Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire UK version*PIX*

[Xylon]

Any other "LCD" users having problems with dark scenes?

[nharmon91]

Originally Posted by wired1

So sad, but so true; and well said. I love my Toshiba, but lately my PS3 seems the more likely survivor of this "war". I was talking to my friend the other day about this, and it seems as if Toshiba is just layng down and playing dead the last month or two. And WOW what a missed opportunity this Xmas season!! They blew it!

Don't get me wrong, they were kicking ass and taking names all along, and then PLOP!!! Titles slowed. Announcements slowed. No new hardware from other companies. I was all amped, buying HD DVD titles weekly (it was 1997 all over again!) and I have not bought one in weeks. In fact, I am ashamed to admit it but the last disc I bought was The Descent on BD!

I realize this is all conjecture and none of us know nada about zip zero and zilch, BUT, I don't need to be an INSIDER to see that promised titles are unavailable, brick and mortar store support is HORRIBLE and inconsistent, and Blu Ray is pumping out more eggs (albeit mostly brown, stinky ones) than the Queen in Aliens.

If I had to lay it on the line, I would like to see both formats coexist, with affordable universal players, and full studio support for both so that consumers like myself could choose which format we want to own a film on.

CES is just days away... HEY!! TOSHIBA!! If you guys are listening, that's the sound of a slow leak in your tire PLEASE go get it plugged and start driving again

As a last note, everyone keeps saying bring on The Matrix, LOTR, Potter... My question is THEN WHAT? I have said it before, but the key to winning this war is branding and local level awareness/education.

Toshiba and HD DVD backers need to campaign harder on TV, not magazines and random enthusiasts' web sites. They also need to send reps to big box stores where a viable display is set up, and have those reps as knowledgeable as we here are, so that they can eplain, educate, and inform the public of what exactly HD DVD is!

I guess I am just frustrated by what is seemingly simple on paper, but much more complex on rollout. Nonetheless, Toshy, you best do SOMETHING.

-Wired

My mouth is salivating in wait of CES, 5 more days argh. I am holding off on putting my big order of BDs and HD DVDs on amazon in hope of some titles being annouced and then released a few weeks/days later. (i.e. Harry Potter, Matrix, LOTR)

[Sean_O]

If the board of investors at Warner (or whomever pushed them into it) can make them publish titles on BluRay, why aren't the other studios (Fox, Disney) getting similar orders from the top?

It's ridiculous that Warner shareholders would even want them to publish BluRay titles when they stand to gain so much more if HD-DVD wins, added to the fact that BluRay sales are pitiful. I would cast a skeptic eye on whatever person, or persons are responsible for that decision within Warner.

[homerx]

I've not imported HP in hopes of a US date. Hopfully only 20-30 bucks. But if I see nothing at CES ill import it.

[BoSoxMole]

Originally Posted by divianb

CRT TV ?

Am I missing something here?

A tube TV.

[divianb]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

A tube TV.

That i know...but what is the relation between HD movies and a Tube TV???
Once again..and I missing something?

[Vogon Poet]

Originally Posted by divianb

That i know...but what is the relation between HD movies and a Tube TV???
Once again..and I missing something?

It seems so. There are HD direct view crt sets out there.

[BoSoxMole]

Yes, the Samsung Slimfits are CRT based HDTVs. For only $750, it is a GREAT HDTV and better than most of the LCD and Plasmas I've seen.

Please post pictures, yes. Not seeing anything like what you describe blown up to 10ft.

Here are the pictures, both HD and SD.

HD

SD


It is hard to take shots on my TV since CRT aren't pic friendly. Plus, I don't have the best camera in the world. These pictures don't do justice like I would like.

Now notice in the HD shots, the blacks look flat with some grey in them. THIS LOOKS HORRIBLE. Now if it's supposed to look like that, then this is not a reference disc, at all. The Death Eaters are wearing black robes, so they should be black. It seems like the robes are trying to stick out too much or something. The blacks are like this throughout the scene and it is unwatchable. Which is a shame because I am a HUGEEEE Harry Potter fan.

This is the only HD and BR disc that is like this as I put in other darker movies and they did not do this at all. Trust me, if they did, I wouldn't still have this TV.

[BoSoxMole]

And please post some pictures of this same shot on your screen.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

And please post some pictures of this same shot on your screen.

Ok, Ill bite. What tool did you use to calibrate your TV?

[BoSoxMole]

I used a feather from a Peacock.

DVE



Probably the same one most people used.

But calibrating my TV wouldn't fix this problem. As I said before, other HD/BR and SD look perfectly fine in dark spots. Not this disc. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire looks horrible. Plain and simple.

Why is this SO hard to understand??

[I Superman I]

Arn't the Sammy Slimflats pretty much garanteed to have geometry issues? That's the reputation I've heard of this dispay for some reason. Hopefully pick this title up Friday, can't wait.

[Stephan]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

So at the scene I am talking about, what do you see? Is it just REALLY dark?

Really dark? No, but dark. Which is obvious since it's on a graveyard at night. But everything is well defined, shadowdetail is good. Colors are somewhat muted (in comparison to HP 1 to 3), but that's the case in the whole movie, not just in this scene.

Originally Posted by nharmon91

1) I vouch for this, it looked like **** on my LCD

There is a difference between saying that somethings looks bad on your LCD and saying that the disc itself looks bad. One thing implies that something is wrong with your display and/or video chain. The other, that the disc itself was poorly authored or the master has problems. Big difference.

