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

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

No 3-D

I think most are holding off on the 3D till the standard gets set

Good. Until we have a real 3D alternative to red/blue glasses I want nothing to do with 3D. But I also think that the electronic 3D glasses that are currently required are not going to storm into the living rooms of everyday people.

I think the industry is just pinning a lot of hope on the advent of 3D to continue to drive upgrades. 1080p HD is now near standard on all but the lowest priced sets.

I think true 3D will have more of an effect on the gaming industry than the film industry. Really even if we get 3D soon, we have the same issue that we had when we initially went HD that is finally becoming less of an issue, where is the content. There are only so many computer animated features and even less film based content that was done with 3D in mind.

[camaro]

Just curious about the Godzilla movies that had been mentioned a few weeks back. I read the article on the restoration for them that will hopefully eventually get a blu ray release. It does'nt mention though if the American version of Godzilla King of the Monsters has been fully restored however? Of all my dvd's I have I think that's probably the hardest to watch because of all the restoration needed to it. Any idea if the American versions have had the full restoration it talks about that all 28 movies has received??

[wolfyncsu7]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

No 3-D

I think most are holding off on the 3D till the standard gets set

Do you have any specifics that you're allowed to share on how well the agreement on a 3D standard is going right now?

Is this going to be another 'format war' type of showdown by two competing standards that drags out the adoption of 3D in the home? (similar to 'Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD)

Or is going to be more like a DTS vs Dolby competition where we can move forward even if there are different ways of creating the 3D image.

[Jeff Kleist]

The BDA will decide which solution they want to go with, and everyone will move forward with it. No "war"

[wolfyncsu7]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The BDA will decide which solution they want to go with, and everyone will move forward with it. No "war"

ok... would it be safe to assume that since Sony is a big part of the BDA, they will use the same standard for 3D PS3 (or PS4) games?

Wouldn't the broadcasting and tv manufacturing companies have any say in this as far as compatibility of the tv sets with the 3D standard? (I'm thinking that live 3D broadcasts might be a ways off anyways, but I also know that there have been some tests done with NFL, NCAA, and NBA games).

I would personally be willing to be an early adopter for 3D in the home but I'd like to know that my first 3D projector or tv would be compatible with pretty much every main 3D source (movies, games, and tv broadcasts).

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by wolfyncsu7

I'm thinking that live 3D broadcasts might be a ways off anyways........

You think right, regarding live presentations for in-home viewing (at least until they are very good) as was the experience of those that attended CES and had the tenacity to sit through the showing of the BCS national football championship game ………

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...y-more-3d-way/

[wolfyncsu7]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

You think right, regarding live presentations for in-home viewing (at least until they are very good) as was the experience of those that attended CES and had the tenacity to sit through the showing of the BCS national football championship game ………

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...y-more-3d-way/

Plus I remember reading somewhere (would have to search for it) about some tv studio exec who basically said these 3D tests are just that.... tests. He said something about being in no rush to introduce live 3D since they have already 'ponied up' for all this HDTV equipment with the understanding that advertisers would be lining up to take advantage of it and, therefore, help offset the costs. I guess that didn't happen or at least still hasn't happened yet.

I don't think the TV Broadcast guys will be clamoring to buy all new 3D cameras/ equipment anytime soon.

[Jeff Kleist]

Wouldn't the broadcasting and tv manufacturing companies have any say in this as far as compatibility of the tv sets with the 3D standard? (I'm thinking that live 3D broadcasts might be a ways off anyways, but I also know that there have been some tests done with NFL, NCAA, and NBA games).

The major competing systems were developed by Panasonic, Samsung and Dolby (there are more, but those are the "finalists" from what I hear). I'm sure NAB will have some kind of input, but they probably don't care a lot either way

In the end, 3-D is in many ways a gimmick. To me, I wouldn't be in any great hurry to release it at home, because that'll commodity it, and the effect will be far more spectacular theatrically anyway

[MerrickG]

Jeff,

I know these things should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it is geing reported here that Lucasfilm apparently gave a powerpoint presentation and mentioned that anotherIndiana Jones lego game is coming and

AS WELL AS THE FILMS ON BLURAY disc!!

