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Reference Thread: DVDs that look HD on the DVB318

1393 Views 20 Replies 16 Participants Last post by HeadRusch, Oct 26, 2004

Terminator840

Discussion Starter · Oct 12, 2004

I thought I would start a list of DVDs that the DVB318 plays well in upconversion to 1080i HD. Since not all DVDs are created equal, not all of them look like HD when converted to 1080i. I have only had my DVB318 for a week so my list is rather short.

Please add your experiences with DVDs that the 318 plays the best in HD.

Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars Episode II

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Pearl Harbor Director's Cut (Vista Series)

Air Force One SuperBit

Fanatia 2000

Blue Planet IMAX

Saving Private Ryan

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1 - 20 of 21 Posts

ChemEng

· #2 · Oct 12, 2004

I have a DVB 318 and watched X2 this weekend in 1080i and DTS. The picture was amazing! I only have a 32 inch HD screen though, so results may vary for larger screens...

Also good is Kill Bill 2 if thats your cup of tea...

wmallory

· #3 · Oct 13, 2004

Both LOTR EE sets look excellent with the DVB-318. One surprise for me was Tora, Tora, Tora. This looked particularly good as well. All the Pixar movies of course (though these look really good on almost any DVD player). Lawrence of Arabia looked great (though come to think of it, I stopped at the intermission. I still need to finish the movie). That's it off the top of my head.

Robert George

· #4 · Oct 13, 2004

I don't want to rain on anybody's parade, and indeed I have a 318 myself and really like it (but not as much as my Denon 3910 in 480p), however, 1080i upconversion of DVD video is still just DVD video, even when it is very good DVD video. For comparison, I have the 318 hooked into the very same system as a JVC D-VHS and I have compared several of the same titles between the DVD and the D-Theater tape in true HD. The best DVDs, like X-Men and Man On Fire do look stunning on DVD, but the improvement made with true HD isn't really all that subtle. Real 1080i with the accompanying increase in horizontal resolution is very easy to discern from DVD video, even upconverted.

Also, it is inaccurate to call upconverted standard definition video "1080i HD". It is still SD, just scaled to a higher frequency.

davidlo

· #5 · Oct 14, 2004

Agreed. Just saw X2 DVHS couple nights ago, PQ remains sharp all the way thru the movie, whereas upconverted DVD only look good on close-ups, on wide shots everything just get blurry and lack details.

Fox really should put out more Star Wars HD tapes, heck I'll even buy Phantom Meanace if they put it out. Movies with wide shots filled with details are the ones that really make HD shine, there isn't that many movie on the DVHS list I want to watch in HD. So far I only have Independence Day and X2, and just oredered Day After Tomorrow.

On big screen it make a huge difference, your eyes are never fooled when you're just watching upconverted DVD and not HD. But until HD-DVD comes out we'll have to settle for that.

davidlo

· #6 · Oct 14, 2004

Don't most super-bits titles look good upconverted? I only have Johnny Mnemonic, it wasn't the best transfer but there's hardly any compression artifact.

falser

· #7 · Oct 14, 2004

Unfortunately too many DVD's still use 1:85 aspect ratio for some stupid reason, and my brain is hardwired to know that I'm watching a DVD if I see black bars. On a few 1.78 movies like Saving Private Ryan and Finding Nemo I can pretend I'm watching HD though.

madpoet

· #8 · Oct 14, 2004

I'm going to agree... the 318 is very nice, but I'd never confuse the image for HD.

-MP

wmallory

· #9 · Oct 14, 2004

Same here, nice but no HD.

So in honor of the end of the Presidential debate season...

DVB-318, I know what true HD is, I'm even looking forward to true HD, but DVB-318 you are not true HD.

But in the meantime, you'll do until HD-DVD/Blue Ray/whatever is finally available and affordable. Especially for those of us with HDTV sets with only component inputs.

