DVDs and YOU!

[Rigel]

Interesting points about blu ray versus flash drives... remember, though, that the cost of blue ray discs is only about $1 (versus ~$0.50 for DVD), with the rest of the cost being taken up by packaging, shipping, advertising, etc.

So we won't see flash movies until the unit cost drops a bit more. The flash itself is relatively cheap, but the cost of putting it in a case and giving it a USB connector could possibly always be higher than the cost of pressing a disc.

[matrixman]

Xvid movies on my computer screen look pretty good, but I have not seen for myself how they look on a TV compared against the original DVD. I also have a couple of high def films in the MKV format on my hard drive, and they look very good on my monitor as well. But I don't know how well they compare with blu-ray on TV. So until my own eyes are persuaded that highly compressed high def files look just as good as blu-ray on my television, I'm not ready to toss out my blu-ray player just yet.

...blueray due to it requiring a machine with moving parts that can and do quite often break from constant motion of course means no moving parts equals alot longer life for most machines. pretty much like cd players became dinosaurs when the Mp3 players with no moving parts took over. when i was listening to my Audio books through CDs I went through literally at least 3 CD players a year from my moving around alot and with my new ..well old now mp3 player im still on my first one after almost 3 years.

Geez, man, that's turning my own argument against me.

I mean about my comment that any improvement to be had over a PS3's blu-ray picture quality would likely be subtle at best, if you were to get a high end blu-ray deck. I know MP3 devotees like to say that MP3s sound virtually indistinguishable from the original WAV files, so much so that it's pointless to keep the CDs once they've been converted. I would agree that MP3s can have "CD-quality" sound if the highest quality conversion is used, and if MP3s are heard through headphones that are limited in their dynamic range in the first place. I'm not saying one needs exotic, super expensive equipment to notice the difference in quality between CDs and MP3s. I have a pair of Denon AH-D950 phones, bought for around $350 back in the 90's (sadly discontinued now), that are now falling apart. But I still put them on for critical music listening. Those Denon phones didn't cost me an arm and a leg, yet they truly are "audiophile" cans to my ears. I also have the Grado SR60's - their budget phones, which I bought several years ago for around $170. Last December I acquired the Shure SRH840's for $250 as a nominal replacement for my worn out Denons. My long-winded point being that these are not terribly expensive headphones, yet any one of them plugged into my CD Walkman - yes, just my humble Walkman - shows up the deficiencies of MP3s to my ears, compared to true CD sound. And that's after using the "insane" quality setting (LAME 320kps Constant Bit Rate) to convert my test tracks. It's not a night and day difference: it's subtle but it's there. I recognize the value of MP3s or any other high compression format: they offer tremendous portability and convenience. Sound-wise, MP3s are certainly good enough on the go - that's what they're meant for, in my view. I get your point that CD players are "dinosaurs" in their mechanical obsolescence, as long as we're talking about portable music carriers. Hey, I intend to get a Sony MP3 Walkman for myself at some point, too. But I just don't believe MP3s give you honest CD-quality sound. At home, for maximum music enjoyment, I'll still play CDs, whether through speakers or headphones. Oh, and the phones I mentioned - particularly the Shure SRH840's - are just as wonderful for movies, when I don't want to annoy my fellow tenants at night. Indeed, I just experienced The Matrix via the Shure's before logging on here. My oh my.

Holy crap, this post should be in Vespers...

post note: this is really all about individual tolerances - what balance or compromise of file size vs. quality works for you, in music or movies. If you're more than satisfied with the quality of formats like MP3 or Xvid, then my post amounts to so much hot air. Yes, I fuss over sound quality in music, but I swear I'm not one of those loonies who'll pay a grand for super-duper premium speaker cables, or worse, pay several grand for a block of wood that somehow magically improves room acoustics.

[Rigel]

Re: Encoded movies

I may be more of a perfectionist than some, but I did side by side tests of DVDs versus various encoding formats and bitrates.

For me, you need to use the VC1 codec (the one used on Blu Ray discs) with 2000kbps to achieve a picture identical to DVDs for movies. TV shows are often fine with a bitrate of 1750, but the extra bitrate doesn't bother me so I just use 2m for everything.

