Blu-ray vs HD DVD

The Man

Well-known member
Now that HD-DVD is for the knacker's-yard, who's up for a thread to discuss all things Blu-Ray. I'm buying the Sony BDP-S300 along with a Sony 40" LCD in the same week as Indy 4's release, and would love any feedback on which titles are best buys...(y)
 

deckard24

New member
The Man said:
Now that HD-DVD is for the knacker's-yard, who's up for a thread to discuss all things Blu-Ray. I'm buying the Sony BDP-S300 along with a Sony 40" LCD in the same week as Indy 4's release, and would love any feedback on which titles are best buys...(y)
I'm all for a Blu-Ray thread, but couldn't you just post it in the Open Discussion forum?
 

The Man

Well-known member
deckard24 said:
I'm all for a Blu-Ray thread, but couldn't you just post it in the Open Discussion forum?

I thought about posting it in the Films thread. Mods: move at your desire...
 

The Man

Well-known member
Ahh, here we go: can you please remove the question mark from the title?(y)

So far I've bought The Shining, Die Hard and have 30 Days Of Night on pre-order.

What I'd really like to know about is the "upscale" feature. Can a Blu-Ray player actually kick a regular DVD up to 1080HD?
 
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deckard24

New member
The Man said:
Ahh, here we go: can you please remove the question mark from the title?(y)

So far I've bought The Shining, Die Hard and have 30 Days Of Night on pre-order.

What I'd really like to know about is the "upscale" feature. Can a Blu-Ray player actually kick a regular DVD up to 1080HD?
I haven't got one of the players yet, I'm waiting a bit longer until I can rationalize spending the cash on it. As for whether or not it can kick up a regular DVD to 1080P I don't think so! It will definitely improve the picture quality, but I believe it's not too different then the upscale DVD players on the market now. The only true 1080P quality you'll get will be with the actual Blu-Ray discs!

When I get a player I don't think I'll rebuy every film I own, but instead only specific favorites like: The Indy films, Jaws, Star Wars OTC, Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Bourne Series! There are some films that just need to be seen in HD ie. Raiders, and some classics like Casablanca which are fine as is! My classics collection like On the Waterfront, A Man for All Seasons, Bullitt, Casablanca, and Citizen Kane just to name a few, in my opinion are great the way they are. The aged look is what gives them character!
 

dallasindy

New member
The Bluray players do look awesome though. My only complaint is that a lot of the movies I want are not out on bluray yet.
 

The Man

Well-known member
deckard24 said:
I haven't got one of the players yet, I'm waiting a bit longer until I can rationalize spending the cash on it. As for whether or not it can kick up a regular DVD to 1080P I don't think so! It will definitely improve the picture quality, but I believe it's not to different then the upscale DVD players on the market now. The only true 1080P quality you'll get will be with the actual Blu-Ray discs!

When I get a player I don't think I'll rebuy every film I own, but instead only specific favorites like: The Indy films, Jaws, Star Wars OTC, Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Bourne Series!

There aren't all that many titles out in Europe yet, but I'd love to see some of the ones you've listed. Lucas said that Blu-Rays for Indy and Star Wars are a couple of years off yet, though...
 

deckard24

New member
The Man said:
There aren't all that many titles out in Europe yet, but I'd love to see some of the ones you've listed. Lucas said that Blu-Rays for Indy and Star Wars are a couple of years off yet, though...
Unfortunately that's true, they're saving the best for last!:mad:

I had a good 125 or so movies, and just recently sold about 50 of them. I'm still trying to downsize my collection, but not a lot of used stores are buying right now! I'd like to have a streamlined collection of films that just highlights my absolute personal favorites, the ones that I watch at least once a year. A lot of the others I've amassed over the years came from me buying them instead of renting them, because they were so inexpensive ($5 in most cases). Not to mention I've bought quite a few used DVDs too, titles like The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, The Boxer, and Batman Begins.

50 DVDs would be a good number to have, with half or so coming from Blu Ray discs.
 

MattJones

New member
I have Blu-ray built into my Vaio, so I easily just plug the thing into the TV and VOILA! I have a Blu-ray player.
 

The Man

Well-known member
On play.com they're offering Blade Runner:The Final Cut Two Disc Editon on Blu-Ray for 25.49 Euros BUT they're selling the full 5 disc edition on regular DVD for exactly the same price.
 

Agent Z

Active member
I have an HD-DVD player from Toshiba. I got the player for $100 and ten free movies, so don't cry for me. Just know that until Blu-Ray gets their act together and releases a cheaper, more stable player, I'll be enjoying my HD movies. :)

The Man said:
On play.com they're offering Blade Runner:The Final Cut Two Disc Editon on Blu-Ray for 25.49 Euros BUT they're selling the full 5 disc edition on regular DVD for exactly the same price.

That's strange. I bought The Final Cut briefcase edition in standard dvd, but I also picked up the non-briefcase 5 disc HD-DVD Final Cut release the week it came out on Amazon for around $30. I never even knew that The Final Cut came in a 2-disc set.

I definitely recommend The Final Cut in HD whichever way you can get it...gorgeous transfer! (y)

dallasindy said:
The bluray players definitely make a regular DVD look much better, but im not sure it is quite 1080...

My Toshiba HD-DVD player is a great upscaling player, but all things being equal, an HD disc is noticeably leaps ahead of a standard.

A lot of it comes down to how each transfer is. There are some early HD/Blu-Ray titles that weren't cleaned up properly and so they aren't that much of an improvement over their standard dvd counterparts.

Then there are HD discs like The Road Warrior, Pan's Labyrinth, and The Hulk which look amazing in HD to a point that upscaled standards just can never reach.
 
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The Man

Well-known member
I was about to buy 2001: A Space Odyssey but I keep reading complaints that the transfer has a flicker when panning from one point to another.:mad:
 

Agent Z

Active member
The Man said:
I was about to buy 2001: A Space Odyssey but I keep reading complaints that the transfer has a flicker when panning from one point to another.:mad:

All I can say is that my HD-DVD of 2001 is pretty much pristine. I love it.

From what I gather, the Blu-Ray transfer is basically the same as the HD-DVD, and you can read both reviews here.
 

The Man

Well-known member
Agent Z said:
All I can say is that my HD-DVD of 2001 is pretty much pristine. I love it.

From what I gather, the Blu-Ray transfer is basically the same as the HD-DVD, and you can read both reviews here.

That's good news. I may buy it after all.
 

The Man

Well-known member
A selection of juicy Region 2 releases for the coming months:

Ultimate Blu-Ray Rambo Collection (23/06/08)

There Will Be Blood (07/07/08)

Batman Begins (14/07/08)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (04/08/08)

Total Recall (04/08/08)

Escape From New York (11/08/08)

The Fog (1981) (11/08/08)

Evil Dead 2 (22/09/08)

For a more comprehensive list: http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/-/600/808/3-/ComingSoon.html?fd=9+Jun+2008&ld=22+Jun+2008



Not sure about the status of these Blu-Rays in America.
 

Agent Z

Active member
I hope that is a better transfer of Evil Dead II than the R1 Blu was.

I'm just biding my time, enjoying my HD-DVD player, waiting for the day that KOTCS is announced for Blu-Ray...and all my finances get shot on upgrading to another player.
 

The Man

Well-known member
Agent Z said:
I hope that is a better transfer of Evil Dead II than the R1 Blu was.

I'm just biding my time, enjoying my HD-DVD player, waiting for the day that KOTCS is announced for Blu-Ray...and all my finances get shot on upgrading to another player.

Are they still releasing movies for HD-DVD?
 
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