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AVATAR Blu-ray Looks Amazing

post #1 of 143
4/21/10 at 4:25am
Thread Starter 
I was able to snag a copy of AVATAR on blu-ray early and I think it looks stunning!

I saw it in IMAX 3D a few times and the blu-ray is as close to that presentation as I have ever seen. Crystal clear images, almost 3D like () and awesome thundering dts sound. The average bit rate for the video was about 35mbps when I checked.

Imo, its one of the best looking and sounding blu-rays in my collection. And for only $20, this is a great bargain and will tide me over nicely until the SE coming in November.
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Avatar (Blu-ray + DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]
post #2 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:01am
I never really paid any attention to the picture quality of movies shown theatrically and never thought to myself Wow, this looks great! while watching a movie in a theater so I'll never understand when people say things like "It looked as pristine as a first-run print" when reviewing a DVD/BD. I fully expect new films to look flawless on Blu-ray and don't buy the argument that leaving out supplements to make full use of disc space will yield better picture quality. Having said that I look forward to adding Avatar to my film collection!
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post #3 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito34 View Post

I fully expect new films to look flawless on Blu-ray and don't buy the argument that leaving out supplements to make full use of disc space will yield better picture quality. 

Uh, which part don't you buy?  That leaving out supplements leaves more disc space for the picture?  Or that less compression actually yields better picture quality?  There's certainly an argument to be made regarding the diminishing returns that set in after a certain point, and where that point is, but it seems pretty weird to suggest that more disc space for the movie won't improve picture quality.
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post #4 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cafink View Post

There's certainly an argument to be made regarding the diminishing returns that set in after a certain point, and where that point is, but it seems pretty weird to suggest that more disc space for the movie won't improve picture quality.


Of course, more space will yield a better picture but having some special features on the disc isn't going to tank the PQ either. Does anyone seriously think that the A/V quality on the SE will be compromised because there will be special features (presumably there will be at least a commentary and maybe multi-angle features) on the disc?
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post #5 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito34 View Post

I never really paid any attention to the picture quality of movies shown theatrically and never thought to myself Wow, this looks great! while watching a movie in a theater so I'll never understand when people say things like "It looked as pristine as a first-run print" when reviewing a DVD/BD. I fully expect new films to look flawless on Blu-ray and don't buy the argument that leaving out supplements to make full use of disc space will yield better picture quality. Having said that I look forward to adding Avatar to my film collection!
My point is that the IMAX viewings of AVATAR I saw were amazing and this Blu-ray transfer is as stunning as the IMAX print.

And while you may "expect new films to look flawless on blu-ray", few do. This one does.

Understand?
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post #6 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post



Of course, more space will yield a better picture but having some special features on the disc isn't going to tank the PQ either. Does anyone seriously think that the A/V quality on the SE will be compromised because there will be special features (presumably there will be at least a commentary and maybe multi-angle features) on the disc?
Maybe they will split the SE onto 2 BD 50's to handle supplements and extra scenes. Similar to the TITANIC SE on SDVD.
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post #7 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:37am
Great news, Tino.  Getting my copy tomorrow.  Like everyone else not living in the APPLE.
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post #8 of 143
4/21/10 at 6:40am
Mailman just delivered mine (in Kansas City!) looks like it was mailed yesterday.  I'll look at it later tonight.  :)
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post #9 of 143
4/21/10 at 11:24am
 Got mine, it's the greatest blu-ray ever made. Anyone who have reservations about the PQ is a nutter. Audio is awesome too, Cameron Laserdisc reference quality (you know, not mp3 like on DVD).
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post #10 of 143
4/21/10 at 12:41pm
Just so people can understand this:

 

Good BD's have an average weighted bitrate around 22Mb.  "Avatar" has an average weighted of about 34; peaks at over 40! (40.8), and never drops below 25.  The DTS-MA track is also near perfect.  with it's base rate at near 3.6Mb, high rate of 5.2! 

Both of these absolutely press the boundaries of spec.  People had wondered how to equate this, and they had shrugged off "superbit" comparison, but I don't know of any other way.  There is no title released that I can think of that carries even close to the bitrate.  And a large number of titles that we think of as "good" that are encoded at around 1/2 the bitrate.

I'll have to sit down and watch through it tonight, but it is a very bare.. but very high quality, production.

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post #11 of 143
4/21/10 at 12:53pm
the only other title that I can think of is akira. it has a strong bitrate for trueHD at 192. 