I can't say about Blu Ray; my drive is in the mail, and should arrive on Wednesday. And just to put this thread back on topic, I'll also be receiving District 9 and Watchmen on Blu Ray in the same package. Needless to say, I'm quite excited about it


Re: MP3s

While it's true that MP3s can give you CD quality music, I've noticed that the MP3s I purchase online don't have that quality. The best of them are only 256k, and there's noticeable distortion in some of the tracks. Again, to achieve a quality similar to the physical disc, I would recommend a minimum of 320k, with maximum quality settings used.

In fact, the quality of the tracks I purchase online bugs me so much that I've decided to stop purchasing digital music. You can find used CDs so cheap on eBay and Amazon, that there's really no need to buy online, anyway.

Of course, the real issue here is that you're achieving "CD like quality," which isn't really that good. 48kHz, 16bit samples... what I'd really like to see is 96kHz, 64bit samples standard. OK, maybe 32bit samples, but still... the fact is that CDs just aren't very good quality to begin with.

[matrixman]

Oops, you snuck in while I was adding my little post note.

I can't imagine you'll be anything but pleased with your new blu-ray player. Enjoy!

I'm excited about the release of the LOTR trilogy on blu-ray this coming Tuesday.
It had better not be sold out when I go to get it after work, or I will be a tad peeved.

[Cagliostro]

I'd love to pick up the Blu-ray LOTR, but I believe I'll wait for the extended editions (this is just the theatrical version). I've already dropped enough money on the trilogy (the theatrical on DVD, the extended editions, then the edition that had both versions and an extra documentary for all three movies).

[Rigel]

Yeah, I'm looking at LotR too, but there are so many movies I've been waiting to buy so I could get them on Blu Ray...

For instance, I'm currently lacking a copy of The Matrix. And then I'm considering buying the Lost collection (on DVD, though, as I saw them on Blu Ray and didn't think they needed the extra clarity to be enjoyed). Oh, and Pixar's collected works, those wold be great in HD

[matrixman]

Well, I'm one of those weirdos who prefers the theatrical version of Fellowship, and since that is also my favorite film of the trilogy, the purchase was a no-brainer.

Yes, I have the preciousssss in my possession.
But I'm not exactly in the right mood to watch it, since spring and summer are approaching.
LOTR is a winter thing for me, because I saw Fellowship when it came out in December 2001. I will have to pretend it's winter before putting it on.

[Cagliostro]

But it was always the summer when they released the theatrical cut on DVD. Maybe you can think of it that way (I do the same thing - I feel the need to watch a LOTR movie in December every year).

[matrixman]

Once the movie starts playing, I'm sure it will just suck me in as always. It probably sounds like much ado over nothing, so I'll shut up now.

[dANdeLION]

I watched No Country For Old Men last night, after trying to watch yet another episode of "V" and getting bored silly after 20 minutes....

[Rigel]

I can't say about Blu Ray; my drive is in the mail, and should arrive on Wednesday. And just to put this thread back on topic, I'll also be receiving District 9 and Watchmen on Blu Ray in the same package. Needless to say, I'm quite excited about it

Woot

[Blackhawk]

Matrixman,Rigel ... I use standard listening equipment but i have heard many say they do not like compressed music.. I cant hear the difference using the speakers or headphones but i dont have anything to show me the difference, I mostly listen to audio books..music i listen to on my car radio on the way to work for the most part,.. OH...I almost bought a PS3 with a 256gb hd for 358... only thing that made me say HELL NO..was the fact that there was not even one game included..and not even a Bluray movie to watch.. so for 400$ out the door i said Nope..not yet... but eventually i will take your advice concerning the Blu ray quality of PS3 and opt for that instead of a standalone player..

yep.. i know it will be at least a few years before they take flash memory and do away with discs. as it is now.. to buy a recordable bluray disc it is about 12-17$ and a flash drive of equal storage as it is now costs probably twice that, but I think a BD-RW would cost about the same as a flash drive of equal storage. I'll stop there to keep the thread on track...

now on to the latest addition to my DVD colletion.

