Mods…
I know threads about Bill Hunt/The Digital Bits are often not viewed favorably around here, but please consider that my grievance is not about trashing The Digital Bits over any possible bias towards Blu-ray, but rather exposing their outright lies and the intentional misinformation they use to mislead readers and manipulate the truth. As the source of release and format news for many people, the lack of accountability to truthful and honest information by The Bits is a valid subject that deserves discussion.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way…
While The Digital Bits’s and Bill Hunt’s bias and preference for the Blu-ray format over HD-DVD has been discussed extensively, I had always assumed that they at least tried to be honest and accountable in what they reported. They continually ensure readers that they are pro-consumer and, as such, it would fall on them to give these same consumers all the information necessary to make informed buying decisions.

But lately, the site’s bias has begun to infiltrate the honesty of the information they are reporting. Recent examples:

The My Two Cents from 10/26: (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents)
Home Media also says that in its weekly measurement of high-def format market share, Blu-ray still won the week ending 10/21 (Transformers' release week) by a slim 51% to 49% edge, apparently on the strength of such blockbusters as The Reaping, Hollowman, The Invisible, Return to House on Haunted Hill and Masters of Horror: Volumes 1 & 2, which also streeted that week (a couple of them on BOTH formats).

“Apparently on the strength of such blockbusters as The Reaping, Hollowman, The Invisible, Return to House of Haunted Hill and Masters of Horror?” Bill no where states the strength of the BOGO sale and its effect on the sales ratio, instead leading the reader to believe that the big Blu-ray numbers for the week were based on mythical stellar sales of a handful of mediocre horror titles. Had they just left out which titles were released, the worst you could say is that it was misleading merely by omission of additional information. But to lay credit at the feet of the titles he lists without mention of the real muscle for the week is a LIE and said to make the Blu-ray format look much stronger than it in truth is! I mean, if these mediocre Blu-ray titles can outsell the hugely successful Transformers HD-DVD, then the Blu-ray format must be undeniably superior. Right? I’d really like to see the sales numbers for the titles he listed. My guess, for all of them combined: under 25,000.

Similarly, in Bill’s My Two Cents from 10/16 (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa144.html#ryanmia) when discussing the missing bonus features from The Jack Ryan Collection:
All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc. Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind.

So he’s dropping the not so subtle implication that the Jack Ryan extras were dropped because of disc space. That’s great, except it isn’t true. The largest disc in that set is Hunt for Red October, which clocks in right around 25GB. That’s 5 GB of additional space left over for bonus features. Do you know how much space would have been required to put all the standard def bonus features from the Hunt for Red October on the disc? About 1GB, which would have still left 4GB empty on the disc. In fact, do you know what you could have fit on the disc with the remaining 5GB? An entire SD version of Hunt for Red October! So making any inference that lack of space is the reason that extras were dropped from the set is nothing but lying through your teeth. I thought The Bits was, at the very least, honest about the information they were giving to people, but it seems that, like so many others, they have let their format bias encroach their ethics and honesty, and interested, but less knowledgeable readers looking for straight, honest information, have become the victims.

Again, I know it’s sometimes fashionable to bash The Digital Bits just because you don’t agree with their opinion, but I’m finding the dishonesty that is now coming with that opinion to be a real disservice to factual information and people should be aware of that. I don’t care if people have a love for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but I do care that they at least try to be honest about what they are telling people.

Unfortunately none of what Bill does is illegal. The only way to fight his nonsense is to set up a web site called digitalbits-lies.com and spread it around the net.

Mods…
I know threads about Bill Hunt/The Digital Bits are often not viewed favorably around here, but please consider that my grievance is not about trashing The Digital Bits over any possible bias towards Blu-ray, but rather exposing their outright lies and the intentional misinformation they use to mislead readers and manipulate the truth. As the source of release and format news for many people, the lack of accountability to truthful and honest information by The Bits is a valid subject that deserves discussion.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way…
While The Digital Bits’s and Bill Hunt’s bias and preference for the Blu-ray format over HD-DVD has been discussed extensively, I had always assumed that they at least tried to be honest and accountable in what they reported. They continually ensure readers that they are pro-consumer and, as such, it would fall on them to give these same consumers all the information necessary to make informed buying decisions.

