There are a few Blu Ray discs that look no better than DVD.
A lot of Blu Rays also have the same amount of grain in the picture.
But then there are some really good looking Blu Ray movies like the Alien Anthology that has often gone down to less than a tenner.
The jump from DVD to Blu Ray just hasn't been anywhere near as impressive as the jump from VHS to DVD.
thats because VHS was such shit quality, plus cropped picture and stereo sound and dropouts etc. it's next to impossible to top an improvement like that
Possibly because it takes so long to actually play a film in a BD player - it really pisses you off
yeah, it will take an extra 4% to watch a movie played at the proper speed without PAL speedup and voices raised by a half seitone, atmospheric scores ruined by the wrong notes and comedy and dramatic timing screwed. that's 4 extra minutes for ever 100 minutes of footage
it's no wonder people can't cope with watching movies at the right speed, especially if they don't half ad breaks every 20 minutes to let you pee
Yet many of the same people insist on getting a 1080p TV?
They do - because a higher number must mean it is better
I'm always surprised readin these boards the ammount of people spending hundreds of pounds on a new TV and then plugging SCART devices into them...doesn't make any sense to me.
i've been looking for a while as i was thinking about the BDXL models if i could get at a decent price because the triple and quad layer discs cost about as much as the drive does at the moment, and there doesn't seem to be any sign of it taking off
AFAIK, the problem with BDXL is that anything above dual layer won't be compatible with existing Blu-Ray players (*), so in that respect it's almost like a new format.
Unless they make support for it standard in all new players, I don't think it ever *will* take off. (True, it might have a niche for data use, but it's mass-market adoption that forces down the price, which in turn encourages further adoption and so goes the "virtuous circle"; if that doesn't happen, it'll probably remain expensive, as I don't think computer backup use is a big enough market on its own).
(*) Even just for playback AFAIK; it'd be less of a problem if it was only recording that needed extra support, like happened with DVD+R DL, where a recorded disc could generally be played back in a regular player.
if you download a ripped bluray iso and burned it, the quality would be exactly the same. a full 50gb iso would take me an hour to download, so about half the time than a movie, and then takes about 20 mins to burn. a single layer disc would be about half an hour and about 8-10 mins to burn
It would be quicker to shoplift it. And just as legal
It would be quicker to shoplift it. And just as legal
but then you would need to wait for the bluray to get released in the shops, whilst you could download it days/weeks before then. sometimes months
and you would still need to get dressed, and take a trip to the shop, steal it and then get back home again, whereas someone could literally just wakeup in the morning, the pc is next to them in the bedroom and left on overnight, they click a few things, set it downloading, have a the three S's, make some breakfast and eat it, get dressed and the disc is already downloaded, so they just need to burn it, which could be burned and ready quicker than they could go uptown and shoplift and back again
so it's probably quicker to download and burn, and just as legal. and that's why piracy is far more rampant than shoplifting, it's quicker and easier and less risk of getting caught
All the technical stuff aside the simple answer is I think BR is a dying format, I have a BR Player and one film Gamer and I only bought that because it was cheep, DVD quality is acceptable, BR cost more and if you go into your local supermarket the choice is very limited, it's all downhill for BR.
All the technical stuff aside the simple answer is I think BR is a dying format, I have a BR Player and one film Gamer and I only bought that because it was cheep, DVD quality is acceptable, BR cost more and if you go into your local supermarket the choice is very limited, it's all downhill for BR.
i'd agree BR is a dying format, but then dvd is a dead format. optical media in general is dying, from cd to BR. most people just want to consume the media, few are hung up on the bit of plastic that comes with it, especially with the smartphone/ipod/streamer/mediatank generation. discs just take up piles of space
My Sony player loads blurays just as fast as dvds, don't see a problem here. Maybe an issue with 1st gen hardware.
Every one (including current Sony ones) I've seen takes ages before you can start watching a film, depending on the actual disc to some extend, many seem to have to load masses of data before they can start playing.
cant agree with u Nigel on this on the basis on what i have here (BDP-S480). I bought the file, the Fourth Kind last w/end on BluRay, and it loads straight away. There are trailers and things before the film but thats not loading time, and in case the same goes for DVD.
I think i have one Bluray disc which brings up an *energy bar* but even that only lasts a few sec's.
cant agree with u Nigel on this on the basis on what i have here (BDP-S480). I bought the file, the Fourth Kind last w/end on BluRay, and it loads straight away. There are trailers and things before the film but thats not loading time, and in case the same goes for DVD.
