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Read this post and see why the article mentioned above is wrong. http://thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Doesn't someone make a DVD player that ignores the unskippable flag?

About 10 years or so ago, I bought one of these. A couple keypresses on the remote will get you past "unskippable" material. Whether something's currently on the market that offers similar functionality, I couldn't say.

I see this "dead before it gets started" a lot. Blu-ray is ahead of the adoption time curve set by DVD. It certainly has "gotten started". They'd just like it to be quicker, as the profit has gone out of the hardware side of DVD, and is weakening for software.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa161.html#bdrant

Just so you know apparently it will be out next year http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents but I hope it will be spilled on the net soon.

The Disc that you may be refering to with the T2 limited Edition that was HD on DVD, and required a PC to play it. It used VC1 and fit on a standard Dual-Layer DVD. T2 Extreme I believe.

No. The disc I'm referring to is the T2 Ultimate Edition, released August 29 2000, UPC 1223610967b. It was one of the first actual releases (yes, the spec for DVD Video has always allowed for dsdl; that doesn't mean that all the early players could actually handle it.)

And I didn't say 'dual layer,' I said 'dual-sided, dual layered.' DVD-18.

Between the incompatibility and the outcry over disc art, it was almost immediately re-issued with two ssdl discs (two DVD-9s, in other words).

Ummm old and unsubstantiated/busted rumor:

The Original source is Dan Lindich, he has since edited the story to remove all references to money changing hands. Read some of his blog, he hates Blu-Ray with a passion and has always recommended HD-DVD, still doesn't recommend Blu-ray, even it won the format war, here is his now eidited story:
http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=758

From Digital bits:
"As it happens, I've actually spoken about this today with Fox's senior VP of corporate and marketing communications, Steve Feldstein, who echoed something Warner's Ron Sanders has also said in recent days: "The kind of money they're talking about [in these stories] isn't worth jeopardizing a multi-billion dollar business." In other words, payoffs would not have impacted Fox and Warner's decisions. Feldstein also told me that when The Pittsburgh Post Gazette piece broke, he contacted Lindich immediately to let him know that he was being misled by someone. When Don posted the same piece on his own blog, it was edited to reflect this. Specifically, the references to $120 million and $500 million payoffs were gone - something that's worthy of note."
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa149.html

Basically bitter Fan can't see writing on wall, sees conspiracy instead.

The facts were Blu Ray disks outsold HD-DVD disks for every single week of 2007, by the last weeks of 2007 there were more standalone Blu Ray players sold than HD-DVD players sold, despite HD-DVD being massively cheaper. HD-DVD was toast before Warner announced.

Slashdot, all the quality of Digg, without the quantity.

Reports are that sales have been absolutely massive, and Toshiba's campaign has been a success. Warner since has extended their HD-DVD support by almost a month, and other very positive rumors have circulated about HD-DVD.

It's not really over. There are still a number of studios, most notably Paramount, committed exclusively to HD-DVD.

70% of the industry (in market share terms) is now exclusively supporting Blu-Ray. BD software is outselling HD-DVD 3:1, standalone BD players are now outselling standalone HD-DVD players even at a higher price, and of course when you factor in the game consoles (which do count, because those people are a big part of the software advantage), it's no contest and never has been.

Moreover, Paramount is now reportedly looking for ways to get out of its deal with HD-DVD. (Scroll down, it's there.) No studio wants to be the last one holding the bag on a dying format while their competitors all jump ship.

The format war is over. It's funny to see people talking about "good sales" on HD-DVD players - how good does a sale need to be to make buying a piece of dead tech worth it? There are only a couple hundred movies on HD-DVD, and there aren't ever going to be many more than that.

It's fun to root for the "underdog", but come on, people - this is your own money. Why waste it?

Admittedly, this new DVD could be seen as something of a double-dip, given that Warner is currently planning to release a MUCH more elaborate, multi-disc version of Blade Runner on DVD in 2007. But you've at least got to give the studio credit for letting you know that in advance. Given how long fans like myself have waited for this film to look better on disc, the fact that Warner actually DID a new transfer to make it look better, and the fact that it's only going to set you back $20 ($15 or less on sale at many retailers), this remastered DVD is hard to beat. FYI, Warner has revealed that they're going to release this film on the new high-definition HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats next year too... so you'll just have to pardon me while I wipe the drool off my chin in anticipation. In the meantime, this DVD is recommended for fans of the film.

Yesterday, The Digital Bits posted its long review on this set.

Then please explain how Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD nearly 2-1 YTD, and 60-40 over the lifetime of the formats (source: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/).

The Digital Bytes has a page clarifying the details about exactly what is contained in each of the various sets that are being releasing.

