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

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by merrick97

...I absolutely hate watching 4x3 content on my widescreen TV, which is the main reason I have no desire to purchase Star Trek TOS on blu...

Dude, you are making a serious mistake here by writing off material because it is 4x3. The quality of ST:TOS on Blu is startling, particularly if you have access to a 60"+ screen. This is not the Star Trek of your youth, often seen on a small black & white TV with blur, audio hum, and cheesy effects. Give it a try.

(And the extras are darn good, too. )

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by abintra

Acknowledged.

I do believe that the reason studios have always desired for BD to replicate DVD usage and buying patterns is for the reason that it was so profitable for them. They may have wished they had the same amount of sales at higher overall prices but all companies aim for that. I think the amount of DVD titles available around $7 was crucial to the format altering the mindset of the average consumer into becoming a collector.

I also think the last few months for BD and the huge growth it has experienced in awareness, interest and buying is due to more titles starting to reach and break the $10 barrier (in addition to player pricing). Studios may wish the bottom to be $10 for most titles but, personally, believe that lower price point is crucial to keep people in the mindset of purchasing versus all the other options that now exist. The amount of people that may want to own a good number of films and be inclined to watch them enough times to own, let alone upgrade if they already own them, requires a mindset to be created and sustained.

I just don't think studios would be able to keep new releases at $20+ and the vast majority of titles at $10+ over its lifespan and capture/hold that buying mentality en masse and believe amount of sales in relation to their price points has demonstrated that.

If the studios are interested in pure volume and number of units sold then yes price them as low as possible, but they need to make profit and the studios are still looking for the sweetspot when it comes to making the most profit and selling the most blurays.

Creating bargain bin blurays is NOT the answer.

Jeff can feel free to chime in.

[Knight-Errant]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Dude, you are making a serious mistake here by writing off material because it is 4x3. The quality of ST:TOS on Blu is startling, particularly if you have access to a 60"+ screen. This is not the Star Trek of your youth, often seen on a small black & white TV with blur, audio hum, and cheesy effects. Give it a try.

(And the extras are darn good, too. )

Absolutely, it's a stunning presentation all round.

I'd also been wondering about further seasons of Justice League on Blu. Pity about that.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Dude, you are making a serious mistake here by writing off material because it is 4x3. The quality of ST:TOS on Blu is startling, particularly if you have access to a 60"+ screen. This is not the Star Trek of your youth, often seen on a small black & white TV with blur, audio hum, and cheesy effects. Give it a try.

(And the extras are darn good, too. )

You dont understand how my mind works. I just cant watch 4x3 material. Just cant.

[abintra]

Originally Posted by merrick97

If the studios are interested in pure volume and number of units sold then yes price them as low as possible, but they need to make profit and the studios are still looking for the sweetspot when it comes to making the most profit and selling the most blurays.

Creating bargain bin blurays is NOT the answer.

Jeff can feel free to chime in.

They won't create them, the market will in time.

Many titles will become stagnant at certain price points and prices will decrease over time just the way they did for DVD. This time next year was the point in DVDs cycle that low selling titles just started to approach that bargain section level. For titles of that sort, that is their natural progression unless studios are content on selling in the low thousands (edit: for certain films) and hold prices firm.

That doesn't mean they get released at that price point, the truly bottom, nor does it mean it applies to a broad spectrum of titles. New releases get released at one, catalog titles often slightly below unless of a certain selling caliber, etc. Over time, after titles have been out for awhile and become flat, some drop in price. I believe once more and more titles reach that stage in their cycle, the more it aids in creating that overall collecting and buying mindset that was crucial for DVD and is for BD.

The same way it does for people choosing to purchase one type of film over another. Some films that get passed up are due to no interest, some due to no interest at a specific price but perhaps another, etc. The more titles and pricing groups the consumer has to choice from, the more its sustains that mentality of buying.

The alternative is to arbitrarily maintain a floor for BD pricing in hopes that it won't "de-value" the entire format. My position is that the broad spectrum of pricing over its life is exactly what helps build and sustain consumers interest in the format as a whole. I don't think bargain bins hurt DVDs growth or pricing as a whole other than studios wished that titles would sell as many copies at a higher price than they would at the lower one.