But lately, the site’s bias has begun to infiltrate the honesty of the information they are reporting. Recent examples:

The My Two Cents from 10/26: (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents)


“Apparently on the strength of such blockbusters as The Reaping, Hollowman, The Invisible, Return to House of Haunted Hill and Masters of Horror?” Bill no where states the strength of the BOGO sale and its effect on the sales ratio, instead leading the reader to believe that the big Blu-ray numbers for the week were based on mythical stellar sales of a handful of mediocre horror titles. Had they just left out which titles were released, the worst you could say is that it was misleading merely by omission of additional information. But to lay credit at the feet of the titles he lists without mention of the real muscle for the week is a LIE and said to make the Blu-ray format look much stronger than it in truth is! I mean, if these mediocre Blu-ray titles can outsell the hugely successful Transformers HD-DVD, then the Blu-ray format must be undeniably superior. Right? I’d really like to see the sales numbers for the titles he listed. My guess, for all of them combined: under 25,000.

Similarly, in Bill’s My Two Cents from 10/16 (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa144.html#ryanmia) when discussing the missing bonus features from The Jack Ryan Collection:


So he’s dropping the not so subtle inference that the Jack Ryan extras were dropped because of disc space. That’s great, except it isn’t true. The largest disc in that set is Hunt for Red October, which clocks in right around 25GB. That’s 5 GB of additional space left over for bonus features. Do you know how much space would have been required to put all the standard def bonus features from the Hunt for Red October on the disc? About 1GB, which would have still left 4GB empty on the disc. In fact, do you know what you could have fit on the disc with the remaining 5GB? An entire SD version of Hunt for Red October! So making any inference that lack of space is the reason that extras were dropped from the set is nothing but lying through your teeth. I thought The Bits was, at the very least, honest about the information they were giving to people, but it seems that, like so many others, they have let their format bias encroach their ethics and honesty, and interested, but less knowledgeable readers looking for straight, honest information, have become the victims.

Again, I know it’s sometimes fashionable to bash The Digital Bits just because you don’t agree with their opinion, but I’m finding the dishonesty that is now coming with that opinion to be a real disservice to factual information and people should be aware of that. I don’t care if people have a love for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but I do care that they at least try to be honest about what they are telling people.

Just great. I was starting to think that AVS had finally moved on from Bill Hunt and then this post shows up.

For the record, I agree that it was baffling that he failed to mention the BOGO sale.

However, you completely misunderstood the second part. He did not say that it was dropped due to lack of extras. He was saying that it was kind of strange that Paramount had made two mistakes for HDM in the same week.
The fist mistake being that Paramount apparently stated there was not enough room for a TrueHD track and the second being their screw up on the HD-DVD extras on the Jack Ryan collecion. He just happens to make the point that if they had stayed bluray there would have been more room for a Dolby TrueHD track. He did not at all state or imply that this was due to lack of space on HD-DVD.

He just happens to make the point that if they had stayed bluray there would have been more room for a Dolby TrueHD track. He did not at all state or imply that this was due to lack of space on HD-DVD.


That's my interpretation.

Clearly the man's agenda is far more important than his reputation. I can't determine if the word pimp, or working girl is more appropriate for what Bill's psuedojournalism has become. But either way it is definitely two-bit and I don't mean 1s and 0s.

So he’s dropping the not so subtle inference

Actually, he's making an implication, not an inference. The inference is what he hopes we will all make.

Just great. I was starting to think that AVS had finally moved on from Bill Hunt and then this post shows up.
Again, I'm not bring this up to bash Bill Hunt, I'm bringing this up because I feel it's almost as irresponsible to allow a lie as it is to lie in the first place.

For the record, I agree that it was baffling that he failed to mention the BOGO sale.
I didn't find it baffling at all.