The good news is the original version is finally available on DVD.
The bad news is that it is only available as part of a collectors edition.
The good news is that the 4-disc set is fairly reasonably priced at $35.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa141.html# dp

What's my point? I think 3 million players is an insignificant drop in the future HD video player market. If the price of HD DVD players drops below whatever the "magic price point" is before Blu-ray does, and the studios start offering most of their movies in high-def format (they hardly release any Blu-ray/HD DVD titles now), then HD DVD can easily overtake Blu-ray.

I'm not saying it will happen, I'm just saying it's way too early and the current sales numbers are way too insignificantly small to predict a winner. Did you know that Borat sold more DVDs in one week than all Blu-ray and HD DVD titles combined since the launch of the two formats?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070423-why- early-high-def-disc-adoption-rates-dont-really-mat ter.html

The thing that gets me about this is that the versions of the original trilogy on this new set are literally no better than the bootleg versions that have been available for years...because Lucas is doing the exact same thing as the pirates--digitizing 'em from laserdisc.

Way to go, George.

From The Digital Bits: ( http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa121.html )

1) The original negatives are gone, destroyed as part of the process of creating the 1997 special edition versions.

We're inclined to believe this is true. Still, the original negatives are not the only viable elements that can be used to transfer the films for home video release. There are numerous interpositive prints. There are the separation masters. Worst case, there are a number of high quality release prints available. In short, other elements exist that can be used for this purpose.

2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.

We'll come back to this one in a minute.

3) There are just no quality film elements remaining anywhere that could be used.

See our answer to #1. Even if it's true that Lucas and his staff destroyed all of the original negatives, it's unlikely in the extreme that they also destroyed all of the interpositives, all of the separation masters, and all of the release prints. In fact, we know that they didn't. Where, for example, would the anamorphic footage of the original 1977 opening text crawl from A New Hope - the footage that appeared in the Empire of Dreams DVD documentary - have come from if not from quality surviving film elements? Still, even if Lucas did destroy every single scrap of original film available in the Lucasfilm Archives... we know for a fact that high quality die transfer release prints exist in the hands of a number of archives and private collectors. While not ideal, any of these could be given a high-definition transfer, a bit of digital clean-up and color-timing, and could be presented on DVD in anamorphic widescreen in quality that would be superior to a 1993 non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer.

4) The 1993 laserdisc masters are the best source material that can be found for use on DVD after exhaustive searches of the Lucasfilm Archives.

See our answer to #3. This is flatly absurd. If this were true, Lucasfilm's archivists should be ashamed of themselves. We know of few professionals tasked with the preservation of film materials that would allow such critically important film elements as the original Star Wars films to be lost, to deteriorate or be wholesale destroyed. And again, even if Lucasfilm's vaults were so woefully incomplete, we know for a fact that quality elements exist elsewhere. Given 48 hours notice, we could track them down ourselves. Surely, with its significant resources and influence, Lucasfilm could do the same. If the 1993 laserdisc masters are really the best that Lucasfilm can do, it's disturbing. If not, a statement like "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD..." seems terribly disingenuous - the corporate PR equivalent of "I'm so sorry, but the dog ate my homework."

But let's get back to #2...

2) The other existing original elements have deteriorated too badly to be used.

It just so happens that one of our regular contributors here at The Bits, the author of our ever illuminating Yellow Layer Failure, Vinegar Syndrome and Miscellaneous Musings column, is something of an expert on the subject of film preservation and restoration. Robert A. Harris, in point of fact, is one of the world's best known motion picture archivists, and has does significant work in this field through his company, Film Preserve. Robert's experiments in color technology and more recent advances in the digital domain have set standards in the industry. His reconstruction and restoration efforts, primarily in the large format field, have brought back to the screen some of the most important films ever produced, including Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, My Fair Lady, Vertigo and Rear Window.

We asked Robert what might be done with the original surviving elements of the Star Wars films in order to rejuvenate them and present them in high quality on DVD

i just bought a 1080p LCoS set from Sony and own I already own the CLV versions on LD (with a nice LD player formerly used in medical applications). When my box arrived in the mail, I immediately opened it up and A/B-ed the DVDs with my LDs. The quality of video was marginally different, and if forced to choose, I'd pick the LD on simply because they were forged from the same master, but the LD didn't go through an ugly A/D conversion. In terms of audio, the LD has uncompressed PCM, but it was resampled from 48k-44.1, which sounds less bad to me than the compressed 48k on the DVD.

Basically, I got fucked. even the DVD version of The Wizard got a fucking anamorphic transfer.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa121.html# fr for more

You may be referring to the great print recall in the 1990s. According to this guy high-quality prints still exist and so do the "original" interpositives. Granted the guy is speculating about the interpositives but he seems pretty sure about high-quality prints. If stored carefully these are probably better than the analog laserdisks.

