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SONY TURNS NEW LEAF: Open Season (AVC)--the BEST looking HD title... (1 Viewer)

DaViD Boulet

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Neil,

glad you agree! Are you able to watch in full 1080p? (only 720p here).

Yep... BD25. With advanced codecs BD25 roughly equals HD DVD at 30.

BTW, this title even has 5.1 LPCM audio and STILL looks this good!!!
 

Jimjum27

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Somewhat off topic, but are there any, great eye popping 3-D like jaw dropping BD films that aren't animated ones?

Not a big fan of these, but want a reason to jump on board other than Casino Royale (the wife's reasoning, not mine).
 

DaViD Boulet

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I just reviewed the live-action DISCOVERY ATLAS titles of "Australia Revealed" and "Italy Revealed" and it was THE BEST live-action HD material I've seen regardless of format.

I presume Image Ent. used the same AVC video file for both HD DVD and BD so PQ should be identical regardless of which version of those titles you buy.
 

Jesse Blacklow

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Well, it's a true "leave your brain at the door" movie, but I just rented The Covenant, and that's about as clear a picture as I've ever seen. I'd also say that Kingdom of Heaven and The Transporter are as close to perfect as I've seen, and they're very good movies in their different ways.
 

DaViD Boulet

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The Discovery programs I mentioned are far more crisp, detailed, and 3-dimensional than Kingdom of Heaven.

They are sourced from live-came 1080 feed and are honestly the most demo-worthy images yet to appear on a comercial HD DVD or BD disc.

This isn't to criticize Kingdom of Heaven or any other film-based HD disc. It's just to point out the difference between 35mm film and live HD.

HD sourced from large-format film like 65 and 70 mm stands to have a similar "window like" sense of depth that surpasses 35mm film sourced HD.
 

Michel_Hafner

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If they look like HD Cam usually looks I'll prefer practically any film based HD any time over this. HD Cam look bores me to death. I don't want out of the window documentary look. I want an artistically massaged picture where someone lights for dramatic effect and paints with colors and/or shadows, uses focus and grain texture to transcend the mere surface of things.
 

Dave H

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I agree about Ice Age Meltdown. I rented it and watched it last night and it didn't have the crisp look I was hoping it would have. I'll have to check out Open Season.
 

DaViD Boulet

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I'm not commenting about artistic effect.

I was referring to a poster who suggested that Kingdom of heaven was a very sharp/detailed non-CGI HD example. It's not, though I think that the Blu-ray disc is faithful to the film source.

I was offering an example of the sharpest and most detailed non-CGI HD material that I've seen, which is the discovery programs. That's all my remarks were intended to convey.
 

ppltd

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You couldn't be more right. While I want a HD film to look like the source, if you really want to impress someone, film is not necessarily the best medium to use. I have gotten more comments from showing people live broadcasts of HD telecast football games or something on Discovery HD than any movie I have poped into my players. The difference is instantaneously noticable, to a very great extent. I normally have to point out the difference in the HD Disk from Film sources, even though they are quite evident to me.

I am personally looking forward to the Discovery Atlas series when it arrives.
 

Matt Hough

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Unless you absolutely hate Tom Cruise, I'd say MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III and THE LAST SAMURAI both have that jaw dropping, three dimensional look. So does THE SEARCHERS.
 

Michel_Hafner

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I know. And all I was saying was that I don't care about that look although it seems to be popular and kind of a yard stick for what HD quality is about and/or should be about.
 

Jimjum27

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Thanks for the recommendations.
We'll see if it sways the real decision maker
htf_images_smilies_blush.gif
 

Neil Joseph

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Also, she make like Flyboys and that does also have very good 3-d looking pq and sq to match.
 

DaViD Boulet

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Yes, the Searchers is incredible. Very window-like and shows what HIGH QUALITY film elements can look like when optimally transfered to digital.

I hope that Warner takes the time and $$ to transfer large-format films like Ben-Hur to digital with the latest high-res scanning gear to ensure the highest-resolution digital capture. The images from large-format films from the 1960's could be mind-blowing in 1920 x 1080p.
 

JulianK

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Keep an eye out for the BBC's stunning Planet Earth series, if you're a fan of stunning wildlife photography.
 

Stephen_J_H

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I'm just wondering if the last transfer of Ben-Hur was in HD. If it was, we should see it fairly soon, and that is an amazing transfer.
 

DaViD Boulet

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actually, the HD transfer for Ben-Hur is somewhat disappointing. It's rather soft and lacking in detail despite being scanned from large-format elements. Apparently WB didn't want to spend the extra $$ to use scanning equipment optimized for large-format film.

Anyone with the old and new DVD can see instantly how much softer the new DVD image is in comparison to the older which was scanned from 35mm elements.
 
C

Chris*Liberti

Well, we shouldn't have to wait too long. Lawrence of Arabia was announced on Blu-Ray. I just hope they improve on the DVD transfer. I am really hoping, although not counting on, a 4X transfer from the 70mm film elements with a full LPCM soundtrack.
 

Vincent_P

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The new BEN-HUR also has that weird color fringing, where objects against bright backgrounds have a faint off-set red outline. Was this a result of the color seperations being somewhat misaligned during a restoration perhaps?

Vincent
 

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