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Best Blu Rays


Paulscoconutass

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Since getting a BD player I've been pretty disappointed by the picture / sound of about 1/2 the titles I've seen, and it's fair to say that some aren't really worth the upgrade from DVD, especially if your telly/player is good at upscaling (not to mention the inflated prices).

Would be good to know what others think of titles they watch - I usually use this site but it doesn't have every release.

Watchmen has been my favourite so far: both the picture and 5.1 sound mix are spectacular. Y

Kill Bill Vol 1, but more impressively Vol 2 for picture detail, both are decent for sound. Y

Reservoir Dogs: disappointing picture with a pretty flat sound mix. N

Machine Girl: Terrible sound and flaky picture, avoid! N

2001 - Space Odyssey: picture was pretty good, sound was fantastic, especially the orchestrated bits. Y

The Hangover: amazing picture, boring and 2.1 sound mix. M

Seven Pounds: Sharp picture, but nothing really worth seeing. Sounds athospheric, but doesn't jump out. M

Wall-E: Scenes on earth are OK, space ones are sweet. The sound was also alright. Y

Stranger than Fiction: amazing picture but again, not much worth seeing in HD. Disappointing sound mix, although it is well produced. M

Batman Begins Picture's alright, very dark, but the sound is bombastic and fairly rocks the room. Y

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Since getting a BD player I've been pretty disappointed by the picture / sound of about 1/2 the titles I've seen, and it's fair to say that some aren't really worth the upgrade from DVD, especially if your telly/player is good at upscaling (not to mention the inflated prices).

Would be good to know what others think of titles they watch - I usually use this site but it doesn't have every release.

Watchmen has been my favourite so far: both the picture and 5.1 sound mix are spectacular. Y

Kill Bill Vol 1, but more impressively Vol 2 for picture detail, both are decent for sound. Y

Reservoir Dogs: disappointing picture with a pretty flat sound mix. N

Machine Girl: Terrible sound and flaky picture, avoid! N

2001 - Space Odyssey: picture was pretty good, sound was fantastic, especially the orchestrated bits. Y

The Hangover: amazing picture, boring and 2.1 sound mix. M

Seven Pounds: Sharp picture, but nothing really worth seeing. Sounds athospheric, but doesn't jump out. M

Wall-E: Scenes on earth are OK, space ones are sweet. The sound was also alright. Y

Stranger than Fiction: amazing picture but again, not much worth seeing in HD. Disappointing sound mix, although it is well produced. M

Batman Begins Picture's alright, very dark, but the sound is bombastic and fairly rocks the room. Y

What sort of gear do you have, what spec etc, because that plays a part in the process obviously.

The Hangover isn't 2.1.

Obviously the quality of film stock greatly affects the mastering process of a disc and because there is more information on a blu disc it can expose pretty poor film stock. It's also worth remembering that some films have soft or gritty pictures to add to the feel of the film.

I'd wager that your TV is probably some sort of LG or Samsung and you have an all in one Home Theatre system...

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:rolleyes:

I only say this because, with experience, both makes give a soft picture out of the box and require a wee bit of calibration.

There is a marked difference between an all in one system and a seperate amp and speaker set-up. There is also a marked diffence between PCM/TrueHD/DTS Master Audio HD and basic DD/DTS as you're probably well aware despite your glibness.

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You do tend to recommend a lot of Sony products on here and you're comment about LGs and Samsungs earlier in this thread pretty much implied you thought they were sub-par.

Read what i followed up with. I've sold both LG and Samsung and we have a Samsung account. I actually happen to think that Sony make good, reliable products and if you saw how much as a percentage of repairs we do Sony-wise against other makes you'd be very surprised.

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Read what i followed up with. I've sold both LG and Samsung and we have a Samsung account. I actually happen to think that Sony make good, reliable products and if you saw how much as a percentage of repairs we do Sony-wise against other makes you'd be very surprised.

I know, I actually trust your opinion about this stuff as well.

But it's Friday, work's quiet and I thought I'd wind you up a bit (and without the follow-up context the post about LGs and Samsungs came across a bit snobby).

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I know, I actually trust your opinion about this stuff as well.

But it's Friday, work's quiet and I thought I'd wind you up a bit (and without the follow-up context the post about LGs and Samsungs came across a bit snobby).

I realise that it could've come across as snobby reading it back (that wasn't my intention), but judging from his response to some of the Blu Rays he's seen that i've also seen on my set-up and his comments on them i'd be surprised if he didn't have one of the two because i've also seen several of them on Samsungs and LGs as well.

People generally assume that a TV is on it's best settings when it comes out of the box. This is never the case.

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What sort of gear do you have, what spec etc, because that plays a part in the process obviously.

The Hangover isn't 2.1.

Obviously the quality of film stock greatly affects the mastering process of a disc and because there is more information on a blu disc it can expose pretty poor film stock. It's also worth remembering that some films have soft or gritty pictures to add to the feel of the film.

I'd wager that your TV is probably some sort of LG or Samsung and you have an all in one Home Theatre system...

Chill out min! Was only looking for good Blu-Ray suggestions, not a Blu-Ray / HDTV 101.

Not really up for listing the contents of my living room on the internet but the set-up was well-researched and would probably slot in at the top of middle-range. Don't see the point in paying outrageously more for the relatively small increase in picture/sound quality of the 'top-end' units for anything - particularly in Home Theater equipment, that advances as fast as it does.

