DVDTalk: Terminator 2 HD DVD beats T2 Blu-Ray

[Ruined]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&#post10681854

Originally Posted by DVDTalk Staff Reviewer

I watched the full Extended Cut last night and did a quick comparison to the Blu-ray. The HD DVD is decidedly sharper and has more saturated colors. It's not perfect, unfortunately. It has some of the same problems as the BD, including a touch of edge ringing, some white clipping, and minor compression problems here and there. It looks good overall. I'll try to crank out a full review soon.

The French 2-disc HD DVD set (Theatrical + Extended Edition) is currently available from amazon.fr and xploitedcinema.com if you want it NOW.

A slightly more English-friendly UK single disc Extended Edition-only HD DVD will be available for preorder within a month or so from http://amazon.co.uk

Note that only the Extended Edition disc from the French version is English-friendly, as the theatrical version has forced French subtitles when selecting the English soundtrack (you can resize them and move them into the LBX bar however). The Extended edition does not have forced subtitles and in fact the entire menu is in English, it was clearly the same disc that will be in the UK version released later.

The UK version will be identical to disc 2 of the French version - Extended cut, English audio, no forced subs, region free, 1080p24 w/ lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. English Audio tracks have been compared to the R1 DVD release and the audio is perfect, no speedup.

I am waiting for the region-free UK version since I want the English cover art and the Extended Cut is better anyway IMO. Plus, the theatrical disc of the French version is pretty worthless to me with the forced subs (even if tiny). I'll of course post when the AMAZON.CO.UK preorder for T2: Extended Edition is available

[superklye]

I don't understand. Doesn't BD have more gigabytes?

[evilchris]

Yeah.... 50 gigabytes should look better than 30 gigabytes. I don't what's going on here. Maybe they are fanboys.

[OWA]

Can't blame the format if the publisher didn't choose to take advantage of the higher capacity, higher bitrate, etc.

[evilchris]

Originally Posted by OWA

Can't blame the format if the publisher didn't choose to take advantage of the higher capacity, higher bitrate, etc.

Funny, no one has, because not a single Blu-ray title can approach even the tier 1 HD DVD's.

Higher bitrare sure would make VC-1 look better huh! OWA do you know *anything* about either format?

Keep blaming the publisher, ignoring the fact that the format and its lack of standards are at fault. Enjoying your BD-J? Oh yeah I forgot, not "finalized" yet. IME sure is awesome in The Matrix trilogy!

[OWA]

Check outside your little MS controlled world and you'll find that blu-ray is getting props for their releases. Sorry to break the news though man.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/review...ws004.html#pi1

Simply put, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest delivers what is arguably the best looking 1080p video available yet on any HD disc format, and it adds audio quality and extras to match.

http://www.upcomingdiscs.com/dvd_rev...type=disc_type

For this transfer Disney went with 50GB Blu-ray disc (BD50) and glorious AVC transfer in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the average bit rate ranges from 35 to 38 Mbps. In short ladies and gentleman this Pirates movie gives us the new benchmark in picture quality for HD optical. Up until this point, both Crank on Blu-ray and King Kong on HD DVD were the films to beat in HD optical picture quality. I was fortunate enough to watch the new Matrix Collection HD DVD box set yesterday, and not even it rivals this Curse of the Black Pearl disc. At no point in viewing Pirates did I experience any macro blocking or any noise of any type. I could not believe this considering the amount of both bright and dark scenes and also the amount action sequences. Also the film was extremely sharp and clear and free of any film debris and I mean zero debris whatsoever. I have not experienced this as of yet on HD optical until the viewing of this disc. This disc also contained little to no film grain. Colors (and this is a very colorful film) were extremely vibrant and flesh tones were spot-on. This disc is truly an AMAZING benchmark in picture quality.


http://www.upcomingdiscs.com/dvd_rev...type=disc_type

As I said previously in this review, we have the new benchmark for both picture quality and audio quality for HD optical. If there were ever a movie or movies you wanted to show your friends and family to show-off your home theater set-up, Curse of the Black Pearl is it. This disc is absolutely stunning in terms of picture quality and amazing in terms of audio quality. Having watched this film over 24 hours ago, the smile has still not left my face and I am anxious to watch it again with friends. In short, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the purchase of Curse of the Black Pearl, regardless if you are a fan or not of the movies, as they are pure eye and ear candy and will not let anyone down.

http://www.upcomingdiscs.com/dvd_rev...type=disc_type

Along with Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest offers a new benchmark for both picture quality and audio quality for HD optical. If there were ever a movie you wanted to show your friends and family to show-off your home theater set-up, Dead Man’s Chest is it. This disc is absolutely stunning in terms of picture quality and amazing in terms of audio quality. Having watched this film over 24 hours ago, the smile has still not left my face and I am anxious to watch it again with friends. In short, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the purchase of Dead Man’s Chest, regardless if you are a fan or not of the movies, as they are pure eye and ear candy and will not let anyone down.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...35#post3156235

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is banner release for the Blu-ray format. Not only is the film portion of this release given its very own BD-50, the AVC encode has been maxed out with the highest possible bit rates for maximum quality. The results are nothing short of stunning and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sports the finest HD transfer I have ever seen, regardless of format. Make no mistake, the results of this extra bandwidth are visible in every scene in the film. Colors are stunningly rendered with an absolutely astonishing amount of detail. Black levels are rock solid with an amazing sense of depth and the artifact-free picture literally pops off the screen throughout the film. There is never a weak moment or a scene that doesn’t hold up to the rest of the film. This transfer is completely consistent in its excellence.

http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/pi...earlbluray.php

Disney has set the new standard in high definition quality with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This disc should be at the top of your list for reference and demo material.

