Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Well so far so good on the HD-A20. Watched 'King Kong' and loved it in HD...and the upconversion is almost as good as the Oppo (only some judder meaning incorrect 3:2 pulldown). Oh, and I can't zoom my 4:3 DVD's to fill my widescreen TV, and yes, I know it's not "correct" (but come on, stretched Spongebob Squarepants isn't that big of a deal! ).

I hope the long rumored 1080p/24fps firmware upgrade comes out as expected in September. The smoothness therein will go a long way for the HD-DVD format on the new displays (1080p/24 allows display of high def movies as they were filmed w/o conversion to 1080i/60, 1080p/60, etc.). The PS3 has already implemented this feature.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Just watched Wild Hogs on Blu-Ray. First Blu-Ray I've watched on my new 1080p set, and I'm amazed. I really need to start looking out for a good deal on the HD-DVD player since I now have a 360 in my living room again.

Wild Hogs is a nice looking movie on BD, even though many disliked the movie we found it to be goofy comedy that made us laugh.

Well so far so good on the HD-A20. Watched 'King Kong' and loved it in HD...and the upconversion is almost as good as the Oppo (only some judder meaning incorrect 3:2 pulldown). Oh, and I can't zoom my 4:3 DVD's to fill my widescreen TV, and yes, I know it's not "correct" (but come on, stretched Spongebob Squarepants isn't that big of a deal! ).

I hope the long rumored 1080p/24fps firmware upgrade comes out as expected in September. The smoothness therein will go a long way for the HD-DVD format on the new displays (1080p/24 allows display of high def movies as they were filmed w/o conversion to 1080i/60, 1080p/60, etc.). The PS3 has already implemented this feature.

Johnny, I have a similar 3:2 pulldown issue with the A2 on SD-DVD's that aren't anamorphic. Non anamorphic movies or anything that I might have burned on DVD goes to 4:3 with black bars on the right and left. I have to go in and adjust the settings to make it fit properly. Now anything that is Anamorphic fits without a problem.

Spongebob might not be anamorphic and thats why this is happening.

It sucks that when I bought the A2, a month later they announced the A20 with 1080p. The A2 I have is 1080i which still looks like a beaut, but my TV upscales signals to 1080p so I might be already getting just about what someone would with the 1080p HD-DVD player. Now movies off of the PS3 look really nice via 1080p.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Depending on who you talk to the 1080i from the A2 might be preferable, as it correctly deinterlaces. I have 30 days, so if the firmware upgrade doesn't come down the pipe I'll probably go with the XA2 instead (or one of the new players).

And Spongebob is full screen 4:3, but I just like to fill the screen for some things!

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Depending on who you talk to the 1080i from the A2 might be preferable, as it correctly deinterlaces. I have 30 days, so if the firmware upgrade doesn't come down the pipe I'll probably go with the XA2 instead (or one of the new players).

And Spongebob is full screen 4:3, but I just like to fill the screen for some things!

Ok, so then Spongebob isn't 16:9 Anamorphic. I hate that these players will take 4:3 dvd's and show them in their native resolution. One way to fix this issue Johnny, go into the main menu of the A20......change the display from 16:9 to 4:3, and it will stretch the image to fit. I hate having to do this since when I want to watch a HD-DVD or SD-DVD which is 16:9, I have to switch it back at that point.

Don't get me wrong, 1080i looks very nice and the difference isn't that huge between 1080p and 1080i.

Does Best Buy sell the XA2? I can't wait for the 3rd generation players this fall, they are already getting rave reviews.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Does Best Buy sell the XA2? I can't wait for the 3rd generation players this fall, they are already getting rave reviews.

Best Buy doesn't but Circuit City offers it on their website. I was just looking at the Amazon route.

As for the third generation, it's just the curse of technology...see the "Chronic Technology Buyers" thread!

I'll be 100% happy with the A20 if they add the 1080p/24. Now I just hope that once my PS3 starts playing more games (only have used it for Blu-ray and PS2) that the disc drive doesn't wear out!

Oh, and the stretching is just a function of the upscaler. The Oppo's have a scaler that will stretch (and it also has a chip that does rough zooming for all content) but the Anchor Bay chip in the Toshies doesn't allow the option.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Best Buy doesn't but Circuit City offers it on their website. I was just looking at the Amazon route.

As for the third generation, it's just the curse of technology...see the "Chronic Technology Buyers" thread!

I'll be 100% happy with the A20 if they add the 1080p/24. Now I just hope that once my PS3 starts playing more games (only have used it for Blu-ray and PS2) that the disc drive doesn't wear out!

Oh, and the stretching is just a function of the upscaler. The Oppo's have a scaler that will stretch (and it also has a chip that does rough zooming for all content) but the Anchor Bay chip in the Toshies doesn't allow the option.

Johnny, if my PS3 dies out from watching movies since that is all I use it for these days............I have the BB warranty and I'll just use it to get a Blu-Ray stand alone player if that ever happens. I'm all for stand alone players and really wish either the dual players would drop or the blu-ray players would drop sooner.

Do you mean the Reon chip in the Toshiba?

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Johnny, if my PS3 dies out from watching movies since that is all I use it for these days............I have the BB warranty and I'll just use it to get a Blu-Ray stand alone player if that ever happens. I'm all for stand alone players and really wish either the dual players would drop or the blu-ray players would drop sooner.

Do you mean the Reon chip in the Toshiba?

Reon allows it (I think), and the Oppo 971/981 have a Faroudja chip.

The thing with the Reon is that it hasn't been confirmed for ANY of the next gen Toshiba's. Good performance sure, but I was never able to get an answer as to what exactly I would see improved over the Anchor Bay or Faroudja. As such I settled on the 1080p A20.

