http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/terminator2.html

About the video quality:

Most aspects of this presentation are just as good as before -- great blacks, clean and consistent contrast (aside from the Linda Hamilton character's numerous post-apocalyptic flashbacks, which have an intentionally overblown, slightly hazy look to them) and a nearly-pristine print. Yes, there is still grain visible, and sometimes it can be more distracting than on the standard DVD, simply because HD's finer resolution makes it more apparent. Plus, I did notice the rare blemish (such as a speckle of dirt here or there), but that really is nitpicking. However, where this Blu-ray upgrade really shines is in the level of detail and color reproduction. This is simply a much more three-dimensional image, with fine details more visible throughout, from more discernible textures and fabrics to the intricacies of Stan Winston's landmark robotic and animatronics creations. I was genuinely blown away by many times I noticed new things while watching this transfer, even having seen the film so many times before. And per usual with HD, colors are also richer and cleaner. The harsh blues that are closely identified with Cameron's visual style here look better than ever before, and even fleshtones are slightly improved; I often felt previous transfers veered a little too much towards the red end of the spectrum, but here skin tones are more or less a dead-on fleshy orange.

It is also worth nothing that this new transfer appears to be minted from the same HD master also used for the "Extreme Edition" DVD release from 2003, but not 1999's "Ultimate Edition." That latter version suffered from some noticeable edge enhancement and had a rather artificial look, but this transfer is much more smooth and natural, and virtually eliminates any noticeable halos and other artifacts. The "Ultimate Edition" also appeared a bit noisy in spots, and some past reviews also complained of minor macroblocking during scenes with fast action. Thankfully, I did not find that a problem here -- perhaps that's why Lionsgate only included the theatrical cut on the disc, and few extras? Whatever the case, 'T2' delivers the kind of stable image that really positions the next-gen HD formats above over-the-air high-def broadcasts, which often can't handle fast-moving action and suffer from excessive pixelization.

Things are starting to look up! :)

they cut on sound and extras to get the best possible picture. smart.
going to have to do this on all future releases unitl 50gb DL becomes available.

I just watched. Assuming anyone cares about my opinion :), I think it is definitely a step up from Terminator and quite watchable. But it is rather soft, the grain is blotchy still as in most BD titles, and there is compression noise here and there. Overall, it is pleasing but no where near reference quality or the top of the stack (Ulatraviolet).

So my reaction is decidedly worse than the reviewer above, watching on my Sony Ruby projector....

How is it compared to the Windows Media version?

How is it compared to the Windows Media version?
I knew someone was going to ask this :). I tried to compare the two but I have a new Media Center and it is not wired up yet to my Ruby (I am watching things remotely in another room from its PVR). Hope to get that set up soon and then can test.

Hi,
I am going to ask same question too. How does the Blu-Ray version look like compared to T2: WMV-HD version?

I can stram T2: Extreme Edition WMV-HD version through Xbox 360. How does Xbox 360 streaming of T2: WMV-HD compares to Blu-Ray version?

Thank you for taking

Please someonee compare this to the D-Theater version. That was the best one so far nd I'm curious if this is an upgrade.

Please someonee compare this to the D-Theater version. That was the best one so far nd I'm curious if this is an upgrade.
I compared the D-VHS to WMV-HD (red laser HD for PC playback) and the former loses by a fair bit. So if I am succesful in comparing the WMV-HD to BD, then you may have your answer....

Please someonee compare this to the D-Theater version. That was the best one so far nd I'm curious if this is an upgrade.

I don't think this is an upgrade. I'd bet it came from the same print as the D-VHS but the tape has slightly better colour. Otherwise, it's darn similar.

The D-VHS is from an older transfer. The BRD and WMV-HD version should be pretty close since they're both from the same master.

Are you sure BD is the newer transfer? Rachael seemed to think it matched the older D-Theater pretty much. It wouldn't surprise me after seeing the transfer they used for The Fifth Element.

I switched back and forth and could not tell a huge difff. Colors are different and sound is also but picture detail is about the same. DVHS might be softer.

I'd say BR wins by a small margin.

I switched back and forth and could not tell a huge difff. Colors are different and sound is also but picture detail is about the same. DVHS might be softer.

I'd say BR wins by a small margin.
Is it Blu-ray vs D-Theater version or Blu-ray vs WMV-HD version?

Rhoniel

The blu-ray version is a bit better than D-VHS....