It's the chicken and the egg scenario. Do people buy certain titles they would have spent more on but didn't because they ended up becoming available cheaper one day or did they buy them because they were available cheap. The key is to find the balance. I believe that balance is in pricing groups that serve a variety of consumers and films. Others believe the eventual bargain level de-valued the format and was a problem. Which is why it sounds like we are saying the same exact thing taking a slightly different approach.

I believe Wal-Mart is in the process of debating whether to re-organize their DVD and BD sections by price point for a similar reason.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by merrick97

You dont understand how my mind works. I just cant watch 4x3 material. Just cant.

Wow, I can't imagine having to live that way. There is just way too much amazing content I'd be missing out on.

[Michael.Schinke]

Originally Posted by merrick97

You dont understand how my mind works. I just cant watch 4x3 material. Just cant.

But can you watch 2:35 material which requires a degree of letterboxing? Just sounds like snobbishness to me, no disrespect.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by merrick97

You dont understand how my mind works. I just cant watch 4x3 material. Just cant.

With 100 years of filmed entertainment in that format you're limiting yourself quite a bit.

And 2.40 films have just as much black on the top and bottom as the sides. That's one reason why 1.78 was chosen as the AR of HDTV: equal amounts of either pillarboxing for 4x3 or letterboxing 2.40 material.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by kefrank

Wow, I can't imagine having to live that way. There is just way too much amazing content I'd be missing out on.

Im being slightly sarcastic. If Im gonna watch 4x3 material Id just assume watch it on a 4x3 TV. I flat out just dont watch it anymore and have no desire to watch it anymore.

I can watch 2.35:1 films just fine.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

With 100 years of filmed entertainment in that format you're limiting yourself quite a bit.

Life is short.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Michael.Schinke

But can you watch 2:35 material which requires a degree of letterboxing? Just sounds like snobbishness to me, no disrespect.

It is snobbishness. I dont mind watching 2.35:1 aspect ratio items.

I just flat out dont like seeing bars on the sides. Dont ask why. I just dont like them.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Life is short.

Yes, too short to limit oneself only to films of recent provenance.

[Jeff Kleist]

Make black velvet masks for your set and watch in the dark. That solved a lot of people's problems with letterbox cause there's no light leakage

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Make black velvet masks for your set and watch in the dark. That solved a lot of people's problems with letterbox cause there's no light leakage

Ill consider it!

You people need to lighten up and eat some turkey!

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I think they're looking at a bunch of that money as R&D on future 3D films. Titanic was a perfect string pulling button pushing chick flick. Avatar I think will do $200 million domestic on Cameron's name and the gimmick alone

Dances with Aliens is what it looks like.

A lot of VFX supervisors will be taking a close look at the aliens’ mouth movements, as to date, realistic lip movement has been one of the toughest things to successfully accomplish in the 3D realm……….and if the filmmaker is unsuccessful, it quickly takes the audience right out of the realism of the 3D motion picture.

Here’s a good recent article on James……..
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/1...vatar_cameron/

[GGX]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Im being slightly sarcastic. If Im gonna watch 4x3 material Id just assume watch it on a 4x3 TV. I flat out just dont watch it anymore and have no desire to watch it anymore.

Is this guy being serious?

[spartanstew]

I think he is.

When I start getting into a movie, I don't even know what aspect ratio it's in most of the time.

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, I along with a lot of other people hope tonight's V rating was good enough for a back 9. When the series comes to Blu-ray, people are going to have loads of fun deciphering all the signs (they're using the original Visitor alphabet with a few additional letters that were missing, because there was no need to make a new one, and you can find a guide with a fast google).

One of tonight's hidden messages WE ARE OF PEACE Last week "THOSE OF THE BODY ONLY"

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by merrick97

It is snobbishness. I dont mind watching 2.35:1 aspect ratio items.

I just flat out dont like seeing bars on the sides. Dont ask why. I just dont like them.

I think you should focus more on the picture between the black bars, than the actual black bars themselves.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

One of tonight's hidden messages WE ARE OF PEACE Last week "THOSE OF THE BODY ONLY"

I'll tune in when we get "HOW TO SERVE MAN".