Taking Sides - HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

How big is his TV Josh? My impression is that you need a pretty big one to see a real noticeable difference.

Big TV and proper HDMI cabling is urgent and key otherwise yeah, no point bothering.

Do Blu-ray players actually have composite outs?? That would be lolsome

They sure do. I've a friend who complained that they were unimpressed by the picture from their PS3, had it hooked up to the HD TV by a scart cable...

Wow, this genuinely surprises me, because I've got blu-ray and dvd of both those and the difference (to my eyes) is immense, not just in terms of sharpness and resolution but also in colour depth, contrast, lack of visible artifacts etc.

^^^ this, in fact for all the Kubrick stuff. Blu-Rays of "2001" and "Full Metal Jacket" are really, really amazing compared to the DVDs. (Which were, in all fairness, pretty damned well-mastered themselves.) The barracks scenes in FMJ just pop in a way that the DVD never did for me with the increased contrast.

Hmm, well, maybe I misworded it. The difference was apparent, to my eyes, but not significant. Like, hardly a deal breaker, superior but not to the extent that the DVD looked outright inferior.

I think his TV is 42", which is pretty much the cusp, isn't it, for amplifying the superiority of the Blu-ray. Though it wouldn't surprise me if he, like 99% of people, had it connected/calibrated improperly. I haven't seen an HD store display yet that wasn't calibrated improperly, to some extent. And like stereos, in the end - different eyes, different light, different combos of media ... beyond reference quality Pixar stuff, there are lots of variables in play.

remarks about hd cable otm: when you start getting used to 720p/1080i being piped in on hundreds of channels all day every day, going back to regular DVD, you realize the huge difference.

just do not get suckered into paying like $50 for a premium hdmi cable... they are all created equal. buy one for $5 on ebay.

and also ya you do NOT need 1080p to see the benefits, 720p/1080i still looks worlds better too.

ALSO if you want to really see what blu-ray can do i still recommend "planet earth." or "dr. no." i was watching north x nw last night and it looked pretty phenoms too.

and UP looked INSANELY great. don't forget it's not just the resolution, it's the color space as well.

i watched a Blu-Ray rip t.o.r.r.e.n.t. of Up the other night on my 26" 720p TV and the picture was just DINGGGGGG like a fucking diamond - sick

so like a full-res rip? yeah, i watched a 1080p rip of children of men that looked amazing. obviously a bit compressed but still wowzer.

i dunno, i guess so! of course i haven't seen the normal DVD - it's probably pretty nice too

yeah i remember how good the upconverted incredibles DVD looked on my hdtv. they really know how to encode their shit at pixar. doesn't hurt that they skip the telecine step either.

josh,

frankly - and i have access to like a shitload of really expensive TVS at work all the time....i don't think there is a marked difference between 720p and 1080p if the TV is smaller than about 46 inches...

say if you have a 32 or 36 i really don't think you will notice that much of a difference.

in fact you might be able to get a pretty sweet deal right now on, say, a 36 inch 720p Sony or something since ppl are so uptight about 1080p and getting the "best" resolution...

at 46 or especially over 50 inches, you will see some differences between 1080p and 720p....but either way 720p is always preferable to 1080i.

So is this blu-ray thing here to stay? My previous DVD/home cinema thing died and I've gone for a better one - with a Blu-Ray player. Got myself BBC's Planet Earth and Life series for showing off the spex, the Ice Age and Mummy trilogies for the mindless enjoyment and ordered a couple of the favourites so check for differences (the thirtheenth floor, dark city, the cure's trilogy), but I'm now a but uncertain about where to go now.

This obviously isn't the new DVD format (I mean, Bad Santa on Blu-Ray? Why?) - there's some kind of upscaling going on so the better DVDs look pretty great (Nine Inch Nails' Besides You In Time looks fantastic) and their surround is also quite fabulous sometimes, but still: is Blu-Ray the 320 kbps of physical media?

to check for differences <- typo

http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/MadMen-S1_Bluray.jpg
http://www.criterion.com/library/bluray

Wow! Thanks for the link!

