DCI 2009 Championships on Blu-Ray

[Peel Paint]

well, when i get around to buying Blu Ray, I'll get em

Unless money is super tight, now's as good a time as any. You can get a Blu-Ray player for under $100. I got my first VCR, CD, and DVD player for DCI recordings, but I already have a PS3, so DCI took too long this time to break me into Blu-Ray as well. If you are a Netflix subscriber and like the idea of streamplaying films and don't yet have a dedicated Netflix streamplayer, look for a Blu-Ray player that allows Netflix streaming that kills two birds with one stone for a little more money (e.g. search amazon.com for "blu-ray player netflix"... starting at $140.) Netflix streamplaying works way better this way than watching directly online.

Everyone should remember that to get the benefits of Blu-Ray, you need an HDTV at 1080i or preferably 1080p if your screen size is over about 40". To get the benefit of this new sound Tom Blair is touting, you're going to want to connect your Blu-Ray player to an AV receiver with DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. Playing the 2009 DCI Championships on Blu-Ray through an older standard-def TV won't look or sound better than DVD.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Peel Paint

[Kyle B]

I have a PS3 and Xbox360, and Netflix is far better on the 360.

[Peel Paint]

I have a PS3 and Xbox360, and Netflix is far better on the 360.

Well I can believe that, because on the PS3, Netflix's "high-def" looks like a DVD, not nearly as good as broadcast or cable HD. I've heard the highest Netflix goes in streamplay is 720p, not 1080i, so it probably does look better on a better player. The next PS will do better, I'm sure. Our HDTV is in a small room and is only 34", so I'm sticking with the PS3 which we have primarily for family gaming. I don't recommend buying a PS3 if you just want Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray plus Netflix. Your money will go farther with a dedicated console.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Peel Paint

[year1buick]

Very cool. I'd love to get it, but it's just a bit more than what I can afford at the moment.

[Kyle B]

Also because Xbox is able to have the software on it's hard drive where as everything is over the internet and DVD for the PS3.

[deftguy]

You're comparing apples to bananas.

Blue Ray discs have a MUCH higher production cost than standard DVDs, for many reasons. One of them is the BluRay technology license fee paid to Sony. The last time I checked, the amount of the fee is based on number of discs you produce. Additionally, BluRay has production requirements that DVDs do not. One example is that all BluRays are made with a scratch-resistant coating. DVDs do not have this requirement, and most lack the coating.

I'm excited that DCI is making 2009 available on BluRay. I'll jump at it at the cost of $119. To be perfectly honest, that's cheaper than I figured it would be when they finally came out (and I had guessed 2010 shows at the earliest).

I wish DCI would make Open Class Finals available too, but that would be even more cost-prohibitive.

The disc liscensing fee does not go to Sony, it goes to the Blu ray Disc Association.

[deftguy]

Quick search online, without really shopping around.

BD Replication for 1000 disc run- roughly $3, so $6 per package.

BD Double disc case: roughly $.40/case

This pricing does not including liscensing fee or royalties, it is just a basic replication and disc charge.

[deftguy]

I have a PS3 and Xbox360, and Netflix is far better on the 360.

If you are referring to ease of use for netflix, I cannot make a comment, I do not own a X-Box. As far as video streaming, one does not have an advantage over the other. Streaming PQ depends on the connection speed, not the device it is streaming through. Based on that fact, neither has an advantage over the other. The one disadvantage that PS3 has is using the disc for access to netflix, and a firmware upgrade later this year will bring that disadvantage to an end.

I don't recommend buying a PS3 if you just want Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray plus Netflix. Your money will go farther with a dedicated console.

This I do not agree with. The PS3 has some advantages that the standalone Blu ray players don't have. It can be upgradeable to 3D, while none of the other players have that advantage. The scaling, upconversion can be upgraded or tweaked with improvements to its video algorythms, no other standalone has that capability as they use third party chipsets. Its audio upconversion is top of the line, and if you have not heard a CD through it(at least the first two generations), it sounds as good as a much more expensive CD player. To some fan noise may be a problem, but I have not heard the fan on my PS3 since I bought it in early 2007. It also does SACD(only the first two generational models), and has unlimited streaming options, much more so than all of the streaming standalones. Within its price range, it stands up well to current standalones.

Edited March 26, 2010 by deftguy

[jjeffeory]

Wait, who's this and what happened to JJeffeory?

[SoundmanG]

Quick search online, without really shopping around.

BD Replication for 1000 disc run- roughly $3, so $6 per package.

BD Double disc case: roughly $.40/case

The above costs are for duplication, not Production/Post Production. Post Production is where the real money is spent.

How much time and money went into the audio/video mastering?

The HD equipped Edit Bay I work in goes for $500.00 per hour, of course those are Hollywood numbers so you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere but still HD Edit Bays are not cheap.

The DCI Blue Ray price is actually quite reasonable given the small quantity of discs produced.

I wonder how far back you'd have to go before the quality of the originals isn't practical to put on BluRay

As was already pointed out unless it was originally shot in Hi-Def Blue Ray isn’t going to provide any quantum leap in visual quality. The magic happens with the camera not the playback medium.

I suppose 3D is next up for discussion.