• 12-31-2007, 07:11 AM
    Hairsonfire
    Disparity in HDDVD and BluRay Titles
    Just a comment on the differing levels in quality in the various titles being offered. For example, "Unforgiven" (HD DVD Clint Eastwood - 1992) has incredibly sharp and deep image quality while movies such as "Oceans 13" (Blu Ray - 2007) looks only slightly better than standard DVD. I suppose it is to be expected as the image quality in standard DVDs is as unpredictable as well. I guess it was too much to hope for a consistent level of image quality from the newest technology!
  • 12-31-2007, 07:41 AM
    drseid
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hairsonfire
    Just a comment on the differing levels in quality in the various titles being offered. For example, "Unforgiven" (HD DVD Clint Eastwood - 1992) has incredibly sharp and deep image quality while movies such as "Oceans 13" (Blu Ray - 2007) looks only slightly better than standard DVD. I suppose it is to be expected as the image quality in standard DVDs is as unpredictable as well. I guess it was too much to hope for a consistent level of image quality from the newest technology!
    Both formats have their star showcase performers, and their share of dogs... DVD was very uneven to start with as well when it came out (I still have many of those initial releases like "Animation Greats" still in my collection).

    I think both Blu-ray and HD DVD have come a long way since their early releases and most of the newer releases have been quite good...

    ---Dave
  • 12-31-2007, 03:59 PM
    bobsticks
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by drseid
    Both formats have their star showcase performers, and their share of dogs... DVD was very uneven to start with as well when it came out (I still have many of those initial releases like "Animation Greats" still in my collection).

    I think both Blu-ray and HD DVD have come a long way since their early releases and most of the newer releases have been quite good...

    ---Dave
    Absolutely. My guess is that it has as much to do with the original film transfers as much as the modern techniques used. Both Caddyshack and Goodfellas were a disappointment on HD-DVD if only because they weren't noticably better than standard definition fare. Recent movies, on the whole, rate a lot better.
  • 01-01-2008, 02:23 AM
    pixelthis
    I beleive one format uses VC-1 and another uses mpeg.
    This wavering pq also applies to broadcast HD, the broadcast of Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy was awe inspiring.
    When DVD first came out some argued that Laser was superiour, and they were right in some cases.
    But the very first DVD I bought, (Replacement killers) is still one of the best, and still a
    "reference" disc that I LIKE TO PLAY EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE.
    Anyway, this has always been, and always will be, VHS had widely varying pq also
    (sucky to super sucky) and a large amount of CD's are great in content, crappy in sound.
    No Doubts' Tragic Kingdom is tragic in the way the trained chimps who produced it put it out.
    Great music that I could have recorded better on a freakin Sony Minidisc.
    But the industry needs varying quality, that way they can sell "special" editions that actually have decent quality, like CITERION DISCS (Chasing Amy , FOR INSTANCE)
    And the new Bladerunner, gonna milk that one forever, like till there are Real Replicants!:1:
  • 01-02-2008, 07:50 AM
    bfalls
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pixelthis
    I beleive one format uses VC-1 and another uses mpeg.
    This wavering pq also applies to broadcast HD, the broadcast of Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy was awe inspiring.
    When DVD first came out some argued that Laser was superiour, and they were right in some cases.
    But the very first DVD I bought, (Replacement killers) is still one of the best, and still a
    "reference" disc that I LIKE TO PLAY EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE.
    Anyway, this has always been, and always will be, VHS had widely varying pq also
    (sucky to super sucky) and a large amount of CD's are great in content, crappy in sound.
    No Doubts' Tragic Kingdom is tragic in the way the trained chimps who produced it put it out.
    Great music that I could have recorded better on a freakin Sony Minidisc.
    But the industry needs varying quality, that way they can sell "special" editions that actually have decent quality, like CITERION DISCS (Chasing Amy , FOR INSTANCE)
    And the new Bladerunner, gonna milk that one forever, like till there are Real Replicants!:1:
    I worked for the CBS tape facility when CDs first came out. Masters for tape had the high-end boosted 4db to compensate for the 6db per octave drop caused by the recording heads. Since there was a major shortage of digitally recorded content analog masters were used as the source, many still utilizing the 4bd boost. This made audiophile wince and complain because of their sizzle and harshness.

    I'm also a big fan of "Replacement Killers" and used it many times as a reference when setting up new hardware. The Blu-ray version had disappointing reviews. I've also used "The Hunt for Red October". I started with the laserdisc version which sounded great, but was a little grainy. The first DVD version was a disappointment with both grainy picture and compressed SQ. I later bought a second DVD version which looked and sounded better than the first, but still didn't have the SQ of the laserdisc. Hopefully an HD version is available, or soon will be.

    I really enjoy the Criterion and other high-quality versions. Many of the Sony Superbit version have great PQ and SQ. My son picked up the new Bladerunner box set and played it last weekend on my Sony KDL53XBR5 LCD display and STR-DA5300ES system. It looked and sounded pretty awesome.
  • 01-03-2008, 01:31 AM
    pixelthis
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bfalls
    I worked for the CBS tape facility when CDs first came out. Masters for tape had the high-end boosted 4db to compensate for the 6db per octave drop caused by the recording heads. Since there was a major shortage of digitally recorded content analog masters were used as the source, many still utilizing the 4bd boost. This made audiophile wince and complain because of their sizzle and harshness.

    I'm also a big fan of "Replacement Killers" and used it many times as a reference when setting up new hardware. The Blu-ray version had disappointing reviews. I've also used "The Hunt for Red October". I started with the laserdisc version which sounded great, but was a little grainy. The first DVD version was a disappointment with both grainy picture and compressed SQ. I later bought a second DVD version which looked and sounded better than the first, but still didn't have the SQ of the laserdisc. Hopefully an HD version is available, or soon will be.

    I really enjoy the Criterion and other high-quality versions. Many of the Sony Superbit version have great PQ and SQ. My son picked up the new Bladerunner box set and played it last weekend on my Sony KDL53XBR5 LCD display and STR-DA5300ES system. It looked and sounded pretty awesome.
    the charlies angels superbit is a must have.
    Anyway I have always heard that the reason a lot of early CD sounded "flat" was that the dynamic range was cut quite a bit so that the music would fit on an LP, and this was quite noticable. One of my all time favorites was RED OCTOPUS, god, what an album!
    The CD sounded like it was being played out of a friggin gramophone.
    I was rather pissed to say the least.
    They say that the spreadsheet was the "killer" ap that made computers essential.
    The Blu VERSION of blade runner is what will make Blu ray a must buy .

    (Please tell me that its on blu-ray!):sad: