Does anyone own a Superbit DVD?

[jeffrey]

Got S.W.A.T in Superbit as a gift. Does anyone else have one of these titles?

Superbit

 

[Kaido]

No, but tell us how it looks! I've heard of those but haven't gotten any yet.

 

[xospec1alk]

i have panic room in superbit. doesn't look any different to me...

 

[Amused]

All Superbit (A Sony Brand) does is supposedly encode at a higher bitrate.

If any problems were in the original transfer, like edge enhancement or color issues, high bit rates wont correct that.

This explains why some Superbit Titles look good, and other don't.

Also, many companies are now routinely encoding at the same, or higher bit rates than Sony's Superbit titles... Making Superbit a dated idea.

 

[jeffrey]

Originally posted by: Amused
All Superbit (A Sony Brand) does is supposedly encode at a higher bitrate.

If any problems were in the original transfer, like edge enhancement or color issues, high bit rates wont correct that.

This explains why some Superbit Titles look good, and other don't.

Also, many companies are now routinely encoding at the same, or higher bit rates than Sony's Superbit titles... Making Superbit a dated idea.

Do you have a link listing current encoding rates?
I find it hard to believe studios voluntarily went from 3 or 4 mb encoding all the way to 6.

 

[Jzero]

I equate Superbit with those gold CDs they used to sell. Just another gimmick for suckers who think they are A/Vphiles.

 

[Jeraden]

Well, they are supposed to sacrifice the special features and use the extra room on the disc all for the main movie. I have several superbits, and they all look great visually. Although I don't have the non-superbit to really compare against. In reviews that do compare them, the superbit is usually only marginally better than the non-superbit versions.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: jeffrey

Originally posted by: Amused
All Superbit (A Sony Brand) does is supposedly encode at a higher bitrate.

If any problems were in the original transfer, like edge enhancement or color issues, high bit rates wont correct that.

This explains why some Superbit Titles look good, and other don't.

Also, many companies are now routinely encoding at the same, or higher bit rates than Sony's Superbit titles... Making Superbit a dated idea.

Do you have a link listing current encoding rates?
I find it hard to believe studios voluntarily went from 3 or 4 mb encoding all the way to 6.

Most two DVD sets you find will be encoded at the same or higher bitrates than Superbit.

The best clue is finding a DVD that devotes an entire DVD to just the feature, and puts the garbage on another DVD. The fact that more and more DVDs are sold like this shows that companies have dramatically increased bit rates.

And, like I said, Sony does not have the best track record when it comes to non-bitrate related image problems, like edge enhancement. What good is a high bitrate if the picture is plagued with ghosting due to edge enhancement?

 

[knyghtbyte]

i recently bought a new DVD player, as it was a £750 model (the DVD player, thats around US$1350 -/+) i auditioned it in the shop with a couple other models, they have a THX certified demo room. I checked the players out on a cheap 28in CRT TV, expensive 32in CRT TV, a cheap 42in plasma, an expensive 42in plasma, and finally a cheap DLP front screen projector, and an expensive DLP front screen projector. Used a few different films, mostly to check out the sound as i find that more important than picture, but also compared Gladiator normal to Superbit version.......on the lower end equipment it didnt make a massive difference to the picture, slightly better colours mostly. However on highend equipment (mainly the 32in CRT TV and expensive DLP proj, not so much on the plasma) it made a worthwhile difference to the colours, brightness, blacks and motion control..........so if you have high end CRT or DLP its worth paying for the Superbit especially as you can get them quite cheap now on the older releases.

 

[bibbyking]

the only superbit i have is the Panic Room dvd and thats only because thats was the only version of the movie that was out at the time.

i can say however that the visuals are very nice; better than most of my non-superbit titles. who knows though if the superbit actually made a difference.


edit: i also would like to add that the number of discs a release has rarely means a higher bit rate. more discs equals more sales usually. and since an extra dvd only costs a company a few pennies, it also means more profit for that company.

 

[MrChad]

The idea behind Superbit is nice: eliminate the extras and dedicate all available space towards audio and video. In practice, the difference between a Superbit and non-Superbit title is subtle at best. You often need well-trained eyes and high-end equipment to notice a difference. http://www.videophile.info/ has some nice comparisons between Superbits and their "regular" counterparts.

 

[anxi80]

yes i have a few. some dvd's you notice a difference, some i dont. another reason for buying them is the dts tracks. i own the following superbits: snatch, bad boys, spiderman, spiderman 2, desperado, gattaca, black hawk down, the patriot, and the quick and the dead

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I only have one. The Fifth Element. Excellent video quality.