Blu-ray Discussion Thread - The One and Only

Now I know where I'll be buying Transformers 2:

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$50 @ Best Buy

$40 for Star Trek, but I'm not getting that one there.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']I'm betting that Gladiator will be going for cheap on eBay soon.[/QUOTE]

I doubt it.

The normal user isn't going to notice or care.

I'm going to hold my judgment until I see it in motion
 
500x_toshblue.jpg

Debut player delivers high image quality and sophisticated design, a great complement to Toshiba's superior line of HDTVs

WAYNE, N.J., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Consumer Products L.L.C. ("Toshiba"), a market leader in home entertainment products, underscores its commitment to high-definition entertainment with the introduction of its first Blu-ray Disc player. The BDX2000 provides Full HD 1080p digital output that when coupled with a REGZA(R) LCD TV, enables consumers to enjoy the superior quality of high-definition audio & video content.

Supporting BD-Live(TM) (Profile 2.0), the BDX2000 allows users to take advantage of interactive features through an Ethernet connection. With interactive content enabled on select Blu-ray discs and Bonus View(TM) support for picture-in-picture capability, Toshiba's Blu-ray player offers state-of-the-art home entertainment.

Complementing the player's stunning picture quality, design is an integral component of Toshiba's home entertainment products. This new Blu-ray Disc player boasts a faceted design featuring a smoked mirrored front panel. The stylish front panel dropdown door conceals the player's primary functions, allowing for a smooth, clean facade.

"Toshiba is a technology leader in high definition products," said Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Digital A/V Group. "From listening to our consumers we know they demand access to full high definition content. With the introduction of our BDX2000 we are offering consumers what they want with a breath-taking HD viewing experience to meet the needs of today's home theater."

Using the REGZA-LINK(R) function, the new BDX2000 can connect with a REGZA LCD TV via a HDMI(TM) cable and display full high definition content with a single remote control. For added convenience, the BDX2000 features a SD card slot, making it an entertainment hub in the home by allowing consumers to showcase photos and videos with ease.

Additional Product Features:

* BD-Live(TM) (Profile 2.0)
* 1080p/ 24 fps Full HD Video Output
* AVCHD Playback
* Toshiba REGZA-LINK(R) (HDMI-CEC)
* Support for enhanced audio formats from Dolby(R) True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio | Essential(TM) Playback
* Bonus View
* SD Card Slot
* ENERGY STAR(R) Certified

Pricing and Availability:

Toshiba Blu-ray Disc Player

BDX2000 (available November, MSRP $249.99)
Click to expand...
 
No streaming, ugly looking and a high MSRP? Pass.

And No WiFi and a really cheap looking remote. Double Pass.

Toshiba really fumbled the ball here. Do they not know who they are competing against? Sony has WiFi. LG has WiFi.
Samsung, LG and Panasonic has Streaming (Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Unbox, VuDu)

Seriously, WTF Toshiba?

Here's a link to a video on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5OrUugSvtU

Don't know how to embed.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']Toshiba sucks anyway. Weren't they on HDDVD's side... ?[/QUOTE]

Yes they were. Infact HD-DVD was the format from them. As for getting a new player or not I'm sticking with my BD200 from LG. Once I am able to build me a HTPC I'm going with the combo drive they have and will be using it.

Anyway I'm picking up Braveheart today and will hold off on Gladiator till they fix the issues or it get to a cheap price.
 
[quote name='phantomfriar2002']Yes, as in the format that actually worked! lol.[/QUOTE]

Yes! Good one! I still mourn HD-DVDs loss. I think Toshiba's a bit too late to the game but I bet their player is pretty good.
 
It would have been nice if they could have got that larger HD-DVD disc out. Wasn't it to hold around 100 gigs?

Anyway just got done watching Braveheart. The Best Buy I went to didn't even have them with the new BDs/DVDs. However unless I just over looked it I didn't even see Gladiator. I have not seen Braveheart in so long. I love this movie and the only thing that was bad about it was the fact that at the time I couldn't watch it with my 5.1 and chances are wont be able to do so for a nother day or so. If at all with hours I work and when I can watch tv on the tv with the 5.1.
 
It would have been 51GB (3 17GB Layers). It was never finalized though and out of all the studios (including at the time Blu-ray exclusive ones) only Disney cared about the extra space. Price-wise it made more sense to do 2, 30GB Discs instead of 1 51GB Disc. The 2 discs would appear to be extra 'value' to consumers and the second could have been a combo Special Features/DVD/Digital Copy disc.
 
I wasn't sure at the amount of space. I just took a guess at 100. I was thinking BD was already 50 and everything I was reading said it would be more than BD could hold at the time.
 
Poor Toshiba. Engadget reported that they had just one BR player to show at IFX today, and the demo setup was actually turned off until they asked to see it. It apparently ran ok, but why weren't they running the demo unless asked? They also had to pull all their P500 laptop BR models off the show floor due to stability issues.
 
Toshiba couldn't give two shits about Blu-ray. They (more like retailers) want a Toshiba branded Blu-ray player to sell with their Regza line. It's simply a Magnavox player with a Toshiba insignia on it.
 
