UK vs USA Blu-Ray Quality

[popcornninja]

Sorry if this is a re-post....but I'm curious if there is much difference in quality of UK vs USA blus?

I'm considering ordering some UK Blu-Rays so that is why I'm curious about this subject. Thanks!

-Example would be Close Encounters of the Third Kind is around $18 shipped from UK compared to $32 US version on Amazon.

[Colglizity]

I can't say, but that's a great avatar

[Jesterkeeters]

Quality all depends on the movie I have tons of UK and US titles and they look just as good on some movies and not so good on others same as here in the States

[Sasso]

Pans Labyrinth has no DNR on the UK version, so the picture clarity is superior.

[popcornninja]

Originally Posted by Sasso

Pans Labyrinth has no DNR on the UK version, so the picture clarity is superior.

Interesting....I'll just have to make sure they are region free and do a little research on reviews of the UK specific versions. Thanks for the quick responses!

[Nielsb90]

From what i've heard, Total Recall and Terminator 2 has better PQ than the US versions

[Kynch]

Originally Posted by Nielsb90

From what i've heard, Total Recall and Terminator 2 has better PQ than the US versions

True dat.

CHUNK!

[Firstborn]

It depends very much on the source of the encode...

I would just guess (make up a number) that 90% of UK & USA encodes are from the same source

It depends largely on who owns the rights to the particular movie

Terminator 2 & Total Recall are owned in Europe by a different distributer to the USA... hence they are completely different encodes

Close Encounters however is owned by Warner boths sides of the Atlantic... it's not only the same encode... it's the exact same disc

Whereas the above examples in the UK are the same or better quality... be aware that it does work both ways...

So The Prestidge got an average encode in the UK by Warner, whereas the USA got a much better encode by Disney

[AikonEnt]

Close Encounters is Sony (well that's what it says on my box). And there's certainly no DNR as it's grain central (the way it should be ). I've found that a lot of the discs I've bought here in the UK must be the exact same discs as was encoded in the US as an FBI warning with a fine amount in dollars comes up before the film starts (just the casing and covers are different). If they're done here in the UK it should be different to that.

[Bruce Morrison]

In cases where a movie is released by the same major studio in both countries, the transfer will almost always be identical. The only cases where there will be a difference are those where the UK release is through a different studio or an independent releasing company such as ITV or Momentum.

For example, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was released by Warner in the US but by ITV in the UK. In that case, the US edition has lossless audio whereas the UK edition doesn't.

Also, keep in mind that independent UK releasing companies may provide SD extras in PAL rather than NTSC, so they may not be playable on a US BD player. And a few UK BDs actually start with a PAL trailer even before displaying a menu, which would mean that the entire disc would then be unplayable on US BD players without PAL support (i.e. most of them).

The following site lists all Region B releases (including the UK) and shows not only the region-coding information but also the identity of the releasing company. The notes against particular titles usually indicate the presence of PAL extras.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/index.php?region=b

[Got2LoveGadgets]

I live in the UK and buy both US and UK disc's. US discs sometimes have better audio due to normally only having English and French sound tracks so lots of room for high bit rates. Where as UK discs cover Europe so contain lots of language tracks a thus on occasion have lower bit rates. For example the UK (or region B) version of Rambo has a Dolby True HD 5.1 soundtrack where as the US (or region A) version has a DTS-HD 7.1 track.

[2099net]

Its worth noting, some UK discs have far more subtitles and soundtracks than their US counterparts. In some cases, like Mamma Mia, this results the same encode (more or less)

Mamma Mia (EU)
Check out the subtitle listings!
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post15230473

Mamma Mia (US)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post15345536

While in others, it can result in a drastically different encode:
Jarhead (EU)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post15439597

Jarhead (US)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post15266850

EU is VC-1 Video (27329 kbp) US is (VC-1 Video 15912 kbps) - yes, the EU with more languages has nearly twice the video bitrate!

My guess is the additional languages would have pushed the US encode onto a BD50 anyway, so Universal re-encoded this (and other US BD25 titles) to take full advantage of the extra space now available to them (it includes all the 2 disc DVD extras too).

[Bruce Morrison]

Originally Posted by 2099net

Jarhead (EU)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post15439597

Jarhead (US)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post15266850

EU is VC-1 Video (27329 kbp) US is (VC-1 Video 15912 kbps) - yes, the EU with more languages has nearly twice the video bitrate!

