Ask your Blu-ray questions here!

[admin_exported]

Evening all

This Thursday afternoon the British Video Association is hosting its annual research day, and I've been invited to chair a panel discussion at the event. We’ll be debating the merits of Blu-ray and its future prospects, and there’ll be about 80 key members of the BVA there, including senior representatives of all the key studios. 

I thought it’d be a great opportunity for you to air some of your own views on Blu-ray, so if you’ve got any burning issues you’d like me to raise, fire away. Naturally, I’m going to be asking about loading times, disc pricing and Star Wars…

 

 

[Clare Newsome]

Lots of discussion, please on:

BD Profiles (why oh why, and when will we see the end of the need for firmware fixes),

BD Live (are they spying on us; when is there actually going to be any decent content)

Day-and-date releases (ie why are we waiting longer for some BDs than their DVD equivalent)

Region coding/multi-region machines/discs

Source for Blu-ray library titles - why do too many BDs look/sound rush-released from an inferior master?

 

[Anonymous]

All of the questions I wanted answering are ....listed above.

 

[Anonymous]

It's all above, really.

For me, I WONT buy a machine (I have a PS3 for now) until it will:

-play all my old region one and region two dvds. Sticking to regional coding for dvd formats is not credible as literally everyone has a back catalogue of multi regions due to dvd players all being (even if after sale) multiregion. Get real and allow us to watch them all. Code future releases on BR by all means... but allow us our past!

-play blu rays without any external monitoring or info gathering. This isn't acceptable, in any way, unless explicitely and openly agreed (never passively).

As for the discs:

- price has to drop. I wont buy a film at current prices unless I don't own it (on dvd) and it is a fantastic transfer.

- The quality has to be as good as it gets. If a film is re issued in a different "print" a year later you should be allowed to exchange! Bluray is supposed to be the best you can get. I'm not talking about money making scams like "directors cut", just poor masters rushed out with better copies following! Unfair! I have a few dvds which have been bettered after release on quality and it is not on!

- And, personally, forget extras. I want the best sound and picture every time, and will go without anything else happily.

The kicker is cost, as you can buy and upscale a dvd for £4 these days, and BR is £17 plus. No thanks.

 

[laserman16]

All of the above plus a question about why you can stop some discs, switch the machine off, go back to it later and pick up where you left off. Other discs just tell you it will restart from the beginning and thats your lot, I mean come on guys this is supposed to be advanced technology over DVD yet DVDS all manage to do it.

 

[John Duncan]

When will a BD player play a disc immediately? I'm old. I don't eat my tea till 9 o'clock. There's only a limited window before I fall asleep in front of the telly....

 

[beater]

Why are there not more disc with 7.1 sound.

 

[ElectroMan]

Why do Warner Bros (and others) insist on discs that immediately start to play, rather than going to a main menu where you can select the audio track, subtitles etc? And why do they make it so difficult to find the main menu?!

And doesn't the heavy use of Java just slow the players down, and make Blu-ray seem quite ponderous to load?

 

[cwalduck]

Why don't disks default to the best audio stream?

Why do they release movies on a Monday and not on Saturday?

 

[carter]

more 7.1 soundtracks pls(i got 60 movies and only 2 with 7.1)

 

[nads]

when is BD going to get to where we were with HD DVD?

Not a grumpy question from an HD DVD owner but a genuine question from some one who has both. and still find HD DVD more user friendly.

 

[Anonymous]

I like Clare's question re BD live, whats the point? I am with other people who just want top quality video and audio.

Rich

 

[v1c]

I can't quite get why i haven't gone blu yet. I had laser disc , i went dvd , i haven't gone blu ? . Why ? i'm still not sure myself , i want to go blu but just can't seem to do it or don't want to do it. Firstly my 2003 pioneer tv / dvd / amp set up is brilliant and the picture is great the sound is great but now HD picture and sound is better !!. First of when i see a blu ray demo the picture looks artificial for want of a better word and even more so on animated material. I've told a fib ÿi do have a blu ray player ps3 in the kids room. Had beowolf blu ray didn't like it (picture) put on SD def cars on ps3 and thought it looked great. Secondly on the fist wave of blu ray advertising on dvd i can remember it saying makes this sound like this , it was a match head striking and it was showing it against a building blowing up so makes this "match head striking" sound like this "building blowing up" . ÿIt struck me as a smoke and mirrors trick like look this really is brilliant but a match head striking is not going to sound like a building blowing up. there was an other example on the same advert but can't remember it. my interest has peeked again because i brought reservoir dogs on blu ray and it does look good on the ps3 but once again i can't help but think that the dogs have used amazing washing powder on there suites they look pristine clean. So my question would be why should i go blu ray in the first place if i'm happy with DVD yes it's better but is it better in the right way ? . To be honest i'm fed up with it and think i'm going to skip blu ray and go for downloading instead but i still want a blu ray player ! ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

My freinds and I are far more interested in HD audio than BD live.I belive more emphasis should be placed on this and decent transfers, blu-ray owners deserve a quality product for the high cost of discs.

 

[oldleodensian]

Why do BD machines not play DVD Audio discs?

When will there be universal BD players? Or at least one at a sensible price! (I believe Denon are producing one for 3K or more)

I have a Pioneer DVLX50 that plays DVD-A and SACD and is a good up-scaler for DVDs. I will not be buying a BD machine until I can match this Pioneer player's audio capabilities, as I already have enough pieces of hi-fi and AV kit in my living room without adding another one!

