http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/scannerdarkly.html

Sweet! :D

Yes, that's fine, but the issue that this revew doesn't address is how much better the BD version is compared to SD DVD, since the reviewer never saw the original DVD. The reason I wonder is because rotoscoping is sort of a "pseudo" animation, which really doesn't provide much detail even by 2D animation standards. I'm just curious whether hi-def really buys you much with this form of animation.

Rotoscoping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscope) is "pseudo" animation?:confused:

There's nothing fake about it, it's been used it multiple cases of classic animated films with human subjects over the years, from Disney's Snow White, Cinderella and others, and should look great in HD.

Where did this idea spring up that there are certain things that won't benefit from 6x the resolution?

Allow me to spell it out for you slk: The HD version of this film kicks the sh*t out of the SD version. Clear enough for you? :)

I think I'll have a slice of this action.

The style of ASD (my favorite movie of the year) is indeed painted in 'broader strokes' than much other 2D animation. There is less detail. That's not a criticism, it's just the style of the film.

I love the look... here are a few shots I took of the movie.

http://www.homeaudiovideoadvisor.com/external/avsforum/ascannerdarkly13.jpg

http://www.homeaudiovideoadvisor.com/external/avsforum/ascannerdarkly15.jpg

http://www.homeaudiovideoadvisor.com/external/avsforum/ascannerdarkly70.jpg

right on benes.

Which is why why need the Animatrix in HD.
Any body heard any thing about GitS SAC series being released on BD, in like a box set?

The Japanese HD broadcasts look gorgeus.

I ordered Scanner on BD instead of HDD. If there's no difference I'll always go Blu.

Seen the last copy in Circuit City. Though the fact it doesnt have PCM or another lossless solution for audio made it a non purchase for me. Shame, I really wanted to get it.

Seen the last copy in Circuit City. Though the fact it doesnt have PCM or another lossless solution for audio made it a non purchase for me. Shame, I really wanted to get it.A good movie is a good movie. I don't let that stop me, I only have a 720 DLP too. It's not like HD-DVD got it any better either.

Kind of ironic that this movie is the first 2D animated movie we've gotten (although I know computers were heavily used to help compose this movie). I wish the studio would get off the 3D CG kick and start releasing classic 2D animation and otherwise (anime, etc) because it all looks great when done right in HD.

I picked this up this morning and it looks glorious. especially the bugs :P

Whoa ... I love this movie. Watching the scanner suit alone is worth the price of this one on Blu-ray.

Ive watched both the SD and the Blu-ray version. I dont think there is quite the percievable difference between them compared to non-animation... but there is still a big difference. Clearly worth it.

This is one of my favorite films. All star cast... excellent "out of the box" story... rewatchability (kinda need to to catch all the subtle details)... I highly reccomend it on blu-ray!

The thing with DVD animation and Cartoon and that most of them have horrible line blocking, it block like crazy when following the Black outline. I saw The Avenger DVD on a 720p LCD at the store and the amount of macroblocking around the black lines is puke'o'riffic. THe BluRay Version is totally free of that, so even in 480p that would look tons better than the dvd..

Transformer: The movie has the exact same problem... mixed with film grain.

Noticed some banding....although, it could be intentional in this film.

Noticed some banding....although, it could be intentional in this film.

lol. Banding my ass. Have you seen ANY video footage for this movie? It's definitely the style.

added this to my netflix queue

I saw no banding.

A great eye candy demo title for sure.

I showed some scenes to a stoner buddy and it blew him away.

I saw no banding.

A great eye candy demo title for sure.

I showed some scenes to a stoner buddy and it blew him away.
can't just about anything blew a stoner away?

heh-Good point.

It blew him away more than most things do - I'll say that.

heh-Good point.

It blew him away more than most things do - I'll say that.
LOL

lol. Banding my ass. Have you seen ANY video footage for this movie? It's definitely the style.
I'm not talking about the visual effects of DIGITAL ROTOSCOPING, Mr. Ass. :rolleyes:
I am talking about banding...ya don't know the difference, eh?

BTW, my player may be the problem (new FW installed).

I saw banding too. The digital source of the film went through an 8 bit bottleneck in the post processing pipeline so banding was a big concern when the work was done.

I am fairly new to Blu-ray. I've been looking at the tier thread to make my first initial group purchase of films. I have come to realize that a film can be released many times with different transfers (or versions?) - again I'm new to the video-phile world.

