High Def DVD - Better than satellite HD movies?

hwks1

On the fence on this whole high def dvd nightmare. I have a question. Are these high def dvd's equal to high def movies on satellite or better?

I do notice that high def movies via satellite are 'slightly' better than a regular dvd - if high def dvd's are comparable to HD movies via satellite I really don't see much reason to buy High def DVD's at twice the price of standard dvd - tell me what you think?

tomes

If you have a relatively large display and/or sit close, HD will win over Standard Def any day.

I think the HDDVD/Blu-Ray discs are CONSIDERABLY better than Satellite, especially since Sat is compressed much more heavily, often half or less than that of the bandwidth of disc based HD. Sat also cheats sometimes offering something like 1440x1080i instead of 1920x1080p.

Studios also generally take more care when scanning/cleaning up the original material for disc based HD.

I find it worth it, and now with Buy One Get One free all the time, jump in! (or use Netflix)

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Bravestime

This says it in a nutshell! No comparison.

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Super XP

Hi Def satellite is great, but HD DVD/BD movies are better overall IMO.

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= 130
= 10

pearl-drum-man

IMO many upconverted DVDs look better than some of the HD signals I see sometimes, my actual HD DVD PQ is significantly better than the HDTV signals.

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v1001

Some Satellite shows are better than some HD disc movies and some HD disc movies are better than some Satellite. Overall though if you had the exact same movie or show the HD disc will look better. Not huge amounts but it will be a little better for sure.

For instance when I watch Jay Leno it blows away a lot of my HD disc movies. Flipper the movie on Universal channel Satellite was amazing too. Reference quality even. But then there are a lot of channels and shows that are very so so. Just depends. But the best of the best HD discs are better than anything on Satellite.

HD_DVD_USA

Pearl drum is right.
The new regular DVDs look as good a some HD sat channels or better. I noticed that.
A recent release of some newer regular up-converted DVDs will look like TNT HD, where HD DVD will look more like CBS HD or ABC HD.
Looks like NBC has some work to do.
But I don't know if they would like that good if I had a regular DVD up-converter compared to the XA2.

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hwks1

So this is what keeps me on the fence. I have an up convert standard DVD player and I feel its pretty darn good - doesn't leave me wishing for better. I do notice that HD movies on DTV are maybe a bit better....but not by much.

So why do I want to spend $30 for a High def dvd - compared to the standard DVD that I can get on release day for $13?? Tough decision for me.......

I will admit that I have purchased a PS3 (can't open till Christmas!) to pretty much just play movies. I got the PS3 for $299 so it seemed like a crazy cheap bluray player that plays games! Now, I really won't be playing games on it except maybe any PS3 exclusive games - KH3??

Not to change topics but this is why I'm pretty sure PS3 is dead as a gaming console - I'm thinking bunches of folks have bought the PS3 only to play movies?? Doesn't do the developers much good to make games for a system people are mostly watching movies on, me thinks.

FreddyC

I have a Toshiba HD player and love it. I also have DirecTV with Hi Def. There is no comparing the two when it comes to movies. The picture with the Toshiba looks much better. Now, HBO, HDNM and such do look much better in HD over SD, but if you are comparing a Blu Ray or HD movie to one that comes in over satellite, for my money, go with the player. Freddy

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Bravestime

When you get your PS3 hooked-up get a few Blu-ray movies and judge for yourself on the picture quality. I think what the biggest thing you'll notice in comparing is that during action flix the satellite reception tends to get "blocky" or blur, whereas on HD disc this has been substantially reduced. If it's on disc I really don't see it. IMO, that's the biggest difference in the two.

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Liquidx

This is one of the few things that is troubling about HDM when it comes to the average consumer. I've had to explain to many that in most, if not all cases, that HDM is superior to HDTV signals. Not speaking of the OP, because he atleast asked and didn't assume, but many people believe what they see on HDTV is what they get with HDM and it throws them off getting either format because what they saw "wasn't that great in HD" in PQ.

tomes

This is a little different though. Made for tv programs usually have colors that pop a lot, and unlike movies that are often made using film, they have very little grain (noise). However, look at a football game in HiDef. Sure, it looks fantastic when you see a close-up or there is very little movement in the picture, but when they start panning, you'll quickly see that the compression used is way too high, and you'll start seeing compression artifacts, such as macroblocks.

All being equal (i.e. movie 'xyz' shown on both sat and on hddvd/bd disc), the discs will win every time (unless for some reason it was created using a very inferior transfer, which would be very rare)

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hwks1

Can't wait to try it out! I got Superman in the pack in of course..POC WE and the new Potter. I will be able to directly compare POC WE because I have already watched this in standard DVD. I am expecting the color to be better and of course the picture to be better overall.

A relatively cheap experiment and I can always play an occasional game on the PS3 - if you are buying a bluray player, why wouldn't you get a PS3??

My last comment on this whole subject is that jumping from VHS to DVD was a HUGE difference.... just not sure from the in store demos that the leap from standard dvd (upconverted) to HDM is that great....but in 3 days I can judge this better!

A final thought - the instore (Target) demo comparing standard to Bluray - who are they kidding? I have never ever seen any standard dvd look as bad as they portray on that demo. Turns me off when they have to exaggerate (see lie) to sell the product.

kamspy

The very worst looking BD or HD DVD will look equal or better than the best thing on HD cable.

HD_DVD_USA

Try Sat, you get more of a direct signal. It's a big difference.

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