I have seen people talk about buying import HD DVD titles that can not be purchased in the US. How does this work with the whole PAL>NTSC, does the player do the conversion? Wouldn't this affect PQ? What are the best Import HD DVDs and where is the best place to purchase them?

With HD, PAL and NTSC are a thing of the past. High def is a universal format, so everything plays everywhere, it's all good. So far only a few of the French releases have some problems, all the ones I have are great(Equilibrium, xXx, Running Scarred, Total Recall and Reign of Fire). Here's the best place to buy them

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/hd-dvds-c-35.html?osCsid=f035402b856965dee1beff0bbcbc9cbe

Yes, NTSC and PAL are standard definition formats.

All HD DVDs currently released have been in American-style 60hz, even in Europe. Couple that with the fact that there's no region coding system on HD DVD and it means you can watch them anywhere.

Thank you! That site actually looks like they have some cool DVDs I may have to check out.

...and might I add if you DO import, start with Harry Potter. The disc is AMAZING, and the best sound I have heard YET on either next-gen format :)

Are the imported discs art cover bear the country of origin wordings? e.g. Japan HD-DVDs, will the art covers display Japanese words for English movies? Or will display French words, etc

Are the imported discs art cover bear the country of origin wordings? e.g. Japan HD-DVDs, will the art covers display Japanese words for English movies? Or will display French words, etc
The movies will diplay the language of the country of origin ie Japanese for Japan movies, French for releases in France.......the MOVIE however will have the original english soundtrack BUT what may be missing is the English subtitles for foreign language spoken in an English language movie.....

I should add however that with many people making custom covers you can get a custom cover to replace the original that is in a "foreign" language

Try the following link.

Just scroll down to the end of the first post, and has a huge list of places to order from overseas for your imports.

Click here (http://hdworld.iforumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=223&mforum=hdworld)

Courtesy of http://www.hd-world.net :)

Just out of curiosity, why can movies be released overseas on HD DVD that can't be released in North America?

Just out of curiosity, why can movies be released overseas on HD DVD that can't be released in North America?

Because of the wonders of capitalism.

Just out of curiosity, why can movies be released overseas on HD DVD that can't be released in North America?


Distribution Rights.....thre are many threads on this on here already but the simple explination Distribution Rights.....Just do a search on IMBD for a popular movie and then click Company credits and you can see how varied it can be. The only exception seems to be Disney as they have a very broad international arm...

YIKES! those prices are outrageous! is there a way to get those at discounted prices? say if you buy a few at a time?

YIKES! those prices are outrageous! is there a way to get those at discounted prices? say if you buy a few at a time?

Those are the best prices you're gonna get with the weak dollar :(

YIKES! those prices are outrageous! is there a way to get those at discounted prices? say if you buy a few at a time?

If you order separately, this will surely increase your cost over the long run. Sure, it seems cheaper at the moment to order a few at a time...but when you add all the shipping, handling fee, etc it's not economical at all. Try to order as many as you can in one single shipment to minimize cost. :)

So lets say Underworld :Evaluation.. Will it have subtitles of any kind running in the movie or will it look just like a US release and you would have to tell it to display subtitles?

So lets say Underworld :Evaluation.. Will it have subtitles of any kind running in the movie or will it look just like a US release and you would have to tell it to display subtitles?
There will be NO hard coded subs......as far as I am aware of...

So lets say Underworld :Evaluation.. Will it have subtitles of any kind running in the movie or will it look just like a US release and you would have to tell it to display subtitles?

Is Underworld: Evaluation like a 30 day demo disc? :p

There haven't been any hard coded subs on any releases to date. I think it's safe to assume that there won't be any in the future.

Fragile: A Ghost Story comes to HD DVD on 4/26/2007 (http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fav%2Fdocs %2F20070209%2Fshv.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8) (IN JAPAN)

Double Layer Single sided
MPEG4 AVC
English 5.1 DD+
Japanese 5.1 DD+
1080P
33min of extras
Includes
Trailer
Deleted scenes
Making of
Starring: Calista Flockhart, Richard Roxburgh, Elena Anaya, Yasmin Murphy, Gemma Jones, Colin McFarlane, Michael Pennington, Daniel Ortiz.


Calista Flockhart toplines as a nurse who takes a new job at a desolate children's hospital during its closing days. She struggles to keep the kids safe and uncovers the mystery behind apparent attacks of an unknown origin that hurts the kids so that they cannot leave the premises. Directed by Jaume Balagueró.

Yes, NTSC and PAL are standard definition formats.

All HD DVDs currently released have been in American-style 60hz, even in Europe. Couple that with the fact that there's no region coding system on HD DVD and it means you can watch them anywhere.

I thought all the HD-DVDs were 1080p @ 24 frame rate? The Hz depends on the player. 60 for US, 50 for Europe?

