[Grant H]

Yeah, I know there's been a lot of griping about the cost of Blu-Ray machines, but it's kind of gutsy to put out a more expensive 2nd gen machine and remove a major piece of connectivity. Why not just remove the component outputs while they're at it?

[Grant H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_P.

Yeah, I just bought into the Sammy BD last month and have stuck with the newer releases and I've had really no issue with the PQ, especially after the FW upgrade.

I should probably ask this in the software thread, but as every thread in there tends to spawn a war:

What Blu-Ray titles exist right now with the AVC (MPEG-4) codec? I was aware of several upcoming titles, but wasn't sure of how many were actually out and what the quality was like. Encouraging that there will be a 50 GB release of From Hell with AVC. They should be able to pack a lot onto that disc!

Since it's likely Blu-Ray will avoid VC-1 for a while, I'd like to know how AVC is doing. So far, comments sound positive in this thread.

[Ben_Williams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant H

I should probably ask this in the software thread, but as every thread in there tends to spawn a war:

What Blu-Ray titles exist right now with the AVC (MPEG-4) codec? I was aware of several upcoming titles, but wasn't sure of how many were actually out and what the quality was like. Encouraging that there will be a 50 GB release of From Hell with AVC. They should be able to pack a lot onto that disc!

Since it's likely Blu-Ray will avoid VC-1 for a while, I'd like to know how AVC is doing. So far, comments sound positive in this thread.

Blu-Ray is, by no means, avoiding VC1. Here you go:

VC1 titles now available on Blu-Ray:

The Lake House
The Fugitive
House of Wax
Leathal Weapon
Leathal Weapon 2
Space Cowboys
Corpse Bride
Blazing Saddles

AVC Mpeg-4 now available on Blu Ray:

Gone in 60 Seconds
The Brothers Grimm
Glory Road
The Great Raid
Eight Below

In the coming months there are quite a few more AVC and VC1 transfers. I think that somehow this bad information regarding blu-ray and VC1 has spread to the point where folks just assume that the codec isn't being used at all on Blu Ray. That just isn't the case. VC1 titles are expected and available from Warner.

[Rachael B]

Several of the Disney BD's are AVC. The reviews at High Def Digest list the codecs used. Eight Below and a couple others are....I think all or most new Disney will be....

Warner is flooding Blu with VC1. BTW, Rattle And Hum on HD-DVD is AVC.

[GoldenRedux]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachael B

Several of the Disney BD's are AVC. The reviews at High Def Digest list the codecs used. Eight Below and a couple others are....I think all or most new Disney will be....

Warner is flooding Blu with VC1. BTW, Rattle And Hum on HD-DVD is AVC.

Rattle & Hum on Blu-ray uses AVC also, doesn't it? I believe it's the same transfer/encoding. I have the disc, but I still have no player to play it on.

[Dave_P.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant H

What Blu-Ray titles exist right now with the AVC (MPEG-4) codec? I was aware of several upcoming titles, but wasn't sure of how many were actually out and what the quality was like. Encouraging that there will be a 50 GB release of From Hell with AVC. They should be able to pack a lot onto that disc!

Well, if Brothers Grimm is AVC, I'd have to say it is definitely no joke and probably right up near the top of current BD transfers. Eight Below is nothing to sneeze at either.

[Ben_Williams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_P.

Well, if Brothers Grimm is AVC, I'd have to say it is definitely no joke and probably right up near the top of current BD transfers. Eight Below is nothing to sneeze at either.

I agree.. it is a fantastic transfer.

[Grant H]

Thanks so much for the info, guys. I knew there were AVC titles out, but I honestly didn't know VC-1 titles were out already.

See, I think my friend's buddy who bought a Toshiba HD-DVD player immediately (maybe even before most people could get one) has been feeding him a lot of propaganda, and he's trying to spread it to me now, even though I've been up on this stuff a lot longer than him. He didn't even know Blu-Ray players were backwards-compatible with DVD. He thought that was exclusive to HD-DVD! I need to just shut my brain off whn he speaks I guess. He really thinks Blu-Ray isn't using VC-1 compression, or AVC for that matter.

Glad to hear it seems the quality is good with both the new compression schemes. I remember you said Gone in 60 Seconds looked good, Ben. Your favorite movie! I saw The Fugitive was out at Best Buy, I believe it's on both formats. Now that I think of it, pretty sure I did notice the Blu-Ray version, but I must not have picked it up. Kind of glad I never bothered upgrading to the SE on DVD.

My question is: is the choice of compression scheme mostly the studio's choice? It seems odd they'd release VC-1 on HD-DVD and MPEG-2 on Blu-Ray for some titles. Is it just because they know the space is there, so they use it and add a second disc with features so they look like they have just as much content as HD-DVD's 2-disc releases?

I had another thought that if the studios are deciding the codec, perhaps they chose MPEG2 on Blu-Ray for so many early titles because they knew the space was available and wanted to play it safe with a trusted codec? On HD-DVD they had little choice but to use the more efficient codec. Studios are very skittish sometimes about new things. Maybe they just trust MPEG-2.

Or perhaps they're using the MPEG-2 encodes that were used for D-VHS? But that would probably only apply to catalog titles. I don't know if they even still make D-VHS.

Regardless, all the misinformation from the early adopters of HD-DVD really angers me, and only nudges me that much more toward Blu-Ray.

And the 2nd gen HD-DVD player isn't even outputting 1080p yet is it?