Any Battlestar S1 reviews?

Hyp Toad · 11-22-07, 01:26 PM

Just wondering if anyone has received an early copy of this set, or has seen any reviews floating around? I`m considering pre-ordering it, as I`m a big fan of the series and never got around to purchasing the SD DVDs. I`ve heard that the SD discs weren`t very spectacular...

mumbles3k · 11-22-07, 02:42 PM

Also, does anyone know which version of the opening theme music is used during the title sequence?

qz3fwd · 11-22-07, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hyp Toad

I`ve heard that the SD discs weren`t very spectacular...

The SD DVD's were, hmmm, crap.
The D* versions floating out there were, hmmm, bit starved/de-rezzed hdlite.

The HD-DVD's should be fantastic!

ryoohki · 11-22-07, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

The SD DVD's were, hmmm, crap.
The D* versions floating out there were, hmmm, bit starved/de-rezzed hdlite.

The HD-DVD's should be fantastic!

You should add Macrobloqued POS.. too

eightninesuited · 11-22-07, 09:56 PM

What I want to know is, where is Season 3 on HD DVD? Will it be day and date?

venk · 11-22-07, 11:22 PM

This is my most anticipated HD DVD for the remainder of the year. Here's hoping Uni did a good job with this one.

shadowrage · 11-23-07, 01:09 AM

This is reason number 3 why I went dual format.
CoM and Transformers are 1 and 2.

Is BSG really going to have TrueHD?
Where are the early reviews?

ricwhite · 11-23-07, 01:45 AM

Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

sharkcohen · 11-23-07, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricwhite

Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

It's a great show, but it's also...unconventional. Be prepared for heavy plot twists. Every episode opens by saying the Cylons have a plan. However, the writers clearly don't, LOL.

whitestang06 · 11-23-07, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

The SD DVD's were, hmmm, crap.

I dunno, they're not so bad upconverted. Better than many other DVDs that I've seen. Clearly not HD, but still pretty good. There's a little more detail and sharpness than my screenshots indicate, doesn't help that pausing blurs a little.

last one's from season 2.0

Quote:

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

The HD-DVD's should be fantastic!

Here's hoping.

I'm really looking forward to these. BSG in HD with TrueHD sound! I may have a heart attack before I can get it into the player!

maingon · 11-23-07, 11:02 AM

i think the dvds looked pretty good, One of the better looking dvds on my 92" screen.

Paulidan · 11-23-07, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maingon

i think the dvds looked pretty good, One of the better looking dvds on my 92" screen.

yeah, I thought they held up very well on a large screen. The mini-series looked noticeably inferior to me with poor contrast levels, and a lot of noise. The regular season eps were much, much better- and I expect this will be carried over onto the HD sets.

tdavis21484 · 11-23-07, 04:33 PM

Battlestar was shot in a way that does NOT lend itself to "Discovery HD theater, looking through the window" HD. The gritty, grainy look of the series will be reproduced in the HD DVD release, and because of that a lot of people will gripe about the "transfer" and picture quality in much the same way they complained about "300".

The Universal HD rebroadcasts look 10 times better than the SD version on Sci-Fi, and I'm expecting the HD DVD version to be significantly better than the UHD version, because of less macroblocking, better audio, etc.

tdavis21484 · 11-23-07, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulidan

yeah, I thought they held up very well on a large screen. The mini-series looked noticeably inferior to me with poor contrast levels, and a lot of noise. The regular season eps were much, much better- and I expect this will be carried over onto the HD sets.

I agree - the Mini-Series on SD DVD looked like a torrent rip or something compared with the HD rebroadcasts, and even the season 1/2 SD DVD. The audio on the Mini-Series was also horrible. Hopefully it can be improved, or we're about to see a case study in the master limiting what HDM can do with a show/movie.

sharkcohen · 11-23-07, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdavis21484

Battlestar was shot in a way that does NOT lend itself to "Discovery HD theater, looking through the window" HD. The gritty, grainy look of the series will be reproduced in the HD DVD release, and because of that a lot of people will gripe about the "transfer" and picture quality in much the same way they complained about "300".

The Universal HD rebroadcasts look 10 times better than the SD version on Sci-Fi, and I'm expecting the HD DVD version to be significantly better than the UHD version, because of less macroblocking, better audio, etc.

Yah, the macroblocking is what killed it for me on UniHD. But grain? Show me the grain!

