AfterDawn: Tech news

Windows Media 9 in movie theaters

Written by Lasse Penttinen @ 03 Apr 2003 11:33 User comments (48)

Ever wondered what a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death - the standard Windows crash screen) would look like on a huge cinema screen? According to the source, there is an increasing chance to experience this in a movie theatre near you.
Today Landmark Theatres and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) announced that they are equipping 177 screens in all 53 Landmark Theatres across the United States with digital cinema playback systems based on Microsoft® Windows Media® 9 Series. This unprecedented agreement represents the largest digital cinema theater circuit installation to date in the United States.
..
This helps address the escalating costs of releasing theatrical films, which weighs heaviest on the independent sector, as it must pay the same costs to release a film as the major studios. The creation of a complete digital alternative represents a major breakthrough in these economies that will help guarantee greater diversity and access to the marketplace for independent filmmakers and distributors alike.




Biz.Yahoo.Com

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48 user comments

14.4.2003 03:14

Can't wait for the IMAX/3D version of BSOD!

24.4.2003 08:06

ah! shut up! You stupid microsoft haters are just driving me MAD! If you dont like microsoft dont use anything of them. And dont try to make something funny if it doesnt make sense at all. How can the Windows MEDIA!!!! cause a BOSD?? and I have been running XP for more than a year already, and i have NEVER, im telling you, NEVER seen the BOSD! So you all can go shut up with ur stupidity. haha, bosd on windows media. is that stupid or what?!?!?

35.4.2003 08:37
Sefy
Inactive

Actually i've seen it happen LOADS of times on 98/2000/XP, so just cause you don't do much with your PC to experience it, doesn't mean others don't! and for your sake I hope you never will see it, although I have a great feeling you will.

46.4.2003 01:06

Quote:
so just cause you don't do much with your PC to experience it, doesn't mean others don't! and for your sake I hope you never will see it, although I have a great feeling you will.
hahaha, i dont do much with my computer? i have an amplifier hooked up to my pc, with surround speakers, and that in addition to my original 4.1 speakers. I download SVCD / DivX / XViD movies like daily, i have like over 5GB of MP3s that i listen to every day, i capture and edit video every week or so. I encode my own SVCD & DivX Movies. I also try to do my own high-quality DVD format Music Videos. I play tons of games on my GeForce4 vcard, like unreal tournament 2003, splinter cell, C&C:Generals. I also do N64 Emulation, and every once and a while i do PSX or NES emulation. I'm testing an Office 2003 BETA for Microsoft. I (illlegaly) downloaded Windows Longhorn Alpha bld. 4008. I do video conferecing, i download full games, full apps. I do TONS of stuff on my computer, so.... i think u can shut up about that one. The ONLY time i saw a BSoD on XP was when i installed my nVidia card for the first time. i had a wrong CD delivered to me with wrong drivers (via eBay) and the whole thing messed up. But! now that i said that, i must say that my point in the first place was, that u cant have a BoSD on windows MEDIA, cuz they are media files. Whats the last time u were playing an MPEG-2 file, and it stoppped playing and showed a Directshow rendered BoSD? while windows kept working? exactly, never. u cant have a media crash, its just plain stupid EDIT: Typo's
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 06 Apr 2003 @ 1:15

56.4.2003 01:09

oh and by the way, i said XP and there is NO good reason to include 98 in ur line-up WHOLE different KERNEL!!! 98--> thousands of BSoD's, bad kernel 2000> super stable XP > same kernel, also super stable so i have NO idea why u would say 98/2000/XP while I clearly said on XP i never had a crash EDIT: Typo's

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 06 Apr 2003 @ 1:13

66.4.2003 04:45

If you use it that much you need to get out more.

76.4.2003 04:51

lol. i like that one. but i have my friends over all the time to watch movies and stuff... haha good one though :D i like it!

