Lord of the Rings - DVD .vs. HD
polycounter lvl 19
Awesome comparison shots of the DVD and HD (1920x1080) sources. The main page has DVD resolution shots, with the mouse-over being the HD image. Clicking on the image will give you fullscreen DVD shots. Click on the fullscreen shot to show the HD overlay
http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html
Not only is the resolution, detail and crispness better, but the color depth is far more intense.
http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html
Not only is the resolution, detail and crispness better, but the color depth is far more intense.
Replies
Rather than use capture cards, I think it'd be interesting to see how they differ on an actual TV with an HD-DVD player and and upconverting DVD player.
*sigh*
didn't think I was going to want to shell out for one until later...
Regrettably, I don't even have a high-def screen yet, and don't even have the option of viewing next-gen discs in all their glory. And as my current screen is both functioning and 480p enabled (with quite pleasing results) I'm going to be waiting until it craps out on me before takeing the hi-def plunge.
Realistically, high-def screen technology is still in its infancy. And the industry still hasn't found a large-scale screen solution that is comparable to CRT's in longevity, stability, flexibility, and overall picture quality. I would like to see them get their stuff together on those fronts before dropping several thousand on a 50+ inch screen.
I'm thinking about getting the 360 HD-DVD player now.
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Definitely. I had pretty much blown off the entire next-gen DVD fight for now, but considering the Xbox drive is just $200... I think it will be worth it, especially if I can recoup a little cash from trading in older DVDs (my LotR CEs, for example).
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=203249984&loc=108&sp=1
They have it $20 off right now. I was just looking at it there because someone on Digg said they couldn't find them in stores. I've bought most of my Christmas gifts from their site this year.
Not sure what I feel about that as part of the comparison process, but clearly the difference is impressive. I'm in the fortunate position of not owning many DVD's and with the recent 40" LCD Sony I bought, I'm now super tempted to pick up a player. The only caveat with the 360 one Im told is that the 360 is loud, and it needs to be on for the DVD unit to work. Hard to say how irksome that would be to me, since I dont actually own a 360 yet.
Im still troubled by a BestBuy worker insisting to me that Blue Ray was vastly superior to HD DVD, and that HD wasn't true 1080p at all (and in fact supposedly no better than upconversion). He would have staked his life on it Im sure, which makes me wonder what hidden agenda is going on behind the scenes. Id be curious to get some friends to go into other BB stores and ask the same question about differences between the two formats.
Daz, when the 360 is on it purrs like a kitten. No noise at all. The problem is the main DVD tray. If you play a game in the 360, it gets a little loud. But the HDDVD drive is a separate element, and it doesn't require the main drive to operate. So when you watch HDDVD, you hear nothing but the movie
And yeah, the "up" sampling was the guy's only option of course. But as a show of HD's detail, even the down-sized HD images had more detail and clarity than the DVD counter part.
Sorry, that was a little off topic... those HD images look way better than the DVD version though, nice!
And even when I do play a game, I have the volume high enough to where I don't really hear it :P
Now I just need 10000$ for a really good 1080p projector to warrant a 300$ purchase. Or 3000$ for a separate picture processor/upscaler.
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i believe the sony ruby is 1080p native and cost about half of that. however hd-dvd will look better even on a 720p native projector.
My 50" KDS-50A2000 was $2200 and it's great.
plus for $2200 you can get a really good 720p projector.
any good properly calibrated home theater projector that is setup right i've seen beats or matches most rear projection tv's. and in most cases the very fact that its rear projection means you're sacrificing some quality (because of the way rear projection units work).
but i guess its up the the users opinion.
edit: i justdid a search and if it is just a straightup lcd tv then a good lcd or dlp can easily beat it. lcd's image quality and contrast tend to get worse and worse the larger you make the lcd panel. don't get me wrong, my grandpa recently got a damn good 37 inch lcd tv, but when he brought it over to me to calibrate (using dve and dmw) i was able to make a side-by-side comparison, and it was obvious my projector was pumping out a slightly better image, except for the contrast, my projector has a weak contrast ratio.