However, you completely misunderstood the second part. He did not say that it was dropped due to lack of extras. He was saying that it was kind of strange that Paramount had made two mistakes for HDM in the same week.
The fist mistake being that Paramount apparently stated there was not enough room for a TrueHD track and the second being their screw up on the HD-DVD extras on the Jack Ryan collecion. He just happens to make the point that if they had stayed bluray there would have been more room for a Dolby TrueHD track. He did not at all state or imply that this was due to lack of space on HD-DVD.
I understand what you're saying, but that's the beauty of what/how he wrote. He gets to make the (incorrect) capacity implication on Jack Ryan by tying into the Transformers issue. Read it again. It's pretty clear he's hitching the Jack Ryan issue to HD-DVD's apparent lack of "room."

Actually, he's making an implication, not an inference. The inference is what he hopes we will all make.

Thank you for the correction.

And for record, I know nothing the site says is illegal.
Unethical, that's a different issue.

His posts are funny, one can see how he attempts conveying a veiled sense of neutrality all the while making implications and under-handed compliments to Blu-Ray. But hey, that's his opinion and the only thing making it relevant is people keep mentioning it.

The only thing worse than his posts are post about his posts.

Again, I'm not bring this up to bash Bill Hunt, I'm bringing this up because I feel it's almost as irresponsible to allow a lie as it is to lie in the first place.


I didn't find it baffling at all.


I understand what you're saying, but that's the beauty of what/how he wrote. He gets to make the (incorrect) capacity implication on Jack Ryan by tying into the Transformers issue. Read it again. It's pretty clear he's hitching the Jack Ryan issue to HD-DVD's apparent lack of "room."

Ive read it plenty of times and I did read it before I responded the first time and my conclusion is exactly what I said:
He was bringing up two recent screw ups by Paramout:
Lack of TrueHD, which he said could have been on there if they still backed bluray. That is true, because there would be more than enough room on a bluray, thats not a lie.

Then he mentions that Paramount screws up again by printing extras on their boxes that arent present. Again, that is not a lie, it did happen. See the HD-DVD software section for proof.

You're trying to say that Bill Hunt implies that the extras were left off due to lack of space. That is not implied at all.

I dont have any problem with people bashing Bill Hunt (I unapologetically bash Rob Enderle), but make sure you were challenging what he is saying and not what you are misunderstanding, otherwise you are no better than he is.

But again, this isn't about Bill Hunt's bias toward Blu-ray or disagreeing with his opinion, it's about his site's intentional misrepresentation of facts in order to advance an agenda. I don't care if he says, "I love Blu-ray and my site is only going to report the good news about Blu-ray and the bad news about HD-DVD" (which they also do). But I do have a big problem with taking the good news about Blu-ray and intentionally adding inaccurate "facts" to present a stronger (but completely erroneous) situation. And for people who don't know any better (and there are a lot), they need to know that they are being lied to.

Unfortunately none of what Bill does is illegal. The only way to fight his nonsense is to set up a web site called digitalbits-lies.com and spread it around the net.

Wow...

Guys...you do realize the man is entitled to his own opinion? Whether you disagree with him or not, casual readers who visit his site are not as likely to scrutnize and eagle-eye every sales statistic and ratio there is on both HD formats and attempt to come up with some fantastically elaborate and complex analysis about how one side is still not gaining ground on the other (or vice versa) as some of the members of this board.

Haven't you thought that the author just didn't want to put his readers through the hassle of sifting through all the potentially useless details of the fomat war to just point out which one is currently doing better? Because I can tell you with a fair degree of certainty that those who are still sitting on the fence don't have any agenda or bias towards or against either HD format...they just want to know which one is doing better and has a better chance of being a successor to DVD.

Take what you will of my opinion...but let me leave you with just one peace of advice:

If your obsession with these HD formats have gotten to the point where you are more than willing to go out and make a website about debunking alleged "lies" from some commentator and wish that his first ammendment rights are downright ILLEGAL...then let me tell you that it's time to switch hobbies. Because when it really comes down to it, life is SO much bigger than this silly war it's not even funny, and it's not worth your time...OR Bill Hunt's, for that matter.

