Discuss - Are people really interested in HD-DVD / Bluray?

[kiwi1979]

What's the price of a blu-ray/HD-DVD machine at the moment? £600+?

I just picked up a HD-E1 for £270 delivered

 

[daz]

So they've come down amazingly already, that's cool. Now they just need to release more films for them, there are very few films I'd buy again that I already have on DVD. Perhaps the "showcase" ones... perhaps Saving Private Ryan or Gladiator.

I was thinking about getting an Xbox 360 and then the HD DVD drive at some point in the future...

 

[FrankJH]

i've got both now. both of them are fantastic but it seems that, atm, bluray isnt quite there with the picture quality as a lot of material has been released in mpeg2 which just isnt as good.

that aside, when you see a good one, casino royal on bbluray or the last samurai on hd-dvd, on a hd tv it will blow you away. i was like like ----> when i first saw them



a LOT better. you need a decent display for it though, that is the problem with hd material.

No disrespect intended but you need to catch up on more recent releases (bar casino royale which of course is very recent) there are plenty of br films that are in vc1 etc as apposed to mpeg2 (Black Hawk Down , terrible film imo but for £10 is worth it for the pq, which is stunning . The Wild (disney) a fabulous film, incredible pq and if you have a decent amp jaw dropping sound)

I do concur though that there are some terrible discs out there too.

However even on a 32" Sammy hdtv you can tell the difference between bluray/hd-dvd and even a decent upscaled sd-dvd. Obviously depends on quality of transfer , but the better discs on the hd source are easily noticable imho

Just noticed Ocuk doing "this week only" on: Toshiba HD-E1 HD-DVD Player - £246.99 ex vat - (£290.21 inc vat at 17.5%).

Didn't want to start my own thread so pasted here.

I have heard (even though not with my own eyes) that the E1 isnt a patch on the XE1 and has fundamental flaws - this opinion was shared by a number of people on avforum , but then the XE1 is nearly double the price (£525inc vat)

 

[Deleted member 651465]

I am, but the current selection of films is pretty poor, i want releases alongside DVD releases like Casino Royale.

Yeah. If they started doing joint releases it would be sweet! I have preordered ones I really want like Balboa

 

[james.miller]

No disrespect intended but you need to catch up on more recent releases (bar casino royale which of course is very recent) there are plenty of br films that are in vc1 etc as apposed to mpeg2 (Black Hawk Down , terrible film imo but for £10 is worth it for the pq, which is stunning . The Wild (disney) a fabulous film, incredible pq and if you have a decent amp jaw dropping sound)

I do concur though that there are some terrible discs out there too.

i know a lot of the recent BR are now vc1. i was talking about the films that have been around for a while

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Anyone watched ?open season? on Blu-Ray yet?

I wanna get it because I bet it looks gorgeous, but I also would want a decent movie for the money

 

[Hen_Dawg]

there are very few films I'd buy again that I already have on DVD. Perhaps the "showcase" ones... perhaps Saving Private Ryan or Gladiator.

Full HD Gladiator, yes yes. Would so buy that again

*drools at the prospect*

 

[Syph]

I am, but I can't afford it really. I'd go for a PS3 if anything, despite the HD-DVD player being quite cheap now, so I could at least get my mits on some good games too (eventually). Not so keen to jump in just yet though with so many things up in the air. I tend to buy quality, but once, as I simply cannot afford to upgrade and upgrade - so I wouldn't buy a BD or HD-DVD player till either studios release on both, or players come out with both built in. Even better, till one wins through.

 

[Sparky]

Would like to watch films like The Matrix,Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator on HD DVD. Trying to persuade "her indoors" that we really need a HD DVD player

 

[Shimmyhill]

Full HD Gladiator, yes yes. Would so buy that again

*drools at the prospect*

Ohhh aye that would be stunning. Imagine the sound - in DTS its amazing.

Here is where it really falls apart. If i want Dolby HD sound i need a HDMI amp that i dont want as i dont use digital connections. Also all films in 60hz is criminal - the judder is horrible. And then for every amazing disc there are 2 that just are not that much better than a good upscaled dvd. And then the retail pricing of £25 is harsh - retailer greed there tho. (i was an early dvd adopter, importing USA discs at around £27 a time but importing was very expensive in those days)

Dont get me wrong, done correctly and it is amazing but it has had quite a few false starts (2 formats, too complex for the average person, pricey etc) It really needs some coperation from all sides or it could stay a niche with a simpler format comming along and stealing its HD thunder.

Still interesting times and at least with hd-dvd importing at good prices is avaliable. Getting a us/jp ps3 just for region A discs is a good plan IMO.

 

[Sparky]

Ohhh aye that would be stunning. Imagine the sound - in DTS its amazing.

Here is where it really falls apart. If i want Dolby HD sound i need a HDMI amp that i dont want as i dont use digital connections. Also all films in 60hz is criminal - the judder is horrible. And then for every amazing disc there are 2 that just are not that much better than a good upscaled dvd. And then the retail pricing of £25 is harsh - retailer greed there tho. (i was an early dvd adopter, importing USA discs at around £27 a time but importing was very expensive in those days)

Dont get me wrong, done correctly and it is amazing but it has had quite a few false starts (2 formats, too complex for the average person, pricey etc) It really needs some coperation from all sides or it could stay a niche with a simpler format comming along and stealing its HD thunder.

Still interesting times and at least with hd-dvd importing at good prices is avaliable. Getting a us/jp ps3 just for region A discs is a good plan IMO.

Wouldnt Optical out into a DTS amp do the trick?

 

[Durzel]

I didn't think it was worth the money, but having seen the difference in quality from DVD to Bluray I certainly wouldn't accept anything less if I was building a new home AV system.

 

[Energize]

Wouldnt Optical out into a DTS amp do the trick?

Should work fine considering all movies must have uncompressed audio. The amp doesn't even need to support dts.

 

[Shimmyhill]

You dont get Dolby Tru HD on optical - only on HDMI or Analogue outs.

 

[Energize]

You dont get Dolby Tru HD on optical - only on HDMI or Analogue outs.

Its uncompressed though so your going to get the same quality.

 

[Shimmyhill]

Its not - it doesnt send Tru HD over optical DD+ is best option, optical doesnt have the bandwidth (so they say)

 

[Sparky]

Its not - it doesnt send Tru HD over optical DD+ is best option, optical doesnt have the bandwidth (so they say)

I see,although to be fair not many people will have the compliant speakers and room settings to appreciate it anyway.

 

[bigredshark]

have to say i'm not a big film or tv person, I'm putting off getting a HD tv until theres real broadcast content...that said a friend showed me casino royal on blueray the other day and it looks superb, really impressive compared to DVD. It might make me think twice about getting it, I think I need more broadcast content first though, i just don't watch many films and half of those are on my laptop...

 

[Energize]

Its not - it doesnt send Tru HD over optical DD+ is best option, optical doesnt have the bandwidth (so they say)

Toslink supports 125Mb/s, that is plenty of bandwidth. I don't see how dd-hd would be any better, it's just a compressed version of the same audio, right?

 

[YooEntSinMeROYT]

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