'Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics' -- pre-release buzz

[PeterB]

Joe Kane is doing it again, bringing a new version of 'Digital Video Essentials' to Blu-ray (for the first time), called 'HD Basics':

http://bluray.highdigest.com/digital..._hdbasics.html

It will include calibration tools both for the beginning and advanced users, plus a new audio commentary with Kane and cinematographer Allen Daviau with even more guidance.

Street date is October 30, and retail price $29.98.

[tinboski]

hi for us noobs what exactly will this disc do for us? Ive never had any dealings with the video essentials disks.

[LiK]

woohoo, about time!

[Mobius]

I am glad to see this also coming to Blu Ray. It would be interesting to try both the HD DVD and Blu Ray to see if the players are putting out similar results to your display.

[Herby]

PeterB,
The link is spelled wrong. You forgot the Def in Highdefdigest. Without the def you just got High Digest and thats not the reason I come to this forum. I had to throw in a joke it was irresistible.
Thank you for the post, though.

bluray.highdefdigest.com/digitalvideoessentials_hdbasics.html

[MrTweaker]

A definite must buy. This disc allows you to calibrate your display to play blu-ray discs as close to perfect as a layman can get, at least that's how the DVD version worked.

[uucee]

Originally Posted by PeterB

Street date is October 30, and retail price $29.98.

Hello from Amazon.com.

Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below has
changed, and we need to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date:

Joe Kane (Actor) "Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics [Blu-ray]"
[Blu-ray]
Estimated arrival date: 03/27/2008

[Mr Bobby]

The ironic thing about this type of equipment testing products is that they make you realize how good or bad your gear really is. I'm not saying they're the Gospel. But, they certainly have a way of highlighting The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

[mpbolly]

I have a question.

I'm confused with all these version. I have both the PS3 (bluray) and the HD-DVD add on for the XBOX 360.

I already got the HD-DVD Combo of the 'Digital Video Essentials" disc, and I used the HD-DVD side to calibrate my HD-DVD player and I used the SD side to calibrate my PS3 (running on HDMI 1080p)

Is it necessary to get the BD version to calibrate the PS3 to my 1080p 42' HDTV?

[mpbolly]

Originally Posted by mpbolly

I have a question.

I'm confused with all these version. I have both the PS3 (bluray) and the HD-DVD add on for the XBOX 360.

I already got the HD-DVD Combo of the 'Digital Video Essentials" disc, and I used the HD-DVD side to calibrate my HD-DVD player and I used the SD side to calibrate my PS3 (running on HDMI 1080p)

Is it necessary to get the BD version to calibrate the PS3 to my 1080p 42' HDTV?

anybody????

[mpbolly]

Originally Posted by mpbolly

I have a question.

I'm confused with all these version. I have both the PS3 (bluray) and the HD-DVD add on for the XBOX 360.

I already got the HD-DVD Combo of the 'Digital Video Essentials" disc, and I used the HD-DVD side to calibrate my HD-DVD player and I used the SD side to calibrate my PS3 (running on HDMI 1080p)

Is it necessary to get the BD version to calibrate the PS3 to my 1080p 42' HDTV?

ANYBODY??????????????????

[scubasteve]

Calibrate with HD-DVD it should be calibrated for Blu-ray. These discs are a must have!

[Yog-Sothoth]

There may be differences in color, brightness, contrast, etc. from different devices, as well as differences among input types (HDMI, component, S-video). I recommend calibrating one input, set the others to the same settings, and tweak as needed. Newer TVs allow for different settings for different inputs.

[BriS2K]

I was really hyped about getting this over the past 12 months but with all the constant delays, I've had the "joy" and time to calibrate my Pioneer 5010 to the best I can by eye and I don't think I can be more pleased with my results. I've thrown all sorts of material at it and everything looks amazing: flesh tones are spot on, little to no yellow or red push, shadow details are clear, greys look amazing, picture looks amazing - window effect etc. I am still interested in buying it but only through a B2G1/BOGO.

Nonetheless, really about time Blu-ray got one of these calibration disks...I still can't believe it took this damn long for one to come out.

[Nicodimus22]

This disc has already paid for itself in my opinion. After going through the test
patterns several times, I have gotten a picture that looks natural and detailed.
It looked decent before, but comparing it to what I have it at now, the colors
were slightly oversaturated and the picture was slightly soft before.

The thing that surprised me most? My sharpness was too low. Normally people
have theirs set too high, and on most HDTVs, the lowest possible setting is the
best one. I had mine set to 0/100, but as JK narrated through the part about
sharpness, he acknowledged that some HDTVs are an exception to that rule. It
turns out that mine looks perfect at 20/100, going by the 1080p overscan
pattern.

Good stuff, well worth $18.95 to get a better picture out of a $1500 HDTV.
Thanks Joe.