Blu-Ray != Good Quality

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:30 pm

He can use the controller as a remote too.

Asherdude · Post by **Asherdude** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:47 pm

Ceph wrote:If it costs the same, wouldn't you rather get a game system combined with a BD player? I wonder if there's really such a big difference between the audio types, and why wouldn't a programmable universal remote work with a PS3?

The PS3 doesn't have an IR sensor. And I'm not interested in the PS3's gaming abilities. You're talking to an old schooler. I hardly ever play games on my 360. I only got it for XBLA.

Asherdude · Post by **Asherdude** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:32 am

I finally got one. I went with the Sony BDP-S301 instead of the Samsung. Sams has them for $377 and it came with an HDMI cable. So all in all, it was about $350. Not bad at all.

My first movie: Total Recall. A great flick!

gavin19 · Post by **gavin19** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:54 am

Total Recall looked great, better than most that I've seen so far. Damn shame that my old favourite Predator wasn't as spectacular as it should have been

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:34 am

I got one for my brother as a wedding present. Got a Samsung as Fry's had them for 300 bucks. Already got a cheap HDMI cable, and Resident Evil Apocalypse and Die Hard 4 looked amazing. No macroblocking, no color fringes. What surprised me the most is that my mom's old plasma does 1080P.

I cannot wait to see the Fifth Element.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:03 am

Specineff wrote:Already got a cheap HDMI cable, and Resident Evil Apocalypse and Die Hard 4 looked amazing. ... I cannot wait to see the Fifth Element.

See, that's what I'm talking about. Hi-res crap is still crap.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:36 am

Stormwatch wrote: See, that's what I'm talking about. Hi-res crap is still crap.

Oh, great. Another person to come in and shit on a thread by telling posters why what they like is so bad. Full points for originality (to me, for the sarcasm).

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:26 am

Stormwatch wrote: See, that's what I'm talking about. Hi-res crap is still crap.

Indeed, Mac boy.

undamned wrote:We aren't rating based on the movie content, we're talking visual quality.
-ud

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:10 am

Just to update.

Watched my first Paramount movie yesterday, which was Spiderwick, very impressed with that movie.

Alot of bonus features will only work on PS3 and Panasonic BMP-30 BD players (might have got that model no wrong). Samsungs so far have the worst compatibility of any player. Usually it takes Samsung weeks to get F/W out and that sucks if you just bought the latest movie only for it to crash on you before the menu screen.

I thought Last Samurai looked great on Blu-ray. If you have an LCD I would automatically put the backlight to 2 or 3 in a dark room. Put the Sharpness to 0 by default and turn off all digital noise filters.

The thing is with blu-ray, it goes by the old adage that all cars drive good on perfect roads. Just because you have a blu-ray player does not mean you are getting the best it can be with what you have.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:25 am

Everyone should buy BBC's Planet Earth series. It's like 550 minutes, $70 USD, and amazing. There's a few grainy reels, but overall, it's the best Blue Ray I've seen.

gavin19 · Post by **gavin19** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:33 am

GaijinPunch wrote:Everyone should buy BBC's Planet Earth series. It's like 550 minutes, $70 USD, and amazing. There's a few grainy reels, but overall, it's the best Blue Ray I've seen.

Seconded, the quality is fantastic. Not to mention it's a must watch if you haven't seen it already, even if you can't get it on HD.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:13 pm

Stormwatch wrote: Hi-res crap is still crap.

:D:D You win!

Does anyone actually watch films anymore, or just the picture quality?

antron · Post by **antron** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:33 pm

MX7 wrote: Does anyone actually watch films anymore, or just the picture quality?

yes.

The Fifth Element looked like shit, so they remastered it, but I'm stuck with the shit.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:41 pm

Hmmmmm? Are you saying you like it?

The Fith Element is such a great film. Very immersive. Will deffo be cult for years to come. Shame no one really has the balls to make a film like it these days. In any case, I'm not sure a facelift would change the overall quality at all.

antron · Post by **antron** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:45 pm

MX7 wrote:Hmmmmm? Are you saying you like it?

The Fith Element is such a great film. Very immersive. Will deffo be cult for years to come. Shame no one really has the balls to make a film like it these days. In any case, I'm not sure a facelift would change the overall quality at all.

I like the film but the first Blu-Ray release looked very grainy, people complained, they remastered it, but they didn't send me a new copy!

benstylus · Post by **benstylus** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:51 pm

Ceph wrote:why wouldn't a programmable universal remote work with a PS3?

possibly the PS3 uses bluetooth instead of regular infrared like most remotes.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:48 pm

benstylus wrote:
Ceph wrote:why wouldn't a programmable universal remote work with a PS3?
possibly the PS3 uses bluetooth instead of regular infrared like most remotes.

PS3 is endowed with Bluetooth from the get-go -- best to get the official PS3 Blu-Ray Remote. Is only $24.99 USD and not a bad price to pay for in the first place. The absolute minimum fw 1.30 on the PS3 is needed for the Sony Bluetooth BR remote to work with it properly... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:54 pm

The only problem with the PS3 (and PS2) remote control is that there's no way to zoom.

Post by **undamned** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:06 pm

Ganelon wrote:The only problem with the PS3 (and PS2) remote control is that there's no way to zoom.

What are you watching that you need a zoom for?

