Jay

Agreed. Increased accessibility by mobile devices and more channels for receiving forum content are on the list.

That's not a valid link. It points to the old forum software. Haven't used that in years.

We just got hammered pretty hard by a couple bots. The forum was responding very slowly, so my only option was to delete topics manually from the database. It's possible a few valid topics went missing.

Only recent topics were affected, but my apologies if anything of importance was lost.

Same problem. Fixed.

How about including the content of the PM in the notification e-mail instead?

Mike O said:

What's a good home theater-based forum?

http://www.avsforum.com/

CP3S said:

What does it take to get a permanent ban around here? Second time this guy has gotten temped.

Third time's a charm.

FanFiltration said:

 

That is the box with the extended version of "Battle..." too.

Good call!

Does it include the unrated cut of Conquest also? The Blu version has that, and it's much better than the theatrical cut. Really violent and brutal--like you'd expect a revolution to be.

Unlike the theatrical cut, Caesar's final speech has zero sympathy, so the unrated cut doesn't fit in with Battle at all because he makes it pretty clear that the future doesn't involve ape and man walking off together in the sunset holding hands.

bluraychip.dk is reputable. I don't remember if they take PayPal or not.

There are cheaper multiregion Blu-ray options if you're worried about doing the mod yourself or dumping $700 into it. I went with the Oppo because I have a serious consumer electronics addiction and spend way too much on this stuff :) 

As far as I know, there are no laws that prevent you from modifying a Blu-ray player to switch its region. I don't think this is a violation of the DMCA because you're not subverting copyright in any way by breaking the encryption on the disc. Mods and modified players are available all over the place and lots of foreign retailers ship Region B and C discs to the US, including my primary source, Amazon UK. It's been going on since the first modified DVD player hit the market. Nothing to worry about.

I don't think it's a secret that I'm more into Trek than Star Wars, so it shouldn't be a surprise when I say that I'm in for every season of TNG on Blu-ray. CBS did an amazing job with TOS and The Twilight Zone, so I have a lot of faith that TNG will turn out beautifully.

Regarding the effects shots, it looks like they're going back to the original film elements for the models, but the CG is still a mystery. My hope is that they provide higher-res effects that are faithful to the original (same look, just rendered at 1080p). I don't see what else they could do; including the original effects isn't an option unless they take the same route Universal did with Firefly, and that didn't provide very good results in my opinion. It's painfully obvious when the uprezzed shots kick in.

I don't think updated effects that are faithful to the original CG are at odds with the purpose behind ot.com. In the case of Star Wars, all the original effects exist on film for remastering. Older TV shows shot on film but using CG effects rendered at 480i don't have a clear-cut path to HD, and certain compromises will have to be made.

My hope is that they can do something similar to the Toy Story Blu-ray release, which basically took the original CG and re-rendered it at 1080p. Higher resolution, but faithful to the original.

Mike O said:

Can I get the mod on eBay?

I don't think bluraychip.dk sells their pro mod on ebay. You can get the USB mod there though. Personally, I'd go for the internal mod. It's cleaner and easier to use.

Just out of curiosity, how does that work? You can't hack the firmware, so how does hardware allow this kind of thing? Not important, just curious. Anyway, will the player also handle things like streaming Netflix, software updates, Hulu, etc while still playing everything?

I have no idea how the mod works, it just does. It doesn't interfere with any of the player's functions. The initial mod firmware did cause problems if the rear USB port had something plugged in, but they updated the firmware to take care of that.

I don't really know because I don't pay attention to the region, I just buy them :)

Typically, if it's released by the same studio in the US and the UK, it's all-region.

Mike O said:

Does this require a screwdriver or any knowledge. I'm not a dummy when it comes to electronics, but I'm clumsy in general, and I just would want to be VERY, VERY careful with something that cost me $500 plus. I don't suppose there's an idiot-proof video that tell how or somesuch?

You need a screwdriver to take the top off the Oppo, but installing the mod requires no tools. The instructions provided with the mod (including pictures) take you through it step by step.

So unlike a DVD player, there isn't a "one size fits all" kind of thing you can do? Even with a mod, you've got to manually switch it? But it'll play all DVDs? Kind of annoying, but workable. Sounds like the Blu-Ray folks have made this a hard thing to circumvent :p. At least it sounds like it's fairly simple to change.

DVD has Region 0, and in most cases, DVDs from any region will play in a player set to Region 0. Blu-ray doesn't have a concept of Region 0. Instead, the disc is encoded as all regions (A/B/C) simultaneously if it's meant for worldwide use. Switching isn't a big deal on the Oppo, you just press a different button on the remote to turn on the power and have it start in the desired region.

