Which Blu-ray releases look better on HD DVD?

[bruceames]

training day with its VC-1 looks better than its blu ray MPEG-2 counterpart according both reviews from this site . I know for a fact that the HD Dvd of training days looks amazing

Thanks Hans. Let me know if you come across any others not on the list.

List of HD DVDs that have better PQ (based on reviews, consensus posts from screenshot threads, other posts, and my own comparisons). The imports are compared to the US Blu-ray.

Paramount/Dreamworks:
Sahara
Four Brothers
Aeon Flux
The Italian Job
Reds
Coming to America
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Dreamgirls
Sleepy Hollow
We Were Soldiers

Universal:
Apollo 13
The Thing
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
U-571
Army of Darkness
Casino
Spartacus
Tremors
Animal House
The Big Lebowski
Daylight
Happy Gilmore

Warner:
Training Day

Imports:
Band of Brothers
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Total Recall
Crank
Silent Hill
Equilibrium
The Machinist
1408
Reservoir Dogs

List of HD DVDs that have better audio specs than their (U.S.) Blu-ray counterparts.

WB: (HD DVD is TrueHD while Blu-ray is DD@640mbps)

Ant Bully
Happy Feet
Lady in the Water
Phantom of the Opera
Training Day
The Wicker Man

Paramount/Dreamworks: (HD DVD is DD+@1.5mbps while Blu-ray is DD@640mbps)

Aeon Flux
Babel
Black Snake Moan
Coming to America
Dreamgirls
Face/Off
Failure To Launch
Flags of Our Fathers
Four Brothers
Freedom Writers
Hustle & Flow
The Italian Job
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
The Manchurian Candidate
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossibe II
Mission: Impossible III
Nacho Libre
Norbit
Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut
Reds
Sahara
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Sleepy Hollow
Shooter
Trading Places
U2: Rattle and Hum
The Warriors
We Were Soldiers
World Trade Center

[Hans Gruber]

how do you know that casino looks better on hd dvd ? ive never seen the blu ray but i thought it was the same transfer ? maybe added dnr ?

[gravis778]

I would have to say the Matrix: Ultimate Set, Poseiden, and the T2 Steelbook are superb. I would have to argue that Harry Potter 1-5 set is great as well. Now another one or two that comes to mind is the Blade Runner five-disc set looks amazing on HD-DVD as well. I haven't purchased Band of Brothers yet, but from what I have read from the many opinions in this forum that the HD-DVD version of Band of Brothers eliminates a bit more of the grain versus the Blu-ray edition. In fact, I saw some screenshots in another forum and if the screenshots are correct, it in fact looks better. Peace...

The HD-DVD version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone seems to be slightly lighter than the US Blu-Ray coutnerpart, but I thought it was just my equipment. Batman Begins seems to look better to me, but I think they use the same encode. Most of my HD-DVDs use the same video encode as the Blu-Ray counterpart - the difference is that the Blu-Ray GENERALLY has better audio. The exception is Phantom of the Opera - the Blu-Ray did not have HD audio.

[bruceames]

Animal House and The Big Lebowski added to above list.

HD DVD exclusives

Since the Tremors release, are there any other Blu-ray Universal titles known to have excessive DNR as compared to the HD DVD? Or any other movies missing that should (or should not) be on the list?

[darkash]

American Graffiti, Animal House and The Big Lebowski added to above list.

HD DVD exclusives

Since the Tremors release, are there any other Blu-ray Universal titles known to have excessive DNR as compared to the HD DVD? Or any other movies missing that should (or should not) be on the list?

I didn't know American Graffiti was released on HD DVD. Was it a foreign release?

[bruceames]

Oops, my bad. I was thinking of Apollo 13, but that's already on the list. Sorry for the confusion, I guess I wasn't awake yet, LOL.

[Hans Gruber]

Dazed and confused blu ray look worse than the hd DVD. Im hearing lots of dnr

[bruceames]

Thanks Hans. I think that one is coming out on Criterion in a few months so it'll probably be up to snuff.

[Hans Gruber]

Yea so is dazed and confused from criterion, I hope the pq of that one is actually gonna be better than the hd DVD. I'm not holding my breath though if it's all from the same master

[Ruined]

Thanks Hans. Let me know if you come across any others not on the list.

List of HD DVDs that have better PQ (based on reviews, consensus posts from screenshot threads, other posts, and my own comparisons). The imports are compared to the US Blu-ray.

What about DAYLIGHT? THis DOBLU review seems to indicate there is more DNR on the Blu-ray than the HD DVD, though it does not say for sure. The pics have more DNR than I remember the HD DVD having - anyone care to compare?

http://www.doblu.com/2011/07/09/daylight-review/

Also, what is the difference in Casino?

[bruceames]

What about DAYLIGHT? THis DOBLU review seems to indicate there is more DNR on the Blu-ray than the HD DVD, though it does not say for sure. The pics have more DNR than I remember the HD DVD having - anyone care to compare?

http://www.doblu.com/2011/07/09/daylight-review/

Also, what is the difference in Casino?

I'll rent Daylight BD to see how it compares with the HD DVD.

I think Casino was one of those titles I put on the list from directly comparing them on my BH200. It only made the list that way if the difference was fairly obvious, and since Casino is a later title, it's probably because of DNR, but I'm going to put it back in the queue to make sure it's not another typo, lol.

[Ruined]

I just checked myself. DAYLIGHT was clearly given a drive by DNR based on those screenshots at DOBLU.COM compared to the HD DVD. It is just as bad as THE THING, if not worse!! Add it to the list!!

That being said, I think there are some titles on the list where the difference is exaggerated and probably do not belong on the list.

IMO, the ones I know of that are SIGNIFICANTLY better on HD DVD that do not require extensive screenshot analysis and stop motion/etc or analysis of tech specs are:

Paramount/Dreamworks:
-Coming to America

Universal:
-Animal House
-Apollo 13
-Army of Darkness
-The Big Lebowski
-Daylight
-The Thing
-U-571

****

Would like to see more investigation on:
-An American Werewolf in London
-Backdraft
-Billy Madison
-Casino
-Happy Gilmore
-The Last Starfighter (I know the HD DVD sucked. Does the BD suck more?)

There are some on HD DVD that had lossless soundtracks or more advanced video codecs, but that doesnt always translate to a huge difference when actually watching the film.

[bruceames]

Added Daylight, and put Training Day BD in my Netflix queue to confirm whether it belongs on the list.

[Ruined]

I am also hearing THE LAST STARFIGHTER is much more scrubbed on Blu-ray than HD DVD.

[bruceames]

I added some of those movies to my queue, but there's a few that Netflix doesn't have on Blu-ray (Backdraft and Billy Madison for example). Checking out Waterworld as well.

I have The Big Lebowski BD from Netflix right now, but solely for my own curiousity. It's not like it's gonna look better than the screenshots (of which I wish we had for these later titles).