darkside

Of the six I bought I was blown away by Prestige and Crank. They looked amazing and better than most HD movies I have watched. I also thought Monster House looked really good, but computer animated films should always look good in HD.
I thought Talladega Nights looked like dog shit. I'm actually angry at myself for buying that on blu-ray instead of DVD. Kung Fu Hussle and Underworld were also pretty good, but nothing compared to the clarity of The Prestige. I would now say that is my reference disc over Batman or any of my HD DVDs.

I also love the uncompressed PCM. I know TrueHD will sound just as good, but it is so rare to get it on HD DVD.

digitalfreaknyc

So what it seems like everyone is saying is that any "better than HD" movies are the exception? Why does it seem like such a short list?

RockStrongo

I think the elimination of most film grain would suit me fine. Why even do ANY digital restoration?

That being said, unfortunately, these formats are less likely to succeed if film grain is extremely evident. Joe blow consumer will think it looks terrible and stick with DVD.

In the end, we remaster audio to 5.1 (or more) and digitally restore the picture, so I just plain dont care about 99% of film grain. Just my opinion.

Maybe thats why I like VC1 so much (if its certain that it eliminates more grain than the other encodes).

The Cow

I don't think any of the movies you listed, other than Black Hawk are worthy of mention. The fact that you didn't like the visuals on Black Hawk are a bit concerning however. I'm really surprised by that.

bunkaroo

I've been very impressed by Kingdom of Heaven, Crank, Stranger Than Fiction, and even Brothers Grimm.

Alternatively, while I'v eloved lots of what I've seen on HD-DVD, stuff like Hollywoodland and Poseidon didn't floor me either.

digitalfreaknyc

To be honest, I've just clicked around each of them. I'll have to check out Black Hawk Down next and I'll let you know after I watch that

The only movie I've watched in full was Phone Booth.

I thought it looked good but not great. I'd say that's been the average for BD. HD, however, has looked very good to great on almost every title (except for Superman 2) of the titles I've watched.

And then I think i'd say the opposite about each format with regards to sound.

Josh Z

Dan is smoking crack. UltraViolet, by its very nature, has no detail at all. The entire movie has been smothered in a Vaseline-like digital filter to eradicate any sense of detail.

applesandrice

That was kinda the impression that I got, too.

DVD Josh

Reviewer Fight!!!

cultshock

The one BD that has blown me away so far was CRANK (I know that the movie itself is very hit or miss with people, but I liked it). It probably helps with how it was shot (on HD video, pumped up contrast/colour,etc). Anyway I think it looks stunning, what I imagined HD should look like. The other BDs I've watched so far look very very good (CORPSE BRIDE, KUNG FU HUSTLE, RESERVOIR DOGS), but it's true that I'm not "blown away", although they look much better than the DVD versions. Maybe the fact that CRANK was the first BD I watched, and it spoiled me?

darkside

Corpse Bride is an amazing transfer, but looks just as amazing on HD DVD.
The problem for Blu-ray is those first few months had a ton of fucked up transfers. The 25GB, MPEG2 and PCM combination was a disaster for them and many of the movies from 2006 suffered to some degree. However, that is changing fast in 2007. If Casino Royale lives up to IGNs review it will be another top notch Blu-ray transfer. I'm expecting HD disc sales records when it is released.

Mr. Cinema

Casino Royale on BD is now #19 on Amazon's top 100 list. That's pretty dang good.

digitalfreaknyc

Nah. They're still releasing 25gb MPEG2 transfers. And the AVC ones aren't that much better. I seriously think it just has to do with encoding.

darkside

I'll have to see as I get more movies, but The Prestige was an AVC encode and looked as good as anything I have seen with VC1. I will agree there are still major issues with Blu-ray outside of Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate and Warner. Sony and Fox have their heads pretty far up their asses. We will see what Sony does with Casino Royale.

Spiky

As predicted, it's 1998 all over again. Remember when they finally figured out they could actually use things like DTS and anamorphic flags on DVD? In 2 years we'll be pleased with most new discs. If the formats survive that long.

Supermallet

The problem with eliminating grain is that grain is actually part of what makes the image the image. The more grain you remove, the more detail you remove. Considering I've seen many VC1 encodes with plenty of film grain, I don't think it automatically removes it. It may offer an optional filter, but I'm sure the other codecs do, as well.

Doughboy

Even Sony is coming around lately. Open Season, Casino Royale, and The Pursuit of Happyness all use AVC instead of MPEG-2. And all three reportedly look great.

