What DVDs have you found to upscale well? (titles w/o BD release)

[jc480]

A few choice titles are without BD release nor are they scheduled in the near future...so I'm wondering what some of the opinions are for DVD releases (non-HD) that upscale well...

Coveted titles are of particular interest such as....

Star Wars series
LotR series (extended)
etcetera

I have played the long version of David Lynch's Dune DVD recently and it upscaled VERY WELL. I was very happy. I also had some 2000+ TOHO Godzilla movie releases...they also upscaled very well.

And, believe it or not...my wife popped in a 10 year old Sound of Music DVD. It looked the best I've ever seen it.

[Batman1980]

TBH upscale is over-rated. Pixar films all look fantastic upscaled though, I imagine most CGI movies would.

[JJ]

Star Wars, Ep. 4-6. LOTR:TT, RotK.

[jc480]

JJ I'm considering buying LotR trilogy in DVD extended as I have a feeling the BD version will be a year + before it's released (extended...I have no interest in the theater cut).

I hate spending $20+ on a DVD set, but if it upscales well I'll probably bite the bullet.

[Johnny Vinyl]

I also thought that the LOTR's did a good job of upscaling, as do Gladiator and Braveheart.

John

PS- I'm sure the BD's will blow them away, but they are definately enjoyable upscaled.

[Blu-Benny]

all 6 star wars
lord of the rings

[Rob J in WNY]

Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith looks particularly good upconverted, especially the opening battle sequence. I have one screenshot from it. It's not the battle sequence, but it's easy to look at nonetheless.



Also, Children of Men looks good upconverted. It just became available on BD, so it's only a matter of time until it gets replaced.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by jc480

JJ I'm considering buying LotR trilogy in DVD extended as I have a feeling the BD version will be a year + before it's released (extended...I have no interest in the theater cut).

I hate spending $20+ on a DVD set, but if it upscales well I'll probably bite the bullet.

LOTR:EE RotK and TT upscale BEAUTIFULLY. I bought them both last summer, and will keep them, even when the BD versions come out, until the EE versions come out too. The EE versions have great picture, more footage, and wonderful DTS sound (in DVDs, there is a difference between 750kbps DTS and 448 DD) - I love to watch them. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is quite a treat!

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

I watched Desperado this past year. It looked pretty good for an upscale. It almost looked like HD-DVD (I said HD-DVD because it doesn't compare to blu-ray).

[MAPdead]

Anything by pixar

[Simian Prophet]

My girlfriend and I were both suprised and impressed by how nice the "A Very Long Engagement" DVD looked upscaled.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith looks particularly good upconverted, especially the opening battle sequence. I have one screenshot from it. It's not the battle sequence, but it's easy to look at nonetheless.



Also, Children of Men looks good upconverted. It just became available on BD, so it's only a matter of time until it gets replaced.

I could look at that all day!

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by jc480

A few choice titles are without BD release nor are they scheduled in the near future...so I'm wondering what some of the opinions are for DVD releases (non-HD) that upscale well...

None, since I got my Pioneer plasma...

I had fairly good luck with my 1080i Sony rear projection unit, but it was pretty forgiving of 480p source material anyway.

The Pioneer is merciless.

[lojack1976]

I bought the LOTR extended edition box set when it was first released, and they upscale very well. The DTS soundtrack is awesome too and its better than a lot of the lossless soundtracks I've heard. Get the DVD versions on the cheap for now and hold out for the extended Blu versions later. I paid $90 for my box set when it was released, so I will definitely wait for the extended Blu's.

[Toptube]

The 2 upscaled DVDs that I've been most impressed with:

Southland Tales (On Blu-ray now. But damn, probably the best upscale I've ever seen. I wouldn't confuse it with a Blu-ray, but it'd be nice if all DVDs were so good)

LOST (the early seasons are out soon, but the DVDs are very good. Also a contender for my top spot on DVD against Southland Tales.)

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

TBH upscale is over-rated.

Well, yes and no.

There is a big misconception due to marketing that upscaling gets your DVDs to near EITCH DEE quality. That is just not true. So it gets overrated due to this misconception. People buy and HDTV and get an upscaling player and think hey I did pretty good, this looks great. and then wonder why Blu-ray exists because DVDs are just as good. Well, yeah, it looks better because generally speaking, an LCD or PLasma is more pleasing to look at than a CRT. Even with DVDs.

But, there is definitely some benefit to come from image processing and upscaling of DVDs. Get a basic DVD player sometime that either doesn't even have ANY de-interlacing or has some crappy de-interlacing (like a PS2) and play it on an HD display that has little or no image processing and basic scaling, like an LCD computer monitor. The image will be very very grainy, so signs of interlacing, and maybe even be full of perceivable blocks or segments from the very very poor scaling.

Some decent de-interlacing is the first step in fixing up a DVD. Sprinkle a little bit of image processing on top of that and you've got a generally much more watchable image on your HD display. Most HDTVs nowadays have decent processing built into them, so regardless of your source, you will still get good images. I actually prefer my TV's processing over my PS3. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, but I just like the look from my TV's processing a bit better.

Upscaling is not overrated to those who know because it is actually very useful. But upscaling is so oversold that it will never live up to the marketing.

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

I watched Desperado this past year. It looked pretty good for an upscale. It almost looked like HD-DVD (I said HD-DVD because it doesn't compare to blu-ray).

HD-DVD and Blu-ray are very similar in capability regarding what actually is produced on your screen. Differences in Picture Quality between the same movie on both formats were from different transfers or excessive digital scrubbing and augmentation. Not so much the format itself.

[koontz1973]

Stargate was great last night converted. Film, not the TV show.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

Star Wars, Ep. 4-6. LOTR:TT, RotK.

I agree with Star Wars 4-6, I do not find that LOTR does however. I posted about 2 months back how amaze I was on how the Star Wars originals upscaled way better then the prequels. Make's you wonder what the BD will be like

[CYMBOL]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I agree with Star Wars 4-6, I do not find that LOTR does however. I posted about 2 months back how amaze I was on how the Star Wars originals upscaled way better then the prequels. Make's you wonder what the BD will be like

Episode 1 looks horrid.

Other than that - Star Wars looks great. Episodes 4 & 5 look amazing.

The EE LOTR looks very good - but I can definitely see room for improvement. Fine detail is lacking. (Maybe it's the size of my screen). I'm looking forward to the upgrade to Blu. I actually like the Theatrical Cuts better (in general), so I'll probably get those when they come out, unless it can be confirmed the ones released later will have both versions via seamless branching. I'd get those, of course.

And CGI (Pixar) films already look like BDs. I love the look of the Incredibles - can't wait to see the Blu-ray version of this - hard to picture it looking much better!

[broganreynik]

While not the best looking, one that really caught me by surprise with how good it looked was 'Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke'. For the age of the movie and the release itself, it looked pretty good. Now it's not like Sin City upscaled, but it's pretty good.

[STARSCREAM]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

None, since I got my Pioneer plasma...

I had fairly good luck with my 1080i Sony rear projection unit, but it was pretty forgiving of 480p source material anyway.

The Pioneer is merciless.

+1. I have projector and 118" screen, all dvd's look bad blown up this big.