Hyp Toad · 11-27-07, 04:38 PM

Managed to watch Razor last night and while it wasn't amazing, it certainly got me craving S1 again. I think I may end up getting the HD set even if the quality isn't amazing. I'm sure it'll be a step up from the DVDs anyhow.

ctiq21 · 11-27-07, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricwhite

Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

You won't be disappointed. After each episode you find yourself craving the next. Great show indeed.

thrustbucket · 11-27-07, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdavis21484

Battlestar was shot in a way that does NOT lend itself to "Discovery HD theater, looking through the window" HD. The gritty, grainy look of the series will be reproduced in the HD DVD release, and because of that a lot of people will gripe about the "transfer" and picture quality in much the same way they complained about "300".

BTW the miniseries was filmed on actual film. The series is filmed with HD video. That would be why you noticed such a difference.

Can not wait for this. Razor was awesome, and I am pissed we don't have an HD DVD for it yet. We also better get day and date S3.

valkyrie · 11-27-07, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thrustbucket

Can not wait for this. Razor was awesome, and I am pissed we don't have an HD DVD for it yet. We also better get day and date S3.

And hopefully, a quick release for S2. I can't wait for this series!

qz3fwd · 11-27-07, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharkcohen

Yah, the macroblocking is what killed it for me on UniHD. But grain? Show me the grain!

That is because for some fracken reason UHD rarely breaks past the 10 Mbps bitrate barrier and usually hovers aroung 6-8 for a Mpeg2 1920x1080 image. Compare that to SD DVD max ?8? Mbps and you can see the root cause of the blocking. I wonder if they turn down the bitrate so people will buy the HDM discs??

qz3fwd · 11-27-07, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by valkyrie

And hopefully, a quick release for S2. I can't wait for this series!

S2+Razor on HD-DVD.

I stopped myself from watching Razor on scifi last weekend cause the DVD's a comin out next week, so I wont have to suffer from a fake widescreen, bitrate starved (1-4 Mbps), poor color/muted cable broadcast.

I just wish I could have gone to see Razor in the theaters like some were able to do.

qz3fwd · 11-27-07, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maingon

i think the dvds looked pretty good, One of the better looking dvds on my 92" screen.

I still think the R1 and R2 SD DVD's as well as the D* HDLite caps looked horrible and the cable UHB were bitrate starved. Bring on the HD-DVD's next week.

awdpaul · 11-27-07, 11:36 PM

I dunno, the mpeg 4 showings of Razor on SciFi HD on D* looked pretty damn good to me. So hopefully the S1 (and potentially future releases) on HD DVD looks just as good.

maingon · 11-27-07, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricwhite

Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

its a great show, some episodes are very tense and awesome. Some of the effects are fantastic, sometimes this show looks like a big budget flick. Never feels like a tv show.

Cliff Essex · 11-28-07, 02:33 AM

Hopefully we'll see a quick followup with S2, if not, I'm guessing S3 will be day/date with the SD-DVD and they'll likely just release S2 at a later date. There is a strong rumor that "Razor" may be included in the S2 or S3 HD-DVD sets. This would certainly be the extra carrot on the stick to get fans to opt for the more expensive HD sets. All I know is that with TOS S1 & BSG S1 on HD-DVD just two weks apart, I'll have a pretty busy December.

sharkcohen · 11-28-07, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

That is because for some fracken reason UHD rarely breaks past the 10 Mbps bitrate barrier and usually hovers aroung 6-8 for a Mpeg2 1920x1080 image. Compare that to SD DVD max ?8? Mbps and you can see the root cause of the blocking. I wonder if they turn down the bitrate so people will buy the HDM discs??

Although I won't dispute the bit rate numbers, Atlantis looks incredible on UHD, and I rarely see macroblocking during that show.

cobolisdead · 11-28-07, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qz3fwd

The SD DVD's were, hmmm, crap.
The D* versions floating out there were, hmmm, bit starved/de-rezzed hdlite.

The HD-DVD's should be fantastic!

Yeah, even on my Upscailer, the DVDs didn't look that great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharkcohen

Although I won't dispute the bit rate numbers, Atlantis looks incredible on UHD, and I rarely see macroblocking during that show.

+1

That show looks amazing on Universal HD!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricwhite

Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

It's a really good show, and I hope that you enjoy it.

Chief5286 · 11-28-07, 01:11 PM

Saw S1 at BB last night. Hopefully some actual reviews soon.

I think I'd need to sell my SD version before I could buy the HD version in good conscience. Love the show, but it's kind of frustrating that S3 is not out yet.