And it's not like their recent MPEG-2 transfers are all crap. Stranger Than Fiction and Tears of the Sun both look outstanding.

Fox is a disaster though. Only a handful of their titles are said to look really good. And most of them are bare bones with list prices of $39.99. I'm hoping the recent delay of titles is due to them reevaluating their BD strategy.

Mr. Cinema

I think the delay for Fox is that reason. I'm hoping they are moving to AVC full time. I want the very best from them when titles like Master and Commander and Independence Day are released.

What's up with BD-50? Is Sony at a point to where every release can be offered using 50gig or will it be a case by case basis on when one can be used? I think BD-25s with MPEG2 need to go away.

RockStrongo

Yep, I understand and I do not want to sacrifice detail.

BUT, to the extent of reducing film grain for a better quality image overall, Im all for that. I dont care that it isnt the most original version of the film. Thats my point. While I would rather it be done through source restoration, I dont mind much if the encoding software reduces it instead (versus none at all).

So far, HD-DVDs have blown me away moreso than BD. King Kong and Batman Begins are perfect examples. I havent watched all of Black Hawk Down or Kingdom of Heaven, so I cannot compare those. But, of the few that ive watched, I wasnt as impressed.

The Departed on BD, to me, represented what the hd-dvd probably would look like. Im sure, that its just dependant on the encode and source moreso than the players and format.

Mr. Cinema

***MY PS3 LAYS FLAT*** read on....



Okay. I'm losing some patience with the PS3. I first bought the unit a couple of months ago and quickly noticed that my BD's were getting scratched after they had been in the unit. Got rid of it.

Last Saturday, bought a PS3 again to see if the first one was just an isolated case. After loading and removing several discs, this is not an isolated case. I don't know what the hell is doing it and when, but I'm seeing these same markings on the bottom of the disc when I remove them from the unit. I can't believe I'm the only person who has noticed this.

All the discs, before I put them in, were checked under the same light. All were mint condition. After loading the disc and then removing it, I checked under the same light and notice they each contain a scuff around 1" long. Some only have a couple of very tiny scuffs, but they are noticable. So much for that Durabis protection.

I hope someone can do a test. Get a flashlight, shine it on the data side before you load the disc, and then check it again after it's been removed. I have got to find out that someone else is noticing this ugly pattern I'm having. The markings look like I've rubbed the disc on a hard surface, but my PS3 is at eye level and I'm watching it as I carefully remove the disc and it's not touching anything. I remove the disc as slow as you can remove them. I'm at a loss here. Love the system, but this is getting annoying. I will likely keep it just for gaming if I have to. I could care less if my games get scuffed, but movies are just the opposite.

I've googled this and nothing comes up. I've now bought 2 different PS3s at 2 different locations 2 months apart. I can't be the only one who's discs are getting scuffed. Ahh!!!!!

I'm 99% sure I'm gonna pick up that new Sony Sapphire player this Summer. It appears slot loading devices and me do not mix.

Mr. Cinema

I finally managed to find a thread on the PS3 forum on Sony's website. The OP mentioned the exact same problem as I have described. I've sent Sony an email, but I'm sure they'll reply with the canned response of "send it in". I don't think that is going to help. If this was my first unit, I'd probably do it. But another unit, bought 2 months later, doing the same thing, doesn't seem like I'm picking out the "bad" system in the bunch. I have a feeling that if I tried out 1,000 PS3s, all would have the same results. I'm just curious as to why no one else on here has that problem.

BornAgainStar

I've had absolutely no problems with the PS3. It seems to work flawlessly, regardless of what I throw at it.

DthRdrX

That's terrible man. You just don't seem to have any luck with the thing. I don't have a mark on any Blu-Ray discs yet, some thrown in the player 3-4 times already. I have some HD-dvd combos with marks though.

darkside

By BD discs are flawless. However, I have been playing Symphony of the Night and I just noticed a small 1" circular scratch towards the outside of the CD right near the edge. I have no idea if this happened before I used it in the PS3 though. I've had the disc for a couple of years but I thought it was scratch free. I'll try some other discs and see if I notice anything.

Spiky

http://kotaku.com/gaming/sony/ps3-lo...ell-216858.php

Slot-loaders have always had a bad rep. While every drive is not prone to this, too many are. My 1999 iMac destroyed one disc once, real bad. Hasn't done it any other time, though.

I would probably exchange any PS3 that had this problem if at all possible. (I realize it is not always possible)