Concerts in improved sound on blu-ray...

[mx2004]

Hello all - I have just been watching The Original Three Tenors concert on DVD. It's the first time I've seen it in a while, and I was pleased to encounter it again for the perfomance and the wonderful Dolby Digital soundtrack. This got me to thinking though - how would this sound as an uncompressed PCM or lossless Dolby True HD soundtrack on a blu-ray disc? There will presumably be a multichannel PCM master sat in Decca's recording centre that could be mastered for blu-ray...

Then I realised there would be a problem - this concert, and I'm sure many like it that have glorious soundtracks ripe for the HD treatment, was shot on video in decidedly Standard Definition. How would people feel about concerts shot in SD video being released on blu-ray for the sake of their soundtracks? Presumably, record labels and studios would need to be careful about their use of the term 'high-definition' (or indeed the utterly meaningless 'beyond high-definition') and the video could be de-interlaced and scaled to a high-def format by the studio. I think it could be great if done properly, but I wondered if people would be open to this sort of thing, or just horrified at the thought of blu-ray without true high-def video.

[4K2K]

I'd be totally fine with that sort of thing, as long as they don't call it high definition, and as long as they state everywhere that it was recorded in standard definition (even if they presented it upscaled). It would be particularly good if they used the increased bitrate capability of Blu-ray to give a better picture, even with SD or upscaled SD than would be possible on standard definition DVD (as long as no other change in the appearance of the content was made).

Even the Sony site suggests it:
http://www.sonydadc.com/opencms/open...-ray_Disc.html

...Blu-ray Disc may be utilized to create discs with large amounts of material in Standard Definition quality, such as TV shows. Where a typical season of a TV show required multiple disc sets entire series can now be stored on just a single Blu-ray Disc.

Increasing the bitrate (video as well as audio) so that it is higher than that possible on DVD is the main thing so we get better quality.

Of course newer concerts can be done in HD, and those will probably be more sellable. But there are a lot of TV shows in SD that would be good on Blu-ray with the increase in bitrate and less discs (like some TV series are being sold on 10 discs, when that would be a lot less on Blu-ray (like 1 or 2 BD50s instead), I'd much rather have a standard-def series on 1 or 2 BD50s than a 10 disc SD-DVD set which takes up lots of space.

[mikenike]

If there is an uncompressed audio master, then why not do it? The Three Tenors isn't an all-out opera where staging elements are crucial, nor a ballet where dance reigns supreme, so it's fine with me if the only high definition aspect is auditory.

[mx2004]

Thanks for the replies - that seems eminently practical and I am heartened that this sort of thing would seem to be acceptable. Things like Eagles:Hell Freezes Over and Pink Floyd's Pulse (although that was probably shot on film, so it could be High Def anyway) I think would also be ripe for blu-ray treatment along with many others...

Originally Posted by 4K2K

I'd be totally fine with that sort of thing, as long as they don't call it high definition, and as long as they state everywhere that it was recorded in standard definition

I think your observation though is excellent, 4K2K and I couldn't agree more.

[Clark Kent]

Once Blu-ray becomes the dominant home video platform, usurping dvd, I think we are going to see many releases with plain standard definition video and lossless sound. Content owners aren't going to refuse to put sd quality material on Blu-ray if dvd isn't selling anymore. It is really just a matter of time.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Once Blu-ray becomes the dominant home video platform, usurping dvd, I think we are going to see many releases with plain standard definition video and lossless sound. Content owners aren't going to refuse to put sd quality material on Blu-ray if dvd isn't selling anymore. It is really just a matter of time.

if thats the case then i hope they dont charge too much more just for better audio. kinda defeats the purpose of a high def media. at least we can upconvert.