TRANSFORMERS arrives on Earth in spectacular DVD and HD DVD sets (1 Viewer)

[Phil Iturralde]

Food for thought ... can't wait to pre-order it @ Amazon!!!

Phil

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

2 disc set? Paramount, giving an inferior audio option when lossless could be provided is an annoyance at best.:rolleyes

Paul

 

[Brent M]

Interesting post, Phil. I agree that if you blindfolded people and played back a TrueHD and DD+ 1.5 soundtrack at the exact same volume 9 out of 10 probably wouldn't be able to tell which was which. I also agree that in most cases people are more hung up on specs than real world performance. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happier if Transformers had TrueHD on board, but I'm certainly not going to pass on the HD-DVD just because it doesn't.

 

[Averry]

That is the first 2 disc HD-DVD set. (I believe)


And that IS alot of extra spiffy features. I think it's gonna be a set worth any expecations for this movie.


And 39.99 is perfectly acceptable. And it'll sound just fine on my goods.

 

[CRyan]

Well honestly I dont trust Dolby after 300. I would prefer PCM on all releases, but that is not really relevant on this particular discussion except to reply to a few posts.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Mission Impossible 3 was the first 2 disc HD DVD set.

Doug

 

[RobertR]

Another interesting post from "FilmMixer":

 

[Chris S]

Quote:



Originally Posted by Phil Iturralde
Add ...

1) Yamaha RX-V1800 - 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver
2) Yamaha RX-V3800 - 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver
3) Yamaha RX-Z11 - 11.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver (Available November)

... to the list.

Phil





And don't forget about the new Pioneer Elite units. The 94 and the Denon 3808 are on the top of my Christmas wish list.


VSX-94TXH

VSX-92TXH

VSX-91TXH

Amplification

140 watts x 7

130 watts x 7

110 watts x 7

Phase Control

Yes

Yes

Yes

Advanced MCACC

Yes

4th-Generation

Yes

4th-Generation

Yes

3rd-Generation

EQ

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Standing Wave Control

Yes

Yes

Yes

Step of delay adjustment

1 inch

1 inch

0.5 feet

THX Select 2

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby TrueHD

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital Plus

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital EX

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS-HD

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS ES

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS 96/24

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS

Yes

Yes

Yes

Neural-THX Surround
Yes

Yes

-

DVD-Audio Ready

Yes

Yes

Yes

WMA9 Pro

Yes

Yes

Yes

Video Converter

Yes HDMI

Yes HDMI

Yes HDMI

HDMI 1.3a

Yes

Yes

Yes

HDMI Video Switching

Yes x 4

Yes x 3

Yes x 2

S-Video

5 in, 3 out(Assignable)

5 in, 3 out(Assignable)

5 in, 3 out

Component

3 in, 1 out

3 in, 1 out

3 in, 1 out

Composite

5 in, 3 out

5 in, 3 out

5 in, 3 out

Audio inputs (including Tuner)

4A / 7AV

4A / 7AV

3A / 5AV

Audio Receiver outputs

1A / 2AV

1A / 2AV

1A / 2AV

Multi-Channel inputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

Audio Preouts

7.1ch outputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

Digital(optical/coaxial)

7 in, 2 out (optical)

7 in, 1 out (optical)

6 in, 1 out (optical)

Advanced Digital Core Engine

Yes Sharc-EX &

Freescale DSP

Yes Sharc-EX &

Freescale DSP

Yes Sharc-EX &

FreescaleDSP

Suggested Price

$1600

$1300

$1000

Availability

August 2007

August 2007

June 2007

 

[Douglas Monce]

Quote:



Originally Posted by Chris S

And don't forget about the new Pioneer Elite units. The 94 and the Denon 3808 are on the top of my Christmas wish list.


VSX-94TXH

VSX-92TXH

VSX-91TXH

Amplification

140 watts x 7

130 watts x 7

110 watts x 7

Phase Control

Yes

Yes

Yes

Advanced MCACC

Yes

4th-Generation

Yes

4th-Generation

Yes

3rd-Generation

EQ

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Yes Envelope Type 9 Band

(w/microphone)

Standing Wave Control

Yes

Yes

Yes

Step of delay adjustment

1 inch

1 inch

0.5 feet

THX Select 2

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby TrueHD

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital Plus

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital EX

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dolby Digital

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS-HD

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS ES

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS 96/24

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS

Yes

Yes

Yes

Neural-THX Surround
Yes

Yes

-

DVD-Audio Ready

Yes

Yes

Yes

WMA9 Pro

Yes

Yes

Yes

Video Converter

Yes HDMI

Yes HDMI

Yes HDMI

HDMI 1.3a

Yes

Yes

Yes

HDMI Video Switching

Yes x 4

Yes x 3

Yes x 2

S-Video

5 in, 3 out(Assignable)

5 in, 3 out(Assignable)

5 in, 3 out

Component

3 in, 1 out

3 in, 1 out

3 in, 1 out

Composite

5 in, 3 out

5 in, 3 out

5 in, 3 out

Audio inputs (including Tuner)

4A / 7AV

4A / 7AV

3A / 5AV

Audio Receiver outputs

1A / 2AV

1A / 2AV

1A / 2AV

Multi-Channel inputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

Audio Preouts

7.1ch outputs

7.1ch inputs

7.1ch inputs

Digital(optical/coaxial)

7 in, 2 out (optical)

7 in, 1 out (optical)

6 in, 1 out (optical)

Advanced Digital Core Engine

Yes Sharc-EX &

Freescale DSP

Yes Sharc-EX &

Freescale DSP

Yes Sharc-EX &

FreescaleDSP

Suggested Price

$1600

$1300

$1000

Availability

August 2007

August 2007

June 2007









Looking at those prices however I'm thinking more of the $499 Onkyo.

