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Ja, som tråd ämnet säger, en bra pressning med optimal kvalitet och hög prestenda.
Bakom alla dessa fina bild pressningar ligger VC-1, som förklaras bäst här på This Is HD DVD Video.
Även ljudet förklaras på This Is HD DVD Audio
Första titeln att börja listan på är Nine Inch Nails Live: Beside You in Time.
Den fick 5/5. En femma för Bild och en femma för Ljud.
"Without a doubt, this is the best music performance yet released on HD DVD."
Och just det, en referens titlel enligt wsr som jag läser kräver minst 4.5/4.5, så vi utgår från dessa. Inga andra titlar förtjänar referens värde.
Däremot finns det många titlar som uppfyller ordet "eller" i tråd ämnet ovan, dessa Eller titlar skrivs med Grön Text. Med andra ord en 4.0/5 är en Eller titel.
Referens titlarna skrivs med Röd Text
Åter till ämnet.
En annan tungviktare är King Kong 5/5 wsr: "This is one of the best high-definition releases to date on either format.
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel encoding is a delight, with well-articulated sonics and very impressive dynamic range. Bass is deep and tight, and extension into the upper treble is naturally refined."
Batman Begins 5/4.5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture is spectacular, with intensely vibrant colors, deep blacks, and very impressive shadow delineation. Details are as well resolved as any high-definition images I have seen."
Superman Returns 4.5/5 HDD: "Technical aspects of this transfer are also excellent. Presented in 2.40:1 widescreen and 1080p/VC-1 video, compression artifacts are non-existent.
Superman Returns does indeed come with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track. The studio has certainly delivered the goods -- I'd say that I have a new favorite HD DVD demo disc when it comes to kick-ass audio."
The Mummy 4.5/5 wsr: "HD DVD exhibits an impressive picture with well-resolved details and good depth of field.
The mix is still exciting and intense—a fantastic soundtrack"
The Mummy Returns 4.5/5 wsr: "Mummy Returns "Exhibits well-resolved detail and good color fidelity in creating a very watchable image.
The mix is impressive, though, with each of the available channels incorporated nicely to create a fully engaging soundfield."
The Fast And The Furious 4.5/4.5 wsr: "This VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD looks superb, with impressively deep blacks, well-rendered shadow delineation, and vibrant colors."
"The explosive Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack improves upon the already stellar Dolby Digital encoding of the D-VHS release."
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift 4.5/5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture looks good, with impressive detail and well-balanced colors."
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack can be fully engaging, and even in scenes that completely bombard the listening space, dialogue and low-level effects are easy to pick out of the din."
Scorpion King 4.5/4.5 HDD: "You'll be in heaven with this 1080p HD DVD. More importantly, if you just want to marvel at the wonders of high definition, flip this combo disc over and compare the high-def transfer to the wretched, muddy sludge on the crowded, standard edition DVD."
"the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround mix on 'The Scorpion King' is a fully realized and welcome surprise."
2 Fast 2 Furious 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p/VC-1 video. It does look rather fabulous. The incredibly vivid colors are again the most dominant feature of the presentation."
"It is also another fine HD DVD effort from Universal. An often stunning transfer, aggressive Dolby Digital-Plus surround track and plenty of extras make this one a nice upgrade over the standard-def DVD release. The kind of soundtrack you crank up to impress your friends with how cool your home theater setup is."
Hulk 5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and 1080p/VC-1 video, every element of the presentation is demo quality. The source material is pristine, and apparently Universal has been keeping 'Hulk's HD master in some sort of Fort Knox vault on the studio lot. Blacks, contrast, colors -- perfect."
"That Hulk sure loves to throw temper tantrums of mass destruction, and it's all the more enjoyable in Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1. An excellent, enveloping 360-degree soundfield is created almost constantly during the film. Discrete effects ping-pong all over the place, especially during the Hulk's third-act rampage. Imaging is as transparent as you're going to get on a lossy format, and clarity of tone in the rears excellent. Dynamics are top-notch, and low bass is incredibly deep and forceful."
Digital Video Essentials - High Definition (HD DVD) 5/5 dvdtalk: "A good calibration disc is the lynchpin of any home theater installation. Every HD DVD owner should have a copy of Digital Video Essentials. Highly recommended."
Mission: Impossible III 5/4.5 HDD: The source material is predictably pristine. 'M:I III' looks magnificent on HD DVD. This 2.40:1 widescreen, 1080p transfer rivals what is probably the best live-action title out there on the format.
Rare is the Dolby Digital soundtrack I've heard with such transparent imaging and highly aggressive discrete effects. Sound transitions are seamless, creating a truly immersive 360-degree soundfield.
Happy Feet 5/5 HDD: Warner has delivered the finest transfer of an animated movie I've yet seen on HD DVD. Quite simply, this 1080p/VC-1 encode is flawless, and it's going to be the title I whip out as first-choice demo material when I want to show off how great animation can look in high-definition.
Frequency response is terrific, from the drum-tight low bass to very spacious mid-range. All the voices sound fantastic, with a smooth clarity to the highs that really soars. Surrounds are also nice and aggressive, from all manner of discrete effects.
U-571 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Overall, it is exceptional -- a sparkling print, rich blacks, excellent contrast and rock-solid color reproduction pack a wallop. I was especially impressed by how spot-on the fleshtones appeared, as well as how adroitly this transfer handled difficult colors. Note the smooth reds in the film's opening sequence, a hue which is traditionally hard to resolve on video yet there is no fuzziness or noise here."
" 'U-571' also sounds fantastic. In fact, it is up there with the most aggressive, sonically enveloping mixes you are likely to hear on home video. The Dolby-Plus track bests the DTS track, and both top the plain Dolby 5.1 surround track found on the standard DVD and D-VHS releases. But honestly, this is such an exciting mix it sounds great whichever direction you swing in."
Jet Li's Fearless 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "This disc should be sent out to every authoring house in the world, because it's easily reference material. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say it's the best HD transfer I've ever seen in any medium, period. You simply have to see this disc to believe it."
"Ribs cracking, bones breaking, blood splattering, swords clanging, it's all there and it's all in your face. The surrounds do an excellent job of enveloping you in the fight, so you almost feel like if you don't duck that punch might just hit you instead of the other fighter."
the Last Samurai 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Watching 'The Last Samurai' at 1080i via HDMI on the HP was certainly an impressive experience. At times it delivered some of the best video I've ever seen on a pre-recorded consumer format. Many shots are breathtaking -- the kind of three-dimensional images you rarely seen outside of the cinema."
"There is strong dynamic range throughout the entire film, enlivened by very powerful, deep bass, particularly during combat sequences. Dialogue and the fine score had a pleasing tonal quality, still sounding warm and human despite the often bombastic sound effects."
Dreamgirls 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "The video transfer is, in a word, flawless. The picture is extremely sharp and detailed, with no edge enhancement artifacts and minimal film grain (accurately preserved when present). Colors are amazingly deep and vibrant. The inky black levels and rich contrast range lend a great sense of depth. No video noise or digital compression problems ever rear their ugly heads. This image has plenty of sparkle and pop, and makes for ideal home theater demo material. There is absolutely nothing at all to complain about or nit-pick here. At least in terms of video, Dreamgirls is truly fabulous."
"The movie's soundtrack is provided in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 format. A lossless Dolby TrueHD track might have been appreciated, but there's little to feel disappointed with here. The audio mix has terrific musical warmth and fidelity. Individual instruments in the score are frequently discernable. Stereo and surround separation is very immersive."
Poseidon 4.5/5 HDD: "I'm happy to report that this 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer is indeed terrific for most of its length, and boasting some truly amazing moments."
"'Poseidon' hits HD DVD with a long-awaited Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track, and it is truly a knockout."
Aeun Flux 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "I haven't viewed anything that even approaches being in this same league -- its diverse, cranked-up palette looks amazing, black levels remain robust throughout, and the image is impossibly sharp and detailed, looking spectacular even standing an inch or two away from the screen. No compression hiccups or even the slightest imperfection in the source could be spotted."
"The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio for Æon Flux is as hypercaffeinated as its visuals, and sounds are constantly pinging from channel to channel, bolstered by oodles of discrete effects and smooth pans. The stilted dialogue might have been better off if it had been drowned out by other elements of this exceptionally active mix, but it emerges with crystal clarity, and bass response packs the expected wallop. About as showcase-quality as the video."
Seabiscuit 5/5 dvdtalk: "Seabiscuit approaches perfection in every conceivable way: its colors are rich and vibrant, black levels and contrast are both robust, and every object in the frame -- from rolling hillsides deep in the background to each hair on Seabiscuit's hide -- is startlingly detailed. Even when Seabiscuit is racing at a full gallop and the backgrounds are whizzing by -- the type of blazingly fast motion that wreaks havoc on cable and satellite -- the image never falters. Truly outstanding."
" The film's sound design was nominated for numerous awards, and even in Seabiscuit's first few minutes, it's instantly apparent why. The remarkably immersive soundfield is bustling with activity, fleshing out its Depression-era setting with ambient sounds in every channel as well as offering innumerable smooth pans and localized effects. The early generation automobile motors and thunderous gallops are accompanied by a substantial low-frequency roar, and the combination of dozens of hooves pounding against the track with the din of tens of thousands of enthusiastic spectators leave the racing sequences particularly engaging."
Phantom Of The Opera 4.5/4.5 HDD: "I was often blown away by how terrific the image looked. Depth is incredibly three-dimensional in just about every scene, so much so that I'd say there are select shots here that rival the best video I've ever seen on any consumer format.
"Dynamic range here is superb for Dolby Digital, wonderfully reproducing every last musical nuance. The midrange and high-end is very evocative in conveying the film's operatic musical moment, lending a you-are-there quality that is up there with the best I've heard in a home theater."
The Ultimate Matrix Collection 5/5 HDD: "This is really fantastic stuff -- 'The Matrix' trilogy easily earns an exemplary five-star video rating."
"The Dolby TrueHD format easily handles this complex presentation, with airtight low bass extension all the way down to the lowest frequencies. Mid- and high-range is also wonderfully clear and free from irritating harshness."
The Rundown 4.5/4.5 dvdtalk: "The palette remains pumped up throughout, but the level of fine detail is practically unparalleled."