I gotta brag about this. I preordered Braveheart and Gladiator (before the issues) at MovieStop and picked them up today. MS beats any local price so they were $21.87 each. MS also does a trade in deal where you can trade in any 4 DVD's that have an individual minimum value of $1.50 and get a new release DVD for free or $16 towards a BR which is how I did my preorders. I'm now down to $5.87 for each. BB had their deal this week to get an additional $10 off when buying both of these movies on BR. MS doesn't typically match bundle deals but, I'm guessing due to how frequently I'm in there, they made an exception for me. In the end, it cost me .87 for each movie (which was paid for in store credit). On top of that, I'll get $10 for each movie via the rebates. I'm essentially getting paid $9 each to take these movies. Bad transfer be damned, a very good deal to say the least.
 
[quote name='neocisco']I gotta brag about this. I preordered Braveheart and Gladiator (before the issues) at MovieStop and picked them up today. MS beats any local price so they were $21.87 each. MS also does a trade in deal where you can trade in any 4 DVD's that have an individual minimum value of $1.50 and get a new release DVD for free or $16 towards a BR which is how I did my preorders. I'm now down to $5.87 for each. BB had their deal this week to get an additional $10 off when buying both of these movies on BR. MS doesn't typically match bundle deals but, I'm guessing due to how frequently I'm in there, they made an exception for me. In the end, it cost me .87 for each movie (which was paid for in store credit). On top of that, I'll get $10 for each movie via the rebates. I'm essentially getting paid $9 each to take these movies. Bad transfer be damned, a very good deal to say the least.[/QUOTE]I dare you to try that again with another movie pre-order. :D

Good job on the deal, with everything figured in there.
 
[quote name='H.Cornerstone']Braveheart looks amazing.

Gladiator is atrocious. I was going to buy it but now there is no way I am ever buying it, not even for $10. They messed it up more than Patton![/QUOTE]

Try playing the disc yourself,before making statements like that.The release isn't nearly as bad as the screen grab guys would have you believe.

Pretty fair assessment here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2524/gladiator.html

And yes,it is a massive upgrade from the SD-DVD.
 
[quote name='neocisco']I gotta brag about this. I preordered Braveheart and Gladiator (before the issues) at MovieStop and picked them up today. MS beats any local price so they were $21.87 each. MS also does a trade in deal where you can trade in any 4 DVD's that have an individual minimum value of $1.50 and get a new release DVD for free or $16 towards a BR which is how I did my preorders. I'm now down to $5.87 for each. BB had their deal this week to get an additional $10 off when buying both of these movies on BR. MS doesn't typically match bundle deals but, I'm guessing due to how frequently I'm in there, they made an exception for me. In the end, it cost me .87 for each movie (which was paid for in store credit). On top of that, I'll get $10 for each movie via the rebates. I'm essentially getting paid $9 each to take these movies. Bad transfer be damned, a very good deal to say the least.[/QUOTE]

Nice fucking job man.
 
Gladiator transfer is disappointing. Looks like ass. Why shit on such a fabulous movie? Braveheart looks amazing, like it was handled with kid gloves.. A shame, really. Gladiator could have been epic. I see a double dip in the future!
 
if anyone is planning on picking up creepshow i'd wait

my copy only has 2.0 audio even though it says 5.1. read a couple of other posts about the same thing
 
[quote name='koebner']Try playing the disc yourself,before making statements like that.The release isn't nearly as bad as the screen grab guys would have you believe.

Pretty fair assessment here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2524/gladiator.html

And yes,it is a massive upgrade from the SD-DVD.[/QUOTE]

As someone pointed out, thats still a 75% ;-)
Blu-ray.com also gave it 3 stars.
And everyone on AVS also says it's looks terrible, putting it in to the 2nd to last worse tier of movies.

And screenshots are pretty indicative of the final product. They tell you if post processing such as DNR and EE have been used, and in those screens you can tell that is has been. And guess what? Everyone who has reviewed the movie says the same thing: It reeks of DNR and EE. (not to mention the fact that parts of the movie disappear because of these effects)

Whether or not it's an upgrade from the DVD is irrelevant. The point is the Extended scenes show how good the movie could have looked, and the whole movie does not look that way. So if you buy the blu-ray, your not getting the best product possible. If your fine with that, well thats your prerogative. However, If I'm spending $20 on a movie, I want to know that it's the best it could be, And Gladiator is not. 3.5 stars for a 10 year old movie is not acceptable in my mind, especially one so high profile and especially when you compare it to Braveheart.

[quote name='jaysapathy']Gladiator transfer is disappointing. Looks like ass. Why shit on such a fabulous movie? Braveheart looks amazing, like it was handled with kid gloves.. A shame, really. Gladiator could have been epic. I see a double dip in the future![/QUOTE]

And with reviews like this, who needs to watch it yourself? ;-)
 
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[quote name='LinkinPrime']Looks like we won't be seeing The Lord Of The Rings: Trilogy Extended Editions set any time soon.
[/QUOTE]

they weren't going to come out until right before "The Hobbit" is released anyway.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Psh! Isn't 'The Hobbit' scheduled to come out around the the same day as Duke Nukem Forever? :lol:[/QUOTE]

The week before actually. ;)
 
I don't know if anyone else picked up the Office Season 5 BR, but I don't think I can watch the older episodes anymore until they re-release them on blu-ray!

