Superbit DVD's- buying them again? (1 Viewer)

[Leonard Gee]

What is the difference between the current versions vs. the new superbit dvd's. Are the new dvd's that much better than the current versions and worth repurchasing the movie? Here are a few titles I saw listed.
Air Force One
Crouching Tiger
Hidden Dragon
Desperado
Fifth Element

 

[MikeEckman]

Those 4, plus Johnny Mnemonic (sp?) are the only Superbit DVDs that have been announced thus far. My guess is, Sony wants to see how well these do, before announcing anymore.
As for differences, this has been discussed ad nauseum, but to summarize, they are going to put a half bitrate DTS track and a 448 bps Dolby Digital track on each disc and use the rest for video. My guess is, no animated menus, no trailers, no production notes, etc. These will be BAREBONES!!!
For fans of supplements, you probably wont want to replace your Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but the other 4 titles are first generation Columbia titles, so I think a replacement would be worthy if you like the movie. The only one of the 5 I already owned was Fifth Element, whcih I will be replacing. Im gonna pick up Air Force One too, but the other 3 dont interest me.
[Edited last by MikeEckman on August 27, 2001 at 11:21 AM]

 

[DaveBB]

Whenever it starts working again do a search under "Superbit". There have already been numerous discussions about this.
IMHO I'm getting Air Force One. The old one was a double sided single layer flipper but was still good enough to be used as demo material for a long time. I must have sold 3 or 4 people on DVD based upon the takeover scene. The new one with dts should rock even more.

 

[Leonard Gee]

Thanks. I'll do a search for "superbit" and try to catch up with my reading. Seems there's always something new- ie. SACD vs DVD-A, Superbit, etc. Hard to keep up these days.

 

[Leonard Gee]

Thanks. I'll do a search for "superbit" and try to catch up with my reading. Seems there's always something new- ie. SACD vs DVD-A, Superbit, DPLII, etc. Hard to keep up these days.

 

[Dennis Oblow]

The only title that would interest me out of the bunch is The Fifth Element. I am waiting to get a concensis of how much better the video is than the copy I have now. This transfer is refrence quality already, so I'm curious to see how much they can improve it. The DTS soundtrack is a definate plus as well, but both picture and sound will have to be better for me to buy it again.

 

[Tom-G]

I've read that there is a marginal difference between the Superbit and the original version of "The Fifth Element." Why wasn't a full bit rate dts track used? Using a full bit rate track seems logical to me that since these discs are the "high octane" DVDs. Does anyone know why it wasn't used?
I probably won't be purchasing any of these first wave of Superbits. Maybe if/when Starship Troopers is released.
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As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day. --Roger Ebert on The Phantom Menace
AIM: Aureus91 / DVDs / ICQ: 58566493

 

[Clinton McClure]

IMHO I'm getting Air Force One. The old one was a double sided single layer flipper but was still good enough to be used as demo material for a long time.

Let me mention the initial release of Air Force One is dual-sided, but not a flipper. There is a WS version on one side and a P&S version on the other.
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My DVD Collection

 

[Mario_C]

I got to compare the superbt DVD of The Fifth Element against the old one last Saturday at WSR. They had the AVS forum over for a day of listening to music and movies at their new reference HT.
Perry Sun syncroniced the recunstruction scene using two Sony
9000Es DVD players. I really wasn't able tosee any difference until we paused both players on the same frame and compared. The superbit had better skin color but it was really ard to see any difference.
we also got to see SW:TPM and Final Fantasy.
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Link Removed

 

[Mario_C]

Here is a link to a thread about the visit over at the AVS Forum. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/000751.html
[Edited last by Mario_C on October 01, 2001 at 11:47 PM]

 

[Neil Joseph]

The Fifth Element is not a great film but an awesome demo and that is the reason I kept it until recently. I will buy the superbit version to replace it simply to get the very slightly better sound and picture. Since the old one had no extras, I am losing nothing. I will also get Air Force One.
orangeman
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My Favourite Movie

 

[Tom-G]

Mario, what were your impressions of the dts track? Did you find it to be noticeably better?
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As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day. --Roger Ebert on The Phantom Menace
AIM: Aureus91 / DVDs / ICQ: 58566493