- H

You're trying to say that Bill Hunt implies that the extras were left off due to lack of space. That is not implied at all.

I dont have any problem with people bashing Bill Hunt (I unapologetically bash Rob Enderle), but make sure you were challenging what he is saying and not what you are misunderstanding, otherwise you are no better than he is.
I understand what you're seeing and I can also see that, but here's the quote again:
But when you actually play the discs, these features aren't there... or at least you can't find and access them if they are. Others seem to be having the same problem we are, including our friends at High-Def Digest, so it seems to be widespread. We contacted the studio a short time ago and were told: "We're looking into this." All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted (click here) that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc. Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind.
I'm at a total loss as to how you can't see that he's tying these two together? ---The discs don't have the features and we're checking with Paramount goes directly into "and this is just after Paramount said they couldn't get high-res audio on Transformers because of a lack of space." One thing has nothing to do with the other. How do you move from the features were mysteriously left off the disc to Transformers has no high-res audio (which it was never announced to, so it can't be the "blunder" you're saying it is). It's the biggest left turn you could make and I'm surprised he doesn't have whiplash from the speed at which he connected two completely unrelated topics.

Again, answer this... What does Transformers not having high res audio (which, again, it was never announced to) have to do with the Jack Ryan extras (which were announced) mysteriously missing from the final discs?

Ive read it plenty of times and I did read it before I responded the first time and my conclusion is exactly what I said:

Maybe you need to read it one more time :p

You're trying to say that Bill Hunt implies that the extras were left off due to lack of space. That is not implied at all.

From the article, "All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted (click here) that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc. Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind."

Care to retract your analysis?

Why should he? His analysis is correct.

Wow...

Guys...you do realize the man is entitled to his own opinion? Whether you disagree with him or not, casual readers who visit his site are not as likely to scrutnize and eagle-eye every sales statistic and ratio there is on both HD formats and attempt to come up with some fantastically elaborate and complex analysis about how one side is still not gaining ground on the other (or vice versa) as some of the members of this board.

Haven't you thought that the author just didn't want to put his readers through the hassle of sifting through all the potentially useless details of the fomat war to just point out which one is currently doing better? Because I can tell you with a fair degree of certainty that those who are still sitting on the fence don't have any agenda or bias towards or against either HD format...they just want to know which one is doing better and has a better chance of being a successor to DVD.

Take what you will of my opinion...but let me leave you with just one peace of advice:

If your obsession with these HD formats have gotten to the point where you are more than willing to go out and make a website about debunking alleged "lies" from some commentator and wish that his first ammendment rights are downright ILLEGAL...then let me tell you that it's time to switch hobbies. Because when it really comes down to it, life is SO much bigger than this silly war it's not even funny, and it's not worth your time...OR Bill Hunt's, for that matter.

- H

Um, Wow... it's not about his opinion. It's about his site distoring facts in order to mislead those "sitting on the fence (who) don't have any agenda or bias towards or against either HD format...they just want to know which one is doing better and has a better chance of being a successor to DVD." Don't you feel like those people deserve whatever they're being told to at least be the truth?

I understand what you're seeing and I can also see that, but here's the quote again:

I'm at a total loss as to how you can't see that he's tying these two together? ---The discs don't have the features and we're checking with Paramount goes directly into "and this is just after Paramount said they couldn't get high-res audio on Transformers because of a lack of space." One thing has nothing to do with the other. How do you move from the features were mysteriously left off the disc to Transformers has no high-res audio (which it was never announced to, so it can't be the "blunder" you're saying it is). It's the biggest left turn you could make and I'm surprised he doesn't have whiplash from the speed at which he connected two completely unrelated topics.