Hyp Toad · 11-28-07, 01:57 PM

You wouldn't believe how absolutely terrible the SD broadcast quality for BSG is where I'm located. Good ol' Space Network in Canada... craptastic. Even highly compressed HD would be better in my opinion, but alas it was never broadcast in HD here (not to my knowledge anyways).

rr6966 · 11-28-07, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hyp Toad

You wouldn't believe how absolutely terrible the SD broadcast quality for BSG is where I'm located. Good ol' Space Network in Canada... craptastic. Even highly compressed HD would be better in my opinion, but alas it was never broadcast in HD here (not to my knowledge anyways).

I believe it, the Sci-Fi channel where I live is absolutely horrible. Both BSG and SG Atlantis look way better on Universal HD.

11-22-07, 01:26 PM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
Hyp Toad Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 86	Any Battlestar S1 reviews? Just wondering if anyone has received an early copy of this set, or has seen any reviews floating around? I`m considering pre-ordering it, as I`m a big fan of the series and never got around to purchasing the SD DVDs. I`ve heard that the SD discs weren`t very spectacular...

11-22-07, 09:56 PM	#5 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
eightninesuited Picard was a fool! Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto, Republic of Canuckistan Posts: 4,675	What I want to know is, where is Season 3 on HD DVD? Will it be day and date? __________________ No animals were harmed in the creation of this sentence.

11-23-07, 04:33 PM	#13 \| Link
tdavis21484 NEC 42XR4 = Love Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 1,557	Battlestar was shot in a way that does NOT lend itself to "Discovery HD theater, looking through the window" HD. The gritty, grainy look of the series will be reproduced in the HD DVD release, and because of that a lot of people will gripe about the "transfer" and picture quality in much the same way they complained about "300". The Universal HD rebroadcasts look 10 times better than the SD version on Sci-Fi, and I'm expecting the HD DVD version to be significantly better than the UHD version, because of less macroblocking, better audio, etc. __________________ I love HD...and I hated that Anti-Consumer format war. Now that we can move on... Blu-ray > Digital Downloads!

11-22-07, 02:42 PM	#2 \| Link
mumbles3k Advanced Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 542	Also, does anyone know which version of the opening theme music is used during the title sequence?

11-22-07, 11:22 PM	#6 \| Link
venk Little Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Troy, MI Posts: 1,458 Classified Rating: 100% (3)	This is my most anticipated HD DVD for the remainder of the year. Here's hoping Uni did a good job with this one.

11-23-07, 01:09 AM	#7 \| Link
shadowrage AVS Special Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,779 Classified Rating: 100% (4)	This is reason number 3 why I went dual format. CoM and Transformers are 1 and 2. Is BSG really going to have TrueHD? Where are the early reviews?

11-23-07, 01:45 AM	#8 \| Link
ricwhite AVS Special Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Layton, Utah Posts: 2,579	Blind buy for me. I never watched a single episode, but so many are praising this series. I hope I'm not let down.

11-23-07, 11:02 AM	#11 \| Link
maingon AVS Special Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,098	i think the dvds looked pretty good, One of the better looking dvds on my 92" screen.

11-27-07, 04:38 PM	#16 \| Link
Hyp Toad Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 86	Managed to watch Razor last night and while it wasn't amazing, it certainly got me craving S1 again. I think I may end up getting the HD set even if the quality isn't amazing. I'm sure it'll be a step up from the DVDs anyhow.

11-27-07, 11:36 PM	#23 \| Link
awdpaul Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 118	I dunno, the mpeg 4 showings of Razor on SciFi HD on D* looked pretty damn good to me. So hopefully the S1 (and potentially future releases) on HD DVD looks just as good.

11-28-07, 02:33 AM	#25 \| Link
Cliff Essex Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 19	Hopefully we'll see a quick followup with S2, if not, I'm guessing S3 will be day/date with the SD-DVD and they'll likely just release S2 at a later date. There is a strong rumor that "Razor" may be included in the S2 or S3 HD-DVD sets. This would certainly be the extra carrot on the stick to get fans to opt for the more expensive HD sets. All I know is that with TOS S1 & BSG S1 on HD-DVD just two weks apart, I'll have a pretty busy December.

11-28-07, 01:11 PM	#28 \| Link
Chief5286 Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 44	Saw S1 at BB last night. Hopefully some actual reviews soon. I think I'd need to sell my SD version before I could buy the HD version in good conscience. Love the show, but it's kind of frustrating that S3 is not out yet.

11-28-07, 01:57 PM	#29 \| Link
Hyp Toad Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 86	You wouldn't believe how absolutely terrible the SD broadcast quality for BSG is where I'm located. Good ol' Space Network in Canada... craptastic. Even highly compressed HD would be better in my opinion, but alas it was never broadcast in HD here (not to my knowledge anyways).