A few words about... Apollo 13 -- In High Definition - Page 2

TonyD · 05-06-2006, 11:14 PM

thanks for that info steve.
using the 5.1 ext in i can hear a difference on hd and sd dvd.
the differnce i hear on sd is a fuller more enveloping sound.
i feel/hear the environment of the movie better.

i've been testing this with A New World.
there is so much going on with this movie for sound that the 5.1 ext in are just fabulous.
while it seems louder, i dont think it is just the volume that is improved the overal sound is better.
about 8 min in there sound of birds and animals as john smith walks in the trees is startling.
close your eyes and you are in the forest.

about 14 minutes into New World there is a LF sub sound effect that is near thunderous (svs) in ext in, just ordinary switching to DD(tos).

Walter Kittel · 05-15-2006, 12:33 AM

Finally watched this title last night; first time on HD-DVD. Just spectacular. I was astounded at the level of detail. ( I guess I sound like a broken record, but sheesh it looked incredible. )

The white (uniform) and blue (life preserver) colors, when Lovell (Hanks) was in the water after splashdown were heartbreakingly pure. I couldn't believe how vivid that sequence looked. Space has never looked better on my system ( the shots of the moon from inside Odyssey/Aquarius were to die for.)

- Walter.

DaViD Boulet · 05-20-2006, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Apollo 13 looks like film projected without weave, dirt or wear.

Siiiiggggghhhhhh......

Michel_Hafner · 06-17-2006, 03:35 PM

I sampled about 15 minutes of Apollo on a Ruby. Based on that I would say the quality is sometimes unsatisfying and quite uneven. Some shots look good, others are fuzzy. Most look noisy. Some show signs of digital grain reduction with the usual artifacts. There is no doubt in my mind that this film can look better when they rescan the original negative, don't use any filtering and compress with a high bit rate. The transfer looks somewhat dated, not state of the art. "Training Day" and "Riddick" on the other hand: NICE!

Johannes S · 06-17-2006, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner

I sampled about 15 minutes of Apollo on a Ruby. Based on that I would say the quality is sometimes unsatisfying and quite uneven. Some shots look good, others are fuzzy. Most look noisy. .... "Training Day" and "Riddick" on the other hand: NICE!

Objection!

"Apollo 13" was shot on somewhat "grainy" 90's Super 35 film stock with the special-effects-shots filmed in VistaVision. This explains the different "look" of many scenes as concerns film grain and sharpness.

The HD-DVD of "Apollo 13" is an absolutely stunning transfer, exactly preserving the "look and feel" of it's theatrical presentation. The visible artifact-free grain structure of the Super 35 film emulsion really is beautiful. As Robert said: It is a revelation.

"Training Day", "Swordfish" and "Riddick" are totally different things. Different film stocks and that "processed", styled look created in post-production. (also represented perfectly in the HD-DVD releases)

Robert Crawford · 06-17-2006, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johannes S

Objection!

"Apollo 13" was shot on somewhat "grainy" 90's Super 35 film stock with the special-effects-shots filmed in VistaVision. This explains the different "look" of many scenes as concerns film grain and sharpness.

The HD-DVD of "Apollo 13" is an absolutely stunning transfer, exactly preserving the "look and feel" of it's theatrical presentation. The visible artifact-free grain structure of the Super 35 film emulsion really is beautiful. As Robert said: It is a revelation.

"Training Day", "Swordfish" and "Riddick" are totally different things. Different film stocks and that "processed", styled look created in post-production. (also represented perfectly in the HD-DVD releases)

I'm in agreement, I've watched the HD DVD of Apollo 13 the other day and thought it was outstanding. Today, I was sampling it for a good hour or so and still thought it was fantastic.

Crawdaddy

CaptDS9E · 06-17-2006, 05:20 PM

I think people need to realize, now more then ever with HD, that not all movies are filmed the same way. Some are made to have grain, no grain, be darker, be brighter, have a certain tint, etc...

Michel_Hafner · 06-18-2006, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johannes S

Objection!

"Apollo 13" was shot on somewhat "grainy" 90's Super 35 film stock with the special-effects-shots filmed in VistaVision. This explains the different "look" of many scenes as concerns film grain and sharpness.

Objection as well. I know how grainy film looks when it's free of digital artifacts. Apollo 13 HD master is NOT free of digital artifacts. They did use digital grain reduction and it shows! Early in the film in a scene with Hanks and wife she has a blouse with stripes. The texture is MESSED up by the filtering! This transfer is overall not stunning. Some shots look very good, yes, others so so and yet others are simply badly done on the 15 minutes I checked. I believe the disc looks like the master and the encoding is very good. The master has issues though.

Robert Crawford · 06-18-2006, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner

Objection as well. I know how grainy film looks when it's free of digital artifacts. Apollo 13 HD master is NOT free of digital artifacts. They did use digital grain reduction and it shows! Early in the film in a scene with Hanks and wife she has a blouse with stripes. The texture is MESSED up by the filtering! This transfer is overall not stunning. Some shots look very good, yes, others so so and yet others are simply badly done on the 15 minutes I checked. I believe the disc looks like the master and the encoding is very good. The master has issues though.

Then we're going to have to agree to disagree because I think this HD DVD was stunning.

Without a doubt, the same disagreements that many of us had about the quality of some dvd presentations are going to carry over to the HD formats, but probably moreso due to the limitations of SD DVD.

Crawdaddy

John Lloyd · 12-21-2006, 02:24 AM

I agree the picture quality is excellent when I watch the movie on my HD-A2. However, I really wonder about the audio. I pulled out my DTS "Demo #2" disc and it was definitely 10db louder during the launch sequence. Is the audio on "Demo #2" cooked? It certainly shakes my room a lot more than the HD-DVD.

TedD · 12-21-2006, 04:00 PM

Of course it's cooked. It's a demo, after all.

There's the demo, then there's the real thing. Only rarely do they have any reasonable relationship to one another.

Ted