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[VanMardigan]

Well, it'll probably have TrueHD or PC audio.

Which, of course, were not a part of his argument. He was commenting on PQ.

 

[djkimothy]

Which, of course, were not a part of his argument. He was commenting on PQ.

And I'm commenting that the PQ will be the same, but the audio will be different.

 

[VanMardigan]

That's not what Michael's been saying. Let's not backtrack now.

 

[Raistlin]

Since he's been bitching so much, I would expect they'll reencode to a higher bitrate for the video ... if only to shut him up

 

[VanMardigan]

Wasn't there like a chinese or japanese Transformers release or something? What were the specs on that?

 

[Raistlin]

Wasn't there like a chinese or japanese Transformers release or something? What were the specs on that?

On BD? I don't think so.


The original cartoon came to BD recently, and when the cover art first showed up for pre-orders people mistaken thought it was the Bay film iirc.

 

[dallow_bg]

I remember like Van some info about the Bay version being released on BD in Korea.

 

[dallow_bg]

Great. I hope someone does a comparison between the two so we can figure out what the differences are. I imagine for the average HT setup, it's meaningless, but for high end setups, it'd be nice to know how much of a difference there really is.

edit: any news on where that sigmatec player lands on the profile scale?

Also depends on whether the DD+ and TrueHD track on either version are 16bit and 24bit.

Knowing Warner, it's 16bit for the BD edition.
I think DD+ 1.5mbps @ 24bit beats even lossless @ 16bit.

 

[DJ_Tet]

If they use the same visual encode on Transformers plus lossless audio it wouldn't be worth it for me to double-dip.

Count me in as someone who hopes for a new re-encode so I can actually see if the higher bitrates on Blu make a difference on my TV. I doubt that I would double dip on most of my hd-dvds even if the PQ is slightly higher until my hd-dvd player dies, but I'd consider it for an action-heavy type movie like Transformers.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

I think DD+ 1.5mbps & 24bit beats even lossless at 16bit.

You think, but you don't know for sure.

I can't think of an example where a disc was produced with lossless and DD+ at 1.5. I'd love to compare.

Some of the Universal releases with True HD has 640k DD+, even if some are listed as 1.5.

 

[dallow_bg]

That's pretty much why I just want TrueHD at 24bit and be done with it.

 

[VanMardigan]

I can't think of an example where a disc was produced with lossless and DD+ at 1.5. I'd love to compare.

Well, Beowulf should provide an opportunity for comparison. I hope someone at AVS does it to see what the results are.

 

[Raistlin]

I remember like Van some info about the Bay version being released on BD in Korea.

I believe that was incorrect info.

 

[Baker]

On BD? I don't think so.


The original cartoon came to BD recently, and when the cover art first showed up for pre-orders people mistaken thought it was the Bay film iirc.

Original movie or cartoon series?

 

[Raistlin]

Original movie or cartoon series?

Cartoon movie (1986 I think?) ... not the full series.

 

[jjasper]

Original movie or cartoon series?

Movie

 

[Loudninja]

Cameo Media (Spain) drops HD DVD

As we reported earlier, Spanish distributors Filmax and Tripictures have gone Blu-ray exclusive. Now we can add one more to that list: Cameo. They are currently preparing a Blu-ray release of the extremely popular 'Planet Earth' series for the Spanish market. Rumors first began to swirl when Cameo failed to mention an HD DVD release, and those rumors have now been confirmed.

Additionally, with all these Spanish distributors shifting towards Blu-ray, retailers are reacting as well. The largest online retailer or movies in Spain, DVDGo has recently added a Blu-ray tab to their main navigation header. No HD DVD tab is to be found.

Bringing of all Blu-ray news Spanish, thanks once again goes out to B-movies for post the news.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=965

 

[fizzelopeguss]

“The Armageddon [master] was burned in a fire apparently

Whoever did this is a true patriot. *salute*

 

[Days like these...]

If they use the same visual encode on Transformers plus lossless audio it wouldn't be worth it for me to double-dip.

Count me in as someone who hopes for a new re-encode so I can actually see if the higher bitrates on Blu make a difference on my TV. I doubt that I would double dip on most of my hd-dvds even if the PQ is slightly higher until my hd-dvd player dies, but I'd consider it for an action-heavy type movie like Transformers.

I'll double dip on Transformers if the PQ is noticeably better.

 

[VanMardigan]

I'll double dip on Transformers if the PQ is noticeably better.

Same, but I doubt it can be. Batman Begins, though, I think has a good chance of looking noticeably better. It was a bit soft on HD DVD in some scenes, though I don't know if that was Nolan's intent.