I import a lot of titles from the UK because it's often cheaper than buying domestically, and in some cases, you get superior content (Planet Earth in the original 1080i50 is a good example, assuming you have a compatible display).

I have the BDP-93 with the bluraychip.dk mod. Very pleased with its performance. It loads BDs as fast as--or faster than--my PS3, and it's the best universal player on the market (including DVD-A, SACD, and pretty much any media file format you can think of, even BD ISOs and BDMV folders via USB drives). Its DVD upscaling is excellent as well.

The region mod is very easy to install, with no soldering or any potentially warranty-voiding changes. You unplug a few cables from the mainboard, connect them to the mod, then connect the mod to the mainboard. If you ever need to send the 93 to Oppo for warranty service (which I did due to a faulty capacitor on the mainboard), simply remove the mod before sending it in. You can get a cheaper mod that connects to the rear USB port if you want, the downsides being the loss of that port and the need to boot the player twice (once to start it, then a reboot after you've switched the region). The internal mod lets you start the player in region A/B/C by pressing 1/2/3 on the remote to power it on.

The 93 is more expensive than most players on the market, but its video playback is reference and its build quality is solid. And Oppo's customer support is second to none. They had my 93 back to me in less than a week for that warranty repair. Good luck getting that from Sony or Samsung.

Heilemann said:

...these are still the best copies of the films available, and as such they still have value as just that. Reference.

"Reference" as in "reference quality" or reference materials? Because they aren't anywhere near reference quality.

I have a pile of catalog titles on Blu-ray that were given better treatment than the OT. 7-year-old masters with fake grain don't cut it in 2011.

I'm replying to this using iOS Simulator on Snow Leopard. I have it configured to simulate an iPad running iOS 4.3, and I disabled the advanced editor in my forum preferences.

I'll test this on one of the iPads we have at work also just to be sure.

Be nice...the admins are out in full force now.

And we have itchy trigger fingers these days.

If you guys can provide content (with a little artistic license on my side to massage it as necessary), I'd be happy to update the home page. FAQs, links to resources regarding the changes, etc. I just don't have the time to write anything myself. Anything I post would be credited to the appropriate parties.

No designs though, please. I'll figure out how to arrange it once I have it all.

Yeah, the DS9 episode was upscaled. TNG is being remastered from the original film elements like TOS though.

The problem lies in the effects shots. While they did use models for the ships, the composite shots with all the effects in place were done at standard def. They'd have to recomposite all the original film and re-render the CGI bits to recreate them in HD. I could see that being fairly time-consuming.

SilverWook said:

Paramount knows better than to piss off the fans. ;)

TNG is going to be a pain in the ass to rebuild all those episodes from scratch for HD though.

Actually, Paramount did a shit job with the Star Trek films on Blu-ray, using old masters that were DNR'd to hell and back. Thankfully, the TNG Blu-rays are being done by the same group that did TOS.

Latest word is that they're prepping 3 or 4 episodes for a teaser Blu-ray this December to gauge interest. Since TNG was produced using fairly modern production methods, all the original film elements (and edit points) should be meticulously cataloged. Shouldn't be any more difficult than doing TOS. I think the only question at this point is how the old effects will be handled. They were rendered in NTSC I believe, so if they don't have the original files, the best we can hope for in terms of the original effects is an upscale (ala Firefly). I'm sure they'll do an excellent job regardless.

Harmy said:

http://www.admancomics.com/2011/09/george-lucas-is-genius.html

Read the last paragraph, guys!

That's basically what it comes down to.

Typical Star Wars fan said:

Bitch, bitch, bitch, piss and moan...

[opens wallet]

Thanks for this, Harmy. I watched the whole trilogy this weekend for the first time in years, and really enjoyed it overall. Great work.

It's cool, nobody has been nasty so far. I only want to make sure it stays that way.

I laughed. Thank you.

TOS on Blu-ray is fantastic and looks better than the OT...and it includes both the original effects and CGI effects via seamless branching. And a choice of original mono audio or 7.1 DTS-HD MA.

Kind of sad in a way, unless you're a huge Trek nerd.

And it looks like we're going to get TNG on Blu-ray as well :) I'll give $1000 to CBS for all 7 seasons by the time it's done, but I won't give $40 to George for the OT.

I just want to ask that the discussion remain focused on the topic, which is opinions on the Blu-ray set by people who have it (the actual discs, not pirated versions). Please don't criticize owners for buying them.

Thanks.