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Mike O

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Join date
20-Jun-2006
Last activity
28-Jul-2025
Posts
2,348

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Post
#748728
Topic
I now have a plasma, and some questions about it and DVD upscaling
Time

I recently purchased a Samsung PN64H5000 to get a Plasma when they were on their way out. I calibrated it in "movie" mode with settings I found online, which surprisingly look very good (Now I have to find settings for other TVs, and Google isn't bringing it up first thing ;)), though I'd rather have had the Panasonic, but I waited too long. Reviews for this set seem to be solid, I'm hoping the purchase was worth the month's pay and I didn't succumb to "bigger is better." I have it connected to my U-Verse Motorola DVR and a region-free modded Sony BDP S3100 Blu-ray player (Which is turning out to be a purchase I am very much regretting-Sony's customer service is turning out to be terrible, apparently they have no plans to update it to include the HBO Go app, the CinemaNow app which was listed on the box was not included, and now the Amazon app doesn't work. But I digress.) which I bought from Bombay Electronics (Who have now twice had to send me updates to restore region-free functionality which they said would be permanent.) via HDMI. Hopefully it was a worthwhile purchase, I'm beginning to grow skeptical, and it was a month's pay. HDTV looks good (I'm running 1080/60i) and Blu-rays look good, and now that my WiFi is boosted up a bit (only 15) I can get decent HD content. However, to put it bluntly, DVDs look like shit. Instead of scaling up to 60p, the new set apparently scales up to 24p, but whereas my others sets (32 and 40 inches) look decent when upscaling, this once simply makes everything looks like there's so much noise dot crawl that frankly, it's difficult to watch. I get that the set itself is bigger, and that if it's more high-tech it will display more flaws, but is there anything in the settings I can change to mitigate this a little bit? I also understand that it's partially down to the mastering of the disc itself, but I have put in some discs with pretty good AV reviews-the Raiders of the Lost Ark disc, for instance which was reference quality back when it came out-and some of it is still pretty difficult to watch. Is there anything I can do in the settings? My bedroom is small, so I can't get very far away from the set-I'm about 18 feet or so at the moment, and since I'm not technically in the center of the room, I just use the SRS in the set, which is a little wonky. Anyhow, are there any settings I can adjust to make this a little bit more palatable to the eyes?

Post
#746384
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

My kingdom for a multi-quote button.

Harmy said:

"Attendees will be able to view the entire Prequel Trilogy in 3D (along with the Original Trilogy in non-3D) over the course of the four day event."

It's funny how they refer to 2D as non-3D. :-D

Also, could this be a surprise premiere of the newly restored OT?

 Somehow I doubt it.

TV's Frink said:

Already saw it.  My report is on Reddit.

 So no OOT? I'll try to contain my shock.

unamochilla2 said:

moviefreakedmind said:

The TFN community is kind of delusional I think. Not that I'm not also delusional, but I don't really understand how someone could honestly think that there's a reason to let the original versions of Star Wars rot away into nonexistence (which I know one specific TFNer has said before)

I believe some have said that if Disney acknowledges and releases the OOT, then it will "interfere" will the saga AKA George's vision.  Even when the OOT is released on Blu-ray, I'm guessing the 2011 versions (or newer versions) will still remain as official.

 If the OOT is remastered in 4K and preserved as a 35mm negative so that future generations can see it that way, then canon can be J.J. Abrams on merry-go-round for all I care.

darklordoftech said:

It's interesting how some say that NOBODY likes the prequels yet others say that there's no demand for the OOT. 

 In spite of Mark Kermode's continued insistence to the contrary, a movie can't make billions with no on liking it. If everyone was disappointed with the first film, they would've pay to see more. The market for OOT is people like us. The market for anything and everything else with the Star Wars name on it is unlimited. If Darth Vader Takes a Shit in 3-D came out tomorrow, it would be one of the ten highest grossing films by the end of the week.

Anchorhead said:

If there's a point to the last two pages, please feel free to come to it.

