360 HD-DVD

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:31 pm

Buy or rent Grand Prix for that HD DVD and then let me know what you think

I was not so impressed after paying a premium for Superman Returns on HD DVD. King Kong was really sharp and nice, but again, not mindblowing.

My world wasn't rocked until I put in Grand Prix...which I'm nominating as the best HD DVD demo of all time

Randy

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:05 pm

Thanks for the tip Randy. I will try to find a rental. Is there any blockbuster store in your local area that rent HD movies yet? I do see a bigger selection of movies coming out lately, but in terms of owning one, price wise it's still pretty steep IMO. My Bravia supports 1080i, (bought the 1st generation of Bravias) and a buddy of mine was laughing at me as I should have waited and purchased the current selection of 1080P to enjoy the HD experience.

But then again I only have King Kong. But GP sounds interesting.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:27 pm

For those DSP'ers that own a HD-DVD, post your recomendations of movies in this thread. I wanted to buy Miami Vice but I just had it on regular DVD as a present.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:29 pm

Well, I got King Kong with the player (duh), got Superman at retail (ouch), and got for Christmas 4 HD DVD movies:

Serenity
World Trade Center Commemorative Edition
Grand Prix
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

GP was the LAST one I expected would rock my world, but it did. Several times I just paused it and stared at the picture. You know, I spent big bucks a few years ago on the Highlander Ultimate Edition DVD and the video transfer on that was CRAP. Very 'snowy' picture if you know what I mean.

Then I look at this film made in 1969 and it's in widescreen photo-realistic and amazing looking/sounding and I'm just stunned by how drop-dead gorgeous those on-car shots are.

Anyway, enough raving....I don't know where to get them rental-wise. Netflix maybe?

Randy

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:31 pm

Netflix does have them. I've got a couple on the way now to go with my new HD-DVD drive.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:38 pm

Even with a 60" 1080i system I wasn't all that impressed with the difference between the HD DVD and an upconverted regular DVD, until I popped in "The Searchers." I had no idea a resored 1950s film could look this good. The difference is large enough that I'll buy HD releases of big films I would have gotten on DVD, but certainly not re-buy existing DVDs anytime soon.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:40 pm

Blublub wrote:The difference is large enough that I'll buy HD releases of big films I would have gotten on DVD, but certainly not re-buy existing DVDs anytime soon.

That's pretty much the position I'm in. Buy HD-DVDs from now on and maybe one or three of my favorites (Goodfellas, Casino, Shawshank). But that's about it.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:55 pm

I don't know if this makes it even more impressive, but "Grand Prix" was filmed in 1966. It's John Frankenheimer's masterpiece.

Take care,
PK

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:06 pm

Wow, I thought it was filmed in 1970. Serious eye candy for anyone who wants to see what those cars were really like.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:27 pm

I just watched Good Night & Good Luck on my HD-DVD player this weekend. Let me tell you the black and white film really poped on the HD.

I saw V for Vendetta in HD and also Aeon Flux. Both looked very good in HD, especially V.

I'm usng Netflix for rentals btw.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:53 pm

RandyM wrote:Wow, I thought it was filmed in 1970. Serious eye candy for anyone who wants to see what those cars were really like.

Any time that Speed shows "Grand Prix" on its "Lost Drive-In," which is at least once per year, a great show in which Bruce Dern interviews Frankenheimer about the making of the movie usually follows. Fascinating stuff, both from a motor racing and movie-making perspective.

Take care,
PK

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:21 pm

Blublub wrote:Even with a 60" 1080i system I wasn't all that impressed with the difference between the HD DVD and an upconverted regular DVD, until I popped in "The Searchers." I had no idea a resored 1950s film could look this good. The difference is large enough that I'll buy HD releases of big films I would have gotten on DVD, but certainly not re-buy existing DVDs anytime soon.

The Searchers is another film, along with Grand Prix, that was originated on 65mm. I'm sure this makes a big difference on HD-DVD, just as it makes a difference in the movie theaters when you see a 70mm film vs. a standard 35mm film. Not that 35mm is bad by any means, but the negative is almost twice the size in 65mm. IMAX uses 65mm film run sidways to project on those massive, up-to 8-story high screens, so that gives you an idea of how sharp that film stock can be.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:33 pm

Even 35mm film can render more detail than HD. Just depends on how well the transfer was done.

Now, studios are scanning some of the films in their library at a resolution of "4k", about 4 times resolution of 1080p.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:10 pm

Just picked up a few classics today. Caddyshack and Goodfellas. Hopefully they did a decent job with the transfer.

