Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Impressions on watching blu-ray

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Posted by Steven J Hart (Member # 2340) on 12-26-2009, 08:46 AM:

I watched my first two blu-ray disks yesterday. (Thanks to my wife) Ironman and Casino Royale. On Ironman, the image quality was certainly a step up from DVD, but it was the sound that really blew (blu) me away. I'd never before heard my home theater setup sound better than my real theater, but there it was. Major clarity and dynamics through an $800 Yamaha receiver.

Casino Royale on the other hand displayed truly stunning picture quality. The opening title sequences were awesome. You could see some film grain on some lower light scenes, but I'm sure thats what it looked like on 35 mm too.

We don't purchase many movies, so I hope that blu-ray rentals will be available soon in my area. I guess you can do netflix downloads in HD so I might give that a try. We've got an Apple TV as well that we rent a lot of films on, but their (720p) HD quality at a much lower bit rate does not come close to the blu-ray experience.

The only reason I bought the BD player is because our DVD player recently died. I'm glad now that I spent the extra money!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-26-2009, 11:08 AM:

This is the scenario that will cause Blu-ray to replace DVD over the next couple or so years. It's the "trojan horse" factor of every Blu-ray player being able to play DVD movies too. Blu-ray players have been priced at affordable levels for much of this year and lately they've been dipping down into cheap price levels. That's going to cause DVD-only players to be reduced in number on store shelves until there's none left.

I'm surprised various electronic companies aren't putting more stress on that point in marketing Blu-ray players. I think a high percentage of the general public doesn't know Blu-ray players can play DVDs. I've certainly heard the "I didn't know Blu-ray players could play DVDs too" comment from friends and acquaintances I've talked to on the subject. I got the feeling a few of those persons would have bought Blu-ray players earlier if they were aware of that point. They still want to play the DVD movies they've collected over the years and be able to play the new discs. Blu-ray players can do both.

Movie studios are pushing harder on the software front to promote Blu-ray. The latest thing is Blu-ray combo packages that include a DVD of the movie too. In January Universal will bring an arguably controversial BD-59 product to market. One side of the disc has the Blu-ray version and the other side has the DVD version. This opens the possibility of shipping a "single SKU" product. DVD movie buyers are going to end up with some Blu-ray movies in their collection whether they wanted the Blu-ray version or not. Pretty soon those DVD watchers are going to get bit by that Blu-ray bug.

Top of the situation with highly desirable titles on Blu-ray. The theatrical cut of Lord of the Rings Trilogy will arrive on Blu-ray in April. There are rumors the original Indiana Jones Trilogy, Saving Private Ryan, Back to the Future, Lawrence of Arabia and quite a few other big catalog titles will arrive on Blu-ray in 2010.

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 12-26-2009, 07:52 PM:

The only complaint I have on my PS3 Blu-Ray player isn’t the players fault. I live outside of town and the power in is subject to fade and spike the result being that the player doesn’t want to boot sometimes. I unplug it for a day or two and usually that fixes it.

I have now decided that the line leveler I have on order that was for my recording studio in my home wil now be for the AV equipment in the home theater and I will order a new line leveler for the recording studio later. I am not currently doing any voice over work so it isn’t as imperative as protecting the AV stuff.

I do wish I had held out on a HD TV till I could get the 1080p instead of just 1080i but hey in a year or so maybe I can swing a new TV as well.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 12-26-2009, 08:04 PM:

If your power fluctuates so much, I'd think about getting something that smooths that out for you at your end.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-27-2009, 11:23 AM:

Just get a computer-grade UPS box, wouldn't that work?

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 12-27-2009, 11:51 AM:

Didn't you guys read his post? He has ordered a "line leveler," which is exactly, Chris, a device that smooths out the power. It's almost certainly a UPS.

Geeze.

--jhawk

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-27-2009, 01:39 PM:

I was thinking "Line Leveler" was something to do with sound levels. Since he was talking about recording studio and voiceover work and such. Mah bad.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 12-28-2009, 11:15 AM:

quote: John Hawkinson
Didn't you guys read his post? He has ordered a "line leveler," which is exactly, Chris, a device that smooths out the power. It's almost certainly a UPS.

I only read the first part. I fail at life. [Smile]

Though a line-leveler is not a UPS, btw. It's part of a line-conditioner (although I was suggesting a line-conditioner which is why I failed).

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 12-28-2009, 11:22 AM:

OK, yes, you're right. Definitely not a UPS [Smile]

[though with the awesome battery life on some of those consumer UPSes, they might as well have no battery...]

