Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Community » The Afterlife » Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray? (Page 70)

This topic comprises 105 pages: 1 2 3 ... 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 ... 103 104 105

Author

Topic: Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray?

Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-06-2008 05:29 AM

I believe the 40GB model has backward compatibility with Playstation games, but not for Playstation 2 games. Just a minor clarification.

Even at that, the 80GB model does PS2 compatibility through software emulation rather than hardware emulation as it was supposed to do.

Link

Remember when Sony talked smack about the 360 doing emulation through software? I like the PS3, but own a 360. It's just funny to me when one company talks sh*t about another, only to go down that road later...

| IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-06-2008 09:26 AM

It is certainly funny.

Microsoft did some silly things with XBox360. They incorporated things that made PS2 suck into XBox360 and got away from things that did work with the original XBox. Mainly to cut costs, but also to pander to some critics.

They made the case smaller and more pretty, like it could hold shampoo or other beauty products. The prettier case could also cook itself with much greater efficiency than the big, ugly yet reliable original XBox. Kudos for melted soldering and the Red Rings of Death.

Playstation 3 went the other direction. The new case is bigger and heavier than PS2, much to the chagrin of folks who think every piece of new technology should be tiny.

PS2 sucked for not having a built in hard disc. So XBox360 had to do away with the mandatory hard drive to copy that suckage. Hooray for slow load times and limited game design! Let's cook that DVD drive to death while we're at it.

I'm not sure what to think about the switch from Intel in XBox to PowerPC in XBox360. It certainly led to some headaches for people with lots of old XBox games.

Emulation in any form tends to suck regardless of platform. I'm thankful I don't have a huge investment in old PS and PS2 games.

Another thing that made the original XBox a hit was XBox Live. That, and the hard disc, often made XBox versions of certain games a LOT better than the same title on PS2. Playstation 3 took the online gaming concept a nice step farther by making it free of charge.

| IP: Logged

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-06-2008 01:01 PM

Its interesting that LG has a combo Blew Ray/HD-DVD burner for your puter for just over $200.00 selling on E-Bay... Prices are really droping quickly!

Mark

| IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-06-2008 07:21 PM

Another interesting development

Linky Linky

quote:
Circuit City extends HD DVD return time
No. 2 electronics retailer will accept returns within 90 days of purchase

By Michael Felberbaum
updated 39 minutes ago

RICHMOND, Va. - Circuit City Stores Inc. is getting on the Blu-ray digital video format bandwagon by tripling the period in which customers who purchased a rival HD DVD player can return them.

The nation's No. 2 electronics retailer has instructed its stores to "take care of our customers" and accept returns of HD DVD players within 90 days of purchase, spokesman Jim Babb said.

Several industry moves in recent weeks — including the announcement by creator Toshiba Corp. that it has stopped making HD DVD players and discs — have handed the format a clear defeat in the battle for primacy in the next generation of movie-disc technology.

The recent resolution of the next generation of video disc formats is an important and singular development in the marketplace," Babb said in an e-mail statement.

When Toshiba dropped out of the fight, it conceded to Sony's Blu-ray format, which delivers crisp, clear pictures and sound on high-definition TVs.

The biggest battle between two video formats since Betamax lost out to VHS in the 1980s was resolved after multiple movie studios, including Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. Warner Bros. Entertainment and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, pledged to support the Blu-ray format.

In the long run, consumers are expected to benefit because they no longer have to agonize over which technology to choose for high-definition movies. But Toshiba's defeat leaves 1 million customers worldwide with dead-end hardware.

Circuit City, which has a usual 30-day return policy, is allowing customers who purchased HD DVD players to return them for store credit. The policy doesn't apply to HD DVD movie discs.

