List of International BDs with Better PQ, AQ, and/or More Extras

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

It's another hole to dive down, it's more expensive, it's going to be harder to find a new one in 20 years, I'll be getting a 4k player soon anyway and a host of other reasons.

Also I wouldn't have re-bought Thief for the Arrow version anyway. The Criterion version looks brilliant.

They are only about $70. And in 20 years, there won't be much physical media, only digital files. So you won't have to worry about that.

Just because you have a region-free player doesn't mean you have to re-buy Thief, or any title. But it opens up a lot of better versions the UK or other countries get that the US doesn't.

It IS another hole to dive down, when you open up the possibilities of having ANY disc from anywhere. But there's so many good versions of films the US doesn't get.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It IS another hole to dive down, when you open up the possibilities of having ANY disc from anywhere. But there's so many good versions of films the US doesn't get.

If there was a handful of releases I really, really craved and couldn't get here I would consider it but I haven't really run into that issue. My Lifeforce disc could look a little better, sure, and I could have Rollerball without paying ebay prices, sure, but nothing has really been a "gotta have it!" with a region lock on it. Not yet anyway.

And yes everything will be digital in 20 years, but that doesn't mean I won't still want to watch my discs, just like my father listens to his records today. Backing up 1,000+ discs without further compressing them sounds like a pipe-dream at this point.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Why are you wary of region-free players?

I have one, but typically I just do a full rip of the region B disc that removes the coding and re-burn it so I don't have to worry about what plays where.

I don't have any region free players, but am able to play region B/C locked titles on my PC. I have a program that removes the region coding and then my monitor also supports PAL (50fps) content. Once I figured I could do this I saved money by not buying region free players.

[Geoff D]

Been multi-region since '99 and I'm gonna keep it that way. But aside from a handful of region locked Shout! & Criterion titles many of my imported US Blu-rays are region free anyway.

Region coding hasn't been as big of a deal on Blu as it was with DVD in the UK, partly because the British censors started lightening up, partly because we stopped getting stiffed on extras (mostly), partly because we tend to get insanely cheap prices on BD boxsets for some reason, and partly because the move to 1080p24 for all territories (localised 50Hz stuff aside) means that studios are increasingly using the Warners 'one size fits all' business model (only without as much filtering to their video encodes ).

[wesslan]

Added new DE disc:

Saw III
US - MPEG-2 1.78:1 (open matte) 16.68 Mbps, DTS-HD HR 6.1 24-bit 3039 kbps, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region A locked)
US (Complete Movie Collection) - MPEG-2 1.78:1 (open matte) 16682 kbps, DD 5.1-EX 640 kbps, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region free)
UK - MPEG-2 1.78:1, DTS-HD HR 6.1, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region B locked)
FR - VC-1 24896 kbps, DTS-HD MA 6.1 2639 Kbps 16-bit, extreme director's cut at 120 min, no English subs (Region B locked)
DE - VC-1 1.85:1 19474 kbps, DTS-HD HR 7.1 3018 kbps 16-bit, Unrated at 103 min, no English subs (Region free)
DE new - AVC 1.85:1 25991 kbps, DTS-HD MA 7.1 2998 kbps 16-bit, extreme director´s cut at 120 min, no English subs
JP - AVC 32820 kbps 1.85:1, Dolby TrueHD 6.1 2061 kbps 16-bit, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region free)

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by wesslan

Added new DE disc:

Saw III
US - MPEG-2 1.78:1 (open matte) 16.68 Mbps, DTS-HD HR 6.1 24-bit 3039 kbps, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region A locked)
US (Complete Movie Collection) - MPEG-2 1.78:1 (open matte) 16682 kbps, DD 5.1-EX 640 kbps, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region free)
UK - MPEG-2 1.78:1, DTS-HD HR 6.1, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region B locked)
FR - VC-1 24896 kbps, DTS-HD MA 6.1 2639 Kbps 16-bit, extreme director's cut at 120 min, no English subs (Region B locked)
DE - VC-1 1.85:1 19474 kbps, DTS-HD HR 7.1 3018 kbps 16-bit, Unrated at 103 min, no English subs (Region free)
DE new - AVC 1.85:1 25991 kbps, DTS-HD MA 7.1 2998 kbps 16-bit, extreme director´s cut at 120 min, no English subs
JP - AVC 32820 kbps 1.85:1, Dolby TrueHD 6.1 2061 kbps 16-bit, unrated at 113 min, English subs (Region free)

Done.

