Superbit?

[AndrewLyles]

So I was wandering through the local Circuit City last weekend and saw they were playing "The 5th Element" on their "Reference System". Needless to say the sound and picture quality was offence to any real system but it got me thinking. A couple of years ago they released a 5th Element "Superbit" version. I've got regular copy that originally was released on DVD... is the Superbit noticibly different from the audio tracks in terms of quality? I also noticed this will be one of the release Titles in BD. Good thing I love this movie.

 

[GlocksRock]

The superbit will have DTS, and the picture will be a bit better.

 

[wilkenboy]

I have both versions. The original and superbit do not differ drastically in picture. Although the superbit does look a little better, its not like it breaks the bounds of DVD encoding. You'd think from the marketing fluff on Superbits that they look HD. Its still a DVD and hence fixed in resolution, its just the encoding was done at a higher bitrate and hence fewer compression artifacts.

The sound however is worlds apart. The original does not hold a candle to the superbit version's DTS, both in general quality and in surround mixing.

I sprung for the Superbit at Best Buy when it was $9.99. Worth every penny, even though I already owned the original.

~Josh

 

[Jack Hammer]

So I was wandering through the local Circuit City last weekend and saw they were playing "The 5th Element" on their "Reference System". Needless to say the sound and picture quality was offence to any real system but it got me thinking. A couple of years ago they released a 5th Element "Superbit" version. I've got regular copy that originally was released on DVD... is the Superbit noticibly different from the audio tracks in terms of quality? I also noticed this will be one of the release Titles in BD. Good thing I love this movie.

For me the picture is about the same, the soundtrack, however, was worth the cost of the superbit. The mix is far superior to the original dvd release. My local Best Buy still has it on the shelves for $9.99. Personally, I found this one to be worth the cost of double dipping.

 

[Sheep]

Noob question: What the hey-ho is superbit?

SheepStar

 

[wilkenboy]

Its supposed to be a DVD with all of the "extras" removed and the space used entirely for encoding the material at the highest bitrate possible.

~Josh

 

[Jack Hammer]

Noob question: What the hey-ho is superbit?

SheepStar

It's Sony's re-release of a movie with a higher bit-rate sampling and usually a re-mixed dts soundtrack.

Sony's superbit explanation page

They say that movies are picked based upon whether or not they will benefit from the process, mainly action movies. Not all superbits are neccesarily good movies, just high action.

I think it's similar to other studio's stuff, like the Criterion Collection, or New Line Platinum series.

 

[mpompey]

This is the part I don't understand. IF they devote more space to the picture by getting rid of the extras, doesn't that mean less room for the audio material? And DTS is supposed to be a higher bitrate than DD to begin with. Wouldn't it get hurt by that process?

 

[mike c]

surprisingly, if you look at the pie graphs, the superbit allocates LESS area for audio ... OTOH perhaps this is all the foreign languages removed.

 

[rolski]

surprisingly, if you look at the pie graphs, the superbit allocates LESS area for audio ... OTOH perhaps this is all the foreign languages removed.

But not only do they remove the other languages, but any Dolby Digital mix, and any other extras & assorted junk. Hence the DTS-only mix takes up less space....

I own several Superbit DVD's too, and to be honest the difference to the standard discs has never been huge....

 

[shokhead]

I keep finding them for $9.99 at BB so i pick them up. Sound is good and the pic is as good as reg DVD's,maybe a tad bettert.

 

[j_garcia]

"Finding" them? They're ALL $9.99 at BB...have been for almost a year, since I don't think any more SB versions will be released. Movies with good transfers tend to not look much better, but a few I bought just because the video was MUCH better with a new transfer. They also all have a DTS track, which in some cases, was also worth it.

 

[shokhead]

"Finding" them? They're ALL $9.99 at BB...have been for almost a year, since I don't think any more SB versions will be released. Movies with good transfers tend to not look much better, but a few I bought just because the video was MUCH better with a new transfer. They also all have a DTS track, which in some cases, was also worth it.

I've run across a few that were not $9.99 and left them.

 

[j_garcia]

They should all be $9.99, with the exception of a very small number of special editions, at the register no matter what they are marked. All the local BBs removed them from the regular DVD area and put them into a separate area in the "Magnolia" rooms for some reason, which made it easy for me to pick through and get all the ones I wanted, or about 1/3 of all the SBs available.

 

[GlocksRock]

Iv'e seen some Superbit discs that did give me the option of Dolby Digital or DTS, so not all Superbit discs are strictly DTS only.

 

[j_garcia]

What I meant was they all have a DTS track. All DVDs must have a Dolby Stereo track at minimum, for compatibility reasons - it is part of the DVD specification. Not all SBs have a DD 5.1 track, and some of them even may not have a English track, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

 

[GlocksRock]

They are all in the native language, like Das Boot is in German DTS.