Im going to break down his quote for you then maybe you will understand:

"Now then... we've just gotten our review copy of Paramount's The Jack Ryan Collection box set on HD-DVD, and were surprised to discover that the studio seems to have omitted all of the special features. Each disc is supposed to be a Special Collector's Edition, with commentaries and featurettes advertised right there on the back of each disc's case. But when you actually play the discs, these features aren't there... or at least you can't find and access them if they are. Others seem to be having the same problem we are, including our friends at High-Def Digest, so it seems to be widespread. We contacted the studio a short time ago and were told: "We're looking into this.""

THIS STATEMENT IS THE END OF THE FIRST POINT HE IS TRYING TO MAKE Paramount screwed up with the Jack Ryan extras. He has pointed that out now. In NO way does that statement imply the it was dropped due to space. NONE. It was a Paramount screw up. Jack Ryan point is MADE, lets move on.

" All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted (click here) that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc.
Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind."

He is now saying that it doesnt look good for Paramount to have made two mistakes in a short time, reminding, you the reader, of the first mistake that Paramount dropped TrueHD due to lack of disc space, which is true. He then makes the point that if they had stayed on bluray there wouldnt have been a space issue, which is TRUE.


Again, answer this... What does Transformers not having high res audio (which, again, it was never announced to) have to do with the Jack Ryan extras (which were announced) mysteriously missing from the final discs?


You're right they're not related, EXCEPT in the regard that they are BOTH Paramount films. Different films. Different type of problems. Same studio. Thats the connection he is making. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Care to retract your analysis?

No, I made my point.

I'm pretty sure he posts things just to get the HD DVD fanboys riled up again. I think you guys hang on his every word more than Blu-ray supporters. Good show!

I'm pretty sure he posts things just to get the HD DVD fanboys riled up again. I think you guys hang on his every word more than Blu-ray supporters. Good show!

He does. He gets a lot of hate mail from them. Ill be fair, I feel that Bill Hunt has made some mistakes.

I do agree with HD-DVD campers that it was a totally bad decision to imply that some Canadian had stopped selling HD-DVD players. That should NEVER have gotten printed. Rumor or not.

On that note, I am going to watch Casino on HD-DVD.

Hows that for irony? :-P

Im going to break down his quote for you then maybe you will understand:

"Now then... we've just gotten our review copy of Paramount's The Jack Ryan Collection box set on HD-DVD, and were surprised to discover that the studio seems to have omitted all of the special features. Each disc is supposed to be a Special Collector's Edition, with commentaries and featurettes advertised right there on the back of each disc's case. But when you actually play the discs, these features aren't there... or at least you can't find and access them if they are. Others seem to be having the same problem we are, including our friends at High-Def Digest, so it seems to be widespread. We contacted the studio a short time ago and were told: "We're looking into this.""

THIS STATEMENT IS THE END OF THE FIRST POINT HE IS TRYING TO MAKE Paramount screwed up with the Jack Ryan extras. He has pointed that out now. In NO way does that statement imply the it was dropped due to space. NONE. It was a Paramount screw up. Jack Ryan point is MADE, lets move on.

" All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted (click here) that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc.
Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind."

He is now saying that it doesnt look good for Paramount to have made two mistakes in a short time, reminding, you the reader, of the first mistake that Paramount dropped TrueHD due to lack of disc space, which is true. He then makes the point that if they had stayed on bluray there wouldnt have been a space issue, which is TRUE.





You're right they're not related, EXCEPT in the regard that they are BOTH Paramount films. Different films. Different type of problems. Same studio. Thats the connection he is making. Nothing more. Nothing less.

But Transformers was not a mistake (and he certainly knows it), so the correlation is blown. I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. In fact, after reading it again so many times just to make sure, I'm so utterly convinced at his intentions with that paragraph that I will NEVER agree that they were not intended to be tied together.

He does. He gets a lot of hate mail from them. Ill be fair, I feel that Bill Hunt has made some mistakes.

I do agree with HD-DVD campers that it was a totally bad decision to imply that some Canadian had stopped selling HD-DVD players. That should NEVER have gotten printed. Rumor or not.

