Westy LVM-37W3 with 1080i or 1080p sources - Page 3

I've heard that they are going to recall (or already did) the Fifth Element Blu-Ray because it was so inferior to the standard DVD which is considred 'the' reference DVD. Hopefully they will make it better and hold up the tradition!

Recall? Last I heard they were still giving it away as a freebie with one of the players. A terrible first exposure.

There are rumours of a new edition, but nothing definite.

Makes you wonder if they care.

-Bill

I thought that UE as shown on Starz-HD was horrible. Is was totally lacking in the darks, and very herky-jerky. Basically unwatchable in my book, so I deleted it after 10 minutes. Can you compare the BD version with Starz-HD? It's still on if you have the channel.

Aeon Flux on BD! Now there's a reason to get a BD player. Loved the DVD. Wish I would have seen it on the big screen.

Fifth Element on TNT-HD was awesome, but I hate the TNT treatment: 16x9, commercials, stupid logo and screen ads during show, hurried credits. Can you compare the BD to TNT's version? I think that my enjoyment of seeing 5E in HD outweighed any critique I may have had about the transfer and cable production.

I watched Pale Rider last night (HDNMV via 1080i on my Pace Tahoe @2.35:1), and was amazed by the clarity of the scenery and the deep blue skies, and the candle lit scenes in the dark cabins. I missed the beginning, but am going to record it and watch again. Filmed not too far away from where I live, I loved the very natural camera work and composition. Had an excellent "film" feel to it.


It was the artifacts that got me. It also seemed like it was skipping many frames. But maybe I'll give it another shot. Never got to the shimmering scenes. Even the worst movie transfers need to be critiqued in their entirety.

Yeah I had read somewhere that they might do an exchange once the new version was completed, which I guess is no different than recall. Maybe a poor choice of words on my part. Hard to say if they care...if this does happen as I had heard, then I guess they do. We'll have to see what happens.

I'm recording and watching Pale Rider (HDNMV) again, and thinking about why this transfer seems so excellent. The movie is filmed mostly using nothing but natural light--light at the high mountain altitude in central Idaho, and it is a very harsh, clear light. But the director isn't afraid to let the light, both outdoors and indoors--dim candle lit indoors and light streaming in from the windows--compromise his shots, or mediate it with bounce. Quite the opposite. He uses this light to his advantage. A shot of a gunslinger on a horse, light coming in from over the shoulder, half the face brightly illuminated, half in shadow, creating a form of tension that no fill lighting can obtain. A shot with brilliant blue sky with a cabin, lit only with indirect light, the subject lit from behind. Blues are blue, greens green, skin tones rich and full of depth. A shot inside the cabin, with the subject looking out the window, illuminated only by exterior light, yet the face is full of depth, and the detail of the room blends into the darkness of its corners. While a better monitor may show more shadow detail, the detail shown by this transfer is amazing on the westy.

The movie goes on and on like this. I bring it up because I am stunned by the westy, in a way that no other movie has brought out, by its ability to display the image fully across the dynamic range of brightness and contrast, showing full color and fidelity. It takes a movie like Pale Rider to bring out this sort of excellence in a monitor, and create an atmosphere that cannot be appreciated in a lesser display. I guess this is the reason I moved to 1080p. Thoroughly engrossing.

Talking about movie quality, it mostly depends on the people who did the transfer and their dedication to do the job right. I was floored by high quality of 2 old movies I just saw on HD-DVD. "Searchers" with John Wayne and "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Marlon Brando. Both transfers are totally amazing in how good they look after all this years (40 or so) with very good color and detail. I had no idea film can hold up for such a long time since transfer from film to digital had to be done very recently.

I agree Pete. The "Searchers" is simply an amazing transfer for such an old film.

Check out this story on John Lowry, of Lowry Digital, which is the hottest (so hot that DTS just bought him) film transfer outfit around. This story in the New York Times talks about his studio with 600 Mac G5 computers that he uses to do the transfers and how he works on bring old films back to life. Good stuff. I want [need] to see his transfer of Once Upon a Time in the West!!!

I wish that Apple still had their story on their pro website about him that I read last month. He has moved to 700 G5's, and the article talked more about how he actually handles the film and cleans it, scans the grain, and recreates the image. Amazing stuff.

wildrock,

Thanks for the link. Fascinating and interesting read. Like you said, "good stuff". Let's hope more and more will show up on HD-DVD titles.

Okay at first I was going to buy the Vizio VX37, got advised on this TV and changed my mind, going with the Westy. A couple of questions though.
1. I want the best picture for DVD, which way to go?
Upconvert DVD player through HDMI?-Cheapest
HD-DVD 360 drive, will it upconvert? Should I use Component or VGA?
Toshiba HD-DVD player
I would like 1080P or best picture as possible.
Also, what does standerd cable look like? I have the Motorola 6412 DVR, will be changing out to the one with HDMI output.