Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.) - Page 172 - Blu-ray Forum

STARSCREAM · 02-07-2009, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigW

I think we are seeing a shift in the way media is priced. It used to be that to get the best deal before was to buy the week of the release. If you did not buy then you had to wait a few months before the title was repriced at a reduced catalog price.

With BD, it seems the studios are trying to keep the prices high. Look at some of the most high profile releases recently. KFP, IJ&KotCS, Iron Man... all were near $25 when released even with "sale" pricing. Within two months some these could easily be found for under $20.

It is not taking long for BD customers to catch on that buying during release week is not the best time to buy. BDs need to be hitting the $20 mark on release week. It is one reason that customers are becoming turned off.

I learned my lesson with KFP, I preordered at $27.95 figuring Amazon would lower it before release. Well Amazon got rid of their thirty day gurantee and they did not lower the price until after pre-orders had been processed. The title was $20 within a week or two after release.

I have such a huge stack of unopened titles now, that I am in no hurry to buy on release day. I can wait it out for better prices.

On Amazon right now the price difference between Madagascar2 DVD and BD is $10. I bet this title is on sale for under $20 within a month.

+1000000!! With dvd's I used t almost always buy the week of release since they were always on sale and then after that it took along time for the price to come down. With Blu-ray I'm mostly waiting a month or so to buy because the price drops substantially.

AnimeOnBlu · 02-09-2009, 12:01 AM

Jeff,
Any idea as to if Funi might recall and/or replace copies of Afro Samurai? Apparently the movie does not contain the English TrueHD 5.1 track listed on the back.

Thanks.

Jeff Kleist · 02-09-2009, 12:21 AM

I honestly don't know anyone at Funimation personally, I'll pass it to someone who does

AnimeOnBlu · 02-09-2009, 01:45 AM

That is much appreciated. Thanks a lot!

Michael.Schinke · 02-09-2009, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I honestly don't know anyone at Funimation personally, I'll pass it to someone who does

Thanks for that Jeff. They don't seem to be answering their E-mails over there.

MerrickG · 02-09-2009, 12:18 PM

Hey Jeff,

I noticed that the first season of CSI has been announced on bluray!!

I own all the seasons on dvd except the first due to the lack of anamorphic widescreen.

Do you know if the first season was actually filmed in widescreen and if the blurays will be widescreen as well?

Thanks!

Kudos to Paramount and CBS for doing this.

NoQuestion · 02-09-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by merrick97

Hey Jeff,

I noticed that the first season of CSI has been announced on bluray!!

I own all the seasons on dvd except the first due to the lack of anamorphic widescreen.

Do you know if the first season was actually filmed in widescreen and if the blurays will be widescreen as well?

Thanks!

Kudos to Paramount and CBS for doing this.

I agree, Kudos to Paramount and CBS.

Jeff, do you think that other studios are watching closely to see how Dexter and CSI sells before they proceed with TV series? I would love to see the final season of Scrubs, the latest of House, and Fringe make a bluray apperance this year. What are the odds?

MerrickG · 02-09-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoQuestion

I agree, Kudos to Paramount and CBS.

Jeff, do you think that other studios are watching closely to see how Dexter and CSI sells before they proceed with TV series? I would love to see the final season of Scrubs, the latest of House, and Fringe make a bluray apperance this year. What are the odds?

This could be the excuse that HBO needs to give a conclusion to their best series Carnivale and Deadwood.

If they sell well on bluray, then perhaps the creators could create conclusions!

Esox50 · 02-09-2009, 07:03 PM

Jeff/Bill,

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.co...do-their-deal/

I think this is for theatrical distribution, but I would assume home video is also affected to some extent?

Might this affect/delay some of the long anticipated Dreamworks Blu-Rays, including the 2Q09 rumored rumored release of Gladiator (2000)?

Thanks,
Esox

Jeff Kleist · 02-09-2009, 07:51 PM

The Dreamworks library still lies with Soros, and the distribution deal with Paramount still stands. I don't think DW has the spare capital to go chasing that right now, because they're trying to get started up again. Possibly down the road they'll pick them back up, but not right now. I'm sure that when Soros' contract is up for renewel that Disney will make a play, should their deal still stand

GabrielB · 02-09-2009, 08:14 PM

Wow... I really thought he was going back at Universal...

So do you see any Dreamworks catalog titles being released in the near future or everything is too scattered right now for DW? (library owned by Soros, distribution with Paramount, new deal with Disney... geez...)

MerrickG · 02-09-2009, 08:24 PM

WOW!! So Dreamworks is now teamed with Disney. Thats a shocker. I wonder how Katzenburg is handling it.

GabrielB · 02-09-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Prices will come down on Blu-ray authoring.

A DVD can be compressed and authored on a good desktop, full stop using professional level gear (the Sony encoder is a PCI card) in real time.

A blu-ray takes a GIGANTIC investment [...]

Hey Jeff thanks for your comments. That's what I was looking for. So since Blu-Ray can be said to be more demanding in terms of resources compared to DVD in its time (more money, more man hour, more computer power, etc.), I guess it means we'll have to be even more patient for some of our favorite movies to be released on Blu... (also considering what was discussed earlier: digital masters often need a redo)

Nice (or not

) to have confirmation.

Cheers

GabrielB · 02-09-2009, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

A blu-ray takes a GIGANTIC investment just to get started with encoding. You need a HUGE multiprocessor server with very expensive encoding software to even get started. This is a stumbling block for the smaller houses to get going.