On that note, I am going to watch Casino on HD-DVD.

Hows that for irony? :-P

And I think we're watching either Spiderman 3 (for the second time), Meet the Robinsons, or Mr. Brooks on Blu-ray. So all's good.

Maybe you need to read it one more time :p



From the article, "All of this comes just a few days after Paramount and DreamWorks admitted (click here) that they left high-resolution audio options off of their Transformers HD-DVD because of lack of space on the HD-30 disc. Perhaps it's impolite to point this out, but those Blu-ray Discs you guys dropped would have had room for... ah, never mind."

Care to retract your analysis?OK, which one of these answers are correct?

Transformers did not have enough space for an uncompressed audio track.

OR

Paramount could have added the uncompressed audio track, but were too cheap or lazy to do so?

HD DVD: The Sight & Sound Of Just Good Enough

OK, which one of these answers are correct?

Transformers did not have enough space for an uncompressed audio track.

OR

Paramount could have added the uncompressed audio track, but were to cheap or lazy to do so?


Neither.

But Transformers was not a mistake (and he certainly knows it), so the correlation is blown. I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. In fact, after reading it again so many times just to make sure, I'm so utterly convinced at his intentions with that paragraph that I will NEVER agree that they were not intended to be tied together.

Well it's good to see that you're keeping an open mind about it. :cool:

Neither.Then, where did the uncompressed audio track go?

“Apparently on the strength of such blockbusters as The Reaping, Hollowman, The Invisible, Return to House of Haunted Hill and Masters of Horror"

http://www.davevallely.com/me_pimp.jpg

Haha.

Then, where did the uncompressed audio track go?

Nowhere.

Point me to Paramounts HDM manifesto; where they state all HDM discs shall have a lossless track and you win

Nowhere, specifically not on that particular disc.

Point me to Paramounts HDM manifesto; where they state all HDM discs shall have a lossless track and you win
So, they decided to just not include it?

Maybe they should change the name to The Misleading Bits.

I will sign on that petition. :D

That site is just a sister branch of Blu-rayDotCom.

So, they decided to just not include it?

See my post above.

The OP is right, its hard not to see the bias as the facts are so distorted here.

Home Media also says that in its weekly measurement of high-def format market share, Blu-ray still won the week ending 10/21 (Transformers' release week) by a slim 51% to 49% edge, apparently on the strength of such blockbusters as The Reaping, Hollowman, The Invisible, Return to House on Haunted Hill and Masters of Horror: Volumes 1 & 2, which also streeted that week (a couple of them on BOTH formats).
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom102807/

Page 12 of the HMM issue he cites has the HDM sales charts

from the HMM issue he is quoting the only one of those titles Bill Hunt is quoting that saying are blockbusters that got into the top 10 HDM sales is The Reaping with maybe 4000 units sold.

The first 6/7 of top 10 Blu-ray titles are all pretty much Disney Buy One Get One Free titles.

He saw that as well as we did in that HMM issue.

Those titles he cited did not have high sales volumes.

To imply they did, and that their sales and not the BOGO offer was the reason for Blu-ray only dropping to 51% in the first alert numbers is really a distortion.

It is so distorted in fact, it is hard not to characterize it as a deliberate lie.


Transformers 100.00 89871
POTC2 9.47 8511
POTC1 9.12 8196
F4:ROTSS 5.47 4916
Apocalypto 5.02 4512
DejaVu 3.71 3334
Prestige 3.6 3235
WildHogs 3.53 3172
Reaping-BD 3.42 3074
300-BD 3.37 3029
…
Knocked Up-HD 2.54 2283

300-HD 2.06 1851

Evan Almighty 1.97 1770


Reaping-HD 1.87 1681

I think most here know Bill Hunt and what he does so another topic on him throws undeserved attention his way.

The HD DVD fan in me laughs at him....the BD fan in me feels embarrassed for him.

