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

[uniquetreatone]

It looks like you have to sign a medical waiver just to eat it.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Biggiesized

That's interesting to hear...

Not just interesting but, the post is 100% accurate, word for word (well, obviously, the Blu monkey reference was a joke provided for comic relief).

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by GreenScar

That first clip had me laughing and wincing at the same time.

I'm just glad you included the second to clean my memory of the first.

My favorite Grammys that I ever attended featured her in one of the song and dance routines…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wrt04jaHek

Great live performances all night long from many. I wish the show had made it to Blu-ray, but alas, the complexities to do so are rather inhibiting.

[Uxi]

That sandwich is lol

[Biggiesized]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Not just interesting but, the post is 100% accurate, word for word (well, obviously, the Blu monkey reference was a joke provided for comic relief).

Are you referring to your first response or my most recent comment?

[sharkshark]

back to talking about important stuff...

MAN IS THE BBC LIFE DOC AMAZING!

Thank you BBC a gazillion times for making up for the egregious omission on the Planet Earth disc, namely, leaving out the "making ofs" (that were, miserably, lying there perfectly usable on the DVD version). Just when you think you've seen Doug Alan and co in another compromising and complicated position, they pull out another minor miracle.

I'm but a single episode in, but, man, this is why you buy HD Televisions, this is why you own a Blu Ray player, this is why you buy discs and don't download rips... Support this release, go buy it, and for the love of God make sure you pick up the "real" one (avec David, sans Oprah).

Penton, as a camera nerd, you've just got to see some of the shot's they're pulling of... mindblowing, and I had extraordinarily high expectations, all overwhelmingly exceeded. Just... awesome....

[FilmMixer]

PM... did you get my PM?

I never heard back from you.

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

My favorite Grammys that I ever attended featured her in one of the song and dance routines…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wrt04jaHek

Great live performances all night long from many. I wish the show had made it to Blu-ray, but alas, the complexities to do so are rather inhibiting.

Isn't time consumer blu-ray players started selling in the US? Perhaps connected to a TIVO box?

[Jeff Kleist]

They sold TiVOs with DVD burners built in in the US. Thy bombed

I know there's a dedicafed subset of hobbyists who are convinced in the US they want standalone Blu-ray recorders. Given the requirement of having a hard drive, and then the integration of a DVR, it's just not going to fly here with everyone getting their DVR from the cable company. If you want a Blu-ray recorder, build an HTPC, it'll run you only about $6-800, which is half the price an imported dedicated unit would anyway.

[Doctorossi]

Adios, Rafa!

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I know there's a dedicafed subset of hobbyists who are convinced in the US they want standalone Blu-ray recorders. Given the requirement of having a hard drive, and then the integration of a DVR, it's just not going to fly here with everyone getting their DVR from the cable company. If you want a Blu-ray recorder, build an HTPC, it'll run you only about $6-800, which is half the price an imported dedicated unit would anyway.

Problem with the HTPC units is they're clunky and comparitively unreliable. I don't understand why it would be so onerous for Sony or Panasonic to put an english menu and slightly different tuner on a model they already have.

They want to ease the sticker shock some, let the user procure their own HDD or something...

Sony used to be a leader on that front, at least before they got into the content side of the business. I miss the old Sony.

[Jeff Kleist]

They want to ease the sticker shock some, let the user procure their own HDD or something...

Tuner is more expensive than the hard drive, and it wouldn't work without the HD

Problem with the HTPC units is they're clunky and comparitively unreliable. I don't understand why it would be so onerous for Sony or Panasonic to put an english menu and slightly different tuner on a model they already have.

Tuners are very expensive parts, in addition it requires additional codecs (Japan is MPEG-4 if memory serves and at a higher bitrate to boot. I can say their live stuff looks a lot better than ours on a 50+"). DVD Recorders never sold well and under half what one costs in other countries

And an HTPC doesn't have to be "clunky" or noisy, or even unreliable. You just have to not buy an off the shelf box and build it yourself from quality components

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2637

Get yourself a nice case like this and it'll fit in with your existing stuff. I've built 4 of these for clients using both MythTV and Windows Media Center front ends, and they're very quiet while on, and if you set them on sleep/wake cycles (the software can be set to wake the machine for recording, and bringing it back is pretty fast if you want to watch someting). The key is good parts, and a good maintenance schedule (automated, when you're deleting lots of large files on a regular basis, a defrag 3-4 times a year will often bring back gigabytes).

Too many people cheap out, recycle an old worn machine or grab the cheapest parts they can find. That extra $2-400 you spend is the difference for smooth sailing

[Uxi]

I mean cheap and clunky compared to dedicated SOC solutions. Give a hundred people a choice between a dedicated BD Recorder box and an HTPC it's only the geekiest of us who are going to choose the HTPC (yes I'm one of them, but I recognize I'm not in the norm).

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Biggiesized

Are you referring to your first response or my most recent comment?

Mine.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by FilmMixer

PM... did you get my PM?

I never heard back from you.

Sorry, I quickly read it but, I forgot to respond due to the recent unpleasantness and then I left Culver City for the D8 conference in Rancho Palos Verdes (http://allthingsd.com/)

…..and tomorrow I’m off to Cinegear on the Paramount lot.

I’m confident you did a great job…and, as previously when you visited us, were a pleasure to work with.

[Penton-Man]

^
Which reminds me. At the “D” conference, Steve Burke (the COO of Comcast) was discussing the proposed acquisition by Comcast of a controlling interest in NBC Universal and during the interview he mentioned that he wanted Universal Studios to continue making fabulous motion pictures and move from a reliance on DVDs to electronic distribution.

So much for expectations in regards to “new ownership” and potential ramifications for packaged home media of any format type.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Adios, Rafa!

A sad day.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Adios, Rafa!

What did I miss?

Does it have to do with footy and a coach…
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/h...0603-x19j.html

or some porn star I’ve yet to hear about and a couch…
http://www.techeye.net/hardware/porn...-push-3d-telly

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

What did I miss?

Does it have to do with footy and a coach…
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/h...0603-x19j.html

or some porn star I’ve yet to hear about and a couch…
http://www.techeye.net/hardware/porn...-push-3d-telly

Other than the Beatles, who the hell cares about Liverpool anyway? Haven't they been relegated again yet?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...cernet&cc=5901

[jd213]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Tuners are very expensive parts, in addition it requires additional codecs (Japan is MPEG-4 if memory serves and at a higher bitrate to boot. I can say their live stuff looks a lot better than ours on a 50+").

Nah, we're MPEG-2 (I believe parts of Europe are MPEG-4). I don't pay much attention to US broadcasts, but with all the talk I've heard about bandwidth squeezing, you're probably right about the bitrate though.

I love my Sony Blu-ray recorder, they're the only brand that records in AVC for the external inputs so they're perfect for backing up Lasersdiscs and VHS.