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I, Butthole
Jun 30, 2007

Begin the operations of the gas chambers, gas schools, gas universities, gas libraries, gas museums, gas dance halls, and gas threads, etcetera.
I DEMAND IT

Rageaholic Monkey posted:

Remember when Microsoft released that add-on HD-DVD player for Xbox 360? lol

I also had one, as I worked at Target when they went on clearance for 50 bucks. Then about a year later when the format was obviously dying and retailers were ducking the gently caress out, they had the entire disc library for 2 bucks each, so I had a shiiiiiitload of them. Sold the whole lot for about the same as I paid for them only about six years ago.

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CPL593H
Oct 28, 2009

I know what you did last summer, and frankly I am displeased.

I, Butthole posted:

I also had one, as I worked at Target when they went on clearance for 50 bucks. Then about a year later when the format was obviously dying and retailers were ducking the gently caress out, they had the entire disc library for 2 bucks each, so I had a shiiiiiitload of them. Sold the whole lot for about the same as I paid for them only about six years ago.

How did they compare to blu-ray?

TheScott2K
Oct 26, 2003

I'm just saying, there's a nonzero chance Trump has a really toad penis.

CPL593H posted:

How did they compare to blu-ray?

The cases were red

That's basically it.

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

TheScott2K posted:

The cases were red

That's basically it.

IIRC they used better encoding than early Blu-rays and were generally considered the better format, at least by a small margin.

CPL593H
Oct 28, 2009

I know what you did last summer, and frankly I am displeased.

Spatulater bro! posted:

IIRC they used better encoding than early Blu-rays and were generally considered the better format, at least by a small margin.

It's betamax all over again! We've been cheated!

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

CPL593H posted:

It's betamax all over again! We've been cheated!

I'm also fairly certain Blu-ray encoding improved significantly since then. So I think we're good. Though I'm still sore about buying an HD-DVD player two months before the format died. :(

Egbert Souse
Nov 6, 2008

Actually, most of the titles released on HD-DVD and Blu-ray simultaneously (mostly Warner and Paramount titles) had the exact same video encodes, just with different audio options. For example, the video encode of A Clockwork Orange is identical except the Blu-ray has PCM 5.1 while the HD-DVD has Dolby TrueHD 5.1 for space reasons. It's also why the HD-DVD uses a DVD-30 for the movie and a DVD-15 for the extras while it's all on one BD-50 for the Blu-ray.

Some of the HD-DVD exclusives tended to be more "as-is" than Blu-ray re-issues, but it varied. For example, the HD-DVD of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a 1080i master converted to 1080p with bad jaggies while the Blu-ray was remastered as true 1080p. The HD-DVD of Spartacus was straight off Universal's 2000 transfer originally done for Criterion's DVD while the 2010 Blu-ray added a ton of filtering (obviously, this was fixed for the 2014 4K-remastered edition).

CPL593H
Oct 28, 2009

I know what you did last summer, and frankly I am displeased.
I don't know if it's because of the age of the media/players or just because I've been watching better formats for well over a decade now but I saw a little bit of a movie on betamax and it really wasn't that impressive and I think if what I saw is representative of the video quality of the format then I think its superiority to VHS is overstated.

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant

CPL593H posted:

How did they compare to blu-ray?
The HDdvd spec was finalized when the players went to market, so they were actually [in terms of user experience] much better than the Gen1 Blus. By contrast, i think the only Blu player on the market worth half a poo poo was the PS3 because that supported patching and was $499.99 worth of uncompromised work.

From memory:
HdDVD supported Dolby TrueHD audio (or whatever that was called). All players were capable of firmware updates through internet or usb, though I remember the players being short on memory so they ran a little slow. All discs supported pop-up menus. Overall storage capacity was less than Blus, but Dual Layer HDdvds would have solved that -- they were announced before the format died, though.

BR Players were a goddamn mess, and the discs werent much better. Menu button dropped you back to the main screen like DVDs, iirc.

FilthyImp fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Dec 8, 2018

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



CPL593H posted:

I don't know if it's because of the age of the media/players or just because I've been watching better formats for well over a decade now but I saw a little bit of a movie on betamax and it really wasn't that impressive and I think if what I saw is representative of the video quality of the format then I think its superiority to VHS is overstated.