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

If there was a handful of releases I really, really craved and couldn't get here I would consider it but I haven't really run into that issue. My Lifeforce disc could look a little better, sure, and I could have Rollerball without paying ebay prices, sure, but nothing has really been a "gotta have it!" with a region lock on it. Not yet anyway.

More than anything else, it's a matter of choice. The region code system is a ridiculous protectionist safeguard demanded by the studios to preserve a movie launch window that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

The bottom line though is that I can choose the best picture quality and features, and I don't have to wait when a disc is available months or years before Region A.

The thing that really amazes me is that for a certain number of people who say they would never import blu-rays, the real reason when you get down to it is straight up xenophobia. People are actually averse to owning a blu-ray with a different language on the case, or the very fact that it comes from a different country. It sounds insane, but it's the only conclusion I can come to from some of the comments I read on this board.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Nocturnaloner

The thing that really amazes me is that for a certain number of people who say they would never import blu-rays, the real reason when you get down to it is straight up xenophobia. People are actually averse to owning a blu-ray with a different language on the case, or the very fact that it comes from a different country. It sounds insane, but it's the only conclusion I can come to from some of the comments I read on this board.

Not sure that's xenophobia as much as just anal collectors being anal.

[Ray_Rogers]

Originally Posted by Nocturnaloner

More than anything else, it's a matter of choice. The region code system is a ridiculous protectionist safeguard demanded by the studios to preserve a movie launch window that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

The bottom line though is that I can choose the best picture quality and features, and I don't have to wait when a disc is available months or years before Region A.

The thing that really amazes me is that for a certain number of people who say they would never import blu-rays, the real reason when you get down to it is straight up xenophobia. People are actually averse to owning a blu-ray with a different language on the case, or the very fact that it comes from a different country. It sounds insane, but it's the only conclusion I can come to from some of the comments I read on this board.

Agree with ya wholeheartedly.

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Not sure that's xenophobia as much as just anal collectors being anal.

I also think it's a bit of xenophobia, too much support of Region A USA, and also being anal retentive.
What most I enjoy about importing any title I'm interested in is that it's a research game and whether or not certain releases fit my exact criteria for a purchase or not.
Because HD Goofnuts threads including this one, DVDCompare.net, Caps-a-Holic and of course this forums users are my major go to sites whenever deciding on wanting to get a specific title or more. Easier choosing exactly which release(s) to buy, sometimes I prefer doing compilations, compared to actually getting around to buying them.
I love being 110% multi-region capable. Sure it takes longer choosing a specific title to get but that's the fun of it for me.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Not sure that's xenophobia as much as just anal collectors being anal.

I participate in the "Pick a title from the above users collection that you want to own" thread sometimes, and based on my observations (in that thread and others) there is some truth to it. U.S titles only make up roughly 1/5 of my 1650 collection, however the majority of the time only U.S titles are the ones that get picked, personally I think that goes beyond being anal retentive. When an international title I own is actually picked, if it's also available in the U.S, often members will post up the U.S cover rather than the cover of the version I own. For some this will be due to being anal collectors (though IMO if they were true collectors, they would import from all over the world. Same goes for anal retentiveness, if they were truly anal you would think that they also fuss over P/AQ and therefore would import) however I believe it's more than that for many.

[Tuco_76]

Originally Posted by GLipeBlu

I mean, sure, sharpening can harshly enhance grain, but it also introduces other side effects (like haloing) which aren't present on the Arrow disc, so I don't think that's the issue here. And hey, look at this, neither release is perfect. I found macro-blocking on both:

True, Arrow really doesn't look like sharpening/edge enhancement was applied. Rather looks like they did some slight deblock or denoise filtering on the Criterion disc. Wouldn't argue about that though, too much Criterion die hards around

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Been multi-region since '99 and I'm gonna keep it that way. But aside from a handful of region locked Shout! & Criterion titles many of my imported US Blu-rays are region free anyway.

Region coding hasn't been as big of a deal on Blu as it was with DVD in the UK, partly because the British censors started lightening up, partly because we stopped getting stiffed on extras (mostly), partly because we tend to get insanely cheap prices on BD boxsets for some reason, and partly because the move to 1080p24 for all territories (localised 50Hz stuff aside) means that studios are increasingly using the Warners 'one size fits all' business model (only without as much filtering to their video encodes ).

Yep with you there Geoff. I still cant play region A locked discs but you know what? Im not bothered apart from Escape From New York (which I pray that Arrow will pick up at some point).

[Tuco_76]

Originally Posted by JimDiGriz

(..)I still cant play region A locked discs(..)