--jhawk

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 12-28-2009, 12:35 PM:

quote: Steven J Hart
I watched my first two blu-ray disks yesterday. (Thanks to my wife) Ironman and Casino Royale. On Ironman, the image quality was certainly a step up from DVD, but it was the sound that really blew (blu) me away. I'd never before heard my home theater setup sound better than my real theater, but there it was. Major clarity and dynamics through an $800 Yamaha receiver.

Casino Royale on the other hand displayed truly stunning picture quality. The opening title sequences were awesome. You could see some film grain on some lower light scenes, but I'm sure thats what it looked like on 35 mm too.

You picked two good releases as your first Blu-ray movies! Casino Royale was not only a pretty good movie, it also shows off the Blu-ray format pretty well. Iron Man was also very good.

The Dark Knight will put your receiver through its paces, as will Disney/Pixar's Cars (basically anything by Pixar has incredible sound mixes). If you like classic movies too, Casablanca and The Searchers should be on your short list.

As far as rental availability goes, give Netflix a try! You get two weeks free to see how they do with delivery to your area, and I've never gotten a Blu-ray disc that couldn't be played (e.g. as a result of damage/scratches). We have one-day turnaround here in Milwaukee, WI and very little waiting for new releases for the most part. Your mileage may vary, but that's what the free trial can do for you.

Welcome to the next generation of home video! Just be prepared to never want to watch a DVD again if you don't have to.... [Smile]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-28-2009, 02:40 PM:

He should really just buy a half way decent UPS since many of those also incorporate a line leveler function. Then he won't be sitting there waiting for the long player re-boot and then the long disk reload.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-28-2009, 06:12 PM:

Oh, you watch, BR burners is gonna come out in throngs in both computer and standalone by then, along with the media that can be affordable.

Then, you're gonna smell the ripping process everywhere.

Netflix and RedBox will definitely have to "get with the program" in this area.

quote: Ron Funderburg
I live outside of town and the power in is subject to fade and spike the result being that the player doesn’t want to boot sometimes.

Hope you got surge protection all over in your house then, esp with them spikes sneaking down the lines. That's major "dirty power" - wonder if a holler to the electric utility company would work...

-Monte

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-28-2009, 06:38 PM:

I wonder if American Electric Power (the company who bought out Public Service company of Oklahoma) provides the electrical service for the Chickasha area. BTW, Chickasha is a half hour's drive down I-44 from Oklahoma City.

I haven't been too fond of AEP in recent years. They've really dragged their feet in dealing with nuisance trees growing up into power lines along back yard fences, alleys, etc. Lots of rural roads in Oklahoma have overgrowth rising into the power lines. It's a good bet some of this is a factor with the power surges and generally dirty power.

quote: Scott Jentsch
Welcome to the next generation of home video! Just be prepared to never want to watch a DVD again if you don't have to....

My DVD collection is doing little more than gathering dust. So much for the virtues of Blu-ray players providing DVD backward compatibility! Oh well, it's better to have the capability there and not need than to need it and not have it.

I've said it's pretty easy to get spoiled to the quality of high definition compared to standard definition. I think this is true for both people who are avidly into home theater as well as mainstream viewers. Once you get used to watching the good stuff you really notice the drop to SD. It's that way with Blu-ray versus DVD and it's even that way for broadcast/cable SDTV and HDTV.

quote: Monte L Fullmer
Oh, you watch, BR burners is gonna come out in throngs in both computer and standalone by then, along with the media that can be affordable.

Blu-ray burners are already fairly affordable, and you can find them in quite a few PCs priced under $1000. BD burners are even starting to become an affordable option for notebook PCs.

I'm skeptical about the BD cracking/ripping aspect. Blu-ray movies may not have totally secure copy protection, but it certainly is more difficult to copy a BD movie than a DVD movie. Add to that the much greater amount of time involved to rip and process all those gigabytes of data.

Posted by Doug Willming (Member # 728) on 12-29-2009, 05:14 PM:

I've accumulated quite a few Blu-Rays; depending on the movie, the quality difference on a 52" monitor can range from spectacular to marginally better. The ones that blow me away are the older classic titles that have been remastered (How the West was Won, South Pacific, etc.)and look like they could have been shot last week. Regarding Netflix, my daughter just got the Netflix access disc for the Playstation 3 to get the streaming films on your TV. I will be buying fewer discs in the future based on what I've seen so far - many of the films are HD and look spectacular. I'd always assumed the quality of the streaming films would be pretty rough, but even most of the non-HD stuff is watchable. The HD films (I checked out DePalma's "Obsession" yesterday, and been watching some 30Rock) look almost as good as BluRay.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 12-29-2009, 06:59 PM:

There were some good new action and adventure movies released today and I just picked up A PERFECT GETAWAY, MARINE 2 and PRINCESS OF MARS all on DVD [Frown]

