Archived: Insiders Thread

[WickyWoo]

[quote]I'd have thought that dust and scratches would be very effectively eliminated by hardware at the scanning stage using ICE type technology like you get in decent consumer photographic film scanners. See here for an explanation of how it works and an example of the results.[quote]

They certainly flag them, but you really want a lot of it done by hand. It's an art that a computer can't do

[Azumi]

Penton, thanks very much for your detailed answer! It'd be great if you could keep us up to date with the AMPAS report on digital preservation, when it comes out.

Yes, I meant "preservation", sorry for the mistype...

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Wow, you opened up a discussion that could divert this thread into hours of seamless branching possibilites……something Blu-ray can do soo much easier given its technological superiority over HD DVD.

We can always keep the good parts for the long winter nights after the format war is over...

Jokes notwithstanding, it's a huge issue. It really pains to know that so much material is hopelessly lost. For the Bette Davis or Bogey that are saved, how many Theda Bara movies, bizarro kung fu flicks or newreels vanish into thin air?

If one day digital preservation becomes viable and affordable, perhaps lots of films will be saved not because they're masterpieces, but simply because they exist.

[Neo65]

Hello insiders,

I keep hearing about luma keying for PiP. What is luma keying in the context of BD pip feature? Is this a 1.1 reqirement? Does the 2nd stream have to be SD? Can it be HD? Is the 2nd stream fixed size or is it strechable?

[WickyWoo]

luma keying is like greenscreen, but instead of chroma key where it eliminates a specific color, it eliminates based on dark vs light

Tron was done using luma keying (bright white suits against black velvet background)

[Neo65]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

luma keying is like greenscreen, but instead of chroma key where it eliminates a specific color, it eliminates based on dark vs light

Tron was done using luma keying (bright white suits against black velvet background)

Is the luma key a specific number or is it a range of values in the luma?

[fyzziks]

Originally Posted by kjack

The blurb can't list everything for everyone, so we also have a 600-page datasheet for that.

Sorry, did I offend? Ask one too many questions?
Anyway, I hope all is going well at CEATEC. Thanks for your answers before.

[mattym]

Kjack you missed Gowell off your list of BD makers

[kjack]

Originally Posted by Neo65

Is the luma key a specific number or is it a range of values in the luma?

A range below black.

[kjack]

Originally Posted by fyzziks

Sorry, did I offend? Ask one too many questions?
Anyway, I hope all is going well at CEATEC. Thanks for your answers before.

No offense, it's just hard to list every single possible feature for a product these days. Only got to see CEATEC during setup the night before, otherwise I'm buried in meetings...

[Frode]

kjack, Panasonic just announced 3 new BD recorder models in Japan (DMR-BW900, 800 and 700):

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...a1.htm?ref=rss

Figured I'd post it here for your list .

[H9k_]

Well it has been 12 months now since Dinosaur (disney) was released on BD region coded.
How will this work. Should it not be region restricted now (if they press new disks) accoreding to "BD rules?".
How does it work and how do i know what version to buy? (If i was interested in the movie)
Some loong detailed rant on this issue would be apreciated

[Grubert]

Keith, I think you missed a question of mine in mid-September. Can you look at it?

Originally Posted by Grubert

kjack:

As you will know by now, one of the things I hate most of Blu-ray is the region coding, and how there are no multiregion players as of now. I understand their reasons to do so, but please understand my reasons too: I am used to buying my movies wherever I deem appropriate and I'm not going to stop.

I know that region-free playback as we know it on DVD is out of the question.

Now, what about a machine with multi-bootup? Imagine a player sold in Europe that therefore booted as region B by default but, if powered up while pressing one button, booted as the region-A (or region-C) version of the same player.

Would that be in violation of the BDA requirements?

Would such a setup be detectable by the disc?

TIA.

[L or S of Perfect?]

Originally Posted by Frode

kjack, Panasonic just announced 3 new BD recorder models in Japan (DMR-BW900, 800 and 700):

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...a1.htm?ref=rss

Figured I'd post it here for your list .

Those things are incredibly expensive.

[WickyWoo]

Now, what about a machine with multi-bootup? Imagine a player sold in Europe that therefore booted as region B by default but, if powered up while pressing one button, booted as the region-A (or region-C) version of the same player.

That would be a modchipped player only, it is a violation of the BR license to make such a machine.

Modchipping these players, especially with things like BD+ around will be exceedingly difficult

[Rio]

Originally Posted by L or S of Perfect?

Those things are incredibly expensive.

According to the rep at the booth, street price of most expensive model BW900 (BD player Profile 1.1, 1TB HDD, 4x BD writer, H.264 HD encoder, Deep Color (12bit), 1080/24p, TrueHD/DTS-HD MA stream out) would be around $2,000.

[Bombthroat]

Originally Posted by Rio

According to the rep at the booth, street price of most expensive model BW900 (BD player Profile 1.1, 1TB HDD, 4x BD writer, H.264 HD encoder, Deep Color (12bit), 1080/24p, TrueHD/DTS-HD MA stream out) would be around $2,000.

Sh*t, sign me up!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Shadowself

You only have to look at the Dracula related thread to see that some people don't like what the Director likes.

Well if there are any implications on any consumer forums in regards to the “color” of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in some scenes of the Blu-ray edition compared to the DVD edition, as to it being incorrect or the result of some screw-up………….that just isn’t the case, and is actually utter nonsense. That sort of *evaluation* marginalizes the effort put into this Blu-ray title by competent people that have worked in the business for a long time.

