HD DVD – Blu-Ray

Abstracto

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I know that some people are going to kick up a stink by what I'm going to say but here goes
I have owned a HD DVD since Christmas 06 and have to say I was very pleased with it and own some great movies, (Matrix, MI3, The Pretige, HP) Last week I decided to get a PS3 on a good offer at Toys R Us, I have to say after trying out a few Blu ray discs: Casino Royale, Hellboy, Kung Fu Hustle, The Prestige, that I prefer the Blu-ray format although it doesn't have the interactivity, which is not that important to me, the main thing that sways me to this format is the uncompressed PCM soundtracks, these sound amazing, having more room on the disc, and the PS3 seems a little more stable at reading the discs, the whole thing just seems better build quality, and I never thought I would say that as I was all for HD before last week but there is something that feels a little cheap about the HD DVD over Blu ray. I feel Blu ray is aimed more at the Cinephile rather than the average jo blogs who watches movies maybe once a year.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a thread for people to be having a slanging match about which format is the best, this is what my experience has been with both formats and I thought I would share this with people who may share the same opinion.
 
You know this is going to turn into a slagging match, so why post it?

I disagree with you totally, I too own both and I find the build quality on my XE1 higher than the PS3.

Maybe my ears are less sensitive than yours buy I cant tell the difference between True HD/ PCM- unless you have watched the same film with both mixes I doubt you can either.

Ciniphile- on a games console.......sure

I would really like the mods to just pre emptively close this- we all know how its going to turn out.
 
Its stupidity angers me

THe Prestiege is a UK release only- with a DD+ track, ok the PCM on the BD sounds better. The picture is the same.

How about Superman Returns, the HD DVD sounds much better, how about all the Paramount releases that only had DD on BD?
 
I don't know about HD-DVD through personal experience, so cannot comment, but there is no justification for bashing the PS3. Dude to its power and upgradability, it is indeed a cinephile machine and will be so for about 5 years if not more. Also, it IS superbly built.
 
On a positive note, Universal seem to be putting TrueHD on the majority of future releases on HD-DVD so lossless sound will be less of an issue in the future. Hopefully in a year or so lossy sound codecs will be a thing of the past. :thumbsup: Saying that I think DD+ sounds great so i'm happy anyway. :D
 
Anyway, if a particular film is mastered to its potential, then there shoudl be no discernible difference between Blu Ray and HD-DVD....in the future. Except that Blu Ray has more capacity for the bigger films, and HD-DVD has better interactive features. From my limited understanding. So this debate is much of a muchness.
 
Blu ray is getting BDi pretty soon I think its available on pixars Cars disc, I will tend to buy mainly blu ray from now on and get things on hd that are not available on the other, I am awaiting heroes on hd dvd which I am looking forward to watching
 
as a Dual owner I see no real difference between the formats on discs that are available on both. While a fan of Uncompressed PCM the differences between that and TrueHD are very slight that it probably makes no difference.

Each member will have their view over which format they prefer, lets keep it civil.
 
I know that some people are going to kick up a stink by what I'm going to say but here goes
I have owned a HD DVD since Christmas 06 and have to say I was very pleased with it and own some great movies, (Matrix, MI3, The Pretige, HP) Last week I decided to get a PS3 on a good offer at Toys R Us, I have to say after trying out a few Blu ray discs: Casino Royale, Hellboy, Kung Fu Hustle, The Prestige, that I prefer the Blu-ray format although it doesn't have the interactivity, which is not that important to me, the main thing that sways me to this format is the uncompressed PCM soundtracks, these sound amazing, having more room on the disc, and the PS3 seems a little more stable at reading the discs, the whole thing just seems better build quality, and I never thought I would say that as I was all for HD before last week but there is something that feels a little cheap about the HD DVD over Blu ray. I feel Blu ray is aimed more at the Cinephile rather than the average jo blogs who watches movies maybe once a year.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a thread for people to be having a slanging match about which format is the best, this is what my experience has been with both formats and I thought I would share this with people who may share the same opinion.

Thanks for that Steve.

Personally, I disagree.

I watched 'Identity' on Blu-ray Disc a couple of weeks ago, and the sound was excellent...via optical at 640kbs! :eek:

Check out this post from a Hollywood sound man on the difference in SQ between Lossless and Lossy:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5376156&postcount=150

Steve W
 
steve69bez - how are you connecting you players and to what kt? You really shouldn't notice any real difference between HD DVD and BluRay in terms of audio or picture quality. Personally I find little difference in PCM or TrueHD.
 
Anyway, if a particular film is mastered to its potential, then there shoudl be no discernible difference between Blu Ray and HD-DVD....in the future. Except that Blu Ray has more capacity for the bigger films, and HD-DVD has better interactive features. From my limited understanding. So this debate is much of a muchness.

Whilst Blue Ray has a larger capacity the capacity of HD DVD is more than enougth to fit any film in 1080p with an uncompressed soundtrack.

If special editions are released that are crammed with extra features then this will probably be split across two discs on HD DVD. I for one dont have a problem with owning a two disc HD DVD set one with the feature and some special features and the other with all the other special features.
 
I never thought I would say that as I was all for HD before last week but there is something that feels a little cheap about the HD DVD over Blu ray. I feel Blu ray is aimed more at the Cinephile rather than the average jo blogs who watches movies maybe once a year.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a thread for people to be having a slanging match about which format is the best, this is what my experience has been with both formats and I thought I would share this with people who may share the same opinion.