There is no question Bill is biased toward Blu-ray - he's even officially picked sides and has stated such on his site. I'm quoting a link from his site: "The Bits picks Blu-ray - click here to read why." Bill's calls his columns "my two cents" because he's giving his opinion.

Unfortunately none of what Bill does is illegal. The only way to fight his nonsense is to set up a web site called digitalbits-lies.com and spread it around the net.

On my way to register that domain now ... :)

Want to be one of the first folks to have their very own Column? :D

4,000 for The Reaping?
Looks like my under 25,000 combined was WAAYYY too generous.

There is no question Bill is biased toward Blu-ray - he's even officially picked sides and has stated such on his site. I'm quoting a link from his site: "The Bits picks Blu-ray - click here to read why." Bill's calls his columns "my two cents" because he's giving his opinion.

For the tenth time, it's not about having a bias or opinion, it's about distorting/misrepresenting actual facts to illegitimately augment your opinion in the eyes of others.

or

Lying.

For the tenth time, it's not about having a bias or opinion, it's about distorting/misrepresenting actual facts to illegitimately augment your opinion in the eyes of others.

or

Lying.Pretty much about the same as the MS paid acolytes, who post often, every night, every day, here on AVS and other sites.

If people are so invested in this that they have to diagram somebody's opinion, they need to go do something else. Get a dog, paint, go for a walk, something. Just stay away from crack cocaine or World of Warcraft, because they will ruin you as well.

What's with all of the fuss about the BOGO deal? Sounds like good marketing that benefited the consumers to me. If HD DVD had run a similar deal with Transformers being released in the same week, I could have cared less. Why do people get so spun up? I'm a little disappointed I can't get Transformers on Blu Ray when I hoped to, but I'll simply wait. It's not the end of the world...

For the tenth time, it's not about having a bias or opinion, it's about distorting/misrepresenting actual facts to illegitimately augment your opinion in the eyes of others.

or

Lying.

I guess I just don't see it that way.

That being said - I don't like the way Bill has handled himself throughout this format war at all, and I think many of his stated opinions show a lack of professionalism and self discipline.

why do u give his site more credibility by endlessly quoting him? Best way to deal with this if you're not a fan/think his site is BS is to ignore him.

uncompressed audio track

... but there was more than enough room for a TrueHD track. The decision to omit it was not due to lack of space. Over in smurf-land there is a perfect example of wasting the space that BR always lauds: I guess CEot3K will have three uncompressed tracks. Talk about a pointless waste of space... That one's almost as good as how BR is faking IME (ie. two seperate encodes of the movie)... advanced interactivity, indeed...:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Pretty much about the same as the MS paid acolytes, who post often, every night, every day, here on AVS and other sites.

Oh, like this 18 months/$150M payoff nonesense (which was started by an "unnamed Viacom Exec"), but the blu bots spread it like it is fact? More than likely, it was the CEO of Sony in his PJs doing emergency damage control. It seems beyond their comprehension that Paramount found that HD-DVD makes better sense from a business POV; Sony says otherwise, so it is blindly accepted and spread as fact.

Or maybe, the claim that Blu Ray has advanced interactivity while HD-DVD has limited interactivity? My A1 will run circles around any BR player out there in this regard (including the PS3). And it always has.

Or, even the fact that BR was launched to dismal reviews in the Summer of 2006, but tried to have a "re-launch" 6 months later, trying the third grade tactic of "do-over", as if nothing had happened. And the blu bots questioned nothing, just followed blindly what the great Sony god told them.

Or, even the arrogance the blu camp shows everytime they declare that they have won, or that HDM will only survive if their format wins. Heaven forbid that the more consumer friendly, more economically feasible format should prevail.

And then there is just plain outright lying from a few (or ignorance, I'm not sure which):

1080i is not true HD; only 1080p is

... but there was more than enough room for a TrueHD track. The decision to omit it was not due to lack of space. Over in smurf-land there is a perfect example of wasting the space that BR always lauds: I guess CEot3K will have three uncompressed tracks. Talk about a pointless waste of spcewaste of space... That one's almost as good as how BR is faking IME (ie. two seperate encodes of the movie)... advanced interactivity, indeed...:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Space to waste? well actually, I'm sure there isn't much space left to waste once you you have 3 different cuts of a movie on one disc, all possible because of seamless branching, and proper, true to the master audio tracks on your disc.

