off topic, hot tip: DVD superbit titles $9.99 at Best Buy

[newtrix1]

Hey music fans, I came across a thread on the movie forum and figured I'd post the link here. Best Buy has their superbit DVD titles on sale for $9.99 (regularly around $22).
I don't think the store sticker prices reflect the sale, but they should be adjusted at the register. Their website reflects the sale price. Anyhow, here's the link to the thread on the movie forum:

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=13186

P.S. Also, here's a link to a movie review site which I found helpful (with superbit titles highlighted):


http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list.php?orderBy=Date&reviewType=All&searchText=superbit

[Dusty Chalk]

There sure are a lot of crappy movies out on Superbit, aren't there?

PS That's meant affectionately -- I watch (and enjoy) a lot of those movies.

[Mr Peabody]

Duh....... what's Superbit? What will it do for me, better audio or video or both? Will it play on regular DVD player?

[Woochifer]

Duh....... what's Superbit? What will it do for me, better audio or video or both? Will it play on regular DVD player?

Superbit DVDs devote more of the disc space to video data by eliminating all extras and bonus features (this includes commentary, documentaries, and the typical Spanish and French language tracks), and include DTS audio tracks on all of them. They play on normal DVD players.

In my viewings, the picture quality improvement depends on how good or bad the original DVD release was. In the case of Lawrence of Arabia and Das Boot, the Superbit release improved upon the video quality immensely and added the DTS track. Whether or not the extra video bandwidth was responsible or if other factors are in play (in the case of Lawrence, the Superbit version adjusted the color balances), who knows. People I know who swear by Superbit told me that you notice the difference more on big screen HDTVs.

The tradeoff is that most Superbit releases are movie-only DVDs, with not even the theatrical trailer included. The other thing to keep in mind is that the Superbit label does not mean that DVDs from other companies are always encoded at lower bitrates. For example, the extended edition DVDs of Lord of the Rings have higher average bitrates than the well-regarded Superbit edition of The Fifth Element.

[Mr Peabody]

Thanks Wooch

[unleasHell]

cool, and they are DTS as well

I bought three:

Fifth Element
Desperado
The Guns of Navarone