Unbiased view on movies

[BIGSAPOTEER]

HDTV 37" LG LCD

360 add-on connected with components cables

PS3 connected with HDMI cable

I know that "results may vary", but here is my 3 cents.

HD DVD:
Hulk- 9.5 (PQ)
King Kong- 9
Batman Begins - 9
Phantom of the Opera (hey I'm married)- 9
World Trade Center- 8.5
Miami Vice - 7.5


Blu-ray:
Ice Age The Meltdown (I have kids also)- 9.5 (PQ)
Phantom of the Opera - 9
Tears of the Sun - 9
World Trade Center- 8.5
Click- 7.5

Don't get me wrong, I think that Blu-ray is the format with greater potential and will win the war. What I'm shocked is how well HD DVD looks and sounds, even my wife (she has zero tech knowledge) thinks it looks a bit better than some of the Blu-ray movies.

What do you guys think is the reason behind this? HD DVD mainly using VC-1 codecs, while Blu-ray using MPEG 2? Or is it that Blu-ray is working out the "kinks?"

[jwmccoq]

Yes, I totally agree with you. I have both systems but kind of disappointed with Blu-Ray so far.

[goodstuff]

Miami Vice is an HD-DVD title so move that 7.5 to the HD-DVD side. World trade Center and Phantom of the Opera look exactly the same on both formats, so all those scores cancel each other out to even.

[BIGSAPOTEER]

Originally Posted by goodstuff

Miami Vice is an HD-DVD title so move that 7.5 to the HD-DVD side. World trade Center and Phantom of the Opera look exactly the same on both formats, so all those scores cancel each other out to even.

Yes you are right about Miami, however i just recently saw Talladega and wasn't totally blown away. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash blu-ray, since it is the format that I will be investing my money on, but so far I haven't gotten a "bonner" on any movie yet. Maybe I'm watching the wrong movies? Oh yeah, I'm not sure what tier1, tier 2 mean so if someone can explain.

**JUST IN**

I just started watching M:I:III and it looks great. So far I'm giving it a 9 maybe a 9.5.

[JTK]

Just looking at that list of movies in the first post, the answer here is pretty simple: Watch more movies!

You've barely grazed the tip of the iceburg on either HD format if those are the only movies you've seen thus far.

MI 3 definitely shocks and awes!

[Heresy]

Oh yeah, I'm not sure what tier1, tier 2 mean so if someone can explain.

If you check here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=753726 and here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=705387 you will find threads that rate different discs on their relative picture quality. As I wrote above it is subjective but seems close enough for evaluating most movies.

[Heresy]

Of the HD-DVD movies you listed 2 are rated at Tier-0 and 2 Tier-1 (in the, admittedly, subjective AVS Tier system); so just about the the best picture quality you can get on HD-DVD for all of the discs you listed. None of Blu-Ray you list are Tier-0 and Click is Tier-2 (the rest are Tier-1 but Miami Vice isn't listed.)

Check out the Blu-Rays Black Hawk Down, Corpse Bride or Crank; they will all be as good or better than anything on HD-DVD.

[Heresy]

Miami Vice is an HD-DVD title so move that 7.5 to the HD-DVD side.

Ah that would explain why I couldn't find it. BTW, Miami Vice is listed as a Tier-2 HD-DVD.

[Deciazulado]

It's interesting that the worst PQ ratings (7.5) were given to both the Digital Shot movies...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by BIGSAPOTEER

Don't get me wrong, I think that Blu-ray is the format with greater potential and will win the war. What I'm shocked is how well HD DVD looks and sounds, even my wife (she has zero tech knowledge) thinks it looks a bit better than some of the Blu-ray movies.

What do you guys think is the reason behind this? HD DVD mainly using VC-1 codecs, while Blu-ray using MPEG 2? Or is it that Blu-ray is working out the "kinks?"

A few points:

- Ice Age is MPEG-2, and on a BD25.

- Many BD titles have lossless/LPCM audio, so if you had the system setup you'd probably find the audio being in BD's favour.

- There is indication that HD DVD titles were very carefully selected and worked on a heck of a lot (enough to cause the current slow down due to people getting a break over Xmas). HD DVD overall quality slipped over time as BD was increasing.

And there are people complaining the VC-1 is smoothing the picture (reducing grain).

Now, a lot of people don't like grain. But, the if the grain is present keeping it is the purist's preference. Because it maintains information that could be lost by removing the grain. But, grain frequently is not appealing to the more casual viewer.

It's like EE on DVD, which artificially sharpens the picture, but most videophiles despise it. The casual observer may think the EE looked sharper compared to the same film without it, but in fact the one without would have more DETAIL.

This was a frequent for people that calibrated CRT sets about a decade ago. People would complain that the properly calibrated set looked soft. When in fact there was a lot more detail unconvered by defeating the SVM and turning down the sharpness setting.

Gary