86.4.2003 05:08

Fair enough :D It's not Windows Media itself causing the BSOD, it's Windows. I think this is what the article is trying to say. XP is very stable but it still occasionally crashes.

96.4.2003 06:19
Sefy
Inactive

@obieobied, sorry to disappoint you, I have no plans of shutting up. and I do alot more then you on the PC, including all that you do, including beta testing, including emulations and not just N64, but just about all of them! I've seen dozens of BSoD's on 2000 and XP for many reasons AND specificly AND especialy WMP9 which is a KNOWN troublemaker! so just because YOU, an INDIVIDUAL out of BILLIONS of people hasn't had a BSoD, doesn't mean others haven't! so you put a cork in it.

106.4.2003 16:47

Quote:
It's not Windows Media itself causing the BSOD, it's Windows. I think this is what the article is trying to say. XP is very stable but it still occasionally crashes
Oh... but it doesnt necessarily have to be Windows, because they released Windows Media Player for Mac OS X too, so thats why i was saying what i said.
Quote:
I've seen dozens of BSoD's on 2000 and XP for many reasons AND specificly AND especialy WMP9 which is a KNOWN troublemaker! so just because YOU, an INDIVIDUAL out of BILLIONS of people hasn't had a BSoD, doesn't mean others haven't! so you put a cork in it.
Awwww... hit ME where it hurts! PLEASE! Maybe you get all those BSoD's becuz you dont know how to work with a computer... Maybe you should look up the book 'computer of dummies'. That'll get you going on how to use Windows, and not make it crash. Cuz only if u dont know what you're doing, can you get these 'dozens' of BSoD's. I bet you couldnt let ur computer run on XP, for even a week without rebooting. I can, i've let an XP Pro Computer on for a month, 34 days! NO crashed whatsoever, and not just letting it stay there, while using the PC. Photoshop, taking up memory and all. So just beacuse YOU, and INIDVIDUAL out of ALL PEOPLE IN WORLD, has BSoD's on XP every day, doesnt mean others do! so YOU can put a cork in some place im not allowed to say on this forum.

116.4.2003 16:52

But actually, I have no idea why they would want to put a whole new format in Movie Theaters... There are much better formats than Windows Media 9 Series, for example DivX/XViD or some other good MPEG-4 codec. (Dont go telling me that WM9 is MPEG-4, cuz i know that, but XViD is MUCH more customizable than WM9). The only reason i could think off is that stupid Consumer Right Management bla bla bla that we all hate...

126.4.2003 16:55
Sefy
Inactive

@obieobied, when you get half the experience I have with PC's, then maybe i'll bother being "offended" by your lowered communication intelligence. I Know what i'm doing more then you know what the word PC means, only you've worked on propably 10 PC's your entire life, I build those in less then a day at work, so I got alot more experience with mixed hardware then you. Oh, what a challnge, you had XP Pro for a whole month with no crashes ? so ? i've got 98SE running for 2 years without a single crash, while it's being used as a Web/FTP Server, and with me working and playing on it, oh yeah, the only times it was off line was when there were power failures, but i'm sure you found a solution for that as well. PS: Since you are an idiot I shouldn't mention it, but the BSoD's I've seen weren't mine, but other people who came to me so I can fix their XP's problems and BSoD's, but that's besides the point.

136.4.2003 17:01

Quote:
shouldn't mention it, but the BSoD's I've seen weren't mine, but other people who came to me
WHA HA HA! you just admitted! So its the OTHER people who come to you with their problems and you just said urself that u run windows 2 years without crash Well that was my whole point Maybe you ARE such an 'expert' and thats why windows doesnt crash on you. Dont u see my point? if u know how to work with a computer, you wont get those problems. Its the beginners that come to you (and me too) that have the BSoDs Dont understand what u were discussing about all the time. Is this funny or what. hahhahaha. you are sad dude. YOU dont get the BoSD's hahahahha i cant stop laughing whahahahaha... phew! wow! i gotta tell my friend about this one!!!

