wuzzzer Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I've owned the HD-DVD version of Transformers ever since it came out several months ago. Tonight after work I picked up the Blu-Ray copy of it because Best Buy had it on sale for $9.99. I figured I'd see if there were any differences in sound or picture quality. Picture: To me looks basically the same. My Toshiba player outputs 1080i compared to my PS3's 1080p. The picture on both discs is incredible. Sound: Played the initial helicopter landing/transformation and could tell right away there was a huge difference in LFE information. Fast-forwarded it to the end of the movie, specifically the Ironside flip scene. UNBELIEVABLE. UNBELIEVABLE. The bass was so much louder, deeper and tighter sounding. No comparision, Blu-Ray wins the audio contest hands down. Explosions, gunshots and other LFE information was so much more realistic. Detail and clarity of treble information was noticeably better as well. The HD-DVD is recorded in Dolby Digital Plus and the Blu-Ray is recorded in Dolby TrueHD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Interesting. I thought about doing the same thing myself with the Blu-Ray being on sale for so cheap. The sound on the HD-DVD was pretty incredible, so it's interesting that you found the TrueHD track on the Blu-Ray to be that much better. Louder bass doesn't necessarily mean better, but you say it the other effects were more "realistic." I might have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 but the movie sucks in any format Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 30, 2008 Moderators Share Posted November 30, 2008 Wuzzer, how does the audio compare to the 80's version of Transformers? You gotta admit, there were some sweet midi sound effects back in the day. [] I have Transformers on Blu-ray and it sounds incredible. I cannot comment on the picture quality since I'm viewing it on a 17" LCD that I borrowed from my 9 year old son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 Louder bass doesn't necessarily mean better, but you say it the other effects were more "realistic." I might have to check it out. Differences in audio are hard to describe. There was LFE where there was either no LFE or very little on the HD-DVD version. I just watched the movie on HD-DVD last Sunday with a friend and have probably watched the movie at least a half dozen other times. Metal on metal contact during the fighting scenes and bullets hitting metal sounded exactly like they would sound in real life. I should do an A/B comparison with both versions running at the same time and switch back and forth between them. And Todd, if you want me to mail me my Blu-Ray copy to keep for a few days I'd be cool with that. Otherwise you should check out the Best Buy near you and see if they have any left for $9.99. Someone mentioned that Amazon was selling them for that price as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 but the movie sucks in any format Come on, you know that if it came out on Betamax with a matching soundtrack on vinyl you'd be all over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 Wuzzer, how does the audio compare to the 80's version of Transformers? You gotta admit, there were some sweet midi sound effects back in the day. I have Transformers on Blu-ray and it sounds incredible. I cannot comment on the picture quality since I'm viewing it on a 17" LCD that I borrowed from my 9 year old son. Well, back then my parents had a 19" TV that had a speaker that would probably start distorting at about the 70dB level so I can't comment on the audio quality of the 80s version. [:S] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 30, 2008 Moderators Share Posted November 30, 2008 Yeah, it's truly amazing how far we have come with Audio/Video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I never was in the war between formats,I stayed away till there was a winner.I bought a Toshiba a3 I think it is for $61 with two movies,I would not have paid a penny more.I have a ps3 I bought new a walmart on sale for $299,it's a much better player/value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon20x Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 How about U 571? Has anyone tried a side by side test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 How about U 571? Has anyone tried a side by side test? I have that on DVD and was thinking about getting the Blu-Ray version from NetFlix to do a comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon20x Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I have the DVD and the HD-DVD disc but when it comes to the sound I did not notice that much difference between the 2. I was wondering if it would be more noticable with blu ray. I really don't want to have to buy it to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo1 Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 The HD-DVD is recorded in Dolby Digital Plus and the Blu-Ray is recorded in Dolby TrueHD. There's your difference. Lossy vs lossless, there ya have it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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