High Definition Media & Technology Thread

[bandit29]

Really? I haven't seen any price increases in my area, nor the figures that show it in my district areas. What areas and what stores are these? I'm just curious as to which stores have increased prices in-store.

I usually check out Best Buy or Fry's in the Chicago area. Examples: Paprika on Blu-ray awhile back was 26.99 around here. Now its 34.99. Black Hawk Down is 24.99 now, it was 19.99 or lower for awhile. 300 another..23.99 now 29.99. I love the format..the prices not so much..Who's gonna pay (or watch lol) Delta Farce for 29.99? I shouldn't bitch about prices too much..I'm one of the five people who bought Yukikaze (US version) on Blu-ray..lol

[mikeszekely]

They never are. Almost all we've been given from the companies so far are percentages. The make or break Blu-ray season, afaic, is this coming christmas season. One format, profile 2.0 players "should" be out and the deals start again. If Ironman does as well as I expect it to do, we will probably see a spike once it hits Bluray. Hell when Paramount decides to release Transformers on Blu-ray we'll see a spike there too.

Yeah, if Serenity gets a Blu-ray release, and Transformers, I'll be able to stick my HD-DVD stuff in closet somewhere and forget about it. As for Iron Man, I kinda hope that we get a Blu-ray release of the animated Iron Man movie, maybe to help promote the new one. It's the only one of the four newer animated Marvel movies that didn't get a Blu-ray release, and I own the other three. I'd like to complete that set.

[Dangard Ace]

Universal talks Blu-ray Audio Plans - DTS-HMA to be standard

The first wave of Universal Blu-ray Disc titles on July 22 are all from the Mummy franchise and were all previously released on HD DVD: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King. All of these titles were published with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio tracks, but not Dolby TrueHD tracks.

Per Universal, all three Mummy films will include DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio. That's right, folks. Instead of lazily porting over what was already completed for HD DVD, Universal has heard your cries for lossless audio and is taking action.

Universal went on to tell us that the game plan moving forward is for DTS-HD Master Lossless to become the Blu-ray standard at the studio. Obviously there will be exceptions, but it looks like the majority of titles, and probably all new theatrical titles, will include DTS-HD.

So Universal isn't doing straight ports of pre-existing HD-DVD masters. I'm glad for that.

[David Hingtgen]

Good, maybe Transformers won't have utterly messed up sounds and dialogue...

PS--Blu-Ray 360 coming: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3167652

[Tobi54]

Good, maybe Transformers won't have utterly messed up sounds and dialogue...

PS--Blu-Ray 360 coming: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3167652

Transformers HD DVD was demo material for both sound and video, I dont know what you're talking about.

[David Hingtgen]

The DVD sure was messed up. I thought there were a lot of complaints for the HD version as well.

[David Hingtgen]

Quick question---for people with 32in TV's, what's your viewing distance? Conversely, for people who sit 4-5 feet away, how big is your TV? (I'm talking 16:9 HDTV's) (I just want to make sure I won't notice individual pixels/lines etc watching a 720p 32in TV at 4ft viewing distance--I may be able to knock it back to 5ft, but that's pushing it based on screen-to-wall (and window knob) clearance)

[Tobi54]

Quick question---for people with 32in TV's, what's your viewing distance? Conversely, for people who sit 4-5 feet away, how big is your TV? (I'm talking 16:9 HDTV's) (I just want to make sure I won't notice individual pixels/lines etc watching a 720p 32in TV at 4ft viewing distance--I may be able to knock it back to 5ft, but that's pushing it based on screen-to-wall (and window knob) clearance)

You shouldn't have any problems at all, I have a 60" 1080p and my viewing distance is 7-8 ft, without any problems, SD sources are a whole other issue though, but HD sources should be fine.

[Gaijin]

Transformers HD DVD was demo material for both sound and video, I dont know what you're talking about.

I coulda sworn I recall HD DVD version has seriously weak bass compared to theater level mix and even the DVD during that infamous Blackout scene...consensus was a few months ago that it was either bad discs or to protect home consumer setups. Some people said it was fine, some said very lacking. Video quality was excellent...Audio was lacking. Noticeable during the "Shockwave" sequence (literally almost nothing ) and tanks at the beginning. Rest of the disc seems fine for the most part though.

I know it sounded different in the theater, and the DVD even sounded better during that part then the HD DVD one I saw (On the same system). I'd have to listen again, but I remember that part and it just wasn't "There" when I saw it. To that end though, even the DVD didn't have the "punch" that I recall. I'm chalking it up to Paramount's mix.

[Gaijin]

Quick question---for people with 32in TV's, what's your viewing distance? Conversely, for people who sit 4-5 feet away, how big is your TV? (I'm talking 16:9 HDTV's) (I just want to make sure I won't notice individual pixels/lines etc watching a 720p 32in TV at 4ft viewing distance--I may be able to knock it back to 5ft, but that's pushing it based on screen-to-wall (and window knob) clearance)

In my bedroom, I have a 32" 720p LCD, and I can sit as close as 3.5 ft to up to 8 feet away. Not a problem at 4-5 feet for me. Some people are more sensitive to the "Screen door" effect though. Living Room is a 50" 720p LCD and at 4-5 feet, I definitely see the screen door, so good thing the couch is 10 feet away. MInd you, even if you can see the "Pixels", it's not as jarring as seeing the scan lines on a tube. You shouldn't have a problem.