Has anyone done the WMV-HD version vs Blu-ray version comparision yet?

Ced

Here's a 3 min 53 sec sample of T2 in a transport stream container.

Specs:

Video
1920x1080
progressive
23.976 fps
MPEG-2 VBR (avg. 27.38 Mbps, min. 22 Mbps, peak 45 mbps)
MP@HL

Audio
Track 1: DD 6.1 EX
Track 2: DTS 5.1 9624

This clip should look better than the D-Theater version, and is from the new master.


Instructions:

The file has been binary split into two parts of roughly 410 MB each. You can either grab just the first part, or grab them both.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9473/instructionsdl6af.png

Get the batch file here: http://0.dr.ag/s/rename.and.join.files.CMD.HtMl or download the attachment to this post and unzip it.

The resulting file should be playable in any player that handles transport streams (Theatertek2, PowerDVD7, VLC, ZoomPlayer, MPC, and so on).

Most players will only be able to play the AC3 6.1EX track though.

With VLC you should have the option of playing the DTS 5.1 9624 track as well. Maybe MPC will allow that, too.

Just start the file in VLC and select the second audio track from either the context menu (right-click in the video window -> audio tracks -> Track 2), or the menu (Audio -> Audio Tracks -> Track 2).

VLC has the ability to use the SPDif outputs of your PC to send the DTS stream to your receiver, and some older versions (pre 0.70 or so, as well as the latest release version can also decode DTS to send it out of the analog outputs of your PC).


Should your VLC not be able to play the AC3 or DTS track, or you get distorted audio, download the latest release version (0.8.5) here:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

Then apply the following settings:

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9279/018su.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=018su.png)http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6576/021jz.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=021jz.png)http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8207/038jl.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=038jl.png)http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6296/049hl.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=049hl.png)http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/300/057tf.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=057tf.png)http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6919/062kk.th.png (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=062kk.png)

Hm. The first segment looked pretty mediocre on my 1080p LCD monitor. Fuzzy.

I switched back and forth and could not tell a huge difff. Colors are different and sound is also but picture detail is about the same. DVHS might be softer.

I'd say BR wins by a small margin.

I had the opposite conclusion but D-VHS was riding HDMI and the Samsung running component video. It is definitely close and hard to decide. I started lookin at red things and thought they looked better and more vivid on D-VHS. I suspect that a better BD player might make 'em look identical?

I had the opposite conclusion but D-VHS was riding HDMI and the Samsung running component video. It is definitely close and hard to decide. I started lookin at red things and thought they looked better and more vivid on D-VHS. I suspect that a better BD player might make 'em look identical?

Try the Samsung's HDMI. Despite what Digital Bits says, Component out from the Samsung is soft and drained of color.

It was DVHS and BlurRay. And I used component for both. to make it easy and equal. Not a huge difference. Color differences were the most noticeable.

Try the Samsung's HDMI. Despite what Digital Bits says, Component out from the Samsung is soft and drained of color.

OK, I will. The player may end up going back but I will try HDMI soon, before it's day of reckoning arrives. I'll play the cable shuffle game yet again. :)

The BD version on my 110" screen....looks cleaner and sharper...for the most part than the D-vhs version even when component is used from the Samsung vs hdmi on a JVC 5U.

Try the Samsung's HDMI. Despite what Digital Bits says, Component out from the Samsung is soft and drained of color.

I switched the Samsung to HDMI and the colour did improve some. Stuff, mostly stille looks soft to me though... :)

PQ of T2 WMVHD (avg.8Mbps?) looks no worse than sample from BD (MPEG-2 VBR (avg. 27.38 Mbps, min. 22 Mbps, peak 45 mbps) provided by kschmit2 :)

PQ of T2 WMVHD (avg.8Mbps?) looks no worse than sample from BD (MPEG-2 VBR (avg. 27.38 Mbps, min. 22 Mbps, peak 45 mbps) provided by kschmit2 :)
Actually, T2 WMV-HD is encoded at only 6 Mbit/sec. And it uses constant bit rate, not variable like MPEG-2 is in BD. And it uses two year old VC-1 encoder, with no ability to hand tune any difficult segments. The entire movie was encoded automatically in a few hours.

From what I recall, the data rate for the WMV-HD version of the movie was lower than the SD MPEG-2 version which uses variable rate to boot!!!

still no hands on A/B comparisons Bluray to T2 Extreme HD?

