[Dark Helmet]

I have a feeling the next round of MacPro's will have an OPTION for a blu-ray drive even if it is just a reader.

[mdc]

I haven't really been following this thread sorry.

Could anyone tell me what HD-DVD or BluRay movies would be good to get to showcase the format? I'm thinking of getting a player tonight.

[icruise]

And you don't know which kind of player you're going to get?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by mdc 

I haven't really been following this thread sorry.

Could anyone tell me what HD-DVD or BluRay movies would be good to get to showcase the format? I'm thinking of getting a player tonight.

HD DVD and Blu-ray release list

If you have no specific allegiance to either format (and you're not looking for a console), I'd recommend getting the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player, simply because it's the cheapest, and reportedly an excellent player.

It goes for $499 list, and as low as $399 street from a few vendors. (More like $449 usually though apparently.)

[mdc]

Sorry for the confusion. I have a 360 and will most probably be going the HD-DVD drive for the 360 route.

I was wondering which HD-DVD movies are a good showcase of the format. Thanks

[Eug]

Originally Posted by mdc 

Sorry for the confusion. I have a 360 and will most probably be going the HD-DVD drive for the 360 route.

I was wondering which HD-DVD movies are a good showcase of the format. Thanks

OK, I posted this in the other thread, but here it is again:

----

HD DVDs rated by image quality*

*Some of the movies suck despite having gorgeous image quality.
Other movies may have mediocre image quality, but are still great movies.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by mdc 

Sorry for the confusion. I have a 360 and will most probably be going the HD-DVD drive for the 360 route.

I was wondering which HD-DVD movies are a good showcase of the format. Thanks

The King Kong movie that comes with it. The movie itself is horrible (and loooong) but the graphics are out of this world. The scene with a close-up of Jack Black's face with dirt on it really shows the clarity and detail of high def DVDs.

[mdc]

Thanks for the suggestions, Eug, that's a nice list based on quality.

I bought the 360 HD-DVD drive tonight with King Kong (came with it), The Corpse Bride, Troy, The Last Samurai, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
I watched a little of The Corpse Bride (since I have it on DVD) and I was shocked at how good HD-DVD looks.
As a little test we put the DVD in our Samsung HDMI 'upscaling' DVD player and paused it on a scene*, paused the HD-DVD on the same scene, and flipped between them. We're both really impressed. The level of detail is so noticeable.

I'm impressed

[Brien]

Good to know, I can't wait to get one of these myself. Here's hoping Santa listened.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by mdc 

As a little test we put the DVD in our Samsung HDMI 'upscaling' DVD player and paused it on a scene*, paused the HD-DVD on the same scene, and flipped between them. We're both really impressed. The level of detail is so noticeable.

Funny, I did exactly the same thing with the Blu-ray version of Corpse Bride. It's a very eye-opening comparison. This was the first Blu-ray movie I had seen for which I also owned the DVD, and I was surprised at the difference. Of course there is the difference in sharpness, but also the colors on the Blu-ray version seemed much more vivid. It impressed me enough to make me buy a few more movies.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Funny, I did exactly the same thing with the Blu-ray version of Corpse Bride. It's a very eye-opening comparison. This was the first Blu-ray movie I had seen for which I also owned the DVD, and I was surprised at the difference. Of course there is the difference in sharpness, but also the colors on the Blu-ray version seemed much more vivid. It impressed me enough to make me buy a few more movies.

I was playing at the Sony Style store yesterday, and they had a bunch of test movies... I was amazed with Black Hawk Down.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Funny, I did exactly the same thing with the Blu-ray version of Corpse Bride. It's a very eye-opening comparison. This was the first Blu-ray movie I had seen for which I also owned the DVD, and I was surprised at the difference. Of course there is the difference in sharpness, but also the colors on the Blu-ray version seemed much more vivid. It impressed me enough to make me buy a few more movies.

Ya corpse is an AMAZING transfer. The blacks* in it are crisp and perfect.

*Blacks meaning black levels and shadow detail.

I also got X3. Stupid movie but it looks nice. Underworld is also a very good transfer.

[Dark Helmet]

BenQ's BW1000 Blu-ray Disc recorder for PCs hitting Japan: writes 50GBs for less - Engadget

[icruise]

How much do BD-Rs cost?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by icruise 

How much do BD-Rs cost?

Way too much (as do HD DVD-Rs). $15-30 for BD-R SL and $15-25 for HD DVD-R SL.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker 

Way too much (as do HD DVD-Rs). $15-30 for BD-R SL and $15-25 for HD DVD-R SL.

It will drop really quick though. I remember when DVD-R DL shipped they were outrageously expensive but within 6-8 months they went way down.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

It will drop really quick though. I remember when DVD-R DL shipped they were outrageously expensive but within 6-8 months they went way down.

I'd be surprised to see top tier quality HD DVD-R or BD-R commonly under US$5 before 2008.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug 

I'd be surprised to see top tier quality HD DVD-R or BD-R commonly under US$5 before 2008.

$10 is worth it for me to get 50 gigs.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

$10 is worth it for me to get 50 gigs.

I'd be surprised to see top tier quality 50GB BD-R commonly under US$10 before 2008.