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Derb · 08-09-2006, 02:02 AM

U2 - Rattle & Hum (1988)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10

First let me say that this is by no means a high definition reference disc from sources such as HD cable/Satt, previous HD DVD & BD releases. The video on this disc is encoded using MPEG-4/AVC & while a lot of blame of the video presentation is based on the use of this codec, I have to disagree. Shot in Black & White during the first half & color nearing the end of the concert, the first & immediate reaction to the video quality was how much noise & grain is shown throughout while blacks are solid & as well as detail. I am reminded that documentary style shots are never appealing to the eye & this was a choice by the director. Hard to fault a transfer based on the original source I guess, but if you want to put blame where blame is due, I'd say 90% of the video seen is a source issue & 10% is a codec/transfer issue. As reference, (note) the Theatrical trailer is shown using VC-1 compression & guess what? Same deal. Noise & Grain are present throughout the VC-1 trailer, so you can almost rule out MPEG-4 for the not so eye poping look. Overall, this isn't the disc to show off how good high-def is, but also isn't a disc to show off the faults either because neither the source & codec are really to blame. Switching gears to Audio. I have listened to 35+ SD dvd concerts, Eagles dts, Led Zeppelin dts etc. etc. I was almost in shock at the level of clarity, dialog & use of surrounds with this concert/film. It easily puts ALL my SD DVDs to shame by comparison when listening to this Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track. I tell ya, if this disc was all music, this disc would be HD Audio reference material. For the record, I am not bias towards the audio because its "U2", in fact, I don't particularly find the group that great outside of their hit songs. You'll just have to hear this track for yourselves to believe me. WoW.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10

We Were Soldiers (2002)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Four Brothers (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Aeon Flux (2005)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

08-09-2006, 02:02 AM	#23 (permalink)
Derb Actor Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Canada	U2 - Rattle & Hum (1988) HD Video - 7/10 HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10 First let me say that this is by no means a high definition reference disc from sources such as HD cable/Satt, previous HD DVD & BD releases. The video on this disc is encoded using MPEG-4/AVC & while a lot of blame of the video presentation is based on the use of this codec, I have to disagree. Shot in Black & White during the first half & color nearing the end of the concert, the first & immediate reaction to the video quality was how much noise & grain is shown throughout while blacks are solid & as well as detail. I am reminded that documentary style shots are never appealing to the eye & this was a choice by the director. Hard to fault a transfer based on the original source I guess, but if you want to put blame where blame is due, I'd say 90% of the video seen is a source issue & 10% is a codec/transfer issue. As reference, (note) the Theatrical trailer is shown using VC-1 compression & guess what? Same deal. Noise & Grain are present throughout the VC-1 trailer, so you can almost rule out MPEG-4 for the not so eye poping look. Overall, this isn't the disc to show off how good high-def is, but also isn't a disc to show off the faults either because neither the source & codec are really to blame. Switching gears to Audio. I have listened to 35+ SD dvd concerts, Eagles dts, Led Zeppelin dts etc. etc. I was almost in shock at the level of clarity, dialog & use of surrounds with this concert/film. It easily puts ALL my SD DVDs to shame by comparison when listening to this Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track. I tell ya, if this disc was all music, this disc would be HD Audio reference material. For the record, I am not bias towards the audio because its "U2", in fact, I don't particularly find the group that great outside of their hit songs. You'll just have to hear this track for yourselves to believe me. WoW. The Manchurian Candidate (2004) HD Video - 8/10 HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 7/10 We Were Soldiers (2002) HD Video - 8/10 HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10 Four Brothers (2005) HD Video - 10/10 HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10 Aeon Flux (2005) HD Video - 10/10 HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10 __________________ My Blu-ray Collection Time for Blu to go mainstream. Last edited by Derb : 08-24-2006 at 02:20 AM.