Curious to see if most members prefer a higher bitrate and dts track compared to an average bitrate with additional extras.
The best solution would be to do both with two disks, however as most studios are getting cheaper and cheaper with the extras, forced trailers with commercials and no inserts, this probably will not happen on initial releases.

superbit deluxe is the best format I think.
1st disc movie only - in the original language only (F' the spanish/french tracks wasting space). DTS and DD. No extras - that's what disc 2+ are for

Thankfully some other movies are being released this way (matrix2/3 come to mind) besides the superbits (which are way overpriced sadly), however I agree that too many new releases are being made as 1 discs only and they try to fit 70min extras and 4 different audio tracks on the same disc

DTS and better bitrate. The audio/video presentation should be FIRST priority when producing a DVD.

^^What he just said. Plain and simple.

My thoughts exactly.

Full bitrate Dts, then special features on disc 2. This should be the dvd template. Shroud has a point with the Superbit comparison. I don't know why all the Superbits aren't 2-disc "Deluxe" sets.

Yes.

DTS....quality is what got me into dvd much more than the extras. Some extras are nice, but many movies waste disc space with a bunch of uninteresting extras.

Superbit Deluxe method isn't the best option because you couldn't have any commentaries on the first disc. I think it's safe to say that commentaries are some of the best extras.

This just about says it all.

I want the Superbit Deluxe format but with Dolby 2.0 and 1509 bit rate DTS.

Ditto

Ditto the ditto. Though if they could find a way to squeeze on at least one commentary, that'd be great. I dig commentaries.

Yea , Superbit deluxe releases are worth it. Full bitrate audio and video and put all the extras on the other discs. Charge us a extra buck or 2 for the pressing of the discs , i dont care , just give us full quality video and audio. all on one disc.

Most of us care about audio/visual more than we care about extras.

Same here!...

I always look if a different release with DTS and leser extras (ie: Road to Perdition, Prince of Egypt, Apollo 13, 12 Monkeys...)

Because to a large extent, Superbits are a marketing gimmick.

People have posted here that many Superbit releases are nowhere near maxed out as far as data content is concerned, with a gigabyte or two of unused space on a DVD-9 that easily could have been used to accommodated a few extras.

Superbits do look nice, but they are nothing that other studios aren't already doing without the catchy name. The other studios also manage to get a few extras on their discs, or fairly regularly include a second disc of extras.

In many of the instances where a Superbit rerelease of an existing title has had vastly improved picture quality, it can just as easily be attributed to a new, improved transfer, not simply the higher video bitrate ("Lawrence of Arabia" comes to mind).

Why is it that I can buy an amazing two-disc set of "Finding Nemo," with great picture and sound, for $15.99, but if it was labeled Superbit Deluxe I would have shelled out closer to $25-$30?

Kudos to Sony for figuring out a way to trick people into paying more for less.

is that not sony's business model?

Salty's right, but the idea of a 'Superbit' - using all the space for prime audio and video - is sound.

Stuff like Seven has shown us you can have excellent picture and sound, AND have insightful commentary.

Rarely do I trade dts or better picture for better extras, though. I got the canadian Brotherhood Of The Wolf because the cut was longer.

Having listened to far too many commentaries than I would have ever cared to were I not reviewing the discs in question, in my opinion it is definitely not safe to say any such thing. Many many many commentaries just outright suck and are a total waste of time. Do we really need to listen to Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger describe the action happening on-screen in Total Recall for 2 hours?

"This is where you beat up the bad guys."
"Exactly."
"And this is where you shoot the bad guys."
"Exactly."
"Here you are beating up some more bad guys."
"Exactly."

Give me a good documentary over a commentary any day.

I'm going to give a healthy 'it depends.'
I have never really been able to say 'DTS is better than DD' or vice versa. I generally listen to DTS when it's available, just because it seems a little louder and I don't have to crank my receiver up more; and I don't measure the bitrate when I watch DVD's. Does it sound good, and does the picture look good? I would assume a higher bitrate generally means a better picture, but at what point do we hit diminishing returns? that is, if going from 5 mb/s to 6 mb/s means dumping the extras, for 8% better picture, I probably would stick with 5 mb/s.
Re: extras--Josh Z is very correct. A commentary is not inherently entertaining. I also would rather watch documentaries, deleted scenes, behind the scenes, f/x breakdowns, etc, than listen to most commentaries. Commentaries *can* be very good, but then, I'd rather *watch* an extra, showing how these people animated Nemo, rather than listen to them talk about it.
Of course, you also have to know your audience--I expected it to be ahead, but I'm actually surprised audio/video is ahead by as much as it is. There's probably a greater proportion of DVDTalkers with good HT equipment than in the 'general public', so if you were to go to Best Buy or Suncoast or something and ask this, I think you'd get something like 65/35 extras vs. a/v, simply because 'we want more.' Extras are tangible 'more', better a/v isn't.
Ideally--both : ). As mentioned above, Se7en is a good example of 'both.' Same with pretty much anything from Pixar, or even Episode I/II. And of course LotR. It can be done, and again, I'd rather see more [interesting] extras than a slight increase in bitrate, measurable only by the counter on the screen.

Dude, 'Total Recall' has one of the funniest commentaries I've ever heard.

Arnold is really a smart guy. Smart enough, at least, to never appear on a commentary track with anybody smarter than him. Thus, he comes across as really smart when he has to explain to Verhoeven that it might all be in Quaid's head, that Quaid isn't really on Mars, and Verhoeven gets confused.

Seriously, that track is aces. "Wayne's World" is a good example of a (in my opinion) needless commentary. (I tried to listen, really I did, but I just couldn't get through.)

I find it interesting that everybody automatically assumes that a higher bit rate will be a better transfer. I would think every single person on here could think of obvious specific examples that would disprove that as a rule. Me, personally, I like great transfers, but I love extras. Obviously, the 'Superbit Deluxe' model is great, but when it's a title where it's only gonna have one disc due to an obviously limited market, I'd rather have a solid transfer with extras than a perfect transfer without them. I love my movies, but I also enjoy a more full context for them.

I liked the Total Recall commentary as well. But anyway, i agree with the "it depends" attitude. Plenty of movies look and sound just fine, AND have great extras.

i recently starting to listen commentary on my collection....

80% of 'em put me to early sleep

the only commentary that can keep me entertain (laugh, gigle, surprise) is John Carpenter & Kurt Russell's dynamic duo commentary

i wouldn't mind sacrificing full-bite rate DTS for their commentary...

other than that, just drop all those 5.1DD spanish, frencyh, Zimbabue, Jamaica, etc & leave room for fullbit DTS (DD included of course)

just my take

Then you haven't listened to the best three commentaries (as far as entertainment) available!

Most entertaining Commentary: Airplane! by ZAZ, followed by The Naked Gun 1-33 1/3; and finally, Ghostbusters.

Check them out!

Very funny and entertaining!