Unfortunately:

26. Are Criterion’s Blu-ray discs region-encoded?
Yes. Criterion is licensed to sell most of its editions only in North America.

that's a bummer :(

It does mean there's a HD version ready, waiting to be picked up by a European distributor, though.

ROFL @ the oh-no-you-don't vote here (scroll down to see the customer review scores).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X9FLKM/ref=s9_al_bw_ir01

Also, a message to whoever decided that some (all?) Blu-Rays shouldn't remember any settings or resume where you stopped watching: way to fuck up your shiny new format, idiots.

I think this comes down to if the disc is mastered to use the Java BD functionality ie. if it is, then Resume will not be possible. I've got about 60 or so blu-ray discs and only a handful allow a dvd style Resume. Something you can try, Stan, is setting a bookmark before you stop playback - if you press the green button on yr remote it will do this (again if the function is implemented on that disc!).

I think most of the disney / pixar stuff is mastered tht way

anyway just got a PS3 and I think I'm gonna crack my BD virginity with... MOON

http://i39.tinypic.com/2uiar6d.png

HD-DVD iirc

should have to reach into gloop-filled egg to retrieve the box imo

when when when ?

ha, ste you wouldn't buy that would you?!

HA well no not really, but surely they'll release a normal box too. or is this all a big TEASE ?

should have to reach into gloop-filled egg to retrieve the box imo

Should shoot out on a spring and hit you in the face tbh.

should insert itself into your torso and spring out from your chest in a gruesome and bloody fashion, killing you, imo

they're saying apple might start putting blu-ray in macs as early as this season.
― s1ocki, Saturday, January 5, 2008 10:59 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

just fucking put the drives in already apple you dicks, we get it you love itunes but itunes is shit

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is, surprisingly, a gorgeous Blu Ray showpiece.

ROFL @ the oh-no-you-don't vote here (scroll down to see the customer review scores).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X9FLKM/ref=s9_al_bw_ir01

― StanM, Sunday, March 14, 2010 3:51 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

lol @ 90% of reviewers giving a most beloved movie trilogy 1 star

3,201 Reviews
5 star: (201)
4 star: (30)
3 star: (42)
2 star: (42)
1 star: (2,886)

tht whole fiasco is disgusting

Looks like they're just giving it low ratings because they're the theatrical versions and not the extended cuts that'll inevitably get their own BR release. I can understand the hate, this is a blatant cash-in, you know they've must have the masters ready since they made the extended cuts for DVD years ago.

lower quality than the HDTV broadcast from a few years ago too

wtf wtf

planet earth BD set doesn't contain the planet earth diaries from the terrestrial broadcasts

wtf

stop feeding the system, man

http://www.thehdroom.com/images/bluray/large/5604.jpg

it looks so good tho, so so good
xp

fffffffffffffffff 2001 is ridiculous looking

planet earth BD set doesn't contain the planet earth diaries from the terrestrial broadcasts

They weren't filmed in HD, so perhaps they were held back from what was BBC/2Ent3rta1n's flagship BD release at the time. I can definitely remember doing standard-def (480i or 576i) "making of" subs for one natural history show though (they were just bundled as extras rather than running immediately after the 50min feature). I guess it wasn't this one.

Life is high-def all the way (the Disc0v3ry edition with Oprah W commentary has the Attenborough "On Location" sections as extras; it has an 11th Oprah v/o "Making Of" episode too).

are there some blu-ray players that are considered to be the best and most reliable? tbh i've looked online and certain sites contradict each other and editor and user reviews contradict each other so i'm not sure where to start.

I seriously suggest just getting a PS3. You can use it to watch Netflix Watch Instantly; you can use it as a media center ...

^^^happy with mine

is it worth it even if i don't play video games in your opinion?