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Jay

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Administrators
Join date
22-Feb-2003
Last activity
6-Jul-2025
Posts
2,437

Post History

Post
#223434
Topic
Is Dune a good movie?
Time
Dune is the kind of story that would get at least a trilogy to tell it today. Back then, studios didn't take that kind of risk.

Bottom line is that Lynch needed more time and more creative control to make Dune everything it could've been. What we got is weird and beautiful, and I suppose the reason so many people love it is because they're able to watch it and see all the potential it had. Somehow, that lets us forgive its shortcomings and enjoy what we did get.

I hope someday we get a Dune feature film trilogy from a great director, but even then, it would be hard to top the visual style established by Lynch.
Post
#221491
Topic
New forum software status - updated 1/4/2006
Time
Originally posted by: Zion
I completely agree with Sess about the sig images. I wish that could be controlled by the software somehow.


The new software has profile settings that let you adjust image options. You can either display images or have all images in posts replaced with URLs. Images within post text and images within signatures can be toggled on and off independently.

One other option I'm considering is requiring signature images to be hosted locally on ot.com's server. That way, signature image size can be controlled just like avatars and profile photos (which are restricted to certain dimensions and file sizes in the new software).
Post
#218058
Topic
DVD Player Recommendations
Time
Originally posted by: Yoda Is Your Father
So Jay, those DVD players you linked to, will they play region 2 discs? I read all the jargon but I couldn't find anything that specifically addressed different regions. I'm sure I'm just being ignorant and/or blind but I thought I better ask anyway.


It doesn't mention region coding specifically, but I believe they should, yes. They output both NTSC and PAL and they're compatible with different voltage requirements for different countries. It would be odd for them not to be multi-region.
Post
#216920
Topic
Info & Help: Looking for... Raiders Of The Lost Ark - on HDTV
Time
Originally posted by: OgOggilby
The digitally restoration of the Indy films were done at HD resolution - so the HD version will have the mistake fixes.


ABC aired Raiders in HD at 720p years ago, so there was definitely an HD master created at some point well before the DVD release. The HD master with digital tweaks created for the DVD release could be a second, newer master.
Post
#216891
Topic
Info & Help: Looking for... Raiders Of The Lost Ark - on HDTV
Time
If someone can confirm upon review of the material that it's the original unaltered film without digital "corrections", it qualifies as preservation and the discussion will be permitted to continue.

TR47, you took materials available at retail, mixed a few pieces together, and called it a fan edit. The discussion was shelved because I was busy with personal matters at the time and an Ong Bak DVD with a swapped soundtrack was #1000 on my list of priorities; this was explained to you. You were eventually provided with a response to your issue and a new term ("custom DVD") was coined to handle projects like your Ong Bak release.

There are many grey areas here and the final call is ours. The rules can flex and grow (as the "custom DVD" category shows) as new situations arise.
Post
#216640
Topic
The Da Vinci Code fanedit by the CBB group (possible spoilers)
Time
Obviously, this is a film that some people haven't seen yet, so I edited the title to reflect the fact that spoilers can and probably will pop up during the course of this discussion.

Also, please avoid any talk of where to procure illegal captures of this film. It's still in theaters and I'm sure we'll see a DVD release before the end of the year.
Post
#216638
Topic
Info: found - Revenge Of The Sith in 1080i
Time
Originally posted by: ADigitalMan
I'm always blown away by how good the CG looks in stills, but how awful it looks in motion, and how downright wretched it looks on the big screen.

Given that they build these on large computer monitors and not wall-sized projection booths, do they not realize how the fakeness of CG looks amplified on a real screen.

I saw ROTS in DLP and it certainly looked clean, but it also looked fake. It looks much more real on a small TV and I think this is the reason why. Meanwhile, no matter how nuanced they can make the CG Yoda look, I'll take the puppet any day. Why oh why couldn't they have used the original ESB puppet in the prequels?


CG looks fake because they haven't nailed natural movement yet. People are jerky and twitchy, not liquid-smooth. That's why I find the ESB puppet more viable and realistic than the prequel CG Yoda. Once the CG animators stop using Disney and anime as a model, CG will become much more realistic.

The battlefield camera effects in AOTC were the first instance I know of where CG animators utilized motion and focus changes to simulate a real camera in a CG environment, and I thought it was fairly effective.

