International THIS ISLAND EARTH, QUESTOR & COLOSSUS On German Blu...BUT WAIT! (1 Viewer)

Dick · Jan 15, 2015

Read the fine print (use Google Translate)....

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00GJOE5RK/ref=nosim?tag=dvdbeaver0c-21&link_code=as2&creativeASIN=B00GJOE5RK&creative=374929&camp=211189

What Universal has done here is to throw three STANDARD DEF movies onto a single Blu-ray disc!!

Is that f**ked up, or what?

I actually thought I was getting a superb deal on movies I've wanted on Blu-ray forever, but after I ordered them I began investigating, found out the truth, and cancelled.

Alan Tully · Jan 15, 2015

Ha, when it looks too good to be true...it is too good to be true!

schan1269 · Jan 15, 2015

Don't know how you miss the "SD" at the bottom of the cover.

Not the first triple(or more) pack on a BD disc. Won't be the last.

AshJW · Jan 15, 2015

I don't see Universal but:

Studio: Ostalgica (Alive AG)

haineshisway · Jan 15, 2015

It's on its way to me and I'll report when I have it. I'm not sure Google translate is always accurate, but we shall see.

bigshot · Jan 15, 2015

They should be able to fit two or three times that number of films on a blu-ray disk in SD.

Alan Tully · Jan 16, 2015

I have the UK DVD of This Island Earth, it's 1:85 which looks correct & the colour & picture aren't bad…but oh, the sparkle & general debris all over it, covered in it. I wouldn't be interested in a Blu-ray unless it was completely cleaned-up, & Universal (along with MGM) haven't got a good reputation for cleaning up their catalogue releases, so this film will probably stay just a good memory.

Douglas R · Jan 16, 2015

I've found the back cover and it's clearly licensed from Universal. I'm not sure what the top wording says (Google translate garbles it) but it seems to be saying that they are in HD.

Robin9 · Jan 16, 2015

Douglas R said:
I've found the back cover and it's clearly licensed from Universal. I'm not sure what the top wording says (Google translate garbles it) but it seems to be saying that they are in HD.

maximum.jpg

No. It's saying that Blu-ray was chosen for its huge storage capacity but the films on this disc are not in high definition.

AshJW · Jan 16, 2015

Douglas R said:
I've found the back cover and it's clearly licensed from Universal.

Of cause it's licenced from Universal, but it's not published by them.

Thus, it is not Universal that is responsible for the form of presentation but Ostalgica (Alive AG), that's what I meant.

Dick · Jan 16, 2015

Robin9 said:
No. It's saying that Blu-ray was chosen for its huge storage capacity but the films on this disc are not in high definition.

That means that this is a pretty deceptive set. It may say "SD" on the cover, but when it's released on a Blu-ray, IT SHOULD BE BLU-RAY! This could turn into a huge and very problematic issue in the future if the practice of stuffing SD films onto a Blu-ray becomes common. Then, very careful research and probably a wait for reviews for each release will be necessary to determine if a particular "Blu-ray" is worth the purchase. I find this a despicable practice. If a studio wishes to cram a bunch of SD movies into a Blu-ray disc, they should identify the transfers as being SD, not HD. They should be advertised as SD, with a disclaimer stating that the movies will only play on a Blu-ray machine, but that the movies are NOT Blu-ray. This should be explicit and unambiguous.

Mark-P · Jan 16, 2015

haineshisway said:
It's on its way to me and I'll report when I have it. I'm not sure Google translate is always accurate, but we shall see.

Gee Bruce, you must have money to throw away if you're willing to buy things just to placate your curiosity.

I've always wondered why the capacity of the Blu-ray format wasn't used in this fashion more often, especially for releasing entire seasons of TV programing in standard definition. People have posted here on the forums that Blu-ray has some sort of regulation stating that the main content of each BD must be in HD even though upconversion is acceptable. I don't necessarily believe that though, and this would be an example that would definitely be in violation of that regulation if it were true.

AndyMcKinney · Jan 16, 2015

Dick said:
That means that this is a pretty deceptive set. It may say "SD" on the cover, but when it's released on a Blu-ray, IT SHOULD BE BLU-RAY! This could turn into a huge and very problematic issue in the future if the practice of stuffing SD films onto a Blu-ray becomes common. Then, very careful research and probably a wait for reviews for each release will be necessary to determine if a particular "Blu-ray" is worth the purchase. I find this a despicable practice. If a studio wishes to cram a bunch of SD movies into a Blu-ray disc, they should identify the transfers as being SD, not HD. They should be advertised as SD, with a disclaimer stating that the movies will only play on a Blu-ray machine, but that the movies are NOT Blu-ray. This should be explicit and unambiguous.

This is the very reason why when certain people (such as Doctor Who fans) think that DVD companies should release, say, a whole season of a show in standard definition on a blu-ray disc, I always argue "no", precisely because of the confusion it can cause and also because the benefits don't really amount to enough to balance that.

It seems it's mostly Germany that's doing this SD-on-BD thing. Maybe what they should do to lessen confusion a little more is come up with a BR-size case that is in a different colour than blue (let's say, black) to more easily distinguish it from truly high-definition blu-rays.

Or, better yet, not release SD-only material on the format at all.

AndyMcKinney · Jan 16, 2015

Mark-P said:
People have posted here on the forums that Blu-ray has some sort of regulation stating that the main content of each BD must be in HD even though upconversion is acceptable. I don't necessarily believe that though, and this would be an example that would definitely be in violation of that regulation if it were true.

If so, maybe that's just for the USA/Region A, which might explain why this seems to only be practised in Germany.

youworkmen · Jan 16, 2015

Fortunately only Germany seem to be releasing SD on Bluray . They've done it with some tv shows previously like Space 1999. Doesn't help the format at all

Jason Marsh · Jan 16, 2015

OMG, Questor???? As in, "The Questor Tapes"?? Why isn't that available in the US??? I want it!!!

haineshisway · Jan 16, 2015

Mark-P said:
Gee Bruce, you must have money to throw away if you're willing to buy things just to placate your curiosity.

I've always wondered why the capacity of the Blu-ray format wasn't used in this fashion more often, especially for releasing entire seasons of TV programing in standard definition. People have posted here on the forums that Blu-ray has some sort of regulation stating that the main content of each BD must be in HD even though upconversion is acceptable. I don't necessarily believe that though, and this would be an example that would definitely be in violation of that regulation if it were true.

Gee Mark, it really wasn't much money at all, and even if it is SD, I can get rid of my standalone Island Earth and Forbin Project and I don't have Questor Tapes at all - so, why not?

Mark-P · Jan 16, 2015

haineshisway said:
Gee Mark, it really wasn't much money at all, and even if it is SD, I can get rid of my standalone Island Earth and Forbin Project and I don't have Questor Tapes at all - so, why not?

Because standard definition sucks?

AshJW · Jan 17, 2015

Better in SD than not at all.

Dick · Jan 18, 2015

Mark-P said:
Gee Bruce, you must have money to throw away if you're willing to buy things just to placate your curiosity.

Not that Bruce can't defend himself against your remark, but his purchase should not require defending. Do you create all sorts of rationales on this forum each time you buy a movie? Of course not. Yours was a pretty rude (and presumptuous) post. Please try to be more considerate.

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