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[Stinkles]

oops, wrong thread. I thought this was Busty Cops II.

More amusing quotables from Michael Bay:

"I know the look, color, and sounds on my own movies better they anyone in the world. I color-time every single image, and am there for every single audio tweak. I see my films in the editing and final process no less then a 100 times. I know ever single nuance. For some dick wads on these posts who think I can't make an informed choice on what format in the end, has the truer results for my own films. Well you where to shove.... My films finished in Blu-Ray are better - more true. Hd is better than DVD, but just not as good as Blu-Ray. So buying a Transformers Hd is still the best you will see this movie as of today. But when Paramount caves for Blu-Ray in the future - This will happen, then you will see Transformers one day finished in Blu-Ray and I will sure be able to tell the difference.

Bay"

Dear Michael,

You won't be able to tell the difference. And it will still blow.

Yours sincerely,

Science.

 

[rc213]

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/63608

Today Warner Bros. became the latest (and final) studio to pick a side in the high-def DVD battle. Until now, it was the only major studio left that was producing discs using both HD DVD and Blu-ray technology.

Warner Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara spoke to a handful of us tech bloggers today to further explain why WB made the decision it did.

In a nutshell, Tsujihara said that WB had been "monitoring the [high-def] situation closely" and felt it was time to pick a side. The big problem? "Consumer confusion was beginning to happen even with standard-definition DVD," he said. "Both formats were having an impact that caused consumers to say, let's wait a bit to buy anything, even a standard-definition DVD. We were starting to see the worst of all worlds: No one was buying high-def and not buying standard-def either."

The argument that confusion between HD DVD and Blu-ray was causing people not to buy either high-def format has been with us for a while, but this is the first time I've heard anyone make the connection to declining regular DVD sales. It makes sense, though. If you, as a consumer, feel a (real) move to a new standard is imminent, you're not going to buy the old one. Industry-wide, total DVD sales fell 4.5 percent last year, a huge decline that has some insiders nervous.

Tsujihara said that, not including WB's blockbuster "Planet Earth" release, the company had already been selling 60 percent of its high-def titles in Blu-ray format in the U.S. But that figure was 70-plus percent in Europe and 90-plus percent in Japan.

In addressing the oft-rumored "marketing compensation" paid to studios for switching high-def sides (aka payola), Tsujihara laughed and joked that he had heard these rumors too and was anxious to see such a check. "It's not a bidding war," he said. "It's all about what's best strategically for us." That said, he curiously didn't outright state that no payment had been received by Warner for dumping HD DVD. Not that it matters, I suppose. All's fair in love and home video.

 

[OokieSpookie]

I seriously can't believe they use that stand alone players defense still. Its just so sad at this point.

Sad and untrue.
Blu was/is pulling ahead there too

 

[Raistlin]

oops, wrong thread. I thought this was Busty Cops II.




Dear Michael,

You won't be able to tell the difference. And it will still blow.

Yours sincerely,

Science.

I disagree, but your right about one thing ... it will still blow :lol

 

[Stinkles]

I disagree, but your right about one thing ... it will still blow :lol

I think Mr. Bay is confusing a storage medium with a codec.

And he has the gall to use the word "nuance" while discussing Transformers.

 

[Raistlin]

Sad and untrue.
Blu was/is pulling ahead there too

It's funny though ... because the number they quote actually puts them in the minority anyway.


"Hey guys, we're only a percentage point in the minority!"


How can you make that sound good? Does that mean they were close? Sure. The problem is, they still didn't pull out the victory ... and that was at a major price advantage. Worse still ... it completely disregards PS3's ... not only in terms of real userbase, but also in the fact that PS3 obviously cannibalized some of the BD standalone market anyway.

Seriously ... this is just sad.

 

[Malleymal]

anyone selling their HD DVD stuff...

I just sold my 360 add on and 5 free movies for 170. not bad considering I paid like 80 bucks for it.. i can see the prices dropping once the flood hits ebay

 

[Raistlin]

I think Mr. Bay is confusing a storage medium with a codec.

