Blue Ray Picture Quality

Bananna man

Hi,

Have any of you watched a blue ray disc on the ps3 yet. Im curious as to weather it is much better than DVD quality. I was watching a high defenition channel the other day for the first time and while it look a bit better i would not pay any extra cash for it. I was expecting to be blown away by it.

Mossy Monk

Bluray is far better than DVD. High Definition in general is alot better than Standard Definition. CSI Miami is a good example of this. All those purdy colours.

shinzon

Sharper picture crystal clear display, not a lot else can be said, the chase sequence at the start of casino royale is brilliant in HI-DEF, Blu-ray just gives it that little bit more IMO

Shin

Kevin2006

Im curious as to weather it is much better than DVD quality

On a top Hi-def lcd or plasma then yes, BluRay is much better then say a dvd on a normal crt tv. Some Blurays are better then others tho - some dont do it justice.

notahappycamper

[QUOTE=Some Blurays are better then others tho - some dont do it justice.[/QUOTE]

That's true bought X-Men 3 The Last Stand and Training Day. Picture quality on Training Day is better IMO.

I got 6 blu-rays off amazon:
Terminator 1 very good quality
Terminator 2 excellent quality
Black hawk down excellent
Rambo: first blood, unbelieveable picture, doesnt look like a film thats 20 years old.
The Departed excellent picture and sound
Beerfest: mostly very good but has some grainy scenes late in the film.
I have a PS3 and a 26 inch bravia tv, and after watching blu-ray i find that DVD suddenly looks pretty **** in comparison.

NotorietyH

I rented the Guardian and bought X-Men 3. The Guardian is a pretty average movie but looks amazing on blu-ray. X-Men 3 looks good too. Are you sure you were watching a show that was filmed in HD on the HD channel? Lost looks amazing on Sky One HD, Rescue Me too and 24, there's a huge difference, I notice the difference straight away. Often flick from Sky Sports 1 HD to regular Sky Sports 1 just to see the difference and it's pretty big.

Peteee

Bananna man wrote:

I was watching a high defenition channel the other day for the first time and while it look a bit better i would not pay any extra cash for it. I was expecting to be blown away by it.

Hi definition channels are often heavily compressed so that it fits down the satellite/cable pipe.

A Blu-Ray disc should give a lot better picture then a lot of HD channels.

Zombrex

Bananna man wrote:

Hi,

Have any of you watched a blue ray disc on the ps3 yet. Im curious as to weather it is much better than DVD quality. I was watching a high defenition channel the other day for the first time and while it look a bit better i would not pay any extra cash for it. I was expecting to be blown away by it.

While you can be thrown marketing and technical glump (yes its a word) all day that say Blu-Ray is 4 times sharper and clearer than DVD, really it depends on your TV

I've a 26" LCD HD-TV from Philips. For the last 6 months I've been watching DVDs on a €100 Philips DVD player with a HDMI out which soft upscales the picture to the 720p resolution of the TV.

With a good DVD I'm very happy with the quality of the picture (I've big issues with the TV and I wouldn't recommend a Philips LCD to anyone, but they aren't related to the picture quality). You have to go close to the TV before you start noticing artifacts and such from the fact that the DVD source is still only Standard Definition.

Rented "Stealth" on Blu Ray from Xtravision a few weeks ago when I got my PS3. Up close the artifacts were gone, the picture was sharp with my noise up to the TV.

But the important point was that back in my armchair where I normally watch DVDs you wouldn't really notice much of a difference. My TV is too small for Blu Ray to really make a difference.

So what's the point of Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD?)

If I had a 42" HD-TV DVD artifacts would be much more noticeable and that is where blu-ray really comes into its own. Even back in my arm chair artifacts from a DVD will be more noticable, the picture will look less sharp. But pop in a 1080p Blu Ray and the picture will look clean and sharp even if you are using a projector onto the side of your house.

