Archived: Insiders Thread

[Bullseye]

To any of the Sony insiders. Is there a reason why Sony has been moving away from PCM to Dolby HD on recently announced titles. Encounters comes to mind.

[VernR]

This is mainly directed to paidgeek since I think Sony is in the best position to try this, but anyone from Hollywood feel free to answer.

One thing I always read about is the studios wanting to make the hi-def experience different from DVD in order to entice users to make the switch. Interactivity and on-line connectivity are the most common items mentioned. Why not make a real difference and offer the Blu-ray version of the movie day and date with the theatrical release? Day and date would be the wet dream, but with the way the box office numbers have gone this year, 2 weeks would allow the studios their big shot at exclusive box office. This could be a stripped down, no extras (just great PQ and lossless audio of course) disc sold at somewhat of a premium (I'd pay $30 - $35 to avoid the theater). Have the full release (and DVD) come out later and as a nice touch have a way for the early buyers to purchase or download the extras at that time. Might be a nice touch for FSP players, put in the disc and then connect to a web site and get the extras. You could even make the disc limited time to then let anticipation build for the full release.

I don't know if the economics make sense or not, but I think this would definitely pull people into making a switch and give Blu-ray a compelling advantage that would benefit even the profile 1.0 folks. So has any thought ever been given to this? Again I would think the Sony studios could be the ones to lead the way.

[Lambchop]

Thank you for the link Have a good weekend.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I'm told that all the women who read this forum regularly are sincerely saddened by the fact that the Mr. Woodcock article is no longer at the top of your news page.

If you were dropping something, I think I just stepped in it

[oldmike]

must say haveing CE3K Blu-ray trailer on PSN best idea EVER
talking about 3 ways to play the movie just made me want it so much more
they need more Blu-ray ads

any way they can put up a SD VS HD down load?

[Moonraker]

Two questions:

1) What is Profile 1.2 that the story at HighDefDigest speaks of

2) Any comments on what HTF founder said about Lawrence of Arabia:

Lawrence of Arabia: Another title that Sony is aware of
its demand. It seems that the title is being temporarily delayed
in anticipation of new Blu-ray technology.

[Beta-guy]

is there any news regarding Weinstein (specifically 1408) is there something we can do to encourage then to go neutral or Blu-ray exclusive?

[WickyWoo]

One thing I always read about is the studios wanting to make the hi-def experience different from DVD in order to entice users to make the switch. Interactivity and on-line connectivity are the most common items mentioned. Why not make a real difference and offer the Blu-ray version of the movie day and date with the theatrical release? Day and date would be the wet dream,

Absolutely impossible

1- They are not going to screw the movie theaters, who are an important backbone of the business (yes i know a bunch of you have lousy ones or hate going)
2- A movie is finished just in time for theatrical release. Usually only a few weeks before. The lead time on an HD disc is months and months. For example the BR of Die Hard 4 is the PG-13 version because the unrated wasn't finished until the end of August
3- You want to build anticipation for the disc release, which involves a certain minimum space of "abscense makes the heart grow fonder"
4- Advertising is extremely expensive. They're not going to buy 2 weeks of ads on every title. You promote one date

DVD got people used to having the movie day 1, every time. All that will do is piss them off.

Weinstein will announce in their own time. They've gone Blu they just need to make it official

Lawrence, as Padigeek has said many times is coming next year

[DaViD Boulet]

Paidgeek,

i know you're bombarded in this thread hourly to answer questions. So forgive me if you've already answered this: Did you have a chance to confirm how the PS3 handles a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack (with latest firmware) when it's set to output PCM and one uses SPDIF out? I'm worried, based on my ears, that the PS3 might be passing a 2.0 down-mix from the core/companion lossy DD track out the SPDIF out and not the decoded lossy track.

At AVS users were reporting that you could get "lossless" out of the PS3 from a TrueHD track by forcing the PS3 to PCM out (turning off bitstream) with firmware 1.9 or higher. Please let me know if this is true... my on-line reviews are going under that assumption and I don't want to falsely characterize the fidelity of any of the TrueHD tracks if my PS3 isn't decoding them (or downmxing them) properly.

thanks!

p.s. yes... saving for HDMI decoder.

[richard lichtenfelt]

Will Fox ever drop the Star Wars bomb? Seems to me that if the end of the format war was truly desired then the BDA should give George Lucas a nice incentive like Toshiba gave Dreamworks.
That would end the format war quicker than a light saber through soft cheese.

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

My notes show that the audio tracks will be sourced from 20 bit master files rather than the 24 bit in North America. This was done to save a bit of space without materially affecting performance.

The disc will also include all the major subtitled languages:

English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (for hearing impaired), Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Swedish, Turkish.

The disc will be coded for all regions.

thank you very much for answare !

so US release is same as UK release coded for all regions ?
thank you in advance,
Marek

[WriteSimply]

Apologies to the mods for non-insider discussion.

Originally Posted by Frode

Funny, it costs the equivalent of $55.39 here, and some other discs are $66.69.

Where is "here"?

What you have to remember is that the USD is at the lowest it has been in 40 years. The price discrepancy you're seeing is a result of that, and you can't really compare prices directly using exchange rates. Instead you have to compare to other similar products in your local market. BD and HD DVDs are more expensive than DVDs, but that also goes for the US.

Here's the reality of the situation. The following is MSRP and prices of discs here in Malaysia.

