Commentary from the Insiders Thread

[gandley]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I would go with FUD tactics.

Think about the big exclusive manufacturers of Blu-ray - Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Phillips. All of these companies have a large IP stake in Blu-ray, why would any of them ever think about making a HD DVD player.

As for the neutral announcements, well they are probably thinking of the demo of the Samsung player and an update to the LG universal player line.

it was evidently in addition to Samsung and LG.

Also floating around is that pro HD-DVD houses are only going to release HD-DVD+SD of titles and drop SD only titles. forcing there content into consumers hands (this is now a good thing) again possible cedia annoucment. Though im sure some guys are letting there mouth run wild. combo and TWINS become the norm. shudder and after SSpears comment, i guess quality will really go out the window.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by gandley

it was evidently in addition to Samsung and LG.

Also floating around is that pro HD-DVD houses are only going to release HD-DVD+SD of titles and drop SD only titles. forcing there content into consumers hands (this is now a good thing) again possible cedia annoucment. Though im sure some guys are letting there mouth run wild. combo and TWINS become the norm. shudder and after SSpears comment, i guess quality will really go out the window.

I'm starting to really dread this forthcoming CEDIA at this rate. Lots of FUD going on this past week.

[gandley]

Originally Posted by GaS

Who is the insider?

mrstrbase2000. + add mr tivo and a few others who seem to be rounding on the same predictions.

there quite big claims to risk a reputation on.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by gandley

mrstrbase2000. + add mr tivo and a few others who seem to be rounding on the same predictions.

there quite big claims to risk a reputation on.

What reputations? The ones already way in the crapper? This is nothing new. These guys have been posting and spreading lies for the better part of two years now.

[Fozziwig]

Originally Posted by gandley

it was evidently in addition to Samsung and LG.

Also floating around is that pro HD-DVD houses are only going to release HD-DVD+SD of titles and drop SD only titles. forcing there content into consumers hands (this is now a good thing) again possible cedia annoucment. Though im sure some guys are letting there mouth run wild. combo and TWINS become the norm. shudder and after SSpears comment, i guess quality will really go out the window.

This would be a move that would confirm HD DVD studios are literally insane!

The suggestion is they are going to produce millions of HD DVD discs that will be useless to 99% of consumers and reduce their overall DVD sales by making their titles too expensive (unless the HD DVD version is going to be a free gift)?

I think it's safe to scrub the 'combo only' rumour.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by gandley

Evidently 1 big exclusive manufactuer for BD is going to switch to producing HD DVD players, and 1 or 2 others will switch to being neutral.

supposed to be annouced at cedia according to one HD-DVD insider at AVS.
Any truth in this? or just FUD tactics

Elsewhere there were claims that the Tivo Dealer said one of the one major STUDIOS would defect along with two minor ones oving neutral.

Either way, I can't figure the players.

[WickyWoo]

Just curious, what is the rationale that says 'Ghostbusters' does not make a great HD showcase, but 'A Few Good Men' does?

It's grainy, shot in a lot of low light, the characteristics of the movie really

Most "80s" stuff is simply not going to look that great in HD, especially ones with a lot of optically printed shots like ghostbusters without extensive work.

Few Good Men is a much brighter and cleaner looking film that has performed excellently at retail over the years, and is very much in the early adopter demographic

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by Fozziwig

Paid,

Just curious, what is the rationale that says 'Ghostbusters' does not make a great HD showcase, but 'A Few Good Men' does?

My logic circuits are clearly not functioning properley because I would have said that Ghostbusters would be a great Blu-ray showcase.

The rationale? Maybe "you can't handle the truth"!
(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

[WickyWoo]

Either way, I can't figure the players.

He was saying Warner, Starz and Lionsgate

[richteer]

Originally Posted by blubb

i can't find any official announcement from Sony that the current PS3 will support Profile1.1. Is it true that they do not have to meet the october deadline since it is an already released product?

Wouldn't it be good if Sony could push out an update very soon since it would bring a critical mass of 1.1/BD-Live players instantly? What is holding them back?

It is true that any player launched before the end of October does not need to meet the Profile 1.1 specs. So, at the moment, no current player is (or has to be) Profile 1.1 certified.

Profile 1.1 is essentially what we have now, plus support for two simultaneous audio/visual streams, plus a certain amount of local, non-volatile storage. The PS3 reportedly has enough CPU horsepower to decode multiple HD AV streams simultaneously, and has at least 20GB of local storage. So, it is very likely that with a simple FW update, the PS3 could become Profile 1.1 compliant.

To Profile 1.1, Profile 2.0 adds network connectivity and more local storage. The PS3 has both hardwired GBE and (in all but 20 GB models) built in Wifi, so in all likelyhood, the PS3 will also be Profile 2.0 capable.

I'm not an insider (so I hope the Mods don't move my post!), but I think it's a reasonable bet that Sony is working hard on the Profile 1.1 update stuff for the PS3. Maybe Profile 1.1 support is what version 2.0 of the FW will bring us?

As to what's holding them back? No idea, but SW development is a non-trivial process. It could even be that Sony is ready to release the FW, but they're just waiting for November 1 (though I don't know why they'd do that), or conducting lots of thorough testing.

[Balian]

Originally Posted by Fozziwig

Paid,

Just curious, what is the rationale that says 'Ghostbusters' does not make a great HD showcase, but 'A Few Good Men' does?

My logic circuits are clearly not functioning properley because I would have said that Ghostbusters would be a great Blu-ray showcase.

