Films (Almost Entirely Surround)

[4-earredwonder]

(this may be too OT for this thread)

I bought a Laserdisc player in 1981-11 and a CED player in 1984-10 (after RCA cancelled CED), I could rent new CEDs where I was living in 1984, I bought several CEDs for the novelty of having some artifacts of the RCA CED fiasco.

I also have a few VideoCDs, the (USA) DVD of "Never Say Never Again" had several minutes missing, so I bought the VideoCD of it (the Blu-ray is complete).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_CD
IIRC, Roger Dressler (quoted in Video mag) said that the VideoCD MP2 digital audio would adversely affect Dolby Surround, but not very much (I may try my "NSNA" VideoCD w/my upgraded DS home theater).

I also have 1 MovieCD, and 1 Philips CD-i Digital Video disc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MovieCDhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-i
Although the movie on the MovieCD had a stereo soundtrack, there's no mention of stereo on the MovieCD package.


Kirk Bayne

I never got involved with RCA's SelectaVision format but opted instead for Pioneer's laserdisc system. I purchased about 3 high end players including the Theta and the Pioneer Elite [the latter which now suffers from a drawer which refuses to open]. I must have about 500 laser discs and of course the domestic MCA Discovision LDs are horrible so I purchased the Japanese Imports at greater expense as they became available.

But more regrettable, when SONY and Toshiba were battling it out when Blu ray vs. Toshiba's HD~DVD were introduced....most reviewers PREFERRED the Toshiba HD~DVD system so naturally, I bought into that and have over 80 HD~DVDs and a Toshiba player which are now relegated to the DEAD ZONE.

And now with UHD4K ..... I HAVE NO NOSTAGLIA TO REVISIT EITHER Pioneer's LD system nor Toshiba's defunct HD~DVD format.

Amazing how those new 5" UHD4K discs blow away those larger LD and CED disc formats by a HUGE margin and are priced WAY below those once treasured Japanese LD imports.

Progress marches on!

 

[cdheer]

While I never bought a commercial VideoCD, I used to extract recordings from my TiVo and burn them to VideoCD (or, later, SuperVideoCD) all the time. SVCD was particularly suited for this, as DirecTV's SD programming at the time was 480x480i MPEG2...just like SVCDs! Sadly, they only held a tad over half an hour, so anything longer had to be split onto multiple discs.

I wonder if this post is so off-topic that it's wrapped around and become on topic again.

Probably not.

 

[4-earredwonder]

While I never bought a commercial VideoCD, I used to extract recordings from my TiVo and burn them to VideoCD (or, later, SuperVideoCD) all the time. SVCD was particularly suited for this, as DirecTV's SD programming at the time was 480x480i MPEG2...just like SVCDs! Sadly, they only held a tad over half an hour, so anything longer had to be split onto multiple discs.

I wonder if this post is so off-topic that it's wrapped around and become on topic again.

Probably not.

Amazing how we lived with broadcast 240p TV for so long with MONO sound and with the advent of VHS/Beta...480p! And everything was pan and scanned in those days ...NO widescreen ...and the initial cost of those pre~recorded VHS/Beta tapes was $99.....which, adjusting for inflation would translate into almost double that in today's market! And regrettably, those clunky tapes were subject to jamming and drop outs, etc.

I cannot tell you how many UHD4K discs I have been able to purchase for under $8 [in box sets during annual Black Friday sales] and the quality on my LG OLED screen is REMARKABLE and the sound SUPERB.

We have come a long way and it is sad that we've had to repurchase our favorite classic discs in so many disposable subpar formats. But music has also seen many formats come and go so if you want to keep up with new technology ..... you have to pay dearly for the privilege.

It has been said that Japan, Inc. is forging ahead with 8K and even [gulp!] 16K but at some point the technology will only apply to VIDEO FORMATS actually shot in 8/16K because for most practical purposes, 4K captures the FULL resolution of 35mm film formats so IMO, 8/16K would be OVERKILL and more suitable for giant stadium arenas.

 

[kfbkfb]

HD-DVD brought improved surround sound in the form of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD a few months before Blu-ray did (I have 3 HD-DVD players, time to try one with my upgraded home theater, to hear how the conversion to DD sounds).

Then there's the issue of the early MCA DiscoVision stereo titles w/poor frequency response and poor phase accuracy and Dolby Surround encoding...