The Richmond company noted that while some people may want to return the players, others are buying them on clearance because they still play high-quality HD DVDs and improve the playback of standard DVDs.

| IP: Logged

Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 03-06-2008 07:33 PM

The Virgin MegaStore has the HD-DVD movies going at 50% off now.

| IP: Logged

Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 03-06-2008 07:47 PM

Isn't Circuit City supposed to close down and go away forever? I can't believe they are #2. They seem more like #89. They don't have much of anything in the store, especially customers!

| IP: Logged

Larry Myers
Master Film Handler

Posts: 371
From: Herndon, VA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 03-07-2008 10:25 AM

Why is it that some of the HD DVD's are 2.40 and others are 2.35 screen ratio? Are the 2.40's really wider or is it just a result of the tops and bottoms being cut off to make the image look wider?

| IP: Logged

Ron Funderburg
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 814
From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 03-07-2008 10:48 AM

Disney has stated for several years that the proper scope format is 2.40 to 1. In the early 2000's their was so much white flash from editing splice on the negative that transfered to the film that it was requested that you show the films at 2.40 to hide the flash. Mel Gibson's The Patriot was one of the worst I think it was Sony that asked you on it to frame so the flashes didn't show.

But wait there is more, over the years their have been a total of 12 (not counting the 2.40 ratio) of format width's 1.37 to 1 Academy, 1.66 to 1 widescreen (matted), 1.75 to 1 matted widescreen, 1.85 to 1 (matted and now standard) widescreen, 2.58 to 1 Cinerama/Cinemiracle/Konpanorama widescreen, 2.55 to 1 Cinemascope 4 strip magnetic sound, 2.35 Cinemascope, 2.0 to 1 Superscope, 1.96 to 1 VistaVision 8-perf, 1.85 to VistaVision optical reduction (okay same as standard flat), 2.21 to 1 Todd-AO/Super panavision & SuperTechnarama, 2.76 to 1 Ultra Panavision/ 70 MM Anamorphic prints!

Source for this is American WidScreen Museum on line.

| IP: Logged

David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 03-07-2008 11:09 AM

We have Circuit City and Best Buy within a half mile of each other here. CC has a more limited selection of most everything. They seem to be hanging on though, and if I can find what I want at both stores, seems like I usually end up buying at CC.

| IP: Logged

Ron Funderburg
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 814
From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 03-07-2008 11:22 AM

Opps I forgot Imax but I can't remember what Imax's ratio is. Little help on this please!

| IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-07-2008 11:40 AM

I like Best Buy in general for their selection of movies, music and other stuff like that. But they can be lacking when it comes to variety of HDTV models in stock and other devices too, like audio video receivers. I've seen a better selection of those things at Circuit City stores (which is also why I wound up buying my new TV there instead of Best Buy).

| IP: Logged

Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 03-07-2008 11:42 AM

Why you notice that the last two PIXAR movies, that the frame lines are more thicker - prob to hide the lab editing and to create the 2.40:1 ratio that they disclose.

| IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-07-2008 12:02 PM

Isn't the "2.40:1" term just rounded up from what is really 2.39:1? I think they're saying "2.40:1" because it looks more pretty in print.

Speaking of Pixar, the studio's next movie, Wall•E, is also going to be in super-wide 2.39:1 format. But there's a noticeable difference. It looks like they're rendering this movie to make it look like it was shot with anamorphic lenses. Check out the second movie trailer and you can see all sorts of subtle signs they're mimicking the odd depth of field appearance that comes from shooting anamorphic.

| IP: Logged

Ron Funderburg
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 814
From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 03-07-2008 12:30 PM

Technical specs for scope is still 2.35 to 1 but you have been asked by the film companies to make ti 2.39 to one to hide the edit marks! However the pixar films are edited in the computer so there is no need for the black and yes I think Disney is the one that started the 2.40 to one and yes I think it was because it looked better and also gave the impression of a wider picture!

| IP: Logged

Max Biela
Film Handler

Posts: 89
From: Dortmund, Germany
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 03-07-2008 05:11 PM

Actually the latest SMPTE spec is 2.39:1.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 105 pages: 1 2 3 ... 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 ... 103 104 105

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.