Andrew,

25GB and judder are not related.

Planet Earth was shot at 25fps as it was supposed to be broadcast in the UK (BBC). However, the converted to 24fps. Thats why there is subtle judder on some panning shots.

The newer re-released Planet Earth is now at 50Hz that eliminates the judder.

Can u tell me what the time stamp is on Contact that u see judder?

If there was indeed some issue during filming, judder can happen

bob,
US tv shows are normally 30fps or 24fps and not 25fps. If u see judder it might be a setting on ur display. What display do u hv? If u r refreshing at 100Hz then u will see judder? Most displays handle 30fps correctly unless there are some motion interpolation seleced.

jenn,

The specs are identical for US and UK so I am not sure why the PQ can be different as its the same encode.

Region Year Title Codec Display Aspect Bitrate Length Movie Size Disc Size Bitrate Primary Language Audio
-------- ---- ----- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- --------------- --------------- ------- ----------------------

ABC [US] 1965 The Sound of Music AVC 1080p24 2.20:1 22.89 2:54:41 45,278,035,968 46,339,527,950 34.56 DTS-MA 7.1 48/24 4418 / AC3 4.0 48 448
ABC [UK] 1965 The Sound of Music AVC 1080p24 2.20:1 22.89 2:54:41 45,278,035,968 46,339,527,950 34.56 DTS-MA 7.1 48/24 4418 / AC3 4.0 48 448

Watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang recently.

Movie :
Decent flick. Slightly long, but my 8yr daughter loved it. My 5 yr old son, was a little restless. Songs were fun. The middle of the story was rather long winded, but its from a different era anyway.

PQ:
Excellent transfer. Grains preserved but not overly so. Details fantastic. Colours bold. 4.5/5 for sure

AQ:
The beginning of the movie starts with no picture but the sound of cars moving around ur room using all the 7.1 speakers in ur system. Really good panning. AQ is top notch. 5/5 for sure. Songs are well done, did not hear any distortion. I did hear a slight hiss if I bump up the volume close to reference, but thats about it.

Just completed watching The Expendables.

Movie:
Guns, guns, guns, bombs, knifes, bombs, guns, guns and did I say guns....This is one movie that bores u for about 5 mins when Stallone and Statham slow down to look at the countryside and the guys chat a little. Non stop action, from the start, explosions and more action. The guys hv good chemistry. Stallone and Statham especially but again there not too much banter. The movie moves at almost 100km/h from the start slows down as I said for about 5 mins then picks up again. Willis and Arnie make guest appearances and are great. JetLi's actions are nice to watch. Leave ur thinking caps somewhere else when u watch the movie becoz



PQ
Details are solid. Pictures are great. No DNR stuff...The only complaints if any are the black levels seems fall short for some scenes. But all in all a 4/5 or so.

AQ
Need I say more, LFE is to die for. The score itself has some deep bass moments. The explosions are close to perfect. They go deep and loud. The bigger the guns the deeper the LFE. My only complaints are that some dialogue is unclear, some of Rourke's lines and Stallones. Now, I'm not sure if its the mix as Stallone especially is known to mumble dialogue so thats the only negative. The dialogue is not drowned out by the constant LFEs its just that some of the guys don't seem to be clear on some scenes. 4.5/5

Enjoyable and fast paced.

maskedchan,
try imgburn, its a freeware and shd be ok.

This post has been edited by anfieldude: Feb 5 2011, 08:51 PM

Salt BD Review
Movie:
Truth be told I was writing this off as a female version of a Stallone movie but it surprised me. Nice plot a throwback to the days of Russia as a superpower and the KGB days. Decently paced and with enuf action sequences to keep the mind from wandering. Jolie does well and the supporting cast r ok.
PQ
4/5 Good transfer. The black levels r not inky for certain scenes and there were some softer soft. Did not detect dnr or any other artifacting. The colour pallette was slightly desaturated but that was the intent.
AQ
4.5/5 First thing that struck me was how well the surround were used. Crowd noise, doors closing and panning on the action scenes were very very good. Only drawback was some dialogue was sort of mumbly...
Good way to spend 1hr an 40mins. I viewed the extended cut so will see the directors cut for the differences.

Wanted to show some data on how "pirated" BDs are different from original BDs.

This is some bitrate scans from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.

Original



Pirated



Original Video Bitrate


Pirated Video Bitrate


This is a major difference. While I am unsure if the Asian edition or the UK Edition of Prince of Thieves are AVC, the bitrate is almost half. Warner normally uses the same encode worldwide. The video bitrate is almost half. The audio seems to be the same in this case.

Maybe this will put to rest if there is a difference. Visually, there was a difference. On some scenes with high activity, there is more noise and finer details seems fuzzier on the pirated version. So if u r really interested in the PQ, AQ etc, get original. Always.

This post has been edited by anfieldude: Feb 7 2011, 06:05 PM

Check in avs forum. The info indicates that US has higher bitrate but no perceivable difference in PQ.

Write to them and request to add.

