**Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

[CaptainZombie]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

There is no "joke" Blzer...

I'm surprised Warner hasn't contacted you to advise them on the production of the next film. Heck, I'm even more shocked you haven't been invited to join the A.S.C.

LOL!

[Zer0xray]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Hey guys. I just got my bluray player and put in my first bluray disc ever (dark knight) and i have a few questions.

I got the panasonic dmp35k and i think it took like 15 seconds to load up the movie...is that normal? also, is it normal to switch from have black bars during dialogue and actions scenes than full screen on landscape shots? i thought it was weird how it kept switching back and forth.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

So, this is my obligatory question every so often since I don't need/want another gaming machine. How are the SALs coming along? Are there any good ones out yet?

[goh]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Hey guys. I just got my bluray player and put in my first bluray disc ever (dark knight) and i have a few questions.

I got the panasonic dmp35k and i think it took like 15 seconds to load up the movie...is that normal? also, is it normal to switch from have black bars during dialogue and actions scenes than full screen on landscape shots? i thought it was weird how it kept switching back and forth.

If it's not hooked to the internet that's probably not a good thing,if it is then it's probably just loading the BD-Live stuff.

No the switching isn't normal but it is specifically for TDK. The full screen scenes are IMAX and the others are the normal shots. It's normally all full or all black bars.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

So, this is my obligatory question every so often since I don't need/want another gaming machine. How are the SALs coming along? Are there any good ones out yet?

I know EG bought a stand alone after selling his PS3...you might want to ask him.

They are dropping in price, I think Wal-mart is offering one for $250 with a gift card or something like that.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

So, this is my obligatory question every so often since I don't need/want another gaming machine. How are the SALs coming along? Are there any good ones out yet?

Panasonic BD35 is awesome.

Amazon BD35 = $249.99

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

So, this is my obligatory question every so often since I don't need/want another gaming machine. How are the SALs coming along? Are there any good ones out yet?

I have the Sony 550, most on HDD, AVS and others say it is as good if not better than the PS3 as far as Blu-ray players come. It loads as fast as my PS3 ever did for BD's. The quality to me, is near the same if not an edge to the 550. Hard to say, as I didn't have them both at the same time, but there's no drop off in quality. The 550 also has 1 GB of memory and can decode every audio format on board as the PS3 did. I absolutely love the player.

[Blzer]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

There is no "joke" Blzer...

I'm surprised Warner hasn't contacted you to advise them on the production of the next film. Heck, I'm even more shocked you haven't been invited to join the A.S.C.

I was just waiting for someone to say, "According to Blzer, the score should be a 1.0."

So do you seriously believe Warner's transfers are up to par with, say, Paramount? (Paramount has had a few rough releases, but not recently)

[CaptainZombie]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

I was just waiting for someone to say, "According to Blzer, the score should be a 1.0."

So do you seriously believe Warner's transfers are up to par with, say, Paramount? (Paramount has had a few rough releases, but not recently)

Uhm, their video transfers aren't bad...............but their audio transfers are garbage for some films. A few pages back I listed a bunch of recent releases that I have reviewed from them with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes. This is a high definition disc, it should have TrueHD 5.1 from them since that is the codec they have used so far.

Paramount has also had some mishaps with a few titles video transfers.

[Blzer]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Uhm, their video transfers aren't bad...............but their audio transfers are garbage for some films. A few pages back I listed a bunch of recent releases that I have reviewed from them with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes. This is a high definition disc, it should have TrueHD 5.1 from them since that is the codec they have used so far.

Paramount has also had some mishaps with a few titles video transfers.

That's what I was saying with the Ocean's movies (for Warner). And yes, I'm disappointed with Paramount on a couple of titles with only Dolby Digital 5.1 as well. Shooter is one example, and I can't remember if The Italian Job is also from Paramount, but on the back it says it has the lossless audio, but there isn't an option in the Languages menu.