[David Hingtgen]

Gaijin, thanks for your experiences. I was going to pick up my TV this week anyways, but now I just got a 12% off coupon (even better than the 10% off I was going to use) and your comments help "ease my fears" a bit.

And yeah---the opening Blackout scene in Tranformers is just "dead", sound-wise. I have old Saturday morning cartoons on DVD with more bass.

[mikeszekely]

And yeah---the opening Blackout scene in Tranformers is just "dead", sound-wise. I have old Saturday morning cartoons on DVD with more bass.

The DVD audio was worthless. The HD-DVD wasn't bad, but the blackout scene was definitely missing a lot of the bass it had in the theater.

[Uxi]

The Blu-ray should fix that, hopefully with a PCM track.

[David Hingtgen]

but the blackout scene was definitely missing all of the bass it had in the theater.

Fixed.

[mikeszekely]

Fixed.

[bandit29]

Can someone explain to me why the Indiana Jones trilogy is being re-released on DVD and not on Blu-ray yet? Why!?

new Blu-ray sale at Amazon:

here

[JsARCLIGHT]

It could be a mastering issue. The master they made for the DVD release may not be "up to snuff" for a first tier big boy HD release so it may be getting remastered. Remastering takes time, especially for older film stock movies that may have degraded. After all, both Lucas and Spielberg's names are on these movies and the two of them have shown an almost notorious streak of perfectionism and double dipping in their media releases. It would not surprise me if we don't see Blu Ray releases until the end of the year or later into next year when Crystal Skull gets released into the home video market.

[Tobi54]

I coulda sworn I recall HD DVD version has seriously weak bass compared to theater level mix and even the DVD during that infamous Blackout scene...consensus was a few months ago that it was either bad discs or to protect home consumer setups. Some people said it was fine, some said very lacking. Video quality was excellent...Audio was lacking. Noticeable during the "Shockwave" sequence (literally almost nothing ) and tanks at the beginning. Rest of the disc seems fine for the most part though.

I know it sounded different in the theater, and the DVD even sounded better during that part then the HD DVD one I saw (On the same system). I'd have to listen again, but I remember that part and it just wasn't "There" when I saw it. To that end though, even the DVD didn't have the "punch" that I recall. I'm chalking it up to Paramount's mix.

That's true some people had that problem, but not everyone, I had no problem with mine really.

[Tobi54]

Fixed.

Gimme me a break.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1110/transformers.html

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/30988/transformers/

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/dvd-re...ecommended.html

http://www.tvpredictions.com/2007/10/hd-dv...ansformers.html

http://www.e-gear.com/story/story.bsp?sid=...story&32482

http://www.dvdauthority.com/reviews.asp?reviewID=5366

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/softwar...sformers-hd-dvd

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/fusionbb/sh...php?tid/139003/

[eugimon]

I gotta agree with David and the others. There's plenty of bass in the movie... god knows when blackout is shooting his gun every shot would make the sofa rumble, but during the particular scene where the EMP goes off, the bass is lacking. I felt a slight rumble... on the other hand, during the freeway chase where optimus transforms, every step is thunderous

[David Hingtgen]

There's a big difference between it sounding good on a 5.1 channel surround sound system, and sounding horrible on a simple TV. Most DVD's can sound good on both---but watching Transformers on a simple TV utterly ruins the audio. That means there's something wrong.

90% of my DVD's sound ok on TV, but even better when I hook them up to my stereo. Transformers is just godawful on TV, and only "meh" on a stereo. It takes a FULL setup for Tranformers to be good apparently, and then it's really good.

But that's not how it should be. Being "really amazing under optimal conditions" does not excuse it for being sucky under most conditions.

[Tobi54]

Alright, I'll go with that, since I never really heard it thru TV speakers, hopefully they'll remix it for the Blu-Ray release so that everyone gets a fair release.

[Uxi]

Amazon Buy 3 for the Price of 2:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=...ocId=1000225131

[David Hingtgen]

Well, I got my TV yesterday, but didn't even have time to try it out on anything more than a DVD player until today. Been tweaking backlight/brightness constantly trying to optimize it. (Did use SW Ep 3, now using Mass Effect) No hot/stuck pixels (they're easy to spot), haven't found any dead ones yet.

I got a BRAND new one, they were literally re-stocking them off the truck when I got there, so mine is an April build.

It seemed HUGE when I first got it in my room (seemed so much smaller when I measured things, actually being there in 3D makes a big difference) but it seems more "normal" now.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Welcome to HD... now you have inherited the same curse we all have. You will be tweaking and tweaking the settings on that thing until the end of time.

