Hi- def movies you've seen lately

amba · Post by **amba** » 11 Mar 2007 06:52 pm

flipswitch wrote:When the Termintor series (T1, T2)comes to HD-DVD/BLU-RAY, it will be the day I pick up the next gen movie format.I would like to get the HD-DVD add on which is out locally very soon. Just a few questions which I hope hasn't been answered regarding HD-DVD.

T1 and T2 are available on Bluray in the US already. T2 is coming out soon in HD-DVD (in France anyway). T3 is on HD-DVD. Confused already?

flipswitch wrote:Do you have to have your x360 on when you use the HD-DVD drive? (probably a stupid question) reason why I'm asking is well firstly the electricity bill and second the x360 makes enough noise as it is.

Yeah, you need to have it on. Think of the drive as just a piece of hardware, and all of the decoding/ playing stuff is on the 360.

There is the ability to use your PC instead, but you need to buy a new version of PowerDVD and meet all of the hardware requirements.

flipswitch wrote:Does it plug into the USB drive? and is HD-DVD region free?

USB, and it gives you a couple of extra ports in return. HD-DVD disks are region free; there are some disks that have HD on one side and SD on the other. The SD side will be region locked.

Bluray has region locking slightly different than what you're used to with DVD. We're lumped in with Europe this time. The US and Japan are the same region (which is useful for PS3 importers).

flipswitch wrote:Is there any aus websites dedicated with movie releases/info/reviews on it?

http://www.highdefdigest.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is as good as any; it focuses on news and reviews. Not AU, though.

EzyDVD seem to be stocking everything so that may give you an indication.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 11 Mar 2007 11:47 pm

t0mby wrote:
lestat wrote:I wanna pick up total recall and the rambo collection locally here on hd-dvd.
Total Recall ftw! I've never found it easy to find on DVD, aside from a lacksture version, like the early dvd's that came out when everyone was sticking them straight freom VHS to DVD. Ram picked up some 5 disc Arnie set with T2, TR, Red Sonja, True Lies and Red Heat I think for about $25-30NZ. Bargain.

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/785458" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It was really good quality also. Although it's probably better to pick it up in HD now.

I have most of Arnies movies on DVD, so i doubt i'll end up with many on HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I must admit, grabbing the Terminator movies is tempting though

flipswitch · Post by **flipswitch** » 12 Mar 2007 05:36 pm

For those with HD sets, how does a movie on telly compare to HD-DVD.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 13 Mar 2007 10:27 pm

The Prestige - Blu Ray version.

W O W, amazing image and sound, definitely demo material I think.

Actual movie - Fuck I can't beleive it but the movie is actualy better the second time around, and I loved it the first time, you pick up on SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much extra stuff the second time and the writing is just brilliant, can't reccomend this movie enough.

10/10 for both the movie and the quality.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 14 Mar 2007 09:37 pm

Blu-ray:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Haven't watched the movie yet, just skipped through it to check out the quality. The image is fucking awesome. Can't wait till i have a 1080p TV so i can get an even better image.

HD-DVD:
Smallville Season 5 - Haven't got my fucking HD-DVD add-on yet

Had this for a couple of weeks.

Am picking up the Mission Impossible triple pack on Blu-ray tomorrow from Big W. It's $97, which is pretty good value and even better in that i don't own any of the movies yet

Oh, and i can actually fucking watch them when i get them.

MS need to release this HD-DVD add-on already.

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 14 Mar 2007 10:22 pm

I just got my hd-dvds in the mail today, just need that drive like you mx. I tell ya what, i hate these new smaller cases, they fucking suck imo. I prefer the std dvd size cases, both formats cases just feel flimsy and cheap to me.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 14 Mar 2007 10:44 pm

I don't mind the new casing. Doesn't really feel much different then DVD casing, except slightly smaller in height... and now with colour schemes.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 21 Mar 2007 10:11 pm

Just bought the Mission Impossible Triple Pack from JB Hi-Fi on Bluray for $90.

Watched the first two movies, and they looked incredible. The second moreso then the first. Both killed DVD though. Only problem was constant freezing during the second movie (like 7 or 8 times, my PS3 froze completely, for around 5 to 10 seconds then continued playing and skipped ahead a few seconds). Turns out it's related to the Wi-Fi in the PS3. I was ready to smash the fucking controller too.