Part 1 of 3 videos that Technology Connections did on VHS vs Betamax. It's a decent watch, his videos are usually interesting and technical without going toooo far (although I don't always get everything he explains).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyKRubB5N60

CPL593H
Oct 28, 2009

I know what you did last summer, and frankly I am displeased.

EL BROMANCE posted:

Part 1 of 3 videos that Technology Connections did on VHS vs Betamax. It's a decent watch, his videos are usually interesting and technical without going toooo far (although I don't always get everything he explains).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyKRubB5N60

I'll definitely check this out but I watched a Tech Moan video about Betamax and if I remember it correctly he basically said that it wasn't much better than VHS.

Boywhiz88
Sep 11, 2005

floating 26" off da ground. BURR!
Non-SE of Batman:TAS is out!

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Batman-The-Complete-Animated-Series-Blu-ray/217744/

Doctor Teeth
Sep 12, 2008


I bought the Night of the Demon LE and both Ray Harryhausen box sets from Indicator. I've heard good things about Indicator, the Night of the Demon release especially.

I just wish their Sinbad set and Charley Varrick LE weren't sold out (or that the Charley Varrick standard edition wasn't region B). :(

Egbert Souse
Nov 6, 2008

Doctor Teeth posted:

I bought the Night of the Demon LE and both Ray Harryhausen box sets from Indicator. I've heard good things about Indicator, the Night of the Demon release especially.

I just wish their Sinbad set and Charley Varrick LE weren't sold out (or that the Charley Varrick standard edition wasn't region B). :(

Kino Lorber will be releasing Charley Varrick next year. Apparently, even if a title goes OOP from Indicator, they re-issue it with less bells and whistles. I think they just swap the Criterion case for a regular clear Blu case, no booklet, and no reversible art. The disc itself is the same.

I've been impressed with the Indicator stuff I've imported. William Castle at Columbia Vol. 1 is one of my favorites of the year. I wish they'd work on everything because they don't leave a single stone unturned when it comes to multiple cuts or extras.

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



The universal monster collection was on sale and I had Amazon bucks so I grabbed it. I wish someone would consolidate the Hammer poo poo and put out a similar set for them.

Cemetry Gator
Apr 3, 2007

Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile?

CPL593H posted:

I'll definitely check this out but I watched a Tech Moan video about Betamax and if I remember it correctly he basically said that it wasn't much better than VHS.

My understanding is that Betamax and VHS, when all was said and done with the formats, were mostly equivalent.

If Betamax looked better, that may have been because Sony refused to slow the tape to allow a longer record time. That would hurt the quality of the recording.

I, Butthole
Jun 30, 2007

Begin the operations of the gas chambers, gas schools, gas universities, gas libraries, gas museums, gas dance halls, and gas threads, etcetera.
I DEMAND IT
In case y'all missed the Criterion thread, Amazon UK has the Zatoichi mega boxset for 21 pounds / 30USD.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNRVVSL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_g76cCb3C0K7C9

ultraviolence123
Jul 3, 2002


I, Butthole posted:

In case y'all missed the Criterion thread, Amazon UK has the Zatoichi mega boxset for 21 pounds / 30USD.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNRVVSL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_g76cCb3C0K7C9

Thanks! I couldn't pass this deal up, even with the 1-3 month estimated wait.

edogawa rando
Mar 20, 2007

I think my mass effect is broken

I, Butthole posted:

In case y'all missed the Criterion thread, Amazon UK has the Zatoichi mega boxset for 21 pounds / 30USD.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNRVVSL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_g76cCb3C0K7C9

Thanks for the heads-up. Definitely would've missed it otherwise. I grabbed myself one, and the Universal Classic Monsters set.

On a related note, the Universal Classic Monsters set is going for 13 pounds on Amazon UK.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008H45YSO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I, Butthole
Jun 30, 2007

Begin the operations of the gas chambers, gas schools, gas universities, gas libraries, gas museums, gas dance halls, and gas threads, etcetera.
I DEMAND IT
Living vicariously through yall because Amazon UK apparently don't ship to Australia anymore :(

edogawa rando
Mar 20, 2007

I think my mass effect is broken

I, Butthole posted:

Living vicariously through yall because Amazon UK apparently don't ship to Australia anymore :(

Haha, another thing that New Zealand is better at than Australia!

david_a
Apr 24, 2010




Megamarm
Thanks to Techmoan I know that the VHS vs Betamax war also had a third-place loser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeSz6MoX00Q

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



I, Butthole posted:

In case y'all missed the Criterion thread, Amazon UK has the Zatoichi mega boxset for 21 pounds / 30USD.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GNRVVSL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_g76cCb3C0K7C9

Are these region free?