146.4.2003 17:07
Sefy
Inactive

obieobied, then you propably missed the whole point of the discussion, which was your idiot remarks to the one that did get the BSoD, and that is, just cause YOU don't get them, doesn't mean LOADS of other people don't! BY THE WAY, if you haven't noticed I said Windows98 and NOT the hurrible Windows XP which is full of Microsoft Crap Build Into It.

156.4.2003 17:08

ummm dude. XP is more stable than 98, cuz it has the same kernel as Win NT. And i think YOU missunderstood the point of the discussion. That is not what I meant

166.4.2003 17:18
Sefy
Inactive

No, you missed it, cause it is exactly what you ment: How can the Windows MEDIA!!!! cause a BOSD?? and I have been running XP for more than a year already, and i have NEVER, im telling you, NEVER seen the BOSD! So you all can go shut up with ur stupidity. haha, bosd on windows media. is that stupid or what?!?!? Well, i've seen loads of WMP, especialy the last 9 version to cause heaps of BSoD's on XP and on 2000. And "maybe" XP is more "stable" then 98, but all I need, I have running smoothly and stable on 98, oh by the way, you do know the "NT Kernel" is OS/2 ? right ? Besides, the MAIN point of this discussion, is your inability to be a human being and talk like one.

176.4.2003 17:23

noooooo 1st of all and doest matter if the nt kernel is os/2 dont matter if its old or new point is its stable, but lets forget about all that cuz u just missundaztood 2nd of all you are talking about windows media PLAYER I am talking about windows MEDIA. two different things. and hey im going offline so if ya wanna say sumthin else, im gonna have to check it tomorrow.

186.4.2003 17:24

last time: windows media can not crash, but windows media PLAYER can crash. i just didnt make it clear enough in da post b4 this one, that why i put it again

196.4.2003 17:24

last time: windows media can not crash, but windows media PLAYER can crash. i just didnt make it clear enough in da post b4 this one, that why i put it again

206.4.2003 17:28
Sefy
Inactive

And how do you think this Windows Media will be played in Theaters ? using Mandrake Linux 9.1 ? or maybe Windows98 ? for some very strange reason I highly doubt it, i'm "guessing" that it will use Windows Media PLAYER v9, which is what will obviously cause the BSoD's. But lets forget about all THAT, which is really a matter of personal taste and opinion, where the actually point is you calling someone with a different opinion then your own "stupid" which is what represents you at the moment.

217.4.2003 00:50

as I said before, windows media PLAYER has been released to Mac OS X. So YES, you COULD use another OS to play the Windows Media. and because its a matter of 'taste and opinion', it gives me the right to post whatever i want

227.4.2003 00:58
Sefy
Inactive

The problem is not your post, the problem is your disgusting attitude towards others who do not share your opinion.

237.4.2003 01:03

oooooooooooooh. Well you could've told me that instead of commenting on what I said about windows media. You could have just said, 'if you dont change your attitude i might just beat you with a stick' or something.... Now, a couple of quotes:

Quote:
Besides, the MAIN point of this discussion, is your inability to be a human being and talk like one.
Quote:
obieobied, then you propably missed the whole point of the discussion, which was your idiot remarks to the one that did get the BSoD
Quote:
@obieobied, when you get half the experience I have with PC's, then maybe i'll bother being "offended" by your lowered communication intelligence.
Quote:
PS: Since you are an idiot I shouldn't mention it, but the BSoD's I've seen weren't mine, but other people who came to me so I can fix their XP's problems and BSoD's, but that's besides the point.
Quote:
so just because YOU, an INDIVIDUAL out of BILLIONS of people hasn't had a BSoD, doesn't mean others haven't! so you put a cork in it.
suuuuuuure! I am insulting

247.4.2003 01:09
Sefy
Inactive

Just showing you how easy it is to be like you. Unless you want me to start wasting a post and quotting you on how you tell all Microsoft Haters to shut up and they are idiots and all the other lovely intelligent communicative skills you've been showing us. If you want, i'll be glad to do it, but I think you have the power to read yourself.