Actually, T2 WMV-HD is encoded at only 6 Mbit/sec. And it uses constant bit rate, not variable like MPEG-2 is in BD. And it uses two year old VC-1 encoder, with no ability to hand tune any difficult segments. The entire movie was encoded automatically in a few hours.

From what I recall, the data rate for the WMV-HD version of the movie was lower than the SD MPEG-2 version which uses variable rate to boot!!!

And it looks amazing. I wish they would allow the Toshiba/RCA player to play it. It has an ethernet connection, why not? ;)

Actually, T2 WMV-HD is encoded at only 6 Mbit/sec.I asked you to confirm this once when you said:
Remember that WMV-HD titles such as T2 are encoded at just 6 Mbit/sec at constant bit rate!over here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7995464&&#post7995464

and didn't get a response. If it is only 6 Mbit/sec, then how did the file sizes get to be 6.5GB? Seems like a lot of overhead or audio or something to make that 6 Mbit/sec true. Technical people know that truncating (not just rounding) to make numbers sound smaller is being misleading at best, so I would expect it to be less than 6.5 Mbit/sec to match your claim.

Also, T2 was encoded at something like 1440x816, which is 57% of 1920x1080 and 75% of 1920x816.

--Darin

If it is only 6 Mbit/sec, then how did the file sizes get to be 6.5GB? Seems like a lot of overhead or audio or something to make that 6 Mbit/sec true. Technical people know that truncating (not just rounding) to make numbers sound smaller is being misleading at best, so I would expect it to be less than 6.5 Mbit/sec to match your claim.

--Darin


6.5 Mbps is roughtly 0.81 MB/s

T2 is 136 minutes.

This translates to 6,630 MB

6.5 Mbps is roughtly 0.81 MB/s

T2 is 136 minutes.

This translates to 6,630 MBYou're right as I did the conversion wrong. The person who has the disk and who I asked said that the box lists the movie as 152 minutes. Do you know which length is right for the WMV version on the 2nd disk?

--Darin

136 minutes for the WMV-HD version at 24.000 fps

http://www.dvdtown.com/review/terminator2judgmentdayblu-ray/19114/3815/

As I rated a very good Blu-Ray ! ;)

Threads merged.

Since I only have HD DVD, I guess I'll just buy the European release from Studio Canal. But I'm pretty sure as soon as Blu-ray starts releasing 50 GB discs, that we'll see a re-release of T2.

you lot scare me !!!!!!

no, seriously you do.

i just watched this blu-ray disc. after about 10 minutes, i started skipping around the disc. then about 5 minutes later, i threw this disc in the garbage, where it belongs.

i just can't get my head around how anyone would think this title is any good. it's horrible. it's not even remotely HD. what are you lot on ? how can you compare this with most other blu-ray's and HD-DVDs and walk away saying this is good. or even great. it's junk. and that's being kind. very kind.

i'm watching on a 120" front projector screen. granted only 720, but using other titles as a reference point, detail is not remotely anything like other titles. hell, i've even downloaded HD content that was vastly superior.

i'm getting a headache now.

I now have both versions and will compare them today. I just got my copy of T2 from AmazonCa. Hopefully it will not dissapoint. :)

you lot scare me !!!!!!

no, seriously you do.

i just watched this blu-ray disc. after about 10 minutes, i started skipping around the disc. then about 5 minutes later, i threw this disc in the garbage, where it belongs.

i just can't get my head around how anyone would think this title is any good. it's horrible. it's not even remotely HD. what are you lot on ? how can you compare this with most other blu-ray's and HD-DVDs and walk away saying this is good. or even great. it's junk. and that's being kind. very kind.

i'm watching on a 120" front projector screen. granted only 720, but using other titles as a reference point, detail is not remotely anything like other titles. hell, i've even downloaded HD content that was vastly superior.

i'm getting a headache now.

OK so it's far from the best BR disc, I'll throw mine in the garbage if you point me to a better version of T2 on disc.

i don't think there is one.

i've been burned 3 times with this film on disc now. i've yet to find a version out there that looks half way decent (although i did skip the extreme edition on DVD).

actually, i tell a lie - there was an HD trailer i downloaded a long time ago that had clips of T2 on and they looked HD. that was about as close to seeing this film in HD as i've ever got.

i don't know what happened to this disc, but if this is the kind of quality that lionsgate are going to be dishing out, i wish they'd get out of the HD game.