 The 4K OOT isn't coming out?

thejediknighthusezni said:

         It's copywrite law that is sustaining these outmoded legacy media forms.

         The law is supposed to serve the consumers, ultimately.

Hasn't done that in any universe I've ever visited.

Handman said:

I see very little evidence that BD is dying, only that it isn't the first choice for something to be released -- but it never was in the first place, anyway.

Eventually, everything gets a physical release, and I doubt that will change so long as we keep buying them.

 Its sales are dropping pretty hard. Consumers are moving towards streaming for a variety of reasons. I have many concerns about it: digital retailers having too tight a grip on control over the prices, the possibility of stuff disappearing, and other things, but they aren't of a lot of interest to average consumers.

Beyond this and moving the broader issues that it entails, film is fundamentally a different thing. Yes, Shakespeare did change Hamlet. Yes, Tolkien did change  The Hobbit. But as long as there's a copy of the text in any fashion, it's easy to make new copies. Film is harder. Especially when the creator has hacked the shit out of the 35mm negatives.

Post
#743622
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

Alderaan said:

Fang Zei said:

It's a sign that physical media is sticking around for at least a little longer.

 Physical media will always be around. There will always be a market for it.

Digital d/l and physical are not an either/or proposition.

 Yeah, but the market is going to become what it is in Japan: astronomically high prices for everything physical. It's already shifting that way with Twilight Time catalog titles.

Post
#743096
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

kk650 said:

Hmm, I see what you mean Baronlando. Perhaps Synapse may have been involved in some way or taken over the task of remastering the Original Trilogy from Reliance Media, who knows? And here i'd gotten my hopes up again haha

I agree with SilverWook, I think we'll be finding out one way or another in April or maybe even on the 4th of May. Not too long to wait now. I think it'd be a nobrainer for Disney to release the 4k remastered Original Trilogy just before the release of Episode VII, when the hype for everything Star Wars is really starting to kick in, they'll make loads of money, bring Star Wars to the forefront and win back many of the older fans all in one go.

The CEO of Disney in that interview certainly seemed to think it was a good idea so here's hoping :)

 I have learned not to get my hopes up. The GOUT sufficiently taught me that. That particular link sounds like it's mostly about their horror projects. Don't get me wrong, Suspria in 2K sounds pretty, but what does it have to do with the OOT?

Fang Zei said:

Synapse is a distribution label, not a post-production house like Reliance. He was probably only mentioning them in regards to that one title. The "super secret project" is most likely one of Synapse's titles and not anything having to do with Star Wars.

Even if there's no grand announcement by April, they're gonna have to say something at the convention. These OOT blu-ray rumors have become one gigantic elephant in the room.

 I think that if they're planning something, and I'm still too pessimistic to believe it, that Disney are deliberately being very judicious about what they announce until they're 100% sure about it so as to avoid fanning a flame which already out of control. Which certainly is smart. Between Frozen, Episodes VII, and Age of Ultron, Disney are cooking with gas.

kk650 said:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=10151108&postcount=1132

Is it possible that the super secret title that they haven't announced yet refered to in this post is actually the 4k remasters of the Star Wars Original Trilogy? Reliance Mediaworks are the guys that are meant to have created 4K remasters of the original trilogy so it could very well be what they are refering to.

Which begs the question of course of what they are waiting for to announce it, perhaps until the release date of Episode VII is closer so they can generate maximum buzz for that film?

If that was the case it would be truly fantastic news! :)

 

Even if they are, there  are still a plethora of questions-sound mixes, mattes, color timing, and so on-to consider, so they probably want to keep quiet if they're doing it to make sure that that kind of stuff isn't going to be scrutinized before anything is even official. We've passed Christmas, so so much for the theory that they're coming out to coincide with that.

SilverWook said:

Star Wars Celebration, coming up in April, would be a good time to announce something...

 Last time the announcement was "the black bars aren't the issue fans think they are."

DuracellEnergizer said:

As it's a single trilogy, no. ;-P

 

There are THREE Star Wars movies!