"The Rundown offers both Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 tracks and optional subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. It too hovers right around perfection, serving up aggressive surround usage, a strong sense of directionality, and inhumanly low bass. The only reason there's that missing sliver of a half-star in the sidebar is that dialogue did get overwhelmed at times by all of the action, but at least for this kind of movie, that's a fairly minor concern."
Flags Of Our Fathers 5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p with a VC-1 encode, this HD DVD release of 'Flags of Our Fathers' boasts a stunning picture quality that captures every nuance and detail of the film. The dark shadows of the battlefield have excellent black levels and shadow delineation, adding a nice level of dimension to the picture. Fine object detail is phenomenal -- bullets kick up flecks of rock and dirt, individual fingers can be clearly counted on soldiers in the distance, and the textures of uniforms, netting, and stubble are wonderful."
"Dolby Digital 5.1-Plus track. The Plus-mix feels richer -- especially when explosions are raging from all angles. The bass tones are a bit more resonant on the HD DVD, while they're a bit more throaty on the Blu-ray. Otherwise, both tracks sound nearly the same. Dialogue is crisp and perfectly prioritized, even in the midst of the chaos of battle scenes. Impacts, voices, and explosions all have noticeably different weights in the soundscape and this attention to detail instantly increases the authenticity of the sound effects. The resulting realism made it easy to immerse myself in the soundfield and enjoy the subtle channel movement, the pinpoint accuracy, and the consistent usage of the rear speakers. "
Letters From Iwo Jima 5/5 HDD: " 'Letters from Iwo Jima' is simply stunning. Like the high-def releases of 'Flags of Our Fathers,' this transfer is overflowing with crisp edges, deep black levels, and great shadow delineation. The color palette is muted, but beautiful in its own right. Contrast is also nice, making the film feel more like a documentary than a modern war film. Likewise, the skintones are purposefully drained of color and the realistic shadowing adds a convincing amount of depth to the picture. But perhaps best of all, 'Letters from Iwo Jima' boasts reference level fine object detail. Dust settles on war-weary arms, bullets splinter on stone, and explosions send tiny flecks of debris through the air -- it's truly a feast for the eyes."
" The highlight of the audio package on this disc is an excellent Japanese language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround mix that is perfect for showing off a snazzy new sound system. While this HD DVD edition also includes a Dolby Digital-Plus track, the TrueHD mix has clearer treble ranges, boomier bass tones, and more soundfield presence in the surround channels. The only downside for some may be the lack of an English language track (only subtitles). But for myself, I was happy to see the original language given such precedence, and the TrueHD mix here is far more impressive than the Plus mix on 'Flags of Our Fathers.' "
Serenity 10/10 dvdtalk: "The US release, to me, looked absolutely perfect. Sharp as a tack, beautifully grainy, rich colours and contrast, and not a smidgen of edge enhancement on display. The UK release is... more perfect, if that's possible. No, the differences aren't massive, and I don't expect the majority of people to even notice them, but the new encode takes an already spectacular-looking disc and makes it look just a hair better. The most significant difference, if we can actually call it significant, is that the grain is very slightly more pronounced, further amplifying the film-like nature of the HD presentation. It also seems to be microscopically more detailed. This tends to be most noticeable in the form of improved definition of the skin texture during facial close-ups, although some of the wider shots also look a little crisper. I rated the US version a 10/10 for image quality, and I don't think I'd drop it to a 9 even having seen the UK version - perhaps more of a 9.8"
"Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1. Like the image quality, the sound is stellar. Indeed, the extent to which it sounds better than the average DVD soundtrack caught me off guard. I certainly wasn't expecting the depth, bass and clarity on offer here, and once again I am hard pressed to find any faults whatsoever."
Word Trade Center 4.5/4.5 HDD: "the quality of this 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer is excellent. The source material is pristine. Blacks are rich and deep, while contrast has plenty of pop and remains consistent across the entire grayscale."
"'World Trade Center' sounds flawless. Frequency response is excellent across the board. Highs are smooth, mid-range spacious and warm, and low bass as tight as a drum. Craig Armstrong's simple, "child-like" (his words) score is nicely balanced in the mix, and almost becomes like another character. Dialogue is firmly rooted in the center channel and its cleanliness and intelligible is excellent. Given the artistic aims of the filmmakers, I can't give this soundtrack anything but high marks."
Terminator 2: Judgmentday 9/9 dvdtown: "If there are any flaws in the video quality of this HD-DVD, I missed them. The picture displays no noise, lines, flecks, fades, scratches, or grit that I could see. What little grain that shows up is undoubtedly inherent to the original print. Definition is as good as on any high-definition disc I've seen, and colors in daylight scenes are as natural as you'll find."
"The Studio Canal sound engineers provide a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, which does everything one could ask of it. Cameron made "T2" a few years before multichannel sound became the ubiquitous system we know today in homes and theaters, so the filmmaker probably wasn't thinking of surround effects in the same way back then as he would today. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of rear-channel activity, especially in the big fight and chase sequences. Mainly, the audio shows its strengths in its wide frequency response (the bass thunders), its strong dynamic contrasts, its powerful dynamic punch, and the all-around tautness and clarity of its reproduction."
Planet Earth 4.5/4.5 dvdtalk: "Planet Earth was tailor-made for this sort of spectacular high definition presentation. With a few easily overlooked exceptions, Planet Earth is dazzlingly detailed and exhibits an impressive amount of depth and dimensionality. Its colors are natural and accurate, but with such an emphasis on exotic creatures and landforms, its hues are often exceptionally bright and vivid. The authoring is masterful as well; difficult visuals such as flurries of hooves and swarms of locusts -- literally millions upon millions of them attacking the entirety of the 1.78:1 frame -- never result in any compression hiccups. There is some infrequent banding, but it's mild, rare, and likely unavoidable."
"Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio, even though it's not lossless or even encoded at a particularly high bitrate, outclasses most of the feature films in my HD DVD collection. The sound design doesn't think of the audience as some sort of detached observer; its aggressive use of all of the channels it has on-hand places viewers squarely in the middle of these some 200 locations throughout the globe. The mix is teeming with discrete effects, innumerable smooth pans from channel to channel, and some of the strongest imaging of any HD DVD release to date. Sometimes it's understated; a consistent sense of ambiance or, say, a fly buzzing from the left front speaker to the surrounds, then flitting behind the viewer back to the right. Other times it's colossal: a mammoth tree tumbling over in the jungle, the thunderous onslaught of an avalanche, and the crushing roar of ocean waves. Those sorts of sound effects are further supported by a mighty low-end, summoning powerful barrages of bass from the subwoofer. The mix is balanced to ensure that the orchestral score doesn't dominate any of these natural sounds, and David Attenborough's warm narration is rooted in the center channel and never overwhelmed even in the more tumultuous sequences. A tremendous effort."
Brotherhood of the Wolf 4.5/5 HDD: "This is one very good-looking picture, and is easily up there with the best catalog transfers I've seen on any domestic HD DVD or Blu-ray release. The lovely cinematography is lush, colorful, film-like and eye-popping. The image is a tad dark by design, but the print is so clean and boasts such rich blacks that shadow delineation doesn't falter. Contrast also has a nice amount of pop with little in the way of excessive boosting to blow out whites or curb detail.In short, it's hard to imagine any fan of 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' being disappointed with this transfer."
"French DTS HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 surround mix (48kHz/24-bit), plus optional English subtitles. 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' enjoys a superb home theater mix, and moments of the film easily near the best I've heard on any home video format. Heck, even this disc's menus are something special, with lively sound in the rears that gives a nice taste of what's to come.
Dynamics are excellent. Low bass packs a wallop. Quieter scenes are less bombastic but not left wanting for atmosphere. Ambiance is almost continual, boasting wind, rain, and various nature sounds that sound both distinct and enveloping. Dialogue, too, is well balanced in the mix, although since I don't speak French I can't comment on intelligibility."
300 9/10 (och en 9 för supplement) dvdtown: "The definition of the HD-DVD picture is so good, you probably won't care much about the print grain or even notice it. The 1080-resolution, VC-1 transfer is excellent, the image looking sharper than I remember it from a theater. The screen is remarkably clean, despite the minor grain, and you can see every strand of hair in every beard, every ripple in every muscle, and every contour of every priestess and dancing girl, if that's your idea of a good time. Frankly, I enjoyed watching this one in high-def."
"There are enormous dynamics and bass involved, precise localization of information in the surrounds, as well as ambient, room-filling acoustics all the way around; and both the DD+ and TrueHD improve upon the regular DD track with their added clarity and range. The differences between the DD+ and TrueHD aren't so distinct as those between regular DD and DD+, true, but if you have the ability instantly to compare the DD+ and TrueHD tracks, as I did, you might hear subtle improvements in smoothness and imaging with TrueHD."
Hot Fuzz 10/9 (och en 10 för supplement) dvdtown: "The release itself is a pristine and highly detailed 2.35:1 transfer that is mastered in typical fashion by Universal with the VC-1 codec. The level of detail of "Hot Fuzz" is rich and deep. I did not expect an overly impressive transfer due to the relatively low-budget nature of the film. However, I was rewarded with a release that is among the better releases from Universal. The source materials are clean and pristine."
"The HD-DVD side of "Hot Fuzz" contains a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 EX soundtrack in both English and French. The standard definition side of the disc removes the ´Plus´ from the soundtrack listing, but also adds a Spanish track. The impressive visuals of the film are matched with an impressive sounding mix that is both lively and loud. A number of scenes throughout "Hot Fuzz" are quite bombastic and mix deep and potent bass with an enveloping array of sounds providing ambient noise, sound effects and solid and clear dialogue. Gunshots echo from every direction and show off the transfers solid imaging and movement across channels."