257.4.2003 01:12

I dont think i have to resort to your lower intelligence to be able to understand what you are saying. Basically, you want to be just like me. Which is why you are showing how easy it is to 'be like me' Sure. Uh-huh. I Know. Thats what they all say. Oh! and by the way, nice article to check out here: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3202

267.4.2003 01:34
Sefy
Inactive

Oh, so you do want me to quote you, very well then: ah! shut up! You stupid microsoft haters are just driving me MAD! and how about So you all can go shut up with ur stupidity. and maybe Maybe you should look up the book 'computer of dummies' or this one you are sad dude So of course you can go with: Sure. Uh-huh. I Know. Thats what they all say. If you really think i care about what you say cause it's obvious your lower intelligence has not comprehended a single word anyone said, oh and by the way, i've seen a fresh install of XP crash the moment the install finished cleanly and without a problem. As for the article, yes, we can all keep quiet and stop complaining, you Bill Gates Lovers would love that, unfortunatly, we are not going to keep quiet as long as there is dirty tactics to make the competition go away

277.4.2003 01:39

wow. i am so insulted. i feel like crying. you hurt me deeply. i am so sorry. and yes that is sarcasm, and i will not even bother to continue posting on this board, because it is not worth it to waste my time on you, a complete idiot. You think you're all that, just because you're a Computer Technician. Well what do you know. I am one too, IT Certified. Good Day.

287.4.2003 01:46
Sefy
Inactive

I Don't think i'm all anything, that would be you, for example: i have an amplifier hooked up to my pc, with surround speakers, and that in addition to my original 4.1 speakers. I download SVCD / DivX / XViD movies like daily, i have like over 5GB of MP3s that i listen to every day, i capture and edit video every week or so. I encode my own SVCD & DivX Movies. I also try to do my own high-quality DVD format Music Videos. I play tons of games on my GeForce4 vcard, like unreal tournament 2003, splinter cell, C&C:Generals. I also do N64 Emulation, and every once and a while i do PSX or NES emulation. I'm testing an Office 2003 BETA for Microsoft. I (illlegaly) downloaded Windows Longhorn Alpha bld. 4008. I do video conferecing, i download full games, full apps. I do TONS of stuff on my computer, so.... i think u can shut up about that one. The ONLY time i saw a BSoD on XP was when i installed my nVidia card for the first time. i had a wrong CD delivered to me with wrong drivers (via eBay) and the whole thing messed up. But! now that i said that, i must say that my point in the first place was, that u cant have a BoSD on windows MEDIA, cuz they are media files. Whats the last time u were playing an MPEG-2 file, and it stoppped playing and showed a Directshow rendered BoSD? while windows kept working? exactly, never. u cant have a media crash, its just plain stupid And you're right it's not worth wasting time on you, a complete idiot cause as soon as you were proven wrong, you couldn't keep a conversation going, not that it's shocking. Have a Wonderful Day! hope you find more like you around to keep you busy!

297.4.2003 02:19

Quote:
@obieobied, sorry to disappoint you, I have no plans of shutting up. and I do alot more then you on the PC, including all that you do, including beta testing, including emulations and not just N64, but just about all of them!
You think you're all that

307.4.2003 02:26
Sefy
Inactive

Oh, I knew you couldn't stay away! too much of your ego was hurt! what's the matter ? you miss me that much ? :-D If I really wanted to be "all that" i'd say a lot of other things, but I really don't think anyone would care. Of course you had to go to every little detail! just to show us what a busy bee you are, although I don't see why having an Amplifier connected to a PC is such a big deal, but oh well, atleast your ego thinks it is. By The Way, for a IT Professional, and all you got is that system ? don't they give you any hardware testing to do with newer equipment ? and except stealing your beloved Microsoft Products for testing, don't they give you to test it for free ? i'm shocked! Oh, one last thing, what did you think this Windows "MEDIA" is going to be played with ? RealONE Player ? QuickTime Player ? :-D

