If you are looking for a good Bluray player well then go for the Sony BDP-S350 it is an amazing player and it upscales beautifully its under £200 from play.com
Regards
For £70 more you could have got a multiregion Panasonic that is multiregion for dvd and Bluray
Yes I got them on day of release (after getting £10 each back on the SD version at Blocks) - with Sendit's £12.89 each price it wasn't that costly to upgrade really. Not got around to watching them yet, have bought loads of stuff so I'm a bit behind
Its not really an upgrade.
Life On Mars was not filmed in HD so the Bluray is simply upscaled .
Its clearly not genuine HD .
I would guess its a fraction better than upscaled dvd but I cant say for definite because I sold the dvd's before learning it was not made in HD.
However - if you dont have the show then the BD are worth getting - if you already have the dvd's then dont bother.
But the Bluray sets work out cheaper than the DVD's from many retailers
The answer's already been given in post #7. It was shot on 16mm film, which looks very good in SD but when 16mm is scanned in HD you can see how inferior it is compared to 35mm or HD video.
That's why it's never been shown on BBC HD, and why it's probably not worth getting it on Bluray.
The answer's already been given in post #7. It was shot on 16mm film, which looks very good in SD but when 16mm is scanned in HD you can see how inferior it is compared to 35mm or HD video.
That's why it's never been shown on BBC HD, and why it's probably not worth getting it on Bluray.
Actually it was Super 16 which is much better than standard 16mm.
To see what standard 16 looks like watch The Sweeney,The Professionals and any outside scenes from 70's shows made on studio VT- the 16mm is very poor - but I dont think its been in use for drama for around 20 years
Has anyone else noticed the second-long blooper when Sam and Gene leap over the desks after talking to the old lady - that shot is in video, rather than film? Stands out like a sore thumb, I reckon, but can't find any refs to it online!
Has anyone else noticed the second-long blooper when Sam and Gene leap over the desks after talking to the old lady - that shot is in video, rather than film? Stands out like a sore thumb, I reckon, but can't find any refs to it online!
Is this on the blooper reel or the dvd episode or the Bluray episode?
News Of The World are giving the entire 2 series away over the next 8 weeks, just standard DVD's though :-)
I do want the Blu Ray versions though.
I'd like the Blu Ray version, but if its not proper HD then maybe not.
About the News Of The World giveaways, am i right in saying you only have to collect six of the eight tokens, send them off at the end, with a fiver, and you get the whole set? I suppose even with the cost of the newspaper, that's still only £11. Bargain.
I think you can hand the tokens in at WHSmith each week for free and get the episodes individually, but i can't be bothered.:)
I know people are really into their technology and HD stuff, but life on mars hasn't struck me as a show i must watch in HD, a lot of the scenes are in that dingy police station for starters, its not like there's vivid colours to see
awesome series, but i think ill be sticking to my regular DVD's
It's on the TV broadcast version too. Maybe it was for effect or maybe as it is slo-mo was easer to do with video.
It can't be for effect as it's a glaring mistake and looks rubbish! The rest of the sequence (and indeed episode) is shot in film. As they jump over the desk, it switches to video for a second, then back to film again. This was in the TV broadcast version - I'm guessing it's also on the DVD if Katia can pinpoint the precise time of it!
It can't be for effect as it's a glaring mistake and looks rubbish! The rest of the sequence (and indeed episode) is shot in film. As they jump over the desk, it switches to video for a second, then back to film again. This was in the TV broadcast version - I'm guessing it's also on the DVD
You can see the difference, I wouldn't say it looks rubbish, just different as you say it's only for the couple of seconds or so.
What I can't seem to find is any screenshots of it, so for those of you who took the plunge and grabbed it, care to post any screenies to see how well they've upscaled this?
While it does have the effect of looking like video I doubt whether it was shot on video when the rest of the sequence appears not to be.
Just because it looks like video does not mean it WAS shot on video.
Some years ago a new process was introduced at the BBC called VIDFIRE.
Basically it takes film footage and changes it to make it look like video - the reverse of the "filmising" we often see.
VIDFIRE was used on old DR Who and has been subsequently used on Dads Army and other old shows where the surviving video tape is lost and all that remains is 16mm film so applying the VIDFIRE process gives it back the look of its original video broadcast.
As I understand it Life On Mars was made on Super 16 but VIDFIRE on that shot would make it look like video but I cant think of a reason to do it.
The other option is that the whole thing was made on video and the rest was filmised except for that bit- but AFAIK Kudos do not make anything on video.
Most likely answer could be either intentional artistic licence or that shot was a computer add on because they could not make the jump themselves.
What I can't seem to find is any screenshots of it, so for those of you who took the plunge and grabbed it, care to post any screenies to see how well they've upscaled this?
Screengrabs on a PC screen dont really show improvements between SD and HD that well - so I doubt its worthwhile putting grabs of an upscale on here.
As posted above - if you dont have the series on dvd go for the BD - but of you have the dvd's then upscale it yourself on your HDMI connected player
In case you dont know - ASHES TO ASHES hits Bluray in May.
