reluctant to add non-lossless to your collection?

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Sussudio

For me, story comes before everything else. IMO, Blu-ray may be about picture and sound, but movies are always about story. If I think a movie is great, I'm buying it, because I think story transcends any "medium" or "format." Having exceptional PQ/AQ is an added bonus

Originally Posted by Beta Man

exactly..... There are so many factors to consider, especially if you already own it on DVD.

First time buys, I'll jump on a lossy track if it's the only one out there and I like the movie..... I don't have a problem re-purchasing films I love later down the road, but many don't feel the same.

Everyone's got their own threshold. If it's a kid's movie that I can enjoy with my family, I'll buy it straight away, regardless. Honestly, Speed Racer and The Fountain are a couple of them. I love Speed Racer because my daughter and I both dig it. Lossless would've been nice, but it still sounds pretty good.

Other movies I'm much more picky on (though looking at my collection you wouldn't be able to tell that ). But there have been plenty recently that I've passed on because audio or video wasn't up to snuff for me. A lot of my collection is a favorite of someone in the family, and a lot of them are double-dips from DVD.

[FendersRule]

This is one of the greatest movies of our time, and it sports a stout DD 5.1 lossy track:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Super...e-Blu-ray/229/

I think Greg Maltz says it best here:

"The DD track features very good detail, but it can get a bit muddled during busy passages when many sounds are vying for attention in the mix. The busy Metropolis scenes do an admirable job in resolving the orchestra, street traffic and some dialog, without becoming too congested. Listen to the scene when Luthor's sidekick, Otis (Ned Beatty), makes his way through the crowded streets into the subway while being tailed by police, all while a comical score played. The audio is crisp and clear and doesn't sound like it was recorded too "hot" even when the train roars by. There is definitely much room for improvement, but the DD is better than average. Certainly it is no reason to avoid the BD."

Just because a track is lossy, isn't any reason you shouldn't buy it. However, nowadays, you pretty much should expect everything to be lossless.

Lossy was there simply because it was compatible with both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats (even though TrueHD and PCM was too). For some reason, studios (especially WB) decided to go with the lossy formats over the lossless, even though both formats supported the same codecs. Anyone have an answer to why?

Those days are long gone though, and studios can just make high-end audio formats for solely Blu-ray now.

I was watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on HD-DVD last night, and I was surprised to see a TrueHD track. I was in complete heaven (even though the TrueHD and the DD+ tracks were pretty similar).

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by benricci

Yes it does.

To each his own. I find it's a poor transfer.

[Mahatma]

My question here is:In most cases the only option if it doesn't have lossless audio is to wait for another release which in most cases will be unlikely in near future.I for one will buy the movie if it's one I like.If on the offchance it comes out with much better AQ later,and it's a movie I really like then I would buy that copy too.Think the movie qulity is #1 priority for me.Also:Many may not have a good enough audio system to really take advantage of lossless quality compared to-say-a regular 5.1 DD track which probably is better than the DVD track of same movie.

Each to their own,but I'm shallow enough to be more awed by PQ than AQ in BD. Not that AQ is wasted on me (Loved AC/DC donnington AQ on BD),but in most cases one is out of options other than DVD-which to me is not an option.

[newtype]

Doesn't affect me, I will upgraded later if I need too.

[Rob J in WNY]

I feel the format has reached a point where it's almost inexcusable not to have a lossless or uncompressed multichannel audio offering. Blu-ray is all about state-of-the-art video and audio, and falling back to lossy audio encodes put the format right back into the '90s.

Warner did for Superman Returns what they really need to do for Speed Racer, and all the more so because Speed Racer's PQ is top-notch.

I would love to get Superman: The Movie, but am reluctant due to its lone, lossy Dolby Digital sound offering. Recently is has been as little as $10, so I may get it at that price, but I'll admit that I've held off because it is not lossless/uncompressed (just as I did for Superman Returns, and now I have the re-release with the PCM and Dolby TrueHD tracks!).

Likely, many Blu-ray consumers are not at a passion level for the format as many of us ultra-enthusiasts have come to appreciate, but it's still not a good enough excuse to offer lossy audio. After all, we WANT the best!

[SlmShdy1]

I bought the Mission: Impossible trilogy when it first came out even tough it only included a lossy track. That was before I knew any better. Now, I'll avoid a movie if it doesn't have a lossless track because I don't want to have to double dip in the future. I really wanted to buy Speed Racer, but you know damn well Warner is going to re-release later on with a losselss track.

On a side note; I will watch certain movies, which have a lossless track, but I'll select the lossy track instead. That only comes into play with foreign films. For example, when I watch DBZ on Blu-ray, I'll select the Japanese Mono track. I just saw the review for Hero on Blu and the Mandarin track is lossy. I wouldn't mind watching it with a lossy track as long as I'm getting the original film.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Nope, if I want the movie I want the movie

I just bought Superman today for example. I also have Terminator 3.