I just missed picking up a Blu Ray copy of A PERFECT GETAWAY because my Blockbuster store's was already open when I got there 8 minutes before schedule and the only two BD copy they had was already rented. MARINE 2 was released in Blu Ray but the store did not stock it so I had to settle for the DVD. The PRINCESS OF MARS is on DVD only. The DVD cover of this movie states the story of POM was the inspiration for James Cameron AVATAR and was based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burrough, the creator of Tarzan. I know all of these movies are mindless but I think I will enjoy them after disengaging my brain before watching them tonight. A PERFECT GETAWAY is suppose to take place on the island of Kauai here in Hawaii and I was told it is good even if it was filmed in Puerto Rico..

My Blu Ray player does an excellent job up converting DVDS so I know I will enjoy the picture quality even if it will not be true HD. The thing I will miss most is the DTS sound for A PERFECT GETAWAY and MARINE 2

-Claude

Posted by Geena Phillips (Member # 3726) on 12-29-2009, 09:40 PM:

Oh, Claude. Princess of Mars is from The Asylum Home Entertainment, the same good folk who gave us Snakes On A Train, Death Racers and Transmorphers. You might want to leave your brain in another room entirely when you watch it. [Smile]

Posted by Steven J Hart (Member # 2340) on 12-30-2009, 08:29 AM:

I've given the Apple TV another try and downloaded the HD version of Quantum of Solace. This is a 720P download and did not look quite as good as the blu-ray's I've recently watched, but it was much better than some of my other downloads from Apple. I didn't notice any motion artifacts or other weirdness caused by data compression. The picture is MUCH better than the HD I'm getting from my DISH network subscription (also 720P). The data compression used by the satellite providers on HD must be huge.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-30-2009, 09:33 AM:

The HD DVR receivers from Dish Network don't have native signal pass through. If your receiver is set for 720p it will convert every channel to 720p. I have mine set for 1080i since the vast majority of HD cable channels are broadcast in 1080i. Not many networks broadcast in 720p (ABC, FOX, ESPN).

Compression levels on satellite TV are pretty severe. But the rate obviously varies from one channel to the next. The HBO channels often look pretty good while the picture from some of the lesser networks constantly gets riddled with banding, macro-blocking and other issues.

Quite often the free, over the air broadcasts I get from my outdoor antenna look better than the satellite TV channels. But I only get the local ABC, FOX and NBC channels from the antenna.

For HD picture quality, nothing you can get in the home beats Blu-ray.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 12-30-2009, 06:22 PM:

PRINCESS OF MARS was so dreadful I was only able to watch about twenty five minutes of it before I shut it off and switched to regular HDTV broadcasts and tuned in to watch something on public television. I enjoyed MARINE 2. It was not a film that win awards but it was full of action and delivers what it was suppose to do. Although I watched it on a DVD, the picture quality was gorgeous and looked just as good as HD movies on television. There were times when I felt I was watching it on Blu-Ray because that was how good the picture quality was. The movie was filmed at a brand new beach resort at Phuket, Thailand where the 2004 Tsunami took place and it was beautiful.

-Claude

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 01-01-2010, 11:30 AM:

To answer Bobby first you got the electric company no out and out black outs just lights that dip and then brighten and I mean really brighten up. Then it all settles back down.

UPS do help with power dips but not with spikes and I think the spikes we get are as much to blame as anything else.

Blu-Ray trumps all others on quality at this time other than film in a theater where they know how to do film. Like mine!

Claude I knew a princess once she was from Denver not Mars and the title was purely honorary but she was a a PRINCESS for sure! I usually was ready to turn her off after about 15 to 20 minutes as well but she had no off button at all. Funny thing when I had no more money to spend on her she turned herself off to me so fast it made my wallet spin. Ah if I had only known I could have spent it even faster!

OK well back to getting the theater ready for the big New Years Day throng of people, I HOPE!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-01-2010, 01:49 PM:

Unfortunately it'll be a long time until many smaller titles and foreign films get transfered to Blu-Ray. So I still make uise of many of my DVDs all of which look much better upconverted by either the HD-DVD player or the Blu-Ray player. As I get Blu-Ray titles of films I have on DVD I give the DVDs away to those that don't have the titles.

Mark

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-02-2010, 08:24 PM:

If you want to see how good Blu-ray can look and you have $30-$35 to blow, consider buying the Spears & Munsill High Definition Benchmark - Blu-ray Edition. The opening montage is the best image quality I've seen on Blu-ray. The real purpose of the disc is it has professional-grade test patterns etc. so you can do a decent calibration of your HDTV.

See also http://www.spearsandmunsil.com for more info on the disc.