Chronicles of Riddick 10/9 dvdtown: "If you really want somebody to look at you in pure adulation over your pushing edge technology HD-DVD, then you don´t want to give a damn about anything I have said up to this point. Grab your thirty dollars, get your car keys and move as fast as you can to a video store (I´m not sure if I can recommend one here on this site, but the disc is easy enough to find) and buy this disk. For the purpose of showing of HD-DVD, this IS the movie you want to watch. Look nowhere else. "Phantom of the Opera" may look great, but not this great. The level of detail in this picture is spectacular when compared to the standard definition DVD. 'The Chronicles of Riddick' is presented in 2.40:1 widescreen. I cannot praise the visual splendor of this film enough. It really is a sight to see. The bright and perfectly contrasted colors feel almost three dimensional with the high level of detail present in the transfer. Textures look so real, you want to reach out and touch them. Flesh tones are perfectly rendered. The ice planet seen early in the film looks frigid. The prison planet looks so warm, you almost feel the need to turn up the air conditioner. The black scenes are perfectly rendered and show no visual flaws. Source materials are also of top notch quality. As I said in the main part of this review, "The Chronicles of Riddick" is a true visual tour de force. HD-DVD helps make "The Chronicles of Riddick" an better film just by looking so damn good."
"With a bigger budget come more spectacular sound effects and louder explosions. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is an improvement over the standard definition release, but it is not as dramatic an improvement as the visual presentation. The soundtrack features cleaner and tighter bass. The DD+ 5.1 mix truly does sound fuller, cleaner and the bass output is tighter. Richard B. Riddick is not a man of many words, but when he does speak, the soundtrack does an admirable job of delivering his words to thy ears. Francais and Espanol 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks are provided as well as an the English DTS 5.1 mix carried over the digital outputs."
Pitch Black 5/4.5 wsr: "If you can get past the stroke inducing flashes that open the 2.35:1 VC-1-encoded HD DVD picture, you will see a sharp, finely detailed image. The alien planet under the yellow and red suns is an absolutely engrossing picture, even if it does look completely unnatural when compared to what we would expect to see on Earth as are scenes when the blue sun rises. Colors are vibrant and balanced in the normally processed scenes, while appearing surreal and beautiful in the bleach-bypassed scenes. Lighting was weighed heavily during filming because, during the eclipse, the only light on the planet would originate from whatever the space travelers had available (flashlights, candles, or fiber optics from the spaceship). As is necessary for this title, the well-rendered contrasts and shadow delineation improves detail, especially in the scenes filmed inside the ship and during the eclipse. This is a visually stunning picture on all accounts."
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack is very well produced, with excellent fidelity. Most of the presentation is balanced toward the screen, which might be expected considering the oft-solitary planet. Once the action begins, however, the soundstage is fully engaging, complete with pans and well-placed images around the room. Bass output is prodigious, deep, impressively clean, and occasionally challenging with sub-25 Hz extension capability from all channels. The dialogue is certainly noteworthy, with a comfortable presence and remarkable spatial consistency. "
The Perfect Storm 5/5 wsr: "As expected, the high-definition 2.30:1 HD DVD delivers excellent picture quality. Images are sharp, with fine detail and definition, and excellent balance in contrast and shadow delineation. Color fidelity is nicely rendered, with natural fleshtones, rich hues, and deep blacks. Hues are appropriately balanced for the gray, dreary weather during the storm, while the earlier scenes are more vibrant. The picture is very natural, with very little to complain about regarding pixel breakup, smearing, or other problems. This is a very nice high-definition experience."
"The Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel encodings deliver an outstanding sonic presentation during active moments, with terrific expansiveness in the surrounds. Fidelity is certainly exemplary, and the tonal balance is perceptually neutral. Until the dramatic storm sequences kick in, the soundstage has a balance toward the screen, with the music providing much of the subtle surround activity."
Training Day 5/5 wsr: "The high-definition 2.35:1 HD DVD exhibits crisp images with excellent detail and fine textures, like vinyl restaurant seating, cigarette smoke, clothing fibers, and fine facial details on even slightly wider shots breathe life into the picture. The DVD simply cannot touch the quality of this HD DVD. Makeup on the actors’ faces is apparent at times.
Contrast and shadow delineation are also excellent. Colors are well balanced, with accurate fleshtones and deep blacks. Finicky viewers are going to be hard-pressed to find any VC-1 compression problems with this title. There also are no signs of edge enhancement, as was a problem with the DVD."
"Both the Dolby Digital•Plus and two-channel Dolby TrueHD soundtracks feature pristine fidelity and impressive dialogue tonality. Even though the TrueHD track provides even more refinement than the Digital•Plus encoding due to it being a lossless encoding format, (as of now), there aren’t any players available that can decode the full multichannel mix, and as such, the multichannel Digital•Plus encoding is favored. The TrueHD track does provide a slight refinement in overall articulation, which is surprising after hearing the excellent Digital•Plus encoding, but the expansiveness and excitement of the multichannel mix is difficult to ignore. Dialogue is incredibly detailed and natural sounding, and the entire presentation is very natural and realistic. This is a fantastic HD DVD soundtrack."
End of Days 4.5/5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.32:1 HD DVD exhibits good contrast and shadow delineation, which is necessary for such a dark film. Images are exceptionally detailed and edge enhancement is not a problem. Differences between this and the MPEG-2-encoded D-VHS release are extremely minute, although the HD DVD version seems to have slightly improved dynamic range."
"The lossy Dolby Digital Plus and lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel encodings are top notch, with well-placed images around the soundfield and fantastic fidelity. They are both improvements over the D-VHS release, but the TrueHD encoding has slightly more refined sonics than the Digital Plus counterpart. The surround channels’ encoded levels are back in line with the original DVD release, as opposed to the slightly lower levels found in the D-VHS release."
Troy 4.5/5 wsr: "With impressively resolved details and good shadow delineation, the VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture looks very realistic. The gritty nature of the color palette lends itself well to the storyline, and flesh tones are accurately represented."
"The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack is impressive, with a great mix and impressive fidelity. As impressive as the Plus encoding is, however, it pales to the naturalness imparted on the soundtrack by the Dolby TrueHD lossless encoding. As will be the case more and more often, ADR artifacts are exasperated even more by this encoding."
V For Vendetta 10/10 dvdtown: "the HD picture quality being as nearly perfect as I imagine it could be. The original 2.40:1 image again stretches to a ratio of about 2.18:1 across my television, only this time there are no odd facial shades and no blur whatsoever. HD-DVD goes it one or two better in sharpness and delineation, with practically no grain to speak of. Beautiful.
"In English the HD-DVD audio comes in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Dolby Digital Plus is less compressed than regular Dolby Digital and provides a clearer, cleaner sound, with a tauter bass and slightly wider dynamics. Dolby TrueHD is even less compressed than that, the least-lossy sound you can find on disc, and provides a smoother, more natural sound than DD 5.1 or DD+, with a wider sound field and greater depth."
Renaissance 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p with the VC-1 codec, this HD DVD German import of 'Renaissance' boasts an extremely proficient technical transfer that elevates the inherent beauty of its animation. Edges are consistently crisp, and there aren't any instances of macroblocking or artifacting. This digital-direct transfer is so pristine that I started to watch for pixelization along thin lines, but I was happy to find nothing of the sort. Most impressive is that all of this is accomplished on a 15GB single layer HD DVD."
"Since this HD DVD was released in Germany, the default track on 'Renaissance' is a dubbed German DTS-HD 5.1 lossless Master Audio surround mix. For our purposes though, I'll focus on the English track (mislabeled as an English DTS 5.1 mix, athough it's actually a DTS-HD 5.1 lossless Master Audio mix, as well).
(I should also note that at the present time, no existing HD DVD player is capable of outputing the original DTS-MA bitstream, leaving us currently capable of only listening the the core 1.5mbps DTS track on this disc.)
The movie starts playing in German automatically, but to switch to English-language audio, simply press the "Menu" button on your remote, choose "Sprachen Ton," and then click on "Englisch DTS 5.1." To turn off the German subtitles that automatically pop up, simply revisit "Sprachen Ton" and click on "Aus" to turn them off.
The soundfield in 'Renaissance' takes full advantage of every channel and crafts a believable cluttered futuristic world. The lossless track goes a long way to helping each sound feel fuller, providing effects and voices with more definition and higher fidelity. Vehicles whiz from speaker to speaker, crowds populate the soundscape from every direction, and tiny spatial details made it feel as if I was sitting in a theater rather than a 5.1 surround environment."
TMNT 4.5/4.5 HDD "'TMNT' arrives on both high-def formats with identical 1080p/VC-1 encodes that do an excellent job of showcasing the film's CG animation. Black levels and contrast are dead on (as they are throughout the film) and the flicker of the lights make this one of the most impressive high-def scenes I've had the pleasure of watching. The entire image is much darker than one might expect from an animated film, but it provides the picture with dimension that crafts a considerable illusion of depth.HD DVD transfer offers a significant upgrade in color saturation and detail that comes very close to making 'TMNT' a reference level animated high-def release."
"Like the video, the main audio track on both the HD DVD and B-ray releases is identical -- both discs feature a rich Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio mix that pushes most scenes to their limit. The track's dynamics are the first thing I noticed and it's clear that the sound designers have produced a mix with unwavering highs and rumbling lows. Dialogue is well-prioritized in the soundscape, and effects produce convincing impacts across the channels. To the mix's great credit, the rear speakers get quite lively throughout the film and inject a healthy dose of ambiance and street noise into the soundfield. Channel movement is swift and natural, accuracy is on point, and the score has a subtle interplay with the rest of the soundscape."
Black Snake Moan 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec, this HD DVD edition of 'Black Snake Moan' is simply stunning. Boasting superb visuals equal to 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection,' 'Black Snake Moan' features reference quality video that quite simply has to be seen to be believed."
"Black Snake Moan a dialogue-heavy film, so at first I didn't expect much from its audio package. But that was before the guttural moan of a blues guitar flooded my speakers for the first time. To cut to the chase, the music on this Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround mix (1.5 Mbps) sounds amazing -Dialogue is crisp and sound prioritization is top notch. Each time Rae loses control of herself, the soundscape erupts with the cries of summer insects that eerily immersed me in her mind. All things considered, this HD DVD mix excels and provides a great listening experience."
Transformers 5/5 dvdtalk: "this 2.35:1 AVC-encoded 1080p transfer is about the best home video representation of Transformers that you can expect to see for a very, very long time. The movie had an incredible digital interpositive made that became the source of the digital prints, IMAX prints, and presumably this HD DVD. I could make out every detail that I saw in the theaters, including the Cybertronian characters etched into the bodies of the Autobots and Decepticons. Color reproduction was perfect."
