Flightplan is the first VC-1-encoded title from Buena Vista

What exactly does this mean?

It means yet another studio is conceding Sony was wrong in pushing MPEG encoding down everyone's throat.

It means that Disney is shipping it's first VC-1 encoded title.

Very interesting indeed. I wouldn't be surprised to see them switch over completely by mid to late 2007. It's just more efficient than MPEG2. Would also allow more releases with VC-1 to have extras and fit on a BD-25 with no compromises. Just dont drop the PCM uncompressed soundtracks. I live for those on Blu-ray!!!

It's not so simple. It's not that Sony was pushing Mpeg2, it's because it was a far cheaper alternative to VC-1. Why do you think Paramount didn't use VC-1 for Blu-ray? MS's royalty fees to Blu-ray had to be a significant amount to the point where Paramount would have to charge more for the Blu-ray version.

Cheaper, yes, but not better. If you're going to go "beyond high definition" you're gonna have to pay the big $$$.

And the P/Q rating is?.....yep... less than many MPEG-2 titles....according to this review score.

That's an issue with Blu-ray technology, not the encoding itself.

Any studio is free to use any codec they choose with either format. All work and are supported.

Warners has been using VC-1 with Blu-ray since August. Disney has used both MPEG2 and AVC, and now they seem to be trying out VC-1 (perhaps even switching to it).

I am not sure that I see Sony in the role here of enforcing any particular codec on any of their supporting studios.

Personnally, I prefer VC-1 and would as soon that everyone used it right now, but I have seen good results with all 3, so it is not the most critical issue.

The biggest reason for using VC-1 is simply a marketing reason: VC-1 has acquired the "gold standard" status, so by using it, you eliminate a point of possible argument and contention.

It would improve the forum if every announcement by every vendor were not always interpreted as a negative about Sony.

Care to explain? Im looking forward to hearing this.

Flightplans limitations for image quality have more to do with the master than anything else.

Also, anyone here that thinks they know why Paramount is using MPEG2 for its BD releases and VC1 for its BD releases is reaching. Everyone has their GUESSES but they are mainly uninformed. Stick to ranting and raving at each other about how great your format is compared to the other guys and stop spreading misinformation on things you know nothing about.

Very glad to hear about this and I hope Fox and Sony follow suit. If everyone would use at least VC1 or AVC it would fix alot of bluray's image problems.

Anyone have a list of which currently available BD titles have been encoded using VC1?

Whats broken.

I have not been overwhelmed with the picture quality of my HD DVD titles Ive bought lately. Banding on all of the them and edge enhancement. Ive yet to come across a BD title with the EE Im seeing on HD DVD. I better knock on wood

Dumbest post of the year?

That's an absolutely ridiculous statement.

@WaldorfSalad: There is someone maintaining an *awesome* database of which BD titles use what, but I forget where exactly it is. It was linked to recently on this forum though.

Also this isn't Disney's first VC-1 title; I believe that some of their Japanese releases already use it, do they not? IMO VC-1, MPEG-2, AVC... as long as the end result is good, that's what matters.

Mpeg2 is broken because it's hindering BluRay. It is not "beyond high definition" in any way. Now a BD50 with avc or vc1 is what would deliver on BluRay's promises. If you're gonna tout it as "beyond high definition" then step up to the plate and prove it!

Really, people need to stay in their respective forums.

MPEG-2 isn't hindering Blu-ray, poor transfers have.

But there are *plenty* of BD titles out there using it that are "beyond high definition." I'm not saying that VC-1 or AVC on BD50 doesn't hold out greater promise - because it does - I just think a lot of the gains there will be in areas other than PQ using that extra space.

I agree on the transfer problem, Xbdestroya and releases are looking better and better. I just want consistency, sharp transfers and at a minimum the extras that were on the sd dvd. I believe these things are slowly but surely coming so things are moving in the right direction.

Right under our noses...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=760714

This is supposed to be on a BD50. I hope someone will post the file size so that we can get an idea of the average bitrate. Maybe we can get a better idea on whether or not the VC1 PQ really is noticably better at higher bitrates than are being use on HD-DVD30. The PQ only got 4/5 at HighDefDigest on this one though.

Yep it sure was, quite astounding.

There's a reason the ignore list was invented.

I don't know how much of an idea we will get without more information. Much like comparing "Full Metal Jacket" on HD DVD at something like 25Mbps average to one of their <13Mbps titles might make a person think that lower bitrates actually mean better quality.

--Darin

It means, if the rumors are correct, that Disney would soon release in both formats.

OK. You go right on believing that you know what you're talking about.

how is Sony 'Pushing' MPEG2 on other studios? Exactly how does Sony benefit/profit from what other studios do with their titles?

I'm pretty sure Sony doesn't get exclusive royalities from MPEG-2 usuage. From what I understand, MPEG2 is the cheapest codec (since its being used for DVD) whereas with VC-1 the studios will have ante up extra cash to MS for using their codec. Given the results of recent Mpeg2 releases and the capacity offered by BD50 I wouldn't want to give Gates any more of my money for a codec.

I hope you meant that as a really big smile, since some of the propaganda around here tried to make people believe that using VC-1 meant going neutral (with their BS about encoding with VC-1 meaning that there would be an encode that would work on HD DVD). It might have worked on some people. When people look at the statistics for this VC-1 encode from Disney I bet they will find that there is no way in the world it would work on HD DVD. It was somewhat amazing how simple it was for some to mislead others just because of some little file format issue that is fixed up in no time.

--Darin