Archived: Insiders Thread

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

Any insiders happen to know what happened with Warner Bros. and the renewal of their contract with the BDA? I haven't been able to find anything regarding the subject and I thought that it was supposed to happen sometime this month. If I recall correctly it was mid-Oct? Not having heard much from them recently made me want to ask. Except the "No PiP on T3" news they have been eerily quiet. It kind of sends a cold shiver down my spine that something is in the works that won't bode well.

WB is still very much a board member in the BDA.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by ra1024

Paid, I searched and couldn't find any mention of the Starship Troopers master. I was wondering if you had seen this and could comment on the quality we might expect when it arrives next year.

Thanks again for your time answering our questions.
RA

I like the movie, but the grain and effects shots reflect the fact that the effects work was done at a number of facilities. You will find some shots are spectacular, but the entire title is not consistent that way.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by patrick99

I watched Mr. Brooks last night and I was very, very impressed with the PQ on this one. Please let the people at Fox who are responsible for the decision to go all out on these titles and the execution know how much their efforts are appreciated. I thought Silver Surfer looked fantastic, and Mr. Brooks looks even better.

Btw, I also received my copy of SPHE's The Company yesterday and I am very much looking forward to watching this one as well.

I would like to have your comments on "The Company". I think it is a great example of well-done digital cinematography.

[dobyblue]

paidgeek - what is amir talking about here?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=369

Originally Posted by amirm

While I am here , does Rich think any BD-50 with PCM sound is suboptimal due to jitter on the second layer? This is assuming he agrees that compressed lossless streams don't suffer from such effects......

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

paidgeek - what is amir talking about here?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=369

What he is trying to talk about is some arcane issue with how clock jitter can pass through your DtoA converter. He is implying that L1 will have more jitter than L0 and that the frequency of any such jitter would be in the audible frequency range and not eliminated by the clocking and buffering strategy in the player. This kind of issue had relevance in CD players, but does not hold water in Blu-ray (or HD-DVD for that matter) because these devices are not clocking themselves based on the audio data comiing off the disc.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I would like to have your comments on "The Company". I think it is a great example of well-done digital cinematography.

Maybe it was just the way it was shot, but the pictures seemed a little flat to me. Compared to an HBO HD series like Rome, it felt more TVish. I can watch Rome (hopefully on Blu-ray soon) on HBO HD (through cable, so its not HD-lite) and I can really see some great depth to the image. I just wasn't seeing it here.

Don't get me wrong, the image was great all the way through, just lacked the 3D effect you want to see on pristine transfers. Again, that might just be the way it was shot (didn't watch it on broadcast).

And I do realize Rome wasn't shot digital, but even Apocolypto had more depth. Did they both use the Genesis?

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Josh

Maybe it was just the way it was shot, but the pictures seemed a little flat to me. Compared to an HBO HD series like Rome, it felt more TVish. I can watch Rome (hopefully on Blu-ray soon) on HBO HD (through cable, so its not HD-lite) and I can really see some great depth to the image. I just wasn't seeing it here.

Don't get me wrong, the image was great all the way through, just lacked the 3D effect you want to see on pristine transfers. Again, that might just be the way it was shot (didn't watch it on broadcast).

And I do realize Rome wasn't shot digital, but even Apocolypto had more depth. Did they both use the Genesis?

I am pretty sure that Apocolypto was shot with the Genesis camera. I don't know about Rome.

The sense of 3D that you get from some titles seems to be related to the depth of field of the shot. For instance, when an actor is in sharp focus, but everything around them is not, it gives a sense of depth. Electronic cameras (with the Genesis excluded) can have less depth of field depending on the imager, lens and other factors. Personally I like it when the shots are consistent and don't distract me from the story. I think that consistency between shots over the course of a film or TV production is the mark of excellence in cinematography. Any cook can make a great dish once, but to do it consistently is the mark of a master.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I would like to have your comments on "The Company". I think it is a great example of well-done digital cinematography.

I've been watching The Company over the last few evenings. Needless to say, I believe it to be reference grade. Josh mentioned a lack of dimensionality to the presentation, but I found that as the story moves forward through the years, the visual presentation changes ever so slightly to resemble the photographic style of the era. As we head into more contemporary time, the image seems to add depth as well as more saturated colors - - the earlier scenes have a more sepia-tone look.

Regardless, the level of detail in this presentation is remarkable and I particularly enjoyed the cinematographic choices made and how well they were translated to the BD format!

