X-Men Digital VHS Review At DVDfile (1 Viewer)

[CaptDS9E]

Ill be totally honest. Does D-VHS intrigue me? You better believe it does. Im all for picture quality but to fully enjoy it i would need to get a HDTV which i cant afford, plus the player which is more. At the moment i would just like to upgrade my existing equipment. Maybe if i hit the lotto Id buy the d-vhs deck just for x-men if i could. Its one of my fav dvd's

capt

 

[Brian-W]

What I find amusing is that this is a topic about A REVEIW of a D-VHS movie, and not about the format itself (other threads elsewhere), yet 90% of the content (replies) are about the hatred of tape.

While I do support discussion, etc., the posts bashing tape are pointless and don't contribute to this thread at all. We've all heard the tape argument over and over and over and over again.

Moderators, I'd recommend closing this thread since it's no longer on topic.

 

[JonZ]

Ill never understand why DVD and VHS cant co-exist. Im not ashamed to say I use my VCR all the time.
Not everything I want to watch warrants a DVD purchase, and Ill often watch a movie on VHS becuase that I taped from Request, or its not available in DVD (or I dont want to buy the LD).

Is DVD MUCH better than VHS,well hell yea!but Im a movie lover and I wont let not having a DVD of a peticular title stop me from watching it.

I dont have a HDTV, but if I did, I would condsider DVHS (when it becomes more afforable).

I still believe HDTV becoming standard and HDDVD are 10 years away.

Im not sure this thread is "specifically" about X-Men, I just wanted to point out to those unaware that a review was available that can show what the format can do. I know nothing about DVHS and its the first Ive seen.

 

[Brian_L_Kleis]

Ok, here's my two cents...
While I'm WAY too poor to purchase a player, I'm still not too interested in going back to the tape format. No immediate scene access and it can wear out.
BUT HERE'S THE THING - We are still seeing an advancement and a commitment by the studios to increase the quality of the picture. Advancement!!! Progress!!! It may be a stupid analogy, but my thinking is (concerning the DVHS and HD-DVD controversy)... You have to invent the wheel before you can invent the Ferrari.
A bit more patience and all will be rewarded handsomely - Again, remember 25 years ago, we had basicly nothing...
This has been my moment of digital zen for the day.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Well how about someone answer my question as to why this review was only performed on a consumer-grade Rear-projection HDTV. Interesting as that is...I'd like to see someone review a title like this on a high-quality front-projection system that's really capable of revealing the resolution and impact of HD on a big-screen.

For instance...I'm not so much concerned with whether the HD image looks better than the DVD version (duh). What I would rather know is how does it look compared to projected 35mm film? Had my local cinema had the D-VHS copy and a top-notch digital projector, would the picture have been better than what I saw with the 35mm projection at my local moviehouse?

-dave

 

[Damin J Toell]

Had my local cinema had the D-VHS copy and a top-notch digital projector, would the picture have been better than what I saw with the 35mm projection at my local moviehouse?

Not unless the 35mm print somehow had its resolution seriously reduced.

DJ

 

[Brian-W]

What I would rather know is how does it look compared to projected 35mm film?

Why? You can't buy a 35mm print, so why even compare it? 99.999% of the population don't own 35mm projectors, so why is this comparison important?

A comparison against the DVD is what matters. And given that pretty much no one outside the film industry has access to a 35mm print/projector, no one can really say.

 

[Dharmesh C]

Why? You can't buy a 35mm print, so why even compare it? 99.999% of the population don't own 35mm projectors, so why is this comparison important?

It is important to some of us. I also want to know if HD is equal or better than a projected 35mm picture. I thought it was better, just slightly.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I also want to know if HD is equal or better than a projected 35mm picture. I thought it was better, just slightly.

What do you think is better about HD than 35mm?

DJ

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Why?
Because the goal of recorded video should be the same as that of recorded audio...to provide a transparent window to the original. In the case of our movies that's the source film elements used during the transfer.
It's called Home THEATER. That's Home THEATER. Big TVs are nice, but if you can't watch a movie with a 30 degree viewing angle without seeing artifacts related to the display device or resolution limitation then you're not experiencing true "home theater". That's called "Big TV".
A comparison to DVD is a given that the HD is superior. Duh people...we're talking 720x480 vs 1920x1080 with virtually nill compression applied to the HD version. A DVD-HD comparison is only valuable in the rare case that the HD software was mastered so poorly that its advantage of color fidelity and resolution aren't utilized.
Ideally we should have a video medium that, from a viewing angle of 30 degrees, provides an image that's indistinguishable from the original. It's possible that 1080P could get us there if we're talking about your average film-stock that originates on 35mm film (yes, technically 35 mm has much higher resolution that 1080P HD, but with the use of common filming practices the film stocks we end up with don't take advantage of that and the prints used at the theater look even worse).
For those of you who think that 1080HD can't be better than 35 mm film think again. Right now the digital projections in D-cinemas use a format that actually has less resolution than 1920 x 1080 and so far almost every digital projection has been judged to be superior (especially on DILA projectors) to 35 mm film projections of the same film in terms of color, sharpness, and detail.
You're right, I can't buy 35mm film to project. But I don't care if I can buy HD software that looks as good or better. In this case, I loose nothing by missing a film in a theatrical run if the home-recorded HD version can preserve the same level of fidelity.
Get the picture?
And sure...most people will be watching on an HDTV. But that's not the measure by which we should judge the potential video quality of a format. I don't consider a mid-fi stereo system worthy of judging SACD or DVD-A software either.
-dave