A little more in my budget range.

Doug

 

[John Berggren]

I'll just wait 18 months for the Blu Ray edition, hopefully with lossless audio.

 

[Ron-P]

No lossless audio? What a craptacular spectacular HD DVD. WTF Paramount. If the extras took up too much space for them to drop a lossless track, shame. Whatever happened to A/V first and foremost and then if there is enough space, add the extras.

 

[Averry]

You know, I personally belive you MIGHT find $25 worth of enjoyment in 18 months of ownership.

 

[Tim Glover]

I'm having a hard time understanding the logic of those who will not purchase this title if they truly do own both formats? Granted, owning ANY title is a personal decision and lots of reasons go into that....but surely a movie fan, a Transformers movie fan, and HD owner wouldn't hesitate to buy this. Most of us here are early adopters (I guess we can still be called that) and so that title alone means we get these little toys first and most of the time willing to pony up $$ to get the hardware-even knowing fully well that our gear or software will get updated with a new release that will trump ours. Such is the hobby we love.

Do I want Lossless? Yes. If Transformers doesn't have it will I still purchase it? Hell yes.

To add to Phil's reference to "Film-Mixer" on AVS here are some of his findings. I think that most of us here, while HT savvy are NOT in his league.

 

[Dave Mack]

What's weird is that the Top Gun Paramount HDdvd WILL have a TrueHD track!
I think Transformers deserves one more than Top Gun...

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Personally I think it is the technical limitations of HD-DVD which is raising it's ugly head. One of the reasons Paramount has stayed away from lossless audio is they did not want one format to have a superior audio track on some titles while they were unable to do so due to space and bit rate limitations on HD-DVD. It is this very reason that an HD world with only HD-DVD worries me. How can Paramount release what is probably their most significant release in HD without providing the best possible video and audio? Only logical reason I can think of is a lack of space and/or bandwith limitations of HD-DVD. I would still buy the title since I have no other choice, but the fact remains that in the long run we as Home Theater enthusiasts and yes to me the presentation is very important if not as important as the movie itself. This high profile title release seems to be a percusor to life in the HD-World if only HD-DVD were to survive. Who wants to bet that 'Titanic' with it's long running time never gets a Lossless track on HD-DVD, atleast not unless they split the film over two discs. As far as this title is concerned, Paramount owes atleast an honest explanation as to why there is no lossless track. Also, please enough with this 'good enough' nonense. I want the very best possible in video and audio, and I see no reason to have to settle for 'good enough' just because a studio wants to be exclusive to one particular format. This goes for any and all studios on either format.

 

[troy evans]

The "Transformers" HD DVD is going to be spectacular whether it has lossless audio or not, bottom line. I have both formats and both are great, so, when I read people are not going to get this HD DVD simply because it doesn't have lossless, I'm floored. I also don't understand these statements about disc capacity in this issue since it clearly has nothing to do with it. I respect that there are many in the forum who put the sound as high as the PQ, but, DD5.1+ is damn good. People in the mainstream will be more impressed with extra features over audio at this point. 5.1 audio is not mainstream in the average home let alone HDM. However, people do like extra features and buy the 2 disc sd dvds over single discs a good bit. I've walked into many stores that sell out of the special editions first. That's the power of special features and that wasn't lost on HD DVD. Not only do you get all the features of the sd dvd, but, cool HD DVD features also. I'm sure eventually lossless will be standard on all releases, but, don't forget when sd dvd launched 5.1 wasn't standard and neither was widescreen. In some cases it's still not. We have to remember these formats are new and still need time. I'm just thankful to have it in HD and am willing to hold off any judgements over the quality of content till I spin it on my system.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Any chance the marketing material is incorrect?

 

[Jim_K]

Oh fer chrissakes! No lossless?! This is a brand new SFX driven film so what's the excuse here? It's obviously a disc space issue, either that or they flip a coin when choosing audio options for these releases (HEADS = TrueHD - TAILS = Dolby Digital).

I'd rather they made the space by dropping the button mashing interactive features for the ADD crowd but I guess they have to make the X-Box demographic happy. Ugh.

Disappointing for sure but not a deal breaker for me.

 

[Tim Glover]

Maybe they thought it didn't make enough of a difference to include it? With a 2 disc edition, space can't be the issue....

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

It seems like some of the people bellyaching in this thread might like to actually read the comments by FilmMixer before moaning about a product that isn't even out yet.