Does anyone know if Australian (Region B) Blu-ray disks are encoded at 1080/24p?

The reason I ask this is that after checking a number of local titles and comparing with the USA disks, the Australian ones have a consistently shorter (by about 4%) run time.

Examples are SWAT 112/117 minutes, Fantastic 4 101/105, Black hawk down 138/144, Corpse bride 74/77, etc.

Is this a packaging error in that they've simply copied the run times from the local DVD release which had the 4% speedup problem or is something else going on?

And just in case anyone thinks I'm a trolling Blu-ray hater, there appears to be a similar problem with the local HD DVD titles.

Examples are 2 Fast 2 Furious 103/108 minutes, Apollo 13 135/140, Batman begins 134/140, Corpse bride 74/77, etc.

Ken

Does anyone know if Australian (Region B) Blu-ray disks are encoded at 1080/24p? The reason I ask this is that after checking a number of local titles and comparing with the USA disks, the Australian ones have a consistently shorter (by about 4%) run time.

Gee you'd think that after more than 3 months someone would have said something about this, considering it's been viewed 81 times. No matter I sorted it out a few days after I posted it.

Turns out that the local online retailer (Australia's largest...) that I'd got my info from had used the exact same description for their Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles as for the standard DVD. And as we all know DVD in Australia suffers from the PAL 4% speed up problem (at least we don't have 3:2 pull down judder), hence the run times were the same as DVD and 4% short of what they should be.

The really sad thing was that it took a number of emails to convince the retailer that PAL speed up did exist, and that our DVD's had a shorter runtime and that Blu-ray and HD DVD didn't and therefore all their listed run times for Blu-ray and HD DVD were wrong. It took even longer for them to change anything.

And then I had a go at them for describing all Australian Blu-ray and HD DVD disks as PAL encoded rather than NTSC. Because they're neither. But I gave up on this after a while, or they stopped responding, I forget, it was a while ago.

The good news is that I checked their site recently, well a few titles at least. Correct run times and no "It's a PAL disk" nosense. But did I ever get a thank you for pointing out these glaringly obvious mistakes on their site and explaining some basic facts about DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray that anyone that works in the industry should have known anyway. No of course not.

Ken, it's early days yet in the development of HD as a viable consumer format, but I live in the UK, and I agree it's vitally important that reliable info is published (on a disc by disc basis) about the running times for individual films. The packaging on some discs is more reliable than others, though many still list the PAL running time, and the same goes for various online retailers, which means we can't depend on them for accuracy in this regard.

The trouble is, so few HD discs from 'PAL territories' (for want of a better phrase) have been reviewed online - as opposed to discs from the US - that it's still difficult to assess whether European/Australian discs are actually being encoded at 24fps. We're told by all and sundry that they most definitely are encoded at 1080/24p, and I'm inclined to believe those assertions, but establishing the actual RT of individual discs is a bit like trying to secure info about the layout of Fort Knox (ie. impossible)!! Perhaps we need a new thread devoted to this kind of information, from readers with access to discs from 'PAL territories'?

All film disc are 24fps for Blu-ray and HD DVD and always will be, unless some company screws it up. HD DVD does not even support 25fps yet. Blu-ray supports 50i for video only.

All film disc are 24fps for Blu-ray and HD DVD and always will be, unless some company screws it up. HD DVD does not even support 25fps yet. Blu-ray supports 50i for video only.

I believe ya, CKNA, no question! :D

The point here is that there are so few reliable sources of info for running times on HD discs outside the US, which is causing a lot of confusion. It doesn't help when packaging simply repeats the PAL running time, or when online retailers do exactly the same thing. Yesterday, I saw a review of the French HD release of TEARS OF THE SUN on the dvdrama site which also listed the PAL running time! And I can't find any other site which corroborates or refutes this info!! I've no doubt the disc has been replicated at 1080/24p, but I wish more care was taken over this issue online and elsewhere.