Is Universal feeling the pressure?

[CochiseGuy]

I'd love to hear about the PQ on Planet Earth on a high def disc. On Dish, when there's fire, or a flock of birds, it's obvious that the compression has hurt the PQ. Not that I'd likely pay $70, but I would like to know if in fact the PQ is significantly better than off satellite. I know it can be, but that doesn't mean it will be.

I agree on Dish's DiscoveryHD it was less than impressive. And maybe it's just me but I found Sigourney Weaver's narration "nasally" and annoying. (The original BBC version has David Attenborough narrating)

Good review at HighDefDigest.com

Having seen portions of 'Planet Earth' during its television premiere here in the U.S. on the DiscoveryHD Channel, I already knew it boasted some fantastic shot-on-HD video, but like most broadcast HD material, the DiscoveryHD presentation was constrained by heavy compression, which results in tons of artifacts, reduced resolution, and macroblocking.

This HD DVD release of 'Planet Earth' shares an identical 1080p/VC-1 encode with the Blu-ray, and, simply put, this disc delivers the kind of breathless demo material that early adopters have been craving. Far superior to the broadcast version, both next-gen editions boast wonderfully stable video, no obvious compression noise, and certainly no pixel break-up.

He rates both HD DVD & Blu-ray versions equally 5 stars out of 5 for video quality.

 

[navychop]

Thanks for answering my question. Nothing against Siggy, but I'd rather hear Attenborough or James Earl Jones any day.

 

[dantheman77]

Thanks for answering my question. Nothing against Siggy, but I'd rather hear Attenborough or James Earl Jones any day.

me too, BUT i would rather see her in undies then the other two.... maybe that will be a dvd extra!

 

[teamerickson]

I'd love to hear about the PQ on Planet Earth on a high def disc. On Dish, when there's fire, or a flock of birds, it's obvious that the compression has hurt the PQ. Not that I'd likely pay $70, but I would like to know if in fact the PQ is significantly better than off satellite. I know it can be, but that doesn't mean it will be.

I thought Dish's presentation was pretty good. I didn't notice any compression. It looks better on HD DVD, but not miles better. But, I haven't watched every episode on HD DVD yet. Discovery HD theatre looks really good to me.

 

[tawhite]

Where are you guys finding this available on HD DVD?

 

[CochiseGuy]

Where are you guys finding this available on HD DVD?

It was just released last Tuesday, from Warner Brothers/BBC, and is the biggest selling HD DVD titles to date, hitting #5 top selling title on Amazon for all DVD's/HD DVD/Blu-ray. Clicking my link to the review on HighDefDigest.com in post #21, a couple of posts up.

 

[navychop]

me too, BUT i would rather see her in undies then the other two....

OMG, now I'm gonna have nightmares! And not about her, either!

 

[tawhite]

It was just released last Tuesday, from Warner Brothers/BBC, and is the biggest selling HD DVD titles to date, hitting #5 top selling title on Amazon for all DVD's/HD DVD/Blu-ray. Clicking my link to the review on HighDefDigest.com in post #21, a couple of posts up.

Thanks!