Media biased on HD DVD...

[KingDeezie]

Before I had been properly educated in the smartest next generation format to go with, Bluray, I had mistakenly bought the Xbox 360 add on to watch HD-DVD's with...

Since buying the PS3, I have not purchased a HD-DVD since.

Flashback to last night, and a small gathering of some of my best friends come over to catch some dinner and watch a flick. One of my friends hands me a belated birthday present...

Its Hot Fuzz on HD-DVD....

Now, the point of all of this is that last week I read on several places that Hot Fuzz on HD-DVD was some of the greatest PQ seen so far on HD media for both formats. Namely, Highdefdigest.com listed it as their first FIVE star disc and said that the PQ was the best they had ever seen....

So, with curiousity reeking havoc on my brain, and my love for the movie itself, plus the fact that it is also a standard dvd I can have upconverted by the PS3, I opened it, and we watched the HD-DVD.

After having watched it, I can honestly say that the only curiousity left in my head is what kind of drugs these reviewers are smoking? I mean, I understand that some are biased but what happened to professionalism, and atleast trying to pretend to be a legitimate journalist?

The PQ of this movie was good, yes, but the best? Are they kidding me? Casino Royale, Pirates, Apocolypto, all best this movie easily in PQ...

If this is the best HD-DVD has to offer, then there is no way that anyone can seriously look into the face of someone who owns Bluray and say that HD-DVD can offer the same performance for less, because its complete lies.

Why the hate in the media for bluray?

[JTK]

Originally Posted by KingDeezie

Why the hate in the media for bluray?

Any number of reasons ranging from conspiracy theory down through to irrational Sony hatred like you see openly on certain forums and the rest of it.

In a good number of cases, it's really just some of these media folks being woefully misinformed and misled like anyone else could be.

You'll see stuff like: "I like HD-DVD better because of less DRM and mandatory Internet" and garbage like that.

Or the ever present: "It's cheaper so it's better/the best." and the rest of the stupidity. You see that clear cut facts are in short supply when it comes to people really explaining why they are HD-DVD supporters. 9/10 times you boil it down to "I hate Sony" or "I'm aligned with MS or Toshiba in some direct or indirect manner" or "I'm just some tool or sheep that believes anything he reads on the Internet and I'm going to simply parrot that because I spent a few hundred bucks on HD-DVD and I want to believe that I'm going to win."

^^ That about sums most of the dreck up out there.

Beyond that, yes, let's face it: Microsoft has deep pockets and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that they've exerted some "influence" in some places.

Anyone who knows MS's history over the last 20-30 years know that they're the company that basically FUD an art form.

What they've done here the last two years or so against Blu-Ray and Sony really is the best FUD campaign yet from them.

Gotta give the devil his due.

[stockstar1138]

Cmon these people have got to throw HD DVD something. Im not sure whats up with the High Def. Digest Rating, thats absurd. I don't see how any VC-1 movie can top pirates. OVerall, I think the media is pretty fair with this war, and blu-ray seems to be getting the better praiese from the latest reviews and blogs. The one I was po'd about was the one that was like,"well, if there was any debate on what technonlogy, blu-ray or hd dvd, was superior it was ended with the 300 release.....you get the picture. it was a load of crappola. but overall you are always going to have the fanboys. the ones that say, don't be afraid of the 360 these are just rumors, ive had mine for months and it hasn't broken.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

Cmon these people have got to throw HD DVD something.

Some of these articles have increasingly looked like throwing someone a charity bone.

Im not sure whats up with the High Def. Digest Rating, thats absurd. I don't see how any VC-1 movie can top pirates.

The only VC-1 done title I've seen that really impressed me was Deja Vu.

Why? Because that sucker has some uber high bitrates feeing it, unlike most HD-DVDs. I guess that "overkill" and "unecessary" disc space on that Blu-Ray disc was good for something after all, huh?

OVerall, I think the media is pretty fair with this war,

Disagree.

... and blu-ray seems to be getting the better praiese from the latest reviews and blogs.

Yes, I will agree that there's finally a shift starting to show up.

The one I was po'd about was the one that was like,"well, if there was any debate on what technonlogy, blu-ray or hd dvd, was superior it was ended with the 300 release.....you get the picture.

That would be this: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8228

... it was a load of crappola. but overall you are always going to have the fanboys. the ones that say, don't be afraid of the 360 these are just rumors, ive had mine for months and it hasn't broken.

