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

[Rob Tomlin]

..

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

I have no direct information in regard to what Fox has done to Patton, who did it, or why it was done.

I'm in the dark as much as anyone else.

As regards Lowry (no longer DTS), they now have the capability to do their digital magic without removing grain.

You’re really confusing me now.

On the HTF link that people posted on the past page you say………….
“One can properly remove grain -- part or all -- and NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE HIGH FREQUENCY INFORMATION”

but then, above you say that “As regards Lowry (no longer DTS), they now have the capability to do their digital magic without removing grain.”

I thought the original premise as stated on HTF was that they could “properly” remove grain.
You’ve got my head spinning.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Since it appears Patton BD was DNR'd, is there any shred of hope or likelyhood Fox would re-do it?

I can now say that a representative from Fox has been informed and is aware of the displeasure expressed online by some viewers in regards to the processing done on this title…………..that’s a FACT.

So, for those thinking of taking pen in hand and writing the studio, that no longer be necessary.
I have no other information to add...........except to say that if you are interested in renting or buying the title, it should still be a substantial upgrade from the last home media (DVD) version.

P.S.
Poor Patton must be rolling around in his grave by now.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Caligula

no offense penton, just dont know who you or your duty in hollywood

Apparently, today --
to call a tech guy at Fox about Patton before picketers with DNR signs arrive at their front gate.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

I'm sure Penton Man's schedule is as busy as an of the other insiders, so I applaud him for is enthusiasm and dedication in making a very meaningful contribution to the members of Blu-ray.com!

It’s so busy Paul, that for the next several weeks I’ll be lucky if I can even poke my head in.
Don’t read anything into my very brief appearances or outright absence, it’s just that this month is crazy.

[Penton-Man]

Merrick, coolmilo - in regards to each of your queries above -

I haven't heard anything.
Comic-Con generally yields one or two goodies.
Wicky is covering that event for everyone here.

Later folks.

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Robert,

To your knowledge, was Patton noise reduced intentionally? Did Fox want to eliminate grain or was it a choice made somewhere else? Patton is a long movie so I wondered how much was done to keep the average bitrate down or if they just preferred the look.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=259

[Arecsa]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Apparently, today --
to call a tech guy at Fox about Patton before picketers with DNR signs arrive at their front gate.

Whilst on the topic of DNR, you say Fox has received the message from the complaints about Patton, what about the other studios though?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Arecsa

Whilst on the topic of DNR, you say Fox has received the message from the complaints about Patton, what about the other studios though?

As soon as Deci posted his comments on this forum about the “softness” of Patton (implied at a discriminating viewing distance like 1 ½ -2 PH), the techie people from two studios (other than Fox) immediately obtained copies of the title to see what all the online hub-bub was about.

Like I said, people in charge read this thread/forum.

[Penton-Man]

To Max, Esox, PaulGo , Rob Tomlin, anyone –
“Lowry” hasn’t been called “Lowry” for years. Can somebody tell me what we’re supposed to refer to DTS Digital Images, Inc. now as ?
Or,have they retained their name as a subdivision of sorts in “Reliance”.

http://msnmoney.brand.edgar-online.c...2rrWohsnUQX0s9

[Penton-Man]

I’m out the door to go throw popcorn at the back of Deci’s head.
Have a good weekend folks.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It’s so busy Paul, that for the next several weeks I’ll be lucky if I can even poke my head in.
Don’t read anything into my very brief appearances or outright absence, it’s just that this month is crazy.

Im glad you told me that, because I would have been super scared that HD-DVD will rise from the dead and win a heroic victory.

Whew!!!

Thanks Penton!

[WickyWoo]

So, for those thinking of taking pen in hand and writing the studio, that no longer be necessary.
I have no other information to add...........except to say that if you are interested in renting or buying the title, it should still be a substantial upgrade from the last home media (DVD) version.