"Put simply, this 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus track rocks hard. The level of aural detail is most impressive. I could hear every click and whine of the transforming parts, the grinding of metal when the robots fought, and even the startup sound of the 360 when it comes alive. During big action sequences, the surrounds were often used to assault the senses, but I noticed that the mixers would often use the rears for isolated sounds that they wanted to highlight, such as Frenzy's gibbering when he's on Air Force One. The bass has to be felt to be believed. At times it was so thunderous that I thought it might actually affect my bowels. Everything about this track just screams "REFERENCE!" and it holds up easily to the best PCM and True HD mixes that I have heard. Call me a doubter no more."
Fler titlar fortsätter på inlägg#8
Ok, enligt hänvisning högst upp ovan här en värdig "eller" titel att börja med. Utelämnar dock bilderna på dessa.
Casablanca 5/3.5 HDD: 'Casablanca' is presented in 1080p/VC-1 video and appropriately pillarboxed to the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The black and white image is wonderful. The source material has been meticulously cleaned up, and good luck finding a speck of dirt, dropouts or inconsistencies in contrast or black levels. The film has a nice, deep and rich look, with excellent smoothness across the entire grayscale. Sharpness is perhaps slightly "soft" by today's standards, but terrific for a film from 1942. I continue to marvel at how deep and detailed this film looks. Fine textures throughout are clearly visible -- I could make out indentations on the spine of a book, or see slight creases in the clean whites of Humphrey Bogart's tuxedo. I am also grateful Warner didn't over-tweak this one -- whites never bloom and at no point is the image overly contrasted in an effort to make the film look "newer" or "glossier." Instead, 'Casablanca' maintains a very natural, film-like look throughout. Without a doubt this is the finest black and white transfer I've seen on high-def, period, and up there with the best remasters ever created for the home theater environment."
"For whatever reason, Warner did not create a new 5.1 remaster for 'Casablanca.' So what we get here is the rather unusual configuration of a Dolby Digital-Plus 1.0 mono soundtrack. Of course, 'Casablanca' is largely dialogue driven, so it likely would not have benefited as greatly from a whiz-bang surround mix as, say, another classic like 'King Kong.' In any case, what we do get here is very nicely cleaned up.
In all honestly, there is not much to say about the soundtrack. The source elements have been well preserved. High-end is smooth with no distortion and little of the harshness you'd expect from a film this old. Mid-range is somewhat spacious, though still sounds flat, as you would expect, compared to a modern mix. Low end also lacks any real heft. Again, since this is a mono track, there is zero envelopment or presence to the mix. But on purely technical terms, 'Casablanca' sounds about as good is it probably could."
Fotnot: Casablanca BEST TRANSFER -- CATALOG (Ten years or older) + THE BEST OVERALL vinnare 2006.
ATL 4.5/4 HDD: "Warner Home Video has produced another winner of an HD DVD. 'ATL' looks pretty damn great, with a nice three-dimensional picture that reminded me of just how superior high-def can look over plain old standard definition DVD. Regardless of a film's subject matter, when you're hot, you're hot. Everything about this transfer kinda rocks. The source material is immaculate with nary any visible grain (even in the darkest scenes). Blacks and contrast are also terrific, and color reproduction superb but not oversaturated -- even hard-to-reproduce hues like deep reds and blues are clear of chroma noise and smearing. Sharpness and detail are also up there with the best transfers I've seen, giving the image a clarity and depth that really screams high-def. If anything, this transfer may be too bright and vivid -- sometimes the blaring whites hurt my eyes (though perhaps I should take my eye doctor's advice and not watch movies in a room with no ambient light?) Still, no complaints -- unless I go blind, in which case I'm suing somebody at Warner Home Video."
"Thump-thump-thump! I don't think I've ever heard such consistently and continually powerful low bass before on a home video soundtrack as I did on 'ATL.' I don't know about this crunk thing, but if this is what the future of America is listening to they better be wearing earplugs.
Presented in Dolby Digital-Plus, the sound design of 'ATL' is quite active, though it is all about the beats -- of course, that is the real star of the show anyway. Dynamic range is excellent, with rich midrange and clean highs, and yes, very powerful low end. Surround use is quite hefty, though again everything is overpowered by the crunk. Let's just say nothing here is subtle, and though there is plenty of sound emanating from the rear channels, there actually isn't much directionality -- sounds are never moved around, with just a constant pumping from behind. I intentionally turned this one up to 11 at the start, but it eventually got so bad after a while that even my cats quickly pounced out of the room in disgust. (They still haven't come back.) I can only say for once that I'm actually grateful Warner didn't produce a Dolby TrueHD track for this one, 'cause I don't think I could have taken it."
Elephants Dream 5/4 HDD: "Designed as a showcase for the many wonders of HD DVD, 'Elephants Dream' is the only next-gen release I'm aware of that offers both VC-1 and MPEG-2 encodes of the same feature, and it's very cool to be able to stack the two codecs directly against each other for an apples-to-apples comparison.
The VC-1 version gets top billing, but quite frankly the MPEG-2 is just as good. Both present the film from the same master, in 1.78:1 widescreen, and the image is flawless. Depth and detail are top-notch, right from the opening scene of Emo and Proog navigating through the Machine's inner guts of silver wires and weird architecture. Texture is impeccable -- even the thinnest wire, way in the background is clearly defined and visible. Colors are also magnificent. Though the dominant hue is silver, there are fantastic splashes of deep primaries, including one moment early on, as a phone rings on a table over a bright red carpet, where the saturation and the purity of the colors is simply stunning. In terms of quality of the presentation --
'Elephants Dream' on HD DVD really is phenomenal.
As promised, this is easily five-star demo material."
"Elephants Dream comes with only two audio options, 5.1 surround (640kbps) and 2.0 stereo (448kbps), both in English Dolby Digital. (For non-English speakers, a host of foreign subtitle choices are also offered.)
Overall, the film's sound design is pretty basic and simplistic, but still effective. Strangely, the score is forced into the background, making dialogue and the sparse sound effects almost unnerving in their prominence, but this adds nicely to the '1984' feel of the film's story. Effects are chilly but atmospheric -- eerie wind noises and other mechanical sounds have a nice realism and clarity, aided by ample dynamic range. Low bass is tight but not overpowering. Dialogue is very distinct and well recorded. The soundfield generally creates a pleasing 360-degree effect that's certainly minimalist but still continuous. There isn't enough of a sustained bombast here to really impress, but this soundtrack certainly suits the material."
The Worlds Fastest Indian 4.5/4 dvdtalk: "The World's Fastest Indian looks unbelievable on HD DVD. The film stock Donaldson and his crew used reveals a grainy texture in very low light, but otherwise, it approaches perfection. The image is razor sharp and brimming with fine detail, with the textures of the actors' faces standing out as particularly impressive. Even at a distance, it seems as if every pore and the subtle shadows in every wrinkle are clear and distinct. The period look of the film's palette is also striking, especially the expansive, smooth gradients from one hue to the next. I couldn't spot a single imperfection in the transfer or any trace of artifacting in the VC-1 encoded image. A couple of patterns did have a slightly jittery, unstable appearance, presumably due to the film grain -- the racing stripes on The Indian in the second shot of the movie don't look perfectly straight as the camera pans by, for instance -- but this accounts for just a couple of seconds of its two hour-plus runtime. The World's Fastest Indian may be one of Magnolia Home Entertainment's first attempts at bringing a movie to HD DVD, but they've already managed to release one of the most instantly striking titles available on the format.
This is a beautifully photographed film, and it looks wonderful in high-definition."
" The World's Fastest Indian includes a pair of six-channel soundtracks: the first in the traditional Dolby Digital Plus and the other in lossless Dolby TrueHD. Most of the movie follows the amiable Kiwi as he treks to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and since little throughout his journey cries out for megaton belches from the subwoofer or overly aggressive surrounds, the mix anchors much of the activity to the front channels for the bulk of the film. The audio roars to life when Munro takes the wheel of The Indian, with the scenes at Bonneville bolstered by the throaty roar of these powerful engines, a strong sense of directionality, and numerous smooth pans from channel to channel. One scene early in the movie sees a cocky gang of bikers pull up to Munro's birthday party to challenge the old man to a race, and the imaging is so strong that I felt like I could pick out each individual motorcycle in the mix and match it up with one of the bikes puttering across the screen. Even if much of the rest of the film is more subtle and subdued by comparison, The World's Fastest Indian sounds fantastic when the movie calls for it, and I don't have any gripes whatsoever about the way its soundtrack is presented on HD DVD."
The Shaun of the Dead 9/8 dvdtown: "the 2.35:1 framed picture features very strong levels of detail and wonderfully vivid colours (British spelling, chaps). The reds of the blood and Shaun´s ink stain translate brilliantly to screen and the perfectly saturated colors feel normal and never exhibit any problems with bleed or other familiar flaws of a highly colored transfer. The level of detail is what surprised me the most. Throughout "Shaun of the Dead," the film exhibited strong details. Characters faces were finely detailed, as were the bits of gore and London´s exteriors. A minor amount of edge enhancement could be seen around some of the lighter shades in the film, but aside from this complaint, this was a surprisingly good transfer."
"Audio was another surprisingly good element of the HD-DVD transfer of "Shaun of the Dead." The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is clean, powerful and nicely accentuates the action on-screen. Throughout the entire film, sound effects filled the speakers. Whether it was the firing of the Winchester rifle, the splitting of skulls or crashing cars, "Shaun of the Dead" is an effective sounding film. Sounds can be heard clearly panning from one rear speaker to the next and then to the front channels. Ambient and environmental effects help create a more inhabitable world for the characters. The film´s musical numbers and score by Daniel Mudford and Pete Woodhead are nicely emphasized by the mix and the Queen song played during a fight sequence at the Winchester sounds stunning. As any good comedy requires, the dialogue is clear and intelligible and not a single joke is lost in digital translation."
Fler titlar fortsätter på inlägg #8
Bakom alla dessa fina bild pressningar ligger VC-1, som förklaras bäst här på This Is HD DVD Video.