I know:

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=13636

http://gamepolitics.com/2007/07/06/x...e-do-the-math/

http://www.dailytech.com/Retailers+E...rticle7892.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/p...s%20Release s

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=40933

^^ Don't be afraid. Don't let that mountain of pesky facts including a begrudging admission from MS themselves that the entire product line is essentially a lemon and ticking time bomb get in your way or anything.

[elwaylite]

The best replies I get when talking to HDDVD guys after I ask them why buy a unit that has limited studio support, being that it is a MOVIE player:

1) BD players are way overpriced(everyone loves to brag about the A2 price, noone ever mentions it wont do 1080p)

2) Lately I get "BD is a immature format while HDDVD is a mature format"

Ok, well my immature format is going to have many more movies to watch in HD. They love to say it does not matter because they can watch the Sony/Fox/Disney stuff upconverted. Why watch upconverted when you can watch in HD.

I dont miss universal because I own their older titles that I like on DVD and their new stuff coming to theaters is not really appealing at this point. (Hopefully by the time Hellboy 2 comes theyll be neutral)

Ive decided as of yesterday(due to answers 1 and 2) I will no longer argue with HDDVD people. Anyone that would support an inferior STORAGE format, a movie format with the least studio support and continues to tout maturity/price when the nielson numbers come in every week is not worth arguing with.

Ill wait till Univ goes neutral, then post a "I told you so".

[GTP]

This movie looked absolutely fantastic in DLP cinema, and the dvd looks great so its no big wonder if the hd dvd version looks really good.

This movie is distributed by Universal in the U.S. but not made by them so I am wondering if we will get a BD version from Europe or Japan?

[werewuf]

HMMMMM...


Toshiba
Microsoft

Vs.

Sony
Pioneer
Samsung
Philips
Mitsubishi
Denon
LG
Sharp
And soon more of the high-end home theater companies.

My local Pioneer rep says we will see some major changes in this "war" by years end.

Any questions?

[JTK]

Originally Posted by werewuf

HMMMMM...


Toshiba
Microsoft

Vs.

Sony
Pioneer
Samsung
Philips
Mitsubishi
Denon
LG
Sharp
And soon more of the high-end home theater companies.

My local Pioneer rep says we will see some major changes in this "war" by years end.

Any questions?

Especially when you add where the studios are lined up. THAT is when all the questions die out for sure.

So nope, no questions. Looks pretty crystal clear from where I'm sitting. Crystal clear with a "blu" tinge, that is.

[KingDeezie]

While I agree that all of us on this forum who have choosen bluray as the best choice for viewing HD media at home, what I worry about is the average J6P who decides to go out on the internet and research on the two choices...

I fear that they may run into some serious BS from these so called "reviewers" who are blantantly buffing the HD-DVD scores of these movies that are coming out...

I didn't say that Hot Fuzz looked bad on HD-DVD. It looked great actually compared to its DVD side.

But, compare to the best Blurays it could NEVER.

Sometimes however mass consumer perception can supercede quality and hard facts.

I just fear this bullshit propaganda that some sites seem to be pedealing could unjusty askew the popular perception of the format war, and end up screwing those of us who demand the best.

[WriteSimply]

Maybe they were so used to the drab quality of recent Universal releases that when a pretty good one emerges, they give it a high mark?

Of course, let's clarify that you're not talking about the color scheme of the movie, which is very drab and ordinary, right? You're talking about the quality of the transfer.


fuad

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Ill wait till Univ goes neutral, then post a "I told you so".

Dude, we will all be posting messages like that once the final swords are sheathed; I look forward to that day.

[Lord_Stewie]

although the media is biased on HDDVD, Bluray is still kicking @$$. So sit back, relax and enjoy the Show....

peace....

[BluBerry]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

overall you are always going to have the fanboys.

This is a very good point. In general, I think the press has been very fair in its coverage of the format debate. It's when you get into internet forums, message boards, and blogs that you see people maniplutate statistics to fit their own agendas. And it's not just the high-def market: 360,PS3,Wii,Blu-Ray,HD-DVD,Apple,Microsoft. Across the spectrum, fanboyism has gotten way out of hand.

[KingDeezie]

I am posting about the transfer.

I am not really videophile savvy in terms of being able to translate what I saw on the screen, but the best I can sum it up is that it looked very soft.

I wish I could better articulate what I was trying to say, but there was no pop to the image, like it was overly smoothed out, or something to that effect...