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



Here's a movies anywhere copy of Atomic Blonde. The *s are the first letter in the title of the movie.

Y*4PL*ML*X7J

I, Butthole
Jun 30, 2007

Begin the operations of the gas chambers, gas schools, gas universities, gas libraries, gas museums, gas dance halls, and gas threads, etcetera.
I DEMAND IT

Vince MechMahon posted:

Are these region free?

Region B locked

Once Upon A Time In America digital download, foxredeem.com

4KXDB?6?5NAV8GY7

?'s are the first letter of the director's first name.

I, Butthole fucked around with this message at 10:12 on Dec 9, 2018

CelticPredator
Oct 11, 2013
🍀👽🆚🪖🏋

Vince MechMahon posted:

Here's a movies anywhere copy of Atomic Blonde. The *s are the first letter in the title of the movie.



Someone took this. drat.

AkaiNami
Sep 2, 2011

Vince MechMahon posted:

Are these region free?

Well the reason the box set is so cheap is that they messed up disc 6. They accidentally put region A on the disc. So be aware of that.

Liar Lyre
Jun 3, 2011

Here to deliver
~Bad Opinions~

I do recommend getting the Zatoichi box either way. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I have heard it’s going out of print, so if you want it get it soon.

CPL593H
Oct 28, 2009

I know what you did last summer, and frankly I am displeased.
Even if you have to wait to buy a multi-region blu-ray player 30 bucks for that is an absolute steal. That's the cost of one regular priced Criterion disc.

wa27
Jan 15, 2007

Zatoichi rang up for me as £18.26, or $28.24 shipped to US. Thanks for the heads-up!

Steen71
Apr 10, 2017

Fun Shoe
Code for Big Lebowski at universalanytime.com

U4CHCM**Q75*FS*8

* is the letter that comes after s (I guess this is to prevent scripts from grabbing these?)

I don't know if the streaming version is the new restoration or the old crappy version that is on the blu-ray.

TheScott2K
Oct 26, 2003

I'm just saying, there's a nonzero chance Trump has a really toad penis.

Steen71 posted:

I don't know if the streaming version is the new restoration or the old crappy version that is on the blu-ray.

I've come to assume the worst when it comes to catalogue titles. I recently bought Demolition Man with some Google survey money and despite my being in America got the version where "Taco Bell" is dubbed to "Pizza Hut." The copy of Pulp Fiction that came with my Blu-ray of it has artifacts, especially on onscreen text, that make me think it's sourced from 1080i.

The convenience of digital is great, but Physical Media is still Best Media as far as quality is concerned.

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant
I was sick as a dog yesterday and sat down to watch T24k (digital). About halfway through the biker scene i realized I did t see any grain. how much DNR did the film go through???

Lizard Combatant
Sep 29, 2010

I have some notes.
What's the best pc software for uhd these days?

TheScott2K
Oct 26, 2003

I'm just saying, there's a nonzero chance Trump has a really toad penis.

Lizard Combatant posted:

What's the best pc software for uhd these days?

You're really better off just not.

FancyMike
May 7, 2007

Lizard Combatant posted:

What's the best pc software for uhd these days?

The best pc software for any physical media these days is MakeMKV

Lizard Combatant
Sep 29, 2010

I have some notes.

TheScott2K posted:

You're really better off just not.

Really, why?
Hardware shouldn't be an issue.

e:

FancyMike posted:

The best pc software for any physical media these days is MakeMKV

This is plan b

Lizard Combatant fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Dec 10, 2018

Casimir Radon
Aug 2, 2008


What's the better version of Gremlins on BR?

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



Lizard Combatant posted:

Really, why?
Hardware shouldn't be an issue.

The software is all garbage. Even the paid poo poo doesn't work right half the time.

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Liar Lyre
Jun 3, 2011

Here to deliver
~Bad Opinions~

Casimir Radon posted:

What's the better version of Gremlins on BR?

Looks like there is one that is a single disc and another as a two disc. Same middling video quality, but if you like special features go with the two disc.

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