Where have all the audio and video extras gone?

[EndzoneEric]

DCI never released a statement or interview comment addressing the reasons for the cuts that I read, but reading between the lines, it's obvious that what they were doing was saving money. They needed to cut their production costs for producing the DVD set. So why charge the same amount? By inference, they need the money. It needed to be more profitable. It's quite likely that simple. They got squeezed this year, and next year isn't looking much better, and they want to be around after that. And we want them around after that, yesno?

[rufus]

another thing I didn't understand is the video quality, especially from the high cam. It looks like it came from a cell phone camera. If your cameras can shoot widescreen how is the quality that bad?

[CoreyD]

Just popped in the DVD's last night after waiting for them to get here UPS ground....snow storm.....took 10 days. Thats cool.

ANYWAY, really was looking forward to hearing the commentary during some of the corps' shows--like Bluecoats and SCV (well not so much for SCV as they got pushed out of the top 6)....

Also wanted to watch the percussion cam during Phantom's show.......

and was looking forward to listening to the percussion judge as he ran all around the Cavaliers drum line.

Nothing.

Nothing. :smile:

Nothing. :smile:

Did the price of the DVD's drop dramatically to cover for such a difference in the overall quality and package that they presented? According to my AMEX statement, no. Similar price. Less offerings.

I am sure that there is a posting about this on here somewhere.....please guide me to where i can learn more about the reason why.

And of all years to do it to me.

I dont know about you but when I buy stuff online I like to read on what comes with the product im purchasing. And since I had done this before ordering my DVD's I knew that there was no judges/director commentary and I also knew that the footage was shot in widescreen.

I like to think Im not ignorant before investing over $100 dollars on items.

So did you get the DVD's with the new version of Phantoms show.

[Silver_King]

Did they cut off America because of all people screwing around?

[JayM]

another thing I didn't understand is the video quality, especially from the high cam. It looks like it came from a cell phone camera. If your cameras can shoot widescreen how is the quality that bad?

Because wide-screen doesn't imply high-resolution.

On all of the DVDs prior to 2008, the video was encoded at 640x480, which is also the resolution of Standard-Definition TV in the US. Anamorphic wide-screen can get a little confusing, so I won't go into the details here. The important point for this discussion is that the wide-screen video on the '08 DVDs isn't any more detailed than it has been in the past; it's just that now you can see a little more action on the screen.

Having just watched my DVDs, I'm completely with you on the quality issue. I've gotten so used to watching HDTV on a big TV over the last couple of years that I can barely stand to watch anything in standard def. I would assume many others are in the same boat. The DVDs seemed fine a few years ago, when they were mostly viewed on smaller 4:3 television sets. But with the prevalence of large TVs these days, the low-resolution quality issues have become magnified (quite literally).

The issue, for now, is mostly about distribution. I can't predict the future, but I would bet the first jump in quality we see is to 720p (1280x720), which is considered HD. It's not the highest resolution available today (that would be 1080p, or 1920x1080), but it's a good compromise between quality and size (in terms of storage), and is widely-supported in the HDTV world (even on my 3 y/o DLP). However, video at that resolution will fill up a regular DVD quickly, which is our issue. DCI will eventually move to Blu-Ray, I'm sure, it's just a matter of when. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen until the 2010 season, but it's mostly dependent on when Blu-Ray reaches critical mass.

[perc2100]

The issue, for now, is mostly about distribution. I can't predict the future, but I would bet the first jump in quality we see is to 720p (1280x720), which is considered HD. It's not the highest resolution available today (that would be 1080p, or 1920x1080), but it's a good compromise between quality and size (in terms of storage), and is widely-supported in the HDTV world (even on my 3 y/o DLP). However, video at that resolution will fill up a regular DVD quickly, which is our issue. DCI will eventually move to Blu-Ray, I'm sure, it's just a matter of when. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen until the 2010 season, but it's mostly dependent on when Blu-Ray reaches critical mass.

I would bet it will take much longer for them to switch to Blu-ray. They didn't go to DVD until it was already the standard method of viewing/buying home movies. While I understand their logic of sticking with DVD for the moment, it seems ironic to me that an activity who is known in the past 8 years for pushing the envelope to include the latest cutting edge technology at all costs will stay with an already out-dated technology as long as they can.

[Peel Paint]

It may be too expensive for them to move up to BluRay in the near future. Production costs will be significantly higher. They're unlikely to do it until they're sure they'll sell enough BluRay discs to make it worth their while, and they're unlikely to do it in a tight financial environment for DCI.

I, too, was disappointed in the quality of the resolution of the picture this year. I expected more. It seemed closer to VHS than to any true HD product. Of course, standard DVD is never going to look high def. But it can look better than it looked this year.