Uh OH...AVC sharper than VC-1(Flags review)

[shamus]

In a side by side comparison of the film between the the AVC MPEG-4 transfer on this Blu-ray version and the VC-1 transfer on the HD DVD, it does seem that the Blu-ray/AVC encode is the tiniest bit sharper, while the HD DVD/VC-1 is the slightest bit softer.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/flagsofourfathers.html

[Scorxpion]

YES AVC is far better than VC-1 and hopefully HD-DVD fans not keeping living in illusion and confess that they have a loosing format.

[WriteSimply]

A loose format? Eeep. Bring in the Depends.

An R-rated box set and two PG-13 movies battle it out on Tuesday. It's gonna get ugly.


fuad

[GTP]

When you factor in Peters obvious hd dvd bias as well as my 110" screen...its more than just a little sharper would probably more accurate.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Is it possible that some of the extra sharpness comes from a higher bitrate for the Blu-ray version, rather than the codec per se? Do we know how much space on the disc each version uses for the video?

I was quite shocked to find out that the HD-DVD Matrix only uses 15.6GB for the main video stream, an average bitrate of around 16-17Mbps, it's not surprising there's some posterization in places at such a pathetic bitrate.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

Is it possible that some of the extra sharpness comes from a higher bitrate for the Blu-ray version, rather than the codec per se? Do we know how much space on the disc each version uses for the video?

I was quite shocked to find out that the HD-DVD Matrix only uses 15.6GB for the main video stream, an average bitrate of around 16-17Mbps, it's not surprising there's some posterization in places at such a pathetic bitrate.

That's odd, HDD gave the Matrix trilogy 5 stars for PQ

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

Is it possible that some of the extra sharpness comes from a higher bitrate for the Blu-ray version, rather than the codec per se?

I would not be surprised if bitrate plays a key role - and even better for Bluray if it does - it shows one of the largest oversights for HD DVD.

I expect that if Paramount continues to release AVC HD DVDs (Norbit apparently will be the next one) we will eventually get a chance to compare a high bitrate AVC to HD DVD bitrate AVC encode.

[blitz6speed]

It just gets worse from here.. Top Gun is going to be hd-dvd/bd with the same combo of AVC/VC-1. Ontop of that, it will be paramounts FIRST hd release with lossless sound, BD gets PCM, hd-dvd gets TrueHD.

Bring it on paramount!

[HDJK]