And he has the gall to use the word "nuance" while discussing Transformers.

Actually in one of the other quotes, I thought he made it clear he WAS referring to AVC versus VC-1. I don't think the AVC encoders and tool-sets are the same on HD DVD. I believe the BDA has some proprietary ones (Sony-made).


Interesting, a couple movies have come out where the BD encode was AVC, and the HD DVD was VC-1. And there were differences ... color being one of them.



As for the platforms themselves, higher bitrates do matter though. It will be interesting to see some of the transfers a year or two from now ... once studios really start pushing things. Look at how much DVD improved over the years.

 

[p_xavier]

anyone selling their HD DVD stuff...

I just sold my 360 add on and 5 free movies for 170. not bad considering I paid like 80 bucks for it.. i can see the prices dropping once the flood hits ebay

Actually, I was surprised there wasn't a surge on eBay. The difference between HD DVD and BD since Friday is basically the same.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

I seriously can't believe they use that stand alone players defense still. Its just so sad at this point.

The funny thing is they didn't use the 12/31 numbers, where Blu-ray held 50%+ standalone. The 49% HD DVD numbers Toshiba uses is until Dec 22. HD DVD got creamed in the last week of 2007 by Blu-ray set tops.

 

[OokieSpookie]

The funny thing is they didn't use the 12/31 numbers, where Blu-ray held 50%+ standalone. The 49% HD DVD numbers Toshiba uses is until Dec 22. HD DVD got creamed in the last week of 2007 by Blu-ray set tops.

The bda has their conference tomorrow night, should be interesting.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

The funny thing is they didn't use the 12/31 numbers, where Blu-ray held 50%+ standalone. The 49% HD DVD numbers Toshiba uses is until Dec 22. HD DVD got creamed in the last week of 2007 by Blu-ray set tops.

More and more, the "conventional wisdom" how of HD-DVD was supposed to win Q4 falls apart. Even at a price discrepancy *and* with PS3 eating sales, Blu-ray had momentum and has for a while.

I've been telling friends of mine to hold off and wait for a winner, I won't be telling them that anymore.

 

[mckmas8808]

More and more, the "conventional wisdom" how of HD-DVD was supposed to win Q4 falls apart. Even at a price discrepancy *and* with PS3 eating sales, Blu-ray had momentum and has for a while.

I've been telling friends of mine to hold off and wait for a winner, I won't be telling them that anymore.

Yeah I told my friend to hold off too, even though he has a PS3. Now he can buy this Blu-ray movies in piece.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Did the boot times for those new 2.0 players get released yet? My friend wants one that loads BDs at PS3 speed.

 

[Raistlin]

Did the boot times for those new 2.0 players get released yet? My friend wants one that loads BDs at PS3 speed.

If they don't ... why doesn't he just get a PS3 then?

 

[Xisiqomelir]

If they don't ... why doesn't he just get a PS3 then?

Harmony 880 compatibility w/o extra IR dongles.

 

[Raistlin]

Harmony 880 compatibility w/o extra IR dongles.

If it comes down to none of the players being as fast ... I'd rather deal with an extra dongle (or extra remote) ... than slow performance.

 

[purnoman3000]

Did the boot times for those new 2.0 players get released yet? My friend wants one that loads BDs at PS3 speed.

Been doing alot of reading on alot of websites this evening so I can't remember where I read it nor do I have a link, but I did read that one player would boot up in 10 seconds. Best guess at remembering which one it was is the new Sharp player coming.

 

[Stinkles]

If it comes down to none of the players being as fast ... I'd rather deal with an extra dongle (or extra remote) ... than slow performance.

Someone would make a small killing with a low profile USB dongle. Not that jumbo shit. My Pioneer standalone's eject sequence is like Austin Power's three point turn.

 

[kaching]

Someone would make a small killing with a low profile USB dongle.

I'm surprised no one has.