Även ljudet förklaras på This Is HD DVD Audio
Första titeln att börja listan på är Nine Inch Nails Live: Beside You in Time.
Den fick 5/5. En femma för Bild och en femma för Ljud.
"Without a doubt, this is the best music performance yet released on HD DVD."
Och just det, en referens titlel enligt wsr som jag läser kräver minst 4.5/4.5, så vi utgår från dessa. Inga andra titlar förtjänar referens värde.
Däremot finns det många titlar som uppfyller ordet "eller" i tråd ämnet ovan, dessa Eller titlar skrivs med Grön Text. Med andra ord en 4.0/5 är en Eller titel.
Referens titlarna skrivs med Röd Text
Åter till ämnet.
En annan tungviktare är King Kong 5/5 wsr: "This is one of the best high-definition releases to date on either format.
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel encoding is a delight, with well-articulated sonics and very impressive dynamic range. Bass is deep and tight, and extension into the upper treble is naturally refined."
Batman Begins 5/4.5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture is spectacular, with intensely vibrant colors, deep blacks, and very impressive shadow delineation. Details are as well resolved as any high-definition images I have seen."
Superman Returns 4.5/5 HDD: "Technical aspects of this transfer are also excellent. Presented in 2.40:1 widescreen and 1080p/VC-1 video, compression artifacts are non-existent.
Superman Returns does indeed come with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track. The studio has certainly delivered the goods -- I'd say that I have a new favorite HD DVD demo disc when it comes to kick-ass audio."
The Mummy 4.5/5 wsr: "HD DVD exhibits an impressive picture with well-resolved details and good depth of field.
The mix is still exciting and intense—a fantastic soundtrack"
The Mummy Returns 4.5/5 wsr: "Mummy Returns "Exhibits well-resolved detail and good color fidelity in creating a very watchable image.
The mix is impressive, though, with each of the available channels incorporated nicely to create a fully engaging soundfield."
The Fast And The Furious 4.5/4.5 wsr: "This VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD looks superb, with impressively deep blacks, well-rendered shadow delineation, and vibrant colors."
"The explosive Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack improves upon the already stellar Dolby Digital encoding of the D-VHS release."
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift 4.5/5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture looks good, with impressive detail and well-balanced colors."
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack can be fully engaging, and even in scenes that completely bombard the listening space, dialogue and low-level effects are easy to pick out of the din."
Scorpion King 4.5/4.5 HDD: "You'll be in heaven with this 1080p HD DVD. More importantly, if you just want to marvel at the wonders of high definition, flip this combo disc over and compare the high-def transfer to the wretched, muddy sludge on the crowded, standard edition DVD."
"the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround mix on 'The Scorpion King' is a fully realized and welcome surprise."
2 Fast 2 Furious 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p/VC-1 video. It does look rather fabulous. The incredibly vivid colors are again the most dominant feature of the presentation."
"It is also another fine HD DVD effort from Universal. An often stunning transfer, aggressive Dolby Digital-Plus surround track and plenty of extras make this one a nice upgrade over the standard-def DVD release. The kind of soundtrack you crank up to impress your friends with how cool your home theater setup is."
Hulk 5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and 1080p/VC-1 video, every element of the presentation is demo quality. The source material is pristine, and apparently Universal has been keeping 'Hulk's HD master in some sort of Fort Knox vault on the studio lot. Blacks, contrast, colors -- perfect."
"That Hulk sure loves to throw temper tantrums of mass destruction, and it's all the more enjoyable in Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1. An excellent, enveloping 360-degree soundfield is created almost constantly during the film. Discrete effects ping-pong all over the place, especially during the Hulk's third-act rampage. Imaging is as transparent as you're going to get on a lossy format, and clarity of tone in the rears excellent. Dynamics are top-notch, and low bass is incredibly deep and forceful."
Digital Video Essentials - High Definition (HD DVD) 5/5 dvdtalk: "A good calibration disc is the lynchpin of any home theater installation. Every HD DVD owner should have a copy of Digital Video Essentials. Highly recommended."
Mission: Impossible III 5/4.5 HDD: The source material is predictably pristine. 'M:I III' looks magnificent on HD DVD. This 2.40:1 widescreen, 1080p transfer rivals what is probably the best live-action title out there on the format.
Rare is the Dolby Digital soundtrack I've heard with such transparent imaging and highly aggressive discrete effects. Sound transitions are seamless, creating a truly immersive 360-degree soundfield.
Happy Feet 5/5 HDD: Warner has delivered the finest transfer of an animated movie I've yet seen on HD DVD. Quite simply, this 1080p/VC-1 encode is flawless, and it's going to be the title I whip out as first-choice demo material when I want to show off how great animation can look in high-definition.
Frequency response is terrific, from the drum-tight low bass to very spacious mid-range. All the voices sound fantastic, with a smooth clarity to the highs that really soars. Surrounds are also nice and aggressive, from all manner of discrete effects.
U-571 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Overall, it is exceptional -- a sparkling print, rich blacks, excellent contrast and rock-solid color reproduction pack a wallop. I was especially impressed by how spot-on the fleshtones appeared, as well as how adroitly this transfer handled difficult colors. Note the smooth reds in the film's opening sequence, a hue which is traditionally hard to resolve on video yet there is no fuzziness or noise here."
" 'U-571' also sounds fantastic. In fact, it is up there with the most aggressive, sonically enveloping mixes you are likely to hear on home video. The Dolby-Plus track bests the DTS track, and both top the plain Dolby 5.1 surround track found on the standard DVD and D-VHS releases. But honestly, this is such an exciting mix it sounds great whichever direction you swing in."
Jet Li's Fearless 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "This disc should be sent out to every authoring house in the world, because it's easily reference material. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say it's the best HD transfer I've ever seen in any medium, period. You simply have to see this disc to believe it."
"Ribs cracking, bones breaking, blood splattering, swords clanging, it's all there and it's all in your face. The surrounds do an excellent job of enveloping you in the fight, so you almost feel like if you don't duck that punch might just hit you instead of the other fighter."
the Last Samurai 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Watching 'The Last Samurai' at 1080i via HDMI on the HP was certainly an impressive experience. At times it delivered some of the best video I've ever seen on a pre-recorded consumer format. Many shots are breathtaking -- the kind of three-dimensional images you rarely seen outside of the cinema."
"There is strong dynamic range throughout the entire film, enlivened by very powerful, deep bass, particularly during combat sequences. Dialogue and the fine score had a pleasing tonal quality, still sounding warm and human despite the often bombastic sound effects."
Dreamgirls 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "The video transfer is, in a word, flawless. The picture is extremely sharp and detailed, with no edge enhancement artifacts and minimal film grain (accurately preserved when present). Colors are amazingly deep and vibrant. The inky black levels and rich contrast range lend a great sense of depth. No video noise or digital compression problems ever rear their ugly heads. This image has plenty of sparkle and pop, and makes for ideal home theater demo material. There is absolutely nothing at all to complain about or nit-pick here. At least in terms of video, Dreamgirls is truly fabulous."
"The movie's soundtrack is provided in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 format. A lossless Dolby TrueHD track might have been appreciated, but there's little to feel disappointed with here. The audio mix has terrific musical warmth and fidelity. Individual instruments in the score are frequently discernable. Stereo and surround separation is very immersive."
Poseidon 4.5/5 HDD: "I'm happy to report that this 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer is indeed terrific for most of its length, and boasting some truly amazing moments."
"'Poseidon' hits HD DVD with a long-awaited Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track, and it is truly a knockout."
Aeun Flux 5/4.5 dvdtalk: "I haven't viewed anything that even approaches being in this same league -- its diverse, cranked-up palette looks amazing, black levels remain robust throughout, and the image is impossibly sharp and detailed, looking spectacular even standing an inch or two away from the screen. No compression hiccups or even the slightest imperfection in the source could be spotted."
"The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio for Æon Flux is as hypercaffeinated as its visuals, and sounds are constantly pinging from channel to channel, bolstered by oodles of discrete effects and smooth pans. The stilted dialogue might have been better off if it had been drowned out by other elements of this exceptionally active mix, but it emerges with crystal clarity, and bass response packs the expected wallop. About as showcase-quality as the video."
Seabiscuit 5/5 dvdtalk: "Seabiscuit approaches perfection in every conceivable way: its colors are rich and vibrant, black levels and contrast are both robust, and every object in the frame -- from rolling hillsides deep in the background to each hair on Seabiscuit's hide -- is startlingly detailed. Even when Seabiscuit is racing at a full gallop and the backgrounds are whizzing by -- the type of blazingly fast motion that wreaks havoc on cable and satellite -- the image never falters. Truly outstanding."
" The film's sound design was nominated for numerous awards, and even in Seabiscuit's first few minutes, it's instantly apparent why. The remarkably immersive soundfield is bustling with activity, fleshing out its Depression-era setting with ambient sounds in every channel as well as offering innumerable smooth pans and localized effects. The early generation automobile motors and thunderous gallops are accompanied by a substantial low-frequency roar, and the combination of dozens of hooves pounding against the track with the din of tens of thousands of enthusiastic spectators leave the racing sequences particularly engaging."
Phantom Of The Opera 4.5/4.5 HDD: "I was often blown away by how terrific the image looked. Depth is incredibly three-dimensional in just about every scene, so much so that I'd say there are select shots here that rival the best video I've ever seen on any consumer format.
"Dynamic range here is superb for Dolby Digital, wonderfully reproducing every last musical nuance. The midrange and high-end is very evocative in conveying the film's operatic musical moment, lending a you-are-there quality that is up there with the best I've heard in a home theater."
The Ultimate Matrix Collection 5/5 HDD: "This is really fantastic stuff -- 'The Matrix' trilogy easily earns an exemplary five-star video rating."
"The Dolby TrueHD format easily handles this complex presentation, with airtight low bass extension all the way down to the lowest frequencies. Mid- and high-range is also wonderfully clear and free from irritating harshness."
The Rundown 4.5/4.5 dvdtalk: "The palette remains pumped up throughout, but the level of fine detail is practically unparalleled."