Jacob
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post #12 of 143
4/21/10 at 12:53pm
Man, I'm chomping at the bit for my copy, I'm picking up my pre-ordered BD tomorrow over my lunch hour, and then I have a Movie Night showing right away tomorrow night in my projection theater for 8 people!  Plus, three more showings over the next two weekends - so far!  Almost everyone I know wants to come see this in my theater, I'm really gonna be putting a few hours on my projector bulb for this one!

Love to hear about the video quality of this film, I really like that they jacked up the video to the max on this release -- I could care less about extra features on a BD or DVD, I don't ever watch them anyway.  I am very sensitive to BD image quality - the difference is extremely noticable when a BD is projected on a big screen.  So, I am definitely not a fan of intentionally-added film grain to BDs, either.

Heck, I'm expecting this BD copy of Avatar to be as good as "dvdvision's HTF avatar"... lol!
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post #13 of 143
4/21/10 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
I'll be surprised if this doesn't get 5/5 across the board.
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post #14 of 143
4/21/10 at 1:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR View Post

Just so people can understand this:

 

Good BD's have an average weighted bitrate around 22Mb.  "Avatar" has an average weighted of about 34; peaks at over 40! (40.8), and never drops below 25.  The DTS-MA track is also near perfect.  with it's base rate at near 3.6Mb, high rate of 5.2! 

Both of these absolutely press the boundaries of spec.  People had wondered how to equate this, and they had shrugged off "superbit" comparison, but I don't know of any other way.  There is no title released that I can think of that carries even close to the bitrate.  And a large number of titles that we think of as "good" that are encoded at around 1/2 the bitrate.

I'll have to sit down and watch through it tonight, but it is a very bare.. but very high quality, production.


Well put.  Thanks for the breakdown.
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post #15 of 143
4/21/10 at 1:29pm
You guys are going to hate me by the end of the day for making an appearance in just about every Avatar thread, but Jon Landau the producer of Avatar and Titanic will be here for a chat on Tuesday 4/27 from 5-7 to discuss the film and Blu-ray release.  Check out the HTF chat page for full details.  If you are happy with the disc let him know, and if you want to hear about the upcoming special edition it would be worth attending!
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post #16 of 143
4/21/10 at 2:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR View Post

Just so people can understand this:

 

Good BD's have an average weighted bitrate around 22Mb.  "Avatar" has an average weighted of about 34; peaks at over 40! (40.8), and never drops below 25.  The DTS-MA track is also near perfect.  with it's base rate at near 3.6Mb, high rate of 5.2! 

Both of these absolutely press the boundaries of spec.  People had wondered how to equate this, and they had shrugged off "superbit" comparison, but I don't know of any other way.  There is no title released that I can think of that carries even close to the bitrate.  And a large number of titles that we think of as "good" that are encoded at around 1/2 the bitrate.

I'll have to sit down and watch through it tonight, but it is a very bare.. but very high quality, production.


Awesome, thanks for the info. I would much rather have a high quality bare bones release then one packed with extras that I'll never watch.
 
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post #17 of 143
4/21/10 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR View Post

Good BD's have an average weighted bitrate around 22Mb.  "Avatar" has an average weighted of about 34; peaks at over 40! (40.8), and never drops below 25.  The DTS-MA track is also near perfect.  with it's base rate at near 3.6Mb, high rate of 5.2! 
 


HOLY SMOKES! Can't wait!

Anyone can say how much data it takes up on the disc?
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post #18 of 143
4/21/10 at 2:37pm
45GB.. out of a total possible of 50G.  Tell you much?
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post #19 of 143
4/21/10 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR View Post

45GB.. out of a total possible of 50G.  Tell you much?



So which scenes maxxed out the specs you mentioned? Sorry about geeking out on ya, my copy is still 2 days away. Thanks so much!
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post #20 of 143
4/21/10 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
A nice little bonus that the disc does have is the resume feature which remembers where you left off.

Well......it's somthing.
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post #21 of 143
4/21/10 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tino View Post

A nice little bonus that the disc does have is the resume feature which remembers where you left off.

Well......it's somthing.

I do wonder why only some BR's have this. Nothing is more annoying than accidentally pausing the disc and then have to load everything again. You'd think this would be standard for all BR's, since most old DVD's had this feature.
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post #22 of 143
4/22/10 at 5:30am
 The disc is filled to the limit. 50gb equals 46gb (just like your 500gb hard drive actually can holds only 465gb of data).

This is the new reference quality of the format.
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post #23 of 143
4/22/10 at 5:43pm
 I thought the end started to look soft, and the credits were definitely not sharp.

