Blu-Ray Owners

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Banjo

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Now that I'm an owner of a Blu-Ray player (PS3)... I just thought that since some of you may own a Blu-Ray player too, we'll want to share recommendations and discussions on Blu-Ray titles.

So far, I've been impressed with the computer-animated movies on Blu-Ray. 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' and 'The Wild'. In fact, I believe Buena Vista (Disney, Touchstone, etc) is subtitling the special features on their Blu-Ray titles which is a great plus. I haven't checked to see 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' is subtitled in that area but I'll check as soon as I get home.

I'll like to see some improvements made with the subtitles... for instance, adding a transparent background so that it won't be difficult to read in some scenes. Not a solid background like with closed captioning, just transparent. FOX's subtitles aren't too bad as they have a solid black outline, but with Disney's subtitles, they are yellow and the outlines are rather thin.

I'll like to add more to this discussion, but I'll have to get more movies on Blu-Ray to share more opinions.

Feel free to add something to the discussion. :)
 
I'm proud to BD owner soon, also support HDMI. :D
 
What's so special about Blu-ray? People tell me it's supposed to look better, but it looks the same to me.
 
Supporting Companies

The Blu-ray Disc Association has member companies from the consumer electronics (CE), information technology (IT), media and software industries. The lists below include current members as well as applicants.

For more information about the various membership levels and how to become a member, please refer to the the About Us section at the top of the screen.

Board of Directors

Apple
Dell
HP
Hitachi
LG
Mitsubishi Electric
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony
Sun Microsystems
TDK
Thomson
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney
Warner Bros.

Contributors

Adobe Systems
Almedio Inc.
Alticast
Aplix Corporation
ArcSoft, Inc.
ATI Technologies Inc.
Atmel Corporation
AudioDev AB
Broadcom Corporation
Canon Inc.
CMC Magnetics Corporation
Coding Technologies GmbH
Cryptography Research Inc.
CyberLink Corp.
DATARIUS Technologies GmbH
DCA Inc.
Deluxe Media Services Inc.
Dolby Laboratories Inc.
DTS, Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Esmertec
Freescale Semiconductor
FUJIFILM Corporation
Fujitsu Ltd.
Gibson Guitar Corp.
Horizon Semiconductor
Imation Corp.
InterVideo Inc.
Kenwood Corporation
Lionsgate Entertainment
LITE-ON IT Corporation
LSI Logic
MediaTek Inc.
Meridian Audio Ltd.
Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co.Ltd.
Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Moser Baer India Limited
NEC Electronics Corporation
Nero
Optodisc Technology Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation
Pixela Corporation
Prodisc Technology Inc.
Pulstec Industrial Co., Ltd.
Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Ritek Corporation
ShibaSoku Co. Ltd.
Sigma Designs Inc.
Sonic Solutions
Sonopress
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
ST Microelectronics
Sunext
Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd.,
Texas Instruments, Inc.
Universal Music Group
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
Visionare Corporation
Zentek Technology Japan, Inc.
ZOOtech Ltd.
Zoran Corporation

