Anyone know anything about Sony's Super Bit Mapped DVD's. I seem to remember an article about the Fifth Element being redone SBM. Anyone Like them? Are there other titles that you have?
It's actually just Super Bit, leaving off the map. Basically they dedicate all of the DVD's space to the image and the audio, allowing them to give the highest bit rate for both. They also just give extra attention to the transfer and compression so that fewer artifacts show up. I have PANIC ROOM and SNATCH as Superbit. I've only got a regular television, so they look really good, but I don't know if they'd look SO much better than the standard issues, I haven't bought the same title twice to find out. Home theater reviewers say they definitely look better on their big screens and high end projectors. Because they cram the feature disc with the best picture and sound possible, any extras and special features have to be put on a second disc. I do like them and have bought a couple with the idea in mind that I might have a display that can show off their virtues in the future. You might want to check out www.thedigitalbits.com and www.dvdreview.com for any articles and reviews of Super Bit titles.
Check out http://www.superbitdvd.com/ for a cool flash demo of the technology. I've purchased a few Superbit DVD's and I really like them. It is a very cool concept: do away with the fluff and allocate the bits to the stuff that matters! I also like the fact that all Superbit DVD's have a DTS soundtrack, that I find much preferable over the ubiquitous DD over-compressed soundtrack. Of course, the whole concept of Superbit DVD will be pointless once blu-ray DVD's gain market acceptance...
Oh, I dunno. Superbit is as much a quality assurance program (like THX should have been) as it is a technology. So I'm sure they can have HD-Superbit.
The idea behind Superbit is basically to get rid of the extras, thus saving the space to record the movie at the highest bitrate possible. Sony could have saved even more space if they released separate Dolby Digital and DTS issues, but they are probably afraid of having too many returns from customers with DTS-incompatible systems.
I bought the Super Bit version of about a dozen discs and gave my normal versions away - there isn't a huge difference in detail but there was enough . I started with The Fifth element and noticed a difference that is hard to pin down and explain but improved the viewing experience. Clear as Mudd I know All the best - Andrew
Superbit is arguably less of a "technology" than "THX" certification, but it is still a good idea, and as a brand, more consistent and easily understood by the consumer. It is more or less just a brand name that indicates that not a lot of bits will be used for things like extras, menus, foreign dub tracks, or full-screen reformattings of widecsreen films, and that the average video bitrate will be as high as possible which can mean fewer compression artifacts and higher horizontal resolution. Regards,
Okay, sure, Superbit is not technically a "technology", rather it is a technological tactic, or application of technology. Also, I would agree that Superbit, as a brand name, is better defined than THX, which instead of offering a particular application, offers a host of applications and "services". THX has done a lot for the HT industry, but some of their practices have been (and perhaps still are) suspect. It would be great if Superbit offered dedicated DTS and DD discs to make room for even more video bandwidth, instead of having to include both audio options. However, I can see why they chose to go that route.