Had 3 visual dropouts, and left channel a bit low.
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post #24 of 143
4/23/10 at 3:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yumbo View Post

 I thought the end started to look soft, and the credits were definitely not sharp.

Had 3 visual dropouts, and left channel a bit low.
 
Hmm...I didn't experience any of those problems. Could be your system.
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post #25 of 143
4/23/10 at 5:27am
Watched it with a friend of mine last night who was bugging me to give the film another chance.

Holy crap this Blu-ray is stunning in every sense of the word!  I knew it would be technically fantastic, but it exceeded my expectations.

Unfortunately, from my perspective, I still hated the movie.  It was every bit the lumbering bore I found it to be in theaters.  But man, the Blu-ray rocks. 
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post #26 of 143
4/23/10 at 11:39am
It's tough to avoid using hyperbole when describing just how jaw-droppingly gorgeous this blu ray looks.  On my 55" Samsung LED, the 2D images have a surprising (even shocking) level of depth due to the sheer perfection of the video.  I saw it in IMAX 3D originally, and while this doesn't touch the depth of that presentation, it is a surprisingly satisfying compromise on the right setup. 

A scene in particular that stood out... when Sully wheels himself down from the ship and onto the tarmac... wow.  Just wow. 

As for the 5.1 DTS-MA, unfortunately I had to respect the neighbors as it was late, but even at modest volume levels, it struck me as a thoughtful, immersive and gimmick-less mix.

As for the merits of the film itself, those aren't going to be agreed upon by everybody, but I don't think anyone can disagreee that this blu ray has set a new standard.
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post #27 of 143
4/23/10 at 11:58am
Man, I'm chomping at the bit for my copy, I'm picking up my pre-ordered BD tomorrow over my lunch hour, and then I have a Movie Night showing right away tomorrow night in my projection theater for 8 people!  Plus, three more showings over the next two weekends - so far!  Almost everyone I know wants to come see this in my theater, I'm really gonna be putting a few hours on my projector bulb for this one!

I like your attitude - I wish I had a home cinema that friends were visiting for "screenings" that is so awesome!!

my BD copy is due at the start of next week, and I think its going to be great based on the superior experience I had watching Avatar for the 2nd time in 2D at the cinema theatre, compared to the 1st time, in the 3D cinema theatre!

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post #28 of 143
4/23/10 at 12:06pm
I've been holding off buying this one.  I know, based on the many comments and reviews, that the BD of AVATAR is near perfect reference quality and I just put in a 9ft screen and a 7.1 system.  I really want to watch it again but... I... just... can't... I can't bring myself to buy this version when I know an SE is a few months down the road.  Ugh!  I'm torn... I just don't want to double-dip on a movie in less than a year's time.
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post #29 of 143
4/23/10 at 1:11pm
Well remember, if you buy this first release, you DO get to go onto the Avatar movie website to obtain a discount coupon for the second release, so you won't be totally double-dipping - anyone know how much the discount is?  I havent had the time to go online there to process mine yet...

@ hampsteadbandit: Thanks for the comment, I've shown regularly scheduled Monthly Movie Nights in my movie theater for the last 4 years, so I have a somewhat regular crowd that comes to see movies, but I've also had a lot of other people asking me about showing Avatar, so I'm getting more traffic for this one... So I definitely am glad they released an early copy like this, I'm sure getting a lot of use out of it already!  Oh, and I actually ended up with 10 people there last night, instead of the eight I was originally expecting... :)
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post #30 of 143
4/23/10 at 1:13pm
 It looks about on par or maybe a bit better than some other transfers of films that I have watched with my projector. I watched a bit of this film on an LED set at Future Shop. The detail was extremely good, but the picture was so sharp and clear that it almost took on a static look. It started looking like ultra high resolution video game footage. Also, it almost had a faux 3D look to it, but the clarity of the picture made it look like daytime soap opera video, not film. During the Navi sequences the characters almost looked like they were overlayed on the backgrounds and the background foliage started looking like plastic. I bought the disc, but I was worried that when I projected it it was going to look phony like the Future Shop demo. Thankfully, it didn't. The film pretty well looked like the theatrical viewings that I saw, except for the 1.78:1 framing which I think was a mistake; however, its Cameron's film and if he wants to ruin the composition then I guess that's his right. I'm not sure what the raves are about. It looks like a typical high quality Blu-ray release. It certainly doesn't look heads and shoulders above some other high quality Blu transfers.
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Avatar (Blu-ray + DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]