The General HD Releases Thread!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 22 Oct 2007, 21:26

According to reports on other forums the sony blu-ray transfer of Spider-man 1 is one of the worst HD transfers yet seen

i haven't received mine yet due to the post strike but if true that's appalling. also Spidey 3 usa is coded A while the uk one is region-free

bizarre

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Oct 2007, 22:19

saltysam wrote:also Spidey 3 usa is coded A while the uk one is region-free bizarre

Region 1 DVDs by far the biggest region to be exported. I'd imagine it's the same for Blu-ray.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 23 Oct 2007, 10:17

bradavon wrote:
saltysam wrote:also Spidey 3 usa is coded A while the uk one is region-free bizarre
Region 1 DVDs by far the biggest region to be exported. I'd imagine it's the same for Blu-ray.

it would only make sense to code the region A if it was out months ahead of the rest of the world.in fact it's the opposite,it doesn't come out officially in the usa till next week. the region free aussie blu-ray came out in september and the uk one last week. if anything coding their own disc has probably harmed usa sales-if i was an impatient yank and knew the aussie/uk was region free i'd have imported it. the usa release isn't exactly cheaper.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Oct 2007, 17:20

Yanks next to never import though. They'll happily wait years for a release to get it locally. Even Captain Joe who knows all about it doesn't ever import.

I suspect the RA coding is not just for now but for the future too.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 23 Oct 2007, 20:33

Apparently, the new Kubricks batch of remasters promises to be a let down... Hailz Vitali !

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRevie ... lu-ray.htm

That HD transfert of Clockwork Orange looks just blah. Their captures are actually screenshots, but you just need to compare with their other reviews, to see the difference... Hell, Viva Las Vegas is how a good job is done ! :shock:

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 23 Oct 2007, 21:13

wouldn't say it looks awful-don't think this movie has ever looked great.mine's on the way from Axel.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Oct 2007, 22:07

Thanks DVD Vision. Whose Hailz Vitali?

I wouldn't say it looks awful either but I don't think it's all that good either. Any reviews for 2001 and The Shining? I hope they're not on 2 HD-DVDs but if they are I'll definitely be getting the Blu-Ray version.

I'll be picking up The Shining for sure and probably 2001. I like A Clockwork Orange but it's not a film I'd want to watch very often. It's not one I'm in any rush at all to upgrade my old DVD to.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 23 Oct 2007, 22:12

Leon Vitali is the guardian of Kubrick heritage on home-video, a guy who doesn't understand why 16/9 is better than 4/3, and thinks that having Kubrick movies issued in 16/9 would be ruining the original director perspective intent.

Of course, since then, someone must have explaining to him what 16/9 was. Exactly. But since this guy is in charge of the master's legacy... :shock:

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Oct 2007, 23:02

Thanks.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 24 Oct 2007, 00:50

Good old Gary Tooze. Photographs taken of a image on a crap display shown at less than 10% the size of the source image with heavy compression.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 24 Oct 2007, 08:43

Here's hard proof, posted on another forum, that Kubrick intended his movies in widescreen, (which we got this time around), a storyboard from The Shining annotated by the master.

Mr Vitali originally said Kubrick only wanted his movies on home video in 4/3 format, and that he was out there to preserve the director's intent. Of course, Kubrick wanted that at the time of VHS, it's obvious he would have wanted it in widescreen if HD was around then.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Oct 2007, 16:02

This is cool.

TBH though I don't really care, to me it just looks better in widescreen, despite the cropping.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 24 Oct 2007, 19:19

It's believed that a couple of Toshiba hd-players have been hacked for multi-region SD playback :mrgreen: This is cool news, i won't have to play my region 3/4 dvds on my recorder if a hack comes through for my model

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Oct 2007, 20:10

Chip or remote control hack? USA or UK models?

It is cool.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 25 Oct 2007, 08:14

Bravadon, there's no cropping involved in the 1.77 versions of the Kubrick films.

They just opened up the matte up and down. Since most display overscan the image, you basically see on a plasma or lcd TV exactly the original theater framing, with some minor overscan left and right depending on your settings.

This have been confirmed on several other forums by techs with example, I think I saw one example on Highdef digest.