Just stumbled upon this post, didn't know that before.

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Yep, also many players will play about 80% of foreign region-locked discs if you just hit STOP and then TOP MENU. It works for me on my Panasonic, though I have a backup offbrand region-free player just in case for the few the trick won't work on.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...1#post10665331

[cyborgLIS]

For me, PQ/AQ/features has the most weight when deciding which release to get, then price, then language/territory. I will admit it's a little off-putting to have the packaging in a foreign language, even moreso for the in-movie titles. I was a little disappointed to find the French Silent Hill had French titles and credits, despite being hands down the best release in every other way. If two releases are about equal in content and price, but one is from an English territory (i.e. US, UK, Canada, Australia), I would go with the English release. If they're both English but one is from the US, I'd default to the US as some things become difficult or costly when you purchase from outside your market, e.g. if you need customer support for returns or recalls, or if you want to resell at some point.

[HD Goofnut]

Just thought I should make a note of this. I did some research on No Country for Old Men and here's what I discovered. The 2 disc collector's set from 2009 is the one to get if you can find it for a good price. Not only does it have all of the extras, but it also has a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that is 24-bit instead of the LPCM 16-bit found on the 2008 Disney release and also on the 2011 Lionsgate release. So, the 2008 Disney release and the 2011 Lionsgate discs are identical. Here's where it gets interesting. I have the CA steelbook and it has the DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit found on the 2009 2 disc U.S. set and it also has all of the extras that are found on disc 1 of that set. So, if you don't care about extras get the CA disc as it's probably cheaper than the 2 disc U.S. set since the CA disc does have the upgraded audio. The standard CA disc has the 24-bit audio as well in LPCM form. I will type out a listing below if you got confused.

2008 Disney & 2011 Lionsgate - LPCM 5.1 16-bit
2009 Disney 2 Disc Set - DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit (most extras)
2009 Canadian - LPCM 5.1 24-bit
2010 Canadian Steelbook - DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit

[Tuco_76]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I don't have any region free players, but am able to play region B/C locked titles on my PC. I have a program that removes the region coding and then my monitor also supports PAL (50fps) content. Once I figured I could do this I saved money by not buying region free players.

Same here. Saying 50fps content, I think it would be a good thing if any MBAFF encoded content on region A discs was avoided or at least labeled as 50Hz. Even if it's exclusively 25p stuff, which actually doesn't match the Blu specs, reason why this MBAFF feature can be used as a backdoor to smuggle 25p content in. AFAIK all or most BBC discs are encoded that way. Thing is, players that won't play 50Hz won't play 25p MBAFF either, reason why the extras of Under the Skin DE didn't play for some US buyers. Probably Senator took the extras straight from the B locked UK disc and forgot or didn't know about that playback issue when making it region A free. Will send an email and suggest a warning for the future or even better, converting to 23,976 fps, which is not much of a big deal, given they're allowed to do so.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Just thought I should make a note of this. I did some research on No Country for Old Men and here's what I discovered. The 2 disc collector's set from 2009 is the one to get if you can find it for a good price. Not only does it have all of the extras, but it also has a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that is 24-bit instead of the LPCM 16-bit found on the 2008 Disney release and also on the 2011 Lionsgate release. So, the 2008 Disney release and the 2011 Lionsgate discs are identical. Here's where it gets interesting. I have the CA steelbook and it has the DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit found on the 2009 2 disc U.S. set and it also has all of the extras that are found on disc 1 of that set. So, if you don't care about extras get the CA disc as it's probably cheaper than the 2 disc U.S. set since the CA disc does have the upgraded audio. The standard CA disc has the 24-bit audio as well in LPCM form. I will type out a listing below if you got confused.

2008 Disney & 2011 Lionsgate - LPCM 5.1 16-bit
2009 Disney 2 Disc Set - DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit (most extras)
2009 Canadian - LPCM 24-bit
2010 Canadian Steelbook - DTS-HD MA 5.1 24-bit

The German release also features a LPCM 5.1 24-bit track and the video bitrate is a smidge higher (it will not be noticeable).

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/No-Co...-Blu-ray/2117/

[HD Goofnut]

Added Bordello of Blood.

[Tuco_76]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

The German release also features a LPCM 5.1 24-bit track and the video bitrate is a smidge higher (it will not be noticeable).

Compared them, there's in fact no noticeable difference at all, not even on zoomed stills. Both a straight 10/10 reference, it's a blessing they did such a great job on this one!

[HD Goofnut]

Added Night of the Comet.