Universal is still HD-DVD only, to name one. Other companies who are planning to support both have still announced no Blu-Ray discs while actually having some HD-DVD titles on shelves.

This page might help you out with YOUR denial...

Well, since you read TDB, I'm sure you caught this comment ( http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa122.html# comp ) where they found out it's the HDMI interface on the Samsung that causes the problems; switching to component placed Blu-Ray nearly on par with HD-DVD.

Hopefully they'll get that fixed before companies start enforcing the downsample flag...

Wow! Based on the E3 showing, I thought I'd only be able to watch the much-delayed worse-than-HDDVD Blu-Ray and download from the currently non-existent online service on it!

Wow! I really do get to pay more to do less with Sony! I can't wait.

Sony has revealed that they'll street their first titles on 5/23, in keeping with a May format launch (and timed to coincide with the first Blu-ray players from Pioneer and Samsung). The studio will debut eight titles on 5/23 - 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, The Last Waltz (via MGM), Resident Evil: Apocalypse and xXx, which should all sell for around $25 each. Lionsgate will add five more that same day, including Crash and Lord of War at $39.99 each, as well as The Punisher, Saw and Terminator II: Judgement Day at $29.99 each. Sony and MGM will then release seven more catalog titles on 6/13, including Kung Fu Hustle, Legends of the Fall, RoboCop, Stealth, Species, S.W.A.T. and The Terminator (at around $25 each). That same day, Lionsgate will add six more, including The Devil's Rejects ($39.99) and Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Stargate and Frank Herbert's Dune (all $29.99 each).

It would be difficult to sell PS3 initially as anything other than a game machine

That's a bold statement if i ever saw one. The PS3 vill probably be priced O($500), and judging from what I've read about the upcoming first generation Bluray movie players, they aren't going to be cheap. Pioneer's have a $1800 player set to debut around march, and judging from this interview http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ces2006/par sonsinterview.html it doesn't seem like they are in a rush to get out budget models because they claim early adaptors want über gear(they even claim sony's early $1000 DVD players outsold their $500 players).

anyhoo, back to the subject. I'm willing to bet good money that a ½-decent salesman will be able to sell a 500$ PS3 to people with HDTVs who want a HD alternative to their regular DVDs if the alternative movie-only players are x2 the price.

"There is ONE recorded case of this I know of..."

Well, then you're behind the times. Try the full screen DVDs of Air Force One, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Titanic, and The Abyss for starters.

See here for explanations with examples (Other Options part):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/ aspectratios/widescreenorama2.html

and here (Open Matte part):

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/WidescreenPr imer/WidescreenPrimer2.html

So you can argue that it is a bad choice for whoever made the call on the DVD transfers (and in that case you'll be disagreeing with James Cameron and Stanley Kubrick in some cases), but it is not "BAD DVDs."

Dvdsite.org seems to be run by the people from http://www.thedigitalbits.com/ . Their names are on the E-mail link at the bottom of the page. The site doesn't seem to be saying HD-DVD is the format they want but that they want one format, HD-DVD is just being used as the term for the next DVD format.

From thedigitalbits.com they seem to be backing Blu-Ray more and more and think it will win.

Bah, CNN. Here, read the detailed official PR. Thanks to The Digital Bits for this link from a few days ago.

The DVHS machines are notweorthy because they can record and playback streams over IEEE1394. A number of companies also produce prerecorded content on DVHS tape-- but of course, there are onerous DRM restrictions. (HDCP, anyone?)

Virtual DVHS simply emulates a HDTV recorder, and it produces a .m2t stream, which can be either played with VLC, or sent back to the tuner for hardware accelerated playback.

IEEE1394 does include a encryption option, though, and it is not completely clear whether the presence of the broadcast flag will tell a set top box to use this encryption. A consumer model recorder may have the proper codes, but I am not so sure that a computer will be able to handshake with a atsc tuner.

As I recall, Disney was a big supporter of the dead-on-arrival Divx format. We know how well that went. Disney may be able to throw its weight around, but if the format doesn't have consumer acceptance, even Mickey's clout won't help.

A couple of quick Google results:

+5, Informative: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/editorial/bz21998.ht ml

+5, Funny: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/divxpress.h tml

As I recall, Disney was a big supporter of the dead-on-arrival Divx format. We know how well that went. Disney may be able to throw its weight around, but if the format doesn't have consumer acceptance, even Mickey's clout won't help.

A couple of quick Google results:

+5, Informative: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/editorial/bz21998.ht ml

+5, Funny: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/divxpress.h tml

In case of Slashdotting, here is another site with all three of the movies and their changes.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarscha nges02.html

Want a free Xbox or Slim PS2? Click below.

I know I posted the same thing when the story for a New Hope came out here on Slashdot...but if they make repetitive front page stories, I get repetitive posts.

