what next for HD DVD?

[winonamonday]

Ive been reading quite a bit on HD DVD and what it promises to deliver in terms of increased menu interactcity and functionality, but what really will it be able to achieve? :thinking:

Or

What would you like DVD authors to try and achieve!

;)

[Michael Mackenzie]

Nothing. I just want the best-looking transfers possible. So many DVDs are a pain in the neck with their idiotic, unskippable 3D animated menus that I shudder to think what the studios are cooking up right now.

[GarethH]

Nothing. I just want the best-looking transfers possible. So many DVDs are a pain in the neck with their idiotic, unskippable 3D animated menus that I shudder to think what the studios are cooking up right now.

Exactly, thats what HD is all about, the picture quality! I don't think we're really gonna see the true quality of HD until movies are shot digitally.

[Michael Mackenzie]

I don't think we're really gonna see the true quality of HD until movies are shot digitally.I'm not so convinced. 35mm already has a far higher resolution than 1080p, so I see no reason to assume that film-sourced transfers won't make full use of the format, provided they come from good quality sources (which, for modern films in the age of digital intermediates, shouldn't be a problem). I'd also love to see 70mm productions like Lawrence of Arabia making their way to the format.

[GarethH]

I'm not so convinced. 35mm already has a far higher resolution than 1080p, so I see no reason to assume that film-sourced transfers won't make full use of the format, provided they come from good quality sources (which, for modern films in the age of digital intermediates, shouldn't be a problem). I'd also love to see 70mm productions like Lawrence of Arabia making their way to the format.

Yeah very true, but the print needs to be pristine quality. Even most of todays releases look shabby on DVD with crappy transfers. I would like to see more quality transfers like The Rock Criterion R1. Film grain is also an issue, on film its created naturally. On digital shot movies, if they add the grain in, at least they will keep in mind the quality of the HD.

[Michael Mackenzie]

Yeah very true, but the print needs to be pristine quality. Even most of todays releases look shabby on DVD with crappy transfers. I would like to see more quality transfers like The Rock Criterion R1. Film grain is also an issue, on film its created naturally. On digital shot movies, if they add the grain in, at least they will keep in mind the quality of the HD.I agree, Criterion's DVD of The Rock really is a benchmark for standard definition. To be honest so many current DVDs look crappy because of the amount of edge enhancement, noise reduction and aggressive compression that are applied rather than any problem with the source material. These same problems are apparently also affecting the first crop of Blu-Ray titles, whereas with HD-DVD, as far as I'm aware, the current releases are completely unfiltered and have no edge enhancement at all.

Grain doesn't bother me - it's a part of film, and if it's inherent to the source material, it should be maintained.

[Grandmaster]

Nothing. I just want the best-looking transfers possible. So many DVDs are a pain in the neck with their idiotic, unskippable 3D animated menus that I shudder to think what the studios are cooking up right now.

The problem with DVD is that it can only play one video stream at a time. That's why the menus are unskippable and so user-unfriendly. Both Blu-Ray and DVD can make the menus far more user-friendly, running multiple video streams simultaneously. So while I expect the menus to be pretty flashy on both new formats (given time) I expect them to be far more navigable.

[winonamonday]

how does interactive technology actually work?
are the selections stored on the DVD or the DVD player? What type of memory is it then? ram? rom?
Im just trying to get my head around it!
Im thinking of buying some software to begin an interactive production, been looking at Zoo and Scenarist, any one use these? :thumbs:

[Grandmaster]

Haven't spoken with Zoo for a long time, but am tempted to get in touch now. The last time I spoke to them, their technology was an extra user-interface grafted onto Scenarist but from the looks of their website, they've now developed their own tools.

How it works:

The DVD player has a small amount of system RAM and has something like 16 different 16-bit variables you can use. These can be split into 2x 8-bit variables, 4x 4-bit etc.

The Zoo software works by using the fact that with DVD you can put buttons over any type of streaming video - visible buttons (eg the question selections in Who Wants to be a Millionaire) and invisible ones (eg Dragon's Lair). Combine this with the 16 variables and essentially you need to pre-render video for every eventuality and the Zoo software guides you through those pre-rendered videos based on the user selections and how they affect the 16 variables.

Example:

Player answers the £32,000 question correctly in WWTBAM. Tarrant pops up to give you an idea of how you're getting on. You've used two lifelines in previous questions, so the player checks the lifeline variable and overlays red crosses over the appropriate lifeline icons on the video stream. Status video ends and you go to the next question.

There's nothing that Zoo does that Scenarist can't do but you would have to have exceptional programming prowess to do it. Both tools are not cheap.

Indeed, the high definition versions of Scenarist are £34,000. Make that £68,000 if you want both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions.

[SimonI]

The problem with DVD is that it can only play one video stream at a time. That's why the menus are unskippable and so user-unfriendly. Yes, but it's the studios' (or authors') choice of enforcing things that are the real pain in the butt: compare a Criterion DVD which boots straight to the menu to a typical Disney DVD which requires around a dozen key presses (if you're lucky) to finally reach the film. The thing that worries me is being forced to watch all the wizz-bang fancy menus in addition to all the copyright and trailers... and then finding that if I restart the disk later I have to do it all again :gag:

[thescrounger]

The thing that worries me is being forced to watch all the wizz-bang fancy menus in addition to all the copyright and trailers... and then finding that if I restart the disk later I have to do it all again :gag:


Get a player with an auto resume function then. ;)