My only wish is that there was an option to watch full episodes with the deleted scenes included where they belong.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Psh! Isn't 'The Hobbit' scheduled to come out around the the same day as Duke Nukem Forever? :lol:[/QUOTE]

Yep, around the same time The Phantom console is gonna hit the streets.
 
I was at Sams Club last night and I was looking at their 120hz HDTVs, they were displaying Pixar Cars and Bedtime stories on a Vizio and Samsung...they looked really good, except when they moved. It looked jittery...is this what 120hz does to Blu-Rays or could it be the settings they had on their TVs?
 
[quote name='rsigley']if anyone is planning on picking up creepshow i'd wait

my copy only has 2.0 audio even though it says 5.1. read a couple of other posts about the same thing[/QUOTE]

I keeping hearing it has the same audio from the DVD version.
Is it at least better than the DVD enough for a $10 purchase, or should we stick to upscaling the DVD until a better edition comes along (even if we have to import it again)?
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']I was at Sams Club last night and I was looking at their 120hz HDTVs, they were displaying Pixar Cars and Bedtime stories on a Vizio and Samsung...they looked really good, except when they moved. It looked jittery...is this what 120hz does to Blu-Rays or could it be the settings they had on their TVs?[/QUOTE]

I'd wonder what cables they were using and I'd assume they were kinda crappy for 120hz. Or they were miss marked. 120hz is suppose to help that not hurt it. It's a higher frame rate. I think...
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']I was at Sams Club last night and I was looking at their 120hz HDTVs, they were displaying Pixar Cars and Bedtime stories on a Vizio and Samsung...they looked really good, except when they moved. It looked jittery...is this what 120hz does to Blu-Rays or could it be the settings they had on their TVs?[/QUOTE]I'm sure as they split video a dozen different ways, there's probably some signal loss going on that makes it look less than optimal.

I have a 120Hz Sony XBR6 and have no problems at all with jittery picture on BR. Both Cars and Bedtime Stories look phenomenal on my TV, Cars especially.

If you're judging a TV by what you're seeing at the store, you really need to think that one through, since you'll never see it in an optimal environment that way.
 
might as well ask here..

What do the 240hz tv's bring to the table? What is the diff for movies and games?

I currently have a 120hz 40in Sammy which has been a great tv, but im getting that itching sensation to upgrade again...
 
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Yeah that's what I figured. Both advertised anti-blur tech. I think that's what made it seem weird...there was no fluid movements...almost looked like wind-up toys.
 
That whole "hz" topic is such a grey area. For one thing, the effect of having the faster refresh on an LCD will depend on the motion-blur smoothing tech per each different manufacturer of TV. Secondly, everyone's brains/eyes will perceive the effect differently. Myself personally, I'll just stick to 120hz Sony Motion Flow because I can kind of perceive a positive effect with those TVs. I can't generally tell shit at 240hz. But that's just my own personal preference. Plasma, of course, would eliminate that whole issue. I'm not sure if my next TV will be Plasma or LED or whatever the new tech will be at that point though.

As for Linkin's personal experience, I'm not sure what would cause the jitter. I think some of the earlier sets did have some tearing or glitching when set to the highest motion compensation settings. Alternatively, the sets could have had those features disable for some inexplicable reason. Most retail demo sets are never calibrated to any kind of optimal viewing from what I've encountered anyways...
 
[quote name='H.Cornerstone']Hopefully this means that with the delay they will just release the extended editions from the beginning.[/QUOTE]

Not gonna happen. They are delaying it because they don't want to interfere with sales of their glorious over-priced boxsets. They will release them as Theatricals and then as EEs. EEs may now be much later.

I bet when they eventually arrive the 'created' date will be dometime in September showing they didn't delay them to do anything 'special' to them - just to pad out what's going to be a very low Q1 next year. They did the same thing with the TMNT films (these were supposed to come in Q1 of this year).

You'd be amazed what titles have bounced around this year. Some of you guys would cry. Studios are really scared to release too many big titles as consumers have a limited amount of money. Apparently, they think next year consumers will just be loaded.
 
[quote name='Seasick Pirate']I keeping hearing it has the same audio from the DVD version.
Is it at least better than the DVD enough for a $10 purchase, or should we stick to upscaling the DVD until a better edition comes along (even if we have to import it again)?[/QUOTE]

Ignore dumb posters at fan-based forums. Its 2.0 TrueHD and has better quality over a DVD audio track. (792kbps IIRC)

The only 'better' version would be the Region 2 DVD which has Special Features that Warner refused to license in America. It does have a 5.1 audio track but the film was made with 2.0 (well, 4.0 but its matrixed) in mind. So 5.1 is kinda iffy. The BD is very faithful to how it should look and sound.
 
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