Art Sonneborn

· #10 · Oct 15, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by davidlo
Agreed. Just saw X2 DVHS couple nights ago, PQ remains sharp all the way thru the movie, whereas upconverted DVD only look good on close-ups, on wide shots everything just get blurry and lack details.

This really is what separates the men from the boys in scaled DVD( even the best transfers) compared to HD although there are other aspects in which HD shines compared to any DVD.

An example is U571, in shots of faces close up there is not a striking difference but in shots with a long depth of field, like sailors in the background on the ship and you can make out details in their faces, DVD doesn't cut it in comparison.

Art

kal

· #11 · Oct 15, 2004

Simply put:

If on your display device a DVD upconverted to 1080i looks as good as a true 1080i signal then your display device is simply not able to properly resolve a 1080i signal.

This is often true with small display devices (under 50-60" inches diag).

Steve S

· #12 · Oct 16, 2004

When one's HD source is HBO via DirecTV the difference is noticeably less than with DVHS (which I don't have) or a good local OTA HD signal. While I know the DVB-318 isn't true HD, and can easily see the difference, it is quite an improvement over 480p on my crt based 57" rptv connected via component cable (doesn't have DVI).

So rather than try to equate the pq from the 318 to true HD I prefer to concentrate on the improvement over 480p which is pretty dramatic with my display, ymmv.

In my case the biggest improvement has been the non-anamorphic Titanic.

This is a quite good non-anamorphic transfer to begin with though misflagged somehow so you usually have to force a non-faroudja 480p player into Film mode. The 318 does a very nice vertical-only stretch, which coupled with the 1080i upconversion makes this disc look at least as good as some of the better anamorphic dvds.

I've also been quite pleasantly surprised by the 318's performance on some of my older discs. LA Confidential is a disc I bought back in 98 or 99 and it looks fantastic.

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madpoet

· #13 · Oct 16, 2004

I've been very pleased with how it handles PAL as well. I've watched a bunch of PAL content lately on my 318 and it is very nice.

Terminator840

Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 17, 2004

"DVDs that "look" HD on the 318"

Of course the 318 is not true HD, but more of a simulated HD through upscaling. Sorry if I didn't make that clear on my first post. I didn't mean for this thread to be a true HD vs. 318 upscaling to 1080i comparision. I was looking for peoples experiences with different DVD titles upconverted to 1080i with the 318.

I find D-VHS interesting, but what has kept me away is the lack of hardware and tapes at local retailers, expensive compared to DVD, and even though it is true HD going back to video tape seems like a step backwards to me. I'll wait for HD-DVD or Bluray.

Steve S, you are right about Titanic, the non-anamorphic transfer is great, but start zooming/stretching the pic. with a 480p player and the pq goes down to unwatchable for me on my ''55 crt rptv. But with the 318 at 1080i I can stretch the pic. and pq does not suffer as much. Titanic should be on the top of the list of DVDs that need a SE treatment. Its kind of strange that the biggest grossing movie of all time only has a bare-bones DVD out.

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Lou Sytsma

· #15 · Oct 18, 2004

Finding Nemo

Gray Davis

· #16 · Oct 25, 2004

It's too bad this thread turned into a 318 vs. HD discussion, since that obviously wasn't the Terminator's motivation for starting it. Even though the Terminator is my mortal enemy, I'll follow Lou's lead and offer my suggestion.

The best thing I have ever seen on my 328, bar none, were the anamorphic previews for Spider Man 2 and Hellboy that were included on the The Secret Window DVD (I think that's what it was called - it's a really stupid Steven King movie).

I posted about those two previews before and at least one other poster agreed with me. Why would those two previews look so much better than everything else I've seen on the 318? I have no idea, but they did.

RobZ

· #17 · Oct 26, 2004

Believe it or not......Garfield

nktan

· #18 · Oct 26, 2004

Er,what is DVB 318??

bgall

· #19 · Oct 26, 2004

http://www.zenith.com/sub_prod/produ...?cat=15&id=178

bgall

· #20 · Oct 26, 2004

I would add The Hulk to the reference list.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

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