While it does have the effect of looking like video I doubt whether it was shot on video when the rest of the sequence appears not to be.
Just because it looks like video does not mean it WAS shot on video.
Some years ago a new process was introduced at the BBC called VIDFIRE.
Basically it takes film footage and changes it to make it look like video - the reverse of the "filmising" we often see.
VIDFIRE was used on old DR Who and has been subsequently used on Dads Army and other old shows where the surviving video tape is lost and all that remains is 16mm film so applying the VIDFIRE process gives it back the look of its original video broadcast.
As I understand it Life On Mars was made on Super 16 but VIDFIRE on that shot would make it look like video but I cant think of a reason to do it.
The other option is that the whole thing was made on video and the rest was filmised except for that bit- but AFAIK Kudos do not make anything on video.
Most likely answer could be either intentional artistic licence or that shot was a computer add on because they could not make the jump themselves.
Will we ever know?
As you say, we will probably never know, as I said in my previous post, it could well have been an effect (either intentional or not). It only lasts a few seconds and it doesn't bother me.
Comments
For £70 more you could have got a multiregion Panasonic that is multiregion for dvd and Bluray
Its not really an upgrade.
Life On Mars was not filmed in HD so the Bluray is simply upscaled .
Its clearly not genuine HD .
I would guess its a fraction better than upscaled dvd but I cant say for definite because I sold the dvd's before learning it was not made in HD.
However - if you dont have the show then the BD are worth getting - if you already have the dvd's then dont bother.
But the Bluray sets work out cheaper than the DVD's from many retailers
News Of The World are giving the entire 2 series away over the next 8 weeks, just standard DVD's though :-)
I do want the Blu Ray versions though.
That's why it's never been shown on BBC HD, and why it's probably not worth getting it on Bluray.
Actually it was Super 16 which is much better than standard 16mm.
To see what standard 16 looks like watch The Sweeney,The Professionals and any outside scenes from 70's shows made on studio VT- the 16mm is very poor - but I dont think its been in use for drama for around 20 years
Is this on the blooper reel or the dvd episode or the Bluray episode?
It's on the TV broadcast version too. Maybe it was for effect or maybe as it is slo-mo was easer to do with video.
I would like to locate this- which episode is it?
Series one, episode one, 42 minutes in.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Mars-1-Complete-Blu-ray/dp/B001CK02OQ
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Mars-2-Complete-Blu-ray/dp/B001CK02PA/ref=pd_bxgy_d_h__img_b
if you buy both together on blu ray at the same time its £29.96 delivered.
I'd like the Blu Ray version, but if its not proper HD then maybe not.
About the News Of The World giveaways, am i right in saying you only have to collect six of the eight tokens, send them off at the end, with a fiver, and you get the whole set? I suppose even with the cost of the newspaper, that's still only £11. Bargain.
I think you can hand the tokens in at WHSmith each week for free and get the episodes individually, but i can't be bothered.:)
Yes - I got the Bluray sets for under £13 per series before Xmas and the dvd's were easily available for under £12 each at the same time.
Unfortunately these newspaper giveaways devalue the series and the dvd's - as if dvd's were not already nearly worthless.
If you don't have the show it's worth buying Bluray - but if you already have the dvd's then it's not worth the upgrade
awesome series, but i think ill be sticking to my regular DVD's
It can't be for effect as it's a glaring mistake and looks rubbish! The rest of the sequence (and indeed episode) is shot in film. As they jump over the desk, it switches to video for a second, then back to film again. This was in the TV broadcast version - I'm guessing it's also on the DVD if Katia can pinpoint the precise time of it!
You can see the difference, I wouldn't say it looks rubbish, just different as you say it's only for the couple of seconds or so.
See post #36:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=30378919&postcount=36
I checked it out.
While it does have the effect of looking like video I doubt whether it was shot on video when the rest of the sequence appears not to be.
Just because it looks like video does not mean it WAS shot on video.
Some years ago a new process was introduced at the BBC called VIDFIRE.
Basically it takes film footage and changes it to make it look like video - the reverse of the "filmising" we often see.
VIDFIRE was used on old DR Who and has been subsequently used on Dads Army and other old shows where the surviving video tape is lost and all that remains is 16mm film so applying the VIDFIRE process gives it back the look of its original video broadcast.
As I understand it Life On Mars was made on Super 16 but VIDFIRE on that shot would make it look like video but I cant think of a reason to do it.
The other option is that the whole thing was made on video and the rest was filmised except for that bit- but AFAIK Kudos do not make anything on video.
Most likely answer could be either intentional artistic licence or that shot was a computer add on because they could not make the jump themselves.
Will we ever know?
Screengrabs on a PC screen dont really show improvements between SD and HD that well - so I doubt its worthwhile putting grabs of an upscale on here.
As posted above - if you dont have the series on dvd go for the BD - but of you have the dvd's then upscale it yourself on your HDMI connected player
In case you dont know - ASHES TO ASHES hits Bluray in May.
Upscaled or HD ?
Dunno!!
As you say, we will probably never know, as I said in my previous post, it could well have been an effect (either intentional or not). It only lasts a few seconds and it doesn't bother me.