HD DVD and Blu-ray releases on May 22nd, 2007
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted May 21st 2007 3:19PM
posted May 21st 2007 3:19PM
In what is almost definitely the best week ever for both formats, we see both of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies from Disney on Blu-ray and both Matrix box sets for HD DVD. While the Matrix movies will be available on Blu-ray whenever they get their act together, there is less hope for HD DVD fans to get to enjoy Disney's offerings. The other thing that makes this week different is that for the first time Hi-Def Digest HD DVD 197 vs Blu-ray 229.
Blu-ray
- Apocalypto (Buena Vista)
- Closer (Sony)
- Flags of Our Fathers (DreamWorks)
- Freedom Writers (Paramount)
- Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner)
- M:I-2 (Paramount)
- Mission: Impossible (Paramount)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Buena Vista)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista)
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Universal)
- The Complete Matrix Trilogy (Warner)
- Flags of Our Fathers (DreamWorks)
- Freedom Writers (Paramount)
- Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner)
- M:I-2 (Paramount)
- Mission: Impossible (Paramount)
- The Skeleton Key (Universal)
- Smokey and the Bandit (Universal)
- The Ultimate Matrix Collection (Warner)
Already got my Matrix collection ordered.
Anybody know whether the Flags of our Fathers, or Letters from Iwo Jima movies are any good? Are they action packed? I loves me some HD action movies.
I am loving this weeks HD DVD line up, altogether. While I am sad that we won't be getting the Pirates movies, I still think the Matrix trilogy was better. Well, let me see the third movie first, but the first two Matrix movies were better than the first two Pirates movies anyways. IN MY OPINION... back BluRay fanboys back!
Ben your bias towards Blu Ray is becoming quite a joke. You can't even quote your sources accurately anymore. Here is the exact quote from Hi-Def Digest
"As has become customary with Paramount releases, 'Flags of our Fathers' comes with different encodes depending on which next-gen format you prefer. In a side by side comparison of the film between the VC-1 transfer on this HD DVD version and the AVC MPEG-4 transfer on the Blu-ray, it does seem that the Blu-ray/AVC encode is the tiniest bit sharper, while the HD DVD/VC-1 is the slightest bit softer. Neither is an advantage to my eyes, and each encode is identical otherwise -- fans of both camps should be ecstatic to see this film looking so good"
So Ben, please explain how you read into this that the Blu Ray version is better? A sharper image is better huh? Ever hear of contrast ratio? It's a feature that even non HDTV's have.
"Hi-Def Digest preferred the picture quality of a Blu-ray title over HD DVD, on the title; Flags of our Fathers."
More HD DVD bashing. Shocking. Hi-Def Digest gave Flags of our Fathers a perfect 5 stars out of 5 stars for PQ.
James,
I find it funny that you think that it is a knock on HD DVD when it is the first time it ever happened.
Ben, you've been biased, and this is just another example. In fact, this post is even erroneous. This is what was ACTUALLY said during the review:
As has become customary with Paramount releases, 'Flags of our Fathers' comes with different encodes depending on which next-gen format you prefer. In a side by side comparison of the film between the VC-1 transfer on this HD DVD version and the AVC MPEG-4 transfer on the Blu-ray, it does seem that the Blu-ray/AVC encode is the tiniest bit sharper, while the HD DVD/VC-1 is the slightest bit softer. Neither is an advantage to my eyes, and each encode is identical otherwise -- fans of both camps should be ecstatic to see this film looking so good.
NOTICE THIS: Neither is an advantage to my eyes
So yeah, maybe you can edit it and not seem like such a Blu Ray fanboy. This and the stupid Universal comment about "statement right before the trade" just adds an unneccesary element that drives users away. I listen to your podcast too, so I'm a fan in general, but these stabs are unnecessary.
While I agree that the difference is negligible, I still don't think it is a knock against HD DVD that the only time the reviewer has ever given a Blu-ray titles any praise over an HD DVD is this one title. In fact considering all the extra space a DL Blu-ray disc, you'd think there would be a more noticeable difference in quality over HD DVD than, "the tiniest bit sharper". Ha, but like I have said many times, the deciding factor in the war won't be PQ or AQ.
