The first Tamil blu-ray Sivaji is out. This is the fourth blu-ray from India.
http://www.ayngaran.com/bluray.php

Specs: VIDEO: 1080p High Definition 16x9 - 2.35:1 AVC-4
AUDIO 1: PCM Uncompressed Tamil 5.1 (48 kHz/24-bit) 6.4Mbps
AUDIO 2: Dolby Digital Tamil 5.1 448Kbps
SUBTITLES: New and Improved English Subtitles

From what I have read previously, the subtitles are zoomers and CIH/Scope friendly. (India has set a good example in this regard for Hollywood)

We need more imports. How is 'Sivaji' as a movie? Never seen any Tamil movie. I have 'Om Shanti Om' (fun movie w/great production values; good Blu-ray) & 'Saawariya' (boring movie, but great visuals; first-rate Blu-ray).

Well, I have seen something like 30 minutes of clips from this disc. Can't say much about the film but image quality is quite ok. Looks like the DI it came from. DNRed so it's smooth, but not Patton level or Pan's Labyrinth.

Anyone know why the Bollywood Blu-ray thread got locked?

Sanjay

Anyone know why the Bollywood Blu-ray thread got locked?

Sanjay

Wish to find out.

We need more imports. How is 'Sivaji' as a movie? Never seen any Tamil movie. I have 'Om Shanti Om' (fun movie w/great production values; good Blu-ray) & 'Saawariya' (boring movie, but great visuals; first-rate Blu-ray).

This is a highly acclaimed movie. It has got into the UK top 10. Also the highest Indian grosser in 2007.

It arrived this morning. Will have a look tonight.

Whenever this pops up on Amazon.co.uk I'll probably pick it up.

Thanks for the scoop Syncguy!

It arrived this morning. Will have a look tonight.

Waiting for your feedback. If possible, could you post screenshots of the cover and the menu ? Also would like to know if the BD features 16-bit or 24-bit LPCM as the site says LPCM at 6.4 Mbps.:confused:

I have yet to watch it all but I have seen maybe an hour so far. The Blu Ray master was made directly from the 4K DI files. The 4K DI has been DNRed. That DNR is baked in and the Blu Ray has it too. It's not a Blu Ray mastering issue. It's how the master element looks. We are not talking excessive DNR. The grain is pretty much gone and the images have a smooth look, but there is still nice detail present. There is no distracting EE, just a smooth look with sometimes some smearing evident. It's pretty easy on the eyes. I would rate it between "Om Shanti Om" and "Saawariya", closer to the former.
Sound is good. The PCM is 6.9 Mbit/s according to the PS3. AVC is ~25 Mbit/s average (maybe even higher).
Can't do any screenshots.
I had issues with dropped frames. The disc might be mastered too fast. Or my video processor firmware needs some more polishing. Going direct from PS3 to projector seemed to work without dropped frames.

I have received our copy of Sivaji. It came with the shrink wrap in a bubble envelop.
We haven't watched it yet. Will post comments later.

Thanks Ayngaran. :)

Checked the subtitles on a small screen. They are zoomers and scope friendly. :):):)
Sony has a lesson to learn from Eros and Ayngaran. (Sony screwed Saawariya subtitles.)


Cover art:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/351/sivajifrontcc6.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4087/sivajibackax0.jpg[/URL]

It seems the disc is mastered at 24fps and not 23.98 as the standard requires. That can create problems with displays and video processors (dropped frames).

Thanks mhafner and syncguy for posting your impressions. I look forward to buying this soon. It's a shame that the disc was mastered at 24fps. Does this impact the overall running time, similar to PAL speed up ? Is Shahran Sunny aware of this issue ?

Thanks mhafner and syncguy for posting your impressions. I look forward to buying this soon. It's a shame that the disc was mastered at 24fps. Does this impact the overall running time, similar to PAL speed up ? Is Shahran Sunny aware of this issue ?
Running time is affected if no frames are dropped during display but it's so little that it's completely irrelevant. Relevant are the dropped frames when equipment strictly sticks to 23.98 and can't accomodate 24.00 fps. Sunny is aware and investigating.

"Contains strong violence and dangerous use of a firework"

:p:p:p

"Contains strong violence and dangerous use of a firework"

:p:p:p

Yes, its fun to laugh at other countries PG systems. ;)

Lots and lots of releases outside the US are 24.00 fps. I think these smaller companies are just using it out of ignorance. I'm not even sure why they decided to allow this framerate on blu-ray in the first place.

I never heard of a title that used 24.00 before, how should a player/display handle a framerate like that?

My understanding is that they won't handle it properly. That's why you'll get the sync issues and dropped frames that mhafner mentioned. The standard for all consumer equipment is 23.976.

Thanks

Makes me also wonder why they included it in the spec when the equipment cant handle it.

EDIT

Only owns one 24.00 title, and i didnt notice any issues, but of course I wasnt expecting any either.