Reference quality DVD's for new HDTV (1 Viewer)

Hey all, I bought a new 32" Sony LCD HDTV last night. The picture on this thing is amazing, particularly w/ XBox360 and Gears of War. I also have a Progressive Scan DVD player though and would really like to see how this baby shines w/ DVD in comparison to my old tube HD set.

What DVD's should I should check out that will really impress me visually with this TV?

Thanks.

Revenge of the Sith would be my first recommendation. It's as close to HD as you're going to get with a standard DVD.

Congrats,

I too recently got into the HD television fray. First off, I recommend you invest a little over a hundred bucks and get an upconvert DVD player that sends the signal to your television via the HDMI port. I have the Sony and it is very good. I can't believe how good standard DVD can look on my new TV.

As for recommendations, I suggest the new 3-DVD set of the extended Peter Jackson King Kong. It's amazing! Also the new Ice Age The Meltdown looks really great as well.

Go watch your TV!

Dan

I'd go with Cars (animated) or Domino (live action), both looked very HD on my Sony LCD.

Yes, STAR WARS II and III both look superb, especially upconverted via HDMI.

The INDIANA JONES films do, too.

One film I always used as a reference disc was MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2. It's my least favorite of the three films in the series, but I always thought the visual quality was astounding.

And, of course, THE FIFTH ELEMENT has remained a reference disc for those who evaluate picture quality of HDTVs.

Yes, animation almost always show off digital sets to perfection.

2-D favorites include ALADDIN and THE LION KING.

CGI animated films like THE INCREDIBLES and FINDING NEMO really show off digital sets, too.

I think the first DVD I watched in its entirety on my HDTV a year and a half ago was North By Northwest. Give that one a try if you want to see how well a classic can be remastered. Also, the Canadian version of Brotherhood of the Wolf looks great as well.

I second the suggestion of an upconverting player that connects to your set's HDMI input.

Gran Prix, if you have any interest in vintage F1 racing.

Or better yet, save up for the HD-DVD attachment for your Xbox 360. Until that time, you'd have a hard time going wrong with the Fifth Element or Grand Prix, although Grand Prix is more of a visual feast, not so long on plot.

Also, don't forget to check out Robert Harris's reviews on this site, some of them are non HD material:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=231884

Another vote for upconverting DVD players and HDMI. Standard DVDs have never looked so good.

Finding Nemo looks breathtaking.

King Kong (2005)

Yes, definitely invest in a reasonably nice upconverting DVD player, most HDTV set's will upconvert standard signals but it's been my experience that not many mid to low level HD sets have very good upconversion circuitry when compared to a dedicated upconversion player.

Want an example of how standard 480p players don't do a good job with certain material, pop in Criterion's Spartacus and look at how grainy, harsh and noisy it looks (particularly in the highlights and edges), then pipe it through a good upconversion player at 720p or 1080i......huge difference in PQ.



However I have to admit that there are odd exceptions, I watched MGM's DVD of Scanners and it didn't look so hot after upconversion.....yet when I played it through my standard 480p player it looked detailed and smooth....strange.

Can't this also be because of how the film was shot, like intentional use of grain I.e., Miami Vice?

I will probably try to get an upconverting DVD player in he coming months. Possibly the X360 HDDVD drive as well.

There is some substantial grain in a 1960 film to be sure but what I am referring to is (what I assume to be anyway) digital noise, when I upconvert this same DVD most of this harshness is reduced greatly....I assume that the upconversion that my HDTV's circuits preform introduces artifacts that a dedicated upconverting DVD player does not...I assume.
If you have the DVD pop it in and do a side by side comparison and let me know what the results are, I tried Spartacus on three different 480p players and the results were always the same, digital noise & harsh edges (or what seemed to be EE or overly boosted contrast in the highlights), yet through my Yamaha DVD-C950 Upconverting Player most of these artifacts were greatly reduced if not eliminated.....however there are the odd exceptions to the rule as I pointed out in my earlier post.

lcd hd has better picture than crt hd? i thought the opposite

I own a CRT and work around LCD's all day and while I agree that LCD is quite good (sharp picture....very sharp) LCD can not produce inky blacks the same way CTR can.....a mood point I suppose as CRT is definitely on the outs as far as HDTV is concerned or as far as size is concerned (you'll not find many widescreen CRT based HDTV's over 42"...if any.).

an lcd is precise but not necessarily accurate.
a crt is accurate, but not not necessarily precise.

My old tube HDTV was a 30" Toshiba. Unfortunately, this set never pleased me as it should have and I found that it was often blurry and suffered from geometry distortion and convergence problems.

The jump in quality from a Toshiba tube to Sony LCD was awe inspiring. I realize tube is better but this LCD is quite nice and has excellent black levels and little to no motion blur, the colors are also much more accurate. The difference in build quality between the two sets s pretty big as well as my tube always felt rather flimsy.

Best investment I ever made.

If you are going to get an upconverting DVD player you might as well take the plunge and get an HD-DVD player. In addition to playing HD they are excellent upconverters.

After you calibrate that thing

Some of my fav SD PQs...

Star Trek Nemesis
Anything Pixar
Tomb Raider Cradle Of Life
Black Hawk Down
Revenge Of The Sith
King Kong
Apocalypse Now
Batman Begins
X2
Corpse Bride

"If you are going to get an upconverting DVD player you might as well take the plunge and get an HD-DVD player. In addition to playing HD they are excellent upconverters."

I agree as youve now got a HDTV. HDDVD is really amazing.