Most LCDs have trouble with signal processing, this may show in some scenes, but not in others. I'm well aware of that fact. That is why I don't use LCDs to judge the image quality of discs. That is also the reason why an external video processor should be used whenever possible and native resolution/framerate should be fed to the display.

Originally Posted by homerx

I've not imported HP in hopes of a US date. Hopfully only 20-30 bucks. But if I see nothing at CES ill import it.

Place your order, you won't see anything HP-related at CES.

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

Here are the pictures, both HD and SD.

Thanks for posting the pics. I agree with you, this looks bad and something is definitely not right here. I have no idea where the problem is. At the first look, I'd say your gamma is way off, but it's hard to say judging by the pics.

Your using the SD version of DVE to calibrate your input. This is not very accurate and not the prefered way to do a calibration. Each input should be calibrated seperately (for SD and HD) and for each signal type a seperate memory block should be used to store the settings of the calibration. So one for 480p60, one for 720p60, one for 1080i60, one for 1080p60 and so on. Ideally, you should also use HD test patterns, especially for colorspace calibration.


I'll take some pics when I get home, which will probably be friday night. So expect the pics on friday or saturday, depending at what time I get home friday.

[BoSoxMole]

Yes, I am aware of the different blocks for each resolution, which I do. I am just waiting for DVE's HD disc to come out.

Besides, everything I use is either upconverted to 1080i or is 1080i (except for my Wii.) So there is no real need for different blocks.

[Stephan]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

Besides, everything I use is either upconverted to 1080i or is 1080i (except for my Wii.) So there is no real need for different blocks.

There is, because the output signal of each device you hook up may be different. So lets say you hook up source A with 1080i60 and source B with 1080i60, even if both use the same 1080i60 signal type, the calibration may be off because the signals are different (levels, maybe different settings for brightness, contrast, gamma, processing in the device itself which you may not be able to adjust at all and so on).

[lrbh]

Just took my own pictures and with my display it's the opposite. HD DVD looks much better than the SD DVD. Or maybe it's my poor photo skills :P

HD
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5264/dscf0013yk8.jpg

SD
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/2691/dscf0015fh3.jpg

Tried to post the pictures but they were too big! So just click on the links.

[Vogon Poet]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

I used a feather from a Peacock.

There is your problem...you should have used a Phoenix feather.

[1MaNArmY]

Those pictures look like poo! They don't even come close to doing the HD-DVD transfer justice.

[BoSoxMole]

Well maybe since it's a UK release, the add-on doesn't show it correctly.

What player are you using Stephan?

[JeffY]

The UK release is actually a disc made for the US market, FBI warning etc...

[Whiggles]

Here's my review of the disc:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=63715

[jflegert]

Whiggles, very nice review.

Maybe you could help with the debate? Could you do an image capture (how about the beginning of the movie, when the camera is panning thru the graveyard)?

Thanks,
John

[Whiggles]

Originally Posted by jflegert

Whiggles, very nice review.

Maybe you could help with the debate? Could you do an image capture (how about the beginning of the movie, when the camera is panning thru the graveyard)?

Thanks,
John

Unfortunately, I don't have any way of doing screen captures at the moment. I do, however, have an Xbox 360 HD DVD addon on the way, and will hopefully be able to use it in conjunction with PowerDVD HD to get direct captures within the next week or thereabouts.

Regarding my contribution to the debate: yes, it's dark, and yes, a lot of the dark scenes look rather murky, but this strikes me as being intentional. Especially in the case of the dream sequence at the start, you can also see, if you boost the brightness excessively, what looks like a motion blur effect that I suspect was intentionally added to make the whole thing seem hazy and indistinct. I certainly wasn't bothered by the black levels at any time while watching.

[BoSoxMole]

Well if it's intentional, then it's horrible. Way too dark.

[Whiggles]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

Well if it's intentional, then it's horrible. Way too dark.

Fair enough. I never had a problem with it. Some things are meant to be "too dark".

[Stephan]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

Well maybe since it's a UK release, the add-on doesn't show it correctly.

What player are you using Stephan?

The disc itself is identical to the US release (which is not out yet). Video is stored in 1080p24 too.

I'm using the Toshiba A1 via HDMI->DVI into Lumagen VisionPro HDP where the signal gets properly de-interlaced to 1080p, framerate converted from 60Hz to 48Hz and from there via DVI into a Sony VW-100. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow and will also throw in some pics from my Sony KDS-70R2000 (european version of the KDS-70XBR2) which I'm using in my living room.

[dwisniski]

I just re-watched the HP GOF HD-DVD tonight and I have to say, I'm even more impressed with the PQ than the first time I watched it. I'm watching it on my Panny ae900u projector at 70" (I have a small living room) from the HD-A1 at 1080i via HDMI, and every scene looked rich and 3-dimensional, maybe a little too much so (the CGI on some of the castle pans stood out as a little cheesy looking). On my display all of the dark scenes had great contrast and detail, I'm still very happy I imported this one, it was worth it.

[BoSoxMole]

Well so far, the people who thought it looked good had it on the Toshiba. While it looked bad on the add-on.

[scitek]

The movie looks great on my HD-A1+IN72. I don't see any problem with the blacks.

[BoSoxMole]

Once again, great on the Toshiba.

Anyone on the 360 think it looked bad?