"In fact considering all the extra space a DL Blu-ray disc, you'd think there would be a more noticeable difference in quality over HD DVD than, "the tiniest bit sharper". Ha"
But that's not what your post said. You stated Flags of Our Fathers marked the first time in which the reviewer "preferred the picture quality of a Blu-ray title over HD DVD."
See the difference? Or are you just being disingenuous for your own personal amusement?
Neither is an advantage to my eyes -highdefdigest review
I'm not sure what part of that you're not really getting Ben. Or you may just be ignoring it for the sake of.........I don't know, but it's clear that you're not being fair.
I did notice that, but I also noticed where he said the Blu-ray encode was sharper.
If you ask me he contradicts himself, but either way I still think it is a knock against Blu-ray that it has (never/only once) been preferred over the HD DVD version.
Wouldn't the main reason be that most releases for BD and HD DVD use the same encode? This is a different case because there are two seperate encodes.
He said the HD DVD side is softer, the Blu Ray side is sharper, and neither was a real advantage to him. No contradiction, really. I think your assessment of that paragraph missed the mark.
I say, if you want something unambigous to add to your write-up, then you should've focused on the audio:
This HD DVD edition of 'Flags of Our Fathers' narrowly trumps the audio presentation on the Blu-ray edition by upgrading from a standard mix to a Dolby Digital 5.1-Plus track (1.5 Mbps).
No contradictions there. :)
Big news that is, it is the same story every week. In fact I have covered the fact that Blu-ray fans get shafted on the audio many times before.
So since that wasn't big news, you decided to make up your own?
I don't want to give you a hard time, these are my first posts on the blog, but your write-up is just factually wrong as long as you use highdefdigest as your source.
I see what you mean, I edited the post.
The audio part is not format specific but studio specific. Paramount and Warner skimp on the audio for Blu-ray version one too many times. There is no excuse for anything but PCM lossless tracks.
I think the reason why the audio is lacking on so many Blu Ray releases is that there is no standard for audio on Blu Ray players. The Samsung player doesn't even suport Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby True HD.
Hey Ben, thanks for being patient and responsive to my comments.
Ben said above - "I still think it is a knock against Blu-ray that it has (never/only once) been preferred over the HD DVD version."
Actually, I know of an example otherwise, at least regarding the audio.
Sound and Vision Magazine last year had a small review of the PAT METHENY "The Way is Up" release on HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and after listening to both the reviewer preferred the smoother Blu-ray edition's sound because the HD-DVD mastering took the already heavy-bass and made it sound even heavier [more bombastic-like].
This is very rare, as usually the same release on HD-DVD features Dolby Digital Plus and/or Dolby Digital TrueHD, whereas Blu-ray has just standard Dolby Digital (albeit at a higher bit rate), like alot of the Warner and Paramount Blu-ray releases.
Of course, many Blu-ray movies feature a full-sounding uncompressed PCM audio soundtrack option, mainly on Sony, Disney, and some Fox releases I think [and Fox often has a DTS Master Audio option instead of PCM].
Ben ben ben...
Please look at ANY official HDDVD release list, and you'll find that there are much more than 197 HDDVDs available. There are about 219 in many counts. You said you'd look into this 2 weeks ago, but you're still using inaccurate numbers.
Also: It doesn't make sense that you include all 3 MATRIX movies as ONE release, yet you made counted the "Pirates" releases as 2. I know the Matrix is a collection, but it's still THREE MOVIES.
You really should re-visit this HDDVD count issue. Seriously.
I'll be honest, I haven't spent the time to update the total.
It requires me to go back and count every title which will take me some time. I will try to get to before next week.
As for the Matrix, it is counted as two movies cause the box set is available in two versions. If the movies were available separately, I supposed we could count it as 5, but that is the way it is listed on Hi-Def Digest. (My source)