Kirk Bayne

 

[cdheer]

Amazing how we lived with broadcast 240p TV for so long with MONO sound and with the advent of VHS/Beta...480p! And everything was pan and scanned in those days ...NO widescreen ...and the initial cost of those pre~recorded VHS/Beta tapes was $99.....which, adjusting for inflation would translate into almost double that in today's market! And regrettably, those clunky tapes were subject to jamming and drop outs, etc.

My dad bought Star Wars for my sister back in the day, and it was $119.95 IIRC. Nobody was buying lots of movies; everyone rented.

Then, a brave studio decided to try releasing a film on VHS for the low, low price of $39.95, (correctly) thinking that they'd sell so many copies that they'd make way more money. My dad was a financial analyst, and he followed the entertainment business. He was so thrilled with the idea that he bought the movie, even though he had absolutely no interest in watching it; he felt it important to send a message that this was the right thing to do, and would lead to movies he wanted being released for cheap. Fortunately, it was a movie that I was very interested in. I'll let you all guess which movie it was, but here's a hint:

 

[4-earredwonder]

HD-DVD brought improved surround sound in the form of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD a few months before Blu-ray did (I have 3 HD-DVD players, time to try one with my upgraded home theater, to hear how the conversion to DD sounds).

Then there's the issue of the early MCA DiscoVision stereo titles w/poor frequency response and poor phase accuracy and Dolby Surround encoding...


Kirk Bayne

I would be curious to plug in my Toshiba HD~DVD player but I do recall some of the later replicated HD~DVD discs caused hiccups with the player, because unlike CURRENT players [read OPPO] were in need of a firmware update...unavailable in those days!

Did all your HD~DVD discs play without hiccups, Kirk? Am curious.

Of course we all should have known that SONY with its DEEPER POCKETS would prevail with their blu~ray format but in hindsight, SONY's BETA with its faster writing speed [translating into better video/sonics] did NOT prevail over VHS/Super VHS! Confusing times, indeed!

 

[kfbkfb]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=346087(the blu-ray.com posters were very helpful to me w/info about HD-DVD player software update availability)

ST2 - I bought the Laserdisc, I took it, my VP-1000 LD player, my stereo amp and speakers and my Electro-Voice Stereo-4 decoder to the home of a friend and with his stereo system, we set up surround sound and watched ST2, the first time I'd heard surround sound from a movie at home.


Kirk Bayne

 

[4-earredwonder]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=346087(the blu-ray.com posters were very helpful to me w/info about HD-DVD player software update availability)

ST2 - I bought the Laserdisc, I took it, my VP-1000 LD player, my stereo amp and speakers and my Electro-Voice Stereo-4 decoder to the home of a friend and with his stereo system, we set up surround sound and watched ST2, the first time I'd heard surround sound from a movie at home.


Kirk Bayne

Thanks for the link, Kirk ....now I know why I bought into HD~DVD .... Warner Brothers decided to go with the format rather than BD~V .... But then, wasn't it Warners who went gung ho with DVD~Audio and NOT SACD ...... Hmmm, we know how THAT went!

To even bother hooking up my Toshiba without the firmware update would probably be foolish on my part. Its depressing enough when BD~A music has laser rot problems in this day and age.

Some things ARE better left in the past.

 

[cdheer]

Of course we all should have known that SONY with its DEEPER POCKETS would prevail with their blu~ray format but in hindsight, SONY's BETA with its faster writing speed [translating into better video/sonics] did NOT prevail over VHS/Super VHS! Confusing times, indeed!

VHS prevailed, IIRC, because it had longer-duration tapes, which (in the US) meant you could record an entire NFL game. Also, I seem to recall Sony being resistant to allow **** licensees.

I posit that Blu did better with non-tech consumers because it sounded cooler and was easier to say. "HD-DVD" is not only a mouthful, but undoubtedly caused some confusion as to whether you could pop one into a standard DVD player. All guesswork on my part; I have done zero research on this topic. But non-enthusiast consumers make choices that often baffle us.

 

[4-earredwonder]

And to this day, we NOW have STREAMING WARS ......Disney+, Paramount+, Hulu, HBO MAX, Netflix, CNN+, APPLE, AMAZON PRIME, et alia [ad nauseum]. On top of your local cable bill, if you have the bucks you can add an infinite assortment of auxillary viewing to your crowded viewing schedule as each streaming channel boasts EXCLUSIVES and in their words MUST SEE TV ....... CONFUSING to the MAX ...ABSOLUTELY!

What ever happened to just READING A GOOD BOOK?

