ABBA: The Movie (European import) impressions

[kannisto]

I got my "ABBA: The Movie" from Holland (Free Record Shop) today. It was shipped on 1st of January so it arrived fast enough though the shipping cost was very low (4.95 EUR for two discs that were shipped separately). (My Elephant Man is still on the way though it was shipped 4 days earlier.)

Specs:
Video: 2.35:1 VC-1, back cover says 1080i High Definition Widescreen 16:9
Audio: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, DD+ Stereo
Subtitles: Optional Swedish, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuquese, Japanese
Special features: SD 4:3 480i, DD+ Stereo
Extras:
- Looking Back - Interview (40 minutes)
- Theatrical Trailer
- ABBA - The Album TV Commercials
- Tour Book & Memorabilia Gallery

Includes also a nice 18 page booklet, best I've seen so far for any HD DVD release.

The PQ and AQ aspects seem really very good, the audio in particular is very crisp and clean and impressive. I was also positively surprised by the PQ, I wasn't expected it to be this good! Easily at least 4+ stars. I haven't watched it in whole yet though.

The menu system is quite nice, including a pop-up menu too. Everything is in English.

Some pics of the case etc.

[vksf01]

Just to add to this. I got mine from xploited and watched it a few weeks ago. The audio is incredible, and it looks like they've also cleaned up the picture quality. It retains that '70s film grain so for those of you who expect a Pixar grainless CG image, look somewhere else! For the rest of us, this is probably the best it's going to look! The DTSHD Master audio is incredible!

Here's a weird thing, the 40 minute interview is in SWEDISH! I couldn't find a way to turn on subtitles since it runs inside a window in the menu.

Viewed on
Sony 60A3000, 24p
Toshiba HD-XA2
Denon 3805
Triad Speakers

[ahsoka]

Great to hear that they've done a good job in remastering the picture and sound for this release. I feel very much like watching it now. It would be nice to be able to listen to it in full DTS HD Master Audio...
I read the two pages from the booklet in one of the pictures, interesting information regarding the filming and the director. Seems like they've put some effort into that as well. Thanks for the info and excellent pics!

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by vksf01

Just to add to this. I got mine from xploited and watched it a few weeks ago. The audio is incredible, and it looks like they've also cleaned up the picture quality. It retains that '70s film grain so for those of you who expect a Pixar grainless CG image, look somewhere else! For the rest of us, this is probably the best it's going to look! The DTSHD Master audio is incredible!

Here's a weird thing, the 40 minute interview is in SWEDISH! I couldn't find a way to turn on subtitles since it runs inside a window in the menu.

Viewed on
Sony 60A3000, 24p
Toshiba HD-XA2
Denon 3805
Triad Speakers

Thanks for your comments! I definitely agree regarding the PQ and AQ.

After I read your post I tried the interview extra on my player (HD-XF2 (equivalent of HD-A2), latest firmware 2.7) and actually I can control the subtitles for the interview part by summoning up the pop-up menu while the interview plays and selecting the subtitles from there. Subtitles in all of the languages listed in the menu appear to work also for the interview. I could also change the subs directly from the remote by pressing the subtitle key and scroll right (though this method is always quite slow to operate). Could it be some kind of a HDi compatibility problem, do you have the latest firmware?

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by ahsoka

Great to hear that they've done a good job in remastering the picture and sound for this release. I feel very much like watching it now. It would be nice to be able to listen to it in full DTS HD Master Audio...
I read the two pages from the booklet in one of the pictures, interesting information regarding the filming and the director. Seems like they've put some effort into that as well. Thanks for the info and excellent pics!

Yes, I was very impressed with this package, PQ/AQ and the menus and the packaging are all top notch. I wasn't expecting all that. This one's definitely recommended as long as one is interested in the subject.

I set a smaller aperture when taking a pic of the 2 pages with text to get more depth of field (all text into sharp focus) so that it would be fully readable Good to hear it was of use. I take my case shots with a tripod now so I don't need to worry about getting steady shots in low indoor light, less work and better results. I don't need to take multiple (handheld) shots and choose the best ones anymore...

[Blinx123]

Wow. What do you make your pictures with? I can see every single scratch on the wooden floor/ceilling/table or whatever it is as sharp as I would stand behind it. The text is even more sharp than the standard text font on the forums.

[Arkadin]

Yeah Kannisto has discussed his camera before. It is indeed extremely impressive. This release looks like a real winner. Not a massive ABBA fan or anything, but I know some of their music. Anyway, I might order this eventually because I have NO HD DVD concert films of any kind as of yet.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Blinx123

Wow. What do you make your pictures with? I can see every single scratch on the wooden floor/ceilling/table or whatever it is as sharp as I would stand behind it. The text is even more sharp than the standard text font on the forums.

Thanks
I explained a bit about my camera and lense in this post in the import sticky:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/show...&postcount=518

The sharpness is also partly related to post processing, I just convert the pics (originally shot in Canon's "lossless" Raw format) quickly with BreezeBrowser which also applies some sharpening in the process. I tend to resize them so that both x and y dimensions pixel-count is halved, so the end result is 1/4 of original size. The scratches on the floor wouldn't be so clear if I used a shallower depth of field.

[Blinx123]

Oh. A Canon EOS. Pretty impressive. Do you by any way know Clarence of the AVS forums? I think he has the same camera. His images are pretty impressive too and when he shows us "CRT fanatics" pictures from his G90 most of us reply "is this an actually screengrab" at least most of the time.

About the Abba movie: I've watched this over satelite tv some months ago. Pretty good movie and pretty good music of course

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Blinx123

Oh. A Canon EOS. Pretty impressive. Do you by any way know Clarence of the AVS forums? I think he has the same camera. His images are pretty impressive too and when he shows us "CRT fanatics" pictures from his G90 most of us reply "is this an actually screengrab" at least most of the time.

About the Abba movie: I've watched this over satelite tv some months ago. Pretty good movie and pretty good music of course

I don't happen to know Clarence, though I spend some time in AVS forums too (just the HD DVD SW section). I'm hoping to succeed in making a setup for taking direct screengrabs of HD movies when I get my new PC soon. My own photos of the screen of my 42 inch Panasonic Plasma don't look good at all, I get all kinds of artifacts in those pics.

[vksf01]

i'll have to try that. i remember pressing the subtitle button on the remote and nothing came up. it never occurred to me to actually select it from the menu!

Originally Posted by kannisto

Thanks for your comments! I definitely agree regarding the PQ and AQ.

After I read your post I tried the interview extra on my player (HD-XF2 (equivalent of HD-A2), latest firmware 2.7) and actually I can control the subtitles for the interview part by summoning up the pop-up menu while the interview plays and selecting the subtitles from there. Subtitles in all of the languages listed in the menu appear to work also for the interview. I could also change the subs directly from the remote by pressing the subtitle key and scroll right (though this method is always quite slow to operate). Could it be some kind of a HDi compatibility problem, do you have the latest firmware?

[bruceames]

I'll have to pick this one up. My wife loves Abba and I don't mind them myself. The blondie will be a treat to watch in HD.