Members

Alpine Electronics Inc.
Arima Devices Corporation
Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd.
ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG
Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.
BASF AG
Basler Vision Technologies
BenQ Corporation
B.H.A. Corporation
Bose Corporation
B&W Group
The Cannery
Cheertek Inc.
Cinram Manufacturing Inc.
D&M holdings, Inc.
Daewoo Electronics Corporation
Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Daxon Technology Inc.
Degussa
Eclipse Data Technologies
Elpida Memory, Inc.
ESS Technology Inc.
Expert Magnetics Corp.
Fujitsu Ten Ltd.
Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
GalleryPlayer Media Networks
Gear Software
Hie Electronics, Inc.
Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd.
IMAGICA Corp.
INFODISC Technology Co., Ltd.
Infomedia Inc.
Intersil Corporation
Kadokawa Holdings Inc.
Kaleidescape, Inc.
Kitano Co., Ltd.
Konica Minolta Opto Inc.
Laser Pacific Media Corp.
Lauda Co. Ltd.
Lead Data Inc.
LEADER ELECTRONICS CORP
Lenovo
Linn Products Ltd.
LINTEC Corporation
M2 Engineering AB
MainConcept AG
Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
Must Technology Co., Ltd.
MX Entertainment
Netflix Inc.
Newtech Infosystems Inc.
Nichia Corporation
Nikkatsu Corporation
NTT Electronics Corporation
nVidia Corporation
OC Oerlikon Balzer AG
Omnibus Japan Inc.
Onkyo Corporation
Online Media Technologies Ltd.
Ono Sokki Co., Ltd.
OPT Corporation
Orbit Corp.
Origin Electric Co., Ltd.
Osmosys SA
Pinnacle Systems
PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
Pony Canyon Enterprise
PowerFile
Primera Technology, Inc.
Quanta Storage Inc.
Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Rimage Corporation
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Dr. Schwab Inspection Technology GmbH
Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd.
Singulus Technologies
STEAG ETA-OPTIK GmbH
Sumitomo Bakelite
Tao Group Limited
Targray Technology International Inc.
TEAC Corporation
Teijin Chemicals Ltd.
THX Ltd.
Toei Video Company Ltd.
Toho Company, Ltd.
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
TOPTICA Photonics AG
Trailer Park
UmeDisc Ltd.
Vivendi Universal Games
Yamaha Corporation
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
1K Studios, LLC

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html
 
Pacman, what is "BD"? I am a bit confused, because I use "BR" for "Blu-Ray", but what would "BD" stand for? Blue DVD?
Banjo, are HD DVD DVDS and BR DVDS the same in quality, sound? Both can display up to 1080p and offer 7.1 surround sound. I do know for sure that BR has a much larger storage/memory capacity than HD DVD does. I was having this discussion with Pacman eariler, and Pacman seems to regard you highly as an authority figure on the subject matter of HD DVD and Blu Ray.

Yep, I answered my own question, and my argument is valid.
Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the Division - Engadget

Copied and pasted from link I provided above->Still with us? No? Blu-ray discs are more expensive, but hold more data - there, that's all.

Interesting, I noticed Netflix on the list of contributors for BR. So I checked Netflix's site, and interestingly enough they also offer HD DVD rentals.
 
Last edited:
Dr. Strangelove said:
Pacman, what is "BD"? I am a bit confused, because I use "BR" for "Blu-Ray", but what would "BD" stand for? Blue DVD?
Click to expand...

Blu-Ray Disc (BD). It's becoming a common term used by movie reviewers, so I reckon it'll be what we'll be using soon instead of spelling the whole name.

Banjo, are HD DVD DVDS and BR DVDS the same in quality, sound? Both can display up to 1080p and offer 7.1 surround sound. I do know for sure that BR has a much larger storage/memory capacity than HD DVD does.
Click to expand...

At the moment, many titles on both formats have shown the same picture quality. Though I have heard some potential issues about HD-DVD and DVD combos, but I'll have to get to the bottom of that when I get the chance. Though I've heard that the picture quality of 'Superman Returns' was a great disappointment on all formats considering the fact that it was filmed entirely on a high-definition digital camera, 'Genesis'.

The other day, I was looking at the DVD specs for 'The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 1' on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. I found something interesting, The HD-DVD edition use 'Dolby Digital Plus' audio track while the Blu-Ray use 'PCM 5.1' audio track. I suspect they weren't able to use the PCM 5.1 track on the HD-DVD due to space issues as it's a lossless compression and take up more space than Dolby Digital Plus. However, I don't believe it will affect the audio performance, or that people will notice any difference in general. From what I know, both editions use the VC-1 transfer, so it's obvious they will be equal in picture quality.

I was having this discussion with Pacman eariler, and Pacman seems to regard you highly as an authority figure on the subject matter of HD DVD and Blu Ray.
Click to expand...