317.4.2003 02:33

the point of posting all that is to prove that no matter how many things you do with the PC, you can manage not to get the BSoDs

Quote:
And you're right it's not worth wasting time on you, a complete idiot cause as soon as you were proven wrong, you couldn't keep a conversation going, not that it's shocking.
You said you would stay away too, you you're ego was hurt too wasnt it. You missed me too, didnt you. LMAO And that system is my home system. It's the one I do my surfing on, and has nothing to do with servers and other stuff I have. Who said I only have one computer? And you've got to be a real idiot to use realONE Player. Any person with a tad bit knowledge about computers know that the RealONE player, is the player that causes the most problems than ANY other player.

327.4.2003 02:41
Sefy
Inactive

Where did I say i'd stay away ? quote me on that one, that I specificly said i'd stay away. You can't hurt my ego, you can't hurt anything, cause for that i'd have to care what you said. And looks like you missed the point again, you said how can Windows "MEDIA" cause BSoD's, well what do you except them to use to PLAY those Windows "MEDIA" with ? so using your own sarcasem, I mentioned two other players who obviously can't play it, cause NOTHING except "Windows MEDIA Player 9" can play "Windows MEDIA 9" correctly.

337.4.2003 02:45

Quote:
And you're right it's not worth wasting time on you
There ya go. WMP9 is available on other platforms, and dont you tell me that WMP9 is gonna cause a BSoD on Mac OS X. haha! I'd like to see that. Yes! WMP9 is needed (Yet i dont think you will see that in the movies, sure, the full screen control popping up, or the playlist loading commercials or previews for a specific movie. There will be a seperate software developed). So yes, WMP9 is needed, but the point of that article is that it would cause a BSoD becuase its gonna need to run on windows, but it doesnt. There is WMP9 for Mac OS X

347.4.2003 02:47

Oh and i'm out, im gonna be back over 8 hours or so, maybe.

357.4.2003 02:57
Sefy
Inactive

Ok, so, be honest, not with me or anyone else her, but with yourself, do you REALLY think that your beloved Microsoft is gonna make a deal that will have a MAC being used in the Cinema with their WMP9 to play their MEDIA 9 ? Forgive me for being DOUBTFULL, but i've got this WEIRD feeling that Windows XP will be used to play MEDIA 9 using WMP9, and THAT is why you will see BSoD's in IMAX/3D version, which could be interesting.

367.4.2003 04:44

I'd be interested on knowing what bitrate they plan to use for the Audio & Video. Microsoft does like to (way) over-estimate the quality of their codecs and if they are using their Codecs in the Cinema, they better get their figures right. E.g. they claim 48kbps WMA is 128kbps MP3 quality, 64kbps WMA is CD-quality and 96kbps WMA 8/9 is Studio Quality. Ok, some people who are use to old cassette tapes and LPs, download a lot of poor quality MP3s, etc. probably don't see anything wrong with very low bit rate WMA, but almost any serious music lover who listens to a lot of CDs would not be happy with WMA 9 even at 128kbps. I've listened to WMA 9 Professional sample clips off Microsoft's website that are encoded in 5.1 sound and they don't sound natural at all to me. The bitrate was 192kbps and they claim that 192kbps WMA Pro is the same as Dolby Digital (at time of me checking). With their Video codec, I seem quite happy with the quality, particularily at high bitrates. I'd say this is like due to them basing it on MPEG-4.

