Jonathan Kaye

Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

I'm a bit confused by something I noticed on the back of the UK releases of 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' in both Blu-ray and HD DVD, which I happened to glance at in a shop the other day. Specifically, the running time was listed on both as 132 minutes, the same as the DVD release. Now my understanding so far of hi-def media is that 'PAL speedup' is a thing of the past, as the disc is mastered at 24p and left to the player to convert to 60Hz if need be. Is that right, regardless of region?

My initial suspicion was that the running time on the back of the hi-def boxes is a copy-and-paste typo from the DVD box, as the BBFC website lists two 'video' versions of this film, one at 132 minutes and one at 139 minutes. But then there's that nagging doubt that it might be sped up after all, not helped by having looked at the running time on Amazon UK for UK hi-def versions of several other Harry Potter films, all of which were the 'PAL' running time.

So, can anyone out there who's bought UK HD DVD or Blu-ray discs tell me for definite whether films in general, and the Harry Potter films in particular, are sped up?

"There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes" - The Doctor.

PaulDA

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

I've come across some cryptic references to "pitch problems" with some imported HD DVDs, though I have no more information than that. I'm not sure if the problem lies in the disc or the player's attempt to play it back. I know this is an issue with PAL discs converted to NTSC (though my DVD player did a great job with that so I didn't much notice it--and, since I got my front projector, I display the PAL signal natively from my DVD player, so no more issues at all).

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes time, and it annoys the pig.

Jim_K

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

Sound speed-up is alive and well, living in the land of HD imports. Nobody I've come across can give an explanation as to why.

Then there are those that claim not to hear it hence it doesn't exist.

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ppltd

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_K Sound speed-up is alive and well, living in the land of HD imports. Nobody I've come across can give an explanation as to why. Then there are those that claim not to hear it hence it doesn't exist.

I am one of those that hear it on some, but not others. Rambo (1) had very noticable problems, Harry Poter did not. Could it be that I hear them on some HD DVD imports and not others because it is not constant on all imported releases? I have yet to find a source that lists those releases that have the horrid pitch problem and those that do not.

• Toshiba HD-XA2, HD Add-on, Panasonic DMP-BD10A
• Pioneer VSX-94TXH, Panasonic PT-AE 2000U 1080p (delivered but not mounted yet)
• 252 HD DVDs, 65 BD DVDs, and over 1560 - SD DVDs and going down
• New buying strategy - I will continue to buy Universal and Paramount HD DVD's, but if it available in both formats, Blu-ray now gets my purchase.

ppltd

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Kaye My initial suspicion was that the running time on the back of the hi-def boxes is a copy-and-paste typo from the DVD box, as the BBFC website lists two 'video' versions of this film, one at 132 minutes and one at 139 minutes.

Could the time discrepancy be a difference in the European and North American cuts of the film?

• Toshiba HD-XA2, HD Add-on, Panasonic DMP-BD10A
• Pioneer VSX-94TXH, Panasonic PT-AE 2000U 1080p (delivered but not mounted yet)
• 252 HD DVDs, 65 BD DVDs, and over 1560 - SD DVDs and going down
• New buying strategy - I will continue to buy Universal and Paramount HD DVD's, but if it available in both formats, Blu-ray now gets my purchase.

Jay Gregory

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

I don't know if this is the case, but could it be that the PAL region rights holder has a 25 fps HD master ready and available that is used for all purposes: SD TV broadcast, HD TV broadcast, SD home video releases, and HD home video releases?

Cees Alons

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

The contents of the European HD DVD discs are exactly the same files as on those sold in the US. The players handle the signals in the same way. No way you can hear a pitch difference: because it's not there.

Perhaps that's also the reason most people don't hear it.


Cees

Cees Alons

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

Where would he get those funny masters? They never used it for DVD releases (the 25fps 2:2 pull did/does the job). And why wouldn't they use (new) HD masters to author HD releases?


Cees

Duncan Harvey

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

I seem to recall some of the Canal + HD-DVDs having bizarre speed up or pitch problems where the video and audio assets came from different materials.

Hence the picture was 24p and then the sound was from a pitch corrected 25p master and then slowed down.

Havent heard of any UK discs having these problems

ppltd

Re: Is sound speed-up a thing of the past?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan Harvey I seem to recall some of the Canal + HD-DVDs having bizarre speed up or pitch problems where the video and audio assets came from different materials. Hence the picture was 24p and then the sound was from a pitch corrected 25p master and then slowed down. Havent heard of any UK discs having these problems

The only problems I have noticed have been on early Studio Canel releases so I guess you could be on to something.

• Toshiba HD-XA2, HD Add-on, Panasonic DMP-BD10A
• Pioneer VSX-94TXH, Panasonic PT-AE 2000U 1080p (delivered but not mounted yet)
• 252 HD DVDs, 65 BD DVDs, and over 1560 - SD DVDs and going down
• New buying strategy - I will continue to buy Universal and Paramount HD DVD's, but if it available in both formats, Blu-ray now gets my purchase.

PaulDA