How many people have Blu-ray?

[Czechman]

I'm in and glad... no comparison to regular DVD... IMO, of course

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by BigHat

...since DVD-A and SACD are on the verge of death.

Find a way to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reyolds Live at Radio City on a top-shelf display with lossless 5.1 24-bit/96kHz Dolby TrueHD enabled and then tell me Blu_Ray isn't the way to go.

I know that you know this, but for the rest of the folks...

TrueHD is MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) which was DVD-Audio - so the dying format essentially donated its organs to the new format (BluRay). SACD is still going strong in the classical music community and to a slightly lesser degree with jazz.


My new Oppo BDP-83 plays SACD and DVD-Audio (in addition to BluRay). Most players do not, but as Matt said, the benefit here is that BlueRay has several lossless options for audio and the storage capacity to support it. As more Bluray players go into homes, we'll see more music content being made available in lossless formats.

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by BigHat

Again, if they don't have the data (resolution) to make it better, or don't care to make it better, then it isn't going to be better. Would you expect to see the pores in Brando's face, or hear some awesome surround sound info in the Blu-Ray version of Street Car...?

Well, and the other part of that story is that new "ingests" (film scans) are done with content all the time.

I am astounded by the quality of transfers I'm seeing with HD movies on television. Old movies from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. The quality is excellent, and there was clearly some work done recently to make them ready for HDTV airings.

Most DVD transfers were done at lower resolutions, but about midway through the life of the DVD format, film studios started scanning at 2K (slightly greater resolution than 1080p). This meant that they were ready for HDTV and whatever HD format might emerge. These likely won't compare well with BluRays of newer films due to the fact that modern day films are scanned at much higher resolutions with better technology, but these old 2K scans are better than a garbage DVD transfer that is simply pressed to a Bluray.

The same thing happened when we went from LD to DVD - some of the early DVD discs were just awful because they came from older scans of a lower quality.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by TheDude

Well, and the other part of that story is that new "ingests" (film scans) are done with content all the time.

I am astounded by the quality of transfers I'm seeing with HD movies on television. Old movies from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. The quality is excellent, and there was clearly some work done recently to make them ready for HDTV airings.

Most DVD transfers were done at lower resolutions, but about midway through the life of the DVD format, film studios started scanning at 2K (slightly greater resolution than 1080p). This meant that they were ready for HDTV and whatever HD format might emerge. These likely won't compare well with BluRays of newer films due to the fact that modern day films are scanned at much higher resolutions with better technology, but these old 2K scans are better than a garbage DVD transfer that is simply pressed to a Bluray.

The same thing happened when we went from LD to DVD - some of the early DVD discs were just awful because they came from older scans of a lower quality.

Concur with all of the above. There is some amazing processing that can be done IF someone cares to do it, but there a number of examples where they don't. Of course, there are limits to what upscaling, NR and other processing can accomplish with dated material.

I can certainly appreciate those that have less interest in this subject than I do and/or prefer not to pay the price to stay on or near the bleeding edge of HT technology, but those saying Blu_Ray is not ready for prime either: 1) can't see, 2) don't care enough to really check it out, 3) don't have good enough gear in the rest of their system to allow the A/V benefits to materialize or 4) allow a few examples of a crappy transfer to cloud their judgement.
While a visit to a good A/V store would be best, even a trip to Best Buy with uncalibrated TVs set at "thermo-nuclear" and poor acoustics would reveal many of the benefits.

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by BigHat

Concur with all of the above. There is some amazing processing that can be done IF someone cares to do it, but there a number of examples where they don't. Of course, there are limits to what upscaling, NR and other processing can accomplish with dated material.

I can certainly appreciate those that have less interest in this subject than I do and/or prefer not to pay the price to stay on or near the bleeding edge of HT technology, but those saying Blu_Ray is not ready for prime either: 1) can't see, 2) don't care enough to really check it out, 3) don't have good enough gear in the rest of their system to allow the A/V benefits to materialize or 4) allow a few examples of a crappy transfer to cloud their judgement.
While a visit to a good A/V store would be best, even a trip to Best Buy with uncalibrated TVs set at "thermo-nuclear" and poor acoustics would reveal many of the benefits.