If that's something that you want to complain about, your loss, my gain.

Transformers takes up 26 GB total. Plenty of room left over for TrueHD if Paramount wanted to include it (HD DVDs are a hair over 31 GB).

it is HILARIOUS to hear hd-dvd fanboys cry about bill hunt's opinion pieces. you guys are just giving him more publicity, thank you :D

Transformers takes up 26 GB total. Plenty of room left over for TrueHD if Paramount wanted to include it (HD DVDs are a hair over 31 GB).

Yeah but there is less amount of actual usable space if I'm not mistaken. But even if there was this mythical "not enough space" why not dump any of the extras on Disc 1 onto Disc 2? Probably not a huge amount of space but still. A lossless track could have and should have been there.

I think most here know Bill Hunt and what he does so another topic on him throws undeserved attention his way.

The HD DVD fan in me laughs at him....the BD fan in me feels embarrassed for him.

Best post in the thread. Except for all of mine of course. ;)

The HMM issue which offers the sales chart also shows quite clearly that the top 6 Blu-Ray titles sold were from the Disney BOGO sale. In addition, it also clearly indicates that sales of the new BD titles he mentions were completely inconsequential. Thus, he is either a blatant liar or a complete idiot. Or maybe both.

...proper, true to the master audio tracks...

That's my point. TrueHD is true to the master audio tracks, and takes up far less space than uncompressed LPCM. The Blu camp loves to trumpet their space advantage, when in reality it is wasted on bloated uncompressed soundtracks, multiple encodes of the same film to simulate the "limited interactivity" it is incapable of doing (and calling it "advanced interactivity - another lie, I might add), and useless games (Disney, I'm looking at you).

The HMM issue which offers the sales chart also shows quite clearly that the top 6 Blu-Ray titles sold were from the Disney BOGO sale. In addition, it also clearly indicates that sales of the new BD titles he mentions were completely inconsequential. Thus, he is either a blatant liar or a complete idiot. Or maybe both. He is not a complete idiot. ;)

Which leaves.......

Its possible that he just assumed that those titles sold well, and he did not click over to the top 10 HDM sales charts which are now included in every HMM issue.

But that is not likely.

For the tenth time, it's not about having a bias or opinion, it's about distorting/misrepresenting actual facts to illegitimately augment your opinion in the eyes of others.

or

Lying.

OK, you've posted it ten times, so what? What exactly are you trying to accomplish other than venting?

Why should anyone care if his column is an opinion, misleading, inveigling, obfuscating, or out and out lies?

You may have missed it but it is a website. There is no requirement for it to be truthful. It is not the NYTimes, the Walstreet Journal, or even Fox News. He can post whatever he damn well wants and if the only research a consumer does is read his site before buying that is their problem.


Your OP seems like some sort of call to arms, trying to get the mods to go take care of a problem, yet you don't actually have any sort of suggestion for anyone to do anything other than agree with you.

Short of starting your own website and doing something to make it as popular as his so you can point out that Sony is doing BOGO offers and therefore this is somehow a reason to NOT buy into BluRay, I don't really see what else this thread is supposed to accomplish.


Which is why the mods have shut down every one one of it's predecessors. Threads only written to complain are already too common here.

Who is Bill Hunt?

Who is Bill Hunt?

Glad you asked:D

Bill Hunt is the standing joke of the entire family of HT forums. He has entered the lexicon for his stance, editorials and just plain making a fool of himself . . .

"You pulled a Bill Hunt"

Anyone notice that Part 3 of his road trip to Vegas back in August has yet to be posted? Gee I wonder why?:rolleyes:

Must be tough to be caught on camera acting like a fool for all the world to see.

Oh well . . . you reap what you sow.;)

time