Oh well...

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Reon allows it (I think), and the Oppo 971/981 have a Faroudja chip.

The thing with the Reon is that it hasn't been confirmed for ANY of the next gen Toshiba's. Good performance sure, but I was never able to get an answer as to what exactly I would see improved over the Anchor Bay or Faroudja. As such I settled on the 1080p A20.

Oh well...

Post at AVS or Highdefdigest.com, someone should be able to help you there with the chipsets.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Not too sure if this has been posted, but more price drops from Amazon on BD..............thanks to highdefdigest.com.

THE FIFTH ELEMENT $14.95 from 19.95
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS $14.95 from 19.95
THE LAST WALTZ $14.95 from 19.95
KUNG FU HUSTLE $14.95 from 19.95
SPECIES $14.95 from 19.95
MEMENTO $14.95 from 19.95
LAYER CAKE $14.95 from 19.95
BIG FISH $14.95 from 19.95
IDENTITY $14.95 from 19.95
FINDING NEVERLAND $14.95 from 16.49
WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH $15.95 from 19.95
CHRONOS $17.95 from 19.95
XXX $17.95 from 19.95
STEALTH $17.95 from 19.95
INTO THE BLUE $17.95 from 19.95
BLACK HAWK DOWN $17.95 from 19.95
TEARS OF THE SUN $17.95 from 19.95
LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER $17.95 from 19.95
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW $17.95 from 19.95
GHOST $17.95 from 19.95
SLEEPY HOLLOW $17.95 from 19.95
AEON FLUX $17.95 from 19.95
U2: RATTLE AND HUM $17.95 from 19.95
THE ITALIAN JOB $17.95 from 19.95
WE WERE SOLDIERS $17.95 from 19.95
BLACK RAIN $17.95 from 19.95
PAYBACK: STRAIGHT UP $17.95 from 19.95
TRADING PLACES $17.95 from 19.95
THE UNTOUCHABLES $17.95 from 19.95
THE WARRIORS: ULTIMATE DIRECTOR'S CUT $17.95 from 19.95
UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION $20.95 from 26.95
INVINCIBLE $20.95 from 21.49
THE COVENANT $20.95 from 26.95
TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY $21.95 from 24.95
OPEN SEASON $21.95 from 26.95
CASINO ROYALE $21.95 from 26.95
ROCKY BALBOA $21.95 from 26.95
16 BLOCKS $23.95 from 22.95
THE USUAL SUSPECTS $24.95 from 27.95
ULTRAVIOLET $24.95 from 26.95
SILENT HILL $24.95 from 26.95
KISS OF THE DRAGON $24.95 from 27.95
SPEED $24.95 from 27.95
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: DIRECTOR'S CUT $24.95 from 27.95
FANTASTIC FOUR $24.95 from 27.95
THE TRANSPORTER $24.95 from 27.95
MONSTER HOUSE $24.95 from 26.95
THE TRANSPORTER 2 $24.95 from 27.95
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR $24.95 from 27.95
THE HOLIDAY $24.95 from 26.95
ERAGON $24.95 from 27.95
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM $24.95 from 27.95
THE CONDEMNED $24.95 from 27.95
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III $25.95 from 27.95
BABEL $25.95 from 27.95
DREAMGIRLS $25.95 from 27.95
BLACK SNAKE MOAN $25.95 from 27.95
THE DESCENT $26.95 from 27.95
DISTURBIA $26.95 from 27.95
LORD OF WAR $27.95 from 26.95
HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER $27.95 from 26.95
SPIDER-MAN 3 $29.95 from 44.99
RESCUE ME: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON $53.95 from 55.95

[RockyTop1]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Spidey 3 finally dropped to normal. I was wondering how long that was going to take.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Spidey 3 finally dropped to normal. I was wondering how long that was going to take.

Same, now lower the trilogy from 89.95, and they may have a sell

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Wow, very disappointing that Spidey 1 and 2 will have no special features, just the movie. You'd think Sony would push these to the max.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Sony/Disc_Announcements/Full_Specs_in_for_Spider-Man:_High-Def_Trilogy_Blu-ray/887

Neither 'Spider-Man' nor 'Spider-Man 2' will include any of the bonus features from their original DVD releases, and -- in a first for Sony -- neither will include support for PCM audio. Instead, both 'Spider-Man' and 'Spider-Man 2' will contain Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround tracks only.

I'll be sticking with my original DVD's I guess. Very disappointing.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Wow, very disappointing that Spidey 1 and 2 will have no special features, just the movie. You'd think Sony would push these to the max.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Sony/Disc_Announcements/Full_Specs_in_for_Spider-Man:_High-Def_Trilogy_Blu-ray/887

I'll be sticking with my original DVD's I guess. Very disappointing.

I wonder why Sony Pictures would do that, its like FOX BD releases.

This is BS, just so they can double, triple, quadruple dip down the road.

[Pared]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

Wow, very disappointing that Spidey 1 and 2 will have no special features, just the movie. You'd think Sony would push these to the max.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Sony/Disc_Announcements/Full_Specs_in_for_Spider-Man:_High-Def_Trilogy_Blu-ray/887

I'll be sticking with my original DVD's I guess. Very disappointing.

That stinks, especially since the Trilogy would've been nice to have.

[Skerik]

Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread

I'll be sticking with my original DVD's I guess. Very disappointing.

That is disappointing, but I gave up caring about bonus features a long time ago. My main concern is the actual movie and its audio and video, and the BD version will provide a substantial upgrade in the video department to my DVDs, so I'll be getting the trilogy. For the HD alone, it's a worthwhile purchase and I don't care about bonus junk.