I think i have one Bluray disc which brings up an *energy bar* but even that only lasts a few sec's.
Some blu-ray disks load much faster than others. For example in the recent Harry Potter blu-ray connection the first few disks load quickly whereas the later ones take much longer, much more importantly the earlier disks let you stop and restart the disk which the later ones don't.
So much depends on the authoring whereas DVD was much more consistent. For myself I couldn't care less about the slow start up but the not being able to stop and restart at the same place on many disks is REALLY annoying and inexcusable in an "upgrade".
thats because VHS was such shit quality, plus cropped picture and stereo sound and dropouts etc. it's next to impossible to top an improvement like that
I don't remember ever thinking that VHS video or sound quality was bad, unless the tape was a really old rental and the tape was physically damaged. A brand new VHS tape gave no problems.
It was the bulkiness of the VHS tape and its box, the need to rewind and fast forward and the risk that the tape would get damaged that encouraged me to move to DVD.
I can enjoy a downloaded movie every bit as much as a DVD.
I now have hundreds of DVDs and most of them have only ever been watched once. Much like the VHS tapes that I previously bought.
I haven't bothered with Bluray. There are far too many boxes under my TV as it is and it just seems a bit like the emperor's new clothes to those of us who care more about the film than the sharpness of the image.
Just heard the PS4 is going to still have Blu Ray so hopefully will help keep the format going for another few years as I really like Blu Rays.
I too really like Blu Ray and I currently use a fat PS3 80GB as my player.
I always prefer to have a physical as opposised to a downloaded copy.
But having said that I like it when you buy a Blu Ray and you get a digital copy disc or a code that allowes me to download a copy to my iPad 1 and iPod Touch 5th Generation.
So I get the best of both worlds.
It is a shame that there are still films some of which I own on DVD have not yet been released on Blu Ray.
Mr Bean The Ultimate Disarster Movie
Bullitt (a DTS 5.1 surround sound version)
Buster
Driven
Duel (Steven Spileberg first film from 1970)
Frauds
Kart Racer
Short Ciurcit 2
Starr Trek Best Of Both Worlds (2 part episode on one disc like the VHS version that I own and the best Strar Trek episode of all time)
Team America World Police
Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 (2 Disc set)
Winning (staring Paul Newman)
I don't remember ever thinking that VHS video or sound quality was bad, unless the tape was a really old rental and the tape was physically damaged. A brand new VHS tape gave no problems.
Clearly you are not bothered about picture and sound quality unless it gets really bad - that's not a criticism, it's just the way you are and you are probably in the majority. (The reason so many now have HD TVs is because that's almost all you can get and they are status symbols for some).
DVD was a major step forward in viewing convenience compared to VHS so was bound to take off whereas blu-ray is a small step backwards in that respect. Those of us concerned about picture quality will go for blu-ray but the rest will just see it as no advantage over DVD and will not be too bothered whether have blu-ray or not.
First, don't expect marvels from the additional resolution that Blu-ray affords. I saw the film in a cinema in the mid-1970s and I remember being disappointed even then at the poor visual quality. The cash-strapped Pythons must have chosen the cheapest film stock in the shop. [..] A hasty shoot using cheap stock during a period of relentless overcast days is never going to make for a dazzling visual result. In fact, even the rostrum animations look grainy.
I suppose one can apply digital noise reduction, but there are the two issues of this giving things an excessively smooth, fake-look if it's overdone (which would be a particular problem with the large amounts needed to make very grainy material like the above look good) and whether- even if done well- it's faithful to the original.
I too really like Blu Ray and I currently use a fat PS3 80GB as my player.
I always prefer to have a physical as opposised to a downloaded copy.
But having said that I like it when you buy a Blu Ray and you get a digital copy disc or a code that allowes me to download a copy to my iPad 1 and iPod Touch 5th Generation.
So I get the best of both worlds.
It is a shame that there are still films some of which I own on DVD have not yet been released on Blu Ray.
Mr Bean The Ultimate Disarster Movie
Bullitt (a DTS 5.1 surround sound version)
Buster
Driven
Duel (Steven Spileberg first film from 1970)
Frauds
Kart Racer
Short Ciurcit 2
Starr Trek Best Of Both Worlds (2 part episode on one disc like the VHS version that I own and the best Strar Trek episode of all time)
Team America World Police
Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 (2 Disc set)
Winning (staring Paul Newman)
If you are interested I'm fairly sure of the following.....
Thunderbirds 6 is on Australian Bluray region B.
Short Circuit 2 is on USA Bluray region A, B untested.