TV's Frink said:

"I don't know what that means."

Maybe you should have kept reading.

 I did. Didn't help.

DarthShackleford said:

holy shit how is this thread still going you guys know they'll be out before next Christmas, rite?

 How on Earth do we know that?

A multiquote button, my kingdom for a multiquote button.

Post
#741824
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

AntcuFaalb said:

Mike O said:

So, no official line on this? I have to admit that the rumor sounded too good to be true, but I guess we'll see. I'd comb the thread, but the forum software is still such that I can't go through my old posts and then align to where they are in threads like I can on most other forums, follow a user, search for specific things, etc, and have come to the conclusion that this is just the software we're going to be stuck with :p. I'm just popping back in, I guess. It's late, hopefully this post is semi-coherent.

Nothing definitive yet, unfortunately. :o/

 Disappointing, but not unexpected.

AntcuFaalb said:

Mike O said:

Seriously, we're stuck in the Usenet era :p.

You could search Usenet by running grep over the articles you chose to download with your client. Downloading all of the articles in a newsgroup and then running grep on them gave you full newsgroup search. This is how Kibo performed his magic.

I sometimes like to think that Frink is Kibo.

DuracellEnergizer said:

The Googles do nothing!*

 

*Well, not entirely true -- searching the forums by way of Google is, more-or-less, satisfactory. Still, it is far less than perfect.

 You can do it, but it's immensely irritating and still doesn't allow you to track through users and posts like other forums do. I've sort of come to the conclusion that the software around here just sort of is what it is and isn't getting upgraded. Ever ;).

Post
#741822
Topic
What will the "official" Star Wars blu rays mess up?
Time

Still can't get my hope up that this'll actually happen.

nightstalkerpoet said:

They won't provide the option to select between the original SW and revised Ep 4 crawls.

That'd be easy with branching.

doubleofive said:

Not enough sound mix options.

 The discs have enough space to theoretically include all of them, but they probably won't.

ilovewaterslides said:

The color timing could quite possibly be messed up.

 It's been color-timed so many times now, who the hell knows what's correct?

NeverarGreat said:

The blacks will be crushed.

Again.

 I've heard 35mm flag-wavers say that digital has a lot of trouble with blacks.

emanswfan said:

The transfer still doesn't hold up to 1080p HD.

Again.

 If it's mastered from 4K, it shouldn't be an issue.

Post
#741697
Topic
Hobbit - The Battle of Five Armies
Time

I used to have those trades. Still haven't read the books, I'm ashamed to admit. Read The Hobbit many times though. Any advice for ADHD readers? It's a Star Wars forum, not a psych one, why am I asking :p.

I know these movies are bloated cash grabs which are self-indulgent and overlong and bloated. But damned if I won't miss Middle Earth :(. I want to watch the EE of DOS before seeing the new one, but I'm waiting on the inevitable Mega-Middle Earth boxed set (Which will probably still omit the fucking extras from the theatrical cuts), and my libraries haven't gotten the EE yet, and it isn't available for rental anywhere. FML. So it goes, I guess.

Early buzz on this one was good, but it dropped fast on RT. I'll still see it. These movies are flawed, Lord knows, but I still like enough things about them to find them interesting, haters be damned :(. Reading a lot of negative press.

Have no interesting 3-D and haven't seen the HFR stuff as a result, but I've been reading about framerates lately. Kind of interesting.

Post
#741695
Topic
4K restoration on Star Wars
Time

So, no official line on this? I have to admit that the rumor sounded too good to be true, but I guess we'll see. I'd comb the thread, but the forum software is still such that I can't go through my old posts and then align to where they are in threads like I can on most other forums, follow a user, search for specific things, etc, and have come to the conclusion that this is just the software we're going to be stuck with :p. I'm just popping back in, I guess. It's late, hopefully this post is semi-coherent.

And why do we have no search function?! Seriously, we're stuck in the Usenet era :p.