 

[Big Aura]

probably pie-in-the-sky, but a limited time offer of allowing me to upgrade my DVDs to blu-ray for, say, a fiver a pop, would certainly encourage me to make the switch. I remember paying IRL£27 for Goodfellas on DVD (a flipper-disc) and now it can be bought on DVD for Stg£6 (or probably less). The prices are going to plummet, but if we could all update our libraries now, it would really take people off the fence and encourage DVD owners to dive into the new format.

PLUS - please make the freesat HDD BD player not stoopidly expensive. There's a recession thingy on and my wife has a worry-wobble everytime I spend more than £3.50.

 

[Sliced Bread]

Clare Newsome:BD Profiles (why oh why, and when will we see the end of the need for firmware fixes)

Agreed! I hate the idea of buying a bluray player only to find that a little later a 'new and improved' profile will be released and so my old machine will struggle to play the new films made with profile X in mind. Then having to HOPE that a firmware update for the new profile is released for my ageing(in this industry - over 1 year old) player or buy the film on DVD which negates the point of the player in the first place.

Whilst I understand the idea of improved functionality associated with the new profiles, the films should ALWAYS be compatible with all Bluray players IMO.

EDIT: This refers to the compatibility issue that some players (such as the pricey Denon DVD-2500BT) are having with some films. I would be very annoyed if I had paid the lions share of a thousand pounds on a player yet my fave film will not load.

 

[d4v3pum4]

How much did Sony pay Warner to effectively end the battle of the formats? !

I agree with the comments above re. profiles, loading times, disc prices, BD live, play resumption. I would also like to know what these high end players do to the picture to justify the cost, after all BD is supposed to ensure that we view the picture and hear the audio as the studio/director intended so why have the high end players got all these processing features?

 

[hammill]

Add SACD to the the DVD-A question. I want one multi region DVD/Blu Ray /SACD player that doees not take more than a few seconds to load and can restart where I left it - otherwise I am better off with DVD

 

[Anonymous]

Why can't discs automatically start up in english as this is what I've set my player to do? It's annoying when Universal discs just hang there waiting for a language selection before they start loading.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

The whole ever changing profile thing is absolute nonsense and personally I can see suddenly 2.0 becomes 2.5 etc as they add new features, and as for BD live IMHO is absolutly pants and offers nothing apart from ads for upcoming movies and a nice way for the studio's to spy on what we are watching.

It also gets my goat that after the faliure of regional codeing on DVD that Sony decided to follow on with Codeing on BD software when initiating BD (HD-DVD had the right idea of code free software IMHO)

And also where are there any standards for BD packageing info? I have rented a few movies which state FULL HD on the box yet when you play the movie they are incoded @1080i and look awful compared to other movies as to my knowledge when encoded this way not only do you loose the much hyped 24FPS but also the additional benifits from deep colour.

 

[Anonymous]

Big Aura:
A limited time offer of allowing me to upgrade my DVDs to blu-ray for, say, a fiver a pop, would certainly encourage me to make the switch.ÿ I remember paying IRL£27 for Goodfellas on DVD (a flipper-disc) and now it can be bought on DVD for Stg£6 (or probably less).ÿ The prices are going to plummet, but if we could all update our libraries now, it would really take people off the fence and encourage DVD owners to dive into the new format.ÿ

I absolutely love this idea. With just over 3000 DVDs to upgrade, it really appeals to me (can I include my 400 or so laserdiscs in the deal, too?). And I reckon it's not necessarily so far-fetched, either. I'll definitely be reading this one out to the BVA conference.

 

[Big Aura]

Cheers Andy!

When DVD started Sony gave free movies with player purchase; this was great as it was a whole new format. I never really bought VHS movies, because there simply weren't as engaging. DVD with its (at the time) amazing quality and plethora of added features was a new departure. I probably had 10 films on VHS and rented the remainder. I've got close to 350 DVDs (some I'm proud to own; some not so!).

The very notion of having to upgrade all of that is daunting and off-putting. Paying for Star Wars a third time?!?! It would be a good incentive (even to limit the swap numbers to 20 or thirty films) to bring people on board. (Because it's a like for like swap, it shouldn't mean that royalties etc need to be paid to the studios).

As for DJ Krime's point on the standard of the films - that's an absolute must. I bought several films from play.com that were DVD5, rather than DVD9, but this wasn't advertised. Very disappointing.

 

[John Duncan]

Andy Kerr:Big Aura:
A limited time offer of allowing me to upgrade my DVDs to blu-ray for, say, a fiver a pop, would certainly encourage me to make the switch.ÿ I remember paying IRL£27 for Goodfellas on DVD (a flipper-disc) and now it can be bought on DVD for Stg£6 (or probably less).ÿ The prices are going to plummet, but if we could all update our libraries now, it would really take people off the fence and encourage DVD owners to dive into the new format.ÿ

I absolutely love this idea. With just over 3000 DVDs to upgrade, it really appeals to me (can I include my 400 or so laserdiscs in the deal, too?). And I reckon it's not necessarily so far-fetched, either. I'll definitely be reading this one out to the BVA conference.

Genius. And when they say "no", say "it worked for iTunes plus....."

 

[Anonymous]

Big Aura:
The very notion of having to upgrade all of that is daunting and off-putting.ÿ Paying for Star Wars a third time?!?! ÿ

I heartily agree.although with me it'll be more like six times. VHS, original six-disc THX laserdisc box set, Dolby Digital laserdisc, remastered-version DVD, original-version DVD.all to be replaced one day by a Blu-ray set, hopefully.

I do have other films in my collection too, honest.ÿ

ÿ