EDIT: thinking about it, it makes sense. this is one of those titles that gets released again and again and again. of course it doesn't make sense to give this a real HD transfer to begin with. why would anyone want to buy the other 5 versions that lionsgate have planned for us in the future ?

and i'd like to know why hddigest gave this 4 stars. no one has any business doing reviews if they give this 4 stars. maybe this reviewer was paid behind closed doors ... i can't think of any other reason.

The EE doest in fact have Macroblocking and EE. the Extended Edition need a completly new master/transfert right now... i hope they are doing it...

and i'd like to know why hddigest gave this 4 stars. no one has any business doing reviews if they give this 4 stars. maybe this reviewer was paid behind closed doors ... i can't think of any other reason.

You have to put this into perspective. Back in June 2006 many of the BD titles were extremely disappointing. This was one of the better looking titles available at the time. If they gave it 4 stars now, they should reexamine their evaluation process.

and i'd like to know why hddigest gave this 4 stars. no one has any business doing reviews if they give this 4 stars. maybe this reviewer was paid behind closed doors ... i can't think of any other reason.
I actually thought T2 looked pretty good most likely due to my lowered expectations. Yes, it was soft at times, but the print was clean and blacks in particular looked very nice. And anyone who would claim to throw T2 in the garbage "where it belongs" has no business letting his opinion be heard.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/terminator2.html

About the video quality:



Things are starting to look up! :)


This is really good news. I'll be getting it.

i don't think there is one.
i don't know what happened to this disc, but if this is the kind of quality that lionsgate are going to be dishing out, i wish they'd get out of the HD game.

It's one of the original 10 Lionsgate BD's distributed by Sony. That lot is so poor that T2 is one of the better ones. That's a big 10-4 good buddy in regards to 4 stars, know-a-way! A spade is a spade in any game.

And anyone who would claim to throw T2 in the garbage "where it belongs" has no business letting his opinion be heard.

no, you've got it the wrong way round. this release IS garbage. i've seen a lot of HD-DVD and blu-ray, and it can't even compare. i still don't understand for the life of me how you can even begin to think this release is remotely good. the mind absolutely boggles. i appreciate there's always going to be factors involved between what everyone experiences, but come on, this one (T2) is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. how can't you see this ?

maybe one day you'll realise just how bad this release it. you don't state the size of screen you're looking at, but in case you're viewing on a smaller screen than 120", maybe if you upgrade one day you'll see what i mean. trust me, it'll become clear (well, not the PQ) when you do ...

That lot is so poor that T2 is one of the better ones

stop it, you're scaring me. you mean there's one's out there that look worse ? liongate, more burden than asset ?

The BD version definitely looks better than the "Extreme" DVD, but is a bit disappointing for HD material on my 57" display. It really lacks dimensionality and detail; has a bit of a soft look. Some of the brighter, outdoor scenes do look better. I'm wondering if this is just a source material issue rather than mastering.

Surely this will be re-released again one day so we'll see if it improves.

I think it could definitely be better, but it was only $20, and beats any of the older versions I've seen.

I am a big fan of T2, but I wouldn't get it yet because there will be several collector's and special editions coming out. I am currently pretty happy with my Ultimate and Extreme edition SD DVD movies.

Btw, is this a pretty good step up from these two SD DVD movies?

I am trying my copy tonite... Now I have to SEE what it looks like... :)

You have to put this into perspective. Back in June 2006 many of the BD titles were extremely disappointing. This was one of the better looking titles available at the time. If they gave it 4 stars now, they should reexamine their evaluation process.

Exactly. T2 looked pretty good compared to some of the junk that was out at the time. Why the heck was this topic of mine dredged up anyway? :confused:

no, you've got it the wrong way round. this release IS garbage. i've seen a lot of HD-DVD and blu-ray, and it can't even compare. i still don't understand for the life of me how you can even begin to think this release is remotely good. the mind absolutely boggles. i appreciate there's always going to be factors involved between what everyone experiences, but come on, this one (T2) is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. how can't you see this ?

maybe one day you'll realise just how bad this release it. you don't state the size of screen you're looking at, but in case you're viewing on a smaller screen than 120", maybe if you upgrade one day you'll see what i mean. trust me, it'll become clear (well, not the PQ) when you do ...



stop it, you're scaring me. you mean there's one's out there that look worse ? liongate, more burden than asset ?