 

[cdheer]

And to this day, we NOW have STREAMING WARS ......Disney+, Paramount+, Hulu, HBO MAX, Netflix, CNN+, APPLE, AMAZON PRIME, et alia [ad nauseum]. On top of your local cable bill, if you have the bucks you can add an infinite assortment of auxillary viewing to your crowded viewing schedule as each streaming channel offers EXCLUSIVES and in their words MUST SEE TV ....... CONFUSING to the MAX ...ABSOLUTELY!

What ever happened to just READING A GOOD BOOK?

Nothing stopping anyone from reading a good book.

During the monolithic cable days, people yelled and screamed for "a la carte" where they could pick and choose the channels they want. (Shopping channels were brought up frequently, as consumers didn't understand that they weren't paying a dime for those.) Welp, now you have it. Subscribe to what you want. IMO this is far superior.

I definitely find my monthly streaming bill is roughly equivalent to what I was paying BITD for cable/sat. Except I don't have to pay box fees, remote fees...

 

[4-earredwonder]

Nothing stopping anyone from reading a good book.

During the monolithic cable days, people yelled and screamed for "a la carte" where they could pick and choose the channels they want. (Shopping channels were brought up frequently, as consumers didn't understand that they weren't paying a dime for those.) Welp, now you have it. Subscribe to what you want. IMO this is far superior.

I definitely find my monthly streaming bill is roughly equivalent to what I was paying BITD for cable/sat. Except I don't have to pay box fees, remote fees...

Besides DVRing 200 hours of movies, etc. on my Fios' DVR .....some nights I vacillate between watching my untold stockpile of UHD4K/BD~A films or catching one of those 'limited' series on Netflix or PRIME. It really is quite OVERWHELMING.

And with work ...who has time to read a GOOD BOOK? Not I!

BTW, some of the cable companies are now offering unlimited DVR capability ........ so one can add an infinite number to their roster. Oh, MY!

 

[cdheer]

BTW, some of the cable companies are now offering unlimited DVR capability ........ so one can add an infinite number to their roster. Oh, MY!

A last gasp from an industry trying to stave off dissolution. Cable companies will be shredded under the oncoming buzzsaw that is streaming. I can't remember the last time I DVR'd anything. The few times I use live TV now is purely for sports, and that's only because the sports leagues are so unbelievably backward that I can't easily stream the games. They won't have any choice but to make the move, especially as they watch the revenue from their precious regional sports networks drop precipitously.

Hope the cablecos enjoyed the years of being effective monopolies that could raise rates and add ridiculous fees while doing the bare minimum to maintain their infrastructure.

 

[Marplot]

off topic, I got my 4k Godfather trilogy and am looking forward to watching it. I'll report back here what I find, but with Italy and USMNT in important WCQ matches and March Madness, it is unlikely to be opened until next week at the earliest.

 

[4-earredwonder]

off topic, I got my 4k Godfather trilogy and am looking forward to watching it. I'll report back here what I find, but with Italy and USMNT in important WCQ matches and March Madness, it is unlikely to be opened until next week at the earliest.

Mine is enroute from Deep Discount. BTW, highdefdigest just reviewed the Godfather boxset and declared FOR FANS ONLY as it includes a hardcover book and three high quality prints and charged almost double the price of the 4 UHD4K/1 BD~V set so no feathers should be ruffled for not spending the extra $$$ for fodder.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

Not something I watched today, but I wanna give a shout out to the recent Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu ray set, a very very punchy DTS-MA 5.1 track, every song mixed in 5.1, excellent use of all channels.

 

[Albert Dagger]

off topic, I got my 4k Godfather trilogy and am looking forward to watching it. I'll report back here what I find, but with Italy and USMNT in important WCQ matches and March Madness, it is unlikely to be opened until next week at the earliest.

Watched the first movie yesterday night in UHD. Terrific restoration and well worth the purchase!
I was familiar with the previous blu-ray release.

 

[Marplot]

Glad to hear and looking forward to watching them ... still heartbroken about Italy though.

 

[kfbkfb]

Tried my "Never Say Never Again" VideoCD w/DPL2 movie mode - some surround sound effect but the original mix may not have much surround sound.

Also tried my "The World is not Enough" VideoCD, much more surround sound, it seems MP2 audio doesn't adversely affect the Dolby Surround encoding very much.

Thus ends my adventure with obscure home video formats.


Kirk Bayne

 

[cdheer]

Speaking of obscure home video formats, apparently in Europe at least, there was a third home video tape system from Philips called the Video 2000 system. I was introduced to this a couple of days ago. You could even flip the tapes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_2000