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

[Jeff Kleist]

Told you it wasn't the one you were expecting

My source just didn't know when they were announcing it

And it sadly won't contain On Your Mark, which is only on DVD in the Ghibli Short Short collection of commercials and other non-Ghibli Museum pieces they've done

[Batman1980]

Jeff any word on when Sony will release Pippi Longstocking?

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Actually the DTS DVD's bass was undercooked, they had a replacement program for them. The DTS LD was overcooked. Both the DVD & LD DD tracks were at the proper levels.

That's what I mean. The way I remember it, the DVD came out and didn't have the overcooked bass the DTS LD had, and there was an outrage. Universal eventually replaced it.

What I was 1/2 joking about was whether Uni will just go straight to the overcooked version on the Blu-Ray, and save us the complaining. Seems like most prefer the overcooked version anyway!

Where's Jeff when you need him!

[Jeff Kleist]

I believe the DTS DVD issue was that the LFE track was actually missing from the disc

I don't actually own a copy of Jurassic Park, and I haven't seen it in probably 10 years, so I couldn't comment on whether the DTS was juiced. What I can say is that common practice of the period, and still to a degree today is to make sure DD tracks won't blow out TV speakers.

But given that JP was the first DTS track ever, I wouldn't be surprised if they juiced the bass in the original theatrical mix, which got a direct port. Pure speculation though.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I believe the DTS DVD issue was that the LFE track was actually missing from the disc

I don't actually own a copy of Jurassic Park, and I haven't seen it in probably 10 years, so I couldn't comment on whether the DTS was juiced. What I can say is that common practice of the period, and still to a degree today is to make sure DD tracks won't blow out TV speakers.

But given that JP was the first DTS track ever, I wouldn't be surprised if they juiced the bass in the original theatrical mix, which got a direct port. Pure speculation though.

DTS directly supervised the encoding of the LD of JP, however they didn't take into account the LFE needs to be lowered -10dB and the surrounds need to be attenuated -3dB for home video mastering...neither of which was done on the JP DTS LD and several others (they claimed they "forgot" ). So naturally people said it was "more immersive! heavier hitting bass!" in comparison to the other versions.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by AnimeOnBlu

The new Ghibli release is "Whisper of the Heart" (source).

[MJW]

I'm excited for another Ghibli release, but the sad thing is that with a 7/20/11 release date in Japan, we probably won't see Whisper of the Heart on Blu-ray in the US until 2012.

I'm still hopeful for an announcement for Castle in the Sky and My Neighbors the Yamadas soon, though!

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by MJW

I'm still hopeful for an announcement for Castle in the Sky and My Neighbors the Yamadas soon, though!

And let's hope Disney remembers that the film is called Laputa, Latin prostitutes be damned.

[Jeff Kleist]

We're talking about the same company that won't release Song of the South, because they think it's about happy slaves (if memory serves it takes place AFTER the war )

*hugs laserdisc*

[MerrickG]

Hey Jeff,

Here is a difficult question for you:

I am someone who is not a fan of anime and generally despises it.

BUT, if there was one anime title you could recommend that is very accessible to anyone what would it be?

[Jeff Kleist]

Anime is a form, not a genre, so I would have to know what kinds of movies they like first. There are movies and TV shows of essentially every genre you can think of

[MerrickG]

On another note what are your thoughts on this VOD service?

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-owners-175760

I applaud the theaters and James Cameron for speaking out against this.

This seems like a very bad slippery slope.

[Jeff Kleist]

I think people are going to balk big time at the prices. Going to the movies may be more, or just as expensive for a family, but laying it out like that for what's a rental, and without the "getting out of the house" experience, especially when people are used to pressing a button for a tenth of that is going to cause major sticker shock

It's also going to encourage pirates to develop or purchase HDMI boxes so they can get pristine HD copies weeks after opening with the greatest of ease. I'm very curious if they can embed in the signal some kind of ID number that will let them stomp such people, but i have my doubts, at least with launch that's the case

[Supernaut]

Jeff have you heard about this? http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...-more-lifelike - basically it says Peter Jackson is now filming The Hobbit at 48 FPS. Can the Blu-Ray contain an accurate representation of this picture if that is the case? Or will they just drop 24 frames per second?

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Supernaut

Jeff have you heard about this? http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...-more-lifelike - basically it says Peter Jackson is now filming The Hobbit at 48 FPS. Can the Blu-Ray contain an accurate representation of this picture if that is the case? Or will they just drop 24 frames per second?

Per Penton-Man:

The *fly in the ointment* for that particular frame rate (whether it be for 3D or 2D), for all Blu-ray enthusiasts out there reading is that 48 fps results in noticeable artifacts when transferred from the mastering suite to Blu-ray.

Source

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, hopefully by the time the blu hits in 2 years, tools will have improved to compensate

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I think people are going to balk big time at the prices. Going to the movies may be more, or just as expensive for a family, but laying it out like that for what's a rental, and without the "getting out of the house" experience, especially when people are used to pressing a button for a tenth of that is going to cause major sticker shock

It's also going to encourage pirates to develop or purchase HDMI boxes so they can get pristine HD copies weeks after opening with the greatest of ease. I'm very curious if they can embed in the signal some kind of ID number that will let them stomp such people, but i have my doubts, at least with launch that's the case

I wouldn't be surprised if more people jump on this deal than you think. $29.99 isnt cheap by any means, but I can see a large group of people chipping in and doing this every so often.

Nothing will beat the theater experience and I am glad that all these directors are speaking out against this.

For me if Im going to spend $29.99 I would rather do it on a bluray or see it at the theater on release weekend.

btw, speaking of movies what is it with the absolute non-existent promotion of X-men First Class? Its set to come out on June 3rd and its barely gotten a peep.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by merrick97

I wouldn't be surprised if more people jump on this deal than you think. $29.99 isnt cheap by any means, but I can see a large group of people chipping in and doing this every so often.

Nothing will beat the theater experience and I am glad that all these directors are speaking out against this.

For me if Im going to spend $29.99 I would rather do it on a bluray or see it at the theater on release weekend.

btw, speaking of movies what is it with the absolute non-existent promotion of X-men First Class? Its set to come out on June 3rd and its barely gotten a peep.

I can see this being a popular choice if somehow they day-and-dated it with the theatrical debut - but 4 or 6 weeks on, you are getting close to 2nd run theaters and home video. I can't imagine paying $30 for early temporary access to something that might hit blu-ray in another 4 weeks.

[Jeff Kleist]

I seriously doubt that they intend to hold at the outer marker, and that they'll want to launch as soon as 2 weeks after if a movie underperforms in a few years.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I seriously doubt that they intend to hold at the outer marker, and that they'll want to launch as soon as 2 weeks after if a movie underperforms in a few years.

agree, I don't think it will ever be D&D but I think it will get closer (like a said in the other thread, when a movie hits theatres the profit from ticket sales is almost all studio, so they won't want to hurt that but it is a sliding scale so at some point the share of 30$ in their pocket is worth it even if it means a few lost ticket sales.

I think people are going to balk big time at the prices. Going to the movies may be more, or just as expensive for a family, but laying it out like that for what's a rental, and without the "getting out of the house" experience, especially when people are used to pressing a button for a tenth of that is going to cause major sticker shock

I think it might find some market but like PPV it won't grow fast. 30$ for a movie sounds like a lot but you can have a living room full of people and then it is cheap compared to tickets. And for families compare 30$ at home with a bucket of popcorn after the kids are in bed to paying a baby sitter and eating out before the movie (after all if you will go for a night out you will most likely go all the way)