"The Rundown offers both Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 tracks and optional subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. It too hovers right around perfection, serving up aggressive surround usage, a strong sense of directionality, and inhumanly low bass. The only reason there's that missing sliver of a half-star in the sidebar is that dialogue did get overwhelmed at times by all of the action, but at least for this kind of movie, that's a fairly minor concern."
Flags Of Our Fathers 5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p with a VC-1 encode, this HD DVD release of 'Flags of Our Fathers' boasts a stunning picture quality that captures every nuance and detail of the film. The dark shadows of the battlefield have excellent black levels and shadow delineation, adding a nice level of dimension to the picture. Fine object detail is phenomenal -- bullets kick up flecks of rock and dirt, individual fingers can be clearly counted on soldiers in the distance, and the textures of uniforms, netting, and stubble are wonderful."
"Dolby Digital 5.1-Plus track. The Plus-mix feels richer -- especially when explosions are raging from all angles. The bass tones are a bit more resonant on the HD DVD, while they're a bit more throaty on the Blu-ray. Otherwise, both tracks sound nearly the same. Dialogue is crisp and perfectly prioritized, even in the midst of the chaos of battle scenes. Impacts, voices, and explosions all have noticeably different weights in the soundscape and this attention to detail instantly increases the authenticity of the sound effects. The resulting realism made it easy to immerse myself in the soundfield and enjoy the subtle channel movement, the pinpoint accuracy, and the consistent usage of the rear speakers. "
Letters From Iwo Jima 5/5 HDD: " 'Letters from Iwo Jima' is simply stunning. Like the high-def releases of 'Flags of Our Fathers,' this transfer is overflowing with crisp edges, deep black levels, and great shadow delineation. The color palette is muted, but beautiful in its own right. Contrast is also nice, making the film feel more like a documentary than a modern war film. Likewise, the skintones are purposefully drained of color and the realistic shadowing adds a convincing amount of depth to the picture. But perhaps best of all, 'Letters from Iwo Jima' boasts reference level fine object detail. Dust settles on war-weary arms, bullets splinter on stone, and explosions send tiny flecks of debris through the air -- it's truly a feast for the eyes."
" The highlight of the audio package on this disc is an excellent Japanese language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround mix that is perfect for showing off a snazzy new sound system. While this HD DVD edition also includes a Dolby Digital-Plus track, the TrueHD mix has clearer treble ranges, boomier bass tones, and more soundfield presence in the surround channels. The only downside for some may be the lack of an English language track (only subtitles). But for myself, I was happy to see the original language given such precedence, and the TrueHD mix here is far more impressive than the Plus mix on 'Flags of Our Fathers.' "
Serenity 10/10 dvdtalk: "The US release, to me, looked absolutely perfect. Sharp as a tack, beautifully grainy, rich colours and contrast, and not a smidgen of edge enhancement on display. The UK release is... more perfect, if that's possible. No, the differences aren't massive, and I don't expect the majority of people to even notice them, but the new encode takes an already spectacular-looking disc and makes it look just a hair better. The most significant difference, if we can actually call it significant, is that the grain is very slightly more pronounced, further amplifying the film-like nature of the HD presentation. It also seems to be microscopically more detailed. This tends to be most noticeable in the form of improved definition of the skin texture during facial close-ups, although some of the wider shots also look a little crisper. I rated the US version a 10/10 for image quality, and I don't think I'd drop it to a 9 even having seen the UK version - perhaps more of a 9.8"
"Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1. Like the image quality, the sound is stellar. Indeed, the extent to which it sounds better than the average DVD soundtrack caught me off guard. I certainly wasn't expecting the depth, bass and clarity on offer here, and once again I am hard pressed to find any faults whatsoever."
Word Trade Center 4.5/4.5 HDD: "the quality of this 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer is excellent. The source material is pristine. Blacks are rich and deep, while contrast has plenty of pop and remains consistent across the entire grayscale."
"'World Trade Center' sounds flawless. Frequency response is excellent across the board. Highs are smooth, mid-range spacious and warm, and low bass as tight as a drum. Craig Armstrong's simple, "child-like" (his words) score is nicely balanced in the mix, and almost becomes like another character. Dialogue is firmly rooted in the center channel and its cleanliness and intelligible is excellent. Given the artistic aims of the filmmakers, I can't give this soundtrack anything but high marks."
Terminator 2: Judgmentday 9/9 dvdtown: "If there are any flaws in the video quality of this HD-DVD, I missed them. The picture displays no noise, lines, flecks, fades, scratches, or grit that I could see. What little grain that shows up is undoubtedly inherent to the original print. Definition is as good as on any high-definition disc I've seen, and colors in daylight scenes are as natural as you'll find."
"The Studio Canal sound engineers provide a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, which does everything one could ask of it. Cameron made "T2" a few years before multichannel sound became the ubiquitous system we know today in homes and theaters, so the filmmaker probably wasn't thinking of surround effects in the same way back then as he would today. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of rear-channel activity, especially in the big fight and chase sequences. Mainly, the audio shows its strengths in its wide frequency response (the bass thunders), its strong dynamic contrasts, its powerful dynamic punch, and the all-around tautness and clarity of its reproduction."
Planet Earth 4.5/4.5 dvdtalk: "Planet Earth was tailor-made for this sort of spectacular high definition presentation. With a few easily overlooked exceptions, Planet Earth is dazzlingly detailed and exhibits an impressive amount of depth and dimensionality. Its colors are natural and accurate, but with such an emphasis on exotic creatures and landforms, its hues are often exceptionally bright and vivid. The authoring is masterful as well; difficult visuals such as flurries of hooves and swarms of locusts -- literally millions upon millions of them attacking the entirety of the 1.78:1 frame -- never result in any compression hiccups. There is some infrequent banding, but it's mild, rare, and likely unavoidable."
"Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio, even though it's not lossless or even encoded at a particularly high bitrate, outclasses most of the feature films in my HD DVD collection. The sound design doesn't think of the audience as some sort of detached observer; its aggressive use of all of the channels it has on-hand places viewers squarely in the middle of these some 200 locations throughout the globe. The mix is teeming with discrete effects, innumerable smooth pans from channel to channel, and some of the strongest imaging of any HD DVD release to date. Sometimes it's understated; a consistent sense of ambiance or, say, a fly buzzing from the left front speaker to the surrounds, then flitting behind the viewer back to the right. Other times it's colossal: a mammoth tree tumbling over in the jungle, the thunderous onslaught of an avalanche, and the crushing roar of ocean waves. Those sorts of sound effects are further supported by a mighty low-end, summoning powerful barrages of bass from the subwoofer. The mix is balanced to ensure that the orchestral score doesn't dominate any of these natural sounds, and David Attenborough's warm narration is rooted in the center channel and never overwhelmed even in the more tumultuous sequences. A tremendous effort."
Brotherhood of the Wolf 4.5/5 HDD: "This is one very good-looking picture, and is easily up there with the best catalog transfers I've seen on any domestic HD DVD or Blu-ray release. The lovely cinematography is lush, colorful, film-like and eye-popping. The image is a tad dark by design, but the print is so clean and boasts such rich blacks that shadow delineation doesn't falter. Contrast also has a nice amount of pop with little in the way of excessive boosting to blow out whites or curb detail.In short, it's hard to imagine any fan of 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' being disappointed with this transfer."
"French DTS HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 surround mix (48kHz/24-bit), plus optional English subtitles. 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' enjoys a superb home theater mix, and moments of the film easily near the best I've heard on any home video format. Heck, even this disc's menus are something special, with lively sound in the rears that gives a nice taste of what's to come.
Dynamics are excellent. Low bass packs a wallop. Quieter scenes are less bombastic but not left wanting for atmosphere. Ambiance is almost continual, boasting wind, rain, and various nature sounds that sound both distinct and enveloping. Dialogue, too, is well balanced in the mix, although since I don't speak French I can't comment on intelligibility."
300 9/10 (och en 9 för supplement) dvdtown: "The definition of the HD-DVD picture is so good, you probably won't care much about the print grain or even notice it. The 1080-resolution, VC-1 transfer is excellent, the image looking sharper than I remember it from a theater. The screen is remarkably clean, despite the minor grain, and you can see every strand of hair in every beard, every ripple in every muscle, and every contour of every priestess and dancing girl, if that's your idea of a good time. Frankly, I enjoyed watching this one in high-def."
"There are enormous dynamics and bass involved, precise localization of information in the surrounds, as well as ambient, room-filling acoustics all the way around; and both the DD+ and TrueHD improve upon the regular DD track with their added clarity and range. The differences between the DD+ and TrueHD aren't so distinct as those between regular DD and DD+, true, but if you have the ability instantly to compare the DD+ and TrueHD tracks, as I did, you might hear subtle improvements in smoothness and imaging with TrueHD."
Hot Fuzz 10/9 (och en 10 för supplement) dvdtown: "The release itself is a pristine and highly detailed 2.35:1 transfer that is mastered in typical fashion by Universal with the VC-1 codec. The level of detail of "Hot Fuzz" is rich and deep. I did not expect an overly impressive transfer due to the relatively low-budget nature of the film. However, I was rewarded with a release that is among the better releases from Universal. The source materials are clean and pristine."
"The HD-DVD side of "Hot Fuzz" contains a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 EX soundtrack in both English and French. The standard definition side of the disc removes the ´Plus´ from the soundtrack listing, but also adds a Spanish track. The impressive visuals of the film are matched with an impressive sounding mix that is both lively and loud. A number of scenes throughout "Hot Fuzz" are quite bombastic and mix deep and potent bass with an enveloping array of sounds providing ambient noise, sound effects and solid and clear dialogue. Gunshots echo from every direction and show off the transfers solid imaging and movement across channels."