 

[el Diablo]

Off the format rap/dance battle and back to the actual tech. I watched a movie for the first time today on a set that was 1080/24p and honestly it was jarring. It ran too smoothe. I know that doesn't make any sense but if you ever watch one on a set capable of it you'll know exactly what i'm talking about. It's a very noticable difference and quite honestly it almost made me feel sick watching it in fast pace scenes. Anyone else notice this or am i out of my mind?

 

[Gary Whitta]

Off the format rap/dance battle and back to the actual tech. I watched a movie for the first time today on a set that was 1080/24p and honestly it was jarring. It ran too smoothe. I know that doesn't make any sense but if you ever watch one on a set capable of it you'll know exactly what i'm talking about. It's a very noticable difference and quite honestly it almost made me feel sick watching it in fast pace scenes. Anyone else notice this or am i out of my mind?

I forced my PS3 to output at 1080/24 while watching The Simpsons Movie on BD recently and having switched back and forth I wasn't able to discern any difference between 24/60fps. Not sure if my TV actually supports 1080/24 (Samsung 61" DLP) but for all the fuss surrounding 24fps I noticed no difference. Maybe it would be more noticeable on a live-action movie? Maybe my TV just doesn't support it? I don't know.

 

[Borys]

Wow the AVSForum is something else, they even got a "open letter to Toshiba" there :lol

I never been there but it seems quite the place for electronic equipment discussions, I mean there are threads like "Which projector under $40K do I buy?"... $40K for a projector, DAMN!!!

 

[el Diablo]

I forced my PS3 to output at 1080/24 while watching The Simpsons Movie on BD recently and having switched back and forth I wasn't able to discern any difference between 24/60fps. Not sure if my TV actually supports 1080/24 (Samsung 61" DLP) but for all the fuss surrounding 24fps I noticed no difference. Maybe it would be more noticeable on a live-action movie? Maybe my TV just doesn't support it? I don't know.

Well the movie i saw was Spiderman 2. Really i have no clue what to tell you, like you said there are a ton of factors and any one of them could be right. If your TV is new (last 6 mos or so) i'd imagine it does 24fps, if you're really that interested i'd check and see if your set does it for sure. From what i understand if your set doesn't do 24fps it'll either a make no difference whatsoever or it won't output any picture. I watched it on a 46" XBR5 which does do 24fps and like i said, to me the difference was really noticeable. Quite frankly when i do buy a new set that does 24fps this year i'm pretty sure i'll leave it off :lol.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Wow the AVSForum is something else, they even got a "open letter to Toshiba" there :lol

I never been there but it seems quite the place for electronic equipment discussions, I mean there are threads like "Which projector under $40K do I buy?"... $40K for a projector, DAMN!!!

Yeah it's a great forum if you want to talk to some SERIOUS A/V freaks... some of the pics those guys post of their setups are just ridiculous.

It's a double-edged sword at AVS... no doubt there's a lot of experts there, but when it comes to BD/HD-DVD you're right on the front lines with the real zealots, the kind of guys that would suicide-bomb a rival conference if given the chance. Nuts.

BTW part of the reason I'm glad that HD-DVD is now dead is that I'm sick of saying and typing it. HD-DVD... it's a graceless mouthful both to say and to type. Blu-ray, for all its faults, at least sounds kinda slick and cool. I don't think it was a factor in the war, but I'm glad it's worked out the way it has. Just think of all the syllables I'll save over the next few years.

 

[Snah]

Yeah it's a great forum if you want to talk to some SERIOUS A/V freaks... some of the pics those guys post of their setups are just ridiculous.

It's a double-edged sword at AVS... no doubt there's a lot of experts there, but when it comes to BD/HD-DVD you're right on the front lines with the real zealots, the kind of guys that would suicide-bomb a rival conference if given the chance. Nuts.

BTW part of the reason I'm glad that HD-DVD is now dead is that I'm sick of saying and typing it. HD-DVD... it's a graceless mouthful both to say and to type. Blu-ray, for all its faults, at least sounds kinda slick and cool. I don't think it was a factor in the war, but I'm glad it's worked out the way it has. Just think of all the syllables I'll save over the next few years.