377.4.2003 13:24

seanbyrne, i think that is a very bad idea to go WM9. As i said before, they will be much better off going other MPEG-4 Codecs. Maybe DivX, as this one is releasing profiles already to make it compatible with hardware. DivX would be the perfect thing to choose, and f they put it together with MP3 (AC3), it will be much better. Thought the whole thought of this kind of compression in movie theaters... I dont like it. Unless they're gonna encode the WM9 in 6000kbps. As for the WM9 Audio, what microsoft says is all crap. They'd have to encode it at aroudn 1000kbps to make it usable in theaters. But hey! I dont really care, because im not going to go to the movies anyways. Thats why I have my trusty old computer with an internet connection! :D haha Burn 'em to CD or DVD-R, pop 'em in the DVD Player, and you've got the movie in the comfort of your own home! So they can do what they want!

388.4.2003 01:40

To be honest, I don't like anything to do with Windows Media (or any closed source codec) and I try to stay clear of WM codecs if possible. While I never have seen Media Player Blue screen 2000 or XP, I have seen Media Player itself (particularily v9) crash with the usual error message asking if I with to send a bug report. If Cinemas would use any digital codec, whether it be DivX, some crappy M$ codec or another MPEG-4 codec, I'd say that they would use some dedicated hardware player specificially designed for this purpose rather than than a PC.

398.4.2003 10:14

i agree. actually i wouldn't use ANY codecs at all. Just go uncompressed... or whatever.

408.4.2003 10:25
Sefy
Inactive

Hmmm... i'd love to go Uncompressed, but I don't have the disk space for that! maybe with FMD-ROM and FMD-RW drives become available and we get 140gb Capacity, then it would be more real to go uncompressed.

418.4.2003 11:40

noooo im talking about for the movie theaters! Do you really think they're gonna use 60GB hard drives? P.S.:

Quote:
I don't have the disk space for that! maybe with FMD-ROM and FMD-RW drives become available and we get 140gb Capacity, then it would be more real to go uncompressed.
300GB drives are available already... what are you talking about?!??! Movie Theaters will probably have racks and racks of HDDs and have hundreds or thousand of terabytes. by uncompressed i mean whatever way the movie studios render the video. --> Link: 250/300GB HDDs http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/ata/enterprise_applications/maxline_ii/index.htm

429.4.2003 05:54
Sefy
Inactive

And of course I have the thousand dollars to waste on a HDD that will contain 1 or 2 movies, i'm rich i'm a god damn millionair! i'm Bill Gate's Cousin! And I wouldn't buy a Maxtor even if my life depend on it, those are the most hurrible drives ever made on the market, their fault level is higher then their working level.

439.4.2003 13:15

actually in my experience the worst drives are IBM and Seagate...

449.4.2003 16:09
Sefy
Inactive

Oh yeah, they are crap too, especialy IBM, I think they even pulled out of the HDD business recently because of all the defects in their 40gb and 80gb drives.

4516.4.2003 02:12

Nothing short of urinating on your PC is going to give you a blue screen of death on XP. To this day i dont know a single person that has , If you were to say that it doesnt even exist on xp id beleive you .

4616.4.2003 17:29
Sefy
Inactive

Yeah Right! ever been on tech forums ? i'm there alot helping others, and there has not been a single, just one day! that someone hasn't reported in their XP BSoD's for one reason or another.

4716.4.2003 18:10

lol.. Youd have to be doing some pretty horrible things to your comp for it to happen. The only time ive ever heard anyone having issues with it has been with video card drivers.And i have yet to know someone personally whos had it.

4816.4.2003 18:20
Sefy
Inactive

And i'm sure you hang around alot of Technicial Support forums, and you specificly help people with their problems. The reason doesn't matter, the fact is, XP DOES have BSoD! like it or not! saying it's because of a "driver" or because of a "program" is just like installing 95 or 98 with nothing! and you can go saying you got no BSoD's on them either! Just cause YOU haven't experienced it, and because YOU didn't hear anyone, doesn't mean it doesn't happen to ALOT of other people. Of course this is something that "some" people refuse to accept, thinking they are the only ones that exist on the planet. It would be like saying death doesn't exist cause it didn't happen to you or anyone you know! of course i'm being cynical, but I hope you catch the idea.

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