Actually, for movies that are composed for 1.85, and shot full frame, it's standart procedure (on good DVD publishers), because it protects from cropping the image, the up cropping is the worst especially on hard matte movies or 1.33 films (of course, it doesn't show when played on a computer).

Here's what I found regarding playing SD DVDs region free on european toshiba hd players :

This model is already multiregion, but you need to use the units menu for this. This model is the HD-E1 in Europe, and is set to region 2 for standard DVD's when taken out the box. (but will play all HD-DVD's worldwide). However, you don't need to use a "Hack" to make it play other regions or NTSC DVD's. All you do is go to the settings area using your remote control. The default setting is PAL for this model in Europe, all you do is change this to "AUTO" and hey presto, you can play all regions no problem. it's that simple.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Oct 2007, 14:30

Bloody hell changing it to Auto also removes the regional coding. That is absurdly simple. Give it ago Salty.

Thanks DVD Vision. If it's shot full-frame how can they fit it into a 1.77:1 frame? I tend to get a bit confused at this point.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 25 Oct 2007, 14:56

that hack doesn't work.the E-1 has been out nearly a year and no hack until now has looked like being fortcoming.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Oct 2007, 15:02

Cheers. I had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. I doubt that's even a hack but some stupid Internet rumour.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 25 Oct 2007, 16:21

Thanks, someone should correct that dvdhack site then...

When shooting a movie like Shining, Kubrick would ask the DP to compose for 1.85, but shot a full 1.33 or 1.66 frame, letting more material up and down being captured on the film negative. If they had onsite monitors, they would probably see on them a full 1.37 or 1.66 frame, with some white lines showing inside that frame the 1.85 composed image that would be seen in theaters.

Basically, for theater, they would take the 1.85 frame as intended, and soft matte the unecessary material during the internegative production process. (Like Super 35 if you want). For the precedent video and LD and DVD editions, they just scanned the full 1.37 or 1.66 frame with slight zoomboxing.

When transfering on HD intended for HD-DVD, they just framed the original, intended 1.85 image, and then they opened it up a bit up & down, without loosing anything on the sides, to 1.77. Then they scanned that image. As Vitali said, they probably adjusted the frames up and down on a few shots that they thought might be improved by a slight reframing. It's often done on 1.85 movies shot full frame (I did this when I helped the Necronomicon (Yuzna) HD transfert for example, because some shots looked better adjusted).

Basically, when viewed on a plasma, with overscan in function, you get give or take a couple of pixels, the exact, intended for cinema frame, with only minimal overscan lost on the edges (which you loose whatever film you watch anyway).

With a PC or Mac, you get a few mm of air above and empty space down, it's not the intended frame, but not dramatically bad either (who watches HD-DVD on a computer anyway)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Oct 2007, 17:04

Thanks DVD Vision.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 17 Nov 2007, 23:01

specs for the german hd-dvd of Death Proof out january 7th 2008

* 1080p High-Definition 2.35:1
* DTS-HD 5.1 (English & German)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 (English & German)
* German subtitle option
* Bonus materials include but may not be limited to:
- Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
- Introducing Zoe Bell
- Kurt Russell As Stuntman Mike
- Finding Quentin's Gals
- The Uncut Version of "Baby, It's You" Performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
- The Guys of Death Proof
- Quentin's Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
- Original trailer

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 Nov 2007, 23:34

What's your source? I'm wondering if it's DTS-HD MA or HR? AFAIK no HD-DVD has DD5.1 so I'm guessing that is DD Plus 5.1.

Thanks Salty. I'll be picking it up at some point, but probably not the German HD-DVD as I don't like it enough to pay standard HD prices then German prices on top of that. I can see it being £20, which is too much for me!

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 18 Nov 2007, 14:53

Mary Elizabeth Winstead mmmmm

Still Its one strange thing as we have no idea what all HD versions are gonna be like, not sure if I am getting the German versions or not, as the american version may well be better. If only other countries would announce the Grindhouse films! instead of taking time, as by now most people own the bloody standard dvds! lost sales already.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 18 Nov 2007, 15:03

Personally as long as the AV is up to scratch, it has some extras and is a decent price I'm happy.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 18 Nov 2007, 15:25

But the Grindhouse version may come along as well sooner than we think, its a toss up really. Even the UK had its artwork for standard dvd released the other day, so the UK HD versions may be here very soon as well.