Universal HD DVD: Declining PQ? - Page 4

Robert George · 06-26-2007, 03:36 PM

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I recently watched The Frighteners on HD-DVD and was far from impressed.

So? That coming from you is like the Red Sox watching the Yankees sweep the World Series and saying they are far from impressed. You will never acknowledge HD DVD as anything but inferior to Blu-ray.

I second what Thomas said above. Obviously the HD DVD of The Frighteners was struck from the same HD master that Universal used for the last DVD. It is also obviously that it is "true HD" with all the resolution, detail, sharpness, and color depth of a HD master of this vintage. If this film were released on Blu-ray, it would look just like it does on HD DVD.

Paul_Scott · 06-26-2007, 04:08 PM

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Originally Posted by Shawn Perron

I recently watched The Frighteners on HD-DVD and was far from impressed. While the movie definitely looked far better then the DVD, it was sorely lacking in high frequency detail throughout most of the film. There were 1 or 2 interior scenes that somewhat approached what a 1080p movie should look like, the majority of the movie was just mediocre. Based upon the quality of this movie, I would be hesitant to puchase any Universal catalog releases without a rental first. For those that already own these movies in SD, there is no reason to purchase if the studios are not going to attempt to live up to thier marketing slogans. "The Look and Sound of Perfect" it was not.

Ok, I'll bite. what should "a 1080p movie look like"?

Superman The Movie? Apocolypto? McCabe And Mrs Miller? UltraViolet? Revenge Of The Sith? Mame?

Shawn Perron · 06-26-2007, 05:45 PM

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Bunk.

As soon as you said that all the missing high frequency information magically appeared back into the movie. Amazing...

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So? That coming from you is like the Red Sox watching the Yankees sweep the World Series and saying they are far from impressed. You will never acknowledge HD DVD as anything but inferior to Blu-ray.

Whatever you say... Chronicals of Riddick and King Kong looked pretty damn good to me, but I guess you know better then I what I think.

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Ok, I'll bite. what should "a 1080p movie look like"?

Like something that looks like it has somewhere near 1080 lines of resolution? This was the first movie (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) that my wife commented looked "bad". She had been impressed with the couple dozen other movies we have watched. Take that as you will.

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Blu-Ray has it's share of stinkers too (5th element, House of Flying Daggers, etc.). This is going to happen whenever a studio recycles an old HD master (be they red or blue). Has anyone calling me out even seen the movie on HD-DVD yet? :p

I have both a HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player and will rent until this stupid format war ends. Which ended up being a good thing where this movie is concerned. The sad part is that unless there is a double dip down the road, this is it for this movie. Every movie we get that looks mediocre is years away from having a chance to look better. This is why it's vital to let the studios know we want the highest quality releases when they are ready rather then just a large quantity of back catalog dumped onto the market.

Paul_Scott · 06-26-2007, 08:39 PM

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Originally Posted by Shawn Perron

Blu-Ray has it's share of stinkers too (5th element, House of Flying Daggers, etc.). This is going to happen whenever a studio recycles an old HD master (be they red or blue). Has anyone calling me out even seen the movie on HD-DVD yet? :p

while the original elements for T5E were in surprisingly bad shape at points, the major problem I had with both those titles was that artifacting was plainly evident throughout. I guess this is just me, but I am happier with a film that is shot slightly soft and faithfully replicated on disc with no visible video related artifacts, than I am one that is bright, poppy, sharp and detailed, but has visible EE, digital noise, and blocking showing up in solid areas. The latter to me is a huge turn off and completely removes the spell that these things can weave.

But apparently, other people feel just the opposite.(not talking about you here, Shawn)

Shawn Perron · 06-26-2007, 08:51 PM

Yeah, those 2 Blu-Ray titles were loaded with artifacts, but the masters were so crappy that a 50GB disc with AVC wouldn't have really saved the day. You can only polish a turd (master) so much. Releasing discs that aren't up to par at this point won't help either of these formats gain mass acceptance. All it takes is for someone to buy a couple titles they aren't happy with to turn them off of buying altogether.

Douglas Monce · 06-26-2007, 09:20 PM

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Originally Posted by Shawn Perron

Like something that looks like it has somewhere near 1080 lines of resolution? This was the first movie (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) that my wife commented looked "bad". She had been impressed with the couple dozen other movies we have watched. Take that as you will.

I'm sorry but it shouldn't look like 1080....it should look like the film. Which is not always the same thing. Many Directors of photography put filters over the lens to "take the edge" off of the image. Many of them think that modern film stocks are far to sharp and they use these filters to give the film a more organic look. I personally don't like to do that, but quite a few do.

Just because The Frighteners doesn't look like High Definition Video, doesn't mean that it doesn't look exactly the way it's supposed to look.

Also very few Studios are going to spend the kind of money necessary to do a restoration on EVERY catalog title they release. It's not practical either from an economic point of view or from the point of few of having the capacity. There are only so many facilities that are able to do this kind of work. If they even did a dirt and dust clean up on every title, there would be a huge back up and films requiring a real restoration would never get done.

And lastly what many people are taking for edge enhancement is actually Chromatic Aberrations from the lens on the camera used to photograph the scene.

Doug

ppltd · 06-26-2007, 09:24 PM

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Originally Posted by Shawn Perron

All it takes is for someone to buy a couple titles they aren't happy with to turn them off of buying altogether.

I doubt the general user would ever notice the deficiencies bantered about in this forum. Artifacts, edge enhancements, grain. These issues have been totally acceptable to them up till now, assuming they actually know what they are. Why would we think it will be any different with HD.

Ed St. Clair · 06-26-2007, 11:13 PM

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Originally Posted by troy evans

My goodness,I'm defending Sony.What the Hell is wrong with Me today.

Someone shaved your cat.
That would FREAK anyone out!

Ed St. Clair · 06-26-2007, 11:19 PM

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Originally Posted by ppltd

I doubt the general user would ever notice the deficiencies bantered about in this forum. Artifacts, edge enhancements, grain. These issues have been totally acceptable to them up till now, assuming they actually know what they are. Why would we think it will be any different with HD.

I agree, with the small detractive point that if HD Disc has "all of that", no one will be overwhelmed by the PQ to upgrade to the new, more expensive, format.
Again, I do know what your saying.

Tim Glover · 06-26-2007, 11:19 PM

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Originally Posted by Jason Roer

Recent Universal titles Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Knocked Up are all on their way within the next few months. I'm sure they will all have excellent PQ. We'll have to wait and see though. Shaun has a great transfer on SD-DVD. I'm very excited about the 3 of them as they are 3 of my favorite films of the past few years.

Cheers,

Jason

Recent films that have excellent image quality have been the hits Breach & Children Of Men, Smokin Aces, The Good Shephard, Hollywoodland, Fast & The Furious, and Serenity.