 

[dallow_bg]

I'll double dip on Transformers if the PQ is noticeably better.

Even if it's encoded at a higher bitrate, no one will notice save for blown up screens and the difference would only be but a few pixels here and there.

(see Nature's Journey)

 

[avaya]

Bay said he supervised the Blu-ray encode of Transformers himself. Such an encode exists if that's the case.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Same, but I doubt it can be. Batman Begins, though, I think has a good chance of looking noticeably better. It was a bit soft on HD DVD in some scenes, though I don't know if that was Nolan's intent.

I agree. I haven't watched my copy of Batman front to back yet, but the two scenes I did watch merely looked good as opposed to HOLY SHIT HDTV!

I like the latter

 

[Days like these...]

Even if it's encoded at a higher bitrate, no one will notice save for blown up screens and the difference would only be but a few pixels here and there.

(see Nature's Journey)

I guess we'll just have to wait and see (that is if they even bother to re-encode). However if you're right and no one notices save for blow up screens and a few pixels here and there where does that leave Bay and his rant/diatribe and histrionics?

 

[Dot50Cal]

Even if it's encoded at a higher bitrate, no one will notice save for blown up screens and the difference would only be but a few pixels here and there.

(see Nature's Journey)

Nature's Journey was a terrible example. The difference between the encodes was something like 1GB, which in the grand scheme of things is not much.

 

[Raistlin]

Great. I hope someone does a comparison between the two so we can figure out what the differences are. I imagine for the average HT setup, it's meaningless, but for high end setups, it'd be nice to know how much of a difference there really is.

I'd like to know this as well, as I fall into the latter (relatively)

That said, comparing a specific soundtrack doesn't necessarily give an answer to whether a certain codec is better ... as its obviously dependant on what the audio entails.

edit: any news on where that sigmatec player lands on the profile scale?

Trying to get info regarding BD Live (2.0) and DTS-MA/HD support.


FYI - All players are at least 'Bonus View' (1.1) now.

 

[dallow_bg]

Nature's Journey was a terrible example. The difference between the encodes was something like 1GB, which in the grand scheme of things is not much.

It's an example of how there is pretty much no difference when the bitrate was higher and maxed for the BD edition over the maxed out HD DVD edition.

That's when you use the same codec.

I'm sure they'll use the same codec for the BD edition of Transformers as the HD DVD one. (AVC MPG-4)

 

[Jim]

Supposedly 80:20 this week, according to the HTForum admin who has been "guessing" right the past few weeks:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf...formats-comparison-thread-32.html#post3325140

My software software prediction sales prediction for the week is 80/20. Top 3 will be new BD releases and some older WB catalog will round out the top 5. For the first time in a month actual unit sales of BD will be up (slightly). That's my best guess.

HR's weekly sales report info out also

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...ment/news/e3i797c75af15317bcfecedda1ae74313d9

On the high-def disc front, "(Across the) Universe" was the top Blu-ray Disc seller, while Universal's "(Elizabeth) The Golden Age" was the No. 1 HD DVD seller. "Universe" sold more than three times as many copies as did "Elizabeth."

 

[TAJ]

The Rock, Bay’s second film after Bad Boys, was released in 1996. The Blu-ray edition appears grainy in certain shots, but Bay likes it that way. He uses it as an artistic choice, even in his more recent film.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
Most of the grainy look of The Rock on Blu-ray is from EE that was done to the nine-year old master.
Transformers has tons of grain, especially in the night scenes, but it's much finer.
And the comment about having to remaster Armageddon because the original master burned suggests to me that it was going to be an ancient, recycled transfer, too.
Yes, Michael Bay really cares about quality, not system wars. Someone who thinks that HDDVD is evil because he insists on 40Mbps video rates should be demanding 4k scans from the negative for all of his catalog output.

 

[Raistlin]

It's an example of how there is pretty much no difference when the bitrate was higher and maxed for the BD edition over the maxed out HD DVD edition.

That's when you use the same codec.

Who said the BD version was maxed?

 

[dallow_bg]

Who said the BD version was maxed?

Well, it's 37mbps.

Max is 40, but nothing reaches that and stays constant.
Difference is neglible at that range.


If Transformers was VC-1 and then reencoded in AVC for BD, then maybe there would some gains/losses. (mostly gains)

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Well, it's 37mbps.

Max is 40, but nothing reaches that and stays constant.
Difference is neglible at that range.


If Transformers was VC-1 and then reencoded in AVC for BD, then maybe there would some gains/losses. (mostly gains)

Are we still talking about Nature's Journey? If so, the creator, Richard Casey admitted on AVS that they undershot the Blu-ray version. They could've ran at 40mbps full tilt video and still had bandwidth and space leftover. He said their next project will fully optimize the spec.