Hey I wonder if that will eventually influence the quality of Warner's encodes. Someone said development had ceased on VC-1 while AVC was still being improved and developed.

I think WB invested a lot a money on a VC-1 system didn't they?
Considering how slow they are to implement new decisions, I just hope they won't be years behind if AVC is to become more efficient than VC-1.

GabrielB · 02-09-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by merrick97

WOW!! So Dreamworks is now teamed with Disney. Thats a shocker. I wonder how Katzenburg is handling it.

He'll probably decide to make even more sequels to Shrek and Madagascar.

Alan Gordon · 02-09-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by merrick97

I wonder how Katzenburg is handling it.

There's a difference between DreamWorks (live-action) and DreamWorks Animation.

To my knowledge, DreamWorks Animation is still with Paramount?

~Alan

Jeff Kleist · 02-09-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

So do you see any Dreamworks catalog titles being released in the near future or everything is too scattered right now for DW? (library owned by Soros, distribution with Paramount, new deal with Disney... geez...)

Business as usual. On the catalog stuff,just take Dreamworks as we know it out of the picture. Nothing has really changed at this time, nor is there any sign of it changing in the near future.

Quote:

WOW!! So Dreamworks is now teamed with Disney. Thats a shocker. I wonder how Katzenburg is handling it.

Katzenburg handles the now seperate DreamWorks Animation, and has very little to do with DW proper. If I had to speculate, I'd say: "Not well"

Quote:

To my knowledge, DreamWorks Animation is still with Paramount?

So far as I know, yes

Quote:

Hey I wonder if that will eventually influence the quality of Warner's encodes. Someone said development had ceased on VC-1 while AVC was still being improved and developed.

I think WB invested a lot a money on a VC-1 system didn't they?
Considering how slow they are to implement new decisions, I just hope they won't be years behind if AVC is to become more efficient than VC-1.

Warner purchased VC-1 encoding systems for their authoring house, and they don't see a lot of reason to change that at this time. I'm sure that in a few years, when AVC systems have an appreciable advantage in speed and quality that they'll trade up, since VC-1 no longer keeps pace. There has to be enough of a gap there that it'll pay off in a decent amount of time to upgrade

MerrickG · 02-09-2009, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

There's a difference between DreamWorks (live-action) and DreamWorks Animation.

To my knowledge, DreamWorks Animation is still with Paramount?

~Alan

Yes, they are seperate, but he was a founder and still has his name attached to it. SKG.

Penton-Man · 02-09-2009, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by merrick97

Hey Jeff,

I noticed that the first season of CSI has been announced on bluray!!

I own all the seasons on dvd except the first due to the lack of anamorphic widescreen.

Do you know if the first season was actually filmed in widescreen....

See my thread, I just posted something about it a minute ago.

MerrickG · 02-10-2009, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

See my thread, I just posted something about it a minute ago.

Thank you

02-09-2009, 12:01 AM	#3422
AnimeOnBlu Contributor Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:USA Trading Score:1	Jeff, Any idea as to if Funi might recall and/or replace copies of Afro Samurai? Apparently the movie does not contain the English TrueHD 5.1 track listed on the back. Thanks. Last edited by AnimeOnBlu; 02-09-2009 at 01:45 AM.

02-09-2009, 07:03 PM	#3429
Esox50 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2007 4K collection:420 Blu-ray collection:492	Universal drops Dreamworks...affects Gladiator? Jeff/Bill, http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.co...do-their-deal/ I think this is for theatrical distribution, but I would assume home video is also affected to some extent? Might this affect/delay some of the long anticipated Dreamworks Blu-Rays, including the 2Q09 rumored rumored release of Gladiator (2000)? Thanks, Esox

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02-09-2009, 12:21 AM	#3423
Jeff Kleist The Digital Bits Member since:Jul 2008 Trading Score:1	I honestly don't know anyone at Funimation personally, I'll pass it to someone who does

02-09-2009, 01:45 AM	#3424
AnimeOnBlu Contributor Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:USA Trading Score:1	That is much appreciated. Thanks a lot!

02-09-2009, 12:18 PM	#3426
MerrickG Blu-ray Knight Member since:Sep 2007 Location:College Station, TX Blu-ray reviews:2	Hey Jeff, I noticed that the first season of CSI has been announced on bluray!! I own all the seasons on dvd except the first due to the lack of anamorphic widescreen. Do you know if the first season was actually filmed in widescreen and if the blurays will be widescreen as well? Thanks! Kudos to Paramount and CBS for doing this.

02-09-2009, 07:51 PM	#3430
Jeff Kleist The Digital Bits Member since:Jul 2008 Trading Score:1	The Dreamworks library still lies with Soros, and the distribution deal with Paramount still stands. I don't think DW has the spare capital to go chasing that right now, because they're trying to get started up again. Possibly down the road they'll pick them back up, but not right now. I'm sure that when Soros' contract is up for renewel that Disney will make a play, should their deal still stand

02-09-2009, 08:14 PM	#3431
GabrielB Active Member Member since:Feb 2008 Blu-ray collection:1	Wow... I really thought he was going back at Universal... So do you see any Dreamworks catalog titles being released in the near future or everything is too scattered right now for DW? (library owned by Soros, distribution with Paramount, new deal with Disney... geez...)

02-09-2009, 08:24 PM	#3432
MerrickG Blu-ray Knight Member since:Sep 2007 Location:College Station, TX Blu-ray reviews:2	WOW!! So Dreamworks is now teamed with Disney. Thats a shocker. I wonder how Katzenburg is handling it.

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