[Dangard Ace]

First comes the TV....then HD player.....then the AV Receiver...then the speakers....

[David Hingtgen]

On that note, this TV has WAY better speakers than the old one, even though they are downwards-facing/hidden (as is the trend---pointless, as it's purely aesthetics but can't be good for sound). A bit tinny, tweaking that too. (TV has an adjustable equalizer, but it's hard to check "all sounds" at once) Maybe I'll just wait until someone at AVS posts some sound tweak settings.

[Wes]

First comes the TV....then HD player.....then the AV Receiver...then the speakers....

Heh I end up doing it in reverse. But that's becuase the stuff ages better in the reverse as well.

[eugimon]

True true.

[Alpha OTS]

Alright, this is irking me. When I bought my ps3, I had to buy an HDMI cable for it to hook up to my HDTV, so I picked the cheapest one up at Target(and it still wasn't exactly cheap). I do all my movie playing on my ps3. Occassionally when I boot everything up and view a disc, there's a buzzing in the audio. If I unplug and plug the HDMI cable, it corrects itself.

What's causing this and the best way to fix it? It's some kind of static build-up, I assume. Is it a cheap and poorly shielded HDMI cable issue? Or my ps3 being behind the tv? Something not grounded that I need to ground? Combination of all that?

[jwinges]

Alright, this is irking me. When I bought my ps3, I had to buy an HDMI cable for it to hook up to my HDTV, so I picked the cheapest one up at Target(and it still wasn't exactly cheap). I do all my movie playing on my ps3. Occassionally when I boot everything up and view a disc, there's a buzzing in the audio. If I unplug and plug the HDMI cable, it corrects itself.

What's causing this and the best way to fix it? It's some kind of static build-up, I assume. Is it a cheap and poorly shielded HDMI cable issue? Or my ps3 being behind the tv? Something not grounded that I need to ground? Combination of all that?

Probably a poor cable (cheaply made). Both me and 2 of my brother in laws have had a lot of luck with the component one you can buy from playasia for $20. It Has a switch for PS3, Xbox360, and Wii. It works great...no interference perfect color and none of that nasty sound lag you get from HDMI going into a receiver first.

[jenius]

I thought component cables only go to 720P? Also, what is this sound lag from which you speak? I've never noticed a sound lag but I don't have a PS3 so if it's specific to Blu-Ray or the PS3 that'd explain why I'm lost. I've got no clue what might cause a hiss in the audio but typically a dirt cheap HDMI cable is everything a super expensive HDMI cable is. I've got an expensive one and a few dirt cheap ones from Amazon.com and I could never tell you where the cheap ones are versus the expensive one.

[Alpha OTS]

I've got no clue what might cause a hiss in the audio but typically a dirt cheap HDMI cable is everything a super expensive HDMI cable is. I've got an expensive one and a few dirt cheap ones from Amazon.com and I could never tell you where the cheap ones are versus the expensive one.

It's not a hiss, its a buzz like sound that you'd typically hear from a blown-out speaker. After it started happening to me, I googled about it and read that to fix it you just unplug and plug the HDMI cable, which it does. But from the fix I read that it should *fix* fix it long term. This is happening pretty frequently to me, and I'm questioning why. I don't have this problem with the other inputs, just the HDMI. I have a lot of my gaming systems and computer pretty close to the tv too.

[Gaijin]

I thought component cables only go to 720P? Also, what is this sound lag from which you speak? I've never noticed a sound lag but I don't have a PS3 so if it's specific to Blu-Ray or the PS3 that'd explain why I'm lost. I've got no clue what might cause a hiss in the audio but typically a dirt cheap HDMI cable is everything a super expensive HDMI cable is. I've got an expensive one and a few dirt cheap ones from Amazon.com and I could never tell you where the cheap ones are versus the expensive one.

No, component cables from a PS3 can go to 1080p when playing games, but not movies. HDCP rears it's head there. Same for the 360. Many component inputs on TV's won't accept 1080p anyways though so 1080i will be your limit on those watching movies anyway.

As for the buzz mentioned...could be a badly shielded cable. Try another different one, if it persists, it might be a weird grounding issue with the components in how they're set up.

[David Hingtgen]

It's the TV. Just IMHO. From reading a zillion posts about various Sony/Toshiba/Samsungs before buying---weird HDMI audio issues that "fix" themselves with resets etc. A lot of the time, updated firmware fixes it. Though many Sonys cannot be updated without a service call, etc.

As for component---1080p is possible, however---many TV's won't accept it, and Hollywood etc won't allow it for many things----kind of like how a TV won't output more than 2 channels from itself to a HTS even if it's getting a 5.1 signal through HDMI--it may be perfectly capable, but it's not allowed. And remember the "won't upscale via component due to HDCP" debacle? I'm pretty sure a PS3 won't allow 1080p via component, even though it is physically possible. (Because HDMI allows secure/encrypted stuff, while component is not so easily "controlled" by the studios)

It's all about how the studios don't want you upscaling/converting anything you own. Because according to them, you don't own it.