BD Review :Hot Tub Time Machine

Movie:
I enjoyed this movie trememdously. Rare do we get movies that are not vulgar gross buddy flicks. I could relate to this being married and having kids. In my opinion, men are different than women in needing to have buddies. Cusack acted well but the show stealer was Rob Corddry. The movie has its fair share of frontal nudity and some back nudity as well. The plot moved quickly enuf and did not resort to slapstick comedy. I would rate it a 4/5. My wife enjoyed it as well but just not as much as me. Say what u want, the uni/college days bring back the best memories, buddys we make during those times, fade away as we move on in life, but ask for help even now and they are normally the 1st ones to offer! Of course, hot tub time machines are to dream for....

PQ:
4/5, a good transfer, details are present. Colours are bold and bright. They do look slightly desaturated but I believe it is intentful as its back in time. Black levels on the night scenes are not inky, but I think thats also the intent to show more details.

AQ
4.5/5, man the soundtrack had Motley Crue so how could it go wrong. The songs are very good. The surrounds are used mostly as ambiance but used quite a little more than normal for comedies. There are surprisingly a few intense LFE moments, especially the end leap back to the present. Watch out for it.

A surprisingly enjoyable flick (for guys more than the ladies)...

But from the way I read it, it looks like the remastered versions are due only in 2012, is that right?

The one reason u might want to get the US edition on this one, IIRC was that the UK one was 16bit soundtrack and the US one was 24bit soundtrack. The US used a higher bitrate AVC encode, and DTSHDMA and the IINM was lower bitrate VC1 encode and Dolby TrueHD with lower bitrate.

spec,

I'm a little confused, r u talking abt the Lethal Weapon Collection?

No, but in this case it was so. Warner did the encode for Europe and Criterion did it for the states. We all know how meticulous Criterion are for the av encodes. Warner has been sloppy at times.

Bourne Trilogy BD Reviews

Movie:
The Bourne trilogy was always a trilogy that I wanted to watch as I missed it theatretically. The movies do not let down. I found Bourne Supremecy of the fastest pace moving from place to place and barely any let down in action. Identity starts a little slow then picks up very quickly. Storyline of all 3 were short of excellent. Ultimatum ends how u would expect it to, more or less gives the closure that people like to have instead of a hanging ending. Acting is stellar, MAtt Damon moves out of his Good Will Hunting days and shows that he can play action roles. I believe he went on to star in the Ocean's Trilogy after this and was equally good in them. The characters are used very well, without revealing anything, u never know when they r killed off. In all, I would rate the whole series as a solid 4.25/5.

PQ:
Identity had a little more grain than the rest. Ultimatum had the shaky camera used to the max which was the only annoying thing I could find. If u ever wanted to witness inky blacks, the trilogy has loads of them. Blacks are stable across the films and are inky almost all of the time, bordering on slight crush but I am sure that was intended. Finer details are abundant, did not detect any EE, DNR. Colours are slightly desaturated and skin tones are slightly tinted to golden or greenish at times, but its great to watch. I would rate Ultimatum and Supremacy at 4.5 and if needed to Identity at 4.4! Else all are close to 4.5/5

AQ:
Identity shows us what the DTSHDMA is capable of and Supremecy and Ultimatum do not let up. The surrounds are used for everything imaginable. Panning, ambiance and all. Dialogue is clear always, even in the choas. LFE is generous and used very effectively in the score and during action emphasis scenes. Some of the chase scenes have them all. If I were to chose I like Supremecy the best, followed by Ultimatum and Identity. I would rate Supremacy as a strong 4.75, Utlimatum at strong 4.5 and Identity at a weaker 4.5.

Overall, a fantastic way to spend ur time watching these 3 movies.

BTW : I own the UK transfer and there are no complains at all.

As is the Asian edition with the audio sync fix.

I love it when a plan comes together!

A-Team BD Review

Movie:
I was really looking forward to watching this one. Having grown up during that same era and watching this on prime time OTA TV, I wondered if the crew could live up to the original A-Team crew. Neeson was impressive as Hannibal, I think he carried the role well. Cooper was decent as Face, Sharlto Copley was hilarious as Murdoch and Jackson was so-so as B.A. The movie was end to end fun, fabulous pace, not allowing u to think twice about some of the absurd stunts. Storyline was nothing to shout about, but this movies was not pretending to get too serious anyway. I would rewatch it for sure, as the dialogue was kinda witty and fun. 3.5/5

PQ:
Could not detect anything to nitpick abt the transfer, did not detect any EE, DNR etc. Only a couple of shots were soft, but overall a very sharp transfer. Black levels were decent, not inky but not really anything to complain either. 4.5/5

AQ:
Surrounds are used from the word go....Ambiance, bullets whizzing around, panning of scenes, u name it they've got it. Dialogue was the only complaint here. Some dialogue was not clear. I will need to revisit my centre channel level to make sure its ok just to be sure. LFE : loads and loads of it. I am pretty sure there are many scenes that go below 20Hz because on some of the scenes I could feel the air, but not actually hear anything/

I would not mind a sequel. Leave ur thinking cap somewhere else and join in the fun!

wiNd,

Do the steels have lossless audio?

Thanks. I believe it was the German steels that came with lossy audio then.