Still, the movies looked incredible. And next time i watch a movie i'll disable the wi-fi. Highly recommend anyone with Blu-ray to pick them up. At $90 they are very decently priced.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 21 Mar 2007 10:17 pm

Whats the wi-fi problem? We're using Wi-Fi here and I havn't seen a skip.

For those that have watched a few hd movies now whats your pick of the best looking? So far I'd say Corpse Bride just destroys EVERYTHING else I've seen (Blu Ray version, havn't seen the HD DVD) it looks stunning, as it should I guess coming from thousands of crazy resolution stills as the source.

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 21 Mar 2007 10:24 pm

The problem is talked about at AVS forums. It's related to using wifi and the wifi connection dropping mid movie playing, which causes the movie to freeze for a few seconds. If you have a noisy wifi environment it's recommended to disable wifi while watching films until they fix the problem.

I got my 2 blurays(Black hawk down, kung fu hustle) in the mail. But I'm not sure if I'll keep them. I don't think i'll be getting a ps3 anytime soon. If anyone is interested in em, give me a pm.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 21 Mar 2007 10:29 pm

Well, it appears lestat had a better idea then i do.

I just majorly had the shits and after MI2 finished, i was thinking either my console was overheating, the disc was faulty... or the playback was dodgy. So i searched and was glad to see it was nothing major. A firmware update will probably fix it, if not i'll just disable wi-fi. Cabled is much quicker anyway.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 21 Mar 2007 10:35 pm

Yeah our PS3 is in the same room as the router it connects to so signal dropping isn't a problem for us.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 21 Mar 2007 10:50 pm

My PS3 is around a metre from my router. Same room. My laptop can connect to the router just fine through every wall in my house from my backyard and it doesn't drop out.

It's not a concern for me, just a minor annoyance. Knowing that it's something innocent causing the problem and not my PS3/movie being fucked is all i was worried about.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 26 Mar 2007 06:51 pm

Holy fucking shit.

360 HD-DVD add-on >>>>>>>>>> PS3 Blu-ray Playback.

I got my add-on today, hooked my Xbox 360 up via VGA (PS3 is via HDMI) and i put in my Smallville HD-DVD... it fucking killed the Mission Impossible movies for clarity. I then put in King Kong, and it beat the shit out of that again.

I'm thinking it's because the PS3 can't output 720p for Blu-ray, and so 1080i looks blurry on my TV. But still... the picture is fucking amazing. I never thought a TV show with a budget could look that amazing.

mech · Post by **mech** » 26 Mar 2007 08:11 pm

Hahaha yeah, that would be the problem mx... try a comparison on a 1080p panel or a CRT running 1080i first

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 26 Mar 2007 08:53 pm

I'd assume that they'd be pretty much identical on a 1080p TV. Or if Sony updated the software in the PS3 to output 720p.

Seriously, it's amazing how much better it looks.

westical · Post by **westical** » 26 Mar 2007 08:58 pm

lestat wrote:I got my 2 blurays(Black hawk down, kung fu hustle) in the mail. But I'm not sure if I'll keep them. I don't think i'll be getting a ps3 anytime soon. If anyone is interested in em, give me a pm.

Anytime soon = within the next 24 hours?

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 26 Mar 2007 09:52 pm

mech wrote:Hahaha yeah, that would be the problem mx... try a comparison on a 1080p panel or a CRT running 1080i first

Yeah it's a double effect though, King Kong is just a fucking incredible transfer and much better than most other HD titles. Also you don't need a hardware scaler to scale movies MX, I'm sure the PS3 is powerful enough to decode and scale a Blu Ray movie

They just need to make it happen.

1080p vs 1080p comparison I can see King Kong HD DVD is better than Kiss Kiss Bang Bang on blu ray but if I compare it to an awesome blu ray transfer like The Prestiege or Corpse Bride, HDMI wins out and the PS3 playback looks better (Running the 360 HD DVD addon).

The most important factor in why HD movies look awesome usualy isn't the player, but the transfer.. Though not using a cheap tv scaler will help too

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 26 Mar 2007 10:07 pm

Sonic Jam wrote:The most important factor in why HD movies look awesome usualy isn't the player, but the transfer.. Though not using a cheap tv scaler will help too

Maybe if the PS3 actually scaled the content like other players do, it wouldn't be an issue.

Considering most HDTV's aren't 1080p, it's a major oversite.

Sonic Jam wrote:Also you don't need a hardware scaler to scale movies MX, I'm sure the PS3 is powerful enough to decode and scale a Blu Ray movie They just need to make it happen.

