Blu-ray Review HTF Blu-Ray Review: Transformers (Highly Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Thanks Ron. I'll try the disc again some time this week and report if it's still slow or has sped up.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Thanks for the info, guys, I don't have a PS3 but I wanted to know for future referance.

 

[Sam Posten]

Heck the PS3 doesnt even need a wire to do its firmware upgrades, assuming you don't have the cheapy 20g with no wireless. It couldnt be easier.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

Picked up my BD copy of Transformers yesterday and compared it to my HD-DVD. The jaggies I referenced in an earlier post appear to be all but gone on the BD disc. In addition, the TrueHD soundtrack is a noticeable improvement over the DD+ track.

Worth every penny.

 

[Brent M]

A lot of people over at AVS have compared the HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray finding no differences in PQ whatsoever. The audio, however, is a different story as some people swear it's a marked improvement especially in the LFE department.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

That's cool!
I have the HD DVD so I'm good.
Wonder if there are any other BD titles w/"Iron Man" trailers?
I want the one were he fires at the tank, turns & starts walking away B4: Boom!
Can't wait for the movie, either!

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Not the thread I'm reading on the BD Software Forum (as far as video goes; more 'votes' for the previous version). Yeah, sound-wise the BD has it all over the HD DVD (although some reviews w/level equally adjusted say their the same. Some, not many); just like we all 'knew' Para missed the boat w/the 1st HDM release.

 

[David Coleman]

I just watched it tonight.

I never had the HD DVD so I can't make comparisons but I have seen it on DVD and more recently on Cinemax. I can't really say anything about the image quality as so heavily filtered per the cinematographer, however I didn't see anything wrong with the picture. It was sharp, however it seems like almost too much grain in the darker scenes.

As for the audio, I listened to the TRUEHD track and to be honest, i'm a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good and i'm sure it's an improvement over the DD+ found on the HD DVD. I guess what I felt was lacking was clarity. While it articulated some very nice highs and lows througout the film, I wouldn't say that the clarity of the mix was stellar. In fact i'll say i'm more impressed with U-571's lossless track.

 

[DavidJ]

Hey, lay off my "cheapy" machine!

 

[ReggieW]

And there's also a question of how much placebo is involved here. It seems that those "some" you mentioned who took the time to do the test level matched without being told which track was which didn't really hear a difference. I believe Film-mixer actually did such a test among sound engineers. If there are differences, they are probably very subtle since the BD and HD-DVD apparently have the same aggresssive mix and are sourced from a 24-bit master. I don't think I will be upgrading this disc as there doesn't appear to be much of a upgrade in either area, certainly not enough to justify ditching my HD-DVD and shelling out another $15-$20 IMHO. Honestly though, since I likely won't watch this film again, I would've been hard pressed to upgrade even if there had been a difference in picture quality. A disc like Top Gun was worth the double-dip on Blu, but this one isn't, imho.

I only wanted Transformers since I knew it would be a reference disc that would highlight the HT's audio-video capability.

 

[Ron Reda]

A few things...

I find it's WAY faster to upgrade my PS3 by downloading the update to a USB jump drive. Over a wireless connection takes too long IMO.

While I think the film looks great, I do agree that there appears to be a good bit of grain in the darker scenes. However, given the contrast-y look of this film it kinda blends in with the rest of it.

As for the LFE stuff, I agree with the person here who said it's a bit underwhelming. It's there for sure, I just feel like it's a tad thin compared to say U-571's big, round, thick bottom-end. I remember it being an all out assault on the senses in the theater and I think something got lost in translation. Still awesome though.

Lastly, has anyone had a chance to look at the extras? I had a good number of times where the screen pixellized towards the bottom of the screen during different sections and I watched all of the extras the entire way through. I'm using a PS3 with the 2.42 firmware. Thankfully, I didn't experience any such thing on the film proper so that's good news.

PS - Megan Fox looks THAT much hotter in hi-def...DROOL...

 

[Brent M]

I think the "placebo effect" is definitely a factor here. That's why I trust Film Mixer's assessment of this disc over anyone else.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Let me tell you guys that I played hell trying to track down a copy of this damned thing today because everywhere I went I heard the same 2 words, words no BD lover wants to hear..."sold out". :frowning: I raced all over town to 6 different locations, which for me isn't an easy task because I don't drive, before landing one at Sears of all places.

I paid a little more for it there but at that point I didn't care, it was there, I found it and I bought it without hesitation.

I tell you, though, the strength of my resolve and the object of my quest was well worth it! This is one amazing looking and sounding disc!

 

[Jason Adams]

Suppose I shouldn't have hid my copy from the general public.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I only wanted "T" for the "Iron Man" trailer! :- l
Glad the BD's got it too!

I would agree w/the part of your post I didn't quote: where most people could not tell the diff in sound between the two if level matched. And would add they would be hard pressed to tell the diff in PQ w/moving (duh! ;-)) frames at a proper seating distance. This isn't where one format is 'vastly' superior than the other; like on a few (very few) previous titles.

The Blu is good too go; although it falls far short of Bay's hype.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Let me know how you would like to dump it. I would be interested.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

It's funny you say that, the BB employee looked it up on the computer and said that one went "missing", so I took it to mean that someone had hidden it behind something else.

So desperate was my search that I took it upon myself to look through every last row of BD's they had which was an entire row front and back. I also looked behind every row of sci-fi dvd's in hopes of finding this "lost" disc lol.

Yeah, I was pissed and determined.

 

[JediFonger]

i've bought this 3x now =D. first on HD DVD, then sold it. now i have 2 copies of it =D. one for me and one for a friend ahhaahah =D.

 

[Tim Glover]

Finally popped in Transformers on Blu this evening. I no longer have the HD-DVD version so this is strictly on memory. Initial reaction was the TrueHD is a stronger mix compared to the DDplus HD-DVD track. I'm sure it's louder but it appears to be simply stronger-specifically in the LFE channel. Just a tad deeper and tighter. I dig tight bass.

Image?...I don't know but it kind of seems the Blu-ray is softer looking? Like I said, I don't have the HD-DVD anymore but the BD really does seem overall softer. Still looks pretty good though.

My gear consists of the Sony "Pearl" 1080p projector & Sony ES Blu-ray.