Archived: Insiders Thread

[Beta-guy]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

^ ^ ^



Is that because it's antibiotic resistant HD VD ?

lol that's classic

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Beta-guy

lol that's classic

And this is the actual link, courtesy of Iceman II.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/0...vs-hd-dvd-war/

Later guys, I've gots to go and take care of my girls.

[Esox50]

paidgeek (or some other insider, like kjack, who may already know),

I know you are not a hardware guy, but I was wondering if you could please help us (via SCEA) get the record set straight with regards to the PS3 and bitstreaming of the TrueHd and DTS-HD audio streams.

Please see the link below:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=109

The question really boils down to whether the chip in the PS3 is capable of bitstreaming (nobody seems to know, and there's no specs posted @ silicon image re: the chip in the PS3)? There's a lot of FUD and panic going around about this and DTS-MA, so I think it's in the best interests of Sony to provide a little clarity. No timeline for possible firmware upgrade needed, just would like to know if it's possible.

If the PS3 is capable of bitstreaming, then I'd like to officially register my "vote" that SCEA provide a firmware update to enable this. I'm a little biased since I just bought a preamp w/ Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA decoding.

As always thanks.

[Seretur]

Thanks, Penton. One of the very best articles about the entire format war I've ever read.

RoughlyDrafted is permanently bookmarked now.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

And this is the actual link, courtesy of Iceman II.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/0...vs-hd-dvd-war/

Later guys, I've gots to go and take care of my girls.

Wow, excellent article, someone needs to write a book about this when this war is done and gone.

[Mericalis]

Originally Posted by sj001

Wow, excellent article, someone needs to write a book about this when this war is done and gone.

How do you think Tosh will get some of it's money back?

Book title: One of many Big Mistakes

[maximus2323]

Does any insider have the Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour on Blu-Ray yet? If you do, how is it?

[hoser]

Originally Posted by MatrixS2000

Sorry about yet another comment - but I agree 100% with David. Please help get this on the BD groups radar.

I agree.
Although I am not a fan of 3D (at least in the various methods I have sampled), this could be a BD coup in the WAR.
Leveraging the BD format specs is something that hasn't been fully exploited IMO.
In war, there is no substitute for wisdom.

[hoser]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I never thought the loonie/U.S. dollar conversion rate would be where it is today.

Buying a war on credit will do that every time.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by FrenzyBanana

is it true that if you watch blu-ray on nonHDTV it will just look like a dvd movie?

Mods are free to my post if they want, but I felt the need to answer this question.

Years ago, I got DirecTV HD before I got a HDTV due to the fact that I had gotten a 16x9 TV to watch DVDs on... and I wanted to be able to see some TV shows in 16x9 as well... and I was amazed at how good shows like "CSI: Miami" look in downconverted SD compared to regular SD or 16x9 DVD.

Since that time, I have shown people how much HD can improve even SD sets by showing them DirecTV HD, OTA, HD DVD last year, and Blu-ray this year.

The most noticable difference is in the color. Shows like "CSI: Miami" are night and day difference from SD as the colors come to life. The blues of the ocean, the green of the plants, and the blue or orange colors of the sky. "Stargate: Atlantis" on Sci-Fi HD can also look amazing as the texture of Ronon's hair is extremely more detailed on the HD version.

As for Blu-ray, it really depends on the movie, the TV set you have, and the cables you use. I always use component cables for showing off HD on a SDTV... compared to SD via Component.

Animated movies look fantastic thanks to difference in color (among other things)... "Open Season", "Surf's Up" and the Pixar films come to mind.

Older titles can look great as well. "Forbidden Planet" on HD DVD, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", "Blazing Saddles" and "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" all look considerably better their SD counterparts.

Newer titles like "The Scorpion King", "The Chronicles Of Riddick" on HD DVD, and "The Transporter", "Identity", "License To Wed", "The Fifth Element (Remastered)", "Pearl Harbor" and other titles look superior or FAR superior depending on the title to their SD DVD counterparts.

Again, it really comes down to the quality of the SDTV, the quality of the movie, the cables used, and above all else, the eyesight of the person viewing it, but no, Blu-ray does not HAVE TO look like a DVD on a SDTV.

~Alan

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by hoser

Buying a war on credit will do that every time.