So at the end of the day whether or not you will really notice that much of a difference with High Definition depends your TV and how big it is.

melekalikimaka

a tv under 37" the difference really isn't great, over that it has some excellent improvements, but really blu ray isn't the film technology its the capacity i thought, and only the newest movies are really made for hd viewing. the terminator etc are upscaled, improved but nothing like true hd. download some hd trailers from the new and try em on the ps3 to get a feel for it. hd dvd kicks blu ray

Kevin2006

melekalikimaka wrote:

a tv under 37" the difference really isn't great, over that it has some excellent improvements, but really blu ray isn't the film technology its the capacity i thought, and only the newest movies are really made for hd viewing. the terminator etc are upscaled, improved but nothing like true hd. download some hd trailers from the new and try em on the ps3 to get a feel for it. hd dvd kicks blu ray

Thats a bit harsh! Ive got a 32" lcd and I very much notice the difference! I know what your saying though. Its really all about room size and viewing distance. A 32" is more then enough for a close viewing distance - and tht is where you get to really appreciate bluray! Compared to say someone with a massive tv who sits far back - they difference is actually less!

wayne040576

Kevin2006 wrote:

Thats a bit harsh! Ive got a 32" lcd and I very much notice the difference! I know what your saying though. Its really all about room size and viewing distance. A 32" is more then enough for a close viewing distance - and tht is where you get to really appreciate bluray! Compared to say someone with a massive tv who sits far back - they difference is actually less!

The last AVforums podcast had a really long talk on the whole step up from dvd to HDDVD\Blu ray. They mentioned pretty much the same thing that you really need to be closer to the tv (on a 40 inch screen or lower) to see the advantages of HD content or otherwise be on a hugh screen.
They also mentioned that the difference has been slightly exaggerated and is nowhere near the jump that was from VHS to DVD. They mentioned that with Casino Royale (funnily enough) for example, the DVD version is so good that there isn't much of a difference with the blu ray version. Well worth listening to that particular show.

http://www.avpodcast.co.uk/podcast.mp3?p=71
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516275


Personally I think the picture is sharper, but not the hugh jump I thought it would be. One thing I thought is that on certain scenes, it looks like it is adding a glossy veneer to the picture so much so, that it looks unrealistic. I couldn't get over this feeling when watching Casino Royale. Some scenes looked completely computer generated even though they weren't.
My own set up is a bit strange. Downstairs I have a Sony 50inch rear projector screen (LCD front). This is an SD system. When I sit far back from this the picture looks really good and I have a pretty good sound system set up there.
In the bedroom I have a Samsung 32inch HD screen that I use for the 360 and PS3. Because I am sitting closer to the screen I am getting the most from the HD content. Unfortunately I'm not getting the best from the sound on this system which is annoying because I'd like to test the sound quality of blu ray content.
I'm currently looking into good sound solution for this one.

LookingFor

I think the lads on that podcast must be blind. I've compared Kingdom of Heaven on DVD and Blu-ray and it's night and day, even on my 20" computer monitor! I've even tried Blu-ray out on a standard definition TV, and you can see some improvement even there in the lack of artefacts and better colour compared to a lot of DVDs.

Maybe different people have different sensitivity to detail and sharpness, and perhaps what's night and day to some might be more subtle to others. But IMO it's very clear cut in any comparison I've made.

Zombrex

LookingFor wrote:

I think the lads on that podcast must be blind. I've compared Kingdom of Heaven on DVD and Blu-ray and it's night and day, even on my 20" computer monitor! I've even tried Blu-ray out on a standard definition TV, and you can see some improvement even there in the lack of artefacts and better colour compared to a lot of DVDs.

Maybe different people have different sensitivity to detail and sharpness, and perhaps what's night and day to some might be more subtle to others. But IMO it's very clear cut in any comparison I've made.

Well it can also depend on your DVD player

A crap €25 DVD player picture will look bad placed next to a €600 Blu-Ray picture

But a €150 DVD player with hardware processing liking upscaling looks very similar to a €600 Blu-Ray picture on TV 32" or smaller

wayne040576

Wicknight wrote:

Well it can also depend on your DVD player

A crap €25 DVD player picture will look bad placed next to a €600 Blu-Ray picture

But a €150 DVD player with hardware processing liking upscaling looks very similar to a €600 Blu-Ray picture on TV 32" or smaller

Yeah that's the type of testing they were doing. They had dvds with really good transfers like Gladiator and used an upscaling dvd player, and were amazed by the level of detail they were getting. They also tried several different dvd players and could notice the difference switching between them.

Kevin2006

But a €150 DVD player with hardware processing liking upscaling looks very similar to a €600 Blu-Ray picture on TV 32" or smaller

No that is not true. Ive got a 32" hdtv and there is a big difference between dvd and bluray. You also got to realise that with a 32" tv you sit that bit closer to the tv then you would with say a 37" or 40". The closer you sit the more you get to see the sharp detail of bluray!

McDermotX

Don't know where to start with this one..

the whole DVD versus Blu-ray/HD-DVD debate has been going on since the formats' debuts last year. The bottom line is that to fully appreciate the HD formats, you'll need to make significant investments, both in picture and sound..
There is a definite improvement in PQ even on moderatly sized displays, but there's obviously a sweet point to hit (maybe 42" and above), but there is also numerous factors like viewing distance and personal eyesight to consider as well..
Chuck the image up on a HD projector or 1080p displays over 42" (with a viewing distance not exceeding 6-8ft), and PQ is stunning..
But as other poster have mentioned, even on smaller displays, the benefits over SD DVD can be seen, with a more stable image, less artifacting, less posterization, no macroblocking etc etc.

I honestly don't know how people can confuse DVD PQ with Blu-ray or HD-DVD......even upscaled DVD through the likes of a Toshiba XE1, highend Denon or even a dedicated video scaler can never be confused with HD. They can look quite decent, but can never approach the detail levels and depth of a proper HD picture. The detail is just not there with an upscaled image effectively only approximating a 1080i/p output....that particular AV podcast was soundly debunked by various people so don't put much faith in it..

A lot of issues with HD are down to configuration and setup, the single biggest one I've come across is people not realising that the PS3 only outputs Blu-ray playback in HD at 1080i/p resolutions. If the console is only set to 720p, Blu-ray playback will downscale to 480p. This might sound fairly simple, but you'd be surprised with the amount of people who have fell for this since the PS3's launch....and saw an immediate improvement once setup correctly..

The PS3 has offered a relatively cheap way into the Blu-ray format.....its an excellent player which stands toe-to-toe with dedicated players such as the Panasonic and Sony. Leaving aside the console aspect, I actually find the PS3 very good value for money in that sense (strange to hear that isn't it:) ) and will hopefully allow more HD penetration in the Irish market..


Also, just on a side-note, this "format war" between HD-DVD and Blu-ray has brought forward an incredible amount of "fanboy-like" and "FUD" behaviour on both sides. Spend some time on the likes of AV Forums and AVS Forum to see what I mean..............its pathetic..
Both formats are so similar to each other, its a wash between them regarding PQ and SQ. Both formats have titles which have exceptional aesthetic quality, and some not so great. Some early Blu-ray titles suffered due to poor masters and transfer.......such as Fifth Element, Terminator, Stargate, but most releases since late last year are excellent and really deliver the goods. Titles such as Kingdom of Heaven, The Prestige, Open Season, IceAge 2, Crank (garbage film), Deja Vu, BHD, Rocky Balboa etc etc are right at the top of the pile when it comes to PQ/AQ. In fact a lot of releases over the last few months are equal or superior or similar HD-DVD releases.
Of course, HD-DVD is excellent as well (I've supprted both formats since launch last year), so a lot of what applies to Blu-ray applies to HD-DVD as well......some excellent titles, some sub-par. The likes of King Kong, Batman Begins, Children of Men, Happy Feet, Serenity, Hulk etc are just as good as the best Blu-ray. As time goes on, both formats are receiving the same transfers from the likes of Warner and co, so a lot of new releases have been identical with minimal differences (some sound options and IME extras)
In the end, both formats are just codec delivery devices so it'll be down to the individual transfer to determine quality. Blu-ray has its advantages (higher capacity, studio support) and HD-DVD has its own (greater standalone penetration, region-free, better chance of low entry level price point at the moment), but both formats will still be around this time next year, so it doesn't look like there will be an end to the format war anytime soon..

Sorry for the long-winded post..

I hope this format war doesnt drag on that long(see above post).Surely having two competing formats is bad or everyone. Im sticking with blu-ray coz I cant afford both and I have a ps3. There are titles on HD DVD such as Batman Begins and the Big Lebowski that I cant get on Blu-Ray and its really really annoyng. Whats it going to take to settle this rubbish so we can decide on just the one format like DVD?

pyzon

just picked up planet earth on blu-ray can't wait to see/hear it on the ps3

Kevin2006

pyzon wrote:

just picked up planet earth on blu-ray can't wait to see/hear it on the ps3

I read on many fourms that this is stunning on Bluray, cant wait to get it myself. Also people should know that picture quality is only 50% of what HD actually is! There are some new amps coming out in the next few months that support Dolby True HD and DTS-MA/HD. The difference is sound quality between this and dvd sound is just as great as the picture difference!

McDermotX

pyzon wrote:

just picked up planet earth on blu-ray can't wait to see/hear it on the ps3

Bought the HD-DVD version (exact same encode as the Blu-ray) and it is (for the most part) excellent quality..
Some close-ups are stunning and it appears to superior to the recent BBC HD transmissions (and so it should be). There are a few instances of "haloing" which I don't remember on the BBC encode, but its definitely worth a purchase on either format..

unklerosco

McDermotX wrote:

Bought the HD-DVD version

Where'd u get it n how much... Been waiting for this to get released since i got my player

McDermotX

unklerosco wrote:

Where'd u get it n how much... Been waiting for this to get released since i got my player

Online...
http://www.dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=54201
Have found them excellent for HD material.......shop around though, as you may find it going cheaper in other online stores..
It has been hard too get hold of in retail stores in the US for the last couple of weeks, but should be readily available in places like the above, and Movietyme (although I note Play are out of stock)

wayne040576

Sounds tempting. Planet earth (DVD version) had been on my list of things to bye . May pick up the blu ray version instead.

McDermotX

Kevin2006 wrote:

I read on many fourms that this is stunning on Bluray, cant wait to get it myself. Also people should know that picture quality is only 50% of what HD actually is! There are some new amps coming out in the next few months that support Dolby True HD and DTS-MA/HD. The difference is sound quality between this and dvd sound is just as great as the picture difference!

Very true Kevin..
AQ is just as important, and I'm delighted with some of the HD offerings this early in both format's lives.
A lot of Blu-ray titles are featuring lossless PCM tracks in addition to high bit-rate DD 5.1, and some of them are outstanding (BHD, The Prestige, Departed etc..). Fox are supporting DTS-MA tracks with their releases, which are already outstanding, even before the full track can be decoded with said future amps and players..
DVD sound, while good, has always been slightly compressed for my liking, even lagging behind old AC3 Laserdiscs, so the emergence of said HD tracks in very encouraging..

That said, a PS3 will need a HDMI-equipped amp to produce these HD tracks, otherwise you're limited to optical/toslink, but even so, releases such as those above sound excellent in DD..

pyzon

yeah heard a lot of fantastic reports about it, got it online at amazon 66bucks as I'm in the states at the moment, Sony shop were selling it at 99 and I somehow doubt it would be easy to pick up in any Irish store. Plus it's region free of course.
It should be interesting to see if I can notice the non-HD parts to it as it states some scenes were pretty much impossible to film in HD so are not HD.

McDermotX

wayne040576 wrote:

Sounds tempting. Planet earth (DVD version) had been on my list of things to bye . May pick up the blu ray version instead.

http://www.dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=54209

Region-free as well from reports, so all should be well on EU PS3s..

Edit : pyzon beat me to the region-free bit

wayne040576

McDermotX wrote:

http://www.dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=54209

Region-free as well from reports, so all should be well on EU PS3s..

Edit : pyzon beat me to the region-free bit

Seems there have been reports of problems with a few of them. A few people have issues with Disc one.
I've read about it on a few boards now:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=8245

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=movies&thread.id=214673

McDermotX

There have been issues with a few HD discs since inception.......more commonly with HD-DVD than Blu-ray though..
Various combo titles on HD-DVD such as Children of Men, Good Shepard, DVE Essentials have had problems running both on standalone players and the 360 addon. Problems occurred during the replication phase, with a residue affecting playback (that's the most common belief at the moment) and a lot of people with problem discs have reported success by "boiling" the discs in hot water :mad:
Have only had 1 issue playing Children of Men back before (not since though), so I've been largely unaffected.
Haven't had any issues with Blu-rays at all (touchwood), but any disc problems should just be handled the same way as DVD......if your're concerned its a disc issue, then just exchange it..
I know some people have had some issues with Superman II - Donner Cut on BD, both on PS3 and Panasonic.......played back perfectly on my two though..

HD forums are awash with owners claiming they have problems, and others claiming they don't..
I cannot speak for the BD version of Planet Earth, but the HD-DVD release is excellent quality (yes there are a few shots using SD camera work for practical reasons, but the vast majority is pure HD)..

Zombrex

Kevin2006 wrote:

No that is not true. Ive got a 32" hdtv and there is a big difference between dvd and bluray. You also got to realise that with a 32" tv you sit that bit closer to the tv then you would with say a 37" or 40". The closer you sit the more you get to see the sharp detail of bluray!

You might, and I might, but the average Joe Soap doesn't. Which is kinda the point.

These "tests" that are run by videophile sites and magazines always annoy me when used in this way because at the end of the day they are aimed at the high end market, people who will alter their habits for new technology, the type of people who re-arrange their furniture when they buy a new TV (and I'm one of them)

The average person will not alter anything about their living room set up based on their a/v equipment. They watch their TV from the same spot they always did, not matter what the TV looks like, which is generally at least a few meters away from the TV.

I've no doubt, as I said, that if you stick your nose up to your HDTV you can notice a sharp difference between DVD, even with hardware processing and upscaling, and a High Definition signal. And good for you.

But unless you go looking for it, or your TV is large, you won't.

The very fact that they have to run tests to prove that you do notice a difference shows that the difference is nothing like the jump from VHS to DVD, which anyone wandering around Dixons on a Saturday afternoon could instantly see.

Sitting back on the other side of the room on your lazy-boy, importantly where you always used to sit, you are not going to notice a significant difference or any difference at all.

This can be seem with the fact that since HD became mainstream a few years ago there has been a steady stream of people returning HD equipment, simply because they cannot see any difference or don't understand what they need to do to fully appreciate a HD signal.

Unless someone has a large HD TV (which most people don't), HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are going to remain the realm of videophiles, the people who stick their noses up to the TV, breath in the sharp clear HD picture and then return back to their chair to watch the movie, safe in the knowledge that yes it is a HD picture and their €500 has been well spent.

Everyone else is going to wonder what the fuss is about ("sure it looks the exact same as a DVD")

Kevin2006

You might, and I might, but the average Joe Soap doesn't. Which is kinda the point.

Some of my friends - who are very much the average joe, probably never even heard of hd! - really noticed the difference of Bluray. We watched Casino Royale and Black Hawk Down - 2 top picture quality Blurays.

johnnyflav

I've just ordered Planet Earth from http://www.movietyme.com

It's costing £42stg inc postage. I've not ordered from them before so hopefully it will go alright. I just hope it has the narration by David Attenborough on it. Some of the US ones have Sigourney Weaver on dialogue. Maybe there'll be a option for both soundtracks.

unklerosco

On the us disc there's the option for both... Must order mine