The fact of the matter is that CG has probably become cheaper than model work and animatronic puppetry, so even though it often provides an inferior result, the money-conscious and tech-obsessed (GL) choose it over the alternative.
Post
#215222
Topic
need opinions on which new system to get?
Time
Originally posted by: Windexed
Another thing. If you are really thinking of getting a HD-DVD player in the near future, it might be a good idea to wait for a few different models to appear. Supposedly, various people have had problems with their Toshiba HD-DVD players (which is kinda scary considering it's THEIR platform).


I'm fully prepared for bugs on the BluRay side also. No new format launches without issues these days. However, the particularly stupid thing about Toshiba's players is that they only support 1080i output even though HD-DVD natively supports 1080p. They decided it was more important to hit the market first than to get it right apparently.
Post
#215209
Topic
need opinions on which new system to get?
Time
Unless you're an enthusiast with money to burn and you simply can't wait for the whole format war to shake out, I'd hold off for a while.

That said, I'll probably be picking up the Sony BluRay deck in August. Most titles announced for HD-DVD have also been announced for BluRay, and there are many titles that are BluRay exclusive thanks to its superior studio support.
Post
#214846
Topic
HDMI & DVI Vs Component Video
Time
Originally posted by: skyman8081
HDMI is simply DVI with audio and a differently shaped plug(No Thumbscrews! Yay!).

They're actually different standards. In addition to the integrated audio support, HDMI allows for much longer cable runs than DVI and can handle digital component video natively. HDMI is backwards compatible with DVI.

Originally posted by: skyman8081
The only problem with HDMI is that anything that involves it is HORRENDOUSLY expensive. $80 for an HDMI cable is way too common.

For a 30' run maybe. You can quite easily get a 6' HDMI cable for $20, which is longer than most people would need. I recommend staying away from the Monster Cable section at Best Buy and Circuit City.


Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
I thought this also allowed for copy-protection as well? And now that Jay mentioned the digital RGB, I now recall reading that DVI is a bitch to copy from because of the sheer throughput of video, and I know that RGB is a buttload of information.


Both HDMI and DVI allow HDCP encryption. You're correct about the difficulty in capturing DVI signals, which is one of the reasons why the industry adopted it. What goes over the cable is the uncompressed signal, and the data rates are extremely high.


Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
Okay, guys. Here's one: What's the difference between analog and digital component video, then? Apparently they can both use the Blue-Red-Green wires, and I've read home theater magazines where the reports have stated the analog-component video connections are labelled as digital-component video connections (which I believe is the YCrCb, and analog was YPrPB).


YPbPr is the analog form of YCbCr, as skyman said. Consumer equipment uses YPbPr, but is sometimes mislabled as YCbCr. HDMI is the first consumer connection that supports YCbCr natively.
Post
#214739
Topic
HDMI & DVI Vs Component Video
Time
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
As I was pondering this question, it occured to me - since DVD is a component video source, the component video connection would be outstanding, but does a given DVD player keep the video signal in its digital form for transfer through the digital outputs (DVI/HDMI)? If so, then you would get a purer signal between the player and the display device - i.e no digital->analog conversion inside player to analog->digital conversion inside the display device. (Do any current analog TVs have these digital inputs? I would guess no, but I wouldn't put it past a manufacturer to include one just to impress the customers. )


DVI is basically digital RGB. DVD players with DVI outputs first convert the video on the disc from its digital component colorspace into digital RGB, and that's what is sent to the display. Enthusiasts who know the difference consider a component > RGB conversion a downgrade because color information is lost. Some people still prefer an analog component video connection over DVI because they feel the color is superior on some displays.

HDMI is compatible with DVI because it handles digital RGB. However, HDMI is also capable of carrying a true digital component signal. Some DVD players with HDMI outputs support digital component output. I can't think of any displays off the top of my head that accept it, but there may be some. There are some high-end scalers that accept digital component via HDMI because it's preferable to work in the original colorspace during deinterlacing/scaling even if the signal is finally converted into digital RGB before being sent to the display.

It's possible to hack the DVI standard to carry digital component signals, but it's messy and non-standard.

And yes, there are many analog displays (CRTs and CRT projection TVs) with DVI and HDMI inputs.