On the contrary, writing snail mail letters to the studio is the best way to express your pleasure AND displeasure. Tell them how much you love the other discs, and how much you dislike this direction. They need to not just hear from the grain whiners ,but the high bitrate fine detail lovers as well. They need to hear what they're doing right as much if not more what they're doing wrong

Send POLITE, CONCISE, AND CONSTRUCTIVE SNAIL MAIL letters to

Steve Feldstein
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
2121 Avenue of the Stars, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067


That $0.4x cent stamp is worth its weight in gold. One snail mail letter is worth 10,000 emails easy. It shows passion

[SBrooks1]

Anyone have any idea how much a 6 month 6k restore like for A Star is Born costs a studio?

[Paradiso]

Happy friday all....

Hey insiders, with the Bond rumor posted on the front page....any validity to that? What's your take?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

On the contrary, writing snail mail letters to the studio is the best way to express your pleasure AND displeasure. Tell them how much you love the other discs, and how much you dislike this direction. They need to not just hear from the grain whiners ,but the high bitrate fine detail lovers as well. They need to hear what they're doing right as much if not more what they're doing wrong

Send POLITE, CONCISE, AND CONSTRUCTIVE SNAIL MAIL letters to

Steve Feldstein
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
2121 Avenue of the Stars, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067


That $0.4x cent stamp is worth its weight in gold. One snail mail letter is worth 10,000 emails easy. It shows passion

I was referring specifically in my post to the title Patton, as the Fox people have already been alerted and understand why it is creating polar opinions on the net. There is no sense in beating them over the head, repeatedly.
But have it your way.

I’m outta here.

[4K2K]

Please could all titles that are released (like in the US and other countries), especially from people like 20th Century Fox (and others too), also be released in the UK within around a year? Does it depend on how well a title gets sold in the US as to whether and when it will also be released in the UK?

[WickyWoo]

No offense was intended Penton, and I agree that beatings over the head are not necessary

I still don't think that in general, tangible re-enforcement will hurt the cause to keep the evil DNR fairy away should it pop up in the future

Please could all titles that are released (like in the US and other countries), especially from people like 20th Century Fox (and others too), also be released in the UK within around a year? Does it depend on how well a title gets sold in the US as to whether and when it will also be released in the UK?

If you're referring to Prison Break or whatnot, the US divisions have no control over what appears in the UK. You need to contact your local studio

[mhafner]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

At the end, it seems like RAH is saying that one can reduce grain without reducing detail. Grain is random from one image to the next. The way I understand DTS Digital Images, Inc (Lowry) now owned by “Reliance” claim they accomplish this feat is by using information from many frames to create each new image. In essence, the claim is that they reduce grain while at the same time extracting the high frequency detail to build these ‘new’ images. Grain is thusly reduced to a lower and more consistent level while at the same time making for a “sharper” image.

The technical term for what they do is 'temporal filtering'. The basis is motion estimation from frame to frame, deciding what the correct correspondence of every pixel in one image is in the preceding and following frame. Once you have lined up several frames this way random noise (grain) averages out or can be explicitly rejected (scratches, speckles, hairs...). Very powerful in theory, but the devil is in the detail, especially in getting the correct correspondences. Sometimes there is none (occlusion effects, object left the frame, object is not solid (smoke, mist...)...), sometimes it's very tricky to find the correct one (rain, snow, sand...). Lighting can change from frame to frame. You have to keep lighting correct. So many things in real footage to trip the algorithms up. Human supervision is required for consistently good results. No wonder they use huge render farms. Once it's clean you can add back all kinds of noise again, as desired (or not clean it up that much from the start).

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

No offense was intended Penton, and I agree that beatings over the head are not necessary

I still don't think that in general, tangible re-enforcement will hurt the cause to keep the evil DNR fairy away should it pop up in the future

C’mon Wicky, these people are adults, not children.
Plus, I know for a fact that there is no Fox/MGM policy to intentionally grain reduce material *to cater to the uninformed, uneducated masses that love the NFL Sunday afternoon video look*.

As with many things on the internet these things get hyped way out of proportion and end up giving illegitimate perceptions of people’s motivations, dedication and the Blu-ray format in general.

A casual reader to some of these forums/blogs would have the impression by now that Patton is one slimy plasticized mess that flows from the left side of your screen to the right side, continuously during the Blu-ray playback.