Amen. I know a guy who works for Eastman Kodak. He coded the NR tools for the Datacine/Telecine systems they collaborate on. I doubt there's anyone on this forum who hasn't seen content that was tweaked with them.


In addition to using newer and newer technology to clean up and process existing scans, new scans can be done on the film.


Using the "Mad Max" example:


-A studio can get the old film, re-scan it at a higher resolution using the newest tools and technology, clean up any scratches or dirt, and "re-master" it to a BluRay.


This was done recently with the Godfather series.

[waltk1026]

I'm not clear on what is out there other than regular DVD movies, which is what I buy and watch, and of course BlueRay movies. What would be a HD DVD movie? Is that a BlueRay movie? Or do they make a HD DVD?
Also, I have a plasma HDTV but it is 720P. I know BlueRay is best on 1080P but would BlueRay on 720P still be better than a regular DVD movie?

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by waltk1026

I'm not clear on what is out there other than regular DVD movies, which is what I buy and watch, and of course BlueRay movies. What would be a HD DVD movie? Is that a BlueRay movie? Or do they make a HD DVD?
Also, I have a plasma HDTV but it is 720P. I know BlueRay is best on 1080P but would BlueRay on 720P still be better than a regular DVD movie?

There was a format called HD-DVD. You can still find some movies that were made, but for the most part the format is dead so you really don't have to pay attention to it.


My BluRay players drive a 720p plasma and a 768p LCD RPTV. In both cases, the BluRays look better than broadcast HDTV and they put DVD to shame. In studies that have been done, it was found that you retain a very impressive amount of extra detail when you scale content to lower resolutions. While 1080p is currently aimed towards optimizing the performance of the format, it's not required for very good BluRay performance.

[Launch Mini]

I am no video expert, but I have the PS3, and a Bose system that "up converts" movies.
IMO, the BR discs are not worth the extra $10/show ( approx $28 vs $18 for DVD)
When either machine upcoverts, the picture on the screen is amazing. Not quite as good as a BR, but close enough for the price difference, IMO.

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by Launch Mini

I am no video expert, but I have the PS3, and a Bose system that "up converts" movies.
IMO, the BR discs are not worth the extra $10/show ( approx $28 vs $18 for DVD)
When either machine upcoverts, the picture on the screen is amazing. Not quite as good as a BR, but close enough for the price difference, IMO.

Interesting. Would you say that BR discs look better than broadcast HDTV on your setup?

Also, as folks have stated BR is about the audio too. Granted, you don't need the best audio for a drama, but for big budget movies the sound can make a huge difference. That's why I'll never replace certain DVDs (it's not worth it), but for new movies and any "keepers" it's BR all the way.

[Sweramic]

Hm, I have a PS3 and love to watch movies in Blu-ray. I have to buy The Dark Knight if you say it is so good.

Where are all the screenshots by the way? Show off them Blu-ray movies!

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

I'm still using Betamax!

J

Hi Jim,

The Betamax is fantastic and I still have mine. I was looking at some old videos of the kids just today. These were taken from 1982 on a direct to video Betamax camera. The dual sound recording technology on Betamax was way ahead of its time when it was released.

Having said that I have a couple of blu-ray players and a Panasonic DMR BW500. The 500 gig hard drive/blu-ray combination via HDMI is excellent.

Hope you are all well over there and getting fired up for the final slaughter.

[waltk1026]

Originally Posted by TheDude

There was a format called HD-DVD. You can still find some movies that were made, but for the most part the format is dead so you really don't have to pay attention to it.
My BluRay players drive a 720p plasma and a 768p LCD RPTV. In both cases, the BluRays look better than broadcast HDTV and they put DVD to shame. In studies that have been done, it was found that you retain a very impressive amount of extra detail when you scale content to lower resolutions. While 1080p is currently aimed towards optimizing the performance of the format, it's not required for very good BluRay performance.

Thanks for the info. I should go for the BlueRay and some BlueRay movies. I would look forward to better picture.