My guess is the additional languages would have pushed the US encode onto a BD50 anyway, so Universal re-encoded this (and other US BD25 titles) to take full advantage of the extra space now available to them (it includes all the 2 disc DVD extras too).

That's very interesting. I had assumed that the US and UK editions (both being Universal) would have identical transfers, so I bought the US one as I prefer the thinner cases for shelf space reasons. Now it looks like I need to replace it with the UK one!

This is potentially more of a minefield than I'd realised. Ah well, we live and learn at this game.

It would be great if someone who has the information could post a list of BD movie titles where the UK edition is BD50 and the US edition is BD25 (or vice versa) and the corresponding video bit rates. Maybe it could become a sticky.

[2099net]

Ah but Bruce do you have any complaints about the Jarhead BD25 you own? I'm not convinced bitrate is that important - OK, I've come from HD DVD (but HD DVD had some stunning transfers/encodes) and my TV isn't exactly state-of-the-art, but I'm more convinced the quality of the source is the most important issue and then codec.

After all, don't some people say Shawshank US has a better image quality than Shawshank UK, despite the US having a lower bitrate?

I do find it interesting though that Universal can literally full their EU blu-rays with loads of language options yet author their own cut down language options for the US - why didn't they just do a worldwide BD50 Jarhead? It was a catalogue title, so timing wasn't that important surely if availability of BD50 discs was an issue.

[Bruce Morrison]

Originally Posted by 2099net

Ah but Bruce do you have any complaints about the Jarhead BD25 you own? I'm not convinced bitrate is that important - OK, I've come from HD DVD (but HD DVD had some stunning transfers/encodes) and my TV isn't exactly state-of-the-art, but I'm more convinced the quality of the source is the most important issue and then codec.

Well I thought the US edition looked fine (I've only watched it once so far), but I might find that the UK edition looks even better. I agree that the quality of the source is always the most important factor but I assume Universal would have used the same source for both editions in this case, so the large difference in video bitrate might therefore be the significant factor. Anyway I've decided to get the UK one so I'll be able to compare them and sell off the inferior one.

This has made me wonder how many other movies have been given BD50 treatment in the UK and only BD25 treatment in the US, with significant differences in the video bitrate. Do you know of any other movies where this has happened?

[2099net]

I don't know bitrates but

The Thing (Universal)
Scorpion King (Universal)
Scorpion King 2 (Universal) << I think

Are BD50s in the UK. Both have supplements too missing from the US release.

Leatherheads, Land of the Dead, Miami Vice may all be BD50s too - but I am only speculating - its possible they are just the US discs bit for bit. I don't think Leatherheads has any extra supplements in the UK for example.

Hellboy II (Universal) while being a BD50 in the US and EU has the extras slightly rearranged on the EU release (because our DVD supplement disc doesn't have a digital copy and thus has more room)

Away from Universal, the only other one I know of is Disney's The Wild is a BD50 in the EU and a BD25 in the US - again probably just down to increased language options.

[Sky_Captain]

Originally Posted by 2099net

I don't know bitrates but

The Thing (Universal)
Scorpion King (Universal)
Scorpion King 2 (Universal) << I think

Are BD50s in the UK. Both have supplements too missing from the US release.

Leatherheads, Land of the Dead, Miami Vice may all be BD50s too...

The US release of Miami Vice is a BD50. The UK disc however, is not the directors cut. The commentary is also missing for this reason.

[Germtop]

Originally Posted by popcornninja

Interesting....I'll just have to make sure they are region free and do a little research on reviews of the UK specific versions. Thanks for the quick responses!

I checked Pan's Labyrinth on Amazon.uk.co and it says it's all region. I'd consider re-buying if there's a noticeable improvement.

[AnimeOnBlu]

UK Version is:
1:78:1 Open Matted
DD 5.1 Spanish
English Subs
PAL Extras (some of which are different from the US Release).

US Version is:
1:85:1 OAR
DTS HD-MA 7.1 Spanish
English Subs
NTSC Extras (some which are different from UK Release

Quick Comparison (taken from Xylon at AVS):
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/b3117d0d.png
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/33985abe.png

It comes down to 3 things:
1. Which audio do you prefer (DTS 7.1 vs DD 5.1 - neither of which are slouches in the AQ department)?
2. Does the DNR bother you?
3. Do you prefer the OAR or the Open Matted version?

There is trade-offs to both. Personally, I prefer the UK release.

[roco]

I warn you about buying the UK BD of Pan's Labrinth due that it has only losy Dolby Digital, good image but the sound it's a shame.