If you are interested I'm fairly sure of the following.....
Thunderbirds 6 is on Australian Bluray region B.
Short Circuit 2 is on USA Bluray region A, B untested.
Thank you for the info.
I already have Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 2 disc set on region 2 UK DVD and they both have Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.
I don't currently own Short Circuit 2 on DVD as I am waiting for a UK region 2 Blu Ray release.
And there would be no point buying the Blu Ray versions that you mention because they would probably not work on a UK PS3 or a standard UK Blu Ray as they will both only play Blu Ray disc that are region 2 and possible region 0.
My DVD player which is the Denon DVD-3910 is multi region. So it will discs from any region.
Blu Ray players that are multi region for DVD can be fairly easy to find but Blu Ray players that are multi region for Blu Ray are quit hard to find.
Other than many BluRay films looking "slightly" crisper than the DVD version on a small LCD (23-26in), on some there really is quite a big step up on these smaller screens. My "demo bluray" is Das Boot, where on many of the underwater shots you can easily see where the BluRay is streets ahead of the blocky DVD version. I get the impression that this is as much to do with specific remastering in the PC as it is being on a higher resolution disc though.
My BD copy of Bullitt has DD2.0 soundtrack, afaik it's DD2.0 on HD DVD as well......
Mono at the movies, remastered for BD/HD DVD?
it's probably exactly the same as the bluray. it's 2.0 english and a few foreign audios in 1.0. it lists 5.1 for some of the extras
the 2 disc SE dvd is 2.0 stereo surround and 1.0 mono - english only. i can't see the old 1 disc dvd but it's probably the same but i think the SE was a better transfer
it does look good in HD though. great lalo schifrin soundtrack like shifting gears
Comments
thats because VHS was such shit quality, plus cropped picture and stereo sound and dropouts etc. it's next to impossible to top an improvement like that
yeah, it will take an extra 4% to watch a movie played at the proper speed without PAL speedup and voices raised by a half seitone, atmospheric scores ruined by the wrong notes and comedy and dramatic timing screwed. that's 4 extra minutes for ever 100 minutes of footage
it's no wonder people can't cope with watching movies at the right speed, especially if they don't half ad breaks every 20 minutes to let you pee
They do - because a higher number must mean it is better
I'm always surprised readin these boards the ammount of people spending hundreds of pounds on a new TV and then plugging SCART devices into them...doesn't make any sense to me.
AFAIK, the problem with BDXL is that anything above dual layer won't be compatible with existing Blu-Ray players (*), so in that respect it's almost like a new format.
Unless they make support for it standard in all new players, I don't think it ever *will* take off. (True, it might have a niche for data use, but it's mass-market adoption that forces down the price, which in turn encourages further adoption and so goes the "virtuous circle"; if that doesn't happen, it'll probably remain expensive, as I don't think computer backup use is a big enough market on its own).
(*) Even just for playback AFAIK; it'd be less of a problem if it was only recording that needed extra support, like happened with DVD+R DL, where a recorded disc could generally be played back in a regular player.
It would be quicker to shoplift it. And just as legal
but then you would need to wait for the bluray to get released in the shops, whilst you could download it days/weeks before then. sometimes months
and you would still need to get dressed, and take a trip to the shop, steal it and then get back home again, whereas someone could literally just wakeup in the morning, the pc is next to them in the bedroom and left on overnight, they click a few things, set it downloading, have a the three S's, make some breakfast and eat it, get dressed and the disc is already downloaded, so they just need to burn it, which could be burned and ready quicker than they could go uptown and shoplift and back again
so it's probably quicker to download and burn, and just as legal. and that's why piracy is far more rampant than shoplifting, it's quicker and easier and less risk of getting caught
Prices of blu ray movies varys a lot. Some are same price or just a tad higher than dvd.
i'd agree BR is a dying format, but then dvd is a dead format. optical media in general is dying, from cd to BR. most people just want to consume the media, few are hung up on the bit of plastic that comes with it, especially with the smartphone/ipod/streamer/mediatank generation. discs just take up piles of space
Every one (including current Sony ones) I've seen takes ages before you can start watching a film, depending on the actual disc to some extend, many seem to have to load masses of data before they can start playing.
I think i have one Bluray disc which brings up an *energy bar* but even that only lasts a few sec's.
Some blu-ray disks load much faster than others. For example in the recent Harry Potter blu-ray connection the first few disks load quickly whereas the later ones take much longer, much more importantly the earlier disks let you stop and restart the disk which the later ones don't.