Chronicles of Riddick 10/9 dvdtown: "If you really want somebody to look at you in pure adulation over your pushing edge technology HD-DVD, then you don´t want to give a damn about anything I have said up to this point. Grab your thirty dollars, get your car keys and move as fast as you can to a video store (I´m not sure if I can recommend one here on this site, but the disc is easy enough to find) and buy this disk. For the purpose of showing of HD-DVD, this IS the movie you want to watch. Look nowhere else. "Phantom of the Opera" may look great, but not this great. The level of detail in this picture is spectacular when compared to the standard definition DVD. 'The Chronicles of Riddick' is presented in 2.40:1 widescreen. I cannot praise the visual splendor of this film enough. It really is a sight to see. The bright and perfectly contrasted colors feel almost three dimensional with the high level of detail present in the transfer. Textures look so real, you want to reach out and touch them. Flesh tones are perfectly rendered. The ice planet seen early in the film looks frigid. The prison planet looks so warm, you almost feel the need to turn up the air conditioner. The black scenes are perfectly rendered and show no visual flaws. Source materials are also of top notch quality. As I said in the main part of this review, "The Chronicles of Riddick" is a true visual tour de force. HD-DVD helps make "The Chronicles of Riddick" an better film just by looking so damn good."
"With a bigger budget come more spectacular sound effects and louder explosions. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is an improvement over the standard definition release, but it is not as dramatic an improvement as the visual presentation. The soundtrack features cleaner and tighter bass. The DD+ 5.1 mix truly does sound fuller, cleaner and the bass output is tighter. Richard B. Riddick is not a man of many words, but when he does speak, the soundtrack does an admirable job of delivering his words to thy ears. Francais and Espanol 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks are provided as well as an the English DTS 5.1 mix carried over the digital outputs."
Pitch Black 5/4.5 wsr: "If you can get past the stroke inducing flashes that open the 2.35:1 VC-1-encoded HD DVD picture, you will see a sharp, finely detailed image. The alien planet under the yellow and red suns is an absolutely engrossing picture, even if it does look completely unnatural when compared to what we would expect to see on Earth as are scenes when the blue sun rises. Colors are vibrant and balanced in the normally processed scenes, while appearing surreal and beautiful in the bleach-bypassed scenes. Lighting was weighed heavily during filming because, during the eclipse, the only light on the planet would originate from whatever the space travelers had available (flashlights, candles, or fiber optics from the spaceship). As is necessary for this title, the well-rendered contrasts and shadow delineation improves detail, especially in the scenes filmed inside the ship and during the eclipse. This is a visually stunning picture on all accounts."
"The Dolby® Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack is very well produced, with excellent fidelity. Most of the presentation is balanced toward the screen, which might be expected considering the oft-solitary planet. Once the action begins, however, the soundstage is fully engaging, complete with pans and well-placed images around the room. Bass output is prodigious, deep, impressively clean, and occasionally challenging with sub-25 Hz extension capability from all channels. The dialogue is certainly noteworthy, with a comfortable presence and remarkable spatial consistency. "
The Perfect Storm 5/5 wsr: "As expected, the high-definition 2.30:1 HD DVD delivers excellent picture quality. Images are sharp, with fine detail and definition, and excellent balance in contrast and shadow delineation. Color fidelity is nicely rendered, with natural fleshtones, rich hues, and deep blacks. Hues are appropriately balanced for the gray, dreary weather during the storm, while the earlier scenes are more vibrant. The picture is very natural, with very little to complain about regarding pixel breakup, smearing, or other problems. This is a very nice high-definition experience."
"The Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel encodings deliver an outstanding sonic presentation during active moments, with terrific expansiveness in the surrounds. Fidelity is certainly exemplary, and the tonal balance is perceptually neutral. Until the dramatic storm sequences kick in, the soundstage has a balance toward the screen, with the music providing much of the subtle surround activity."
Training Day 5/5 wsr: "The high-definition 2.35:1 HD DVD exhibits crisp images with excellent detail and fine textures, like vinyl restaurant seating, cigarette smoke, clothing fibers, and fine facial details on even slightly wider shots breathe life into the picture. The DVD simply cannot touch the quality of this HD DVD. Makeup on the actors’ faces is apparent at times.
Contrast and shadow delineation are also excellent. Colors are well balanced, with accurate fleshtones and deep blacks. Finicky viewers are going to be hard-pressed to find any VC-1 compression problems with this title. There also are no signs of edge enhancement, as was a problem with the DVD."
"Both the Dolby Digital•Plus and two-channel Dolby TrueHD soundtracks feature pristine fidelity and impressive dialogue tonality. Even though the TrueHD track provides even more refinement than the Digital•Plus encoding due to it being a lossless encoding format, (as of now), there aren’t any players available that can decode the full multichannel mix, and as such, the multichannel Digital•Plus encoding is favored. The TrueHD track does provide a slight refinement in overall articulation, which is surprising after hearing the excellent Digital•Plus encoding, but the expansiveness and excitement of the multichannel mix is difficult to ignore. Dialogue is incredibly detailed and natural sounding, and the entire presentation is very natural and realistic. This is a fantastic HD DVD soundtrack."
End of Days 4.5/5 wsr: "The VC-1-encoded 2.32:1 HD DVD exhibits good contrast and shadow delineation, which is necessary for such a dark film. Images are exceptionally detailed and edge enhancement is not a problem. Differences between this and the MPEG-2-encoded D-VHS release are extremely minute, although the HD DVD version seems to have slightly improved dynamic range."
"The lossy Dolby Digital Plus and lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel encodings are top notch, with well-placed images around the soundfield and fantastic fidelity. They are both improvements over the D-VHS release, but the TrueHD encoding has slightly more refined sonics than the Digital Plus counterpart. The surround channels’ encoded levels are back in line with the original DVD release, as opposed to the slightly lower levels found in the D-VHS release."
Troy 4.5/5 wsr: "With impressively resolved details and good shadow delineation, the VC-1-encoded 2.35:1 HD DVD picture looks very realistic. The gritty nature of the color palette lends itself well to the storyline, and flesh tones are accurately represented."
"The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel soundtrack is impressive, with a great mix and impressive fidelity. As impressive as the Plus encoding is, however, it pales to the naturalness imparted on the soundtrack by the Dolby TrueHD lossless encoding. As will be the case more and more often, ADR artifacts are exasperated even more by this encoding."
V For Vendetta 10/10 dvdtown: "the HD picture quality being as nearly perfect as I imagine it could be. The original 2.40:1 image again stretches to a ratio of about 2.18:1 across my television, only this time there are no odd facial shades and no blur whatsoever. HD-DVD goes it one or two better in sharpness and delineation, with practically no grain to speak of. Beautiful.
"In English the HD-DVD audio comes in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Dolby Digital Plus is less compressed than regular Dolby Digital and provides a clearer, cleaner sound, with a tauter bass and slightly wider dynamics. Dolby TrueHD is even less compressed than that, the least-lossy sound you can find on disc, and provides a smoother, more natural sound than DD 5.1 or DD+, with a wider sound field and greater depth."
Renaissance 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p with the VC-1 codec, this HD DVD German import of 'Renaissance' boasts an extremely proficient technical transfer that elevates the inherent beauty of its animation. Edges are consistently crisp, and there aren't any instances of macroblocking or artifacting. This digital-direct transfer is so pristine that I started to watch for pixelization along thin lines, but I was happy to find nothing of the sort. Most impressive is that all of this is accomplished on a 15GB single layer HD DVD."
"Since this HD DVD was released in Germany, the default track on 'Renaissance' is a dubbed German DTS-HD 5.1 lossless Master Audio surround mix. For our purposes though, I'll focus on the English track (mislabeled as an English DTS 5.1 mix, athough it's actually a DTS-HD 5.1 lossless Master Audio mix, as well).
(I should also note that at the present time, no existing HD DVD player is capable of outputing the original DTS-MA bitstream, leaving us currently capable of only listening the the core 1.5mbps DTS track on this disc.)
The movie starts playing in German automatically, but to switch to English-language audio, simply press the "Menu" button on your remote, choose "Sprachen Ton," and then click on "Englisch DTS 5.1." To turn off the German subtitles that automatically pop up, simply revisit "Sprachen Ton" and click on "Aus" to turn them off.
The soundfield in 'Renaissance' takes full advantage of every channel and crafts a believable cluttered futuristic world. The lossless track goes a long way to helping each sound feel fuller, providing effects and voices with more definition and higher fidelity. Vehicles whiz from speaker to speaker, crowds populate the soundscape from every direction, and tiny spatial details made it feel as if I was sitting in a theater rather than a 5.1 surround environment."
TMNT 4.5/4.5 HDD "'TMNT' arrives on both high-def formats with identical 1080p/VC-1 encodes that do an excellent job of showcasing the film's CG animation. Black levels and contrast are dead on (as they are throughout the film) and the flicker of the lights make this one of the most impressive high-def scenes I've had the pleasure of watching. The entire image is much darker than one might expect from an animated film, but it provides the picture with dimension that crafts a considerable illusion of depth.HD DVD transfer offers a significant upgrade in color saturation and detail that comes very close to making 'TMNT' a reference level animated high-def release."
"Like the video, the main audio track on both the HD DVD and B-ray releases is identical -- both discs feature a rich Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio mix that pushes most scenes to their limit. The track's dynamics are the first thing I noticed and it's clear that the sound designers have produced a mix with unwavering highs and rumbling lows. Dialogue is well-prioritized in the soundscape, and effects produce convincing impacts across the channels. To the mix's great credit, the rear speakers get quite lively throughout the film and inject a healthy dose of ambiance and street noise into the soundfield. Channel movement is swift and natural, accuracy is on point, and the score has a subtle interplay with the rest of the soundscape."
Black Snake Moan 4.5/4.5 HDD: "Presented in 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec, this HD DVD edition of 'Black Snake Moan' is simply stunning. Boasting superb visuals equal to 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection,' 'Black Snake Moan' features reference quality video that quite simply has to be seen to be believed."
"Black Snake Moan a dialogue-heavy film, so at first I didn't expect much from its audio package. But that was before the guttural moan of a blues guitar flooded my speakers for the first time. To cut to the chase, the music on this Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround mix (1.5 Mbps) sounds amazing -Dialogue is crisp and sound prioritization is top notch. Each time Rae loses control of herself, the soundscape erupts with the cries of summer insects that eerily immersed me in her mind. All things considered, this HD DVD mix excels and provides a great listening experience."
Transformers 5/5 dvdtalk: "this 2.35:1 AVC-encoded 1080p transfer is about the best home video representation of Transformers that you can expect to see for a very, very long time. The movie had an incredible digital interpositive made that became the source of the digital prints, IMAX prints, and presumably this HD DVD. I could make out every detail that I saw in the theaters, including the Cybertronian characters etched into the bodies of the Autobots and Decepticons. Color reproduction was perfect."