Post
#729568
Topic
Some technical questions as regards new computer and various electronic devices.
Time

OK, the party never stops. So I got the photos from the tower to the external to the new hard drive. But when I sync them to my iPhone, I find something peculiar: the ones I actually took are all sorted under the appropriate folders, but the ones saved onto the phone from various websites are no longer sorted under the proper dates. Is this a new thing with iOS 8, or is it just another side effect of moving everything? I don't suppose I can get it back to the old way?

Oh, and more fun: I picked up an Ethernet cable. Much to my surprise, my DVR has an Ethernet port, and when I connect that to the Blu-ray player, it does in fact get me online! However, I naively assumed that his would be faster than the WiFi, but I'm still having trouble getting it above 720p. The thought of AT&T throttling me has certainly crossed my mind, why doesn't it come at full bore through the Ethernet as opposed to the WiFi? How will they handle charging me for data consumption? I assume it doesn't count under WiFi?

On a tangential note as regards the music itself, is there any way to preserve the playlists? I can recreate them in the new iTunes account, but the Sherlock Holmes audiobook series I have has all of the stories out of order, so putting them back in order would be a gigantic pain in the neck. And while this probably wouldn't matter to a normal, well-adjusted person who gets laid once in a while ;), can you manually set the number of plays on a song? It's a small thing, but it sub-grouped some stuff that way in the old iTunes account, so I was wondering if I could tell the new computer what said numbers were? I could check them and set songs on repeat, but that'd not only be a pain in the neck, but the final definitive proof that I have too much free time :D.

PS The phone keeps disconnecting and reconnecting when syncing. A bad cable, I assume? And by the by, what is "other?"

Post
#728067
Topic
Some technical questions as regards new computer and various electronic devices.
Time

And the adventure continues! Got the old tower back, theoretically free of viruses, and moved everything off of it onto the external hard drive. The iPhone phots are grouped in files as per the day they were taken, but when I put them into the photos folder on the new computer, they aren't syncing the same way for some weird-ass reason. And though the music has been transferred over, it's syncinh to the phone sans album artwork, but with the added lyrics which I added. They're in the itunes files proper, because they come up when I look. 

Post
#727441
Topic
Last movie seen
Time

The Ten Commandments- Cecil B. Demille's VistaVision 35mm spectacular, an endless biblical epic about Moses leading the Egyptians out of Exodus. A study in excess to make Peter Jackson look like a minimalist, it's a an unbelievably long, bombastic, silly, but often entertaining blend of soap opera romance, old-style Hollywood spectacle, sword-and-sandle battles, dated special effects, and colorful kitsch. It's hugely iconic scenes achieve a certain pop grandeur, but disappointingly, DeMille is no David Lean. The many matte paintings stick out, and the whole film is disappointingly stiff and dull, shot mostly in static long takes with Demille's usually stationary camera. Though seeing it on the big screen would be a cool opportunity, but in spite of the 6K restoration credits, the DCP shown by my local AMC wasn't a dazzler (presumably compressed or something) and the film's sluggish pacing didn't help matters. A classic to some, and probably plays much better on the small screen when you can pause it to get up and get food and go to the bathroom, but time hasn't been kind to it. Still, it's a cultural touchstone, and there's a certain fun to be had. Let my people go!

Freddy vs. Jason- Much better than it has any right to be monster movie mashup. Those looking for the intelligence found in the Craven films will be most disappointed, but if you've stuck with the franchise this long, that likely won't be an issue. Braindead? Sure. But way more fun than you'd expect. Screenwriters Shannon and Swift are obviously fanboys themselves, and they've clearly done their homework, and Hong Kong-bred director Ronny Yu Yan-Tai infuses the proceedings with lots of kinetic razzle-dazzle and the requisite blood and boobs. The characters are annoying stereotypes who exist solely to be killed off in gruesome ways, but it's very stylish-looking and the final showdown delivers what you expect. It is what it is, it knows what it is, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. And for once, that's good enough.