:lol very true on that last comment

 

[lupin23rd]

So when do you guys think hi-def will really kick into gear?

I mean like new seasons of most TV shows show up day-and-date with the DVD releases (eg. something like The Simpsons), older content (TV or movies) where the newest one is out in hi-def but the previous ones aren't (eg. Lost seasons 1 and 2, Rush Hour 1 and 2, etc...)

It's probably unreasonable to expect everything to end up on Blu-ray but here's hoping we get a lot of it.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Well the movie i saw was Spiderman 2. Really i have no clue what to tell you, like you said there are a ton of factors and any one of them could be right. If your TV is new (last 6 mos or so) i'd imagine it does 24fps, if you're really that interested i'd check and see if your set does it for sure. From what i understand if your set doesn't do 24fps it'll either a make no difference whatsoever or it won't output any picture. I watched it on a 46" XBR5 which does do 24fps and like i said, to me the difference was really noticeable. Quite frankly when i do buy a new set that does 24fps this year i'm pretty sure i'll leave it off :lol.

What you saw was probably lack of 2:3 pulldown. When 24 fps material is shown in 60 fields per sec, every other field is shown 2 times and every other 3 times, resulting a slightly jerky motion. Not everyone notices or cares about this though... I kind of motice it when watching NTSC instead of PAL.

 

[xsarien]

http://warnerlied.blogspot.com/

Holy Christ.

Protip: If you become emotionally invested in the format you watch your movies in, seek professional help.

I don't feel sorry for any of these "victims." If you don't want to get some shrapnel in your face from a technology war, don't set foot on the battlefield.

 

[exarkun]

Quick question, has anyone seen the blu-ray version of Training Day? Is it a good transfer? For 14.99 Im thinking of picking it up from BB. Also, I cant find the collector's edition of Blade Runner anyyyywhere, all these stores (target, BB, CC, walmart ect) have been sold out the last two weeks around me. Its nuts.

 

[M3wThr33]

http://warnerlied.blogspot.com/

Holy Christ.

Protip: If you become emotionally invested in the format you watch your movies in, seek professional help.

I don't feel sorry for any of these "victims." If you don't want to get some shrapnel in your face from a technology war, don't set foot on the battlefield.

I love how I've heard that statement multiple times of letting the consumers decide. It's just such a flawed argument.

 

[Gary Whitta]

So when do you guys think hi-def will really kick into gear?

I mean like new seasons of most TV shows show up day-and-date with the DVD releases (eg. something like The Simpsons), older content (TV or movies) where the newest one is out in hi-def but the previous ones aren't (eg. Lost seasons 1 and 2, Rush Hour 1 and 2, etc...)

It's probably unreasonable to expect everything to end up on Blu-ray but here's hoping we get a lot of it.

Mainstream HDM (ie Blu-ray) uptake is going to be slow... slower than DVD was.

 

[favouriteflavour]

So when do you guys think hi-def will really kick into gear?

I mean like new seasons of most TV shows show up day-and-date with the DVD releases (eg. something like The Simpsons), older content (TV or movies) where the newest one is out in hi-def but the previous ones aren't (eg. Lost seasons 1 and 2, Rush Hour 1 and 2, etc...)

It's probably unreasonable to expect everything to end up on Blu-ray but here's hoping we get a lot of it.

Alot of the films I have recently seen or highly anticipate are unfortunately still locked into HD DVD. Zodiac, Lust Caution, Atonement, Eastern Promises, No Country for old men, Into the wild, there will be blood. This sucks because with the warner switch I know its only a matter of time until HD DVD is dead. Hopefully Universal will end this at CES, I know for sure paramount is gone as soon as the contract expires.

 

[el Diablo]

What you saw was probably lack of 2:3 pulldown. When 24 fps material is shown in 60 fields per sec, every other field is shown 2 times and every other 3 times, resulting a slightly jerky motion. Not everyone notices or cares about this though... I kind of motice it when watching NTSC instead of PAL.

