Underworld region 1, vs` region 3 Noob thread :)

Spoonman2

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Right, r3 arrived today, has a card sleeve aswell, unlike the region 1, but has no inlay for chapter selections.

This is my first 10 minute look on each disc......

The region 1 has a nice moving menu, the region 3 does not have this, they`re static , BUT the region 3 has moving scene selections, unlike the region 1 having just static .

Next up: Bitrate.

NOTE: This is only a small look at the bitrate to start with, as I`m short on time, but will go in depth over the weekend.
I was bothered about the bitrate, as the region 3 has DTS.

Region 1 : this seems to go from around 3.5- 9 on my scale, and is up, and down like a yoyo, but the good thing is, on the rain scenes the bitrate goes to about 8,and stays there, until the scene goes back to a non rain scene, then it dips to about 4, and goes up, and down from 4 to 8 again.

Region 3: Simple, hangs between 7.5, and 9.5 on all scenes, thats it, it never seems to dip below 7.5 atall, unlike the region 1, which goes right down at places.
But I`ll do more PROPER (not just bitrates) viewings later, and report back.

Both soundtracks are VERY loud, either DD, or DTS, and both regions will do a proper test later (Again)
I need to sit down at the weekend, and do a proper picture, and sound comparison,. and will relay my findings here.... probably sunday.

Anyone else like to add anything????

P.S. This is a noobs review at a starting point, so please dont flame me
No-one else seemed to want to do this yet, so I thought I`d have a go.

Spoony.
 
The region 3 has no extras atall.

The region 1 has two commentaries, making of, music video, three other featurettes, and other bits.

My first impressions are the region 3 is almost a superbit version of the region 1.

More coming soon,

Spoony.
 
You might like to comment on wether both give you value for money:)
I bought the region 3 copy purely because it was cheaper and seemed to offer the option of a dts track which other regions did not.
Out of interest I watched both the dd and dts versions one after the other and didn't notice much difference on my set up tbh. There appeared to be slightly more rear action on the dts track but this was very marginal. Both were very load however which is not necessarily better imo.
 
Thanks for the reply Hawklord.

Well, I can only look at value for money when I`ve done a proper comparison with picture, and sound.

As maybe the bitrate is misleading?, but the region 3 has only got the film on it, and nothing else.

But at £6.29 on the hk site for the region 3, it aint a bad buy :)

As mentioned earlier, will do a full blown review on sunday, over a few beers, and some noodles no doubt. :smoke:

Spoony.
 
Right, played both the 5.1 soundtracks on the region 3 disc.

Left amp at -55db, and the DTS was slightly more spacial, didn`t seem louder.
The picture is almost identical to the region 1, even though the bitrate is much higher on the region 3.
I think a bigger screen is needed to notice any difference, just me being honest.


Put in the region 1, left the amp at the same setting, OH MY GOD!
My ears were nearly bleeding, and the bass from the gunfire just seemed way over the top, and not as even as the region 3.
Seriously, after 10 minutes of the region 1 at the same setting as the region 3 ( which I found fine at that level ) I had a headache
Seems the region 1 DD is boosted up on the DB rating, as I think I saw Smurfin mention a while back.
Anyone else care to comment on this??

Spoony.
 
I bought the R1 before seeing the R3 and by coincidence watched it last night too. IMHO the extras are pretty superfluous, several comments/sound bites are the same across a couple of them .. it was nice for a while seeing Kate again though. :D

I think the R3 is probably far better VFM, especially in the light of your comments about the soundtrack. I'm not a great 'extras' fan most of the time.

Great film though, really enjoyed it .. is there going to be the sequel the ending made so blatantly clear was planned?
 
Any information on whether the region 3 is censored as sites for region 3 do state violent or sexual films might be censored (( i know Wrong Turn DTS is censored and has a worse pic than the region 1 ))
 
Thanks for that Spoony.

Sounds like the R3 version is the one for me as not a big extras fan and with a bigger screen bitrate improvement maybe important.

Just need to check whether it is censored in any way now.


Cheers,


Dave
 
You`d better dash off to the HK site, as its £6.29 ish` at the mo :)


Spoony.
 
Originally posted by Spoonman2
Right, r3 arrived today, has a card sleeve aswell, unlike the region 1, but has no inlay for chapter selections...


Spoony.

My R1 has got a chapter inlay.
 
Just watched the region 3 edition and the DTS track is fabulous, the Dolby track is lacking, at least on this edition, picture quality is superb only 1 small problem would be those with progressive displays won't get the 24frames per second as this release seems to be 30fps without the 3/2 pulldown.
 
Is that why I notcied some lines on fast moving scenes???

I didn`t know that, if thats what it is m8.

Spoony.
 
FoxyMulder: How does having 30 FPS without 3:2 pulldown affect the movie? Is there a noticeable problem during playback?
 
Could someone send me a link to the HK dvd site so I can buy this disc for testing please.

Incidentally, Hi Bitrate doesn't always mean hi-quality, but I think the original poster understood that which is why he was going to do a visual comparison as well.

Gordon
 
Dunno mate, you might have a bit of trouble seeing any differences on that setup, can you not find anything better!! :D ;)

Strike that... knowing you, you probably could better even that!! :D

Regards,
Iain.
 
9" CRT??

Should that not be 9`???

Sounds a bit like a Spinal tap reference to me. aka Stonehenge. LOL

Spoony.
 
BTW, there is a new Korean R3 2 disc set with the film including DTS audio on one disc (+ commentaries) and extras on the other. I guess this is like the R2 release only NTSC. I find it wierd that an NTSC DVD would not have a 24fps transfer using 2:3 pulldown? BTW, it would have to be 29.97fps and not 30fps, as this is for B&W films only! How can you test the frame rate?
 

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