I was not overtly impressed by it is what it boils down to.

I saw the movie in the theaters and was really upset that it wasn't coming to Bluray because I loved the look of the film, so its not anything that I was upset with in terms of artistic choices or color palettes.

Its just that the image I was seeing on the HD-DVD didn't thrill me near as much as anything I have recently purchased that was made for specifically for Bluray...

[darinp2]

Originally Posted by GTP

This movie is distributed by Universal in the U.S. but not made by them so I am wondering if we will get a BD version from Europe or Japan?

imdb.com shows Universal as having the worldwide DVD rights. I haven't seen Hot Fuzz on HD DVD, but one friend who is very picky, has high end equipment, and looks at just about every disc for both formats, was amazed at how good that one looked and called me to ask if I had seen it.

I'm a little bothered by the review getting 5 stars despite all the extras being SD (according to the review). I know they included 18 hours of extras, but these are HD formats and I think newer movies should be getting at least some extras in HD with HD becoming common for extras with new movies over time. That is one area where space on one disc is an advantage as the studios aren't going to want to do 2 disc releases for every movie. And even for those that they do, 18 hours of HD extras with the movie would likely be tough in even 60GB. Amir likes to talk about how much more BD50s cost to make and also that studios like 2 disc releases, but they obviously don't like doing 2 disc releases for even the majority of movies or they would be doing that with DVD (where bigger movies tend to get dual disc releases) and would have with HD DVD up until now, and if doing more extras in HD means the studios are paying for 2 discs on HD DVD and only 1 BD50 for Blu-ray (or 3 discs vs 2 discs, etc.) then that needs to be taken into account. I know the sizes don't quite match up and so 2 HD DVDs are 60GB vs 50GB for one BD50, but those who think that the costs to the studio are so important should be looking at what is likely to happen when extras are in HD more often. Or how studios may scrimp to not have to pay for 2 discs by making the extras SD (especially on non-blockbusters).

--Darin

[Helicon]

I haven't seen the quality of Hot Fuzz yet, so can't comment on that one.

But generally the Blu-ray companies get quite good ratings at highdefdigest, but I still i think it's funny that no movie from SONY has received a five star rating eventhough they have made some very good releases (Casino Royal, Layer cake)

I know of at least three 5 stars rating to Universal, The Hulk, Hot Fuzz and King Kong.

But never mind, at least SONY doesn't put out movies with crappy quality like Universal.

I hope that Spider-Man will come with such good quality, so that even highdefdigest must give it a 5 star rating.

[Rob Zuber]

The worst offenders in the media are all the folks associated with TWiT ("This Week in Tech" podcast). That includes related shows like DL.TV. They constantly present Universal press releases as fact and diss Blu-Ray every chance they get.

John C. Dvorak is the only one among them who is halfway respectable on this issue, and that's because he's generally skeptical of everything.

[GTP]

Originally Posted by darinp2

imdb.com shows Universal as having the worldwide DVD rights. I haven't seen Hot Fuzz on HD DVD, but one friend who is very picky, has high end equipment, and looks at just about every disc for both formats, was amazed at how good that one looked and called me to ask if I had seen it.

I'm a little bothered by the review getting 5 stars despite all the extras being SD (according to the review). I know they included 18 hours of extras, but these are HD formats and I think newer movies should be getting at least some extras in HD with HD becoming common for extras with new movies over time. That is one area where space on one disc is an advantage as the studios aren't going to want to do 2 disc releases for every movie. And even for those that they do, 18 hours of HD extras with the movie would likely be tough in even 60GB. Amir likes to talk about how much more BD50s cost to make and also that studios like 2 disc releases, but they obviously don't like doing 2 disc releases for even the majority of movies or they would be doing that with DVD (where bigger movies tend to get dual disc releases) and would have with HD DVD up until now, and if doing more extras in HD means the studios are paying for 2 discs on HD DVD and only 1 BD50 for Blu-ray (or 3 discs vs 2 discs, etc.) then that needs to be taken into account. I know the sizes don't quite match up and so 2 HD DVDs are 60GB vs 50GB for one BD50, but those who think that the costs to the studio are so important should be looking at what is likely to happen when extras are in HD more often. Or how studios may scrimp to not have to pay for 2 discs by making the extras SD (especially on non-blockbusters).

--Darin

I guess I will just have to wait for that last domimo to fall then because I washed my hands of hd dvd last August.