I Just got the remastered Clint Eastwood 35 years 35 movies DVD set from Universal for my Birthday... my wife was almost as stoked as i was. my parents came over and I decided to put in Everywhich way but loose, I love that movie, Ruth Gordon is GREAT!! .. my Mom couldnt believe how good it looked... might do a Dirty Harry Marathon this week. the only Westerns in the set were Outlaw josey Whales... Pale Rider, and the most recent Western Eastwood did with Gene Hackman..man..the name escapes me for some reason...ahh..Unforgiven... I already own the rest of the Westerns so my Eastwood collection is going on aobut 50 movies now.. i have 11 duplicates but am reluctant to get rid of them. the new Collection has the DVDS in a cardboard sleeve that is hard to get in and out so i worry about scratching them every time i remove one... that will go on my "no loaner list"

[Rigel]

Where the Wild THings Are

I'm too drunk to know why I like it so much.

But I lvoed watchting it. I have to buy this movie. F**cking great flick.

[matrixman]

Blackhawk, I think my overblown reaction to MP3 was due to a self-delusion on my part. I had recently been converting a whole bunch of my CDs to MP3, and was basically operating on faith that at the highest quality conversion, my ears really wouldn't be able to tell the difference from the original WAV files. I had been intending to save all my CDs as lossless APE files and listen only to them as MP3s from now on. In other words, I was ready to accept the MP3 format wholesale. So I felt a little...betrayed...when I put on my old Denon headphones to listen to the MP3s I'd burned, and the music just didn't have both the oomph and the finesse it should have had.

It's still good to have MP3's, of course. But no way in heck am I letting go of my CDs.

I'm currently going through From the Earth to the Moon, the fantastic HBO miniseries that I finally bought on DVD for $22. I caught the series once before on A&E, but didn't see all the episodes.

[dlbpharmd]

I'm currently going through From the Earth to the Moon, the fantastic HBO miniseries that I finally bought on DVD for $22. I caught the series once before on A&E, but didn't see all the episodes.

That's a great series, MM!

[Blackhawk]

Blackhawk, I think my overblown reaction to MP3 was due to a self-delusion on my part. I had recently been converting a whole bunch of my CDs to MP3, and was basically operating on faith that at the highest quality conversion, my ears really wouldn't be able to tell the difference from the original WAV files. I had been intending to save all my CDs as lossless APE files and listen only to them as MP3s from now on. In other words, I was ready to accept the MP3 format wholesale. So I felt a little...betrayed...when I put on my old Denon headphones to listen to the MP3s I'd burned, and the music just didn't have both the oomph and the finesse it should have had.

It's still good to have MP3's, of course. But no way in heck am I letting go of my CDs.

I'm currently going through From the Earth to the Moon, the fantastic HBO miniseries that I finally bought on DVD for $22. I caught the series once before on A&E, but didn't see all the episodes.

yeah..when i turn them up i can hear an underlying Hiss/warble on some of the 128 bit music.. the higher ones sounded good to me, but do seem to lose some of the sharpness or as you said Umph... Yeah..i would hold on to my cds too, at least until they find some lossless way of compressing a 700mb cd into 60mb or so. I have so many Cds I cant fit all of them even with small compression onto my HD

Ive never seen From earth to the moon.. Im gonna check it out

[matrixman]

If you do see From the Earth to the Moon on sale for the same super low price that I got it for, then I seriously urge you to grab it. For a long time, it cost $60 and up, so I'm guessing they're clearing out their stock. Which might mean that once it's gone, it's gone.

I don't think dlbpharmd or I could praise it enough. It's a 12-part series that chronicles the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. It's a classy production with great ensemble casts. I've watched episodes 1-9 now. The Sixties space race is a subject I never tire of.

(Sam and Frodo will just have to wait their turn for my attention.)

[Blackhawk]

If you do see From the Earth to the Moon on sale for the same super low price that I got it for, then I seriously urge you to grab it. For a long time, it cost $60 and up, so I'm guessing they're clearing out their stock. Which might mean that once it's gone, it's gone.

I don't think dlbpharmd or I could praise it enough. It's a 12-part series that chronicles the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. It's a classy production with great ensemble casts. I've watched episodes 1-9 now. The Sixties space race is a subject I never tire of.

(Sam and Frodo will just have to wait their turn for my attention.)

sounds good.. if i cant find it maybe it will be on netflix.

[Rigel]

I just got 2001 on Blu Ray. The picture quality is absolutely amazing. The film itself is slower than I remember, but still a great classic.

[matrixman]

Yes, 2001 looks as pristine as if it had been made last week. A testament to Kubrick's quality control. I think very few other forty year old films could equal 2001's reference-quality image.