Toshiba's money should be falling even faster than the U.S.'s then.

[androvsky]

Originally Posted by Iceman_II

Paidgeek, just a quick check back on a question I asked a while ago...

I asked if there was any plan to have the PS3 be capable of streaming Matroska (mkv) files (matroska is an open source container, not a codec - the primary codec used with mkvs is x264)... at the time you asked for more information on them... and I THINK I sent this link, if not I truly apologize.

That said, has there been any indication if it will be supported? It seems that the Netgear EVA8000 is working this direction in their newest beta firmware, but personally, I would prefer to use my tried and true PS3 over another piece of equipment.

Thanks in advance!
Scott

Paidgeek, I'd just like to second the request for mkv. There are already open-source libraries that can be used in proprietary products for loading mkv files, and since the ps3 already supports (or will soon) all the major codecs for audio and video that mkv uses, and the PS3 user interface is already set up for handling multiple audio and subtitle tracks (one of the big features of mkv), it should be very easy to get it working.

I know if I had to choose between mkv and divx, I'd probably lean mkv, and whenever there was talk of divx in various ps3 forums and the playstation blog, there's always several different people that pipe up wishing for mkv support. Of course, they usually also ask for the popular open-source audio formats like ogg and flac (and flac is lossless, might be popular with people here).

Since it looks like MS is trying to get divx support also, supporting the free and open-source codecs might be a good and easy way for Sony stay ahead of the 360 in downloadable media support, assuming that's important for Sony as opposed to the fanboys.

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by sj001

Wow, excellent article, someone needs to write a book about this when this war is done and gone.

I second that. Extremely informative article. I bookmarked and will send it to friends.

[mattym]

Insiders!

round 574 of 'Warner going (insert format of choice)Nuetral' rumour has an interesting comment on Wiensten, are they about to announce neutrality? Also, do we need worry about the warner rumour, or is it yet another attempt at self-fulfilling prophecies???

[kowhite]

Originally Posted by mattym

Insiders!

round 574 of 'Warner going (insert format of choice)Nuetral' rumour has an interesting comment on Wiensten, are they about to announce neutrality? Also, do we need worry about the warner rumour, or is it yet another attempt at self-fulfilling prophecies???

You're talking about the rumor on hidefdigest that comes from the blog by a high school student?

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by kowhite

You're talking about the rumor on hidefdigest that comes from the blog by a high school student?

That was round 573.

[mattym]

Originally Posted by kowhite

You're talking about the rumor on hidefdigest that comes from the blog by a high school student?

the warner it of that wasnt as interesting as the weinsten bit!

the trouble with internet blogs is that any idiot can say anything and gain traction with it. i much prefer magazines!

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by kowhite

You're talking about the rumor on hidefdigest that comes from the blog by a high school student?

Probably, you know, the blog where "my contact" at Weinstein said an "un-named source" from the HD DVD PR group "asked" to Weinstein to delay their BD announcement because HD DVD is going to have WB exclusive soon. LOL.

I know many insiders here are under NDA and cannot really comment. I think we should stop asking Insiders to comment every time some hopeful moron on the web says WB is going HD DVD exclusive. Let them hope all they want; isn't going to change what is going on behind the scenes.

Rest easy. We know enough from good sources to suggest that without another major payoff WB won't be dropping Blu any time soon. I also highly doubt the combined might of the companies of the BDA would let that happen after the Paramount drive by shooting.

I'll go on the record as 95% confident WB will be releasing Blu Ray's in 2008 either via neutrality or exclusivity. Insiders can correct me if I'm totally wrong.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Esox50

I'll go on the record as 95% confident WB will be releasing Blu Ray's in 2008 either via neutrality or exclusivity. Insiders can correct me if I'm totally wrong.

Correction: But you're only off by 5%.
Should read ....100% confidence level.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sj001

Wow, excellent article, someone needs to write a book about this when this war is done and gone.

Remember that book that the A-man always teased AVS members that he would write on the origins of the format war, once he got the time? (he should have the time now….. given his recent “reassignment”).

Well, there is a virtual line of attorneys (expert in the torts of libel) just salivating for the book to be written and published so that they can go after his personal assets if he is so stupid that he hasn’t placed everything he owns in trust.