One of the movies I was about to purchase is A Scanner Darkly. However, the in-stock copy at Amazon doesn't have the same aspect ratio as the one listed in the gold tier. Therefore, I thought I'd come here and ask those that are wiser before I make a purchase. I can't find any info on the codec used at amazon, though.

Here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Scanner-Darkly-Blu-ray-Keanu-Reeves/dp/B003M8NGQM/ref=sr_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1284900971&sr=8-4

Any thoughts?

Funny thing about A scanner darkly is that it was shoot with a 480P camera. Even if the filtering may have been done at higher res.

It's Warner so it'll almost certainly be the same disc as previously. At best they'll have updated the audio to DTS-HD MA, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Funny thing about A scanner darkly is that it was shoot with a 480P camera. Even if the filtering may have been done at higher res.
The rotoscoping was clearly done in HD.

Going by pics of the back covers @ dvdempire, the making-of doc/featurette One Summer in Austin:The Story of Filming A Scanner Darkly has been dropped from the new version.

1st release: http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=1306724&tab=5&back=1&anchor=1#topoftabs

2nd release:http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=1533019&tab=5&back=1&anchor=1#topoftabs

Going by pics of the back covers @ dvdempire, the making-of doc/featurette One Summer in Austin:The Story of Filming A Scanner Darkly has been dropped from the new version.
Yeah, Ian Jane mentions this in his DVDTalk review of the reissue:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43754/scanner-darkly-a/

Seems to be the same otherwise and still no lossless audio.

Yeah, Ian Jane mentions this in his DVDTalk review of the reissue:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43754/scanner-darkly-a/

Seems to be the same otherwise and still no lossless audio.

A re-release that has even less than the original release? wtf

I smell a rights issue, no other reason to re-release it.

I was thinking maybe dropping features to bring it down to a single layer, but then I looked at the specs thread and saw it's already less than 16GB.

Thanks for the links, and notes. However, I don't understand why the aspect ratio is different at Amazon, if it is the same movie.

Should I be looking at a different site to order blu-rays from?

Thanks for the links, and notes. However, I don't understand why the aspect ratio is different at Amazon, if it is the same movie.

Should I be looking at a different site to order blu-rays from?

Amazon's information is not always accurate. I do not use their specs as an end-all-be-all.

Amazon's information is not always accurate. I do not use their specs as an end-all-be-all.
It might be more appropriate to say that Amazon's technical information is more often inaccurate than not, either through mistakes or omission, although they do have a feedback system that can be used to help correct these inaccuracies.

In Amazon's defense, this information is maintained by the vendors themselves and apparently the PR people at Warner don't really understand the difference between 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 since they frequently mess it up on their own printed back-cover information - like they did on the original A Scanner Darkly box which says 1:85:1 on the back when it is clearly 1:78:1.

It might be more appropriate to say that Amazon's technical information is more often inaccurate than not, either through mistakes or omission, although they do have a feedback system that can be used to help correct these inaccuracies.

In Amazon's defense, this information is maintained by the vendors themselves and apparently the PR people at Warner don't really understand the difference between 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 since they frequently mess it up on their own printed back-cover information - like they did on the original A Scanner Darkly box which says 1:85:1 on the back when it is clearly 1:78:1.

Well that makes things messy now, doesn't it. How can they mess it up - they made the damn movie! Well then, I guess that the new one is listed right at amazon, the old one wrong. Although they have 1.77 for the new one. At DVD Empire though, they are both listed as 1.85. At Bluray.com, they're both listed as 1.78, but the original as 1.85 (in the movie theater I presume?). Well, I guess this is moot since it would be stupid to get the newer version, since it has less features apparently.

Any suggestions on where to buy discs, other than Amazon? It seems like every site links to them.

Any suggestions on where to buy discs, other than Amazon? It seems like every site links to them.
They have a pretty good affiliate referral program, an excellent API, decent advertising widgets, cheap shipping options (especially if you have purchased Prime) and quite often the best prices, so it is no mystery why everyone links to them.

Buy where you find the best deal, but I wouldn't rule out the river just because their specs are often wrong, since accurate information can usually be obtained elsewhere - on this forum and on numerous Blu-ray review sites - either given or through asking once people have got their hands on it. In situations where the distributor provides bad information, most etailers will have it wrong, so it's always wise to take product listings and even back-covers with a grain of salt until you have independent confirmation.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm not in the states so shipping isn't as cheap as it could be.

can't just about anything blew a stoner away?

Stoned > Sober for watching movies.

When the opportunity arrises. :cool: