The HD Experience

godtabh · 15-09-2008 8:36pm #1

I got myself a HD-DVD player a couple of months ago.

I have about 50 HD-DVDs at the stage. Some replacing ones I already had. Some new ones.

I got Blade Runner and was watching it a couple of weeks ago. It was then on ski recently.

The HD version looked unreal. It was impressive. The SD version was a different story altogther and from visual point of view was a let down (didnt really like the film either it was hyped to much by a friend who bought it for me).

Do people think the HD experience adds to films?

Dont be at yourself · 15-09-2008 8:43pm

High-definition video content is just one piece of the jigsaw. You also need a decent screen (in terms of size and clarity), surround sound, and the quality of the content you're watching (in terms of audio and visuals) must be high.

There is no comparison between watching a blu-ray on a 100 inch HD projector with surround sound and watching a terrestrial SD broadcast on an old CRT tube with stereo sound in the living room.

humanji · 15-09-2008 8:47pm

Yeah, when you've got the full set up, it's fantastic. But I've found I haven't really noticed too huge a difference between dvd's and HD disks. The HD is better alright, but it's not an incredible difference. And unless you've got the HD and the DVD version of a film playing together, you won't really care about the difference.

godtabh · 15-09-2008 9:18pm

I've only got a 32' 720p screen with a yamaha surround sound system.

I think it defo adds to it. As I said when comparing Blade Runner HD to Blade Runner SD I did notice a difference. I think that difference would be greater with 1080p screen. Its all in the detail

tman · 15-09-2008 9:36pm

Have a 32" screen, and while movies like the aforementioned Bladerunner look pretty damn impressive, there isn't a massive world of difference between blu-rays at 720p and upscaled dvds. (just imo, not technically speaking at all)
The Bladerunner final cut is an extensively remastered version, so it's a little unfair to compare it with an SD broadcast (unless it was a broadcast of the final cut of course...)

I wouldn't really consider hi def movies worthwhile, unless you have a 37"+ 1080p set.

godtabh · 15-09-2008 9:57pm

tman wrote: »

The Bladerunner final cut is an extensively remastered version, so it's a little unfair to compare it with an SD broadcast (unless it was a broadcast of the final cut of course...)

.

That I didnt know

The Denouncer · 16-09-2008 7:52am

Using a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player (amongst other things) and I was surprised to find myself more blown away by the uncompressed HD sound more than the image, using this amp. I have a 5 year old plasma monitor which is only 1080i so maybe that's understandable, however some (usually brighter) scenes in movies looked amazingly clear in HD - the Venice scenes in Casino Royale, the Sandman in Spider-Man 3, the city landscape had a bigger feeling of depth in Blade Runner, almost every scene in 3:10 to Yuma. The wife doesn't seem to notice the difference though I certainly do, its not a huge leap. Maybe in a few years I'll get a 50" Laser TV.

The Freeman · 16-09-2008 9:51am

i have a high def projector that takes up 11ft by bout 6 i'd say, i have my xbox hooked up to it til a few months ago(thats when the hd dvd format died with the big warner contract war with blu ray), the price of the add-on dropped to under 40e on amazon so i said i'd grab one for the craic, i watched transformers and the high def blade runner uncut amongst others and they all look terrific and the quality is so much more evident in something that big that than my brothers 42inch hd samung tv,my xbox got the 3 red rings of death last week so i have been watching dvd movies on my laptop through my projector and the quality is suuuch a drop it isn't funny.

Vic Vinegar · 16-09-2008 10:23am

kearnsr wrote: »

Do people think the HD experience adds to films?

Definitely! I have a 42 inch plasma & 5.1 dvd surround system, watching HD movies on sky and the like is unreal! I have friends that say it doesn't improve the film experience, but if you are of that opinion, i think you're mad!

You get so used to the high quality images though that when you go back to standard def it hurts your eyes almost! The best way to see this is to watch footie on Sky Sports HD for a bit, then flick over to standard def (sky sports 1, showing the same game) it looks plain ugly really. The difference is massive!

Dont be at yourself · 16-09-2008 12:54pm

As an aside, what blu-rays do people feel really showcase the difference?

For me, Planet Earth looks absolutely jaw-dropping.

Auvers · 16-09-2008 1:10pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

For me, Planet Earth looks absolutely jaw-dropping.

yeah its absolutely fantastic, I use it as background when a few people around and we are listening to music.

The Denouncer · 16-09-2008 1:25pm

I use the PS3s custom built planet earth floating around when music is on. Looks cool. :pac:

L31mr0d · 16-09-2008 2:00pm

To really showcase the difference between HD and SD i've found its best to use CGI movies which can effectively be rendered at 1920x1080 pixels. A great example is Beowulf, the 1080p version of that movie is simply staggering in its clarity. Of the people I know that really liked that movie, they all watched it at 1080p. The storyline might not be that good but the experience of it more than makes up for this imo.

Also, I can't emphasize enough the importance of a good surround sound system. If its a choice between a 50" panel or a 32" panel and a great 5.1 sound system then go for the latter.

To understand how much great sound adds to a movie then ask for a demonstration in the HT center in the basement of Peats on Parnell St. in Dublin.

godtabh · 16-09-2008 2:03pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

As an aside, what blu-rays do people feel really showcase the difference?

For me, Planet Earth looks absolutely jaw-dropping.

The ones that stand out for me in HD-DVD are

Planet Earth
Blade Runner
300 (when compared to SD)
Serenity (when compared to SD)

TheIrishGrover · 16-09-2008 3:50pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

As an aside, what blu-rays do people feel really showcase the difference?

For me, Planet Earth looks absolutely jaw-dropping.

I've recently purchased a 46 viera full hd and am using me PS3 as my blueray source and I must admit, cars looks eye-bleedingly good in HD. It's actually pretty shocking how much better it seems to be. I also have the Spiderman trilogy which look great on it but, tbh, I don't think I'll be going out and replacing my DVD collection for Blueray. Just a few visually spectacular films like Lord Of The Rings. I cannot see, for example, the point of rebuying Citizen Cane in HD. As for new films coming out on DVD/blueray, well, again, the blockbusters'll have to be bought on blueray (Wall-e, Dark Knight etc) but the rest'll be DVD I think. About 50/50

Mossy Monk · 16-09-2008 6:15pm

Big tv, sound system and bluray

A fantastic combination

projectmayhem · 16-09-2008 6:25pm

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Big tv, sound system and bluray

A fantastic combination

40" samsung 6-series & some sort of sony stereo hooked up to my PS3...

I've had the TV for some time. Before I got away with using a crappy 32" for games. Finally upgraded and only yesterday I got into the HD movie thing by buying my first legitimate BD from HMV... cloverfield, because it was only €25. My god was it stunning. Blew me away.

I was blown away when I saw Casino Royale on my older tv, but it really shone through with my new set. Unreal quality...

MooseJam · 16-09-2008 7:01pm

the question is though do you get blown away looking out the window ?

Snake Plisken · 16-09-2008 8:06pm

No question High Def really is the new standard for watching movies at home, Its actually a better experience then going to the cinema as was proven to me when I went to see The Dark Knight. What you say how could you know this if you haven't got The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray, that is correct but i recently bought Batman Begins on Blu-Ray and an additional extra was the first six minutes of The Dark Knight in beautiful 1080p, so saw this before going to the cinema and had high hopes, went the weekend of release to Screen 1 in Vue Liffey Valley and I was disgusted with the print, horrible sound quality, marked negatives out of focus, no comparison to watching it on my 42" Panasonic Plasma pixel perfect..

For anyone into movies I would recommend Plasma over LCD, more natuaral picture on it for movies.
For High Def Soundtracks to fully enjoy get yourself an Onkyo Amp I have a 605 but I think this years model is a 606.
Blu-Ray PS3 is best standalone Blu-Ray player, it will output uncompressed PCM high Def soundtracks via HDMI to your Amp.
Movies on Blu-Ray that will really blow you away include
The Matrix Triology
Iron Man
Crank
Doomsday
The Orphanage
Sunshine
Zodiac (Filmed using High Def cams) Ok have this on HD-DVD but fantastic quality
No Country For Old Men
30 Days of Night
The Thing.

Just some of the movies from my collection that really stand out, also the afore mentioned Blade Runner.

Won't rent DVD's anymore, doing comparisions between upscaled DVD's and any of the above titles really reveals the quality difference. Yes you do get poor quality transfers, examples of movies not to buy include 28 Days Later, this was filmed using standard digital cameras and looks the same as the DVD. Escape from New York just looks like an upscaled DVD, actually the US Special EDition DVD looks better then the Blu-Ray.
Glad the OP has gioned the world of High Def, long may we see converts to High Def and hopefully prices of hardware will continue to fall to an affordable level so it becomes the standard for all

MooseJam · 16-09-2008 8:12pm

are the 1080p movies you get via bittorrent the same as blu ray, I have a big monitor at res 1900x1200, the quality is obviously a lot better than DVD but I wonder if it's the same cause the file is only 8.5 gigs and blu-ray is more than that isn't it

Snake Plisken · 16-09-2008 8:24pm

MooseJam wrote: »

are the 1080p movies you get via bittorrent the same as blu ray, I have a big monitor at res 1900x1200, the quality is obviously a lot better than DVD but I wonder if it's the same cause the file is only 8.5 gigs and blu-ray is more than that isn't it

They are somewhat compressed as the are using the X264 codec on them also they strip out the High Def soundtrack on them and you just get plan old DD 5.1, still it should look a lot better then the DVD, also some of the torrents are recorded from High Def TV in the US, thus you can see movies like Raiders Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, these recorded from the TV are set at max resolution of 720P and only have stereo sound on them.
Hope this helps

TheIrishGrover · 16-09-2008 9:04pm

the PS3 doesn't play mkv files.

Well, at least the format war is over and I suppose PS3/dedicated BD players will be the gift of choice this crimbo. Should make for an interesting '09. LOTR MAY be out next year apparently. Jackson said he may not be involved with the BD release what with his busy '09 but, hey, just give us a vanilla BD release of the extended films.

Snake Plisken · 16-09-2008 11:38pm

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

the PS3 doesn't play mkv files.

Well, at least the format war is over and I suppose PS3/dedicated BD players will be the gift of choice this crimbo. Should make for an interesting '09. LOTR MAY be out next year apparently. Jackson said he may not be involved with the BD release what with his busy '09 but, hey, just give us a vanilla BD release of the extended films.

Never said the PS3 could, you can use a freeware tools to convert the files to work on it, just checkout afterdawn. Also I see some sites offering PS3 ready HD downloads

Necronomicon · 17-09-2008 10:12am

My first blu-ray was Hellboy, and I haven't looked back (well, I've bought a couple of dvds since that aren't out on blu).

Actually, my Bladerunner 5-disc edition arrived yesterday, can't wait to watch it

bambam · 17-09-2008 11:56am

'mkv2vob' is free and very quick to run as it just performs a demux instead of a transcode. It can also split the output into multiple files to get over the fat32 4GB file-size limit

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Never said the PS3 could, you can use a freeware tools to convert the files to work on it, just checkout afterdawn. Also I see some sites offering PS3 ready HD downloads

MooseJam · 17-09-2008 12:11pm

why do blu-ray films cost like 30 or 40 and DVD'd cost as little as 5, does it actually cost five times more to make one or do the boys just say sure it's new technology we can charge whatever the hell we want

TinCool · 17-09-2008 12:12pm

I've got a Pioneer Plasma 4280DX 42" along with it's sister LX01 Home Cinema System (used for sound and recording TV stuff) and using PS3 for Blu Ray content.

My two cents on what definitely to see in HD

Sunshine
Blade Runner
Casino Royale

TC

robby^5 · 17-09-2008 12:23pm

I have a HD setup at home, but I really dont think the difference in quality is actually worth it yet. I'll be waiting til blu ray dvd's drop in price considerably before I start buying them regularly, also want a cheap blu ray player that isnt a PS3, why cant they make one the size of the 360's HD DVD player?

Two film series that are must buy when they come out in HD will be the Star Trek and Star Wars films.

godtabh · 17-09-2008 1:05pm

MooseJam wrote: »

why do blu-ray films cost like 30 or 40 and DVD'd cost as little as 5, does it actually cost five times more to make one or do the boys just say sure it's new technology we can charge whatever the hell we want

Because its new and people will pay it.

They propably claim they are getting back r&d costs

Snake Plisken · 17-09-2008 1:25pm

MooseJam wrote: »

why do blu-ray films cost like 30 or 40 and DVD'd cost as little as 5, does it actually cost five times more to make one or do the boys just say sure it's new technology we can charge whatever the hell we want

As its still a relatively new format, I still remember paying 25-30 pounds for Fox DVD's back in the day :eek:

But if you shop around you can pick up some decent value, here's a couple of examples that I'm buying online All region free & All including shipping.

Iron Man Tower Records €22.54 (I actually ordered off Axel for €23.19 hoping it arrives quicker)
The Lost Boys €16.98 Delivered I saw this in Zavvi for €30 and Xtravison for €25.
Kill Bill 1 & 2 Amazon.com €31.73 Delivered arrived today no customs charge.
The Mist Axel €19.78 Delivered.
1408 Axel €16.73 Delivered

So some good deals out there on the internet, that make Blu-Rays affordable.

Dont be at yourself · 17-09-2008 3:17pm

also want a cheap blu ray player that isnt a PS3

The PS3 is one of, if not the, best blu-ray player on the market. It's ethernet capable, compatible with the latest standard and can be easily upgraded, had oodles of hard-disk space and processing power, and has all the inputs and outputs you could ever need. It's also as quiet as a mouse. Oh, and it plays DVDs, games and has a built in web-browser and photo viewer too.

Vic Vinegar · 17-09-2008 3:20pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

The PS3 is one of, if not the, best blu-ray player on the market. It's ethernet capable, compatible with the latest standard and can be easily upgraded, had oodles of hard-disk space and processing power, and has all the inputs and outputs you could ever need. It's also as quiet as a mouse. Oh, and it plays DVDs, games and has a built in web-browser and photo viewer too.

+1 definitely the best available for price and quality, plus it's the only one that can be upgraded after being bought as far as i know.

robby^5 · 17-09-2008 5:26pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

The PS3 is one of, if not the, best blu-ray player on the market. It's ethernet capable, compatible with the latest standard and can be easily upgraded, had oodles of hard-disk space and processing power, and has all the inputs and outputs you could ever need. It's also as quiet as a mouse. Oh, and it plays DVDs, games and has a built in web-browser and photo viewer too.

I didn't say It wasn't good, I said it wasn't cheap, €400 seems like a lot for just a blu ray player (I wouldn't use it for games, the hard disk, don't see how it's processing power benefits me and I don't need a web browser on my tv) and I'd also have to go out and buy a remote because I'm not arsed using a ps3 controller. Also the ps3 is a tad ugly.

I'll hold out until I can get something for under €200, which is getting closer.

The Denouncer · 18-09-2008 7:30am

robby^5 wrote: »

I didn't say It wasn't good, I said it wasn't cheap, €400 seems like a lot for just a blu ray player (I wouldn't use it for games, the hard disk, don't see how it's processing power benefits me and I don't need a web browser on my tv) and I'd also have to go out and buy a remote because I'm not arsed using a ps3 controller. Also the ps3 is a tad ugly.

I'll hold out until I can get something for under €200, which is getting closer.

I'm not really into games and I highly recommend the PS3 because its constantly updated. There's not many Blu-Ray players with firmware update which decodes DTS-HD Master and Dolby Tru-HD soundtracks and passes to your receiver over HDMI. Also I bought an external hard drive and put all my music, photos and movies on it, the extra space might not even be needed, but its a very good central repository for you home media needs. I got the Blu-Ray/DVD/CD remote with my PS3.

Mossy Monk · 18-09-2008 10:25am

robby^5 wrote: »

I'll hold out until I can get something for under €200, which is getting closer.

You will get nothing that will update for that price.

MooseJam wrote: »

why do blu-ray films cost like 30 or 40 and DVD'd cost as little as 5, does it actually cost five times more to make one or do the boys just say sure it's new technology we can charge whatever the hell we want

Buy online. Lots of Bluray discs are region free. I got all 4 Rambo movies for €35 from Tower.com. Shops wanted that just for the newest Rambo in Ireland :rolleyes:

rednik · 18-09-2008 10:33am

Sony's next generation BD players will be released here shortly. The 350s is on the power city site and if bought online it will cost 287.95. This player will have ethernet for the latest firmware. The 550 is on the sony site but no price yet. Both these players will decode True HD and DTS HD master audio.

The HD Experience

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