 

[Troy LaMont]

Quote:

 

[Ronald Epstein]

We will be posting our first D-VHS review
very soon. In fact, I had expected it would
have been posted already.

Stay Tuned!

 

[Jay Sylvester]

For instance...I'm not so much concerned with whether the HD image looks better than the DVD version (duh). What I would rather know is how does it look compared to projected 35mm film? Had my local cinema had the D-VHS copy and a top-notch digital projector, would the picture have been better than what I saw with the 35mm projection at my local moviehouse?

Did you check out the Terminator 2 review by one of the members over at AVS? It's in the HD recorder forum. He actually compares the Ultimate Edition DVD, the D-VHS tape, and a 35mm film print on his front projection setup. Considering how people bashed the T2 D-VHS presentation, his review is a real eye-opener. Overall, the D-VHS tape fares very well against the film print.

 

[PeterB]

Hey Troy

I didn't get your email so I apologize for posting her publicly. Anyway, I do feel I did my homework. As i stated in my editorial, you can get T2, but since that's the title you get as a freebie if you buy the deck, what's the point?

The press release indicates that all four titles are available, and aside from T2, they are not. That is my main beef. I think the format looks great, but if you can't buy software, it certainly doesn't matter how great the format is!

I know that if I actually paid $2,000 for a player, I'd be PISSED that I still couldn't buy software, aside from the one title I get free with the player. I want prerecorded HD, but I think the studios need to release a lot more titles and make them easy to purchase. At least at DVD's launch, we had 25 titles that were easy to find (at least if you lived in the seven test cities.)

I love HD, I just don't want the lack of software availability to deep-six this and cause a lack of consumer confidence in anything HD.

 

[PeterB]

Hey Troy

One more thing...at the press conference, Peter Staddon and Fox told all of us journalists that their plan was to have 10 titles for launch and more to come...so far, only 3 have been announced. I was hoping for more...

: (

 

[Brian-W]

David....

First you say:

For those of you who think that 1080HD can't be better than 35 mm film think again. Right now the digital projections in D-cinemas use a format that actually has less resolution than 1920 x 1080 and so far almost every digital projection has been judged to be superior (especially on DILA projectors) to 35 mm film projections of the same film in terms of color, sharpness, and detail.

So, in essence, you've answered your own question.

 

[Brian-W]

It's called Home THEATER. That's Home THEATER. Big TVs are nice, but if you can't watch a movie with a 30 degree viewing angle without seeing artifacts related to the display device or resolution limitation then you're not experiencing true "home theater". That's called "Big TV".

If it were only that easy to 'simplify' the situation. I've sat in theaters with a big screen only to be bored out of my wits with what I'm watching, and watched films on a 40" TV and been completely engrossed that the size of the TV isn't an issue at all.
It's theater all right, which is story telling, and isn't related to the size of the screen IMHO.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Did you check out the Terminator 2 review by one of the members over at AVS? It's in the HD recorder forum. He actually compares the Ultimate Edition DVD, the D-VHS tape, and a 35mm film print on his front projection setup.

Here's a link to that thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=147993

 

[Dan Brecher]

Peter,

Great review. If more support and titles come, I will seriously consider DVHS next year when I take the CRT projection route as it would provide my only avenue into HD here in England.

That said, to pick up on one point...

Perhaps most exciting about the possibilities of HD prerecorded content is the lack of our old friend - yep, that dreaded edge enhancement.

What the X-Men review would seem to suggest is that DVHS leaves nothing to fear as far as worries of image artifacts, edge enhancement and downright questionable transfers go. I personaly do not believe this to be the case as I have stated in a previous DVHS discussion thread here on the HTF. I'd stilll feel there is room for questionable transfers, even some with what we call 'edge enhancement' (indeed WSR I believe stated T2 DVHS has just that, but how true that is, I could not say).

My thoughts were backed up however by those who have seen DVHS with their own eyes at the recent Widescreen Review festival. From what I read here, and on the AVS forum, there is still room for error in the transfer process, with T2 being one of the less impressive titles in comparison to X-Men being one of the most stunning.

Dan

 

[Brian-W]

My thoughts were backed up by those who have seen DVHS with their own eyes at the recent Widescreen Review festival.

Digital Video Essentials had exactly that! And Joe Kane even shook his head in disdain when it was pointed out.

It's clear that edge enhancement can be present in an HD recording.