A Few Words About A few words about... The Phantom of the Opera -- In High Definition (1 Viewer)

[PeterTHX]

All these Warner HD DVD releases you are all excited about will *also* be on Blu-ray. So far it's only Universal that is exclusive.

Not to mention 1080p capable out of the box (Mr Harris' 2k projector will acutally GET 2k material!).

You also have Fox, Disney, Columbia & Lions Gate releases to look foward to.

 

[Paul_Scott]

and don't forget MGM (and all the Bonds).
yeah Blu-ray is going to be exciting too.

But Peter, wouldn't you agree that it is good to have HD DVD out now as an established benchmark- something to gauge the performance/value of Blu-ray?

 

[Robert Harris]

Mike G...

To my eye, HiDef DVD yields an image for use in the home that is superior to 16mm on a number of fronts: spliceless, no wear, highly stable image as far as weave and general movement, no change-overs and superior black levels and color with the exception of dye transfer...

but dye transfer is a lower resolution image than HiDef; the resolution in dye transfer prints being a function of contrast.

As long as the quality of the film or digital element which serves as the basis of the final DVD is of high quality, (and those that I've seen so far have been) I'm personally far happier with the new format than with 16.

35mm can be a different story, dependent upon print quality. 70mm is a different animal entirely, but only a handful of people run 70mm at home.

The short answer to your question is, "yes."

In your words, "A perfect format for watching movies at home has finally emerged."

RAH

 

[Mike_G]

Thanks, Robert. I think it's time to get rid of my other 35mm projector .

Yeah, I know someone who knows someone who has 70mm at home. I couldn't even think about that kind of setup.

Mike

 

[Andrew Bunk]

I'd love to wet my feet now, especially since I need an upscaling player for SD anyway, but I have to say HDMI 1.1 has me worried.

I've gathered from posts at AVS that HDMI 1.1 has the "clipping bug", which if my understanding is correct, means the player drops values below and above a certain range, meaning it can't pass black and white level properly.

I believe I've experienced this first-hand as I tried out Toshiba's new SD-4990 upscaling player this weekend. Using Avia's black level patterns, I could never see the black bars moving, even with the players brightness cranked. My display is a Toshiba 57H83 which has been ISF'd several times already by Eliab from Avical. Everything looks great over component. But since upconversion is only allowed over HDMI, the player is worthless to me. Unless the 57H83 has an issue with its DVI-HDCP input, I'm very wary of going with HDMI 1.1.

Now I know the current batch of titles will pass 1080i over component, but frankly, I don't trust the studios to keep up this trend. I fully expect the "analog hole" to plugged once a pirate HD disc is discovered.

If anyone can point me to any threads here that discuss these kinds of issue in more detail, that would be great.

As far as the format war, as of right now I have a feeling that if Sony can't get a player out by the fall for under $600, we're going to see more studios support HD-DVD. It may very well be VHS vs. Beta, with the "technically" inferior but cheaper format winning again.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Not perfect but very good. HD-DVD and BR are not identical to the latest HD masters. Not only are they compressed (which is not a problem since the new codecs can pretty much achieve a visually lossless result) but they are 'only' 8 bit and color subsampled. The best new masters are 10 bit and with full color information. The difference on a 1080p display of sufficient size and quality between 10 bit 4:4:4 and 8 bit 4:2:0 is visible but not 'dramatic'. I would say for > 99% of all home cinema installations it's negligible to non existent.

 

[Stan Rozenfeld]

Excellent post, Mr. Harris!

We needed this, with all the weak reviews in some of the media. I just want to add, for those who are concerned about how it will look on 720p rear projection tv sets: I have a 61 inch 720p dlp, and the difference was eyepopping. It was like watching Phantom for the first time. My wife who is not a videophile, kept on saying 'wow' for about 5 minutes.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've a feeling that there a number of "reviewers" out there who review, but with neither background nor basis. One must carefully select their reviewer. Its much like tasting wine or locating the correct doctor if one is in need of something serious.

No reviewer fits everyone's needs or tastes.

RAH

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah, and equipment setup and calibration is key!

My local Best Buy has the new Tosh hooked up via HDMI to a 42" 1920x1080 Westinghouse LCD. At home, I have the 32" Westinghouse 1366x768 LCD (step down, 1 year older than BB's) hooked up to my PC using PowerDVD6 via VGA to it. I've calibrated my contrast/brightness/color etc via AVIA. Best Buy didn't.