For the Hangover; sure it's not labelled as a 2.1, but it's the flattest mix I've heard on a blu ray yet.

Back to my point though, there's no doubt that some BDs have better transfer / picture / sound quality than others, and that's all I was looking to find out.

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Back to my point though, there's no doubt that some BDs have better transfer / picture / sound quality than others, and that's all I was looking to find out.

I don't know how you feel about the magazine, but Total Film have started showing their opinion on whether they consider Blu-ray versions of movies to be better than the standard DVD. Obviously there are only limited numbers of movies covered at a time but it may be of use...

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Chill out min! Was only looking for good Blu-Ray suggestions, not a Blu-Ray / HDTV 101.

Not really up for listing the contents of my living room on the internet but the set-up was well-researched and would probably slot in at the top of middle-range. Don't see the point in paying outrageously more for the relatively small increase in picture/sound quality of the 'top-end' units for anything - particularly in Home Theater equipment, that advances as fast as it does.

For the Hangover; sure it's not labelled as a 2.1, but it's the flattest mix I've heard on a blu ray yet.

Back to my point though, there's no doubt that some BDs have better transfer / picture / sound quality than others, and that's all I was looking to find out.

That's the thing though, everyones perception is going to be different so unless you all have the same eyes and set-up what someone thinks is good might not meet your expectations.

For the record the Hangover is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. As it's not an all singing/all dancing action number there isn't an awful lot going on in the rear speakers as they are used for dynamic effect more often than not (something that isn't common on comedy soundtracks as it's not a dynamic device of the film).

Home Theatre equipment doesn't advance very quickly but seen as though you can't be arsed listing what you've got then i can't comment on whether it's the limitations of your system or not. I'm sure you spent a lot of time researching it on the net etc but as you were complaining about the quality of blu rays maybe the equipment you are using is to blame as well. You're right, you don't have to spend ridiculous money on stuff, that's a given, but there's no point in complaining about things if you aren't willing to take another persons opinion on board.

For the record:

Hellboy (amazing deep blacks, kick ass soundtrack)

Blade Runner (How to do an old film on Blu 101)

300 (If you can get over the intentional use of grain in the shots it's fantastic depthwise and soundtrackwise)

John Rambo (Fantastic soundtrack if you want to dem a full surround system)

Casino Royale (Great picture)

Transformers (Great picture)

I'm sure i could think of more given a bit more time.

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On that point; all being well I should get my new TV today. Any tips on getting it set up or any good links to setup guides?

Just search for your model online and calibration tips etc

As a general rule of thumb turn off any "fancy" features like Noise reduction etc and reduce the backlight to either 2 or 4 (2 for darker rooms, 4 for light rooms) or you'll be replacing the TV a lot quicker and the picture will be far to oversaturated. Take the sharpness down to a minimum as well and avoid "cool" as a pic temp setting (generally the most realistic pictures come from the "warm" settings but some people find them too "yellowy" on the whites (despite very little in nature actually being over-saturated bright white).

Steer clear of "vivid" settings as that is tantamount to TV rape.

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seen as though you can't be arsed listing what you've got..

Apologies if im wrong but i get the feeling it was more 'not wanting to post the contents of his house on a public forum' rather than 'not being arsed'.

Just to weigh in, based solely on picture as i dont have any fancy pants audio equipment,

I concur with 300, the grainy filter is obvious and a wee bit distracting but the vistas and general 'epicness' of the whole thing make it well worth it. Both the Batmans, Dark Knight especially looks crisp as fook. And for some odd reason I do enjoy the Simpsons movie in HD mostly just because it's bizarre seeing the difference a good picture makes to a cartoon, you would obviously have to deal with the fact you're watching the Simpsons movie though.

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Apologies if im wrong but i get the feeling it was more 'not wanting to post the contents of his house on a public forum' rather than 'not being arsed'.

Just to weigh in, based solely on picture as i dont have any fancy pants audio equipment,

I concur with 300, the grainy filter is obvious and a wee bit distracting but the vistas and general 'epicness' of the whole thing make it well worth it. Both the Batmans, Dark Knight especially looks crisp as fook. And for some odd reason I do enjoy the Simpsons movie in HD mostly just because it's bizarre seeing the difference a good picture makes to a cartoon, you would obviously have to deal with the fact you're watching the Simpsons movie though.

A simple pm would suffice. I don't care if it's not stuff i sell or like but i'm more than willing to help in any way if he's missing something set-up-wise. Doesn't make any difference to me either way.

I also concur on the Dark Knight and Batman Begins choice. The IMAX scenes in DK in particular look fantastic!

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I don't know how you feel about the magazine, but Total Film have started showing their opinion on whether they consider Blu-ray versions of movies to be better than the standard DVD. Obviously there are only limited numbers of movies covered at a time but it may be of use...

Good shout, I did see that in the last issue I bought. I remember it as being a simple Y/N for worth the upgrade and couple of sentences about bonus features though?

True Romance: decent enough picture and sound, no scenes really jump out. M

The Hurt Locker: picture was pretty good (bleak sand & dirt, but detailed enough). The sound's phenomenal. The Sniperfight/Gunfights are particularly great; the digetic/background jets, talking, traffic and ambiance throughout the entire film is fantastic. Y

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