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**Official HTF HD Formats Ind./Retailer/Studio Support Thread-*SEE POST 3176, p. 106* (1 Viewer)

Paul.S

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NOW you're being more careful with your word choice. This is not what you said originally, what with your reference to "Universal's consistently bad HD transfers."

And in the same way that you can acknowledge that Bill's choice of words is bad, I'd like to think you can understand how someone would take issue with yours: I think you can make your specific point about SOME U CATALOG titles without broadly, basically intimating that anyone who watches catalog U HD DVDs doesn't know what good HD looks like because they're so used to mediocre transfers, transfers that purportedly always look better on "blu." It was a casually insulting remark. It also doesn't follow that you weren't making a broad intimation: you basically said, if you're looking at U discs, you're used to mediocre quality. How is that a title-specific criticism?

And I think my track record shows I've perennially hewn close to the facts and been critical of both sides of the aisle. You can fling the "fanboyism" accusation but it doesn't stick.
 

Douglas Monce

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Anyone who says that Universal has poor quality catalog titles hasn't seen the likes of The Sting, The Thing, Midnight Run, Sneakers, Apollo 13, The Last Starfighter etc. Have there been a few clunkers from Universal? Yes. But there also have been a few clunkers from Sony.

Doug
 

DaViD Boulet

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Doug and Paul,

I'm sorry if my choice of words wasn't sufficiently qualified.

Yes, not *all* Universal catalog titles are poor. Specifically, the ones that are are the ones where legacy HD masters exist, and to save a few bucks Universal recycles those masters for HDM rather than creating new film-to-digital transfers.

Catalog transfers that may have only had SD transfers got new HD transfers for HD DVD releases, which probably reflects these unscathed titles you mention.

Doug,

the difference between Sony's problem discs (which I also mention... why doesn't anyone notice that? ;) ) is that Sony STOPPED releasing sub-par product after being publically criticized and now ensures that proper masters are used at all times. Same with Disney. Same with Warner. Universal seems to be unaffected by criticism however and has continued with legacy masters despite being criticized.


Agreed, and I appologise and given that my first comments weren't well enough expressed to ensure the proper clarity (and my fanboyism accusation was unfounded). But please forgive me as well... you and I both know that no matter *how clear* I state my opinion, there is someone who's going to take issue with me and how I said it.

:D
 

Douglas Monce

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The Last Starfighter, Midnight Run and Sneakers are all older transfers. All three look great on HD DVD. I suppose they could look better with a bit of dirt and dust removal, but these are first class transfers in spite of having been done a few years ago.

Honestly I haven't seen many Sony releases because they haven't released all that many movies that I want to buy. In spite of the fact that its an MPEG2 encode, I think Into the Blue looks fantastic.

Doug
 

DaViD Boulet

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Great. Paul, see what I mean?

:D

Then how's this for a phrasing that we can all agree on:

"When legacy HD masters exist, Universal uses them to save money even if picture quality gains could be acheived by a new transfer"

That leaves room for certain legacy masters having good quality as well as new transfers having good quality.

Are we all happy?


Good to hear. The Last Starfighter is one of my favorites, and I'd love to get this on blu sooner than later (and if it doesn't need a new transfer... all the better).
 

Douglas Monce

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Honestly David you don't have an HD DVD player so you really can't judge the Universal releases for yourself. All you can really do is quote from some internet reviewer who may or may not know what these films are really supposed to look like.

Doug
 

DaViD Boulet

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Can the HD DVD enthusiasts at AVS judge Universal titles?

I suppose if I bought a close-out HD DVD player on sale and picked up a few of the titles for myself you'd then support my statements?

Is that a deal? (seriously)

You don't seem to support my perceptions on the difference between lossy and lossless audio even though I have direct experience with that software so I want to be sure before I spend the money on an HD DVD player. ;)
 

Robert Crawford

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David,
Unless you just like this "tit for tat" argument, wouldn't it be better just to wait until the final bell rings in this format war than to daily get involved in these type of arguments?
 

Douglas Monce

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I have no idea who the people are that are complaining about Universal titles at AVS. I really don't go to AVS because there are far too many yahoos there who THINK they know what they are talking about. There were complaints about haloing on Midnight Run, there is no haloing on Midnight Run. There is the uses of filters on the camera that can cause halos around bright areas of the image. If I had only listened to what people on line were bitching about I would have passed on that title, and would be missing out on a great transfer of a great film.

I don't support your perceptions of the difference between lossy and lossless audio because I don't share your perceptions. (I actually do agree with your perception of the difference between standard DD and lossless) If I were to go by what you say I would have to assume that a title like Hot Fuzz has a soundtrack that is complete shit. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It's one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard lossy or not. Also not having an HD DVD player means that you haven't heard a DD+ track for yourself. As far as I know no blu-ray title has a DD+ track. Again if you had heard a DD+ track for yourself, on your own system, you MIGHT agree with me that it can be so close to the lossless track as to be virtually indistinguishable.

My only point is that you are going by what other people are saying rather than judging for yourself. If you saw some of the Universal titles that people are saying are so crappy for yourself you might be very surprised at how good they are.

By the way, Last Starfighter is one of my favorites too. The transfer is very nice but the film itself is not super sharp again because of the use of filters on the camera. But it accurately represents the way the film is supposed to look

Doug
 

DaViD Boulet

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Understood. A Room With A View is another example of a BD/HD DVD title that's soft-focus for the same reasons, though the HD experience is as true-to-film as home-video can get and still exceeds the DVD experience by a strong margin.
 

Robert Crawford

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Not everyone is a lightening rod for such discussions and so far, your avoidance doesn't seem to be working very well.:)
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Thanks, Dave. Went ahead and signed both. I think some folks are a bit too cynical about these things. Will they definitely make any difference? No, not definitely or even all that likely. But it certainly doesn't hurt to try, if one really cares about the matter. At worst, I just get a little bit more SPAM at my email addy. :P

FWIW, I do believe some online petitions do end up having meaningful impact. No idea if they do at all for this kind of matter, but I think the one I signed a few years ago against banning photography in mass transit systems, particularly the NYC Subway system, probably did have an impact...

_Man_
 

Cees Alons

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Well, certain developments tend to make you cynical in these matters. Are we still expected to sign Bill Hunt's "Warner, please stay format-neutral" petition?
I guess not, because it was only valid to him until he read the press release saying they would abandon HD DVD (and not BD) in the near future.

There is another "Warner, please stay format-neutral" petition now, started after that press release, but somehow I get the impression Bill isn't an advocate of that anymore.... :)


Cees
 

FrancisP

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So they're taking petitions to screw the hd-dvd owners. That will heal everything? Not on your life. I am even more galvanized against blu-ray.
 

nolesrule

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I don't believe the petition asked for all HD DVD discs to stop working and for all current HD DVD players to self destruct.

Time to step back and take an objective look at the situation rather than an emotional one.
 

Adam_R

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oops, i posted this in the other thread, but i think it belongs here:

My Two Cents - Archived Posts (1/22/08 - 1/11/08)

bluray captured 93% of the hardware sales post warned bluray commitment...

not including PS3's

i am sure some people's galvanization against bluray along with toshiba's fire sale on players will bring hd-dvd back into the game though....
 

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