Commentary from the Insiders Thread

[Knight-Errant]

If its a problem with the blu-ray version (which has not been determined) then I think everyone here would support getting it fixed.

But it is NOT a problem caused by blu-ray technology - it's a transfer issue.

I think that's a fairly accurate summation, correct?

[WickyWoo]

Gotta say, I have not seen any posts HERE that imply the misframing is a Blu-ray issue, but I am kind of dismayed to see the same reflexive dismissal of it as an issue just because the HD DVD crowd has leapt on it to beat BD supporters over the head with. How is it any different than not being pleased with a not so great transfer?

I'm not dismising it, only saying that the guy on AVS offered cinematographic evidence where his focus was, and that it's quite possible that it's the DVD that's misframed.

[David Forbes]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

I'm not dismising it, only saying that the guy on AVS offered cinematographic evidence where his focus was, and that it's quite possible that it's the DVD that's misframed.

Well, honestly, based on Xylon's screencaps, if they're correct, it's definitely the BD that's misframed.

[Spankey]

Another Microsoft Employee spouting the HD-DVD talking points of the week!

Now tell me this is just a coincidence.

I'm going to say that something about the Paramount deal has the HD-DVD PRG spooked. They are looking for one non monetary reason to support the deal.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by Spankey

I'm going to say that something about the Paramount deal has the HD-DVD PRG spooked. They are looking for one non monetary reason to support the deal.

Absolutely agree. It's the best explanation I can come up with:

Originally Posted by RUR

Cynic that I am, I think it equally likely that the HD DVD camp is looking for any rationalization they can find to justify the Paramount/DW switch. It doesn't have to be true, it just has to seem true enough to deflect the actual reasons i.e. cold cash.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Knight-Errant

If its a problem with the blu-ray version (which has not been determined) then I think everyone here would support getting it fixed.

But it is NOT a problem caused by blu-ray technology - it's a transfer issue.

I think that's a fairly accurate summation, correct?

Yes. At worst it is a single transfer issue.

I think people need to wait for the definitive judgement from the director/DOP on this and then push if necessary. Way too many people are freaking out over something they didn't even notice.

And, you're allowed to disagree with director/DOP, but their word is the last word on it.

Gary

[blublublu]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Yes. At worst it is a single transfer issue.

I think people need to wait for the definitive judgement from the director/DOP on this and then push if necessary. Way too many people are freaking out over something they didn't even notice.

Once you know of a flaw - there's no going back... It's sticks in your face forever.

And, you're allowed to disagree with director/DOP, but their word is the last word on it.

Gary

True.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by Spankey

Another Microsoft Employee spouting the HD-DVD talking points of the week!

Now tell me this is just a coincidence.

I'm going to say that something about the Paramount deal has the HD-DVD PRG spooked. They are looking for one non monetary reason to support the deal.

Damn. BD-50 yield experts are coming out of the woodwork.

[Brandon B]

Yeah, I was going by Xylon's thread too. Even if Disney came out and said it was intentional, I'd probably file that the same place as Lucasfilm's claim of controversial "switched surround score reversal" being intentional. You just don't cut off heads like that on purpose. The third time you master it.

Another AVS refugee BTW. Although I still spend a lot of time there in the projector forums.

BB

[Brandon B]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Damn. BD-50 yield experts are coming out of the woodwork.

Out of curiosity, are releases in other countries generally the same capacity as the U.S. release? i.e. if the domestic version is 25 or 50, do the Japanese versions tend to follow suit?

BB

[Rob Tomlin]

Welcome Brandon!

I still visit the PJ forum as well, but I have become rather tired of the non-stop dead horse beating of the JVC RS1's "over saturated colors", so I have spent much less time there recently also.

Will be visiting more though with CEDIA here.

[WickyWoo]

Out of curiosity, are releases in other countries generally the same capacity as the U.S. release? i.e. if the domestic version is 25 or 50, do the Japanese versions tend to follow suit?

If it's the same distributor it's typically the exact same disc.

One of the benefits of Blu is "one disc for the world"

This was actually done with some anime DVDs, like Bubblegum Crisis 2040. It read your region/languages and put up the appropriate company logos.