This the part that sounds provocative: HD-DVD looks cheap and is for the average joe blogs who only watches movies once a year, not meaning to slag anything off, of course :rotfl:
 
I think HD DVD and Blu Ray are almost the same. The only reason i prefer Blu ray is because my X360 HDDVD drive sounds like a train.
 
I have HDDVD, and was seriously thinking about the PS3 for Blueray (and games were a bonus), however given the recent decision by Paramount, and the rumours that are abound with possibly Warner Bros possibly soon going solo on HDDVD, I am not going to get one.
Personally I dont know if it is a good or bad thing. Certainly not good if you are a Blueray owner at the moment. It is turning into a bit of a farce and mess truth being told, and isn't fair on the consumer.

I have seen Blueray films on my nephews PS3, and the quality is stunning on titles like Casino Royale and Rocky Balboa, however the same can be said for HDDVD's titles like Happy Feet and Fast & The Furious. Certainly I wouldn't favour one over the other for PQ. Sound quality is different for those who have the equipment and good hearing :D

I would however like a 'quieter' player than the 360 add on, which whilst I get used to it, isn't ideal. However it is a great introduction into the format, and a great start. Like most new inventions, things get better and cheaper as time goes on.
 
I'll let this one remain open for now. Haven't seen anything that would require it closing except for it being a very emotive topic. Just wait till the fanboys pounce on it then you will find it closed. :D
 
I have both and now have a large collection of both HD-DVD and BluRay discs. I think they can both disappoint and both offer greatness. I think a lot of it depends on the film...

If you watch "KONG" on HD-DVD your jaw will hit the floor... if you watch on a good display. You'll immediately think HD-DVD is the best.

Then you put in "IDENTITY" or "PIRATES 2" and you'll be knocked out by the PQ of BluRay and think that BD is better...

Then you stick in "SEA OF LOVE" and think that HD-DVD stinks...

but then you'll put in "KISS OF THE DRAGON" and think that BluRay is even worse...

It's all about how the movies are mastered, displayed and our own "human perception". It's what we get used to too.

I love BOTH formats even though BOTH can be superb and BOTH can be disappointing. I recommend going format neutral (if you can afford it and have films that you want in either format) and enjoy HD. Having said all that... I would prefer that there was NO war and that one "mind-blowingly awesome" format existed instead. But that AIN'T gonna happen any time soon.
 
You have hit on a good point there MJeeves. A lot of people throw negative comments out about both formats, but perhaps without realising that they have maybe seen the worst or the best disk the format had to offer.

Just as you suggest, if you were a BD owner and you watched Pirates, then you went round a mates house who had HD and watched Sea of Love you would think BD was miles better and vice versa.
 
You have hit on a good point there MJeeves. A lot of people throw negative comments out about both formats, but perhaps without realising that they have maybe seen the worst or the best disk the format had to offer.

Just as you suggest, if you were a BD owner and you watched Pirates, then you went round a mates house who had HD and watched Sea of Love you would think BD was miles better and vice versa.

Exactly. We are both on the same wavelength. :thumbsup:
 
the main thing that sways me to this format is the uncompressed PCM soundtracks, these sound amazing,

Can you play uncompressed sound tracks out of a PS3? (I thought not with standard equipment), please publish a list of your equipment so we can all laugh if you got this wrong. I'm looking for an HDMI v1.3 amp or one that can handle LPCM 5.1 or LPCM 7.1 here, unless someone else knows how else to get uncompressed sound out of a PS3. (I'm not sure that any "cinephile" would want a machine that sounds like a hoover in their living room but Joe Bloggs might)

I have both formats on my PC and don't really care it it's HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, most who publish strongly one way or the other turn out to be fanboys. (but I'm sure you're not)
 
I have both and now have a large collection of both HD-DVD and BluRay discs. I think they can both disappoint and both offer greatness. I think a lot of it depends on the film...

If you watch "KONG" on HD-DVD your jaw will hit the floor... if you watch on a good display. You'll immediately think HD-DVD is the best.

Then you put in "IDENTITY" or "PIRATES 2" and you'll be knocked out by the PQ of BluRay and think that BD is better...

Then you stick in "SEA OF LOVE" and think that HD-DVD stinks...

but then you'll put in "KISS OF THE DRAGON" and think that BluRay is even worse...

It's all about how the movies are mastered, displayed and our own "human perception". It's what we get used to too.

I love BOTH formats even though BOTH can be superb and BOTH can be disappointing. I recommend going format neutral (if you can afford it and have films that you want in either format) and enjoy HD. Having said all that... I would prefer that there was NO war and that one "mind-blowingly awesome" format existed instead. But that AIN'T gonna happen any time soon.

I don't normally post on this subject for the obvious reason that they normally turn bad then get closed....:rolleyes:

But i have to say this is one of the best post's i have read Kudos "MJeeves"....:smashin:
 
steve69bez - I suggest you check out 300 on both Blu ray and HD-DVD, then tell me which one you think holds more appeal for the 'Cinephile'.

Oh, and if by BDi you're refering to the forthcoming(?) BD Profile 1.1 specification, you are aware aren't you that your PS3 won't be able to play all of the new interactive features on discs conforming to this profile?

Another of the many reasons that this 'cinephile' (just under 3,500 DVDs and counting, so I think I qualify) has hitched his wagon to HD-DVD. Being a finished format and not one still in development, I've been enjoying all of those 'cinephile' oriented interactive features available from day one of the format's launch.
 

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