This has come up in other threads so I thought I would offer to shed some light on this
There are a number of sources of MPEG2 that are pretty exceptional IMHO. These include Japan's BSHi broadcasts, Dish Network's HD PPVs, and HDNet and HDNet Movies (when they get it right). Of course the pinnacle is perhaps the DTheater tapes that were released some time back.
However perhaps the clincher for me is this review of U-571, where the author draws a comparison between the VC-1 HD DVD and the MPEG2 DTheater tape.
Quote:
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Also, note that 'U-571' is the first HD-DVD title that has also been released on the now-defunct D-VHS format, which makes for an interesting comparison. Clearly, both come from the same source material, so it really is a wash between the two for me. Both match each other in every respect -- detail, sharpness, contrast and depth of color.
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Read the whole review here
Now IIRC, U-571 was the first DTheater tape (or at least first wave). The DTheater tapes are just under 23 Mbps MPEG2 video. This movie as encoded on the DTheater tape should fit no problem on a 25 GB Bluray disc. Of course, there would be limited room for extras but it should fit with that level of quality, equal quality to the VC-1 HD DVD according to that review.
So, my assertion is that Sony has poor encoding techniques and quality control. If the U-571 VC-1 HD DVD is 'transparent to the master', the MPEG2 version is also. Sony, and especially Lions Gate with their sparse extras,
should be able to achieve the same with MPEG2 on Bluray disc.
