Panic Room - Is it Truely Superbit (1 Viewer)

Doug Schiller · Sep 25, 2002

Just rented this DVD last night and enjoyed the movie.

I started noticing the same problems I notice in other Sony releases mostly the mosquito noise that pops up in darker scenes.

I thought this was odd since it was labeled as a SuperBit title.

I also noticed that Superbit is not listed on the artwork or in the menus.

My Sony displays the bit rate during playback and noticed the movie barely crept above the "5" line which is average for most titles.
I could have sworn my Dracula SuperBit (the only one I own) never dipped below 7 or 8.

Something tells me Superbit got lost in the production somewhere or Sony used it as an excuse to include the DTS track (they can still say that DTS is a SuperBit exclusive).

Anyone else notice a less than "Super" Superbit of Panic Room?

Doug

Bjoern Roy · Sep 25, 2002

Very interesting. Will have to look into that once i got my copy (which will be another few days probably).

Jim Robbins · Sep 25, 2002

I bought PR and showed it to some friends. A few had not seen my projector before and I had to explain that this is not typical of the video quality. We thought it was rather poor. It seemed soft in many scenes and I guess the very low light levels did not help with the images. I popped in "Gladiator" after showing this film and what a difference, even in the opening dark lit scenes.
I was also very unimpressed by that horrible paper packaging, over all I would say rent this DVD instead.

Clinton McClure · Sep 25, 2002

I thought the video was a bit soft too. Was it like this theatrically?

Dharmesh C · Sep 25, 2002

Someone told me that only 17 gb of the disc was used, is this true?

Scott Simonian · Sep 25, 2002

Only 17Gb!?!?!

It better look damn good if that is true. (Which it isnt, unfortunatly.)

Dharmesh, the dvd itself would have to be a doublesided/dual layer dvd to have to take up that much room. So no, the movie does not take up 17Gb.

Johnny G · Sep 25, 2002

DVD Monthly mag in the UK tested a few SuperBit titles on a bit rate meter & found most put out a similar rate to most regular DVDs.

They mustn't have tried Dracula.

James Reader · Sep 25, 2002

I posted this (second hand) informaion in another thread here still not had any confirmation if right or wrong though.
But it true it's shocking. Only 2/3 of the disc used? That would give them over 1 hour's worth of space for supplements (if you accept the bit-rate can be much lower for supplements!)

Rob Lutter · Sep 25, 2002

Bah, it is just the usual "the regular consumer will never figure it out" bulljive that the studios throw out there. IE: No edge enhance on Episode I... f'n bulljive!
Face it, this film looks pretty damn good to the average consumer who has a 19" Sympatico TV with no surround options and a coaxal video connection

I found the video to be a little too dark... definately darker than when I saw it theatrically. The light scenes (in the beginning and end) are absolutely MESERIZINGLY beautiful... but the dark scenes is where it goes to shit.
All in all it is a pretty disappointing disc... I will DEFINATLEY unload it when the Special Edition comes out (if ever).

Patrick Sun · Sep 25, 2002

There will be another extras-laden edition of the Panic Room DVD later down the line.

Steven_Ma · Sep 25, 2002

I was thinking this would be my best looking dvd ( my 1st superbit ) boy was I dissapointed. Lord of the Rings, Blade II, and Gladiator all look beter imo.

Doug Schiller · Sep 25, 2002

DVD Monthly mag in the UK tested a few SuperBit titles on a bit rate meter & found most put out a similar rate to most regular DVDs. They mustn't have tried Dracula.

I could be wrong. Its been a long time since I checked Dracula. I do remember noticing the bit rate seemed higher than normal discs.

Checking bit rates is something I'm anal about. I check the audio and video (the new Unforgiven is 448kps btw).
So, I'm not sure Dracula uses higher video rate, I'll check when I get home.

The real question is, if these Superbits aren't using every single available bits, then why did they even bother?

Its not like it is hard to check the validity of their claims.

Doug

Click to expand...

Adam Horak · Sep 25, 2002

I was dissapointed in the video quality. It is by FAR my worst looking Superbit title. Frankly I think this disc just doesnt measure up very well to other recent big releases.

Ed St. Clair · Sep 25, 2002

Ugh!
I am aghast.
This is not my cup of tea, so I will never own this title, but still!
With the admittedly weak selection of SB's I was hoping [saying] this would be the title to open the flood gates with first releases being in SB.
Boy, was I wrong.
I think Sony should refund all your money and let you keep the disc.
Rip off!

Randy A Salas · Sep 25, 2002

The real question is, if these Superbits aren't using every single available bits, then why did they even bother?

It's a brand name, and that's about it. The whole line is a marketing effort to go after the dollars of DTS hounds.

Click to expand...

Rob Lutter · Sep 25, 2002

Here is how I think it went down

"We have the transfer and compression for the special edition of 'Panic Room' done, sir... it takes up 75% of the disc... there there is room for the 3 (or 4) commentaries that Mr. Fincher wants AND the DTS, boy this is going to be a great 2-disc set"
"How long till the supplements are done"
"Should be done in three months, sir."
"Three months?! But we need it done NOW... PRONTO! Hey, why not just take the transfer, slap in some DTS, and release it under the SUPERBIT line. We will be selling a barebones disc with no extras whatsoever... people won't complain because they think it is the best quality possible... and we can cash in A SECOND TIME"
"Brilliant, sir"
*NOTE: This was only a dramatization

Ruz-El · Sep 25, 2002

I'm glad I didn't buy it! Quite frankly, I never bought into the whole "Superbit" line, as on the majority of the TVs and systems I've seen them on, I havn't seen enough of an improvement in sound or picture to justify it. It dosn't matter how many bits they use : a bad transfer is a bad transfer, and a poor sound mix will sound like a poor sound mix, regardless of how much space is used. I'd rather have the space used for extras and supplements, hence I didn't buy Panic Room, as I know that Fincher has planned a Special Edition set. I hate being burned by companies who do multiple releases, so I didn't buy this one knowing full well that this would be the case.

Patrick Larkin · Sep 25, 2002

...and the film wasn't that good either.

Adam Barratt · Sep 25, 2002

I get an average bit-rate of 7.87Mbps for Bram Stoker's Dracula SB.

Adam

Doug Schiller · Sep 25, 2002

Thanks Adam, I thought so.

I'm not trying to bash SuperBit. I'm all for them wanting to use all available space for video.

And in no way would I tell someone not to buy Panic Room. I felt the there was enough David Fincher cool stuff to justify a purchase.

It just blows my mind that their claim is so easy to debunk by averaging the bitrate, how do they get away with it?

I rented Panic Room, does the store bought copy include an insert explaining what SuperBit is? Dracula does and IIRC, it was very straight forward on what SuperBit promises to be.

Doug

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