Thanks, that was a great explanation heh. Definitely explains the weird smoothness when i was watching it, guess i fall into that category that notices it cause i picked it up immediately.

 

[xsarien]

I love how I've heard that statement multiple times of letting the consumers decide. It's just such a flawed argument.

To a point, it's the consumer's choice, but at the end of the day they really don't care as long as they can get their content easily and at a reasonable price. Warner decided to "force" the choice - as best as that accusation can stick - because the confusion among the public was starting to eat into regular DVD sales.

To that point, it can be pretty universally declared that people wanted the corporations to just fucking pick one and didn't necessarily care which. The rest is just marketing.

If Toshiba or the BDA were truly interested in consumer choice, neither would've gone for exclusive deals, would've actively encouraged studios to release in both formats and just watched the raw sales data. If anything, Warner made the only informed decision in the whole God damned war.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Give it a year or two and we'll all look back on these interesting times in disbelief... there was actually a time when you had to buy two players? That movies from certain studios were on one format, and movies from other studios were on another? And we'll all laugh about how ridiculous it was, because that's exactly what it was, ridiculous. I'm so glad it's over.

 

[Burai]

http://warnerlied.blogspot.com/

Holy Christ.

Protip: If you become emotionally invested in the format you watch your movies in, seek professional help.

I don't feel sorry for any of these "victims." If you don't want to get some shrapnel in your face from a technology war, don't set foot on the battlefield.

That's so sad. Warner wanted so badly to be HD-DVD exclusive, but the market just didn't work out. To start throwing shit at them is pretty desperate considering how long they continued to support the format with exclusives, in spite of a lack of moneyhats.

Stupid manchildren.

 

[BoboBrazil]

At my work we have been selling alot more blu-ray players the last few days. Hd-dvd has been dead. Blu-ray seems to have alot more brand recognition among casual people too, which is weird. I'm just glad this thing is almost done with. I guess Target is blu-ray exclusive now as well, which will lead other retailers to bail out. So glad this thing is almost over...

 

[Gary Whitta]

It's not almost over, it's over.

 

[Mifune]

Alot of the films I have recently seen or highly anticipate are unfortunately still locked into HD DVD. Zodiac, Lust Caution, Atonement, Eastern Promises, No Country for old men, Into the wild, there will be blood. This sucks because with the warner switch I know its only a matter of time until HD DVD is dead. Hopefully Universal will end this at CES, I know for sure paramount is gone as soon as the contract expires.

While I agree with this general sentiment, you'll be happy to know that No Country for Old Men will be out on Blu-Ray in North America.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s...No_Country_for_Old_Men_Coming_to_Blu-ray/1264

 

[Pristine_Condition]

I totally believe Warner when they say that the consumer confusion and/or fear of picking the wrong format and wasting money has hurt sales of both HD and SD discs. I know it has among my circle of friends and family.

Even with me being pretty out front and fairly eager to jump into Blu-ray (since I hadn't been buying films on DVD for years while I waited for the next-gen formats to appear) I didn't encourage my friends or family to get involved, even though many were wowed by viewing Blu-ray movies on my PS3. I didn't want to be the one handing out advise, so they were on their own making their decisions.

And what the vast majority of my friends and family (some of whom being earlier adopters of, and stronger proponents for HDTV than me) seemed to conclude was to wait and see. And not only that, but most didn't want to buy any more standard-def DVDs either, because they knew something better was on the horizon, however uncertain the outcome of the format "war" was.

Now that the war seems to be all over but the clean-up, the manufacturers and movie studios need to get together like never before, and get those people who have been stalling to start buying movies again. Some of my friends and family have gotten out of the habit, and will need a jump start. They need to know it's all over, and they can be confident purchasing movies again. And they need incentives like good prices and great content.

What I'm saying is this: The marketing campaign is far from over, even if the so-called "war" is ended. Really, the battle for the hearts and minds of consumers should now only be beginning.