[David Vaughn]

Well, I guess I have to come here and defend myself. My information is NOT coming from Amir nor the HD DVD Promotional group. I have some studio level contacts at both HD DVD, a neutral studio and a Blu-ray studio. I also have spoken with people at the replication facilities, whom I can't name for fear of them losing their jobs (they have all been adamant about that). Everything that I have posted is legit, and I have disclosed where the information was coming from, but can't use actual names or companies because of fear of retribution upon the people talking.

If you read my post closely, when I talked about Combo yields I said in there that I didn't believe the yields were that great, but no one could share numbers with me but were trying to find out.

In my defense, Jeff Williams, who works for a replication facility also confirmed my numbers, but I don't know which facility he works for (but I have a very good indication based upon his data and the data that was given to me and I think it is the same place).

Anyway, my point is that if you don't like what I have reported, attack the information, not the source of the information. I made sure that I have had more than one source on everything that I have written and gone on the record for.

[David Forbes]

Originally Posted by Chad Varnadore

I haven't been to AVS in many months. So I haven't followed Dave's posting over there. I can say with fairly strong certainty that Dave probably doesn't have any contacts at Fox, Sony, or Disney. He covers Warner, Paramount, and Universal for the Spot. I don't know if he's actually passing himself off as an insider on AVS, if AVS may have chose to make him one for reasons of their own, or if he's simply been mislabeled as one due to the nature of his posts. But he's not an insider, by my definition, he's press.

I don't know where his information is coming from, probably someone affiliated with Paramount. Personally, I don't trust anything coming from the studio right now. I was surprised that news broke of the 150 million deal so soon. But I guess, all things considered, they had to have something to justify the decision to their investors and the creative talent that would logically be upset by their decision to only support a poorer selling, format of lower capability. But, I don't buy most of what they've had to say so far. In fact half of their reasoning sounds like they were tutored by select members of Microsoft/the HD DVD promotion group. Whether Dave feels differently or is just passing on the information he's been fed, I don't know. I can say that Dave has indicated that he doesn't trust Amir anymore than most here, anymore. But Amir is a good salesman that seems capable of making some people forgive or forget.

Interesting. He is now labeled an official insider over there and is posting as such in the insider threads.

If he doesn't trust Amir, he is very good at hiding that fact since the two do seem to work somewhat in tandem. They had an exchange today that just felt incredibly artificial, as if they had worked it out ahead of time. "Gee Dave, how do you explain this press release where Sony DADC said a year ago their BD25 yields were over 80%?" "I don't know! It's strange, but this is what I was told today!" It just felt phony to me.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Damn. BD-50 yield experts are coming out of the woodwork.

Q: So, potential early adopter, what are you looking for in an HDM format?

A: Well, I have to tell ya, my first concern is about the yields of the various discs. I don't think I can support a format unless I have a clear breakdown of the production costs.

Q: Uh, OK. Aren't you interested in the movies?

A: Sure, there are secondary factors like movies and quality, but the primary issues are yields, the history of the formats, and the other products the companies involved may have done in the past.

[Slapper]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Q: So, potential early adopter, what are you looking for in an HDM format?

A: Well, I have to tell ya, my first concern is about the yields of the various discs. I don't think I can support a format unless I have a clear breakdown of the production costs.

Q: Uh, OK. Aren't you interested in the movies?

A: Sure, there are secondary factors like movies and quality, but the primary issues are yields, the history of the formats, and the other products the companies involved may have done in the past.

My thoughts exactly. It's ridiculous...

[Frode]

You can put the insider definition in AVS's hands I think. They seem to like putting people on the insider list. It almost makes me wonder if I could get insider status if I asked for it .

[MatrixS2000]

Q: Oh okay, so what are the yields on your format, specifically combos?

A: Sorry can't talk about that - but going back to BD50 yields....

[David Vaughn]

David,

I have had only two "personal" conversations with Amir over PM's in the past 18 months. One was in the beginning of the formats release when I needed a quote for a review, and the other was how the process of moving a VC-1 encode from an HD DVD over to a BD worked. That is it.

[David Vaughn]

By the way...one other thing. I did not request insider status, nor did I particularly want it. One of the moderators gave it to me based upon the information that I had. I don't personally consider myself an insider, but I do have some very good contacts on the inside.