"Put simply, this 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus track rocks hard. The level of aural detail is most impressive. I could hear every click and whine of the transforming parts, the grinding of metal when the robots fought, and even the startup sound of the 360 when it comes alive. During big action sequences, the surrounds were often used to assault the senses, but I noticed that the mixers would often use the rears for isolated sounds that they wanted to highlight, such as Frenzy's gibbering when he's on Air Force One. The bass has to be felt to be believed. At times it was so thunderous that I thought it might actually affect my bowels. Everything about this track just screams "REFERENCE!" and it holds up easily to the best PCM and True HD mixes that I have heard. Call me a doubter no more."
Fler titlar fortsätter på inlägg#8
Ok, enligt hänvisning högst upp ovan här en värdig "eller" titel att börja med. Utelämnar dock bilderna på dessa.
Casablanca 5/3.5 HDD: 'Casablanca' is presented in 1080p/VC-1 video and appropriately pillarboxed to the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The black and white image is wonderful. The source material has been meticulously cleaned up, and good luck finding a speck of dirt, dropouts or inconsistencies in contrast or black levels. The film has a nice, deep and rich look, with excellent smoothness across the entire grayscale. Sharpness is perhaps slightly "soft" by today's standards, but terrific for a film from 1942. I continue to marvel at how deep and detailed this film looks. Fine textures throughout are clearly visible -- I could make out indentations on the spine of a book, or see slight creases in the clean whites of Humphrey Bogart's tuxedo. I am also grateful Warner didn't over-tweak this one -- whites never bloom and at no point is the image overly contrasted in an effort to make the film look "newer" or "glossier." Instead, 'Casablanca' maintains a very natural, film-like look throughout. Without a doubt this is the finest black and white transfer I've seen on high-def, period, and up there with the best remasters ever created for the home theater environment."
"For whatever reason, Warner did not create a new 5.1 remaster for 'Casablanca.' So what we get here is the rather unusual configuration of a Dolby Digital-Plus 1.0 mono soundtrack. Of course, 'Casablanca' is largely dialogue driven, so it likely would not have benefited as greatly from a whiz-bang surround mix as, say, another classic like 'King Kong.' In any case, what we do get here is very nicely cleaned up.
In all honestly, there is not much to say about the soundtrack. The source elements have been well preserved. High-end is smooth with no distortion and little of the harshness you'd expect from a film this old. Mid-range is somewhat spacious, though still sounds flat, as you would expect, compared to a modern mix. Low end also lacks any real heft. Again, since this is a mono track, there is zero envelopment or presence to the mix. But on purely technical terms, 'Casablanca' sounds about as good is it probably could."
Fotnot: Casablanca BEST TRANSFER -- CATALOG (Ten years or older) + THE BEST OVERALL vinnare 2006.
ATL 4.5/4 HDD: "Warner Home Video has produced another winner of an HD DVD. 'ATL' looks pretty damn great, with a nice three-dimensional picture that reminded me of just how superior high-def can look over plain old standard definition DVD. Regardless of a film's subject matter, when you're hot, you're hot. Everything about this transfer kinda rocks. The source material is immaculate with nary any visible grain (even in the darkest scenes). Blacks and contrast are also terrific, and color reproduction superb but not oversaturated -- even hard-to-reproduce hues like deep reds and blues are clear of chroma noise and smearing. Sharpness and detail are also up there with the best transfers I've seen, giving the image a clarity and depth that really screams high-def. If anything, this transfer may be too bright and vivid -- sometimes the blaring whites hurt my eyes (though perhaps I should take my eye doctor's advice and not watch movies in a room with no ambient light?) Still, no complaints -- unless I go blind, in which case I'm suing somebody at Warner Home Video."
"Thump-thump-thump! I don't think I've ever heard such consistently and continually powerful low bass before on a home video soundtrack as I did on 'ATL.' I don't know about this crunk thing, but if this is what the future of America is listening to they better be wearing earplugs.
Presented in Dolby Digital-Plus, the sound design of 'ATL' is quite active, though it is all about the beats -- of course, that is the real star of the show anyway. Dynamic range is excellent, with rich midrange and clean highs, and yes, very powerful low end. Surround use is quite hefty, though again everything is overpowered by the crunk. Let's just say nothing here is subtle, and though there is plenty of sound emanating from the rear channels, there actually isn't much directionality -- sounds are never moved around, with just a constant pumping from behind. I intentionally turned this one up to 11 at the start, but it eventually got so bad after a while that even my cats quickly pounced out of the room in disgust. (They still haven't come back.) I can only say for once that I'm actually grateful Warner didn't produce a Dolby TrueHD track for this one, 'cause I don't think I could have taken it."
Elephants Dream 5/4 HDD: "Designed as a showcase for the many wonders of HD DVD, 'Elephants Dream' is the only next-gen release I'm aware of that offers both VC-1 and MPEG-2 encodes of the same feature, and it's very cool to be able to stack the two codecs directly against each other for an apples-to-apples comparison.
The VC-1 version gets top billing, but quite frankly the MPEG-2 is just as good. Both present the film from the same master, in 1.78:1 widescreen, and the image is flawless. Depth and detail are top-notch, right from the opening scene of Emo and Proog navigating through the Machine's inner guts of silver wires and weird architecture. Texture is impeccable -- even the thinnest wire, way in the background is clearly defined and visible. Colors are also magnificent. Though the dominant hue is silver, there are fantastic splashes of deep primaries, including one moment early on, as a phone rings on a table over a bright red carpet, where the saturation and the purity of the colors is simply stunning. In terms of quality of the presentation --
'Elephants Dream' on HD DVD really is phenomenal.
As promised, this is easily five-star demo material."
"Elephants Dream comes with only two audio options, 5.1 surround (640kbps) and 2.0 stereo (448kbps), both in English Dolby Digital. (For non-English speakers, a host of foreign subtitle choices are also offered.)
Overall, the film's sound design is pretty basic and simplistic, but still effective. Strangely, the score is forced into the background, making dialogue and the sparse sound effects almost unnerving in their prominence, but this adds nicely to the '1984' feel of the film's story. Effects are chilly but atmospheric -- eerie wind noises and other mechanical sounds have a nice realism and clarity, aided by ample dynamic range. Low bass is tight but not overpowering. Dialogue is very distinct and well recorded. The soundfield generally creates a pleasing 360-degree effect that's certainly minimalist but still continuous. There isn't enough of a sustained bombast here to really impress, but this soundtrack certainly suits the material."
The Worlds Fastest Indian 4.5/4 dvdtalk: "The World's Fastest Indian looks unbelievable on HD DVD. The film stock Donaldson and his crew used reveals a grainy texture in very low light, but otherwise, it approaches perfection. The image is razor sharp and brimming with fine detail, with the textures of the actors' faces standing out as particularly impressive. Even at a distance, it seems as if every pore and the subtle shadows in every wrinkle are clear and distinct. The period look of the film's palette is also striking, especially the expansive, smooth gradients from one hue to the next. I couldn't spot a single imperfection in the transfer or any trace of artifacting in the VC-1 encoded image. A couple of patterns did have a slightly jittery, unstable appearance, presumably due to the film grain -- the racing stripes on The Indian in the second shot of the movie don't look perfectly straight as the camera pans by, for instance -- but this accounts for just a couple of seconds of its two hour-plus runtime. The World's Fastest Indian may be one of Magnolia Home Entertainment's first attempts at bringing a movie to HD DVD, but they've already managed to release one of the most instantly striking titles available on the format.
This is a beautifully photographed film, and it looks wonderful in high-definition."
" The World's Fastest Indian includes a pair of six-channel soundtracks: the first in the traditional Dolby Digital Plus and the other in lossless Dolby TrueHD. Most of the movie follows the amiable Kiwi as he treks to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and since little throughout his journey cries out for megaton belches from the subwoofer or overly aggressive surrounds, the mix anchors much of the activity to the front channels for the bulk of the film. The audio roars to life when Munro takes the wheel of The Indian, with the scenes at Bonneville bolstered by the throaty roar of these powerful engines, a strong sense of directionality, and numerous smooth pans from channel to channel. One scene early in the movie sees a cocky gang of bikers pull up to Munro's birthday party to challenge the old man to a race, and the imaging is so strong that I felt like I could pick out each individual motorcycle in the mix and match it up with one of the bikes puttering across the screen. Even if much of the rest of the film is more subtle and subdued by comparison, The World's Fastest Indian sounds fantastic when the movie calls for it, and I don't have any gripes whatsoever about the way its soundtrack is presented on HD DVD."
The Shaun of the Dead 9/8 dvdtown: "the 2.35:1 framed picture features very strong levels of detail and wonderfully vivid colours (British spelling, chaps). The reds of the blood and Shaun´s ink stain translate brilliantly to screen and the perfectly saturated colors feel normal and never exhibit any problems with bleed or other familiar flaws of a highly colored transfer. The level of detail is what surprised me the most. Throughout "Shaun of the Dead," the film exhibited strong details. Characters faces were finely detailed, as were the bits of gore and London´s exteriors. A minor amount of edge enhancement could be seen around some of the lighter shades in the film, but aside from this complaint, this was a surprisingly good transfer."
"Audio was another surprisingly good element of the HD-DVD transfer of "Shaun of the Dead." The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is clean, powerful and nicely accentuates the action on-screen. Throughout the entire film, sound effects filled the speakers. Whether it was the firing of the Winchester rifle, the splitting of skulls or crashing cars, "Shaun of the Dead" is an effective sounding film. Sounds can be heard clearly panning from one rear speaker to the next and then to the front channels. Ambient and environmental effects help create a more inhabitable world for the characters. The film´s musical numbers and score by Daniel Mudford and Pete Woodhead are nicely emphasized by the mix and the Queen song played during a fight sequence at the Winchester sounds stunning. As any good comedy requires, the dialogue is clear and intelligible and not a single joke is lost in digital translation."
Fler titlar fortsätter på inlägg #8
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Redigerat av Audio Code 3, 13 januari 2008 - 21:25.
Minhembio - Senaste nyheterna
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