Ghostbuster used cheesy special effects that will be THAT MUCH MORE cheesy in HD.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by richteer

It is true that any player launched before the end of October does not need to meet the Profile 1.1 specs. So, at the moment, no current player is (or has to be) Profile 1.1 certified.

Profile 1.1 is essentially what we have now, plus support for two simultaneous audio/visual streams, plus a certain amount of local, non-volatile storage. The PS3 reportedly has enough CPU horsepower to decode multiple HD AV streams simultaneously, and has at least 20GB of local storage. So, it is very likely that with a simple FW update, the PS3 could become Profile 1.1 compliant.

To Profile 1.1, Profile 2.0 adds network connectivity and more local storage. The PS3 has both hardwired GBE and (in all but 20 GB models) built in Wifi, so in all likelyhood, the PS3 will also be Profile 2.0 capable.

I'm not an insider (so I hope the Mods don't move my post!), but I think it's a reasonable bet that Sony is working hard on the Profile 1.1 update stuff for the PS3. Maybe Profile 1.1 support is what version 2.0 of the FW will bring us?

As to what's holding them back? No idea, but SW development is a non-trivial process. It could even be that Sony is ready to release the FW, but they're just waiting for November 1 (though I don't know why they'd do that), or conducting lots of thorough testing.

One of the reasons I went with the PS3 was the upgradability and Cell horsepower.

I think everyone..consumers and other CE mfgs however have been surprised/caught off guard a bit on just how good the PS3 is from a quality perspective.

And yes SW dev is certainly a non-trivial process...having a consistent reference design/hardware helps quite a lot in that regard. I pity people testing/debugging PC gaming software.

[scragham]

Originally Posted by Balian

Ghostbuster used cheesy special effects that will be THAT MUCH MORE cheesy in HD.

i agree. the seams in a movie like ghostbusters are going to be that much more apparent in HD, sadly.

still, i'd love to watch it in HD.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

He was saying Warner, Starz and Lionsgate

^^ How much credence do you all give that?

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by JTK

What reputations? The ones already way in the crapper? This is nothing new. These guys have been posting and spreading lies for the better part of two years now.

Bingo.

They have nothing to risk by going out on a limb, and everything to gain if they get lucky and turn out being right for a change.

[Fozziwig]

Originally Posted by scragham

i agree. the seams in a movie like ghostbusters are going to be that much more apparent in HD, sadly.

still, i'd love to watch it in HD.

Me too. Maybe I can't handle the truth ( ) but it's a shame hundreds of films will now never appear on Blu-ray (assuming the previous arguments are correct) for want of a proper lighting set-up or high quality FX (Ghostbusters has pretty decent FX for its time IMO and the lighting was fine!).

Anyhoo I'm clearly in the minority and, sadly, the 80's has been wiped off the HD map!

Some films we will never see on Blu-ray (due to being "..grainy, shot in a lot of low light" or having "cheesy FX".

Aliens, Amadeus, Back To The Future, Blade Runner (oh, wait! ), Blue Velvet, Brazil, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, ET, Platoon, Raiders of the Lost Ark (and the other two), Raging Bull, The Terminator (time to recall this Blu-ray title?), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc..

Some of those at least are grainy, have the same lighting as Ghostbusters and cheesy FX!

Hopefully Paid can confirm that low lighting and cheesy FX are not the criteria that rule out a title from a Blu-ray release..

had to add this for the 80's naysayers:

Well now, this really is a surprise. The anamorphic widescreen transfer on the previous DVD release of 'The Terminator' was quite good, especially considering the low-budget origins of the film. Yet it was still limited by the technologies of its time, with a somewhat dated appearance, plenty of film grain and many inconsistencies due to the film's antiquated effects techniques. Now we have this new Blu-ray release, and boy, was I not expecting how improved the video quality was going to look.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/terminator.html

See, it can be done!

[GaS]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

He was saying Warner, Starz and Lionsgate

May happen, you never know. Last year before CEDIA all the same repeat offenders said that Disney neutrality was a done deal too. We all know what happened to that..

[WickyWoo]

Aliens, Amadeus, Back To The Future, Blade Runner (oh, wait! ), Blue Velvet, Brazil, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, ET, Platoon, Raiders of the Lost Ark (and the other two), Raging Bull, The Terminator (time to recall this Blu-ray title?), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc..

Some of those at least are grainy, have the same lighting as Ghostbusters and cheesy FX!

It's not that it can or can't be done, it's simply that they're not going to prioritize them for this early in the game

Aliens, Amadeus, Back To The Future, Blade Runner (oh, wait! ), Blue Velvet, Brazil, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, ET, Platoon, Raiders of the Lost Ark (and the other two), Raging Bull, The Terminator (time to recall this Blu-ray title?), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc..

Virtually all of which have had extensive restorations quite recently (many at Lowry)

Ghostbusters has not.

[WickyWoo]

^^ How much credence do you all give that?

I'd say Warner ain't happening, Lionsgate is super iffy, and Starz spent a long time sitting back and waiting

A lot of the speculation on them came from someone talkign to a PR guy that didn't know anything but how to spin

[Razzy]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's not that it can or can't be done, it's simply that they're not going to prioritize them for this early in the game



Virtually all of which have had extensive restorations quite recently (many at Lowry)

Ghostbusters has not.

Maybe Sony is working on it now or plan on it? I'm sure it would sell well on Blu. At least the first movie would.