DO you have any comments on this?

[Jeff Kleist]

I don't even know if the slide was real

Is/has Lucasfilm worked on Indy's masters for Blu? Yes

Is it coming out this Christmas? Maybe, maybe not. This is one of the things can change and no one should be saying publically 11 months out because of that and raise false hopes

[mrgreed202]

Hey Jeff. Don't know if this is anywhere a near popular film with anyone right now, but any sign of K-PAX coming out anytime soon? This is pretty much the number 1 movie I'm waiting for.

[Jeff Kleist]

Maybe overseas, there's a lot of movies Universal will want to get out before that one

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I don't even know if the slide was real

I didnt expect to get much info from that

Is/has Lucasfilm worked on Indy's masters for Blu? Yes

Is it coming out this Christmas? Maybe, maybe not. This is one of the things can change and no one should be saying publically 11 months out because of that and raise false hopes

Like I said, it was a small report, but if indeed they did show a powerpoint, there could be some truth.

Who knows? If Indy is successful, Sir Lucas could conceivably be persuaded to release Star Wars.

Thanks.

[4K2K]

For the 3D standard are they still likely to go with H.264 multi-view? If so, how many viewpoints and can you confirm that they will not be using 2d+depth - or is it only the Phillips that wanted to use that? Will this mean a new Blu-ray profile, and why don't they ask eg. blu-ray.com members for their viewpoint for what they would like in the 3d and updated specs? Will they be going for the very best, most accurate system or the easiest and cheapest system? Can you tell us the main specs of the finalists' 3d systems?

[4K2K]

When is amazon uk going to keep stock of, and actually sell their top 10-20 Blu-ray best sellers, instead of having nearly all of them only being sold by their preferred merchant Indigostarfish who isn't even in the UK?

[Jeff Kleist]

Originally Posted by 4K2K

For the 3D standard are they still likely to go with H.264 multi-view? If so, how many viewpoints and can you confirm that they will not be using 2d+depth - or is it only the Phillips that wanted to use that? Will this mean a new Blu-ray profile, and why don't they ask eg. blu-ray.com members for their viewpoint for what they would like in the 3d and updated specs? Will they be going for the very best, most accurate system or the easiest and cheapest system? Can you tell us the main specs of the finalists' 3d systems?

I really couldn't say. I haven't experienced any of them first hand. Perhaps if I actually got to go to CES one of these years, I could be more helpful in this department (donations accepted ). All of them have their pluses and minuses, but Dolby's probably has the least politics surrounding it, and is said to work with all existing 120hz TVs

[Jeff Kleist]

Originally Posted by 4K2K

When is amazon uk going to keep stock of, and actually sell their top 10-20 Blu-ray best sellers, instead of having nearly all of them only being sold by their preferred merchant Indigostarfish who isn't even in the UK?

you need to call amazon

[BluDomain]

This is much more than I would have guessed.
"Fourth-quarter shipments fell 32 percent in the U.S. and Canada to 453.6 million DVDs, according to Los Angeles-based Digital Entertainment Group. The drop is the biggest since the industry-funded researcher started keeping track in 1997. "


At least Blu-ray seems to be doing well.
"Studios are trying to recover by promoting higher-priced Blu- ray discs. U.S. and Canadian shipments more than tripled to 63 million in 2008, according to Digital Entertainment Group."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=alfCm3k35Kz8

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I don't even know if the slide was real

Is/has Lucasfilm worked on Indy's masters for Blu? Yes

Is it coming out this Christmas? Maybe, maybe not. This is one of the things can change and no one should be saying publically 11 months out because of that and raise false hopes

Well false hopes have already been raised.

See the homepage of bluray.com

[Jeff Kleist]

I realize that, like I said, I feel it's very premature