I don't know if you're actually going for this, but your posts on this subject are so over the top that they're comical.......you can't expect people to take you serious. In one of your earlier posts, you said you haven't found one good transfer of this film in all of it's releases. The previous 2 DVD releases (Ulitmate and Extreme) got fabulous reviews for their picture quality. Maybe you just don't like the way this movie was filmed or the style itself......sucks to be you.

To the poster that said they streamed the WMVHD to the Xbox 360, please explain how?

no, you've got it the wrong way round. this release IS garbage. i've seen a lot of HD-DVD and blu-ray, and it can't even compare.

You obviously haven't seen enough then.


i still don't understand for the life of me how you can even begin to think this release is remotely good. the mind absolutely boggles.
What's mind-boggling is the fact that this boggles your mind.


maybe one day you'll realise just how bad this release it. you don't state the size of screen you're looking at, but in case you're viewing on a smaller screen than 120", maybe if you upgrade one day you'll see what i mean. trust me, it'll become clear (well, not the PQ) when you do ...
Wow... Now you've proven you have no idea what you're talking about. If you truly believe one needs a 120" screen to see differences in picture quality then you obviously know nothing. FYI, I'm watching on a 92" screen from 9' away. Trust me, I can tell when something looks soft but thanks for the words of wisdom.

it's worth it for $10...

To the poster that said they streamed the WMVHD to the Xbox 360, please explain how?

T2 WMVHD can be downloaded from the usual places, you can stream it from your PC or burn it to disc and the 360 will play it.
There's two version's, one is correct the other is 2.35:1 stretched vertically to fit the screen and looks rubbish.

anyone know the differences between the 2 blu-ray versions of T2 from Lionsgate? I've got the one with the shiny cover with only arnie's face (I'm guessing the earlier release) and the latest one that came out has no gloss, but all black cover with a full picture of arnie on his bike. Personally, I think the shiny cover looks better, but more importantly the PQ is what would separate the two.

Thanks in advance...

It's the same version, different cover.

It's the same version, different cover.
Actually, does anyone know why Lionsgate re-released it with a different cover?

I think this is really strange....a re-release with nothing different???

I think this is really strange....a re-release with nothing different???

It wouldn't be the first time.

Which is the first release? I have the one with Arnie's head wearing the sunglasses, and it's not shiny at all.

I believe the one with the shiny lining (i.e. spine + bottom/top of front) is the original release. The one that doesn't have the shiny parts is the version that is currently sold everywhere and I guess is called the re-release.

Actually both covers are identical (Arnie's head w/ sunglasses) except the shiny lining.

But yes that's for sure, this wouldn't be first a cover has changed in design while keeping the disc contents unchanged...just kind of strange though since T2 BD hasn't been out long.

Rented this from BBO and thought it was horrible. It was clean - I didn't see any artifacts at all, but as far as image quality was concerned I thought it was worse than House of Flying Daggers. This movie is SOFT. Only occasionally did I really believe I was watching a BD.

Thank God I didn't pick this one up, because I don't like this version of the film as much as my T2: Extreme ed, which has an extra extended version that I think definitely adds something to the film. Plus the transfer is so good on that one I think it really does look equal to the BD version when played on my Toshiba HD-A1.

To each his own, but I can't see the rave PQ people are claiming.

Just wait for the Ultimate Blu-Ray edition... you KNOW it's coming.

Dan

Just wait for the Ultimate Blu-Ray edition... you KNOW it's coming.

Dan

Exactly!

If it looks better than the Extreme Edition DVD, it will have been worth the $13 I plucked it up for months ago. There will inevitably be a superior release down the road (all the cuts of the movie, better transfer, better sound options). Did the current one even get 25 GB, or was it crippled at 20?

Keep in mind it T2 was shot Super 35, so it's never going to look like some HD releases. The resolution just isn't there in that 2.35:1 window.

X-Men 3 sounds like an absolutely stellar release A/V wise, but still some people are upset it doesn't "pop" like they want it to, or it's grainy, or not ultra-sharp, and that's just because it's super 35. It's not going to look like anamorphic or 70 mm.

Still, I seriously doubt T2 is anywhere near the quality of X-3, though I won't get to see either for myself for a while yet. I have 4 BDs I got for under $15 apiece (T1 and T2 for $13/ea.), but I'm still waiting for my player to get cheaper.

now i have to get on bd my Ultimate dvd extended version just cracked in half after watching it a few min ago grrrrrrr.