 

[BoboBrazil]

Anyone know if there is a way to convert some 1080p movie trailers from quicktime to burn on a dvd and play in bluray player? I'm trying to make some demo discs for my work.

 

[Flo_Evans]

Anyone know if there is a way to convert some 1080p movie trailers from quicktime to burn on a dvd and play in bluray player? I'm trying to make some demo discs for my work.

pretty simple, but they are going to be encoded at 480i...

 

[Pristine_Condition]

Early stock market news RE: Blu-ray's victory, via Bloomberg:

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp. shares fell to a nine- month low after Time Warner Inc., the world's largest publisher of DVD titles, abandoned the Japanese company's HD DVD format to adopt Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray technology.

Time Warner's decision may tip the balance in Sony's favor in the home theater industry's biggest format war since VHS beat Betamax two decades ago. Warner Bros. Entertainment, which had been releasing movies based on both technologies, said on Jan. 4 it will drop Toshiba's standard at the end of May.

``It's a game-changing event, game over for HD DVD,'' Macquarie Securities Ltd. analyst David Gibson said in an e-mail today. ``Other studios will follow'' industry leader Warner, which distributes more than 300 million DVDs a year, Gibson said.

Toshiba, HD DVD's leading promoter, declined 2.3 percent to 783 yen, its lowest since March 28, at the close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Tokyo-based Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, climbed 0.7 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.2 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9YyDD7X.uII&refer=home

 

[BoboBrazil]

pretty simple, but they are going to be encoded at 480i...

So no way to make them 1080p??

 

[Flo_Evans]

So no way to make them 1080p??

not on a DVD no. Tell your job you need a bluray burner

 

[Bearillusion]

oops, wrong thread. I thought this was Busty Cops II.




Dear Michael,

You won't be able to tell the difference. And it will still blow.

Yours sincerely,

Science.

This coming from a guy who's own game runs at '30fps'.

 

[Crisis]

So when do you guys think hi-def will really kick into gear?

I mean like new seasons of most TV shows show up day-and-date with the DVD releases (eg. something like The Simpsons), older content (TV or movies) where the newest one is out in hi-def but the previous ones aren't (eg. Lost seasons 1 and 2, Rush Hour 1 and 2, etc...)

It's probably unreasonable to expect everything to end up on Blu-ray but here's hoping we get a lot of it.

It will kick into gear fairly soon. Having a standard format is a great start. For all the flak one way and another people missed one of Warner's big comments about the thing. They haven't been able to do a big marketing campaign for HD versions of movies. Now that they're going exclusively Blu-ray it should make things a lot easier from marketing standpoints. Another thing that HAS to happen soon is a reduction in the cost of new films. Catalog titles releasing at like $20 isn't so bad. New releases coming out at $25-35 has to stop very soon if there's any kind of hope for Blu-ray catching on. I think Warner might understand that better than the other studios. I understand that DVD actually cost more in its first year and change in the market. Once they caught on we saw a drop in price and the medium exploded. Hopefully BD winning this thing will make the costs lower as everyone starts competing across one medium rather than BD and HD DVD. I think that might have something to do with the costs as well. Universal and Paramount are the only two companies releasing exclusively on HD DVD which means that they can pretty much charge however much they want. Same for Sony Fox and Disney on the Blu-ray side. Hopefully there's enough of a market to where they can start competing for sales rather than trying to drive sales up in general.

 

[mrklaw]

Anyone know if there is a way to convert some 1080p movie trailers from quicktime to burn on a dvd and play in bluray player? I'm trying to make some demo discs for my work.

if you convert them to 1080i mpeg2 files and burn them to a data DVD, they'll play on a PS3 in HD.

 

[gofreak]

Mainstream HDM (ie Blu-ray) uptake is going to be slow... slower than DVD was.

IIRC, one or more of the studios proclaimed not so long ago that HD disc growth was faster than DVD at the same point. Then again, DVD did actually have a really slow first couple of years, IIRC.