darkflounder

but you'll need to watch it on your uber-computer.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/393/393023p1.html

T2: Extreme Edition
Final specs confirm the HD Windows Media version on the disc.

April 09, 2003 - Today the final specs for Artisan's upcoming re-re-release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day arrived and they confirmed a long-running rumor that the DVD would include a high-definition version of the film using a Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 file.

This may sound strange to you, but it is actually quite cool. Microsoft has developed a low-bitrate HD compression codec that is just now being experimented with on some Artisan DVDs. It allows high-def quality video on the same amount of disc space as a regular single-layer DVD. Artisan's Standing in the Shadows of Motown includes a Windows Media Player 9 version of the film in high-def on disc two. Not only does it look incredible; it only takes up about 3 gigs on the disc.

Naturally, you'll need some horsepower to correctly run these files on your PC. You'll need at least a 1.8ghz Pentium 4 with a nice chunk of RAM and a 5.1 compatible soundcard to take advantage of the audio. However, if you have all of that the high-def version looks a lot nicer than running the regular DVD on your PC.

Here are the complete, and final, specs for the upcoming T2: Extreme Edition


2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer digitally mastered from a brand-new 1080p, 24sf high-definition digital telecine transfer.

Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio.

Dolby headphone audio track

All-new audio commentary by James Cameron and co-screenwriter William Wisher.

Extreme interactive mode with graphic commentary and behind-the-scenes footage

16 minutes of additional scenes.

"No Feat But What We Make": an all-new documentary.

"T2: On the Set" retrospective montage

"T2: High Definition": the complete theatrical version of the film in Microsoft Windows Media 9 series, playable in high resolution and 5.1 sound directly from your PC

Infiltration Unit Simulator and T2 FX Studio: morph your imported images into a T-1000 or T-800 Terminator

Skynet Combat Chassis Designer: Construct and field-test your own ultimate fighting machine and track your progress online

THX optimizer

Metal collectible sculpture embossed package

Corky Roxbury

Yeah its cool but I heard you will need at least 1.8ghz pc and preferred to be 2.8 and at least 512 ram to run it, and it still does not like that great due to the compression. But it is a very cool bonus indeed :tu:

darkflounder

And you have to install Windows Media Player 9. Man, I've been running on 6.something for years with no problem, and have been able to avoid upgrading.

And the only way to uninstall Windows Media Player is a reformat.

eedoon

milo bloom

While 3 gigs is fairly small, I hope it's on the second disc or something so the standard res movie isn't over-compressed.

highdef

Who cares! Until an actual HD-DVD format arrives that I can play over my DLP, HDtv, this is all a matter of smoke and mirrors.
Most folks don't have an HDtv computer monitor anyway.
If this "new technology" was so viable there would be no reason for BluRay and RedRay HD-DVD to be battling it out for supremacy.
This is yet another scam to get us to buy a third edition of this film. When HD-DVD does actually arrive this title will probably be among the first titles to be released, so until that day I'm holding onto my ULTIMATE EDITION disc.

marty888

I have the ultimate edition ..... "ultimate" as in "last" .... as in "I have already bought this title for the last time...."

baap

Could not agree more.

BiMonSciFiCon

whats next - the ultimately extreme edition?

Simpson Purist

TRU, I am really not excited about this "Extreme" edition.

DavidH

You can bet this new transfer is going to blow away the mediocre "Ultimate" edition transfer. Just watch. I'm sure many people will change their mind about not purchasing it.

milo bloom

There are ways of hooking up your PC to your displays aren't there? I see people talking about it all the time on the net. If you're hardcore enough, then you won't think twice about dropping the dough for an extra computer for your HT room. All it would need is the processor, RAM, soundcard and a small harddrive for the OS. And a DVD drive of course.

spankyj

Well - if no "Special Extended Version", then no purchase for me. That's regardless of the video transfer quality.

Class316

This version is kinda dumb! You have one version of the movie in one format, and the another version in another format! I’ll stick to the already packed Ultimate Edition!

MrPeanut

what's so hard about hooking the DLP to the PC? What's a HDtv computer monitor? Can't almost all monitors display a resolution that high?

I wasn't interested in the XE before this news.

bdrules

accually the recommended system requirements are much higher.

in the ad from Video Store Magazine:

Windows XP Professional
512 MB of RAM
3 GHz Processor
128 MB/ 3D Video Card
24 Bit 96 Khz, Multichannel Sound Card
Recommended Display (1600x1200)

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do they even have 3 ghz computers yet?
it's a nice idea to have it on the disc as a bonus, but in reality, only around 5 % of the people that will buy this dvd have computers that can run it.
and how on earth can it take 3 ghz, 512 mb of ram, and a 128 meg video card to run a windows video file?!? why would having windows xp pro over xp home have anything to do with it either?

darkflounder

Actually, most current computer monitors blow away even HDTV in resolution. My little 19" does 1600x1200 non-interlaced, and it looks good. Granted, 19" is kinda small for a TV, but when you're only sitting a couple of feet from it, it's pretty sweet.

ckolchak

i'm going to have to get some reviews on this first, to see just how much of an improvement it is.
i'm concerned about the supplemental material.
even if its a great new 1080p master, if they put too much crap on the disc...
i'll wait and see.

the old disc isn't exceptional quality, but its watchable.
the new one would have to be pristine to get me to ante up again.

since i foresee owning a HDdvd player before i ever own a pc, the other feature doesn't do much for me either.

eedoon

I'll try to run that on my PIII 450. Let's see how high the fps count is. Below .5 fps, most likely.

hgodwin

Actually I believe the 3 gigs on the disc comment is in relationship to the Standing in the Shadows of Motown disk. That disk will not be true high definition. It is supposed to be only 1024x726 or so. The T2 disk is supposed to take the close to the whole disk and will be 1080p. The first 1080p prerecorded disk ever. The word on the street is that it will beat the d-theater version and will be the closest anyone in the public has seen to the D-5 master copy. Also it will be made the first public copy to be based on the new high definition transfer.

hgodwin

Mr. Cornell

(nitpick)
1080i HDTV is 1920x1080. So you have less horizontal resolution but more vertical resolution than an HDTV.

bitbug

What's really disgusting is they're sucking up to Microsoft. How about an HD presentation usable by everybody? Plus, I don't want an HD presentation on the same disk as the regular one, since that increases the required compression (read: more artifacts).

DVD Polizei

bitbug,

At this point in life, I would suck an employee from Microsoft, just to get a job.

hgodwin

bitbug,
The regular and the HD presentation are on separate disks. Also the increased compression being bad comment is only applicable when you are talking about a single compression codec. In that case increasing compression is bad. However, in the actual case we are talking mpeg-2 compression for regular dvds and WM9 for the microsoft hd version. The WM9 can compress more and still look better than the mpeg-2 alternative. This basically means that there is no downside to increased compression

mikewendt

I have the Ultimate Edition, and until the studios come up with a way to upgrade and get a credit for your old version, I'm going hold off on upgrading except in special sercumstances...

The $5.00 rebate in Roger Rabbit: Vista Series was a nice step in the right direction.