Blu-Ray

[AndrewAZ]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

hehe careful with the absolutes. There are a couple people here with gear that you can see the difference.

The biggest issue is the quality of the feed. HD cable is crap compared to BluRay, as they are using a lossy compression, and compressing the hell out of it. Sports are the worst, as they have more motion and color variations.

Compression generally works on two things - removing that which can not be seen or heard, as you said, but also by looking for trends, patterns or similar data. The trends, patterns or similar data is tagged and noted for it's place in the signal, and then the extra copies are removed. The tagging tells the reconstruct program where to place the multiple copies during decompression.

One other way, used by jpeg's, is using a mathematical algorithym to describe the data or picture. This algo usually requires less data be transmitted than the picture itself. This is usually a lossy compression, but there are various forms that are lossless. They are usually also proprietary.

Here is my set up. 63 inch DLP, Denon AVR 3806, DVR is 8300 HD, PS3, Xbox 360, Vudu, Slingbox AV, all controlled by a Harmony 890. I have 5 paradigm speakers along with 2 yamaha powered subs.

I like I said I can tell the difference in cable HD vs blu ray, but I just watch parts of the bourne supremacy in HD on my Vudu box, it didnt tile or anything during the high action scenes. And I have 20/15 in my left eye and 20/10 or better in my right eye so I notice imperfections quickly.

And like I have said before the Vudu engineers wont divulge a lot of info about the box since it is proprietary and a new device. But I will say one complaint is not all movies are 5.1 surround sound and this is due to restrictions from certain studios.

[AndrewAZ]

Originally Posted by miktrebla09

With any type of compression there's going to be a degradation of quality...whether it be audio or video.

I've sampled Vudu and did notice a difference in picture - more pixelation especially in scenes with a lot of motion - , audio i can't comment on, as the sample system didn't hve high end audio equipment.

Vudu also doesn't have the option for DD TruHD nor DTS HD. I doubt most people even have the bandwidth for that.

When did you sample Vudu? (I find some of your comments odd) And the system is fully upgradable and can only provide what the studios give them, just recently the studios allowed for HD movies and soon more and more HD movies will be out on Vudu I think the goal is 70 new ones by the end of this month.

[hl0m4n]

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/637...vc8L22WBAFLZA5

you guys know that soon the lcd will be outdated with the new laser tvs? which really blows as my sony bravia isn't even a year old.

[speedgod]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/637...vc8L22WBAFLZA5

you guys know that soon the lcd will be outdated with the new laser tvs? which really blows as my sony bravia isn't even a year old.

Laser? Where did you find that in the article?

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by speedgod

Laser? Where did you find that in the article?

the tv was just for show. info on laser tv here, http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/null/6100...93YaSmcYIRLpA5

[miktrebla09]

Originally Posted by AndrewAZ

When did you sample Vudu? (I find some of your comments odd) And the system is fully upgradable and can only provide what the studios give them, just recently the studios allowed for HD movies and soon more and more HD movies will be out on Vudu I think the goal is 70 new ones by the end of this month.

Hey Andrew,
My colleague has it hooked up to his 40" Sony 1080p bravia (non XBR). It's funny you mention the Bourne trilogy, we actually compared Supremacy on HDDVD vs Vudu...we actually came to the same conclusion (and this kid hates admitting his vudu is anything but infallable). I wish he had a sound system, he was running everthing out of this HTIB setup...forget which one.

For everyday casual viewing, I can see why no discernable differences can be made. The video quality is actually outstanding (nothing like comparing a 1080p upconverting DVD player vs. a dedicated BD player). It's just the nit pickers in us that pointed out the subtle differences.

I'm also a bit of an audio freak...in my bedroom alone I have the B&W XT series hooked up to a b&k avr507 (i love b&w..my living system is all b&w but that's a different story). I wouldn't call this system high end, but with it even the smallest disparities in sound I can pick up.

You should keep in mind, I'm the type of guy who demands absolute perfection when it comes to audio video media...hehe though my systems are absolutely far from it.


btw, do you notice any rainbow-ing with your dlp? I'm pretty sensitive to it...which sucks since DLP's offer a much better screen size/dolllar ratio than other forms of displays.

[miktrebla09]

Originally Posted by AndrewAZ

I think a lot of folks are confused about compression, the only time you lose quality in compression is if you over compress it. For example a lot of the audio processing and compression is simply removing the audio that the human ears can never hear. I think this entire none compression stuff is just a marketing scheme.. Heck I doubt anyone here can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 42 inch TV set, or if anyone here can tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i.

You're right depending on your viewing distance. But with a reasonably sized tv and a reasonable viewing distance, there is definitely DEFINITELY a noticeable difference between 720 and 1080p.

[miktrebla09]

Originally Posted by AndrewAZ

I think a lot of folks are confused about compression, the only time you lose quality in compression is if you over compress it. For example a lot of the audio processing and compression is simply removing the audio that the human ears can never hear. I think this entire none compression stuff is just a marketing scheme.. Heck I doubt anyone here can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 42 inch TV set, or if anyone here can tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i.

Indeed. I spent a few semesters studying these algorithms..and you're mostly right. If there's less critical data that's not perceivable to the human ear, ridding the sound of this is a good way to compress. But you have to understand that not all people perceive audio and video the same way. Some have more accute sensory than others.

[AndrewAZ]

Originally Posted by miktrebla09

Hey Andrew,
My colleague has it hooked up to his 40" Sony 1080p bravia (non XBR). It's funny you mention the Bourne trilogy, we actually compared Supremacy on HDDVD vs Vudu...we actually came to the same conclusion (and this kid hates admitting his vudu is anything but infallable). I wish he had a sound system, he was running everthing out of this HTIB setup...forget which one.

For everyday casual viewing, I can see why no discernable differences can be made. The video quality is actually outstanding (nothing like comparing a 1080p upconverting DVD player vs. a dedicated BD player). It's just the nit pickers in us that pointed out the subtle differences.

I'm also a bit of an audio freak...in my bedroom alone I have the B&W XT series hooked up to a b&k avr507 (i love b&w..my living system is all b&w but that's a different story). I wouldn't call this system high end, but with it even the smallest disparities in sound I can pick up.

You should keep in mind, I'm the type of guy who demands absolute perfection when it comes to audio video media...hehe though my systems are absolutely far from it.


btw, do you notice any rainbow-ing with your dlp? I'm pretty sensitive to it...which sucks since DLP's offer a much better screen size/dolllar ratio than other forms of displays.

When DLP first came out I noticed it and ended up with a rear project LCD TV but the lamps kept exploding and in a class action settlement I was given a new DLP TV (which actually cost $500 or so more than my original LCD TV). With the newer DLP TV's I have not noticed it, the main thing I notice is blacks are not really black and when you have a black background with a bright white source such as letters or a light it never looks right.

Now the bourn movies some of the Vudu boxs had issues with pixillation but this was fixed for the small few with a over the web box update. Some of the boxes had issue and froze during the movie, mine didnt have any of the issues listed about.

[djmatty]

Owned.

[TurboFan]

was the HD-DVD pic taken before they opened????

[MTV]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

was the HD-DVD pic taken before they opened????

No one will ever know....

[djmatty]

Originally Posted by MTV

No one will ever know....

lol, nope, fully open. Read the full article on engadget.com.

[MTV]

Well in that case... Blu-Ray FTW!

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by djmatty

lol, nope, fully open. Read the full article on engadget.com.

it doesn't matter to me... I broke down and bought both players. I just wanted to watch the damn movies, and didn't want to wait for them to finish pissing all over each other...