It was the rare perfect storm of cast and crew coming together at the right time to create something very special. And Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a gem that doesn't lose any of its luster with repeated viewings. Like the attraction itself, this world is so immersive that you are disappointed when it's time to leave. But you're excited by the fact that you can always return again one day to relive the magic.

Bravo to the Disney engineers for establishing a new industry standard.

http://hometheaterspot.com/fusionbb/...last/m/1/#LAST

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of those format selling franchises that you wish they didn’t even announce until they were ready for release, as the anticipation is a killer. But finally the wait is over and Disney does not disappoint. This BD delivers on the promise of high definition. It makes the DVD look and sound about as faithful as VHS, and far outperforms the theatrical showing I went to. One of the biggest franchises to come to high definition, Disney gives Pirates’ its due and fans their reward, a timely refresher for the theatrical release of the third.

[evilchris]

I beg to differ. I have BOTH Pirates movies right now from Netflix and own The Matrix trilogy. The Matrix HD DVD's are the best I have *ever* seen.

BTW wtf does "MS" have to with HD DVD and home theater? Lose your PS3 fanboyism and focus on MOVIES instead.

Would you like to compare "my little world" to yours? I've been into this before you sprouted your first little PS3 boner and have been into high end A/V for over a decade. You are a little kid who bought the latest gaming console and thinks he's an authority on HD by reading teh internetz. Fact is I have a superior HD DVD player over yours, a superior BD player over yours, a superior pre/pro over yours, and a superior display over yours. You're the one locked inside a little world.

[GamerGuyX]

Originally Posted by evilchris

I beg to differ. I have BOTH Pirates movies right now from Netflix and own The Matrix trilogy. The Matrix HD DVD's are the best I have *ever* seen.

BTW wtf does "MS" have to with HD DVD and home theater? Lose your PS3 fanboyism and focus on MOVIES instead.

Would you like to compare "my little world" to yours? I've been into this before you sprouted your first little PS3 boner and have been into high end A/V for over a decade. You are a little kid who bought the latest gaming console and thinks he's an authority on HD by reading teh internetz. Fact is I have a superior HD DVD player over yours, a superior BD player over yours, a superior pre/pro over yours, and a superior display over yours. You're the one locked inside a little world.

OWA just got owned so hard even I felt it.

[ENU291]

Originally Posted by GamerGuyX

OWA just got owned so hard even I felt it.

QFT! I don't know why he even bothers anymore.

[OWA]

Originally Posted by evilchris

I beg to differ. I have BOTH Pirates movies right now from Netflix and own The Matrix trilogy. The Matrix HD DVD's are the best I have *ever* seen.

BTW wtf does "MS" have to with HD DVD and home theater? Lose your PS3 fanboyism and focus on MOVIES instead.

Would you like to compare "my little world" to yours? I've been into this before you sprouted your first little PS3 boner and have been into high end A/V for over a decade. You are a little kid who bought the latest gaming console and thinks he's an authority on HD by reading teh internetz. Fact is I have a superior HD DVD player over yours, a superior BD player over yours, a superior pre/pro over yours, and a superior display over yours. You're the one locked inside a little world.

No, I just base my decisions on more than one source. You seem to discount everything other than your own opinion. I mentioned MS b/c they seem to have a heavy hand in what is going on at AVS and that's your golden source. It doesn't matter if I provide 20 links from hi-def sites with people contradicting what you say, you just dismiss it as fodder b/c you have the ultimate in HT and always know better than everyone else, lol.

I don't care if your equipment is superior to mine, I'm not trying to compete with you. I just find it funny that you dismiss articles, reviews, etc. by people that judge hi-def day in and day out just b/c it doesn't suit whatever cause you're for.

I don't consider myself locked in a little world b/c I actually form my own opinions and research the stuff I'm interested in. I said you were b/c you just seem to ask someone what to think and also seem to discount any other sources of info that doesn't jive with your already formed conclusions. Maybe narrow-minded would have been a better way to put it.

Also, I never claimed to be an A/V expert. When I provide info, it's info I've found from various hi-def sites. Like the 5 sites I quoted above. When I said that movies using the same video codecs would look the same (and sometimes even when not using the same codec they look the same), I was mostly talking about all the reviews at hidefdigest, not my own opinion. No need to take my word for it, just look at any of the hi-def sites.

[Mr_LoL]

[Rakeesh]

Originally Posted by evilchris

Yeah.... 50 gigabytes should look better than 30 gigabytes. I don't what's going on here. Maybe they are fanboys.

Mmmm...not necessarily. I can see where HD-DVD has an advantage, namely they are a bit more strict as far as quality control goes in that they set higher minimum standards than the Blu-Ray camp has set.

Blu-Ray indeed has the physical capability of going further than HD-DVD does, by quite a long shot. However, both content producers and hardware manufacturers are allowed to be a lot more lazy when it comes to making blu-ray products.

Just as an example, manufacturers are allowed to make blu-ray players that don't support dolby truehd at all, and content producers are allowed to make discs that don't include truehd tracks. HD-DVD on the other hand, all discs are required to have a truehd soundtrack, and all device manufacturers are required to include truehd playback support.

Again, that is just an example, as there are many other bits and pieces specifying color accuracy, encoding quality and other technical bits that I for the most part have little understanding of, where HD-DVD sets a higher minimum standard than blu-ray from what I have heard.

But remember that in spite of that, it is still physically possible for blu-ray content to go further than HD-DVD, just not required.

Personally I have little to no interest in investing in either format right now.

EDIT: Oh, I see you were being sarcastic Well, what I said still stands. I really don't favor either format, so you effectively have my objective opinion anyways.