So despite it being HD-DVD (and they were showing the Serenity HD-DVD) using a superior connection (HDMI) into a superior monitor (1920x1080 vs. 1366x768), the picture at Best Buy was worse than what I have at home.

Why?

Because contrast and brightness were waaaaay too high, and the screen was a pixellated mess. You could tell HD had the pixel count/sharpness advantage, but because of the torch mode of the LCD screen, it was a thoroughly unimpressive demo. If you A/B'd my setup vs. theirs, most would opt to go with my system.

Of course, if Best Buy gave me 15-30 minutes with their system, I could change that around right quick. All it would cost them is to let me take home a new one of both of those equipment that I calibrated!

 

[Ron-P]

Sanyo Z3 and an 85" DIY screen and I'll second Robert's comment, amazing!

 

[LarryH]

I fully planned to wait until the format war settled down, but my resolve last only nanoseconds when I was able to walk into BB and pick one up off the shelf. Like RAH, I have not regretted my decision for a second. The improvement in picture quality, even over upconverted SD DVDs, is impressive. I'm using a Sony LCD front projector with 768 lines of vertical resolution on an 84" screen, so I'm not on the bleeding edge here. Nonetheless, at $500, I think I've gotten a great value and will be salivating at the prospect of seeing favorite titles with such clarity.

 

[TonyD]

didnt work.
went to sears today.
they had a xa-1 on display.


so...

so has anyone tried to buy one at sears yet?

i was just in one.
they had a Toshiba HD-XA1 hooked up but it didnt have a dvd in it.
i asked if they had any in but the guy had no idea so he had to call someone.

none in stock ,but they can order it.

i tried to get him to use the best buy coupon but he wouldnt do it.

as i was leaving i just casually asked how much it was.

$500.00.


so i wasnt sure if it was the ax1 that was the more expensive model or not.

after checking now i see it was.

i may go back tonight to douoble check.


so....

so i went back later and ordered the xa1, or at least thats what the kid continued to say thats what they have on order.
so for $500 i oredered what is hopefully the xa1.


earlier when i was in there he told me no one has bought one or even asked about one yet.
the player that was on the shelf, he said, has been there for months and it keeps crashing.

they also now had the demo disc in.
half hd on one side and sd on the other.

but on the bottom of the sd side it says simulated sd, so it's faux sd.

 

[Philo MacDuff]

How does the new media handle scratches? Are they using that new protective layer I heard about last year that was supposed to be a major improvement over current DVDs? Like most people here, I'm careful with my discs but there's nothing more annoying that getting a problem disc from a place like Netflix.

One other thing, please tell me the layer change pause is dead with the new format.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Rah,

As always, thanks for your words.

As impressed as I was by your thoughts, I'm not ready to
jump into this format anytime soon.

First, there are many reports indicating these players are
"buggy" with slow boot times and occasional lock-ups.

Second, my HD display is componant only. I don't have
HDMI input and I'm not about to buy a new display anytime soon.

Third, there's a format war. I'm not going to purchase two
separate players so I can enjoy all the titles I want from any
given studio (although I realize some studios are or will be
releasing in both formats).

The bottom line is that though HD DVD is a welcomed format,
it is also a highly ill-conceived format.

No thanks...not right now.

 

[Robert Harris]

Ron,

It is correct that load times on the new players are slow. I have no problem with this. Thirty seconds in advance of a two hour film doesn't affect me.

But we need to get you up and running with new equipment.

I believe that each member should send you a dollar... or five. Everyone gets so much from your site, this would seem to be just too easy. We'll have you up and running in no time. It would be a very small way of thanking you.

If you feel this inappropriate, a move up to the newer player (with its longer load time) will at least allow you to gather new releases in high definition, so that you're not forced to double dip.

RAH

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Then more discs for me.

Seriously, though, a lot of people will not take the plunge for the reasons you state. Stores are only now figuring out how to display the product. Even then, they are putting up this lame side-by-side simulated comparison of HD footage, and trailers, instead of the eye-candy scenes from movies like Phantom. Frankly, they should put "Masquerade" on a loop and have the discs and players stacked up to the side ready for sales. It looks that good.

- Steve

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I'm in. What's the Paypal address?

- Steve

 

[Reagan]

Me too.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I have the same set as you, Ron, and let me tell you the 1080i looks gorgeous over component. I hate to trust that studios won't start setting the ICT flag, but if they get enough people used to 1080i then they'll have a firestorm if they try it.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

And HTF has enough clout to make that firestorm heard!

- Steve