I've been following this from the beginning including when they were pushing for HD-DVD when it wasn't even being developed. Quite an interesting subject and it's rather bizarre to see the politics within these two formats. They are just formats, that's it... just formats.

Yep, I answered my own question, and my argument is valid.
Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the Division - Engadget

Copied and pasted from link I provided above->Still with us? No? Blu-ray discs are more expensive, but hold more data - there, that's all.
Click to expand...

True, though that won't be for long. Technology, it's a fast-paced industry and prices tend to go down at a faster rate. On the bright side, the BD titles are nowhere as expensive as DVD titles were when they made their debut. I remember seeing DVD titles coming out with a price tag of at least $50, some in the range of $70 to $100. Now you can get these for $3 bucks on sale. I just got 2 BD titles plus a free BD title on sale.

In fact, blank DVD discs are cheaper to buy than it is to buy blank CDs in Canada.

Interesting, I noticed Netflix on the list of contributors for BR. So I checked Netflix's site, and interestingly enough they also offer HD DVD rentals.
Click to expand...

That makes sense since Netflix is a rental store, they usually rent movies out in all formats.
 
Ah, BD = Bluray Disc. I think I had asked Pacman a few times on AIM, but he never seemed to get around to answering that question directly.

I also am noticing some new DVDS saying on the back, "Mastered in High Definition" when it is clearly not a HD DVD or a BD. Is that for using Component or HDMI cables, to get a "HD" picture out of a DVD? I do know using component is a huge difference, as I do that with my 5 disc DVD player.
 
Dr. Strangelove said:
I also am noticing some new DVDS saying on the back, "Mastered in High Definition" when it is clearly not a HD DVD or a BD. Is that for using Component or HDMI cables, to get a "HD" picture out of a DVD? I do know using component is a huge difference, as I do that with my 5 disc DVD player.
Click to expand...

Most of the DVDs are mastered in high definition. It means the master they used is in high definition, but when they put it onto the DVD, it isn't true HD like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are.

You see, you can upscale DVD movies to 720p, 1080i, 1080p and look great but it definitely won't be a match to the movies on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Though that can be only done through DVD players enabled to upconvert DVDs.

My Mac computer automatically upconvert DVD movies and it look great on my HDTV through VGA... but you can tell that it's not as clarified, nor detailed like it is with the movies on BD/HD-DVD.
 
Banjo said:
Most of the DVDs are mastered in high definition. It means the master they used is in high definition, but when they put it onto the DVD, it isn't true HD like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are.

You see, you can upscale DVD movies to 720p, 1080i, 1080p and look great but it definitely won't be a match to the movies on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Though that can be only done through DVD players enabled to upconvert DVDs.

My Mac computer automatically upconvert DVD movies and it look great on my HDTV through VGA... but you can tell that it's not as clarified, nor detailed like it is with the movies on BD/HD-DVD.
Click to expand...
Can you truly notice the difference between blu-ray, hd, and regular DVDs?
 
VamPyroX said:
Can you truly notice the difference between blu-ray, hd, and regular DVDs?
Click to expand...

Definitely.

No doubt about it, I can tell the difference. On BD/HD-DVD, the picture is far more detailed with more clarity. The textures show up more and are more deep in comparison to what you get on a standard DVD.

In a store, they often use a demo disc instead of a movie. Not only that, I noticed they don't often hook them all up properly either. Plus a lot of people don't know jack about technology to start with, so that's probably why they end up getting horrible picture quality on their television sets.

I play my DVD movies on the TV through a VGA cable from the Mac and it is displayed at the highest quality possible, but when I switch over to the PS3 to play a Blu-Ray movie... the difference can be seen immediately.
 