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:09 am

Watched Serenity in HD DVD last night.

Solid transfer, good quality, but I wasn't blown away by it.

catskinsox · Post by **catskinsox** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:14 pm

Here's a good review site for those interested in the technical quality of the new HD-DVD and Blu-Ray releases:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/

Heelfan71 · Post by **Heelfan71** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 2:43 pm

I think the picture quality is amazing. Especially in King Kong. I think the type of tv you have plays a big part in how it's going to look. I have a 1080p tv and I was in awe watching King Kong. It was clearer than anything I have ever watched on tv in HD.

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:27 pm

I picked up a HD drive today at CC for 140... 10% off with xboxlive diamond card, then 40 off 200.. of course i had to buy something else, but I needed a center channel shelf anyways.

BD

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:52 pm

bdunn13 wrote:I picked up a HD drive today at CC for 140... 10% off with xboxlive diamond card, then 40 off 200.. of course i had to buy something else, but I needed a center channel shelf anyways.

BD

Looks like you are now future proof with HD discs now...

I looked in the CC ad but I'm stumped... how did you get the extra $40 off?

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:23 am

There is a coupon floating around the net for people that moved recently. Its not suppose to be printed but I printed it twice and they took it both times. The first time i got a new TV stand.

The coupon is for 40 off 200 the HD drive was 180 after the diamon card discount so I had to spend 20 more to get the drive for 160.. but I saved a total of 60 bucks.. A pretty good deal IMO.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:55 pm

This may be a very good thing:

http://news.com.com/Retailers+back+Warn ... 48925.html

Warner Bros. has created a HD DVD that uses both Blue Ray and HD-DVD combined in one disc. That way it doesn't matter what player you play it on...it'll work. I wonder if they are going to charge a premium over the already higher HD-DVD prices. It should be interesting.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:25 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:This may be a very good thing:

http://news.com.com/Retailers+back+Warn ... 48925.html

Warner Bros. has created a HD DVD that uses both Blue Ray and HD-DVD combined in one disc. That way it doesn't matter what player you play it on...it'll work. I wonder if they are going to charge a premium over the already higher HD-DVD prices. It should be interesting.

Question:

I don't really know, but how much more do HD-DVDs cost? What I seem to see online is that HD-DVD-only discs seem to be $19.99, and only those that have both HD-DVD and DVD formats on them are more. Isn't that what most DVDs cost? Is this different in B&M stores? I assume if a movie's in the 2-in-1 disc format, there is no option to get it cheaper in just the one format or the other, and it seems to me a pretty cheap trick, but what ya gonna do? I'd probably stick to Netflix, but if I were buying, I'd stick to the HD-DVD-only ones. It's like bundling the cassette with the CD and forcing you to buy them both. What a rip-off.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:35 pm

I've bought a few HD-DVDs and they run from 19.99 - 34.99 at b & m stores. Regular DVDs regularly are 14.99-17.99, especially during release week...otherwise they top out at 19.99 for the most part. The problem is that MOST HD-DVDs is that they run 24.99. There are even a few movies (Miami Vice comes to mind) that ONLY release on the HD-DVD/DVD hybrid. Meaning it has both the SD DVD and the HD DVD on one disc. Those are 34.99 msrp and you cannot buy the HD-DVD only. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Hopefully they don't do that with the hybrid HD-DVD/Blue-Ray discs if you don't want them...but it's better than nothing.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:13 pm

I wouldn't buy the HD-DVD's online. I don't know, just me. I don't think there are HD copies out there yet but the difference in price is quite substantial. Whenever I go shopping and check for new releases and prices, I see titles ranging from $25 to $35 a pop.

Ditto for Blu-ray movies now that I have a PS3, prices are very similar to HD's.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:40 pm

Amazon has a bunch of HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays for under $20.

Or at least they used to.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/ has some price trackers as well as reviews.

As for the Total HD disc, I don't think Warners is going to get a lot of takers.

They basically have to convince other studios, their competitors, to use a format which makes the discs more expensive to make and pays patent license fees to Warners.

Right now, there are only two studios publishing for both formats, Warners and Paramount. Warners is hoping Disney and Fox will publish for both instead of just Blu-Ray and use this Total HD disc.

There are other attempts to draw more studios to the HD-DVD side. Right before E3, Toshiba said they might be able to boost the capacity from 30 GB to 45 GB. None of the Blu-Ray studios bit. Toshiba never submitted this new spec. to formally put into their format.

Now at CES, Toshiba is saying they could actually boost capacity to 51 GB, bettering Blu-Ray by 1 GB. So far, no takers.