I don’t recall what paidgeek said exactly about Dracula in his previous post but, the *differences in color debate* as far as I’m concerned, is moot and not even worth commenting upon from a professional standpoint of the technical work involved as it was exactly as intended by the authorized caretaker of the title. Now if people want to argue the “color” based upon their personal stylistic choice being different than F.F. Coppola…….hell, everyone has an opinion on the internet about everything.

And in regards to the Blu-ray version possibly having a slightly darker appearance than the DVD and appearing to show less detail in some scenes, don’t be surprised if you see this same sort of thing again with director approved future titles on Blu-ray from any studio when comparing to their past DVD counterparts.

Keep in mind, that there some DVD’s out there (which people are passionate about) that are so blown out in the highlights that you can see details the director didn’t want audiences to notice in the first place. I remember during the restoration discussion of All That Jazz, Giuseppe Rotunno said in response to someone asking why during the post production of the theatrical presentation, he kept insisting on answer prints that were darker and darker and thusly obviously losing more detail each time……. "Just because I shot it doesn't mean you're supposed to see it."

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well if there are any implications on any consumer forums in regards to the “color” of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in some scenes of the Blu-ray edition compared to the DVD edition, as to it being incorrect or the result of some screw-up………….that just isn’t the case, and is actually utter nonsense. That sort of *evaluation* marginalizes the effort put into this Blu-ray title by competent people that have worked in the business for a long time.

I don’t recall what paidgeek said exactly about Dracula in his previous post but, the *differences in color debate* as far as I’m concerned, is moot and not even worth commenting upon from a professional standpoint of the technical work involved as it was exactly as intended by the authorized caretaker of the title. Now if people want to argue the “color” based upon their personal stylistic choice being different than F.F. Coppola…….hell, everyone has an opinion on the internet about everything.

And in regards to the Blu-ray version possibly having a slightly darker appearance than the DVD and appearing to show less detail in some scenes, don’t be surprised if you see this same sort of thing again with director approved future titles on Blu-ray from any studio when comparing to their past DVD counterparts.

Keep in mind, that there some DVD’s out there (which people are passionate about) that are so blown out in the highlights that you can see details the director didn’t want audiences to notice in the first place. I remember during the restoration discussion of All That Jazz, Giuseppe Rotunno said in response to someone asking why during the post production of the theatrical presentation, he kept insisting on answer prints that were darker and darker and thusly obviously losing more detail each time……. "Just because I shot it doesn't mean you're supposed to see it."

Thanks for the post Penton-Man. I was wondering when you were going to chime in.

My issue isn't/wasn't the fact that people have an opinion on the matter, it's the way they've gone about it. Specifically, after your friend commented that this was indeed approved by Coppola, that response wasn't "good enough" and it was further insinuated that said insider was lying. We know this insider to be a straight shooter, and the continued posting of "amatuer" reviews to prove a point is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is posting pictures of a 14 year old Laserdisc as a reference because it has a sticker with Coppola's name on it.

At the end of the day, people have the right to agree/diasgree with the the "quality" of the ITENDED presentation on Dracula. But if one doesn't like it, it's NOT right to go on a witch-hunt because it "doesn't look the way it's looked in the past" and serves no purpose (especially almost a week after this issue was raised and responded to).

As I've said, I may not like the changes upon viewing this disk later this week, but I understand who made them and all of the effort that went into this BD is much appreciated. I have utmost respect for the care and passion at AZ and SPHE on this release.

It seems this format war has brought out not only the worst in people on the internet, but has also made "experts" out of amatuers.

-Esox

[owa]

Good to see someone else help put all this to rest and backup what has already been said. It's unfortunate that someone else had to chime in for some to believe what others have already been saying though.

Goodstuff found a post by Robert Harris (at another forum) and posted it in our Dracula thread.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=101

Now that I've received a BD copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and have spent quality time with it, my immediate reaction is that finally I have a high definition (BD) version of a film that I've always enjoyed.

This is somewhat tempered, however, by the public reaction which has been coming from any number of directions. And these reactions, commentaries and reviews have virtually all been wrong.

Nothing that we're discussing here is opinion. Something either correctly brings a film to video, or it does not. This is the first time that I've been totally happy with Dracula on video.

My happiness is however, not the point.

Sony's mastering staff is happy. Zoetrope's people are happy. And they should be. They have jointly worked to see that this release is as perfect as possible in recreating the look of the film as it was seen in it's original release, and that effort has been successful.

.
.
.
So here's the bottom line.

Not only is there nothing wrong with this release, it is one of the most perfect to come from the Sony vaults. Those of you who know of me, are aware that Sony and I don't always agree. But when they do something correctly, they are to be honored for their efforts. And this time, they are to be honored.

Everything here is correct, handled with precision, professionalism and a obvious love for the art that is our cinema.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, from FFC and Sony is Extremely Highly Recommended.

[Longshot]

Originally Posted by owa

Good to see someone else help put all this to rest and backup what has already been said. It's unfortunate that someone else had to chime in for some to believe what others have already been saying though.

Goodstuff found a post by Robert Harris (at another forum) and posted it in our Dracula thread.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=101

If you look up the word "gravitas" in the dictionary you will see Mr. Harris picture

To think there are clowns like David Vaughn influencing people with their agenda driven reviews. Skip them all and read Robert harris. That's all you need to know.