So much depends on the authoring whereas DVD was much more consistent. For myself I couldn't care less about the slow start up but the not being able to stop and restart at the same place on many disks is REALLY annoying and inexcusable in an "upgrade".
It was the bulkiness of the VHS tape and its box, the need to rewind and fast forward and the risk that the tape would get damaged that encouraged me to move to DVD.
I can enjoy a downloaded movie every bit as much as a DVD.
I now have hundreds of DVDs and most of them have only ever been watched once. Much like the VHS tapes that I previously bought.
I haven't bothered with Bluray. There are far too many boxes under my TV as it is and it just seems a bit like the emperor's new clothes to those of us who care more about the film than the sharpness of the image.
I too really like Blu Ray and I currently use a fat PS3 80GB as my player.
I always prefer to have a physical as opposised to a downloaded copy.
But having said that I like it when you buy a Blu Ray and you get a digital copy disc or a code that allowes me to download a copy to my iPad 1 and iPod Touch 5th Generation.
So I get the best of both worlds.
It is a shame that there are still films some of which I own on DVD have not yet been released on Blu Ray.
Mr Bean The Ultimate Disarster Movie
Bullitt (a DTS 5.1 surround sound version)
Buster
Driven
Duel (Steven Spileberg first film from 1970)
Frauds
Kart Racer
Short Ciurcit 2
Starr Trek Best Of Both Worlds (2 part episode on one disc like the VHS version that I own and the best Strar Trek episode of all time)
Team America World Police
Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 (2 Disc set)
Winning (staring Paul Newman)
This has as I have it on bluray
An absolute classic that really needs to be watched in the highest definition possible!
Clearly you are not bothered about picture and sound quality unless it gets really bad - that's not a criticism, it's just the way you are and you are probably in the majority. (The reason so many now have HD TVs is because that's almost all you can get and they are status symbols for some).
DVD was a major step forward in viewing convenience compared to VHS so was bound to take off whereas blu-ray is a small step backwards in that respect. Those of us concerned about picture quality will go for blu-ray but the rest will just see it as no advantage over DVD and will not be too bothered whether have blu-ray or not.
My BD copy of Bullitt has DD2.0 soundtrack, afaik it's DD2.0 on HD DVD as well......
Mono at the movies, remastered for BD/HD DVD?
The problem is that if the original source isn't that great, then the Blu-Ray isn't going to look any better than that.
This review of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail Blu-Ray comments in its poor visual (and audio) quality, but notes that:-
First, don't expect marvels from the additional resolution that Blu-ray affords. I saw the film in a cinema in the mid-1970s and I remember being disappointed even then at the poor visual quality. The cash-strapped Pythons must have chosen the cheapest film stock in the shop. [..] A hasty shoot using cheap stock during a period of relentless overcast days is never going to make for a dazzling visual result. In fact, even the rostrum animations look grainy.
I suppose one can apply digital noise reduction, but there are the two issues of this giving things an excessively smooth, fake-look if it's overdone (which would be a particular problem with the large amounts needed to make very grainy material like the above look good) and whether- even if done well- it's faithful to the original.
Thunderbirds 6 is on Australian Bluray region B.
Short Circuit 2 is on USA Bluray region A, B untested.
Thank you for the info.
I already have Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 2 disc set on region 2 UK DVD and they both have Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.
I don't currently own Short Circuit 2 on DVD as I am waiting for a UK region 2 Blu Ray release.
And there would be no point buying the Blu Ray versions that you mention because they would probably not work on a UK PS3 or a standard UK Blu Ray as they will both only play Blu Ray disc that are region 2 and possible region 0.
My DVD player which is the Denon DVD-3910 is multi region. So it will discs from any region.
Blu Ray players that are multi region for DVD can be fairly easy to find but Blu Ray players that are multi region for Blu Ray are quit hard to find.
Other than many BluRay films looking "slightly" crisper than the DVD version on a small LCD (23-26in), on some there really is quite a big step up on these smaller screens. My "demo bluray" is Das Boot, where on many of the underwater shots you can easily see where the BluRay is streets ahead of the blocky DVD version. I get the impression that this is as much to do with specific remastering in the PC as it is being on a higher resolution disc though.
it's probably exactly the same as the bluray. it's 2.0 english and a few foreign audios in 1.0. it lists 5.1 for some of the extras
the 2 disc SE dvd is 2.0 stereo surround and 1.0 mono - english only. i can't see the old 1 disc dvd but it's probably the same but i think the SE was a better transfer
it does look good in HD though. great lalo schifrin soundtrack like shifting gears