Do we even need 30GB discs for HD movies?

[7hil]

I recently saw an MP4 of a certain HD movie. The file size was 3.74GB. On a PS3 it showed up as an AAC soundtrack and AVC codec maxing out at about 6-7 mbps. I was blown away by the HD quality and detail from such a relatively small file.

It got me thinking, let alone having 50GB discs, do we even need 30GB ones? Could actually a very decent HD transfer exist on just a dual layer DVD? Is 50GB overkill?

Discuss!

[JayX]

No its not overkill at all, in fact its quite famous that King Kong had to lose its TrueHD soundtrack from the HDDVD version because there wasn't enough space. I bet if you played the mp4 you saw compared to source on a large screen you'd see the difference.

[7hil]

Where did that actually come from that KK had to loose the HD soundtrack because there wasn't enough space?

[Rasczak]

Originally Posted by 7hil

Where did that actually come from that KK had to loose the HD soundtrack because there wasn't enough space?

Probably a BluRay forum King Kong doesn't even use the full capacity of the 30GB disc - it weighs in at something like 26GB - plenty of space for further extras/soundtracks. At the time Universal wasn't putting TrueHD soundtracks on any discs.

As to the original post - I think the increased capacity of the new formats is important. I should imagine as the next gen codecs (AVC/VC1) mature we will see BD25/HD DVD30 become the standard - both offer ample space for an extended length film with lossless and lossy soundtracks. BD50 is largely overkill IMHO - a legacy mechanism enabling studios to stick with MPEG2 - but we will see benefits of it's use in future. It won't be in PQ improvements over what can be fitted on a 30GB disc though.