Ben Hur- William Wyler's sweeping, sprawling, massive biblical epic, seen as a DCP at my local AMC, and not a very impressive one either, curiously muted colors and somewhat muddy. Add to that the fact that you have one of a small handful of films ever shot in super-wide Panavision 65, and they put it on their smallest, dingiest, most pissant little screen in the whole multiplex. Still, I'll never see it 70mm or even 35mm, so a cinema screen is still a cinema screen. Anyway, the film is unwieldy, uneven, sometimes silly, and occasionally dated, but also robust, bold, engaging, exciting, beautiful-looking, sometimes thrilling, and frequently awe-inspiring, and has a well-deserved reputation at the kind of spectacle that CG has all but dulled completely. The kind of thing that cinema is all about, nearly four hours that get your your money's worth the whole time. And that chariot race? Wow. James Cameron, eat your heart out. 55 years later, it's still a breathtaking knockout. I'll never get to see it in 70mm, so I guess this'll have to do. 

No mods ever come to this forum, but if one ever does, they can feel free to attempt to fix the structure of that post. Don't know what the hell happened. God, we need nee forum software :(

No mods

Post
#727440
Topic
Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Extended Edition coming to Blu-Ray
Time

To think even a digital freak like Peter Jackson shot 35mm once upon a time :(!I remember hearing that the EE Blu-rays were taken right of the DI as opposed to how the DVD transfers were done (Telecine?), but there was controversy aboutover-saturated  greens on FOTR BR. I doubt WB want to fix it,especially with the market for physical media about to die. Flaws and all (and there are many, particularly in the new trilogy which could've and should've been one three-hour film at most), I love the hell out of these movies anyway, and continue to pay for The Lord of Excess' extended cuts ;). I'm waiting on the inevitable mega-Middle Earth boxed set (Which God willing, will have ALL of the extras, UV copies, the works), but given that the EE of DOS won't be of until December, the EE of BOFA will probably be NEXT December, and the boxed set some time after that. And man alive, is that a long ass wait :(. And try renting the EE's right when they come out just to see what's new, it's a bitch. Managed to get the last one at a library by carefully watching when it was returned and driving out. 

Post
#726829
Topic
Some technical questions as regards new computer and various electronic devices.
Time

I feel like a moron for not knowing that I should've put them on the hard drive rather than just dragged hem into iTunes, thank you. I should be getting the external and the tower back at the end of the week, if I can't get the photos off of that, I'll use Dropbox. How much will it cost? I don't suppose it'll keep the iPhone's logged locations and dates for when the pictures were taken. I'll look at Winamp too, whatever it is. Thank you guys. I'm glad that this kind of thing exists for morons like me to ask for help. 

Unfortunately, the setup of Wondows 8i s not intuitive, so moving from the external to the computer is harder than it should be, frankly. 

Post
#726691
Topic
Some technical questions as regards new computer and various electronic devices.
Time

I moved the files from the folders off of the old computer onto the external, dragged them into iTunes. Each one can't be found when I try to play it. Hopefully, the guy will be able to get the photos off of the old CPU, but I can't get an answer about it. But the music was moved thus: from CDs to interal HDD on he old computer. Internal HDD on the old computer to external HDD. External HDD to internal HDD on new computer. Now the files "can't be located." Apple washes their hands of it. If you don't buy from iTunes and use iCloud services, fuck ya, it isn't their problem. 

Post
#726617
Topic
Some technical questions as regards new computer and various electronic devices.
Time

Just got off of a 40 minute phone call with Apple. Because the photos are backed up in the cloud, they have solve themselves all responsibility and wash their hands. I can email the 1400 photos and 30 Videos to myself one of the time, or I can go fuck myself. As for the music, I transferred it off of my old computer's hard drive onto an external hard drive so that I wouldn't have to reload the hundreds of CDs into iTunes with lyrics and album artwork, and the versions that I loaded off of the external hard drive onto the new computer no longer work. It cannot find files. Fuck. My. Life. And now I have more threads to go through with that HDTV stuff ;).