As for video, I've had some issues. I've already said TDK and the sharpening, and The Matrix and the extra green they added to make it more like Reloaded and Revolutions (plus they just didn't do enough to separate it from the HD-DVD release... not to say it looks bad, but again, there is always seemingly room for potential). And also Ocean's Thirteen and 300 with its overcontrasting (also Ocean's with its bad flesh tones (orange) and 300 with its extra grain and bleeding blacks).

I had no problems with The Departed, however. Trying to think if I have any other Warner products.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Uhm, their video transfers aren't bad...............but their audio transfers are garbage for some films. A few pages back I listed a bunch of recent releases that I have reviewed from them with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes. This is a high definition disc, it should have TrueHD 5.1 from them since that is the codec they have used so far.

*cough-cough SPEED RACER cough-cough*

[CaptainZombie]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

That's what I was saying with the Ocean's movies (for Warner). And yes, I'm disappointed with Paramount on a couple of titles with only Dolby Digital 5.1 as well. Shooter is one example, and I can't remember if The Italian Job is also from Paramount, but on the back it says it has the lossless audio, but there isn't an option in the Languages menu.

As for video, I've had some issues. I've already said TDK and the sharpening, and The Matrix and the extra green they added to make it more like Reloaded and Revolutions (plus they just didn't do enough to separate it from the HD-DVD release... not to say it looks bad, but again, there is always seemingly room for potential). And also Ocean's Thirteen and 300 with its overcontrasting (also Ocean's with its bad flesh tones (orange) and 300 with its extra grain and bleeding blacks).

I had no problems with The Departed, however. Trying to think if I have any other Warner products.

Well, that was Paramount of old. Paramount since returning to Blu-ray has offered TrueHD 5.1 on all their titles. It's Warner that has the issue with the audio tracks.

*cough-cough SPEED RACER cough-cough*

or how about this one............Get Smart. It wasn't a bad movie, and could have taken advantage of the TrueHD, but no, they gave us DD5.1 while they gave films like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 lossless audio.

[Blzer]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Well, that was Paramount of old. Paramount since returning to Blu-ray has offered TrueHD 5.1 on all their titles. It's Warner that has the issue with the audio tracks.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying... they've had a bad history, but recently (with Cloverfield, Transformers, etc.), they've been nothing but superior.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

Panasonic BD35 is awesome.

Amazon BD35 = $249.99

I was actually looking at that one last night on Circuit City's website.

I have the Sony 550, most on HDD, AVS and others say it is as good if not better than the PS3 as far as Blu-ray players come. It loads as fast as my PS3 ever did for BD's. The quality to me, is near the same if not an edge to the 550. Hard to say, as I didn't have them both at the same time, but there's no drop off in quality. The 550 also has 1 GB of memory and can decode every audio format on board as the PS3 did. I absolutely love the player.

Do you guys know if that Panny above decodes all audio formats on board or not? I don't think I would hook the player up to the internet unless it can connect wirelessly, so how would that affect firmware upgrades and such? I'm assuming both players are future proof?

And one last question: Does Sony still do that free movie thing for blu-ray players?

[CaptainZombie]

Re: **Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread Part II**

I was actually looking at that one last night on Circuit City's website.

Do you guys know if that Panny above decodes all audio formats on board or not? I don't think I would hook the player up to the internet unless it can connect wirelessly, so how would that affect firmware upgrades and such? I'm assuming both players are future proof?

And one last question: Does Sony still do that free movie thing for blu-ray players?

Yes, both the Panny B35/55 and Sony S350/550 will decode TrueHD and DTS-HD MA internally. It will send the signal via PCM as opposed to what I am doing with mine where I allow the receiver to decode the high res audio.

You can download the firmware updates off of the net and burn them as ISO file. Then you just perform your update off of the burned DVD.

I had a Panasonic BD30 for 9 months and never had 1 problem with it or any discs. The Panasonic's are very reliable. Same goes with the Sony that Extreme has. The difference with the BD55 or S550 over the BD35 or S350 is if you are going to use the 5.1 audio jacks in the back of the BD player to connect to your receiver if your receiver is not HDMI compatible so you can get high resolution audio.