[Richard Paul]

paidgeek, I have been reading various posts both here and on AVS Forum about text outlining and from what bkilian posted it isn't required on HD DVD. As such is text outlining a feature that is unique to BD-Video 1.1 and BD-Live players? bkilian posted later on that HD DVD could emulate subtitle like font outlines by using two lines of text that are offset by a couple of pixels but would it be safe to assume that the text outlining feature in BD-Video 1.1 and BD-Live is more advanced than that?

[gand41f]

Hi Paidgeek,

Looks like one of my questions got lost in the shuffle (we really need the "commentary" thread back!). Not that I have much hope about it because the V/W series don't have "120Hz" plastered all over them on Sony's web site, but can you please confirm?

Originally Posted by gand41f

Thanks Paidgeek. One more question, I assume the new Sony V3000 and W3000 series LCD's don't do 5:5, right?

By the way, if you ever get a chance to chat with someone with Sony Electronics, you may want to tell them to put a mention to 5:5 in an unambiguous way on their website. A lot of people are wondering about this (for the past few months in fact). I know I would have bought the XBR the week it came out if 5:5 pulldown was listed on Sony's website.

thanks
gandalf

thanks muchly
gandalf

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I would like to have your comments on "The Company". I think it is a great example of well-done digital cinematography.

So far I have watched only a large portion of the first disc. My preliminary reaction is that it looks very nice. Close-ups of Michael Keaton with many wrinkles and period glasses are particularly memorable. I will report back after I have watched the whole thing. Too bad Chris O'Donnell doesn't seem to be quite up to the task.

[richard lichtenfelt]

Ben, what do you think of The Company in regards to the story? I've been looking for trustworthy reviews on this one and aside from Yahoo.com there isn't much to go on.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by richard lichtenfelt

Ben, what do you think of The Company in regards to the story? I've been looking for trustworthy reviews on this one and aside from Yahoo.com there isn't much to go on.

I'm not Ben, but...

I thought the overall premise of the story was well conceived. The problem I had with 'The Company' was that story sometime got a bit too dramatized. For me at least, some scenes made me say, "Oh, come on!" because it was just too much drama. Acting is solid, with the only exception being Chris O'Donnell who over acted is nearly every scene.

It is a solid effort, and you'll enjoy it if you like historical dramas. Just don't expect the quality of production HBO puts out. They still reign and the undisputed king of historical dramas.

[Member-9711]

I just finished watching all the movies in the Spider-Man Trilogy and I was completely blown away by them, especially Spider-Man 3 which in my opinion rivals Pirates 2 for best PQ so far!

Great work Paidgeek and everyone involved at SPE.

[Sonny]

I have my first question for the insiders, my favorite show is "The Unit", its made by FOX so I hope they will put season 1 & 2 (& soon 3) on Blu-Ray. So what are my chances of seeing it on Blu-Ray ???? Its already an HDTV show so it should not that hard??? Thanks for your help

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Josh

I'm not Ben, but...

Acting is solid, with the only exception being Chris O'Donnell who over acted is nearly every scene.

"Over acted"? I would say a better description would be "under acted."

And I didn't see any shortcomings in the production quality.

[Ben]

I agree with Josh in that there is a little too much flowery drama thrown in, but, as a whole, The Company is pretty great.

If you like spy stories then you'll love it.

[spam.curitiba]

Originally Posted by Ben

I agree with Josh in that there is a little too much flowery drama thrown in, but, as a whole, The Company is pretty great.

If you like spy stories then you'll love it.

It really is good especially the last episode!

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by gand41f

Hi Paidgeek,

Looks like one of my questions got lost in the shuffle (we really need the "commentary" thread back!). Not that I have much hope about it because the V/W series don't have "120Hz" plastered all over them on Sony's web site, but can you please confirm?



thanks muchly
gandalf

Sorry, I don't have the experience with these models that I do with the XBR4 and XBR5. I sent a question off to our San Diego office, but they have bigger problems than my questions right now....

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Richard Paul

paidgeek, I have been reading various posts both here and on AVS Forum about text outlining and from what bkilian posted it isn't required on HD DVD. As such is text outlining a feature that is unique to BD-Video 1.1 and BD-Live players? bkilian posted later on that HD DVD could emulate subtitle like font outlines by using two lines of text that are offset by a couple of pixels but would it be safe to assume that the text outlining feature in BD-Video 1.1 and BD-Live is more advanced than that?

Yes, as far as I can tell, BD has outlining capabilities and I have been told that HD-DVD does not provide for this. Contrary to the comments that Amillians made, I expect that we can use the proposed offset strategy for a profile 1.0 player, or use raster based subs, and support outlined, font based subs for full profile or BD-live players.