Here's another site that has detailed changes as well that I was reading a few WEEKS ago.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarscha nges.html

The link in the story seems to be dead for me already...but here is another one that I was reading a few weeks ago, similar content.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarscha nges.html

link

the worm is still crawling on the Emporer's head; that would've been the first thing I'd have edited.....

According to this (9/20/04 - 12:30 PM PDT), this (9/20/04 - 10:30 PM PDT), and TheForce.Net, there are audio issues in Star Wars Trilogy DVD set.

Lucasfilm denied with this statement, "We are always impressed with how closely fans listen to the many different sound mixes we have made for the Star Wars movies over the years. It is flattering to know that, indeed, the audience is listening. Consequently, each mix comes out differently and any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as reported."

According to this (9/20/04 - 12:30 PM PDT), this (9/20/04 - 10:30 PM PDT), and TheForce.Net, there are audio issues in Star Wars Trilogy DVD set.

Lucasfilm denied with this statement, "We are always impressed with how closely fans listen to the many different sound mixes we have made for the Star Wars movies over the years. It is flattering to know that, indeed, the audience is listening. Consequently, each mix comes out differently and any changes that you hear on the all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX tracks on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set are deliberate creative decisions. We can confirm that there are no technical glitches as reported."

Music score reversed in rear channels of the 5.1 mix

It's mind boggling that they allowed this big a mistake in a release this high profile. For one scene it might have been tolerable, but this is in the whole movie. Yikes!

Oops, screwed up my link: The Digital Bits

Star Wars here and Empire and Jedi here

Star Wars here and Empire and Jedi here

Go here to see some of what's different.

I haven't heard anything about Jar Jar being included in any of the original films. But, yes, Hayden is in the ghost scenes on ROTJ. The Han/Greedo incident has been changed again too.

George Lucas said this was the movie he wanted to make.

No, he made the movie he wanted to make, he's changing it to be the movie he would want to make now.
Look at the side by side comparison of the additional changes from 1997. Do you really believe they didn't have the technology to realise his vision to shave off people's eyebrows 20 years ago? Or is it that his vision has changed since then?

Why are you guys bitching that he's stomping on your childhood when you're stomping on his vision?

There wouldn't be a problem if he released both versions and let money do the talking. People aren't stomping on his vision, we bitch because he's not giving us what we want: his original vision. Not his revised vision after 20 years and tons of money and power. A youg man's vision is different from the vision of an old guy with his own firetruck.

So what if Greedo shoots first?

He's four feet away! How incompetant can you be? He misses a sitting target 4ft away from him. This is what Jaba hires as muscle? Ooooo, I'm so scared.
That Jabba must be one hell of a looser then. Hey, what's this, a scene with Jabba. He lets people litterally walk all over him! Oh, big scary mobster! I'm shaking in my boots.

In the original, Jabba is an unseen mobster who's henchmen are beast dealt with by shooting them in cold blood and getting the hell away from the planet. In the revised edition, he's some 2 bit slug with the worst henchmen half a sandwich can buy.

I was OK with most of the changes (especially the new Jabba looks about 1000x better).

But I found the changes to Jedi, at the end, very very disturbing!! That just feels wrong, to reinsert anakin there.

Looking at the screenshots at Digital Bits, at least Jabba doesn't look like the Golgothan any more.

Ok, ok, in all fairness, the Golgothan looks better than Jabba '97.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarstri logy.html

There's an in-depth review at Digital Bits, including some screen shots of the major changes.

There's an in-depth review at Digital Bits, including some screen shots of the major changes.

According to the review at http://www.thedigitalbits.com/, the scream is gone. Shame they could edit out Luke's general whininess, though.

Guess what, he never called you back because you were a self-righteous caller...

The most annoying thing on the planet (for a helpdesk agent, obviously not for the customer) is a customer who thinks (or even DOES) he knows more than the people he is calling... You're calling them for support, and when they try to help you, you treat them like idiots... I really can't see why they didn't want to go that extra mile for you!

Oh, guess what... There are multiple aspect ratios for Widescreen DVD... But you already knew that, didn't you?

Whatever, I still can't get over this....

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html
or
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17592 Scroll to the bottom!

"I'm sure most of you have heard me blabbing off in the past few weeks but we've just finished the extended cut of the DVD. I finished the edit before I came over here - these poor bastards at Weta have got another 350 effects shots to do! They're well on the way. Elijah's seen the extended cut. New Line have announced some box set that's supposed to be coming out which I didn't know anything about. When I've done King Kong I'd like to do a proper box set and we've got a whole bunch of material - not of the movie but we've got a whole lot of bloopers out there! When King Kong's out the way I'd like to do a really high definition version with the best possible picture quality."

The Source