Spidey 3 BD (not the trilogy) is RM179 which is US$53.90.
Transformers 2-disc DVD is RM100 which is US$29.93.
300 DVD is RM70 which is US$20.95.

If you look at the US prices, you'd see that the DVDs are cheaper but the BD is not. That's simply because the DVDs are pressed locally or in HK while the BD is imported.

There is a significant difference between the US market and the Malaysian market. While some US retailers put out BDs at MSRP, others do not. Over here, there is NO RETAILER offering discounts either on the first day or three-months later. There are only MARK-DOWNS which happens 12-24 months down the line, if at all.

To append the argument further, the distributor that imports these BDs is the same one that imports it for Singapore. They still sell it as MSRP over there.

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Exactly. Retail prices are based on the cost of living, and how much people tend ot make in the geographic area, coupled with the number of units they're likely to sell

Using the Big Mac index at US$5.95 for a Medium McValue meal, that's about RM20. For an MSRP of Underworld at US$30, that's 5x the amount for a big Mac in the US. Hypothetically, that BD should be sold here at RM100, if it was made here. But it's not. The MSRP for BDs is RM150 and NO DISCOUNTS.

And for the record, the price of a Big Mac McValue medium size is RM9. So if you compare the two, the COLA is very low.

Since Malaysia currently is producing more bootleg DVD/CDs than any other country in Asia, I'd say your legit market is very small, hence the higher prices

The reason the legit market is small is because of censorship and a host of other reasons, including a long history of IP piracy within the region which included eight tracks and LPs! But I digress.

My point is there is no incentive for me to support the local distributor because of their MSRP practice. They might as well not bother importing.


fuad

[Bombthroat]

Originally Posted by Dave J

If there was still any doubt left that this was just Toshiba "dumping" unsold stock then this thread at HDD should put it to rest. What exactly were the manufacturing dates stamped on those A2 boxes you might ask?

This is hilarious! At least the only people who are going to get burned by buying these are morons. And hey, like Toshiba says, they are a decent DVD player (which is what they will amount to).

Blu-ray Insider:
Any info as to whether the upcoming 2.0 firmware update for the PS3 will make it Profile 1.1 compliant? How about adding DTS-HD MA audio decoding support?

[Bullseye]

Too funny.

[paidgeek]

Originally Posted by Lambchop

I have never heard of 1.2 specs before today, reading it the article linked below:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...n_the_Way/1140

Thank you in advance to any insider who could elaborate
Have a great weekend!

It would have been a misunderstanding. There is no profile 1.2

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Josh

If you were dropping something, I think I just stepped in it

Just teasing.

[Bullseye]

Question for paidgeek. Is there any reason why PCM was not included on the Close Encounters BD release?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Balian

Thank You Penton-Man. You are one of a few people on the internet that could reassure me of all things pertaining to HDM and Blu-ray.

It is indeed difficult to provide inside info to you guys and gals these days without giving the competition an early advantage (by my revealing something they can prepare for)
I’m glad you appreciate that fact.

Our little piece of Blu heaven is now being read by so many people all over the internet that I can’t just throw out tidbits thinking only the faithful will read them and appreciate them.

Usually the way things like this work is that when the opposition strikes an unforeseen blow, it is first evaluated for how much real damage is/can be done. It is then eventually responded to with a measured response….if indeed anything need be responded to.

Until proven otherwise with further investigation of hard figures, the opposition’s player fire sale consequence is indeterminate at this exact moment in time and may even turn out to be a whole lota nuthin.

If something significant like Transformers is advertised way ahead of time, a remedy is all ready in place and will be implemented. Count on it whenever the reds plan on bringing another blockbuster to market…..if indeed they have anymore blockbusters at all in their stable.

Since you know how to charm ……..I will reveal this tidbit.
S.E. will be basically bundling a Blu-ray player with the purchase of some Bravia models for Xmas.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

S.E. will be basically bundling a Blu-ray player with the purchase of some Bravia models for Xmas.

Sony Stores here in Ireland are giving away the PS3 40gig for free with the Bravia X-series. But these LCDs will set you back €2500 or $3550. I hope they bundle some movies with those too.

[daisuke149]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It is indeed difficult to provide inside info to you guys and gals these days without giving the competition an early advantage (by my revealing something they can prepare for)
I’m glad you appreciate that fact.

Our little piece of Blu heaven is now being read by so many people all over the internet that I can’t just throw out tidbits thinking only the faithful will read them and appreciate them.

Usually the way things like this work is that when the opposition strikes an unforeseen blow, it is first evaluated for how much real damage is/can be done. It is then eventually responded to with a measured response….if indeed anything need be responded to.

Until proven otherwise with further investigation of hard figures, the opposition’s player fire sale consequence is indeterminate at this exact moment in time and may even turn out to be a whole lota nuthin.

If something significant like Transformers is advertised way ahead of time, a remedy is all ready in place and will be implemented. Count on it whenever the reds plan on bringing another blockbuster to market…..if indeed they have anymore blockbusters at all in their stable.

Since you know how to charm ……..I will reveal this tidbit.
S.E. will be basically bundling a Blu-ray player with the purchase of some Bravia models for Xmas.

ya know why i love this last part news..

at work.. in terms of lcd i sell 95% all sony's lol.People tend to listen when i explain why the sony's are better and this just makes it easier.