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

[Kris Deering]

The PS3 is quite the capable player, there is no denying that. Can it be improved for video performance? Well yes, depending on what you are watching. BDs encoded as 1080i is where the PS3 falls short. It cannot do de-interlacing to 1080p. Right now that only affects a small handful of titles but that number may grow as the format grows. Otherwise, it is a stellar player.

Kudos to Pioneer for trying to come out with a reference design. While I am skeptical over the need for high end analog audio stages at this time, I'm sure there is a market for it. I just hope that market understands that the utmost care needs to be given when handling an analog signal to ensure you aren't doing something you shouldn't be doing farther down the chain. Unneccesary A to D and D to A stages can take a good thing and essentially negate it.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by saprano

Speaking of the olympics penton did you catch the closing ceremony? amazing right?

i missed the opening though,you wouldn't know where i could watch would you?

i love the olympics, everytime i watch it it puts me in a good mode

to bad its over

I mostly just watched the beach volley ball stuff to ogle the Chinese cheerleaders which resulted in a boodawn you wouldn’t believe (as the Irish lads here roll on the floor laughing, I suspect by now).
Just kidding.

It was one of the most entertaining Olympics to watch that I can recall.
Next stop…………….
Whistler/Blackcomb, bears et. al.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Guys and Gals,
I don’t remember which broadcast affiliate actually sent a reporter and camera dude to the Kuro Loft, so if the segment they shot eventually aired somewhere in the L.A. area on local TV, please somebody send me a PM regarding which channel, so I don’t have to search the video archives of all the local L.A. stations.

Thanks

This morning I received the info on the broadcast from a fellow well-informed member.
Apparently it was KCAL9 in L.A.
Go here………….
http://cbs2.com/video/?cid=71

Then type in Pioneer in the video library search box on the right side of the page.
Then click on “Pioneer Throws Hollywood Bash for its Newest Stars”

^
It seems that except for the brief, vague phrase “and other premium electronics” by the anchorwoman as the lead-in to the segment, no Blu-ray player marketing spiel for any model Pioneer Blu-ray player made the final broadcast cut (except of course what you see playing on the screens in the background), as everything included in this online video is concerning blacks/color of Kuro displays, both from the perspective of a Pioneer consumer electronics tech guy and a professional digital colorist.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

The PS3 is quite the capable player, there is no denying that. Can it be improved for video performance? Well yes, depending on what you are watching. BDs encoded as 1080i is where the PS3 falls short. It cannot do de-interlacing to 1080p. Right now that only affects a small handful of titles but that number may grow as the format grows. Otherwise, it is a stellar player.

Kudos to Pioneer for trying to come out with a reference design. While I am skeptical over the need for high end analog audio stages at this time, I'm sure there is a market for it. I just hope that market understands that the utmost care needs to be given when handling an analog signal to ensure you aren't doing something you shouldn't be doing farther down the chain. Unneccesary A to D and D to A stages can take a good thing and essentially negate it.

When you say it can be improved for video performance what do you mean? that sony could update it by firmware? i dont see how.

and i think the more titles released that are 1080i sony will fix that with a firmware.......or deal with all the complaining.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well , I got all patriotic with the Olympics going on and such-- esp. since ISDT (now called ISDE), is recognized by off-road racers/enthusiasts as “The Olympics of Motorcycling”…..which guys like DesFlurane and SquidPuppet obviously know about and appreciate.

Good to know you’re an ole dirt rider from way back.

Motocross des Nations is my Olympics

What I really miss though...and we will never have again is the Earthpounding jolts we felt while standing trackside (at arms length) when the 500's tore past and roosted debris in our faces. Loosing the 500s was a shame. The men who could turn a quick lap on one of those were special fellows. I enjoyed "playing" on 500s....wheelies and slamming berms....but the guys who could do TWO 45 minute motos on those were just supermen of endurance.

[Blu-Curry]

Hey there, first timer on Insider... is there any new info. regarding who the Spider-Man 4 villains are? Haven't seen anything for about a year or so.

[coolmilo]

Originally Posted by micks_address

cant imagine the pioneer will have 5 times better picture quality for the price.