 

[Raistlin]

Well, it's 37mbps.

Max is 40, but nothing reaches that and stays constant.
Difference is neglible at that range.


If Transformers was VC-1 and then reencoded in AVC for BD, then maybe there would some gains/losses. (mostly gains)

I'd have to look into the details of this release before commenting.

 

[djkimothy]

Supposedly 80:20 this week, according to the HTForum admin who has been "guessing" right the past few weeks:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf...formats-comparison-thread-32.html#post3325140



HR's weekly sales report info out also

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...ment/news/e3i797c75af15317bcfecedda1ae74313d9

There goes Nico's theory that a comeback is imminent.

 

[Insane Metal]

There goes Nico's theory that a comeback is imminent.

And I can´t wait to see the numbers when Warner stops releasing movies in HD-DVD... It is in may, right? God. It will be a fucking massacre. :lol

 

[OokieSpookie]

There goes Nico's theory that a comeback is imminent.

And just to further pistol whip that theory, these numbers are for the week before Netflix and Blockbuster said anything.

 

[Raistlin]

And just to further pistol whip that theory, these numbers are for the week before Netflix and Blockbuster said anything.

And before a dozen or so European studios/distributors dropped HD DVD.

 

[OokieSpookie]

And before a dozen or so European studios/distributors dropped HD DVD.

And during some rather excessive sales on hd-dvd movies...

 

[Raistlin]

And during some rather excessive sales on hd-dvd movies...

And no major BD releases

Spoiler

the sad thing is, we can probably go on like this for several more posts

 

[dallow_bg]

Are we still talking about Nature's Journey? If so, the creator, Richard Casey admitted on AVS that they undershot the Blu-ray version. They could've ran at 40mbps full tilt video and still had bandwidth and space leftover. He said their next project will fully optimize the spec.

That will be interesting if he can achieve it.
I don't see it making a huge impact unless you 1080p front projecters with 6foot and up screens.

But hey! I'm all for maximizing the output!

Spoiler

sorry to break the "uh oh Nico!" chain

 

[BoboBrazil]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d

Industry insiders are saying Toshiba will pull the plug on hd-dvd in the next few weeks? These guys usually don't post bs...

 

[djkimothy]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d

Take this with a huge Gordon Ramsay portion of salt and shove this in the rumour oven.

I'm not going to quote the article here but this part is interesting...

But in the end, sources say, the substantial loss Toshiba is incurring with each HD DVD player sold -- a figure sources say could be as high as several hundred dollars -- coupled with a series of high-profile retail defections has driven the company to at last concede defeat.

It was quite obvious that the price reductions were unsustainable so this rumour seems to support that.

I still find this hard to believe, but interesting read.

edit: LOL Bobo...

 

[KZObsessed]

^^ WOW!

"An announcement is coming soon," said one source close to the HD DVD camp. "It could be a matter of weeks."

Could be the first smart decision Toshiba has made in a while...

 

[Costanza]

if for real, I hope it happens in time for Paramount to be able to switch and get There Will Be Blood on Blu. I don't want to buy all these movies on red now

 

[Raistlin]

if for real, I hope it happens in time for Paramount to be able to switch and get There Will Be Blood on Blu. I don't want to buy all these movies on red now

And sadly ... I'll still be importing even if Paramount brings it to BluRay in the US. I'd say its 90% likely a Paramount version will be gimped in some way versus the Warner version.

>_<

 

[Mifune]

Uh, that is WAY more than a rumor if the Hollywood Reporter is printing it.

HD-DVD death is imminent.

 

[KZObsessed]

According to that article the software numbers for last week were:

81:19

Blu-ray Disc titles also accounted for 81% of all high-def disc sales for the week, with HD DVD at just 19%.

 

[djkimothy]

Some person on Highdef digest was commenting on how funny it would be if Tosiba folded before Universal or Paramount. :lol

 

[Raistlin]

Some person on Highdef digest was commenting on how funny it would be if Tosiba folded before Universal or Paramount. :lol

:lol

Obviously any contractual obligations are null-and-void if the HD DVD governing body calls it quits.

 

[Replicant]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib77125d96b22e86027d0bfb0c25aa58d

Industry insiders are saying Toshiba will pull the plug on hd-dvd in the next few weeks? These guys usually don't post bs...

Well, if Hollywood Reporter is the source then yeah. This is the ultimate source for insider's news. I usually get most of casting announcement, etc from them since they're accurate and don't do BS like other sites.