-ud

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:27 pm

^^^Something you probably wouldn't want to see in hi-def anyway.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:45 pm

The DVD players that have built-in Nuon console capabilities do have that "zooming in" feature as do Panasonic DVD players as well... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

antron · Post by **antron** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:14 pm

There is a 3rd party IR to bluetooth adapter out there that just sits next to your PS3. The only reason to get it is so you can use your universal remote.

D · Post by D » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:04 am

In theory it should be possible to use a universal remote for the ps3, but the official remote is bleutooth, but the third party ones use these usb devices, so you could buy one of those, but I think it is not possible to turn the unit on! Off should be possible though. Should, dunno for sure.
All those winning about blu-ray and HD in general need to actually go see it before they rant about it. New is not always better, but blu ray is better
!
But I have to admit that the ps3 has great dvd playing quality, so your dvd's will look as crisp as they possibly can.

antron wrote:There is a 3rd party IR to bluetooth adapter out there that just sits next to your PS3. The only reason to get it is so you can use your universal remote.

Please show me where I can find such an item please!

Ganelon wrote:The only problem with the PS3 (and PS2) remote control is that there's no way to zoom.

The zoom function is under the normal Triangle funtions!
But some tv's like my sony can only zoom 480p or lower sources, but my panasonic tv's can zoom with any resolution.

Asherdude · Post by **Asherdude** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:25 am

D wrote:
antron wrote:There is a 3rd party IR to bluetooth adapter out there that just sits next to your PS3. The only reason to get it is so you can use your universal remote.
Please show me where I can find such an item please!

I came across this during my research.

NYKO Blu-Wave Infrared Remote

One problem. Since it runs though the USB port, it won't turn the PS3 on or off.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:43 am

Twiddle wrote:nexxgen media sucks because companies are not likely to spend resources on the effort needed to do transfers of a sufficient quality for the format (even though they are doing so as of late), which doesn't help that the only people who care aren't a terribly big customer base overall

I read through some reviews of the early releases (like Terminator, I guess that came out for HD-DVD) and it seemed that for these early releases there was a wild variation between companies trying and those not caring. That bears out some of what you're saying, although I wonder how much more fuss there would've been over the new formats if every picture was carefully mastered.

I mean, most folks just think "new = BETTER, ALWAYS" and yet they don't mind horrible repellent dot crawl on their comcast box and 50 incher

Anyway, I think Microsoft should thumb their nose at everybody and start making 360s with HD-DVD drives for newer games. That'll teach 'em!

BryanM · Post by **BryanM** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:01 am

Ed Oscuro wrote:Anyway, I think Microsoft should thumb their nose at everybody and start making 360s with HD-DVD drives for newer games. That'll teach 'em!

Haha, that'd be freaking hilarious. They might as well put a Betamax and an 8-track player in there while they're at it.

Also: Protip: "Blue ray" is bullshit. The laser is actually PURPLE.

I'm also not convinced this is going to be a long lasting format. Moving into the ultraviolet/holographic is relatively close by in the grand scheme of things.

Though obviously far more interested in OLED smashing LCD's into a footnote of history. My CRT is getting a bit senile here...

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:54 am

Yes the quality varies hugely, but having your screen set up well is also a must.

Turn off noise reduction - you'll start seeing the film grain again, but it makes the picture look sharper overall, and stops that 'wax face' effect you can sometimes end up with.

I would give Blade Runner 5* on PQ, I think they've done the best they can with it short of re-filming very dark scenes.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:18 am

I'm quite a big Blu-ray consumer, and must say the disc quality varies immensely from one disc to another. Reading the reviews of the discs before buying makes lots of sense, especially if you've already got a huge DVD collection and are looking to "upgrade" things. Many budget releases (28 days later, Robocop, Sideways... those come to mind because I've watched them within the last week) look almost identical in HD and in SD. Sure there are good things here and there, but it isn't worth it. So far, all the Pixar / Disney discs that I have viewed had excellent PQ, and here are a few others that are great, too: Serenity, Pan's Labyrinth, The Fall, Children of Men, the Bourne trilogy...

Off the top of my head, but obviously there are a lot more. I just don't have my movies in front of me.

junkeR · Post by **junkeR** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:44 am

I had heard that the Fifth Element blu-ray transfer wasn't the best, so I purchased the DVD fro 5 dollars from my local Wal-mart. I'm trying to save money as of late, so I pretty much stopped buying blu-ray movies and am sticking with DVD at the moment.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:56 am

I must be up to 150+ movie discs by now.

From experience anything Paramount, Universal, Disney is top notch and shouldn't be questioned for PQ. Until I see a bad disc from them I'm happy with the fact that they SHOULD keep up the pace.

Fox - Only Predator let me down. Everything else has been stellar.

Remember, some studio's do better versions outside the USA. Total Recall in the UK is done by optimum studios and not Lionsgate who made quite a rubbish disc for the BD Launch in the USA.

Not so much for USA people, in Europe inc France (especially France), Germany and the UK there are Steelbook editions of a lot of movies. They are limited in numbers and often sky rocket in price. So always try to pre-order a movie in steelbook format.

Example -

You could go with the USA Gladiator coming out soon -

Buy this, it will be your standard $28 from Amazon, probably lose value the moment you buy it.

Or you could buy the region free steelbook from the UK -

At £13.99 its a steal. Especially since the packaging (imo) is much nicer. Down the road this steelbook is bound to fetch $100 easily imo. Its one of the AAA movies that actually has a steelbook edition. It will be region free.

So just another thing to think about when buying blu rays. Buy an investment if you can.