I know...

mxlegend99 wrote:I'd assume that they'd be pretty much identical on a 1080p TV. Or if Sony updated the software in the PS3 to output 720p.

Seriously, it's amazing how much better it looks.

It shouldn't be hard to release an update to allow movies to be downscaled to 720p.

Corey · Post by **Corey** » 26 Mar 2007 10:43 pm

I think the PS3 could do 720p from day one in the US and then Sony removed it with the first firmware update for reasons only known to them.

westical · Post by **westical** » 26 Mar 2007 10:51 pm

I don't think it ever did.

Sonic Jam · Post by **Sonic Jam** » 26 Mar 2007 10:51 pm

I wasn't disagreing with what you said MX, just saying it's not completely about the player but mostly the source

(I think King Kong would trump almost anything even if there was no 1080i downscaling going on by your tv).

Corey I think that's false, pretty sure the difference is that in the original firmware you could set 1080i resolution to be used for blu rays but 720p for games, as it is now with the settings I have for the tv in my room I have to enable 1080i every time I wanna watch a blu ray or it will play in 480p, cos I have 720p set as the highest resolution as that's what my tv does.

They REALLY need to adress this thing. Though it makes no difference for those with 1080p sets and blu ray looks fcking amazing on the set out in the lounge which is 1080p.

mxlegend99 · Post by **mxlegend99** » 26 Mar 2007 11:46 pm

Sonic Jam wrote:I wasn't disagreing with what you said MX, just saying it's not completely about the player but mostly the source (I think King Kong would trump almost anything even if there was no 1080i downscaling going on by your tv).

That wasn't the point i was addressing. You said that the PS3 is powerful enough to downscale 720p, i then quoted myself where i said i wanted an update for the PS3 making that possible, to show you that i agreed and had already commented that a software update could/should fix it.

I'm ware makes a massive difference. Hence why i was shocked when Smallville on HD-DVD looked so fucking awesome (source being a relatively low budget TV show vs a high budget movie). It absolutely killed Mission Impossible on Blu-ray. Obviously this is related to the 1080i output of PS3 on a 720p screen (which still looks phenomenal, it just doesn't quiet look as crisp as the native 720p image).

I just never expected a TV show like Smallville could look so awesome. Even with some of the cheesy/crappy special effects used.

Madmya · Post by **Madmya** » 27 Mar 2007 12:28 am

westical wrote:
lestat wrote:I got my 2 blurays(Black hawk down, kung fu hustle) in the mail. But I'm not sure if I'll keep them. I don't think i'll be getting a ps3 anytime soon. If anyone is interested in em, give me a pm.
Anytime soon = within the next 24 hours?

rofl. Looks like lestat is a sucker for hype and has too much money. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 27 Mar 2007 09:48 am

I don't think there was any hype for ps3, the opposite actually, but I am a sucker for new toys with new technology.

When i was in jb i saw they had some blurays discounted, i picked up gone in 60 seconds and enter the dragon.

Gone is 60 seconds, looks very ordinary not a lot of difference compared to an upscaled dvd version. Avoid it.

Enter the dragon looks a little better, but for such an old film it doesn't have a lot of punch in the picture, still looks nicer than the dvd version i have.

I think the transfer and quality of the print does make a big difference, also the use of the right codec too. I'm finding VC-1 blurays do look cleaner and more detailed than mpeg2.

This is why I'm really looking forward to my hd-dvd addon, the 10 or so flicks I have all have reported excellent transfers and use the best codec out there. Plus i can view movies in 1080p with vga since i don't have hdmi.

Also other niggling issues with ps3 as a bluray player. No 720p output does suck. Being a progressive panel it's usually better to avoid interlacing/deinterlacing because it can soften the image. My panel only takes 720p/1080i currently. I think 720p output would look better.

Also PCM soundtracks are useless for those with only dobly digital. With kung fu hustle, the original Cantonese soundtrack is PCM 5.1, but the ps3 can't re-encode the 5.1 mix into DD 5.1 on the fly. It will only output 2ch pcm over the optical cable. So for full 5.1 sound i need to listen to the english dub which is encoded in DD natively on the disc, english dub is a bit corny.

They really need to provide more audio output/codec support and resolutions. Vast majority of hdtvs are still 720/1080i based and same goes with receivers which lack hdmi for full rate pcm 5.1 options. PS3 doesn't have analog outs too so the audio output options are limited for those with older amps.