I have compared the DVD and HD DVD of King Kong on the same TV, running the same time with maybe 1 or 2 second differental, and it is really NOTICEABLE. I can imagine some people looking and going yeah yeah, but you have to really pay attention. Some people will notice right away, some won't. One of the noticeable things about HD DVD is now that the pores on actors face are visible, more than on DVD. The colors are much better, more vibrant on HD DVD too. There are websites that show side by side comparsions,(Pacman posted comparsions of Tokyo Drift a while back), but it is not that noticeable, you will have to go to the real thing, at a friend's , or a retail outlet and see. Best Buy for example will have all kinds of tv, and if you don't notice the difference there, I don't know if you ever will. It is funny, different HD/Plasma/LCDs have different quality pictures. IMO Plasma and LCD are the best, although I think LCD is best for video gaming. I have been playing a little 360 on my Dad's 50' Plasma and it is really nice, but also a little TOO SHINY. LCDs in Gamestops have a perfect picture.
 
You are so right about the pores being visible. Couldn't believe it when I saw it in some movies.

For instance, 'Swordfish'. Wow, what a great-looking flick that was on Blu-Ray. Probably the same on HD-DVD since it's distributed by Warner Bros.

Still, it's worth checking out in HD!
 
seems that its gonna be one long battle btw blu-ray and hd-dvd since both formats look pretty similar...
 
Banjo said:
Now that I'm an owner of a Blu-Ray player (PS3)... I just thought that since some of you may own a Blu-Ray player too, we'll want to share recommendations and discussions on Blu-Ray titles.

So far, I've been impressed with the computer-animated movies on Blu-Ray. 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' and 'The Wild'. In fact, I believe Buena Vista (Disney, Touchstone, etc) is subtitling the special features on their Blu-Ray titles which is a great plus. I haven't checked to see 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' is subtitled in that area but I'll check as soon as I get home.

I'll like to see some improvements made with the subtitles... for instance, adding a transparent background so that it won't be difficult to read in some scenes. Not a solid background like with closed captioning, just transparent. FOX's subtitles aren't too bad as they have a solid black outline, but with Disney's subtitles, they are yellow and the outlines are rather thin.

I'll like to add more to this discussion, but I'll have to get more movies on Blu-Ray to share more opinions.

Feel free to add something to the discussion. :)
Click to expand...

Banjo, myself I am movie freak like you, I am strong dvd collector (but not this out of control haha)...when my wife and I went to Best Buy to get new TV for our bedroom, we are looking around for HDTV and etc...we are confused by the new developed of technology of Blu-Ray, until Best Buy salesperson was able to demonstrates us the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray...of course, I was like kind of dropping off my jaw same as for my wife. However, my wife always taught me valuable lesson by simply said "dont rush buy this right away because it will have bugs and need some room to improve for any errors or make some fix." She is right, her wisdom have always enhancted me to purchase right product at right time. So I am anxious to own blu-ray player but not right now. I am glad you are able to share and and realized what need to be improved!
 
Bugs?

Well, that's the best part... a lot of these glitches and bugs can be fixed through firmware updates. All Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players can be hooked up to the Internet for updates and etc.

As far I am concerned, I don't see anything wrong with the Blu-Ray-equipped PS3 units. I've played several titles on it and it's great. In fact, it's one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market.

Don't worry, Blu-Ray players will be dropping prices in 2007 in a big way... at least I believe it will.
 
Banjo said:
Bugs?

Well, that's the best part... a lot of these glitches and bugs can be fixed through firmware updates. All Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players can be hooked up to the Internet for updates and etc.

As far I am concerned, I don't see anything wrong with the Blu-Ray-equipped PS3 units. I've played several titles on it and it's great. In fact, it's one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market.

Don't worry, Blu-Ray players will be dropping prices in 2007 in a big way... at least I believe it will.
Click to expand...

Yes I frankly do agree with you but however I would prefer wait little later, I am not kind of person to rush to get it right away because sometime rushing can get bored too fast later on...waiting sometime can become worth experience later on! Smile!
 
hmm.. does HDMI support CC as it suppose appear on display while running on Blu-Ray? I'm curious.....
 
EDGE said:
hmm.. does HDMI support CC as it suppose appear on display while running on Blu-Ray? I'm curious.....
Click to expand...

You see, most Blu-Ray titles (or all) don't use CC. They use SDH (Subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing).
 


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