I can't speak to the PS3, but the little brother of the Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD is simply amazing. I am referring to the Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD which is just now releasing to the public. I saw a demo last weekend that compared the Pioneer 05 to the Panasonic DMP-30K and the improvement was very noticeable. The new Pioneer models are so good they even make those Warner movies that were encoded with a low bitrate look pretty darn good. Blu-ray's future is very exciting.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

The PS3 is quite the capable player, there is no denying that. Can it be improved for video performance? Well yes, depending on what you are watching. BDs encoded as 1080i is where the PS3 falls short. It cannot do de-interlacing to 1080p. Right now that only affects a small handful of titles but that number may grow as the format grows. Otherwise, it is a stellar player.

Some of the other standalones seem a bit better at 1080p/24 - especially compared to the 51FD/05

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by saprano

When you say it can be improved for video performance what do you mean? that sony could update it by firmware? i dont see how.

and i think the more titles released that are 1080i sony will fix that with a firmware.......or deal with all the complaining.

Improved in that they actually process a 1080i signal correctly. Since Sony themselves have released several concert videos at 1080i, I'm surprised we haven't seen this already.

Some of the other standalones seem a bit better at 1080p/24 - especially compared to the 51FD/05

And the people making those claims probably already bought the Pioneers. Hence justifying their investment. The PS3 has outstanding luma and chroma resolution and flawless 24p playback. Is it the perfect player? Nope, but for standard BD playback at 24p, it is REALLY hard to beat. Even for someone that is REALLY, REALLY nitpicky.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Improved in that they actually process a 1080i signal correctly. Since Sony themselves have released several concert videos at 1080i, I'm surprised we haven't seen this already.

Sony have released several concert videos in 1080i?
I didn't know that! Which ones are they? - http://www.sonybmg.com/blu-ray/

[Kris Deering]

Off the top of my head, Bruce Springsteen and Chris Botti come to mind. Blu-ray doesn't support 1080p60 or 1080p30 encoding so it limits what you can do with concert or video based titles. This also was the case with the Nine Inch Nails title that was released in native 1080p30 on HD DVD but 1080i60 on BD.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Sony have released several concert videos in 1080i?
I didn't know that! Which ones are they? - http://www.sonybmg.com/blu-ray/

not to jump on Penton's thread but to answer your question.
Based on the FAQ #10 all the ones that not say 1080P (that would be most of them). Like the Bruce Springsteen video is listed as "Mastered in High Definition", but the Dave Mathews says Full 1080p/24 HD.

see link:
http://www.sonybmg.com/blu-ray/

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

The only player that will come close to the PS3 in terms of pricing and features is the Panasonic BD35 but that is still a ways off...

Tease...

P.S. I'm not sure if I got around to congratulating you on the promotion either, so congrats!

~Alan

[Bullseye]

The BD35 and BD55 were listed a while back M.

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It's all in the head, when it comes to 1080p24 output the PS3 is as good as it gets. It is the reference player for more than one studio and it's easy to see why. The only player that will come close to the PS3 in terms of pricing and features is the Panasonic BD35 but that is still a ways off...

What about the BDP-S550?
Do you not like the look of that??

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It's all in the head, when it comes to 1080p24 output the PS3 is as good as it gets. It is the reference player for more than one studio and it's easy to see why. The only player that will come close to the PS3 in terms of pricing and features is the Panasonic BD35 but that is still a ways off...

What do you mean? It is sitting here in my office collecting dust right now while its counterpart, the BD55, rests on my rack for use.

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

What about the BDP-S550?
Do you not like the look of that??

If the 550 is the same as the 350 in regards to video processing, it will fall short as well depending on the content. Look for a new video testing criteria to premiere quite shortly in our mag for more. Should be interesting!

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

What do you mean? It is sitting here in my office collecting dust right now while its counterpart, the BD55, rests on my rack for use.

If the PS3 is as good as any unit at 1080p/24, why do you need the BD55?

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

If the 550 is the same as the 350 in regards to video processing, it will fall short as well depending on the content. Look for a new video testing criteria to premiere quite shortly in our mag for more. Should be interesting!

Will do.
I was attracted to the 550 because it seems like it will do "everything" out of the box (and the reasonable enough price).
Are you soon going to be able to tell me which player I should buy???

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

What do you mean? It is sitting here in my office collecting dust right now while its counterpart, the BD55, rests on my rack for use.

The Star Wars movies must look amazing.

(That's a JOKE folks)