel you guys are trying to get the most out of every title.
I understand elements and masters may vary. Sometimes you can only do so much.
But your sincere, and much appriciated, efforts must be applauded!

And such efforts will get my hard earned cash every time!

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by Neo65

28 Days Later was shot in DV. I think it's PAL DV which has 720x576, still far from HD res. I'm struggling with the idea of buying it just to complete a collection, but so far, I'm going to skip it.

I thought that 28 Days Later was filmed on celluloid then washed with Silver Nitrate in order to give it the look it did.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I didn’t get thru the whole rant because it began sounding like the Unabomber's Manifesto but, I’m wondering how many times he bashed Richard Casey, Sony and Blu-ray in that one post by the end of it all.

Same here...I got through the first couple of sentences and thought what complete and utter garbage.

I work for a high tech company and at review time, if I was rated as "good enough" that means average. I would not view that as a good thing! If my customers rated me as "good enough" that again means average and NOT GOOD ENOUGH in my mind!

Richard - thanks for putting up will a lot of crap just to make films the best they can be.

[navychop]

Is the release copy of Spiderman 3 going to be the same as the review copy that was reviewed at- well, I guess I'll leave the name off, rather than give them publicity.

Apparently, there were problems playing in the Samsung 1400 and other players, but not in the PS3.

Any chance these problems might not occur in the shipping version?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by navychop

Is the release copy of Spiderman 3 going to be the same as the review copy that was reviewed at- well, I guess I'll leave the name off, rather than give them publicity.

Apparently, there were problems playing in the Samsung 1400 and other players, but not in the PS3.

Any chance these problems might not occur in the shipping version?

The reviewed version is the same as the shipping version. Please check the Samsung website for a firmware update for your player.

[Hussla]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well it seems to me that since there are no insiders left on their forum, he has decided to venture out onto other threads to track them down and confront them……all in a day’s work at MS.

I didn’t get thru the whole rant because it began sounding like the Unabomber's Manifesto but, I’m wondering how many times he bashed Richard Casey, Sony and Blu-ray in that one post by the end of it all.

Woah just read it, a paranoid rant. Seriously it reads like Amir has really flipped and lost the plot. Some VERY sour grapes are appaerent!

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by amillians

Paid,

You mentioned limitations on font-based subtitles, specifically limits to what control you have with AA and outlining. Can you provide any specifics? I've never really seen much detail on Blu-ray's font-based subs, but I assume it's similar to what HD DVD does (e.g., OTF, etc.), so if true, everyone's in the same boat, which kind of sucks, since externalized text-based subs seems like such a winning concept.

In that vein, can you provide a brief explanation of the benefits of Sony's BND XML sub format for Blu-ray?

Thanks. If you can't spill the beans, I understand.

Full profile and BD-live players have mandatory outlining support for text based subtitles. Our XML format was designed for subtitle vendors to describe all the required subtitle parameters, that's all..

[SDG]

Sony's man Dille stated in GameDaily

PD: Actually, that deal if you look beneath the surface, it wasn't all Paramount movies. They cherry picked a couple different releases and it made for a big headline that I think makes it a bit more confusing for the industry and for consumers, because it creates the perception that Paramount is just in the HD DVD camp. But Paramount is supporting both camps, and you have to kind of go movie by movie and see which ones are in which camp. But there's a whole lot more support behind Blu-ray, not only from studios but also from consumer electronics manufacturers. Blu-ray has very broad support and there's really only one hardware manufacturer behind the other camp.

I am confused, are we going to get a lot of Paramont movies or not?

[FourToedStatue]

Originally Posted by SDG

Sony's man Dille stated in GameDaily

PD: Actually, that deal if you look beneath the surface, it wasn't all Paramount movies. They cherry picked a couple different releases and it made for a big headline that I think makes it a bit more confusing for the industry and for consumers, because it creates the perception that Paramount is just in the HD DVD camp. But Paramount is supporting both camps, and you have to kind of go movie by movie and see which ones are in which camp. But there's a whole lot more support behind Blu-ray, not only from studios but also from consumer electronics manufacturers. Blu-ray has very broad support and there's really only one hardware manufacturer behind the other camp.

I am confused, are we going to get a lot of Paramont movies or not?

Uh Wha!? Someone has to elaborate on this.

[fronn]

Originally Posted by SDG

Sony's man Dille stated in GameDaily

PD: Actually, that deal if you look beneath the surface, it wasn't all Paramount movies. They cherry picked a couple different releases and it made for a big headline that I think makes it a bit more confusing for the industry and for consumers, because it creates the perception that Paramount is just in the HD DVD camp. But Paramount is supporting both camps, and you have to kind of go movie by movie and see which ones are in which camp. But there's a whole lot more support behind Blu-ray, not only from studios but also from consumer electronics manufacturers. Blu-ray has very broad support and there's really only one hardware manufacturer behind the other camp.

I am confused, are we going to get a lot of Paramont movies or not?

He's likely speaking of the Spielberg titles and just being a little disingenuous (maybe not even intentionally?). I don't know why Sony lets Peter Dille talk to the press, he always says something dumb that either is completely off or he says things that shouldn't be said. At least when Kutaragi said weird things you had to still somewhat respect the man, he's very smart and did a lot of things right for the company and most of the problems with his plan seemingly stemmed from limitations that were placed on him. I'm curious how Sony would have looked if he was given Stringer's job like many were expecting.

[kamiller42]

Any insider want to comment on these comments from the DVD Talk review?

Spider-Man: Having not seen the first film in a few years, I was shocked to discover that it's framed at 1.85:1. I had to double check that this wasn't some kind of mistake, but no, that's how it was shot and exhibited, and that's what we get here. And the fact that it's in OAR is about the best thing I can say about it. This is the worst high-profile transfer I've seen since the early days of Blu-ray. The brightness in dark scenes have been jacked up, turning the blacks into murky blues. I often saw stray flashes of colors where they weren't supposed to be, perhaps breaking up the solid color of a wall or girder. Detail is extremely low, to the point where I felt like I was watching a DVD, and maybe not even an upconverted one. 2 Stars.
Source

They really liked the work on 2 and 3.