Of course, I don't have a surround system that supports lossless anyway, and won't for a long time.

The Dolby track on Superman sounds great. I'm not really sure how necessary lossless is on older tracks anyway. T3 was actually played in the theaters at a bitrate lower than the Blu-Ray so I've been told, so it's still an improvement.

Originally Posted by TheZoof

I want Superman Returns so bad but I can't find it with the lossless anywhere in Canada.

You could easily import it from a number of sites. It's readily available and totally worth it.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

No it doesn't. It's slathered in DNR to the point that there is no fine detail. The audio does indeed fare much better and it's not too bad when you consider that it only costs $10 but I hope it gets re-released with a better video transfer.

I didn't notice any DNR. Looked like a faithful film-like transfer to me.

[wallendo]

I am hesitant to buy an upgrade from DVD with lossy audio on the BD. But, I will not deny myself a movie I want to own because of an audio codec.

[sfmarine]

If it's cheap enough...like $9, I'll buy it. A lot of the non-lossless releases drop significantly in price. The studios need to do it right!

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by benricci

I don't believe a lot of the fist-pumpers who claim that they refuse to buy movies they love if they only come with a standard 5.1 track. Especially when they make their collections public...

I admit I have a few, mainly tv shows or animated DC films( Marvel gives theirs the lossless treatment ), etc.. I'll be picking up Superman/Batman:Public Enemies too. My exceptions are for older movies that I don't own on DVD, or that get a huge improvement in PQ over the DVD version. There is no excuse for a movie made in the last decade not to have lossless audio( Warner Bros & Paramount early Blu-ray releases- Shooter, Phantom of the Opera, etc), especially if they were given lossless audio on HD-DVD. I've held out on Blu-ray purchases until a lossless version was released( Terminator 2 & Superman Returns ). There are always exceptions.

Originally Posted by FendersRule

Obviously, you have no sound system. Watching movies is all about immersion. I think you can also scientifically find that people are far more immersed with a sound system (we can show this through physiological responses - pupil dilation, heart rate, etc) compared to not having one.

Seriously, I use to think the same way as you guys until I got fitted with a good sound system. Picture quality is important, but it's literally only 10-20% of the experience- Fact. Think about it, without a good sound system, you are just looking at a moving picture.

I made the same observation , but just couldn't say it. Your right, the sound pulls you into the experience.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

I didn't notice any DNR. Looked like a faithful film-like transfer to me.

Unless they quietly re-released this movie on BD and I got stuck with an old bad copy, the BD of First Blood is a mess. A definite step up from the DVD, no doubt about it, but a lackluster BD. And I'm not expecting it to look all shiny and new.

[benricci]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

Unless they quietly re-released this movie on BD and I got stuck with an old bad copy, the BD of First Blood is a mess. A definite step up from the DVD, no doubt about it, but a lackluster BD. And I'm not expecting it to look all shiny and new.

I don't know what you're seeing, but it's nowhere near "a mess". Most review sites said it was strong as well, with many positive scores from major sites:

http://www.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/m...562&locale=all

Scroll down for aggregate review scores.

[Freekman]

I have a lot of lossless titles in my collection. My PS3 can decode the lossless tracks, but my receiver can't. Am I still getting the HD audio or the core track?

[42041]

My high frequency hearing isn't so great, so while I appreciate having it, I don't think I can tell much of a difference between lossy/lossless.

[42041]

Originally Posted by Freekman

I have a lot of lossless titles in my collection. My PS3 can decode the lossless tracks, but my receiver can't. Am I still getting the HD audio or the core track?

can your reciever accept multichannel PCM via HDMI? if so, set the PS3 to decode to get lossless audio.

[davcole]

If it's a film I really want, i'll purchase it with a lossy track, but it had to be a film I really, really want and have no choice of getting elsewhere.

Of course there is nothing we can do about those early lossy titles. However it seems generally that all studios have gotten the message about mandating a lossless audio track.

[ewsjr]

I would love to get Superman: The Movie, but am reluctant due to its lone, lossy Dolby Digital sound offering. Recently is has been as little as $10, so I may get it at that price, but I'll admit that I've held off because it is not lossless/uncompressed (just as I did for Superman Returns, and now I have the re-release with the PCM and Dolby TrueHD tracks!).

I agree totally, I would love to have this but won't buy until it gets a lossless soundtrack and this goes for several other favorites I have but are missing HD sound (road warrior sigh!), though I have to admit that when I saw Superman Returns dvd for 5.00 I bought it even though it's not one of my favorites. 5.00 is hard to resist.

[Kryptonic]

The Dolby 5.1 on Superman really sounds great, despite not being a lossless mix. It's a 31 year-old film that was remixed 9 years ago. I doubt a lossless track would really sound that much better. The film looks marvelous and has quite a few extras, including Williams complete isolated score. For $10, that's a steal. Buy BD's for the movie, not the sound mix.