Hmm.. that's what I thougt too, i.e. the Hz depends on the player. Hope someone can clarify

All European PAL compatible screens can display a 60i PAL color coded signal, thous even the Toshiba E1 outputs 60i over the composite out but with PAL color coding.

All European HD DVD disks to date have been 24fps, and Thoshiba players cant even play a future 25p or 50i disc yet, without new firmware.

Also all encodes has been without burned in Subtitles. But some of the european, Spanish and Japanese distributers does not have the right to distribute the english subtitles, so some releases only have local ones.

I thought all the HD-DVDs were 1080p @ 24 frame rate? The Hz depends on the player. 60 for US, 50 for Europe?


Yes they are 24fps. The player will not out 50Hz from 24fps. It will output 60Hz or 24fps like XA2 will. 50Hz is the thing of the past with its sound speed up on HD media from film.

Unfortunately, many of the STUDIO CANAL releases have a higher pitch to the sound that actually sounds exactly like PAL speedup. It's just nuts and no one knows why.

Unfortunately, many of the STUDIO CANAL releases have a higher pitch to the sound that actually sounds exactly like PAL speedup. It's just nuts and no one knows why.


Which titles are studio canal releases? would you say the high pitched audio makes them not worth getting?

I am also wondering why Harry Potter The Goblet of Fire was released in the UK and not here. The insert in my Superman Returns HD DVD has a picture of the Harry Potter disc saying "coming in 2006".

Which titles are studio canal releases? would you say the high pitched audio makes them not worth getting?

I own the Studio Canal version of Total Recall and have compared it to the standard dvd.

The video quality is definitely tier 1 (As the sticky thread above shows).

The audio DOES have a higher pitch than the standard DVD. Whether you would find it subtle (in my case) or annoying is subjective to the listener IMHO.

As an import though, you'd have to make the call to spend the $35ish is worth it since it doesn't seem available for rent.

after looking at xploitedcinema.com I guess it is only the French releases that are Studio Canal

I have the Total Recall disc, and many PAL DVDs, I've never noticed this high pitched audio, and I have a $5000+ sound system. *shrug*

Hi, this is a long shot but I was hoping someone might know:

What´s the cost of importing from the US to Europe? Amazon.com has very good shipping rates and importing 8 movies from Amazon.com would still cost less than buying 5 here. Here in Germany the average price is between 30 and 35€ which is over 40$!

(Buying 8 movies: HD-DVDs: 159,60 $
per package: 4,49 $
for the 8 individual discs: 19,92 $
TOTAL: 184,01$ = 138,22€)

What I´m afraid of are import taxes. I have no idea how high they are. Does anybody know? (for Germany specifically)

Hi, this is a long shot but I was hoping someone might know:

What´s the cost of importing from the US to Europe? Amazon.com has very good shipping rates and importing 8 movies from Amazon.com would still cost less than buying 5 here. Here in Germany the average price is between 30 and 35€ which is over 40$!

(Buying 8 movies: HD-DVDs: 159,60 $
per package: 4,49 $
for the 8 individual discs: 19,92 $
TOTAL: 184,01$ = 138,22€)

What I´m afraid of are import taxes. I have no idea how high they are. Does anybody know? (for Germany specifically)
The local sales tax/value added tax itself is ~19% in Germany, I don't know if there is an actual customs fee in Germany, but I'm sure there wil be a clearance fee from whatever shipping company is used.
If Germany is the same as most of the EU or Europe orders under ~€26-27 (shipping not included, in most countries only taken into account when the item(s) are over the limit) are tax-free when imported.
I'm reasonably sure you would be better off to make single title orders from somewhere like DVD Pacific (http://www.dvdpacific.com/default.asp) (or Amazon if you want, but DVD Pacific has better shipping for small orders), for pretty much everything but expensive box sets.
If you decide to try DVD Pacific there is one important detail for international customers: Make sure to go for the "Ship order as is" option, this is not the default setup. Otherwise they'll combine whatever is in stock to save you shipping costs, but you'll end up more likely to have to pay import tax.

Can anyone reiterate when and Mulholland Drive will be available? what would be the best place to order the HD-DVD?

Can anyone reiterate when and Mulholland Drive will be available? what would be the best place to order the HD-DVD?
The release date is March 5th, here @Amazon France (http://www.amazon.fr/Mulholland-Drive-DVD-Justin-Theroux/dp/B000L42JPE/sr=1-4/qid=1171421807/ref=sr_1_4/171-3109177-5495441?ie=UTF8&s=dvd). I'd suggest using them (shipping is expensive, though), Xploited Cinema, or wait for the UK release that's supposed to be not too long after the French (no hard date given yet, though, afaik). Shipping will be less from Amazon UK, but the disc itself is likely to be more expensive.

EDIT: Missing comma.