Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The one of MANY HD-DVD threads (No bashing Blu-Ray)

And yet you enjoyed The Fountain

I love both Pi and Requiem. But I think Pi has a special place for me because it was so low budget - I think my favourite movie moments are discovering those types of movies, made on a shoestring or made because somebody HAD to make the film, which then totally captivate you and catapult you beyond the safe money spinning product which Hollywood releases.

Mark

I completely understand where you are coming from and I often agree with you on that ("discovering" a movie). I will give Pi & R4D a spin. Now I have some homework...

best regards,
Jerry

*seat reserved for Mark H at my premiere* [in 2037 at the rate I`m going]

Pi's great. I love it for the same reasons. Starved of budget and left with no alternative but to be creative. It's often the best way to try and make a film (the hard part is trying to convince anyone willing to put small amounts of money into a movie that you can do it for so little. I've literally seen it before where films with too low a budget fail to get the funding they require because they`re not asking for enough money. This is a particularly stupid British thing come to think of it. It's no wonder few decent British film's ever get made).

Glad you're going to give The Fountain a second chance in the cave.... I was right about Casino Royale so I demand to be proved right again....

So I watched the Matrix on HD DVD last night. And overall I was very pleased. The most surprising element? The sound. I heard details I never noticed before. I was truly surprised and I think I would have to fire up the DVD version to be sure those sounds are not present on the SD version. It is possible I just never noticed the sounds before, and this was with the 640kps DD+ version. The video is very very good but I found a few instances where there was a lot of noise- the over exposed white sky when Neo tries to do his first jump. But- overall the video is excellent. I think unfortunately the bullet time effects have not stood the test of time well- they seem very old now. Maybe its because we've seen this imitated by everything from other action movies to laundry detergent commercials. And I found myself picking out plot holes I would have never done before. I think this is simply borne out of familiarity with the material.


No matter what I say it will not dissuade or probably persuade anyone who has decided on whether to not buy or buy these discs, but let me finish with this- its the best Ive ever seen or heard the Matrix look and sound.

One strange thing I found with the sound- I had to really adjust the lip sync delay in my processor- its been at 35ms for a long time and always looked correct. For this I had to bump it to 56ms. Is this a problem with the disc or something with my setup- I think time will tell us as others watch these discs. Of course I suspect its the disc because how could every other HDDVD's lip sync be one thing and this another....

I basically agree with this fellow's review:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/matrix_umc.html

Glad to have it in my collection. Looking forward to the next time I choose the red box.......

best regards,
Jerry

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JerryL:
[QUOTE]One strange thing I found with the sound- I had to really adjust the lip sync delay in my processor- its been at 35ms for a long time and always looked correct. For this I had to bump it to 56ms. Is this a problem with the disc or something with my setup- I think time will tell us as others watch these discs. Of course I suspect its the disc because how could every other HDDVD's lip sync be one thing and this another....[quote]

That's a significant error! DVD sometimes had such problems but the most I've noticed on HD-DVD/Blu-Ray thus far is +/- 3ms. My discs have shipped so I'll check this out when they arrive.

Mark

Re: highdefdigest reviews - I take his video ratings with a pinch of salt. They are often biased by his personal aesthetic and compromised by his relatively small screen. I often find myself at odds with his ratings. Still a great resource for all things HD though.

Mark

Some people I trust noticed a fair bit of Edge Enhancement on the Matrix discs. The lip sync issue on these titles ie becoming quite widely reported amongst people who got advanced copies last week.

Are there any decent comparison sites for titles released in both HD DVD and BD?

I find http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list.php?reviewType=HD+DVD tend to more accurately report on image quality.

Mark

Really enjoyed this as well . I got LipSync issues with 'The Frighteners' but not so much with this . Jerry's right too , there are some very subtle extra sounds more clearly defined on the TrueHD track for sure.

~M~

Thanks for the link Mark- I will check them out too. Manus- whats wild is I was listening to the DD+ track as I currently have no way of getting the true HD track into my beloved 861.... (nudge nudge Mothership )

best regards,
Jerry

Jerry,
I got the IA45 just for that purpose in the hope that when the Mothership do join the party it will probably be HDMI or some MHR hybrid connection so I could continue to use the card with another player.

Best True soundtracks so far : Constantine , Batman Begins and The Matrix

~M~