Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[darkpoet25]

Bill now that Universal announced titles today, what are you yourself looking forward to from the studio?

[WickyWoo]

Bill - can i ask as you seem to have such a good relationship with Warner - is there any word on Superman Returns being released to retail with the PCM track as it was bundled with Pioneers product last year? Also is there any chance Superman 1/2 would be re released with Losseless soun

There's a thread on that on the main forum. They're already doing it, the DD 5.1 copies need to flush out of retail

Superman 1 and 2 won't get lossless until the next dip

And if it is PCM, PLEASE make sure and specify that its direct from the MASTER and NOT a DD+ to PCM conversion (which would defeat the point and we'd find out anyway!!). THAT would infuriate me more then no lossless. Please make sure they know not to screw around.

The only people that do that are bootleggers with DTS tracks. It would never happen on a professional studio disc, and it's completely the antithesis of the production chain at any authoring house.

[fronn]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Paramount knows that they've pissed off every single HD customer out there

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Believe me, they know they've fumbled and exactly where and how. They pissed off Blu-ray fans last year, and now HD-DVD fans earlier this year. Plus, they backed the wrong format which is embarassing. They know. And I strongly suspect that, if they didn't get it for some odd reason (which I know they did), Spielberg and Bay have made it clear to them. Their consumer feedback has done so as well. They know.

That's what I needed to hear. There are a lot of movies Paramount has the rights to that I'd love to pick up on BR, but I still had my concerns -- I've seen plenty of people/companies that are sorry for the wrong reasons (this was my concern). If you guys believe them, then I'll take your word for it. Movies may just be business, but because it's a form of art, it has to be treated with a bit more love than something like dish soap or canned food.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

The only people that do that are bootleggers with DTS tracks. It would never happen on a professional studio disc, and it's completely the antithesis of the production chain at any authoring house.

We're talking about Universal here, the same studio that sold Upconverts of Sparticus and Traffic to HD DVD owners without even batting an eye. I would just like Bill to pass on that we're smart enough to disect the discs ourselves and compare the audio tracks, and that they need a quality first system of pressing discs.

BTW, tell them Half Baked should be one of the first few titles!! It was only a HD15 on HD DVD, perfect candidate for a BD25.

[WickyWoo]

We're talking about Universal here, the same studio that sold Upconverts of Sparticus and Traffic to HD DVD owners without even batting an eye. I would just like Bill to pass on that we're smart enough to disect the discs ourselves and compare the audio tracks, and that they need a quality first system of pressing discs.

Audio is encoded by putting the master tape in, and it passes through an encoder to a computer. It doesn't even accept Dolby Digital.

[Nick Graham]

So what is the deal with all the talk about Alan Bell lately? Is he the one causing Paramount to drag their feet on getting an announcement out?

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by micks_address

well it looks like Universal have showed their hand

http://uk.reuters.com/article/intern...40482320080417

Bill - can i ask as you seem to have such a good relationship with Warner - is there any word on Superman Returns being released to retail with the PCM track as it was bundled with Pioneers product last year? Also is there any chance Superman 1/2 would be re released with Losseless sound?

Cheers,
Mick

See? All it takes is a little patience and the good news comes.

RE: Superman, I've heard that a running production change was made, and when future copies are distributed to retailers over time, they'll have the new TrueHD track.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by scragham

hey bill,

i vaguely recall a post on the digital bits a while back about how fox was getting the alien/s movies ready for blu-ray. any updates about what's going on?

They're TENTATIVELY on tap for 2009. It's very early in the process though.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by darkpoet25

Bill now that Universal announced titles today, what are you yourself looking forward to from the studio?

Battlestar Galactica.

[scragham]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

They're TENTATIVELY on tap for 2009. It's very early in the process though.

very cool. thanks much.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

So what is the deal with all the talk about Alan Bell lately? Is he the one causing Paramount to drag their feet on getting an announcement out?

Ha! I'll say only this... today on the Bits I offered $100 to the first Paramount employee who can send me an undoctored picture of Bell wearing a Blu-ray T-shirt.

[Slec]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

They're TENTATIVELY on tap for 2009. It's very early in the process though.

Hey Bill,
Thanks as always for your participation here.
Re: Alien/s/3/4/infinity

Blu-ray has really made me take hard looks at audio (in a VERY good way). For movies such as this (or any of the action type movies from the 80's/90's), what type of audio quality do you think we can expect? I realize a lot will depend on the source material but were there methods in place during this time period that would allow for great audio tracks?

Thanks
Chris

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Slec

Hey Bill,
Thanks as always for your participation here.
Re: Alien/s/3/4/infinity

Blu-ray has really made me take hard looks at audio (in a VERY good way). For movies such as this (or any of the action type movies from the 80's/90's), what type of audio quality do you think we can expect? I realize a lot will depend on the source material but were there methods in place during this time period that would allow for great audio tracks?

Thanks
Chris

As you say, it's going to depend on the source materials in large part. But I would expect some effort to be expended to make them sound as good as possible, especially on key catalog titles like these.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by SBrooks1

Bill, now that Universal is on board can you divulge any of the other titles they didn't announce? Also, what are the chances that when they bring titles like The Mummy trilogy to Blu they will have better audio than their HD DVD counterparts? Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 just isn't going to cut it.

I'm looking into it, but you can reasonably expect the previous HD-DVD releases certainly, as they're re-worked for Blu-ray. I've passed on people's concerns about wanting TrueHD audio on all titles to the studio.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

I'm looking into it, but you can reasonably expect the previous HD-DVD releases certainly, as they're re-worked for Blu-ray. I've passed on people's concerns about wanting TrueHD audio on all titles to the studio.

DTS HD MA is also fine (and spielberg will be even more happy!). =)

[broganreynik]

Bill, am I the only one who thinks that Universal didn't quite make the splash you were alluding to?

[Woody]

Originally Posted by broganreynik

Bill, am I the only one who thinks that Universal didn't quite make the splash you were alluding to?

No.

[WickyWoo]

What were you expecting?

They just announced about a dozen titles, along with timeframes and/or dates, and the fact they're going to have 50 discs before the end of the year

What would have constituted "splash"?

[broganreynik]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

What were you expecting?

They just announced about a dozen titles, along with timeframes and/or dates, and the fact they're going to have 50 discs before the end of the year

What would have constituted "splash"?

Most of these were kind of expected to be announced though. A splash to me would have been something a little unexpected. If Paramount does indeed announce the Godfather Trilogy for Blu, that would make one hell of a splash.

[GarettP]

Bill,
Just wanted to say thanks for posting any/all info you do here, I know you probably have soo much extra time to do so!

So thanks for informing us all and for relaying our concerns to the respective studios!